When you have been in the Investment field for a long time you see a lot of people who have done a great job with their money, and also a lot of people who have no clue from where their next meal will come from. Let me do yet another post on the mistakes!

1. Panic in the face of ‘adversarial’ circumstances: If you are 48 years of age and the market comes down 20%, you do not have to panic, your retirement is at least 12 years ago! Try telling this to a man/woman – even worse to a couple in FEAR, trying them to relax seems to be a doctor’s job not an investment consultants.
2. No plan B: When a 54 year old loses his job and wonders from where will he meet his daughter’s wedding expenses, and his own retirement expenses, you can only stare at the ceiling. Problem? “I thought I will save the maximum from age 53 to 60…’Now what to do’? Seriously I have no answer if you cannot delay gratification. Too late buddy, go find a life.
3. Investing completely based on headline: I saw a person who had invested in about 50 schemes! He would just go by what a salesman, Relationship manager, agent, television channel, friend….told him. He had no clue of the folio numbers etc. of some of his older investments.
4. Not enough money, and no clue how to convert the existing savings/investments into income: One person had an equity portfolio and said ‘i cannot sell them, I get dividends’ I had to explain how debt will create a greater income. He said ‘How is it possible…some of the companies pay 100% dividend…no debt scheme can pay that much’ . Had to go to the basics. Face value and Market Value – and he was about 59 years of age.
5. Failing to chart a post retirement life plan: It is fine if you have your money in place, but hey you should also know what to do with yourself and your 24 hour days..

5 is what people remember at a time !!