Comments on: Squawkback: What Were Your 3 Worst Financial Decisions?

By: Darrell Smith

Darrell Smith — Fri, 29 Jul 2011 21:06:23 +0000

Buying my Condo in 2007 for 180000, now its worth less than 150000.

By: Chris

Chris — Sun, 20 Feb 2011 03:41:50 +0000

1. Spending more time picking out a good olive oil (insert any food item here) than I do pondering a good amount of cash sitting in my savings account earning .25% because I’m not trusting myself to make my own financial decisions. This has been going on for years.

2. Not taking the time to consider my current expenses i.e. do I need cable? Is there a way to cut down on phone expenses?

3. Fearing numbers, percentages, commissions, feeling frozen (and kicking myself in the tush as I know better). And now that I’m that much closer to the big 50 versus the minor 40, 30, 20 wondering if it is too late.

Lessons to apply:
1. Taking steps to ponder and move forward ie. don’t just read about the high interest savings account – open it. Check out sites like the one you suggested above. Commit.

2. Read and follow some of the suggestions on Squawkback. Enjoying browsing your website – thank you.

3. Realize that it doesn’t matter how old (or young) you are. Your starting point can be right now (and I could still be around for another 4 ot 5 decades)!

By: manchas no rosto

manchas no rosto — Sun, 12 Dec 2010 15:43:17 +0000

Getting a credit card at 18 when I got my first job and using it to buy a lot of stuff, spending all my salary even before I receive it! Not only mine, but a lot of people may commit the same mistake!

By: Kerry

Kerry — Thu, 08 Jul 2010 04:45:54 +0000

@Suzanne Ah Suzanne I want to give you a huge hug. For Canadian investing help I’d suggest reading financial journalist Dan Bortolotti’s blog: “The Canadian Couch Potato” (http://canadiancouchpotato.com). I use this method in my own portfolio.

By: Suzanne Tremblay

Suzanne Tremblay — Thu, 08 Jul 2010 04:33:47 +0000

1. listening to my financial advisor who recommended that I invested in more aggressive stocks so that I could retire at 55…then there was the crash in 2008. Having lost over $100,000, and not having yet recovered $80,000. Needless to say, I am now over 55 and not retired. Previously, I had been a conservative investor.
2.financing my son’s first year of CMA for $2,500 and he dropped out not liking the online approach…
3.trusting that my husband was buying RRSP when he was the one who told me about it.

By: Anita

Anita — Wed, 07 Jul 2010 03:54:49 +0000

To add to my last comment, making the decision to use credit cards again when I swore I never would was also a big financial mistake. Sometimes though circumcstances can change where you have no choice, that’s why it’s a good idea to plan and prepare ahead for any setbacks.

By: Anita

Anita — Tue, 06 Jul 2010 07:05:25 +0000

I didn’t sell my house at the peak of the real estate boom, when it was worth $100,000 more…thinking it was going to increase some more. Instead I concentrated on other investments, hoping they would pay off but didn’t as the economy went downhill and so did the value of those.

By: Terra

Terra — Fri, 09 Apr 2010 23:21:22 +0000

Biggest mistakes:

1. signing up for a credit card when I was 19 without a job (I stated I had one lined up, which was a lie) They gave me one with a 6, 000 dollar limit.
b) being completely clueless as to what borrowing credit was all about. I actually thought that once you reached your limit that was it. I am sure I have made enough payments to pay off that damn card, but still, five years of school later and six or seven so years of life, is still there!
2. Supplementing rent/living necessities with my credit card
3. treating money as if it had no importance. lending it out when I didn’t have it, making a gourmet meal on my last 20, clothes shopping… (those expensive purchases seem to always be the ones I lose, the ones I don’t wear…)

By: Laura

Laura — Sat, 10 Oct 2009 17:28:50 +0000

This could take a bit of time. Biggest financial mistakes are my student loans. I decided at 22 I should go to university without really knowing what I wanted from it. I went away for 1 year and had about 9000 in student loans. Then 2 years later going to private career college that was way over priced. That was another 16000. Needless to say it has taken me 10 years to pay it off. With being self-employed the whole time, I was only paying mostly interest. I feel like I’m a decade behind in financial situation. All I can do now is try to be smart as possible with money in the future. I never want that feeling again.

By: Warren

Warren — Tue, 15 Sep 2009 03:41:22 +0000

I had lived on my own from the time I was 17, never having money for a car, or time to think about getting one (or even my driver’s license).
Shortly after I turned 25 (early 2008), I got my driver’s lic. and decided I needed a car. Without looking at price i decided which car I wanted (based on reviews, style, etc)… found the car at a price much lower than the going rate… FANTASTIC! I was approved for a loand and I bought myself a fully loaded upgraded engine – year and a half old car.
THE PROBLEM: I had never financed anything before and never ran a major credit card and really wanted this car so everyone from the insurance agent to the salesman to the financier saw me coming…
1st mistake: Buying from a used car lot and allowing the them to bully me into the extended warranty (If I didn’t buy the warranty for $2000, they would have to make the money by increasing the price as if the interest rate of the loan was 2% higher)… I should have bought from a reputable dealer and been willing to walk)
-2nd mistake: Agreeing to take a loan on a car at 23% interest… Can you imagine $539/mo for 7 years for a North American mid-sized sedan
-3rd mistake: not reading the fine print… My $15,750 car plus $1250 in admin fees and whatever plus $2000 in extended warranty was going to end up costing me $38,000 by year 7 and was actually 24.5% rather than 23

I loved this car and drove it proudly… paying nearly $1000/mo in payments, insurance, and fuel alone, then the economy went to heck and I lost my job… Thank God I was living in Alberta at the time and they have a seize or sue legislation, so I walked from the car and will suffer the perils of a poor credit rating for the next several years.

This was a huge series of huge mistakes, but wow have I learned a series of invaluable lessons; which are everything from making purchase decisions for the right reasons to do i really need a next near brand new car if i’m going to have one?
I have recently moved to Victoria, BC and am actually glad I don’t have the car anymore.
Since getting rid of the car (and moving primarily to walking and cycling) I have lost over 20 lbs and have never felt better.
If I do get another vehicle again soon, it will definitely be for cash and be alot more economical (Who needs to upgrade from a 4 to a 6 cylinder anyway? lol)