We all know that investing is important for building long-term wealth and achieving financial security.
But even as experienced investors, we make mistakes.
What are some of the most common traps that even seasoned investors fall prey to?
This article was written by a Financial Horse Contributor.
1. Emotional Decision-Making
The first common mistake that even experienced investors make is emotional decision-making.
Experienced investors aren’t immune to letting emotions drive their investment decisions, especially during market volatility or when facing losses.
This can lead to panic selling during downturns or overconfident buying during market highs.
What to do instead?
Over time, you get a sense of what type of investor you are:
- your circle of competence – what you are good at (and you should trust yourself on this)
- what you are bad at (identify recurring patterns)
- what makes you panic?
- what makes you act rashly?
Market volatility is a given, so you need to have a clear set of rules to stick to for yourself.
Learn to trust yourself as well, so that you are able to stick to your guns even through turbulent times.
It is also very useful to make a small note of your biggest wins + biggest losses, and the lessons you’ve learnt.
This will stand you in good stead in times of market uncertainty as you can look back at your experiences and come to an informed decision.
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2. Portfolio Management Issues
The next big mistakes falls under the broad categroy
Once you build up a core portfolio, how do you maintain it?
This where rebalancing comes into play.
You need to identify what kind of target allocation you desire for your portfolio.
Your asset allocation should reflect your personal circumstances and typicall includes a mix of stocks, bonds, and cash / cash equivalents for liquidity.
A well-diversified portfolio offers growth while managing risk according to your tolerance level.
If you are leaning towards conservative in terms of risk, you may need to watch out for overconcentration.
This means too few individual stocks or sectors. Take a good look, you may have 20 counters, but 17 of them are all in tech for instance. Or the entire portfolio is in one geography.
Both over-diversification and under-diversification are common pitfalls.
Some investors collect too many investments without a coherent strategy, while others maintain too concentrated positions that expose them to unnecessary risk.
Excessive buying and selling (i.e., churning) erodes returns through transaction costs and increases the likelihood of poor timing decisions.
3. Overconfidence
The third potential mistake that even seasoned investors make is overconfidence.
Expertise often breeds overconfidence, leading to poor decision-making.
As Charlie Munger noted, success in investing comes from being “rational” rather than just being smart.
Benjamin Graham, father of value investing, identified that “the investor’s chief problem – and even his worst enemy – is likely to be himself”.
What are some examples of overconfidence?
The Knowledge Paradox
Counterintuitively, the less investors know, the more confident they tend to be.
The Information Illusion
Investors often believe that more information automatically leads to better decisions.
However, information alone doesn’t guarantee insight, and can actually increase overconfidence without improving judgment.
Overconfidence typically manifests in several harmful ways:
- Excessive trading or “churning” that erodes returns through transaction costs
- Underestimating risks and overestimating potential returns
- Ignoring contradictory information while embracing supporting evidence
Overconfidence becomes particularly problematic during bull markets and periods of stability.
As economist Hyman Minsky observed, “stability begets instability” because people tend to take greater risks when conditions appear consistently favorable.
Any other tips to share with other investors? Comment below!