What's your biggest financial mistake ?
- Thread starter joeExpat
- Start date
Spending A LOT of money on clothes and shoes, and just stuff I didn't 'need' for the first few years I started working full time. I would go to shops every Thursday night.
Glad to have had the realisation of spending money on 'needs' rather than wants. Its OK to buy things to make you happy, but not just spend for the sake of it.
Also, purchasing a brand new car on finance, when we (MsAli and I) started working full time. Never again (financing a car)!
Glad to have had the realisation of spending money on 'needs' rather than wants. Its OK to buy things to make you happy, but not just spend for the sake of it.
Also, purchasing a brand new car on finance, when we (MsAli and I) started working full time. Never again (financing a car)!
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Great Thread. I see a pattern here of going off track from what you know.
For me it was the old moniker Peter 147 with the Alfa Romeo symbol.
Yes we bought that Alfa for $46k (demonstrator) and sold it 2 years later after much grief and thank god it had a warranty for $26k. Lost $20 in depreciation and it cost us $1k a month to pay the lease. Overall a $46k burn.
Wife never wanted it and we went back to Subarus. All good there. Then I changed my name to Peter 14.7 as a inside joke on the average top temperate all year round of where I live now.
Real Estate: no issues. we sold at the top in 2003 and bought in the bottoms.
Share we got dumb lucky twice and made lots but only have 4 companies shares ever.
Peter
For me it was the old moniker Peter 147 with the Alfa Romeo symbol.
Yes we bought that Alfa for $46k (demonstrator) and sold it 2 years later after much grief and thank god it had a warranty for $26k. Lost $20 in depreciation and it cost us $1k a month to pay the lease. Overall a $46k burn.
Wife never wanted it and we went back to Subarus. All good there. Then I changed my name to Peter 14.7 as a inside joke on the average top temperate all year round of where I live now.
Real Estate: no issues. we sold at the top in 2003 and bought in the bottoms.
Share we got dumb lucky twice and made lots but only have 4 companies shares ever.
Peter
My biggest mistake (in hindsight) was not buying a property in the UK in the late nineties. Shortly after that I got caught on the wrong side of the Dot.com bubble bursting, spent a couple of years in a low paid job, and then tried doing something off my own back. By the time I was in a position to buy it was 2005 or 2006, and prices had doubled or even tripled.
If I'd bought in then I'd have made £150K to £200K based on the sorts of properties I was looking at.
My second biggest mistake was trying to start something up on my own. I got involved with a games publisher, and wrote a version of Tempest for the first generation of Java enabled phones. This was back in 2003 to 2004, before the iPhone project had even started, and there wasn't really a market for apps in those days. I've attached an old screen grab.
A combination of a dodgy publisher and my own naivety meant that I ended up handing over work that was worth probably £50K for no return. In fact, I spent a fair amount on legal fees extricating myself from that mess.
My third mistake was probably not trying to do something again.
If I'd bought in then I'd have made £150K to £200K based on the sorts of properties I was looking at.
My second biggest mistake was trying to start something up on my own. I got involved with a games publisher, and wrote a version of Tempest for the first generation of Java enabled phones. This was back in 2003 to 2004, before the iPhone project had even started, and there wasn't really a market for apps in those days. I've attached an old screen grab.
A combination of a dodgy publisher and my own naivety meant that I ended up handing over work that was worth probably £50K for no return. In fact, I spent a fair amount on legal fees extricating myself from that mess.
My third mistake was probably not trying to do something again.
Attachments
Trees! Agreeing with my FA to buy trees for Woodpulp in the Great Southern Debacle of 06. only 4 years to go till they reach maturity and sell for.....Nothing!
Agree with Graemesay - We were in the UK and we did buy in 92, 95 and 97. Sold in 03 to come to Oz and made a ridiculous amount of money for doing absolutely nothing.
Agree with Graemesay - We were in the UK and we did buy in 92, 95 and 97. Sold in 03 to come to Oz and made a ridiculous amount of money for doing absolutely nothing.
Just think; now we have the CT you'll be able to thank Julia when the av temp drops down to around 14.0 in about 6 months.
QLD will be looking good soon.
1) Not buying in Unley park Adelaide when i had the chance to get in at a rock bottom cost.
2)Getting married too many times,4 to date(got it right now),the settlements have killed me over the years.Could have retired 15 years ago otherwise.
3)Not having more kids,as they are the future.
2)Getting married too many times,4 to date(got it right now),the settlements have killed me over the years.Could have retired 15 years ago otherwise.
3)Not having more kids,as they are the future.
in 2008-09 Lost $45,000 due to my financial advisor investing my money into the sub prime mortgage disaster (as part of my portfolio) even though my request was low to no risk. I have never heard one word back from them either.
lesson- to never go near an advisor again !
Does anyone know if there was any class action taken on this ?
lesson- to never go near an advisor again !
Does anyone know if there was any class action taken on this ?
Oh yeah. I hear ya on that.
MX5 that owes me 14k and is still not running 100%
But, I still lost more money on a stupid investment into a serviced apartment. Never again. What can I say? Young and stupid.
Ironically we made money on an MX5.
We bought a series 1 in immaculate condition low kms off the a friend for $26k in 1993 and sold it (sadly) for $27k in 1996.
It is on the "2 do list" to buy back a Series 1 and put it in storage for only sunny days.
Peter
I think the lesson here is;
I.e. One Tel as small shareholder you have no special knowledge to the future hence you have no control.
Peter
- if it too good to be true, it usually is
- the more lack of control you have, the greater this risk of losing the lot you have
I.e. One Tel as small shareholder you have no special knowledge to the future hence you have no control.
Peter
Ouch...that ain't good. Oh well, live and learn
It was a few years ago now. I've learnt a lot. I now laugh whenever I see those ads for serviced apartments "guaranteed 8% return! returning 14% in our rental pool" blah blah blah.
Peter. I hear ya. I think we all need to make a mistake like that to really motivate us to get ahead and learn more about what we are doing.
Yeah. I should add i ve had a fair share of break evens on Ips when i was learning and absolutely dumb luck with shares. I have made $60k on shares and have never sold a share via broker, both times takeovers. Dodged a bullet.
Peter
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