Don't be your own worst enemy when investing

Common human errors can easily be overcome with the right strategy

Visitors look at stock price information displayed on a digital screen inside the Saudi Stock Exchange, also known as the Tadawul, in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, on Tuesday, April 10, 2018. Foreign investors bought more Saudi stocks in March than ever before in anticipation of the kingdom’s upgrade to emerging-market status. Photographer: Abdulrahman Abdullah/Bloomberg
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Multitasking pays off for money goals

Tackling money goals one at a time cost financial literacy expert Barbara O'Neill at least $1 million.

That's how much Ms O'Neill, a distinguished professor at Rutgers University in the US, figures she lost by starting saving for retirement only after she had created an emergency fund, bought a car with cash and purchased a home.

"I tell students that eventually, 30 years later, I hit the million-dollar mark, but I could've had $2 million," Ms O'Neill says.

Too often, financial experts say, people want to attack their money goals one at a time: "As soon as I pay off my credit card debt, then I'll start saving for a home," or, "As soon as I pay off my student loan debt, then I'll start saving for retirement"."

People do not realise how costly the words "as soon as" can be. Paying off debt is a worthy goal, but it should not come at the expense of other goals, particularly saving for retirement. The sooner money is contributed, the longer it can benefit from compounded returns. Compounded returns are when your investment gains earn their own gains, which can dramatically increase your balances over time.

"By putting off saving for the future, you are really inhibiting yourself from benefiting from that wonderful magic," says Kimberly Zimmerman Rand , an accredited financial counsellor and principal at Dragonfly Financial Solutions in Boston. "If you can start saving today ... you are going to have a lot more five years from now than if you decide to pay off debt for three years and start saving in year four."

Looking for someone to blame for the not-so-stellar performance of your investment portfolio? Try checking the mirror.

Decisions about money aren't always rational, even when we think we're acting logically. Common tendencies that make us our own worst enemies when investing include: selling winning investments too soon or holding onto losers for too long, loading up on too-similar assets or failing to assess the future implications of today's decisions.

Researchers have found dozens of unconscious biases that can drive people to make money decisions they later regret. These behavioural economics concepts include things like "anchoring" - when a specific and perhaps arbitrary number you have in mind sways your decision-making, such as selling Apple just because the company's stock hit a round number, like $200 a share. Or, the "endowment effect" can cause you to overvalue something simply because you own it, leading you to cling to a stock that's tanking.

Here are some common human errors in investing, with strategies to overcome them.

Pursuing past predilections

Financial institutions remind us that past performance does not guarantee future results. We don't always listen.

It's tempting to look at a stock's (or the broader market's) recent performance and conclude gains will persist in the near term, says Victor Ricciardi, a finance professor at Goucher College in the US and co-editor of the books Investor Behaviour and Financial Behaviour. "People take a very small sample of data and draw a major conclusion, and that's a pretty bad pitfall," MrRicciardi says.

• How to overcome it:

Don't base investing decisions solely on what's happened in the past; think about what will drive gains in the future. When investing for the long term, prioritise selecting companies with solid long-term potential.

_________

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Diversification that is not diverse

You may interpret diversification to mean more is better. That's only half the story; what's important is owning a variety of assets (both stocks and bonds) with exposure to various industries, companies and geographies.

Sometimes investors exhibit "naive diversification" by owning too-similar assets, which does little to reduce risk, says Dan Egan, director of behavioural finance and investments at robo-adviser Betterment: "People will have three or four different S&P 500 funds and think they're diversified but don't look at how correlated they all are."

Similarly, many investors invest only in companies they know, which results in over-concentration in certain industries, Mr Ricciardi says. That may mean underexposure to "the unknown" - like international stocks - which they perceive to be risky, he adds.

• How to overcome it: Invest in a wide range of assets. This can easily be accomplished with a simple portfolio constructed of just a few mutual funds or exchange-traded funds.

_________

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Making emotional decisions

When money's on the line, it's hard not to let emotions creep into your decisions.

Prior to the 2016 presidential election, many professional investors expressed concerns about a market slump if Donald Trump won. Betterment data suggested that investors who supported Hillary Clinton might let politics shape their investment strategy — and cash out following the election, Mr Egan says. So after the election, the robo-adviser messaged investors with information about the importance of staying invested for the long haul, he says.

On a stock-specific basis, we often let emotions dictate when to sell, not wanting to admit we made a losing bet. "People tend to sell winners too quickly when they go up and, on the downside, they hold on to losing investments too long," Mr Ricciardi says.

• How to overcome it:  Think about individual investments in the context of your entire portfolio and craft a plan for when you'll sell that's not triggered by short-term factors (like emotions) alone.

_________

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__________

Focusing on today

It can be difficult to see the value of saving money for tomorrow when there's so much to spend it on today. That myopia can make investors either too active or too passive.

If you're too passive, you may avoid regular check-ins on financial health and stick with a status quo that does not properly prepare for the future, Mr Ricciardi says. Meanwhile, being too active can drive up trading expenses, resulting in lower returns, he adds.

• How to overcome it:

Let the numbers do the talking. Sit down with a retirement calculator when charting your investing journey. Make sure you fully understand the tax implications and costs associated with selling investments.

Multitasking pays off for money goals

Tackling money goals one at a time cost financial literacy expert Barbara O'Neill at least $1 million.

That's how much Ms O'Neill, a distinguished professor at Rutgers University in the US, figures she lost by starting saving for retirement only after she had created an emergency fund, bought a car with cash and purchased a home.

"I tell students that eventually, 30 years later, I hit the million-dollar mark, but I could've had $2 million," Ms O'Neill says.

Too often, financial experts say, people want to attack their money goals one at a time: "As soon as I pay off my credit card debt, then I'll start saving for a home," or, "As soon as I pay off my student loan debt, then I'll start saving for retirement"."

People do not realise how costly the words "as soon as" can be. Paying off debt is a worthy goal, but it should not come at the expense of other goals, particularly saving for retirement. The sooner money is contributed, the longer it can benefit from compounded returns. Compounded returns are when your investment gains earn their own gains, which can dramatically increase your balances over time.

"By putting off saving for the future, you are really inhibiting yourself from benefiting from that wonderful magic," says Kimberly Zimmerman Rand , an accredited financial counsellor and principal at Dragonfly Financial Solutions in Boston. "If you can start saving today ... you are going to have a lot more five years from now than if you decide to pay off debt for three years and start saving in year four."