The arithmetic of investment mistakes

We have discussed in many places that investing consists of two key phases. In the very first phase, investors need to perform an extensive and systematic due diligence to choose an investment strategy that is sound and well proven. We had some more in depth discussions on this topic in the following newsletters: 

• March 11, 2013: How To Evaluate Investing Strategies
• July 23, 2012: The Difference Between Investment Loss & Investment Mistakes

Once an investment strategy is decided, it is equally important to be disciplined enough to implement the strategy correctly.  Many of the mistakes we have observed and heard from investors and our users are implementation mistakes. They include

• Second guessing: this is by far the most often mistake many users make. They refuse to execute a particular allocation or rebalance because of fear (markets are too high and too dangerous) or greed (I want to utilize this good period to make more money). 
• Inertia: some people understand it is important to put their investments on track but they keep putting off. 
• Slack off: some people just don’t have time to deal with regular rebalances, even if it is only once a month or so. 
• Rebalance trading mistakes: can not put on and execute trades because pricing issues, brokerage restrictions etc. 

We suggest August 26, 2013: Risk Management: Implementation Risk for those who have not read it.