The 8 Most Common Financial Mistakes to Avoid

2023 just like every other year was not without its own challenges and prospects.  Some achieved their financial goals, but many others did not.  Before stepping into 2024 it is time and right to take stock of our lives and take note of where we did well and where we need to improve upon in the coming year.  We all are looking forward to a prosperous 2023 4ut like the old saying, it will be a classic case of insanity to repeat what you did in 2023 in 2024 and beyond if you are expecting to have a different outcome financially and otherwise.  Your New Year resolution, if it is your tradition, should not be a case of regrets of what you didn’t do so right and empty vows of what to do and not do in 2023 but a well-thought-out plan and strategies for better results.  We must understand that there is no messiah anywhere that is coming to your rescue in the coming year.  You are your own messiah and rescuer as the chief architect of your life and destiny.  Here are the 8 most common financial mistakes to avoid in 2023 if you’re hoping to get the most out of the year and enjoy better financial fortune and a better standard of living.  You are also encouraged to get our book on the 10 harmful habits that ruin people's destiny and see some other nonfinancial mistakes that keep people small and in hardship and far from achieving their goals and fulfilling their destinies.

𝌞 Table Of Contents 𝌞

• Saving for the rainy day instead of investing to create wealth
• Investing In What You Don’t Understand
• Not Investing In Yourself
• Instant Gratification
• Gambling Playing with the stock market
• Living Within Your Means
• Not Helping Others When You Have The Means To Do So
• Not Paying Your Tithe
• Conclusion

1. Saving for the rainy day instead of investing to create wealth

If you have been reading our blog you will be somewhat conversant with our position on saving just for saving sake or saving for the rainy day, in other words saving for expenditure.  At Noble Solutions, we are contrarians and as such go against some experts' opinions on most financial issues.   The expert financial adviser will tell you to save more so you can become rich, maybe when you retire at 60.   They will tell you that the money in your savings account or pension or other savings plan is an asset, but what they don’t tell you is whose asset they are.  But we want to tell you here categorically today, that your savings are their assets, not yours.  Your saving is your liability just as your private home, generators and other home appliances.   Sorry if you are reading from outside of Nigeria, but power generators are still the main sources of power to homes in Nigeria, so if you’re in the business of power generation and distribution, you have opportunities here, especially mini-grids.

So when your financial experts tell you to save they are telling you to save because they need your money for their trade and other business where they make huge profits at your expense.  How much interest can the best bank or savings pack pay you per annum? 4% max when inflation all over the world is at double digits, meaning you lose nothing less than 10% of the value of your saved money every year.   In as much as investments come with their own risk, the real risk is losing the value of your savings through inflation as it will surely eat up your savings over time, whereas investments tend to have more chances of increasing in value over time.

Also Recommended for you: Types of Money And Opportunities They Present 

2. Investing In What You Don’t Understand

Don't invest in what you don't understand is an old saying on Wall Street. How wise or true is this statement one may ask? What can we invest in if we are to base our investment decision on what we fully understand? You will see that for many of us, we will not invest in anything if that is the case.  Take, for example, say there is a new invention in tech or medicine that is obvious to all that it is going to revolutionize the way we do things and you get wind of an investment opportunity in the early stages, are we saying that you shouldn't invest because you don’t understand technology or medicine? Not necessarily. We want you to be an investor, not a saver, but you must invest responsibly.  We must understand the difference between not understanding the inner workings of a business and just being reckless.  If you're not a tech expert or medical professional you may not be able to understand how an invention was made and the processes of discovering a new cure for instance, but that doesn't mean you can't understand the basics of the business and investment to know what is possible and what is not by doing your due diligence.

Bybit Exchange

So is the need to put things in perspective when it comes to investing your hard-earned money.  There are a lot of different things in the name of investments out there, especially in social media and it can be tempting to want to put your money into it and make some quick profit out of greed.  However, you must understand how the investment works or what the risks are before investing or you may end up losing your money.  In as much as we want you to invest as against saving we also advocate for responsible investment practices.  Investing your hard-earned money in something you don’t understand how the income will be made to pay 100% in 45 minutes, monthly etc is a height of irresponsibility and greed. Invest but don’t invest in what you don’t understand.

If you don’t understand the workings or if it is too good to be true, then it is better and wiser to err on the side of caution and do your due diligence.  That crypto, forex and stock trading are real and legitimate investment vehicles does not mean you should invest in them if they don’t align with your investment goals.  Setting an investment goal is a good place to start before thinking of what to invest in, where to invest and when to actually invest.

3. Not Investing In Yourself

The importance of investing in one’s self cannot be overstated. Investing in one’s self is one investment that never goes wrong. If you have not been investing heavily in yourself, you can't afford to continue in that trajectory in 2023 because you won’t be doing your financial future any favours.  No one can become better who has not known better.  Apostle Paul to the Romans in the Holy Book says

And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God.

You renew your mind by feeding it with new information on a daily by taking the time and effort to improve your skillset and knowledge base.  Warren Buffet, arguably the world's best investor have not stopped investing in the book and personal development.  If you choose not to invest in yourself, you're essentially choosing to remain where you are if not retrograde.

Self-investment which can take many forms is about taking care of your physical, mental, and emotional well-being.  If you are not sure about any aspect of the investment you wish to make, there is no shame in doing more research or talking to someone more knowledgeable about investing. Remember, your goal is to make money, not to lose it. So, take the time to learn about any potential investments before putting your money into them.  That is investing in yourself, and not investing in yourself is a mistake you must avoid in 2024.

For further learning, we recommend you read It Is All In The Gene: 2 Genes That Is Responsible For Your Financial Status

4. Instant Gratification

Instant gratification is another financial mistake to avoid in 2023 by all means.  The course of poverty of many is not always the superstitious belief of the “village” people phenomena.  Don’t worry if you don’t know the ‘village’ people, but the point is that your fortune in life is not tied to one mystical power or evil being somewhere, in most cases the way you live today is what will determine your tomorrow.   It's easy to get caught up in the "enjoy now" syndrome without caring about the consequences.  What people prioritize in life is always the game changer in moving from obscurity to wealth and significance.  Some people make a lot of money but can’t seem to account for the money because they can’t control their appetite.  The problem with instant gratification is that it's never in our best interests.

What really is Instant gratification and how does it affect our finances?: instant gratification is the desire to experience pleasure or satisfaction without delay or deferment.  The problem with instant gratification is that it's never in our best interests.  There is a saying that if all the money in the world is divided equally to everyone on earth within five years the money will redistribute itself back to the rich and the majority of the poor will remain in their poor state if not worse off. It‘s not magic or luck. The underlying reason is that; whereas the rich can delay gratification to preserve the future and to get richer, the poor eat even their seed today. The poor are consumption-oriented, not knowing the difference between seed and fruit. The poor lack the character to delay gratification hence their poverty

The dangers of Instant gratification are It can lead to problems of

1. Addiction: in the sense that it can give one that feeling of wanting to satisfy every craving
2. A lack of fulfilment in life: research has shown that people who are more likely to seek instant gratification are more likely to have lower levels of satisfaction with life.
3. Debt: credit cards, credit purchases and impromptu buying outside of the budget are all signs of a person that have opted for instant gratification as against delaying it.

 5. Gambling Playing with the stock market

When hear of gambling what easily comes to mind? Sports betting, lottery, casino and so on, right? You won’t be wrong.  In as much as this form of gambling can be fun and expectations of quick and free money exciting, it however important to bank on it as a way of achieving financial freedom.   We do not encourage this type of gambling or any type for that matter because of the addictive nature, but if you are involved in sports betting, it must be for entertainment and fun and never as an investment tool as such is it important to set a budget and stick to it and ensuring you never gamble more than you can afford to lose.

Unfortunately, even those who will never agree that they are gamblers indulge in gambling in the name of making investments.  Most people take the gambling approach to invest, be it in forex or the stock market.  If you are “investing” get rich quick and with Ponzi schemes, you are gambling. If you are throwing money into forex and stock markets without knowledge, but to become a millionaire overnight, you are a gambler, not an investor because every investor understands the processes and is ready to put in the time to learn and then become.

 6. Living Within or Below Your Means

What does it mean to live or spend within your means and why are we advising against it? Living or spending within your means having just enough money to cover your basic personal expenses.  But the problem is just about us. You don’t make an impact by just focusing on yourself alone.  All the world's richest people are all philanthropists of some sort and they didn’t make it to the top echelon in life by living within their means.   If you are not living within your means, you are obviously living above your means, which means that you are spending more money than you are earning by relying on credit cards, loans, and salary advances.   Which is better? The answer is none.

Buy and sell crypto with your local currency

Don’t live within your means, living within your means keeps you blinded from the possibility of growth.   Don’t live above your means, because living above your means keeps you in the rat race and in bad debt.  Living within or above just like the Instant gratification mentality keeps people satisfied with a mediocre life and indebtedness respectively, preventing them from moving forward and they never get to see the bigger picture and opportunities in life.

Why live within your means when you can expand your means through diligent pursuit.  How do you expand your means?  The best way is to first increase your financial capacity by investing in yourself to increase your skill and knowledge.

7. Not Helping Others When You Have The Means To Do So

Never walk away from someone who deserves help; your hand is God's hand for that person. 

Proverbs 3:27 MSG

It is easy to rationalize by telling ourselves that we don't have enough or absorb the responsibility to help.  Jesus says

Give, and it will be given to you: good measure, pressed down, shaken together, and running over will be put into your bosom. For with the same measure that you use, it will be measured back to you.

 Luke 6:38

The mistake we make in giving is thinking or expecting our rewards from those we help and so when they don’t look like they can reciprocate we shy away. And when we help people and they don’t show gratitude in the way we want we are discouraged from giving to others.  Giving response to a universal principle and givers who give willingly and cheerfully never lacks so we should understand that nature has a way of rewarding every one of our kind deeds. Chinese proverbs say, if your vision is for a year plant rice,  if your vision is for ten years plant trees but if your vision is for a lifetime plant men

8. Not Paying Your Tithe

Bring all the tithes (the tenth) into the storehouse, so that there may be food in My house, and test Me now in this," says the LORD of hosts, "if I will not open for you the windows of heaven and pour out for you [so great] a blessing until there is no more room to receive it. Malachi 3:10 AMP

I don’t know your faith and what you believe about tithe payment, but if God said it then we believe it.  Giving and tithe payment is one universal principle you must tap into if you want to create transgenerational wealth.

Recommended reading;

Survival Strategy In Time Of Economic Uncertainty: 2 Things You Must Do

Survival Strategy In Time Of Economic Uncertainty: 2 Things You Must Avoid

Conclusion

That is it, the 8 Most Common Financial Mistakes To Avoid In 2024. Avoid them and watch your life take a huge leap forward in 2024.  We sincerely hope this helped. Give us your feedback in the comment below and let us know what your New Year's resolutions for 2024 will be. First on my list is voting in all the general elections in February.

Shalom!