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Experienced Investor

Over-50s reveal their biggest financial mistakes

Lucinda Beeman
Written By:
Lucinda Beeman
Posted:
Updated:
11/11/2014

Clients of deVere Group answered a simple but loaded question: “What is the most impactful financial mistake you’ve ever made?”

Some 34 per cent of respondents said that they had not put enough aside for retirement, making a failure to save the most common financial error. A further 27 per cent regretted not seeking professional financial advice.

According to Nigel Green, founder and CEO of deVere Group, these results were “a depressing predictability”.

He said: “The harsh reality is that unless there’s a seismic cultural shift in attitudes towards savings, many more people will reach the age of retirement and realise that there is just not enough in their pension pots to last throughout retirement, or enough to enable them to enjoy the retirement they had envisaged.

“The survey also highlights that too many people have previously believed that they could ‘go it alone’ managing their wealth and have committed costly blunders along the way.”

The third biggest mistake, cited by 19 per cent of respondents, was allowing their emotions to govern investment decisions.

Green continued: “If your primary aim is to secure the best returns, investment decisions should be rational and dispassionate.”

Eleven per cent cited a failure to diversify their investment portfolio as their biggest financial mistake, while seven per cent regretted their own failure to buy insurance coverage.