Ten Worst Financial Habits

[frugalman]

This is from a poll by Allianz Life Insurance of Americans 55 and older.
37 percent said they had no bad financial habits.
The top 10 bad financial habits listed were:

I spend too much money on things I don't need: 20 percent.
I'm not saving any money: 23 percent.
I'm saving some money, but not as much as I could: 20 percent.
I don't have a household budget: 15 percent.
I spend more money than I make: 13 percent.
I'm not educating myself about retirement finances: 12 percent.
I only make the minimum payment on credit cards: 8 percent.
I can't resist gambling -- or at least playing the lottery: 10 percent.
I haven't pursued professional financial help planning retirement: 8 percent.
I'm not contributing to my employer-sponsored retirement plan (401(k) or 403(b)/457): 4 percent.

[wm123]

This is from a poll by Allianz Life Insurance of Americans 55 and older.
37 percent said they had no bad financial habits.
The top 10 bad financial habits listed were:

I spend too much money on things I don't need: 20 percent.
I'm not saving any money: 23 percent.
I'm saving some money, but not as much as I could: 20 percent.
I don't have a household budget: 15 percent.
I spend more money than I make: 13 percent.
I'm not educating myself about retirement finances: 12 percent.
I only make the minimum payment on credit cards: 8 percent.
I can't resist gambling -- or at least playing the lottery: 10 percent.
I haven't pursued professional financial help planning retirement: 8 percent.
I'm not contributing to my employer-sponsored retirement plan (401(k) or 403(b)/457): 4 percent.

This is my downfall. Its also my new years resolution to stop.

[JohnGalt]

This is from a poll by Allianz Life Insurance of Americans 55 and older.
37 percent said they had no bad financial habits.
The top 10 bad financial habits listed were:

I spend too much money on things I don't need: 20 percent.
I'm not saving any money: 23 percent.
I'm saving some money, but not as much as I could: 20 percent.
I don't have a household budget: 15 percent.
I spend more money than I make: 13 percent.
I'm not educating myself about retirement finances: 12 percent.
I only make the minimum payment on credit cards: 8 percent.
I can't resist gambling -- or at least playing the lottery: 10 percent.
I haven't pursued professional financial help planning retirement: 8 percent.
I'm not contributing to my employer-sponsored retirement plan (401(k) or 403(b)/457): 4 percent.

This is my downfall. Its also my new years resolution to stop.

What do you gamble on?

[frugalman]

Gambling has not been discussed much here at MMM as far as I know.  A lot of seemingly rational intelligent people have this problem.  It's as hard to kick as alcohol, cigarettes or drugs.

[arebelspy]

It's my most un-Mustachian vice.

It's totally -ev.  But I do enjoy the occasional sports bet, and I have no excuse. 

[Honest Abe]

I get the same rush I think people get from gambling when I invest.

I never really enjoyed gambling... I always have the sneaking feeling that I'm getting $%#$ed

[plantingourpennies]

I get the same rush I think people get from gambling when I invest.

I never really enjoyed gambling... I always have the sneaking feeling that I'm getting $%#$ed

Funny, unless I'm investing in Vanguard or similar I always have the sneaking feeling that I'm getting $%#$ed too!

Best,
Mr. Pop

[smalllife]

I haven't pursued professional financial help planning retirement: 8 percent.

Why is this on the list?  I would think with the plethora of internet bloggers, and free financial advice that a "professional" is unnecessary.

[Jamesqf]

I haven't pursued professional financial help planning retirement: 8 percent.

Why is this on the list?  I would think with the plethora of internet bloggers, and free financial advice that a "professional" is unnecessary.

I agree - indeed, I'd go further, and say that getting "professional" financial advice is a bad habit.

I also wonder about the household budget thing.  Maybe it's useful for the undisciplined, who need to rein in spending urges, but I don't have any particular urge to spend, so I'd wind up spending the same whether I made a formal budget or not.

[Gerard]

Most of these surveys force people to choose from a pre-selected list (so that the provider can talk about how many people would be helped by their product). I bet the list didn't include such bad habits as "I drive a long way to work" or "I have a large home" or "I pay somebody to make financial decisions that I could figure out myself by spending an hour on the internet".

[Richard3]

It's totally -ev.  But I do enjoy the occasional sports bet, and I have no excuse. 

I don't want to derail, but sportsbetting is not totally -EV. Yes overall sportsbetting is a negative proposition and betting randomly (by picking a team you like or whatever) will be a money loser.

However, if you know what you are doing (and it is not that hard to reach that level) it is possible to find +EV bets. I've had a pretty rough season so far, but should scrape out a couple of thousand profit on the NFL (bankroll was about 5k at the start of the season).

My problem at the moment is actually that I am banned (for winning) at too many places.


Back on topic - the list in this survey is terrible. "I spend too much money" "I spend more than I make" are pretty close synonyms,

I don't educate myself about retirement and I don't get ... advice about retirement ditto.

I don't contribute to my 401k and I'm not saving as much as I could probably could be combined (even without increasing savings rate, 401k > taxable accounts).

Marketing "surveys" annoy me.

[Iron Mike Sharpe]

Hmmm, gambling is a source of supplemental income for me (poker only).  But, it's just a series of wagers in (ideally) +EV situations for me.

[NumberJohnny5]

This is from a poll by Allianz Life Insurance of Americans 55 and older.
37 percent said they had no bad financial habits.

I'm in denial about my bad financial habits: 40 percent.

I can't resist gambling -- or at least playing the lottery: 10 percent.

Gambling can be ok, depending on how you do it.  If you have a set budget, and it provides actual enjoyment, then it's no worse (or maybe even better?) than paying for cable tv and vegging in front of the tv for hours on end.  And playing the lottery can be good to; it helps you think of what you'd do if money were no object (so it helps clarify what's really important to you).  But if you're behind on the bills and spend 15 minutes at the convenience store buying a 5 of these tickets, 10 of those, a whole roll of those over there...you've got a problem.

I haven't pursued professional financial help planning retirement: 8 percent.

I admit, I haven't received any professional help.  Problem is, it seems that just like everything else, I'd get a huge range of answers depending on who I asked.  So I just save the money and do it myself.

[momo]

Definitely #3. Need to save even more.

[kmm]

I'm surprised that only 4% aren't contributing to a work-sponsored retirement plan. Or is it that only 4% consider that their worst financial habit? Either way, it's not bad - I've seen much higher statistics for the general public.