You’ll never guess Australia’s biggest money mistakes

We’ve all made mistakes.  

I know I have, in all areas of life. 

I made more than my share of investment and money mistakes when I was young and paid a huge learning fee along the way.

So I was interested to read a survey by finder.com.au last year which identified the biggest money mistakes made by Australians.

And I was a little surprised  to find divorce and having children high up on the list.

Of course I was not surprised to find losing money on a property investment ranking high.

Here’s the most common money mistakes

Mistake	Australians affected
Divorce/separation	1.36 million
Lost money on a property investment	1.27 million
Too much gambling	1.11 million
Having children	1.11 million
Letting partner control finances	1.01 million
Caught out by an online scam	789,704
Paying too much for a wedding	703,866
Dropping out of university	549,359
Investing in a pyramid scheme	515,024

47% of the 1,043 people surveyed said they had made a costly money mistake.

Divorce was the most common, with an average cost of $144,774 per person.

Property investment was almost as risky, with an average loss of $106,104.

The figure for people claiming having children was their biggest mistake was even higher, at $162,456.)

Other common mistakes included excessive gambling, letting a partner control your finances and falling for an online scam.

Men and women had slightly different views.

For women, letting their partner control finances was the most common error, while men cited divorce or separation and were also more likely to nominate gambling as a problem.

Australians take a very different view to Americans when it comes to money mistakes.

A similar survey in the states identified not finishing higher education as the biggest financial mistake.

Source: Finder.com.au

Editors note: This article has been republished for the interest of our many new readers