In this episode, we talk about self-imposed financial tragedies. Unlike the inherited tragedies that are caused by things you can't control: race, religion, socio-economic issues, etc., self-imposed financial tragedies happen because we make wrong decisions. Now, we are NOT saying that you did it because you are stupid - as matter of fact, we made a lot of these mistakes on this list when we were younger. This is precisely why we made this episode: to talk about the facts and issues so that you don't repeat the same mistake. Some of the most seen self-imposed financial tragedies are: buying a vacation home because that's what you do when you "made it"; jumping into rental real estate without understanding that this is a full-time job; buying things for egotistic fulfillment; spreading yourself too thin on your asset diversification; and trying to catch every "hot investment". Like Dan and Tim said, sometimes, you buy/invest in some things, not because of their true value, but trying to keep up with your friend, to find yourself, or to recreate some feeling that you really can't recreate. Please don't create a long-term financial tragedy just because it gives you a brief boost of endorphins. We will talk more about this in the next week's Part II episode.
