Mistakes to Avoid, #2 - Gambling (Squandering Your Fortune Away)

I do not need to say too much on bad mistake #2.  While you could take a lifetime to accumulate a fortune, you could easily throw it all away by gambling. 

While Singapore's two casinos have started operations several years ago, I am still a "mountain tortoise" or a "country bumpkin" and have yet to step into the casinos.

However, in this tech-savvy world, online gambling is easily accessible to everyone with a computer or a mobile phone.  You do not even need to step into a casino but could access to many gambling sites online.

Worst of all, you could use your credit card(s) for gambling online.  After credit card#1's limit is reached, you could use credit card #2, #3 and so on.  And the pit you fell in is getting bigger and bigger.

Some people may think that they could beat the casino/ betting site by doubling up the bet after each lost bet.  However, there will come a time when a long losing sequence that you will not be able to crawl out of the "doubling-up" hole you created. 

About seven or eight years ago, I won a "guess the score" from a soccer site for English Premier League.  The prize was 100 pound sponsored by William Hill and hence I opened an account with William Hill.  I started to use this account for sport betting.  At first I only bet on soccer, then after some success, I started to bet on Formula 1 and tennis too. 

Money easy comes, and so easy goes.  Less than one month and my account was ran down. Lucky for me, I have managed to snap out of this bad habit and not topping up my account with my credit card.

Today, I applause Singapore Government's plan for new laws to curb online gambling.  Measures include blocking illegal gambling sites, prevent payment to operators and ban advertisement for online gambling.  Gambling is a highly addictive habit and the government should step in to restrict accessibility to online gambling. 

Mistakes to Avoid, #1 - Smoking (Burning Your Fortune Away)

I will post a series of posts that discuss the mistakes that we should avoid in life and on our investing journey.

First, smoking is like burning money and is a habit or addiction that we should not pick up.

1. Cost of cigarettes

Singapore is one of the most expensive place for smokers.  One pack of cigarettes costs between $8 to $15, depending on brands.  For simplicity's sake, I use $10 for calculation: $10 a day becomes a massive $3,650 a year, $36,500 in 10 years and $109,500 in 30 years!  This should be much higher, considering the interest to be earned and the compounding effect.

2. Higher Insurance Premium

A smoker is paying higher premiums for his/her insurance policies.  This is to compensate the insurer because of the increased health risk of the insured person.  But thing done (smoking) cannot be undone, and the insurer will not reduce his premium even if the smoker quits smoking.

3. Increased health risks

Smokers have higher health risks, meaning more money is needed for medication.

4. Harmful to your loved ones

Second-hand smoke is harmful for your family members.  There is no risk-free level of contact with second-hand smoke; even brief exposure can be harmful to health.

Therefore, a smoker is burning away a fortune.