Investment mistakes

A very nice article from Morningstar.comabout common investment mistakes - however straightforward these rules seem to be, its just easier said than done:

• Don't rely on the past too much - as every mutual fund prospectus will tell you, past performance is no guarantee of future returns, don't extrapolate too much ....
• Overestimating yourself - Everyone likes to think of themselves as being above average - that's statistically impossible, but being average is good in investing! Don't trade too much - you might be better of buying and holding, and just matching benchmarks.
• Discipline - be systematic, be regular, be disciplined.

He closes out with a quote from Warren Buffet

Success in investing doesn't correlate with IQ once you're above the level of 25. Once you have ordinary intelligence, what you need is the temperament to control the urges that get other people into trouble in investing.

A humbling one indeed ...