But you understand that investments and investing is a very attractive field not only for petty scammers, but also for big institutional companies which can hide traps behind a nicely looking contract. Need an example? Well, among the most recent and notorious is the US real estate bubble and all investment fuss when big companies have manipulated (surely within the framework of legislation) with the credit rates, reporting and other elements and all ended up in final investors to lose the money and, most likely, to lose any chance to find the truth in the courts.

Ok, what typical investment mistakes people do and how to avoid them.

The biggest investing mistake that you could ever make is to not invest at all, or to put off investing until later. Surely the first part of your post might have killed the eagerness to invest money – but we must differentiate between smart and stupid investments. Making your money work for you is a great idea, even if it all starts from $100 a month. By the way, $100 a month payment plan for a period of 20 years can end up in a very serious portion of money with premiums, if invested into reputable investment company with viable investment instruments.

Another mistake is to start investing before you are in the financial position to do so. Be realistic – get your current financial situation in order first, and then start making investments. When talking about current financial situation this is about credit cleaned up, high interest loans paid off and credit cards as well, and having at least three months of living expenses in savings.

Never invest to get rich quickly. This attitude kills the whole idea of the investment. Those who want to get rich quickly should buy lottery tickets. Investment is about patience, playing by the rules, being focused on long term. Only invest for the short term when you know you will need the money in a short amount of time. And in this case better stick to the truly safe investments, such as, for example, certificates of deposit.

Diversify your investments. Or as the old proverb says, "Don’t put all of your eggs into one basket." Even reputable investment institutions who have in a way secured your investments, still can get in troubles and will need some time to solve these problems. When your investments are diversified – the chances for everything to go down the drain become smaller.

And one more typical mistake – investments in collectibles will really pay off. If you are not buying Picasso or Dali, the value of your collection can be at great question at the moments of financial crisis. And we are very likely to have entered one. Do you think someone will be driving crazy about purchasing your bottle corks collection when the prices for fuel jump rocket high and insurance companies are in panic? If that are gold bars – this is another story.

The ultimate advice – though investment is a sphere of professionals and you should always resort to their help – be wise yourself. The best investment consultant will not feel sad for a split of a second if case YOU lose money. That is why combine their professional expertise and advice with your own brain – always think it over in simple terms and then make a decision. A perfect example is the phrase that cheated lots of investors "The real estate will always increase in price" Who told that? No matter who did that is now saying "Sorry, it was bad assumption." If at that moment the potential investor would asked himself or herself "Why the heck should this real estate always get higher in price?" – many people wouldn’t be sitting without money now.