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The silent money killers: Are you making these 3 mistakes?

Submitted by admin on June 7th, 2025

Horror stories can happen without the presence of monsters. Such losses are due to hype, EMI payments, and not starting to invest on time. Discover three investors whose decisions turned into regret because of their emotions.

In finance, fear is sometimes very quiet. At times, it appears as something exciting.

The real concern is not related to ghosts. What results are years spent waiting for things to get better, ruined financial standing, and sadness.

Was there ever something more frightening than a haunted house?

It’s unfortunate that your Rs 50,000 disappeared after you didn’t doubt the advice of employees. A dream home loan is not approved since the EMI payments from the loan eat up all your savings. In five years, those who didn’t act fast ended up patiently watching others make money step by step.

These are true horror stories when it comes to money. They do not attract massive attention in the news. Nevertheless, they slowly influence peoples’ lives.

What’s worse? There’s no involvement of bad luck in astrology. They involved mental blindness. Emotional traps. All criminal journeys begin when someone without proper guidelines tries to act the right way.

1. This company’s stock caused a Rs 50,000 loss for us.

Ritesh, who is 29, was included in a Telegram group where there were ‘stock wizards’. The voice in the alert made it clear that things had to be dealt with as soon as possible. This stock priced at Rs 2 will go up to Rs 100. Invest your money before the media reveals the information. At that point, he did not have any experience buying stocks. That seemed to me like a quick route to make up for what he had missed out on before. Rs 50,000 was the amount he contributed. During those days, the price of the stock rose dramatically. Then crashed. He found it difficult to persuade people. The market did not see any interested buyers. The group we use for Telegram disappeared.

What happened? There was no plain luck involved in this unfortunate event. This was FOMO the Fear of Missing Out appearing as something sensible. Reason didn’t help his situation because of the intensity of his emotions. He failed to look into the company’s financial records.

He did not look into the people who were responsible for the company. He didn’t pay attention to the fact that others were buying while he held his positions.

No one should think that a rally in stocks happens simply because someone mentioned them in a group chat. Companies go up when their sales grow, their profits increase, and more individuals wish to invest. If someone claims a company will be a multi-bagger, it is time to reconsider. Since doing your homework is key to real investing, rushing to make decisions won’t help.

What are the solutions for this issue? Always follow a consistent way of working. Either start by understanding potential companies, or try out mutual funds to let professionals do the search for you. Try not to follow aesthetic advice. Follow facts. Even if you can’t do everything I mentioned, pick an equity fund that is easy to follow, has different investments and has low fees.

2. The snowball effect of EMI Payments that Ruined a Credit Score

Ankita made Rs 75,000 a month at the age of 30 and felt happy being independent. She purchased a car for herself. After that, a phone is added. Following that, we need to replace the couch. For the last two years, I was using EMI till I found out that some of them were called “zero cost” plans. Managing the EMIs did not seem difficult. Her job disappeared quickly without warning, and she failed to save a buffer fund, which meant everything went wrong for her.

There were several cases where my payments bounced when trying to pay. That blow to her finances really hurt her credit score. She did land a job and use the income to cover her expenses. Six months after the visit, she went ahead and applied for a loan to buy a home. The confirmation was sent to me much later than the rejection email.

What happened? She didn’t purchase more things than necessary. She tried to do too many things at one time. This is an example of how people prefer to focus on the present rather than the future. We place more importance on comfort now instead of preparing for what comes in the future. When you are paying for a lot of EMIs, you are unprepared for any unexpected expenses.

It takes time to create a strong credit score, but it could tumble in just a few weeks. Don’t let your EMI amount exceed 30% of what you make every month. There is a catch to “zero-cost” EMIs: they cut down on your chances to relax.

How can this issue be handled? Create an emergency fund to make sure you are capable of at least 3 months of your emergency installments. Be sure not to confuse if you can buy something once with if you can cover the same expense as things become more difficult.

3. Plans for an SIP That Wouldn’t Start and All the Money it Cost

Sahil was always planning to begin saving. Whenever a new month started, he would open the mutual fund app, look around, and then closed it. He said in his head that he would start once there was more money, fewer worries, or a higher job position. At the same time, Priya opened a Rs 5,000 per month SIP in 2019. In just three years, she managed to save more than Rs 6.5 lakhs. There were plans in Sahil’s mind for things to come. Nothing more.

Now, gold loan borrowers can take a loan amounting to up to Rs 2.5 lakh with a lower max margin requirement from banks and NBFCs – what this means.

What happened? It’s a typical case of procrastination. We tend to believe that we will stick with our plans, but we fail to realize the way time can change things.

The reality about investing: Your time is an important factor. The film’s success lies on the lead actor. When you invest Rs 5,000 each month for 20 years at 12%, you can earn around Rs 50 lakh. If you start the process when you are 25? It falls roughly to Rs 25 lakh. All that reduction of success happened just because Sahil didn’t decide when he was supposed to.

How can this issue be handled? Let a computer handle your SIP. Though it may only be Rs 1,000 each month, developing the habit will benefit you in the long run. Later down the road, it’s possible to increase, but you cannot go back once the unexpected happens.

So, what ties these stories together?

Each one starts with good intentions. None of these people were reckless. But all of them let emotion lead over structure. That’s the real villain.

Here’s the reality: Your finances don’t collapse overnight. They erode slowly by ignoring risk, by delaying action, and by assuming tomorrow will fix today’s mistakes.

Three simple rules to hold on to:

If it feels urgent, pause. Urgency is a trap.

Debt is a commitment, not a tool for lifestyle upgrades. Make debt your friend, not foe.

The best time to invest was yesterday. The next best time is right now.

Scared money loses. Smart money plans.

Fear in finance isn’t always loud. Sometimes, it’s disguised as excitement. Sometimes, it sounds like “next month.” But the good news? These aren’t irreversible stories.

Ritesh can rebuild. Ankita can bounce back. Sahil can still start.

If you saw a version of yourself in one of these stories, take that as a sign. Your story can still end differently. But only if you start rewriting it now.

Chinmayee P Kumar is a finance-focused content professional with a sharp eye for investor communication and storytelling. She specializes in simplifying complex investment topics across equity research, personal finance, and wealth management for a diverse audience from first-time investors to seasoned market participants.