[b]Kelly Ruggles[/b] is the President and Founder of American Reliance Group Inc. in Spokane, WA. American Reliance Group (ARG) Inc. is a financial planning and management firm which primarily serves the needs of retirees and pre-retirees. One of Kelly's goals is to reduce the number of mistakes individuals make when investing, below he mentions some of the most common investing mistakes made.

Trying to pick the best group of stocks- Kelly states that many individuals make mistakes when searching for the next hot group of stocks. He says that if anyone invests on the advice of a media person’s recommendation or a broker, he/she is gambling with their money. According to studies, when professionals try to outperform the market, they end up under performing it, causing investors to lose money.

Track record investing- Some individuals invest on the basis of past performance of an investment. This is not what you want to do. If an investment was beneficial in the past, it does not mean that it will do well in the future.

Thinking that they are diversified- Many individuals believe they have numerous items on their statement, and thus they are diversified, having a lesser chance of losses. But this is not always true. If someone has many items in his/her statement, and all items are in the same sectors, they are not diversified. Stocks in similar sectors of the economy often move together.

Procrastination- Kelly states that when people are asked about the best time to make a good investment decision, many say 'now' is always the best time. Unfortunately, for many investors, it is easier to make a bad decision worse by continuing the destructive process rather than facing it. The longer you speculate and gamble with your money, the more it can cost you.

[b]Kelly[/b] hopes that whenever you invest, you will be able to avoid these common mistakes. To read more about Kelly Ruggles, browse through www.kellyruggles.com.