And the best ways to avoid them ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ July 16, 2026 INVESTOR INSIGHTS View Online INVESTOR INSIGHTS Five (more) mistakes smart investors make Hi there, Late last year, we wrote about the five biggest mistakes we see clients make with their money. Judging by all the feedback, it was a crowd favourite. It’s one of our favourites, too, because fixing those mistakes can help a lot of you save a lot of money. So we decided to expand on that list with five more common — and avoidable — mistakes we see otherwise smart investors make. Mistake #1: Not treating all money equally For many people, a surprise bonus or an inheritance gets treated like an invitation to indulge, even if you’re falling behind on your RRSP contributions. Since you didn’t budget for this surprise money, it doesn’t count, right? This practice of treating money differently depending on how you earned it is called mental accounting. We’re not saying you should never have any fun. Found money is a welcome opportunity to treat yourself, but it’s also an opportunity to get ahead on your own financial planning. So along with that business class ticket or getting fancy tea sachets instead of the cheaper bags, maybe also put some of that extra money toward a down payment or your kid’s college fund. Mistake #2: Only hearing the echos in your chamber The internet makes it way too easy to find someone who agrees with your outlook on anything. Whatever you believe, you’ll find confirmation in some YouTube channel, Substack, podcast, or comment section — or all of the above. It becomes easy to think the whole world agrees with you, but all you’ve really done is built a personalized echo chamber. As nice as it is to be surrounded by like minds, echo chambers are a big part of confirmation bias. They enable you to find data supporting whatever you already believe, no matter how wrong it happens to be. For example, say you put a good chunk of money into a stock you feel good about. Suddenly every positive headline feels like proof you were right, while red flags barely register. Your brain isn't lying to you; it's just quietly filtering out anything that challenges what you already believe. If you’re wondering whether you’ve fallen down the rabbit hole, walk through your reasoning with someone you trust who can — gently — poke holes in your theory. Read what critics have to say. Ask yourself what it would take for you to be totally wrong. And don’t feel bad if you are! Professional investors bounce new ideas off their colleagues all the time for this very reason. Mistake #3: Overvaluing what you own This problem shows up all over the place. Take real estate: sellers will cling like shipwreck victims to an unreasonably high asking price. They ignore how the local market is actually doing, or major issues like whether their roof needs to be replaced. The result? At best, a missed sale. And if prices continue to drop, they can be forced to take an even steeper discount than the one they tried to avoid. It’s called the endowment effect, which just means valuing something you own way more than an identical thing owned by someone else. Sentimental value can often come into play here. For example, you may not pause before selling your late grandmother’s stock portfolio, but her wedding jewelry can be a different story. We’re not saying it’s wrong to feel attached to an asset, but if you do need to sell it, ask yourself or a trusted friend how much you’d be willing to pay as a buyer. If those numbers don’t line up, your perspective is quite possibly getting in the way. Mistake #4: Sticking to the status quo If you’re like a lot of Canadians, you opened your first chequing account at your parents’ bank. It’s easy and familiar, but decades later, you are still in the same place. You never end up taking the time to analyze the situation and determine if what was right for your parents is right for you. And if you do see problems, it’s easy to let the hurdles you’d have to jump to make a change convince you to stay where you are. As humans, we’re all inclined towards inertia, even when we see that another choice is clearly better for us. That can be especially true with portfolios. That’s why you should ask yourself, on a regular basis, whether your financial plan needs an overhaul. If the answer is “no,” think about why that is. If you’re sticking with something because it’s right for you, that’s great. But if you’re staying only to avoid the work that goes into making a change, you may be missing out on a lot of opportunity. Mistake #5: Losing perspective Say you’re shopping for ground beef so you can host a barbecue this weekend. Which choice sounds better: 75% lean meat or 25% fat? They’re exactly the same thing, but only one makes you start thinking about those little gummed-up plastic hearts doctors keep on their shelves to scare you into eating more oatmeal. The other sounds like it might even be healthy! That’s the framing effect, and it shows up in investing, too. Think about the way you react to losses compared to gains. The level of pain you feel when you lose $10,000 is a lot higher than the joy you feel when you gain $10,000. That imbalance can drive bad decisions — like holding onto a losing position longer than you should, or doubling down on an investment in the hope of increasing your gains. The solution is not to be a pessimist or an optimist, but to be both. Try to take emotions out of it. If you didn’t own the stock and it was available at the current price, would you buy it? Doing this well can be hard, but there are real benefits. The bottom line Like we said, these are common mistakes. Making them does not make you a failure, but avoiding them can help you be a success. There’s one common element you may have noticed throughout these issues: an outsider’s perspective often helps. As your advisors, we’re here to offer that whenever you need us — and even when you think you don’t. As always, if you have any questions or ideas, don’t hesitate to reach out. All the best, Steve Katuska Senior Director, Investment Research Did you like this newsletter? 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