Mar 26, 2026
A former financial advisor says his most expensive mistake wasn’t a bad investment—it was waiting too long on the sidelines.
Humphrey Yang, who now shares money advice with millions online, recently calculated that the seemingly safe habits he had in his 20s and early 30s cost him a fortune.
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“For 10 years I thought I was being smart… when in fact there were five things I was doing subconsciously that ended up costing me a lot of money,” he said. “Some of these mistakes will eventually cost me $750,000 or more over the course of my career (1).”
Here are the five common bad habits that derailed his and millions of other people’s finances.
If I can't get rich fast, why even bother
In his early 20s, Yang thought the only way to truly build wealth was to join a hot company before it went public or start a business.
It wasn’t until later that he realized that this was the wrong mindset. “What I completely neglected from the ages of 21 to 26 was investing in index funds,” he said. “I didn't really understand that 8% was quite a lot and I thought it was a little bit boring.”
Yang’s estimates may even be conservative. The S&P 500 has historically returned about 10% annually (2).
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Inheriting a scarcity mindset
Yang’s upbringing also played a role in him avoiding the stock market. He claims his dad had a deeply ingrained fear of losing money, shaped by growing up poor in war-torn China, and that this likely contributed to his own “scarcity mindset around money.”
“What people don’t tell you online is that a lot of your beliefs and behaviors around money are inherited from your parents,” he said.
For Yang, this came at a steep cost. “Even if I had just invested $500 a month… that would have been around $31,000 in total for those five years that I wasn't investing,” he said. “If I just left it alone in a basic S&P 500 index fund, by the time I'm 65, it would be worth anywhere from $750,000 to over a million.”
Not giving your money a job
When Yang finally started investing, he still kept the majority of his savings in cash. This, he recognizes, wasn’t just due to fear. One of the biggest issues was that he didn’t have a clear plan.
The right approach, says Yang, is to give a job to every one of your dollars, such as money for emergencies and funding specific long-term goals.
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“Ask yourself, what is every dollar for. ‘Just in case’ should not be an acceptable answer,” he says. “But let's say you want to save for a down payment on a house in two or three years. That would be acceptable. Anything that doesn't have a purpose should be invested or at least sitting in a high-yield savings account.”
Read More: Dave Ramsey says this 7-step plan ‘works every single time’ to kill debt, get rich in America — and that ‘anyone’ can do it
Misunderstanding risk
Yang believed avoiding or limiting exposure to the market meant playing it safe. He later realized the real “wealth killer” is inflation and missing out on years of potential growth.
“Inflation erodes your purchasing power about 2.5 to 3% every year (3). So, in about 24 years that means you will lose about half the value of your purchasing power in dollars,” he said. “And… if your money isn't invested in anything, well, that money could be working for you elsewhere, earning you actual money.”
Conducive social circles
Yang also believes his social circle contributed to his late start to investing. In his early 20s, he and his friends never discussed investing or wealth building. They just played video games and wanted to have a good time.
“Try taking a look at the people that you surround yourself with. If none of them are talking about wealth building or investing, you might want to look at different online communities or in person where people are having these conversations that you really want to be a part of,” he said.
That doesn’t mean ditching your friends, adds Yang, but also surrounding yourself with people conducive to wealth building.
The bottom line
Yang’s experience shows how small, seemingly harmless habits can cost you hundreds of thousands over time. The good news? They’re fixable.
Yes, Yang missed out on a potential fortune by not recognizing sooner that his beliefs were flawed. However, the damage would have been far worse had he not acknowledged his mistakes when he did and changed course.
Article sources
We rely only on vetted sources and credible third-party reporting. For details, see our editorial ethics and guidelines.
Humphrey Yang on YouTube (1); Fidelity (2); Trading Economics (3)
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Daniel Liberto is a financial journalist with over 10 years of experience covering markets, investing, and the economy. He writes for global publications and specializes in making complex financial topics clear and accessible to all readers.
