Ask most people what they want from their investments and the answer usually comes back quickly. A good return. That is understandable. Returns are easy to measure, easy to compare and endlessly discussed. But I think it starts the investment conversation in the wrong place. The more important question is: What is the investment actually for? That might sound obvious, but it changes almost everything. An investment is rarely an end in itself. It exists to help fund something.

You will probably never eliminate all 10 of these financial mindset traps. None of us will. But if you have a clear financial direction, a sensible structure and someone helping you challenge the decisions that matter, those traps become much easier to recognise before they become expensive mistakes.