<prompt> Human: Youre doing it wrong! Not you, singular; but you, collectively. Among you, there are people undermining their personal wealth by doing things that seem like good ideas, but, in hindsight...dont really work out that way.Here are ten things you might be doing, and why not to do them. Weve covered some of these in other posts, so this is primarily a handy checklist. If you are not doing any of these, take a victory lap!1. Spending more than you make. No explanation needed. Dont do that! Even if you like buying things, or dont have much income, or hope to get a better job soon. Make a budget, and stick to it. Make automatic savings contributions before you even look at your checking account balance. Establish and maintain an emergency fund. If you rely on a payday loan to avoid eviction, youre doing it wrong.2. Financing a car that is too expensive For example, one that costs almost as much as your annual take-home pay. Even if its really cool, or one youve always wanted, or you want a warranty. Please dont do that. You cant afford it; youll be underwater and cant pay off the loan even if you sell the car; your insurance will be too expensive. You can get a reliable used car for under 10,000. 3. Carrying a balance on your interest-bearing credit card, because you think it improves your credit history score It doesnt. You just pay interest. You want to use a card to generate positive history, but you also want to pay off an interest-accruing card in full. Every month. No exceptions. And yes, that means you cant use credit to finance your lifestyle see point 1. 4. Taking out a loan to establish your credit history. You do not have to do that, when you can do the same thing with a credit card that you pay no interest on. Taking out a car loan as your first credit transaction is a very expensive mistake. A car loan with a double-digit interest rate means you are doing it wrong. 5. Not taking the match from your 401k. Even if you watched John Olivers show about 401k fees and you are now a born-again mutual fund expense watcher...please, please take any match your employer gives in your 401k. Even if the fund choices have 2 fees, its still free money. Even if you have expensive credit card debt, which you shouldnt, the match is probably still the right move. You could be making 50 one-time gain on your money; that will cover a lot of fees. 6. Cashing out retirement funds to pay for things, or when you change jobs. This is almost never a good idea. Even if you can do it, you shouldnt. That 20,000 in the 401k from the job you just left looks like it might be a good way to make a down payment on a house. Dont be tempted. It will be much more valuable to you as 100,000 when you retire, than as the 12,000 youd be left with after paying taxes and penalties on it in the 25 federal and 5 state bracket. 7. Buying a house only to avoid throwing away money on rent. You need to live somewhere. Renting is almost always cheaper if you arent sure where you want to live two, three or even five years in the future. Your transaction costs to purchase and then sell a property are thrown away, as are your payment towards interest, taxes, insurance, maintenance and repairs. Renting it out later isnt as easy or profitable as it sounds, either. Even in a hot market, appreciation is not guaranteed, and major repair expenses are not always avoidable. Buy a house if you can afford to, and you know you want to live somewhere indefinitely, not to save on monthly payments. Edit: owning a house is financially better as you own it longer. Over a short interval, monthly payment calculations alone are not enough to prove ownership is financially better than renting.8. Co-signing loans you shouldnt. While there can be some limited reasons to co-sign a loan, e.g. for your child, never co-sign a loan just because your significant other has no credit, or your parents want a better interest rate. If they need a co-signer, its because they are a poor credit risk. Once you co-sign, you are on the hook for the whole balance, even if you dont have access to what the money went towards. 9. Paying a financial planner to invest your money in a mutual fund with a 5 up-front fee Despite what you might have been told, this is never necessary, and doesnt help you in any way. You can buy alternatives with no up-front fees, and lower ongoing expenses. 10. Buying whole life insurance from someone you knew in college to jump-start your financial future, even if you have no dependents. You do not even need life insurance until you have responsibilities after your death. If and when you do have them, term life insurance is much more cost-effective. Politely decline the invitation to a free financial planning session from your old fraternity brother. I hope you found this helpful, and you didnt see yourself in any of these. Extra points if you can use these to help your friends and family as well!  <response>: my two days in hospital in a non profit cost 96,000 make sure you have insurance 