The deVere Group polled 880 clients that had more than $1 million in assets to find investing errors they made prior to seeking professional financial advise.

The number one investing mistake for 23 percent of clients was failing to adequately diversify their portfolio, the study found.

Twenty-two percent of clients polled said investing without a plan was their biggest error, followed by 20 percent of clients saying making emotional decisions was their mistake. Sixteen percent answered failing to regularly review their portfolio, and 14 percent claimed it was focusing too heavily on the history of an investment’s returns were their errors. 

Impatience, investing near the top of the market, adhering to recommendations from acquaintances, and paying tax on the investments unnecessarily were cited as errors by five percent of clients polled.

“Due to the complexities of investing and the potentially devastating effects of committing expensive avoidable errors, the best thing to do is to seek advice from a professional independent financial advisor who will help circumnavigate the common and not-so-common pitfalls,” said Nigel Green, deVere’s founder and chief executive. “Avoiding just one of these mistakes, and there are many others, can literally make the difference between poverty and financial freedom.”