Many people invest without adequately learning about the investment process or the different investment products and without considering what they really want to achieve over the long term.

These kinds of investors often react to the short-term vicissitudes of the markets, heed the advice of self-proclaimed gurus, buy “hot stocks” at exactly the wrong time, and subsequently end up never getting ahead.

Here are some of these so-called “market-chasing” behaviors:

1) No strategy
2) Buying individual stocks instead of creating a diversified portfolio
3) Investing in stocks instead of companies
4) Buying high
5) Selling low
6) Rapid turnover of investments
7) Acting on tips
8) Paying too much in fees and commissions
9) Too great a focus on tax avoidance
10) Unrealistic expectations
11) Neglect
12) Not understanding risk tolerance