# Top Investing Mistakes to Avoid in 2026

An episode of [Earn Your Leisure](https://invisiblenetwork.ai/podcast/1450211392), 27 Dec 2025, 10 min.

Audio: https://podtrac.com/pts/redirect.mp3/traffic.omny.fm/d/clips/e73c998e-6e60-432f-8610-ae210140c5b1/8dbc4f54-a337-4481-9ef2-b355012b0a3d/029cb5c7-12e8-43fe-a38f-b3c0010a1d44/audio.mp3?utm_source=Podcast&in_playlist=eac4c628-29cb-469a-b5c8-b355012b0a48

Are you ready for 2026? In this Market Mondays clip, Rashad Bilal, Ian Dunlap, and Troy Millings dive deep into the biggest mistakes investors might make in the upcoming year—and how to avoid them. Whether you’re just starting your investment journey or looking to refine your strategy, this discussion delivers blunt, practical advice to help you prepare for seismic changes ahead. Ian Dunlap emphasizes the importance of accumulating shares, knowing your “freedom number,” and tuning out distracting online noise. He highlights how top entrepreneurs—like Magic Johnson and Gary Vee—are doubling down because the financial landscape is about to shift. Ian’s no-nonsense approach: find a way to acquire at least 2,000–3,000 shares and stay focused! Troy Millings warns against “gossip trading”—making investment decisions based on hearsay or hype, rather than solid research. He stresses the danger of treating your brokerage account like a gambling app, and why discipline, education, and conviction matter more than ever. Troy recommends starting small, truly understanding the businesses you invest in, and building knowledge for long-term success. Rashad Bilal brings a practical blueprint, sharing 10 essential steps every investor should follow in 2026: • Create a budget using popular apps like YNAB, Monarch Money, or Rocket Money • Set up systematic monthly investing (dollar cost averaging) • Maximize retirement contributions for tax benefits • Regularly review and update all beneficiaries • Commit to continuous education by watching one documentary a week and reading one book every 60 days • Map out actionable, accountable goals based on the “12 Week Year” strategy The crew agrees: the biggest investor mistake is not having a clear plan and the discipline to stick to it. If you want to set yourself up for real financial success in 2026, this conversation is your actionable guide! 👇 Drop your freedom number for 2026 in the comments and let us know what steps you’re taking to lock in your future. *Be sure to subscribe for more Market Mondays insights on wealth-building and financial mastery!* #MarketMondays #Investing2026 #MoneyMistakes #FinancialFreedom #RashadBilal #IanDunlap #TroyMillings #WealthBuilding #PersonalFinance #StockMarket #InvestmentTips #FinancialPlanning See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

## Transcript

[0:00] Speaker 1: What if some of the biggest mistakes investors can make
[0:02] Speaker 1: in twenty twenty six.
[0:05] Speaker 2: I wanna be very honest and get back to the
[0:09] Speaker 2: old style of how I used to be things and
[0:11] Speaker 2: super blunt about it. Number one is not making the
[0:15] Speaker 2: decision next year to acquire two or three thousand shares
[0:19] Speaker 2: for yourself personally. I know some people are gonna say,
[0:22] Speaker 2: I don't have the capital to do it, But find
[0:26] Speaker 2: a way, cause I think next year is probably gonna
[0:29] Speaker 2: be the most interesting year in investing that we've had,
[0:33] Speaker 2: probably since twenty twenty. Number two, double down on what
[0:39] Speaker 2: your freedom number is and put a lot of cash
[0:41] Speaker 2: into making that a reality. They just told you they're
[0:44] Speaker 2: working like crazy. Shout to the interviews y'all got coming out.
[0:47] Speaker 2: I won't say nothing, but they're working hard. Magic Johnson
[0:51] Speaker 2: told you that invest fest, Gary Ve working hard.
[0:54] Speaker 3: Peter two.
[0:55] Speaker 2: Every top entrepreneur is busting ass right now, and that's
[1:00] Speaker 2: because there's gonna be a seismic change that comes in
[1:04] Speaker 2: twenty six and twenty seven. Now's not the time to
[1:06] Speaker 2: play or get comfortable with ever success you have accumulated
[1:10] Speaker 2: from twenty twenty through now, because you're going to need
[1:12] Speaker 2: more than twenty six and twenty seven. Lastly, I will
[1:17] Speaker 2: say you gotta block out all the noise. All that
[1:21] Speaker 2: noise is online. I would say this, and Rashada and
[1:24] Speaker 2: I talked about it on Blackout. Troy does an amazing
[1:26] Speaker 2: job of it of staying off social You probably need
[1:31] Speaker 2: to spend sixty percent less time on social media. In
[1:34] Speaker 2: twenty twenty six, Jake Paul ran up one hundred million
[1:39] Speaker 2: and Anthony Joshua ran up ninety but he gotta pay
[1:42] Speaker 2: forty five in taxes. These big numbers are being thrown
[1:45] Speaker 2: around for a reason. So I'm begging you right now
[1:48] Speaker 2: lock in for twenty twenty six, and I want everyone
[1:51] Speaker 2: to put in chat. What is your freedom number for
[1:54] Speaker 2: twenty twenty six? What do you guys think biggest mistakes are?
[2:00] Speaker 2: It's yeah, biggest mistakes.
[2:04] Speaker 4: I think trading off a hairsay like it's like that
[2:09] Speaker 4: memes stop craze, but a little bit more elevated than that.
[2:12] Speaker 3: It's like, yo, I saw this company.
[2:13] Speaker 4: I heard them say this company, and let me just
[2:15] Speaker 4: invest in it, not really knowing anything from a technical
[2:18] Speaker 4: stud like just I'm just doing it. I think a
[2:22] Speaker 4: lot of times when people get early success, they think
[2:24] Speaker 4: that that short term success can lead into long term
[2:27] Speaker 4: wealth strategy, and they start doing things like overtrading, start
[2:31] Speaker 4: taking you know, same day options trades, not having any idea,
[2:36] Speaker 4: just trying to replicate the feeling of what they had
[2:38] Speaker 4: in that short term win. And that's when people lose money.
[2:43] Speaker 4: And we're seeing that more and more. And I think
[2:46] Speaker 4: if we don't get it right, if we're not disciplined,
[2:48] Speaker 4: if we don't have a proper approach, if we don't
[2:50] Speaker 4: have a plan, it's only going to get worse. Because
[2:54] Speaker 4: and even when talking to Vlad and we're talking about
[2:57] Speaker 4: predictive markets, people are treating their brokers account like it's
[3:02] Speaker 4: fan duel or it's DraftKings, and it's not. And so
[3:07] Speaker 4: you've got to you gotta be disciplined about this, but
[3:10] Speaker 4: you actually have to to know.
[3:12] Speaker 3: Knowing is important.
[3:14] Speaker 4: Like we can overstate it and we can, it's important
[3:17] Speaker 4: to know what you're invested in. Yes, get to a
[3:20] Speaker 4: thousand shares, let's start with getting to five and understanding
[3:23] Speaker 4: what the company you just invested in does, right, Because
[3:26] Speaker 4: the more understanding you have, the more education you have
[3:28] Speaker 4: around it, the more conviction you have.
[3:30] Speaker 3: When people start to doubt what you're saying.
[3:32] Speaker 4: I'm only speaking from experience, right, Like literally, you've seen
[3:37] Speaker 4: this over the past six year. As we say something,
[3:39] Speaker 4: I'm not budgeting on that because I believe in what
[3:41] Speaker 4: I'm saying. If it's a great company that doesn't have
[3:45] Speaker 4: a great year, fun but a lot of times these
[3:47] Speaker 4: are great companies that are having great years because there's
[3:49] Speaker 4: conviction education behind that.
[3:51] Speaker 3: So be disciplined in it.
[3:53] Speaker 4: Don't gossip trade right, really understand what you're doing and why.
[3:57] Speaker 2: You're doing it shoddy. What your top mistakes that people
[4:01] Speaker 2: can make in twenty twenty.
[4:02] Speaker 1: Six, Well, I'm wanting to do something. I actually put
[4:06] Speaker 1: together a list of things that people should do.
[4:10] Speaker 3: Okay, I love it.
[4:12] Speaker 1: Yeah, because I think that that's important to kind of
[4:15] Speaker 1: have some level of a blueprint. The biggest mistake I
[4:17] Speaker 1: think is not having a plan. So with that being said,
[4:20] Speaker 1: I put together ten things I think everybody should do
[4:22] Speaker 1: in twenty twenty six. And that's the first thing is
[4:24] Speaker 1: put together a budget and a few budgeting apps for
[4:29] Speaker 1: you if you're interested. Why inab you need a budget
[4:34] Speaker 1: Monarch Money, Rocket Money, Capital Money, every Dollar, pocket Guard,
[4:40] Speaker 1: good budget and simplify by Quicken so I mean you
[4:44] Speaker 1: could what I used to do is just pin and paper.
[4:47] Speaker 3: Yeah right, I think that that's the best way.
[4:49] Speaker 1: But if you actually want some level of like digital
[4:53] Speaker 1: help in it, those are all sites that you can
[4:56] Speaker 1: use or apps that you can use for budgeting.
[4:59] Speaker 3: That's the first thing.
[5:00] Speaker 1: The second thing is to set up a systematic dollar
[5:02] Speaker 1: cost averaging plan to invest every single month, especially if
[5:08] Speaker 1: you're first starting out, So whether that's the fifteenth traditional
[5:12] Speaker 1: usually it should be around the time you get paid,
[5:15] Speaker 1: So if you get paid on the twelfth, then try
[5:17] Speaker 1: to do it on the fifteenth. Set up a retirement
[5:21] Speaker 1: account if you don't have one, and if you do
[5:23] Speaker 1: have one, try to contribute more so you can benefit
[5:27] Speaker 1: from the tax savings from that. Review all your beneficiaries,
[5:32] Speaker 1: that's important. That's a good one, or not just life insurance,
[5:36] Speaker 1: but also even like your bank account and broke Wis
[5:39] Speaker 1: account and anything that you have that's going to get
[5:41] Speaker 1: passed on to somebody. Review the beneficiaries, keep the beneficiaries
[5:44] Speaker 1: updated because you never know. Commit to one. Commit to
[5:50] Speaker 1: your education. I recommend one documentary a week and one
[5:55] Speaker 1: book every sixty days, so that would be that. I
[5:58] Speaker 1: don't think that that's too hard to accomplish, especially you
[6:01] Speaker 1: could listen to an audiobook. But the average person, they said,
[6:05] Speaker 1: doesn't read any books a year, and I think the
[6:08] Speaker 1: average CEO reads like two books a month. So if
[6:12] Speaker 1: you start to really dedicate to one book every sixty days,
[6:16] Speaker 1: that's six books a year.
[6:18] Speaker 3: You're off to a good start.
[6:19] Speaker 1: And like I said, the documentary, I think the documentaries
[6:22] Speaker 1: they just expand your horizon and have you think a
[6:26] Speaker 1: little differently. And there's so many great documentaries that you
[6:28] Speaker 1: can just find on YouTube and Netflix. So one documentary
[6:31] Speaker 1: a week, one book every sixty days, map out your
[6:35] Speaker 1: goal for the next twelve months, but do it in
[6:39] Speaker 1: a week. I think everybody should read the book twelve
[6:42] Speaker 1: week Year.
[6:42] Speaker 3: Yeah, it's a really good book.
[6:44] Speaker 1: You don't just map out your goal and just say
[6:45] Speaker 1: I want to make one hundred thousand dollars. I want
[6:47] Speaker 1: to make five hundred thousand dollars. That's not really a goal,
[6:49] Speaker 1: that's a wish. There's actually a systematic way to actually
[6:51] Speaker 1: go about that. We've broke this down at EU University,
[6:53] Speaker 1: but that book actually explains it how. The purpose of
[6:56] Speaker 1: the book is that you break the year into micro
[7:01] Speaker 1: years and you have like goals, like weekly goals, bi
[7:05] Speaker 1: weekly goals. That helps you get to the goal quicker.
[7:09] Speaker 1: And then you actually have to list the action steps
[7:12] Speaker 1: of how you're actually going to accomplish the goal, because,
[7:14] Speaker 1: like I said, you make I'm gonna make five hundred
[7:16] Speaker 1: thousand dollars a year. What does that really mean? That
[7:20] Speaker 1: doesn't that that's not a goal, Like I said, that's
[7:22] Speaker 1: a wish. You got to actually list out the actionable
[7:25] Speaker 1: steps that you need to take to make five hundred
[7:27] Speaker 1: thousand dollars a year. Then you got to hold yourself
[7:29] Speaker 1: accountable on a short term basis, preferably weekly to see
[7:33] Speaker 1: if you're actually hitting those numbers or not. So everybody
[7:35] Speaker 1: should should commit to that.
[7:36] Speaker 3: We won't have accountability partners in that. Yeah, for sure,

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