Its hard to understand all of the rules and fine print on all of our policies since we have limited time. But its imperative you take the time to become familiar with your coverage. Go through your mortgage, note, insurance, bank statements, employment contract, tax deductions, shareholders agreementat least once, then briefly once a year after that. You dont need to review all documents at once; take one every few days until youre done. Dont trust others to make the right wealth building decisions for you instead of taking responsibility yourself, a pitfall too common for too many people make. Youre responsible for your own finances. Responsibility is the freedom to respond.

Case in point: One of my mentors is very well known and respected. He invested his entire retirement fund with an investor. The investor was featured in a publication and bragged a lot throughout the interview and raised some red flags. The FCC found out he was no longer successfully trading and had indeed lied to his family and the public about his companys trading history. My mentor lost all of his savings for retirement with this investor and it took him years to get back on his feet. Eventually he was standing again, because he took responsibility.

Insuranceknow your policies intimately
Whether its homeowners, investment, car, health or another type of insurance, you need to know exactly what youre covered for. There are always exclusions and it always seems like the exclusions apply to you. Know what youve got.