What are your personal finance strengths and weaknesses?

No Credit Needed posted his response to Reader Feedback Request #1: What are your personal finance strengths and weaknesses and encouraged bloggers to write about this topic, so I thought I’d add my two cents.

Personal Finance Strengths – I’m dedicated and driven not to have debt and to become financially independent. I’ve seen and lived through my mother the stress of being in debt so I know I will never allow myself to be in that situation - I’d sell everything I own before I’d incur any debt other than a mortgage. And to be honest the idea of mortgage debt even scares me a little.

Another personal finance strength of mine is that I have been able to put things in perspective and see the big pictures which makes me willing to make wise money choices (a more pc term for sacrifices). I’m more than willing to live below my means to ensure that I can save for my future - be it short term or long term future. I think these strengths make me IMHO an amazing saver.

Personal Finance Weakness – My biggest weakness is that I’m too conservative. While I think I’m an amazing saver, I’m not a good investor. I shy away from risks, and in fact it was only with in the last two years that I started investing in mutual funds instead of FDIC insured savings accounts. I work hard for my money and make wise money choices and hate the idea of loosing even a dime – trust me this current market has been rough on me since I invested in mutual funds. With this current economy and market I have been pretty proud of how well I’ve managed the storm. My retirement accounts keep showing negative growth and I haven’t completely freaked out yet…so maybe there’s hope for me yet.

I know I need to learn more about investing and take a deep breath and just do it. I think this is also my biggest obstacle to true financial independence where my interest/portfolio income = my desired life style.