Beware of "Slow Financial Suicide": Small Mistakes That Can Ruin Your Finances

JAKARTA, KOMPAS.com – Many people assume that financial ruin occurs due to one major erroneous decision. However, in practice, this condition more often happens gradually, through repeated small habits that go unnoticed. This phenomenon is termed “slow financial suicide”, an expression used to describe how everyday financial decisions that seem trivial can erode one’s financial condition over the long term. “Many people do not wake up one day and destroy their finances with a reckless decision. It is a slow process, small choices repeated over time,” he said, quoted from Business Today, Sunday (2/5/2026). Shah explained that various financial decisions often considered normal or “once in a while it’s fine” can actually become sources of long-term problems. Examples range from major spending on lifestyle to investment decisions not carefully planned. Some of them are as follows. However, in the long term, these habits can erode financial stability. “Individually, this does not look like a disaster. But over time, it erodes your financial security,” said Shah. One factor that worsens this condition is the illusion that high income automatically guarantees a healthy financial state. In reality, this is not always the case. Shah revealed that he often sees individuals with large incomes still experiencing financial stagnation. “I see this directly. People with good jobs, big salaries, still trapped financially because of this pattern,” he said.