Why do we keep making bad investments? Maybe it's because of the way our brains are wired up, says Jason Zweig, author of Your Money and Your Brain.

Zweig gives eight tips CNN Money, just warnings on what to watch out for. His advice is aimed at tuning the brain into the risks.

Be careful of investing in stocks just because they delivered big years ago. Lightning seldom strikes twice. And what out for sales reps who tell you things like "this can't miss" or "it's a sure bet". As a rule of thumb, if something sounds too good to be true, it usually is. Never make investment decisions in the heat of the moment. Try not to go with the herd, and make sure you have someone there who can argue against ideas that everyone likes. If nothing else, it will get you thinking. Keep most of your money in a low-cost, diversified index fund. Watch your cues, think everything through carefully and goad yourself with provocative questions (e.g. apart from this latest increase in the stock price, what's changed?) and track your feelings.

CNN Money also has a good interview on this issue with Nobel laureate Daniel Kahneman. He says sometimes our brains can't really discern risk.

"How people respond to a risk depends partly on how it is described," Kahneman says. "An investment said to have an 80 per cent chance of success sounds far more attractive than one with a 20 per cent chance of failure. The mind can't easily recognize that they are the same. "