Not understanding time-value of money in my early 20's and paying-down low interest debt instead of investing.
I concentrated too much on minimizing long-term interest expense. I didn't think about how the money I was using to pay-down principal could have returned income over the long term. The real estate asset I was paying on hasn't appreciated at all in 20 years. I could have seen major investment returns on that money which would far exceed the interest expense I alleviated.