Have your personal finances ever gotten clobbered by an asset class bubble?

If your portfolio blew up in 2000 when Internet stocks imploded, or if you bought a home between 2004 and 2006 and now find yourself upside down in your mortgage, you know firsthand the devastating effects of an asset class bubble.

Asset class bubbles defy easy explanation and identification. There is no defining threshold that announces the beginning of effervescent economic conditions, and no easily identifiable tipping point that precedes the inevitable pop.

However, most bubbles share certain characteristics that set boom-and-bust cycles apart from the supply-and-demand dynamics that normally govern most markets.

In his recent book, "Boombustology: Spotting financial bubbles before they burst," Vikram Mansharamani took a multi-disciplinary approach to studying bubbles and identified traits shared by five infamous boom-and-bust cycles.

Watch out for these five signs of an asset class bubble.