The Psychology of Money

Your friends are idiots. Their personal finances are a mess, they’re delusional about their spending, and most of them don’t even max out their 401(k).  The problem is: you’re probably just like them.

Our psychological makeup works against us, giving us reasons to put off exercising or eating healthier. The same behavior causes us to delay setting up our savings plan, and makes us overpay on big-ticket items, even though those decisions cost us thousands of dollars.

I’ve written a few articles on how to destroy the barriers that get in the way of you leading a Rich life. And a lot more on the psychology of investing and personal finance.

Overcoming passive barriers

• The Psychology of Passive Barriers: Why your friends don’t save money, eat healthier, or clean their garages. If you only read one post on this site, read this one.
• Barriers are your enemy. My original article on overcoming barriers.
• Use barriers to prevent yourself from spending money. A psychological hack to save you money.

The psychology of money and success

• 7 lies we tell ourselves about money. How many are you guilty of?
• Why do delusional people think their spending will be different than other people’s?
• High earners in debt. A high income solves most problems, but not for everybody.
• The psychology of making huge career jumps. Don’t let your friends’ judgements stop you from being successful.
• The Last Mile of Saving. A guest post from DailyWorth on the psychology of money, going the last mile and locking in our savings.
• Rebalancing & asset allocation: critical for investing. So why don’t you do it?. What you need to know about rebalancing your portfolio.

Even more investor psychology articles

• 20 questions that your financially unprepared friends are afraid of. Warning: asking these questions may leave you with fewer friends.
• Education is not the solution to all personal-finance problems
• A good example of why you shouldn’t try to pick stocks
• “Ugh, why don’t fat people just eat less?”
• Is frugality about saving money or making you feel less guilty?
• Why my friend invests in an insanely expensive fund and why I don’t. Answer: because he’d rather be sexy than rich.

Must-read psychology books

Here are some reviews of books on behavioral psychology that I love.

• A fantastic book on behavioral psychology: Sway ($1,000 giveaway). How a Hot Girl Can Cost You $10,000 and other stories.
• Mental Accounting: Why Smart People Make Big Money Mistakes. Why people overpay on big-ticket items.

If you like these, you can find more of my favorite books on psychology here.

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