Your Money and Your Brain: How the New Science of Neuroeconomics Can Help Make You Rich by Jason Zweig
Posted by admin on Dec 2, 2007
By James East
The above is the premise of Jason Zweig’s Your Money & Your Brain. As the research continues to mount that we are indeed more hardwired like our animal ancestors than we care to admit, it helps to know these hardwired systems in ourselves to more understand our response mechanisms that can and do trigger our emotions and ultimately our actions. To assist in this effort, the book highlights and goes into some detail of the more recognized emotions like Greed, Fear, Regret, and Confidence of which all play on our performance in life, as well, and even more so in optimizing our wealth in the investing process. Since the investment world and markets themselves are full of triggers that fool our brains into taking actions that in the end are not good for wealth optimization, this book will help you understand some of these triggers and hopefully avoid some of the actions they promote.
It was a treat to read this very well written (read as not too technical) on the pitfalls of our decision making and how we sometimes unknowingly do things that are against our own best interests. To illustrate with one of the topics of Confidence, we are hardwired to be confident because if we weren’t we would more often then not be paralyzed to never be able to make a decision. However; when it comes to investments, we are mostly too confident in our own abilities which itself leads to overconfidence. For example, we believe that are own selected lottery ticket has a better chance of winning than someone else’s selected ticket even though all of us know that the odds are the same for everyone. But when asked to give your ticket up for someone else’s, the response is usually — no way. This fact has been tested over and over with the same conclusion that we believe our own cognitive skills or luck is better than someone other than ourselves. In the investment world, the path to ruin is full of disasters where investors were overconfident. Let us just be reminded of the “.com” boom or Long Term Capital Management episode.
Or let’s take another look and topic in the book of Risk. What is your Risk tolerance? This may entirely depend on what your mood was when the question was asked, or what was the last color you saw prior to being asked, or more importantly of how the question was asked. For example, if you were asked that a said portfolio has a 78% chance of meeting you financial goals does this meet your risk tolerance? You may answer in the affirmative, yes, that this is a good risk profile for me. However, if you were told that said portfolio has a 22 out of 100 chance of not meeting your financial goals and you may be eating beans for 10 years, your risk profile may have changed drastically though these are exactly the same. Its all in the framing.
As you move on and educate yourself on the other hardwired triggers like Fear, Regret, Greed, plus others, you should be in better shape to improve your investment results, or at a minimum to at least recognize some of the pitfalls. All in, required reading if you’re a serious investor or have not read some other excellent books on the subject, such as, Mean Markets and Lizard Brains by Terry Burnham, Psychology of Judgment by Scott Plous, or How We Know What Isn’t So by Thomas Gilovich.
Side note: The footnotes and background information are very well documented in the back. However, some of the figures referenced are in the middle of the book. For example, when I read (See Figure 3.1) and could not find it, I thought that they had left it out though it was between Chapters 6 & 7 in a separate section. This did not distract from the book too much as it was probably a technical issue to place all color pictures in one section, but thought it odd of not telling the reader up front.
Though not to leave with a negative feeling, with praise from the likes of Daniel Kahneman, Bill Miller, and David Dreman — it is hard to go too wrong and I believe Jason Zweig has indeed succeeded. So enjoy an educating and fun read 
Your Money and Your Brain: How the New Science of Neuroeconomics Can Help Make You Rich
The Total Money Makeover: A Proven Plan for Financial Fitness by Dave Ramsey
Posted by admin on Dec 2, 2007
By D.Buxman
This book is extremely readable and contains a tremendous amount of helpful information in the areas of personal finance and debt reduction/elimination. Dave Ramsey makes a compelling argument for the elimination of all debt by rather extreme means. He exposes the common myths spread by the credit industry and offers a solution for eliminating debt through something he calls The Debt Snowball. My only complaints center around the fact that he advocates mutual funds as a means to achieving 12% returns over the long run and that he advocates National Guard service as a means of paying for college. I’m not sure that mutual funds can be counted on for 12% in the long run, and National Guard service these days can involve exciting times in far away locations like Iraq, which make the cost/benefit analysis a bit unappealing. However, this isn’t a book about investing and the college financing advice is otherwise quite helpful. I’m sold on the concept of The Total Money Makeover!
The Total Money Makeover: A Proven Plan for Financial Fitness
The Millionaire Mind by Thomas J. Stanley
Posted by admin on Dec 2, 2007
By M. Skousen
Ever since Thorstein Veblen wrote “The Theory of the Leisure Class,” the critics of capitalism (including politicians and Hollywood producers)have delighted in bashing the rich for their “conspicuous consumption,” prospensity to divorce and find trophy wives, engage in white-collar crime, and avoid paying their “fair share” in taxes.
Now along comes the exhaustive work of Professor Tom Stanley, concluding that the millionaire wealthy class is in reality the model citizen! 92% are married and have been with their first wife for an average 28 years; they live well below their means; 40% have paid off their mortgage; few inherited wealth; over 90% are college graduates; most are not in the top of their class, but average “B” or “C” students; they avoid the lottery and gambling, and enjoy spending most of their time with their family or playing a game of golf with friends; 37% are deeply religious people who attend church regularly; integrity in business is their # priority, and they pay most of the income taxes in this country!
It’s great to finally read a book defending the wealthy and the truly successful in this country.
My only gripe: The book has no index!
The Millionaire Mind
Women & Money: Owning the Power to Control Your Destiny by Suze Orman
Posted by admin on Dec 2, 2007
By Jay K.
First of all, I like Suze Orman because her previous books have actually helped me go from not much money to a nice nest egg in an amazingly short time. Her advice works. She encourages you to ask yourself and your spouse the right questions–and I was really surprised at the answers sometimes. I even went on to become a financial advisor for others because of the knowledge and experience I gained from Orman’s first book. And, even though I have been a financial advisor, I still bought this book. Why? For one thing, it has current information about laws and changes that will happen as far in the future as 2010. And for another, the large majority of people who came to me for advice were women. Women who had been suddenly divorced or widowed and who didn’t know what to do. That is NOT the time to have to take a crash course in finances. But, that’s usually what it takes.
“Women and Money” is loaded with action steps that anyone can do. This latest book is divided into 8 chapters, including “For Women Only”, “Imagine What’s Possible”, “No Shame, No Blame”, “You Are Not On Sale”, “The 8 Qualities of a Wealthy Woman”, “The Save Yourself Plan”, “The Commitments”, and “Say Your Name”. These chapter titles do not indicate how much real information is given–this is not just an “ideas to get you started” book. Orman gives a month by month description of things for women to do to put themselves in a good financial position. She has boxed information entitled, “I Would Be Thrilled If You…” and then gives specific things to do. She also has an Action Plan for each month of her 5 month plan. And, there is an opportunity to open an account and save for a year, after which you would be given $100 (assuming you follow the plan–which is not hard!) She’s already found a way to make you more money! (The offer is good between the dates of 2/27/07 and 3/31/08)
It’s not that hard to do and it works. It really does. Thank you again, Suzy!
Women & Money: Owning the Power to Control Your Destiny
The Millionaire Next Door by Thomas J.Stanley & William D. Danko
Posted by admin on Dec 2, 2007
By Bruce L. Oliver
The authors started studying how people become wealthy 20 years ago. It is very interesting to to see how the neighbor next-door becomes a millionaire and how that very same person spends his or her time at work, at play and with their family. The authors share the secretes of those millionaires in their book.
The millionaire next-door did not become a millionaire by winning the lottery or on Regis Philbin’s new game show: Millionaire. Most millionaire’s in the United States are people just like you and I except they invest their money on a regular basis and live modest lives. After interviewing over 1000 millionaires, they discovered that the average millionaire makes $131,000 per year but invests up to 15 percent of their income on annual basis. Most millionaires drive regular cars that they bought used for less than $25,000, live-in modest homes, and work in a non-glamour industry. As a matter of fact most millionaires are entrepreneurs that own and operate their own small business.
If you’re interested in making it to the ranks of a millionaire then I believe that this book is for you. It may surprise you to find out that that capability is within your reach. As the authors say, you have to learn how to become a PAW (prodigious accumulator of wealth) rather than a UAW (under accumulator of wealth).
The book certainly makes interesting reading for the curious and the serious. Then, the rest is up to you.
