Tag: behavioral finance

January 27, 2020By Erin @ Team Afford Anything

#238: How to Stop Making So Many Money Mistakes, with Jeff Kreisler

Have any of these thoughts ever crossed your mind?

If I had more willpower, I’d achieve my financial goals.

I’m doomed to fail with money.

Budgets suck. They only show me what I did wrong and make me feel horrible.

If so, you’re not alone.

It’s not that you lack willpower.

It’s not that you’re doomed to fail with money.

It’s not that you’re a horrible person for blowing your budget.

It’s that you’re human.

And humans make emotional decisions all the time. Decisions that often defy logic.

But making emotional decisions doesn’t have to be a financial death sentence. Money management is a skill, which means we can improve.

When we understand the “why” behind our decisions, coupled with the marketing tactics that retailers use, we can guard ourselves against cognitive biases and sales strategies.

That’s what today’s guest is here to discuss.

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October 4, 2019By Paula Pant

#218: Why We’re Irrational with Money, with Kristen Berman

Kristen Berman is co-founder of Irrational Labs, a behavioral product design company, along with Dan Ariely.

She has a fascinating job that involves looking into why people behave the way they do with their money, and discovering the easiest solution to help them create more positive financial behavior.

In short, she’s a proponent of redesigning the current financial system to make saving automatic and easy, and that’s part of what we discuss in this episode.

If creating better financial habits has been a challenge for you, or if you have trouble framing spending as a positive thing, rather than a loss, then Kristen has awesome advice for you.

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December 11, 2018Written By Paula Pant

Maybe you don’t need to figure out what’s wrong

A few months ago, I interviewed a behavioral economist named Dr. Stephen Wendel on my podcast. He suggested an idea that’s so crazy it might work.

We were discussing the fact that people often stand in their own way; there’s a gap between intention and action. We know what we “should” do, but we don’t follow through. We procrastinate. We make excuses. We act against our own self-interests.

We have an image of our ideal self, we have the reality of our current self, and it’s harder than expected to bridge that divide. Why?

Most people try to figure out the problem. “Why can’t I stick to my goals?” But during our interview, Stephen turns this conventional wisdom on its head.

Maybe we should approach this as treatment first, diagnosis second.

He suggests that you try a handful of solutions. When you find the one that works, you’ll know the problem.

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