behavioral economics Archives – Decision Fish: Decide For Yourself

Negative Alpha: How Investors Can Stop Losing Money Unnecessarily

Brett F. Whysel — Sat, 04 May 2019 19:06:17 +0000

Alpha is finance-geek speak for an investor’s skill that allows her to outperform an index, like the S&P 500, on a risk adjusted basis. At a recent behavioral finance conference, I sat on a panel that addressed the idea of behavioral alpha. Our moderator asked, “What is it and how do we get more of it?” I offered the observation that, ... Read more

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To-Do List Out Of Control? Try These 10 Stress-Busters

Brett F. Whysel — Tue, 25 Dec 2018 16:46:15 +0000

Do you get stressed around the holidays with just too much to do? Many of us feel more stress, anxiety and depression during the holidays. In addition to the normal demands of running a start-up and teaching, I’ve got presents to buy, travel to plan and a child to get to college. At last count, I ... Read more

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Time To Choose Your Health Insurance: Don’t Make A $9,000 Mistake

Brett F. Whysel — Tue, 18 Dec 2018 20:23:42 +0000

Is there any financial decision that we dread more than the annual chore of choosing a health insurance plan? It’s got everything we hate: choice and information overload, time pressure, ambiguity and confusion, consequences worth thousands, uncomfortable scenarios involving disease and injury, inscrutable jargon coming at a time of the year full of other business, ... Read more

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What Makes Us Tick? Insights From The 2018 Behavioral Summit

Brett F. Whysel — Fri, 30 Nov 2018 16:28:07 +0000

Did you know that “knowing” is definitely not half the battle? The G.I. Joe Fallacy is but one of the many provocative and counter-intuitive ideas I learned at this year’s Behavioral Summit. Organized by ideas42, a nonprofit behavioral science consultancy, the Summit included speakers from diverse disciplines including healthcare, sexual assault, risk, fundraising, systems analysis, happiness, diversity, financial inclusion and, of ... Read more

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Will ‘Decisive’ Make You A Better Decision Maker?

Brett F. Whysel — Fri, 31 Aug 2018 15:41:22 +0000

“Do you know what you want?” Those six, dreaded words haunt my otherwise happy memory of a meal my friends and I enjoyed to celebrate graduating from university. It seemed such an important occasion: I wanted to get my menu selection exactly right. You can imagine the groans around the table after the third or fourth postponement ... Read more

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Trust Me! Why You Need To Understand Trust, and How To Earn It (Part 2)

Brett F. Whysel — Mon, 30 Jul 2018 17:48:05 +0000

As we explored in my last article about Victor, the appliance repairman, trust is increasingly necessary and valuable in modern life. At the same time, trust is getting scarcer as well-publicized betrayals in business and government add up. What is Trust? But what is trust? The dictionary defines trust as the “Firm reliance on the integrity, ability, or character of a person or thing.” ... Read more

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3 Vicious Cycles: Links Among Financial, Physical and Mental Health

Brett F. Whysel — Wed, 11 Jul 2018 19:21:08 +0000

Feedback loops are powerful forces of nature. Melting polar ice caps reduce the earth’s reflectivity, causing it to absorb more heat from the sun, which accelerates the melting. The cumulative, accelerating aspects of such loops make it imperative to break the cycle before it gets out of control. Below, I identify three feedback loops among financial ... Read more

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Student (And Lifetime) Financial Health Begins With A Budget

Brett F. Whysel — Mon, 14 May 2018 18:32:58 +0000

Budgets. Yawn. Why bother? I prefer the uncertainty and anxiety of never knowing that I have enough money to pay rent (said no one ever)? My Paris Budget So, I created my first budget when I went to Paris during my junior year in university. I had limited funds, an exchange rate to manage and I was ... Read more

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Make Your Money Make More Money

Brett F. Whysel — Tue, 06 Feb 2018 07:00:12 +0000

Saving money is hard. It requires self-control in the face of continuous bombardment by scientifically engineered marketing messages, peer-pressure and brains “designed” for immediate gratification. For many of us, it requires investing some quality time to mindfully design a sustainable budget that’s in line with our values. (We think we’ve figured out how to make ... Read more

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Best Wishes for Failing Successfully in the New Year! 😏

Brett F. Whysel — Sun, 31 Dec 2017 23:00:51 +0000

Failure, much more than success, helps us grow professionally and personally. And yet, it’s so hard to account for our failures. We prefer to think of ourselves as competent, effective people (see cognitive dissonance). And it’s embarrassing to share those failings because it’s counter to social norms. However, a frank appreciation of one’s shortcomings is necessary ... Read more

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