bounded rationality Archives – Decision Fish: Decide For Yourself

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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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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Health Insurance Enrollment: A Superhuman Decision

Brett F. Whysel — Tue, 06 Dec 2016 00:58:58 +0000

Open enrollment for health insurance began November 16 and the decision isn’t any easier than last year. On the contrary, not only are premiums higher and benefits lower, there’s greater uncertainty about the future of the Obama health care act. On a cold, cloudy Sunday afternoon, I analyzed my health insurance choices. Our choices and ... Read more

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The Behavioral Finance Symposium: Simple Fixes & Deep Challenges

Brett F. Whysel — Tue, 29 Nov 2016 15:00:16 +0000

I recently attended the Behavioral Finance Symposium at Golden Gate University in San Francisco. The speakers were academics and practitioners speaking on the behavioral challenges to good investment and trading decisions. The crowd seemed to be mostly left-coast traders, investment managers and consultants. Many of the talks were thought provoking and left me with a ... Read more

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Six Ways to Avoid Regret

Brett F. Whysel — Tue, 15 Nov 2016 12:50:42 +0000

I wish I had picked a different airline or maybe shelled out more money for a better seat. (I’m writing this squeezed into a coach seat near the lavatory on a six-hour flight to attend the Behavioral Finance Symposium in San Francisco.) I wish I had known six months ago that people were much more ... Read more

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Can One Become Great at Decision-Making?

Brett F. Whysel — Fri, 10 Jun 2016 15:59:52 +0000

Our decisions, and the actions they lead to, make us who we are. In that sense, decisions are fundamental to our identities, our humanity and even the future of our planet. But what is a good decision and how do we get great at making them? I want to share with you my answers to ... Read more

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The Promise and Peril of Group Decision-Making

Brett F. Whysel — Wed, 18 May 2016 14:15:39 +0000

Group Decision-Making is Really Hard Whom should we hire, promote or fire? Who should we put on this proposal writing team and what should we propose? I’ve made or participated in such group decisions hundreds of times and I’ve never felt confident in the process or the outcome. Did we come up with the right ... Read more

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My Most Embarrassing Financial Failures

Brett F. Whysel — Tue, 03 May 2016 16:40:22 +0000

So this is embarrassing: I’ve been advising institutions and individuals about financial decisions for nearly three decades and yet I’ve failed many times to make good choices myself. I want to share a list of my failures with you both so you can avoid them and as a commitment device, so I don’t keep failing ... Read more

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Hide Your Clothes: How to Coerce Your Future Self

Brett F. Whysel — Fri, 26 Feb 2016 20:27:54 +0000

Yesterday, I was 15 minutes late for an appointment, notwithstanding my New Year’s vow (repeated—and failed—annually) to be more prompt. Last week, I published on my blog and social media my intention to create a web site that will apply best practices in decision science to help people make better financial decisions. Just the thought ... Read more

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Push the Limits on Rational Decision-Making

Brett F. Whysel — Tue, 13 Oct 2015 07:00:00 +0000

There are three things we need to make wise and rational decisions with confidence: time, information and smarts. Unfortunately, as mere humans, we know that these resources are in short supply. Indeed, the vast range of choices we have to make daily and the overwhelming influx of information and stimuli can limit or confuse all ... Read more

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