personal finance Archives – Decision Fish: Decide For Yourself

Q. Who Cares About The Future?

Brett F. Whysel — Sun, 18 Aug 2019 19:16:10 +0000

A. Not us humans, that’s for sure.. Any objective view of the state of our economy, politics, technology and even our own day-to-day behavior provides loads of evidence that we are living for the moment. We don’t save enough for our retirement, our planet continues to warm and our economy gets more unequal because we ... Read more

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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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How a Back-of-the-Envelope Plan Can Reduce Financial Anxiety

Brett F. Whysel — Tue, 16 Apr 2019 15:45:51 +0000

How can a few numbers, calculated on the back of the envelope, help a retired couple overcome their fear of running out of money? Like many retired people, money has been an ongoing source of anxiety for Sam (age 80) and Diane (age 70) (not their real names). Living on a limited nest egg, social ... Read more

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11 Ways To Fatten Your Wallet With A Little Psychology

Brett F. Whysel — Tue, 26 Mar 2019 15:40:05 +0000

I never could have imagined how important managing emotion, cognitive biases and behavioral hurdles is to saving enough, spending wisely and managing financial risks. For about a year, I informally coached a woman (we’ll call her “Leigh”) in her late twenties who wanted to eliminate the $5,000 of expensive credit card debt she was rolling over each month, ... 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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‘Hey Boss, Can You Lend Me $4,000?’

Brett F. Whysel — Fri, 09 Nov 2018 11:00:23 +0000

How You’ll Know There’s a Problem Sometimes employees’ financial stresses get so intense, they become unavoidable management issues. They can reduce productivity and engagement and increase turnover, healthcare utilization, absenteeism and worse. Employers’ resources for addressing this kind of issue are typically very limited. It’s not unheard of for employees to directly ask their managers ... 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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Seven Good Reasons NOT to Save

Brett F. Whysel — Fri, 02 Mar 2018 19:06:21 +0000

You’re saving too much…said no financial expert ever. It’s America Saves Week, which is all about saving more. If you’re in your twenties, you’ll be told to save ten to 15 percent of your income. Older? You’ll be advised to save 20-30 percent or more! At the same time, one-third of Americans have saved precisely ... 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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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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