The Psychology of Money

Timeless lessons on wealth, greed, and happiness

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Morgan Housel

Notes

“What you’re doing seems crazy but I kind of understand why you’re doing it.” – uncovers the root of many of our financial decisions.

Risk and luck are dopplegangers.

…getting money and keeping money are two different skills. 

“The great investors bought vast quantities of art… A subset of the collections turned out to be great investments, and they were held for a sufficiently long period of time to allow the portfolio return to converge upon the return of the best elements in the portfolio. That’s all that happens.”Time is the most powerful force in investing. It makes little things grow big and big mistakes fade away. 

The ability to do what you want, when you want, with who you want, for as long as you want, is priceless. It is the highest dividend money pays…”Having a strong sense of controlling one’s life is a more dependable predictor of positive feelings of wellbeing that any of the objective conditions of life we have considered.” – Angus Campbell…Money’s greatest intrinsic value – and this can’t be overstated – is its ability to give you control over your time…the ability (mentioned above) has infinite ROI…Independence, to me, doesn’t mean you’ll stop working. It means you only do the work you like with people you like at times you want for as long as you want. 

A wise old owl lived in an oak,

The more he saw, the less he spoke,

The less he spoke, the more he heard,

Why aren’t we all like that wise old bird?

Rockefeller

Do not aim to be coldly rational when making financial decisions. Aim to just be pretty reasonable. Reasonable is more realistic and you have a better chance of sticking with it for the long run, which is what matters most when managing money. 

“The correct lesson to learn from surprises is that the world is surprising.” – Daniel Kahneman…The most important economic events of the future – things that will move the needle the most – are things that history gives us little or no guide about…“…the purpose of the margin of safety is to render the forecast unnecessary.” – Benjamin Graham… I don’t know what I don’t know. So I am just as susceptible to explaining the world through the limited set of mental models I have at my disposal…Pessimism reduces expectations, narrowing the gap between possible outcomes and outcomes you feel good about.

“The biggest single point of failure with money is a sole reliance on a paycheck to fund short-term spending needs…”


Frederick Lewis Allen

Time