The factory default settings of the human brain were essential in the past to secure our survival.
In modern times, however, that inner con man plays tricks on us that can end quite costly.
In my earlier blog post, I asked which animal kills more people? Despite that the Hippopotamus emerged victorious; in truth, the animal that creates by far the greatest havoc to humankind is the Black Swan. How so? Because the most influential and devastating events in history…
Let’s talk about Habituation. Habituation is really just another trick that our inner con man plays on us: He makes us believe that wonderful things are especially wonderful the first time they happen, and that their wonderfulness wanes with repetition. “Psychologists call this effect habituation,…
Which animal kills more humans per year? Sharks or Hippopotamuses? And the winner is … …the river horse, a.k.a. Hippopotamus, with a tally of 500 to 2,900 lives per year. These beauties weigh about 8,000 pounds each and are capable of darting at 18 miles…
Are you a bit shortsighted? Well, I was. Do you suffer from Myopic Loss Aversion—when it comes to money? Myopic-what-aversion? Myopic Loss Aversion is the tendency to focus on avoiding short-term losses—even—at the expense of long-term gains. As a consequence in the investment field—and…
Let me share some thoughts about what we call Home Sweet Home, or what behavioural economists call Home Bias. Or what investors need to remember—to achieve a diversified portfolio. Have you heard of what investors in Sweden do ? Although all of…
I believe people sometimes need an accountant with a whip next to them. Wuh-PSSSH! Whapshhh! Although for some of you, that may sound like a great idea (“yeah, give it to me!”), my take is that the majority of you would be…
Schwager takes aim at the most perniciously pervasive academic precepts, money management canards, market myths, and investor errors. Like so many ducks in a shooting gallery, Schwager picks them off, one at a time, revealing the truth about many of…
The tendency to find order to ambiguous stimuli is built into the cognitive machinery we use to understand the world. That predisposition to impose order can be so automatic and so unchecked that we often end up believing in the…
Wall Street Analysts are bad at stock picking: Analysis of all sell and buy recommendations in 2003 showed that the portfolio with negatively viewed stocks gained 53.5% (over two years), more than 75 percentage points better than the market. Investing, contrary…
Numerous studies have shown that money makes happy up to an inflection point of between 40,000 to 70,000 USD per year. I guess that is quite obvious since with that amount of money one’s basic needs can be met (depending on where…