The Behavior Gap: Simple Ways to Stop Doing Dumb Things with Money

Carl Richards

Jan 2012 · Sold by Penguin

About this ebook

"It's not that we're dumb. We're wired to avoid pain and pursue pleasure and security. It feels right to sell when everyone around us is scared and buy when everyone feels great. It may feel right-but it's not rational."
-From The Behavior Gap

 

Why do we lose money? It's easy to blame the economy or the financial markets-but the real trouble lies in the decisions we make.

As a financial planner, Carl Richards grew frustrated watching people he cared about make the same mistakes over and over. They were letting emotion get in the way of smart financial decisions. He named this phenomenon-the distance between what we should do and what we actually do-"the behavior gap." Using simple drawings to explain the gap, he found that once people understood it, they started doing much better.

Richards's way with words and images has attracted a loyal following to his blog posts for The New York Times, appearances on National Public Radio, and his columns and lectures. His book will teach you how to rethink all kinds of situations where your perfectly natural instincts (for safety or success) can cost you money and peace of mind.

He'll help you to:

   • Avoid the tendency to buy high and sell low;
   • Avoid the pitfalls of generic financial advice;
   • Invest all of your assets-time and energy as well as savings-more wisely;
   • Quit spending money and time on things that don't matter;
   • Identify your real financial goals;
   • Start meaningful conversations about money;
   • Simplify your financial life;
   • Stop losing money!

 

It's never too late to make a fresh financial start. As Richards writes: "We've all made mistakes, but now it's time to give yourself permission to review those mistakes, identify your personal behavior gaps, and make a plan to avoid them in the future. The goal isn't to make the 'perfect' decision about money every time, but to do the best we can and move forward. Most of the time, that's enough."

Ratings and reviews

really like this book, it gives dozen insights, changed my perspective on investment. before I had this movie-like cliche Buy high, sell low or something like that. fast money fast success but you need to know the secret. this book give me a different perspective, that investment is not only about that, it can be, but not limited to. all depends on your investment goals, and if you have long term goals to save and add more to your capital for far future, then it can and will be. and not all can earn fast money, only few, and it's mostly luck.

This book was awful...it didnt put forth any REAL advice...it was feel good cornball fluff...here is my book report in a few lines = "blah blah fear, blah blah greed, blah story about myself, blah story about my friend so and so, story about my client blah blah fear blah blah greed....REPEAT for 200 pages....just pathetic

As a financial advisor I heavily recommend this book, it is simple and focuses on the most important part of planning and investing...our part. Our behavior and diligence and how that outweighs the search for the perfect investment.

About the author

Carl Richards is a certified financial planner and founder of Prasada Capital Management, a portfolio design firm. He contributes to the Bucks blog at The New York Times and is a columnist for Morningstar Advisor. Richards appears regularly on National Public Radio's Marketplace Money, and is a frequent keynote speaker at financial planning conferences and visual learning events. You can find more of his work at behaviorgap.com. He lives in Park City, Utah, with his family.

Visit www.behaviorgap.com