The Psychology of Money - by Morgan Housel

[foghorn]

Has anyone else read this book?  I saw a review of it a few weeks ago in the Wall Street Journal and decided to pick it up.  It is a terrific read - I knocked  it out in a couple of days.

I think most people here will align with the stories and lessons.  I am always fascinated by human behavior and this book does not disappoint on that front.

Some of the topics that are covered are things we all talk about (being frugal, spend less than you make, living below your means, etc.).  But also covers topics like - personal finance really is personal, having enough, the folly of market timing and thinking you are smart enough to buy the right stock at the right time.

The author writes in a very compelling and easy to read manner.  There is no heavy math or investing strategies here.

I am even considering picking up a few copies as gifts.

[Psychstache]

I listen to the Motley Fool a lot as infotainment, but Morgan used to work there and be a frequent guest and when he came on k world actually listen. They interviewed him about the book on the latest Motley Fool Money and it sounded interesting. Glad to hear a direct positive review.

[Monocle Money Mouth]

I just finished reading this a few days ago. I thought it was a good read. A lot of the ideas he talks about in the book are things he has mentioned in the Collaborative Fund blog. If you enjoy his blog posts, you'll probably like the book too.

[Dave1442397]

I read it, and liked it. He had some points about how people view money that I really hadn't thought about before, but you can see where they're coming from.

The point about lower income people spending a higher proportion of their income on lottery tickets was something I've noticed before. As he said, when you never have money, lottery tickets give you hope, no matter how slim the odds of winning. My wife had a patient who ran a successful food truck, but was spending up to $700 a week on scratch cards because he saw a big win as his chance to retire.

[MadBikePoet]

https://www.artofmanliness.com/career-wealth/wealth/podcast-659-the-psychology-of-money/
Art of Manliness podcast interviewing Morgan Housel.

[Luke Warm]

i just put it on my list

[Luke Warm]

I finished it this weekend. I probably should've read it 30 years ago.

[joe189man]

Tim Ferriss interviewed him also, great podcast

https://tim.blog/2022/03/01/morgan-housel-the-psychology-of-money/

i have the book in my audible waiting for time to listen

[9unk]

I really enjoyed this book. Was recommended it by a stranger I met when we began talking money and bettering ourselves on a night shift.

Took me a couple of days to read it.

Very light read but also has some really great points in it that can help you alter your view or just be aware of. I really enjoyed and like the story of the long tail when investing.

[clarkfan1979]

Has anyone else read this book?  I saw a review of it a few weeks ago in the Wall Street Journal and decided to pick it up.  It is a terrific read - I knocked  it out in a couple of days.

I think most people here will align with the stories and lessons.  I am always fascinated by human behavior and this book does not disappoint on that front.

Some of the topics that are covered are things we all talk about (being frugal, spend less than you make, living below your means, etc.).  But also covers topics like - personal finance really is personal, having enough, the folly of market timing and thinking you are smart enough to buy the right stock at the right time.

The author writes in a very compelling and easy to read manner.  There is no heavy math or investing strategies here.

I am even considering picking up a few copies as gifts.

I have a Ph.D. in Applied Social Psychology with a concentration in Health Psychology. My niche is social-cognitive "decision making" applied toward environmental behaviors and health behaviors. To get even deeper, I mostly focused on social influence (peer pressure). I never studied anything specific to financial behavior, but Social Psychology is the foundation of Behavioral Economics.

I have not read the book, but I have listened to 2-3 podcasts of him being interviewed. Morgan is very honest and open that he has zero formal training in Psychology.

The interviews were entertaining and seemed to provide value. However, I don't think it provided any additional "Psychology" beyond a normal interview. His interview seemed to include about the same amount of Psychology as a regular Affording Anything podcast in which Paula Pant often talks about sunk-cost fallacy, opportunity cost, loss aversion and risk aversion in humans. I think she has the correct application of psychology theory about 90% to 95% of the time.   

The books below are written by academics in Psychology and provide Psychology beyond a normal interview

Influence by Robert Cialdini
Thinking Fast and Slow by Daniel Kahneman
Thinking in Bets by Annie Duke
Predictably Irrational by Dan Ariely

[dblaace]

Finally read it. A good read, enlightening. 

[uniwelder]

Someone told me about this book a few weeks ago. I’m feeling motivated to look for it at the library.

[dblaace]

Someone told me about this book a few weeks ago. I’m feeling motivated to look for it at the library.

I read it on hoopla from my library.

[sui generis]

I just heard Sam Harris interview him on a new conversation in the Waking Up app.  I thought it was a good conversation, but found it interesting that Housel referred disparagingly to the FIRE movement twice.  It was extremely brief/in passing, to a stereotype of someone who decided to live on rice and beans for the rest of their life.  But yeah, I guess that's the impression he has of folks like us here.

[frugalecon]

I just heard Sam Harris interview him on a new conversation in the Waking Up app.  I thought it was a good conversation, but found it interesting that Housel referred disparagingly to the FIRE movement twice.  It was extremely brief/in passing, to a stereotype of someone who decided to live on rice and beans for the rest of their life.  But yeah, I guess that's the impression he has of folks like us here.

I am FI, but not yet RE, and have high income and high net worth. Yet I often eat rice and beans because they are delicious and healthy!

[LifeHappens]

I just finished this book and think there are many points which resonate for this community. I highlighted this quote, for one:

Being able to wake up one morning and change what you're doing, on your own terms, whenever you're ready, seems like the grandmother of all financial goals. Independence to me doesn't mean you'll stop working. It means you only do the work you like with people you like at the times you want for as long as you want.

[Early-And-Often]

Mad Fientist also posted a Morgan Housel interview some time ago:

https://www.madfientist.com/morgan-housel-interview/

[Monocle Money Mouth]

I just heard Sam Harris interview him on a new conversation in the Waking Up app.  I thought it was a good conversation, but found it interesting that Housel referred disparagingly to the FIRE movement twice.  It was extremely brief/in passing, to a stereotype of someone who decided to live on rice and beans for the rest of their life.  But yeah, I guess that's the impression he has of folks like us here.

I've read a lot of his work. I think he comes from a wealthier background. He wrote an article about one of his friends on the ski team dying in an avalanche in Tahoe when a he was a teenager. His view on wealth and relative hardship is probably different than someone who grew up in a working class family in the rust belt. I can buy groceries from Walmart and drive a 10 year old econobox and be happy. If you grew up with food from high end grocery stores, were carted around in leased Volvos, and took ski trips to expensive areas, what we do on this forum is going to feel like a downgrade.

[Philociraptor]

Read it last year, here is my 1 paragraph synopsis that I sent to friends: "I liked this one. It's split into 20 short, easily digestible lessons about wealth, greed, and happiness, aka the psychology of money. He caps off the book with a view into what he, as a lifetime worker in finance, does with his own money, and the post-script is a great summary of how our group psychology around money has changed over time."