behavioral finance – Incognito Money Scribe

What a 500-Year-Old Saint Taught Me About Money

Here’s a mental tool for improving your relationship with money that I learned from a saint. Money plays a major part in all our lives. Yet, no one really masters it. Even the richest among us are prone to inconceivable financial blunders. You just get a little better at it as time goes on. AContinue reading “What a 500-Year-Old Saint Taught Me About Money”

One Thing to Remember About Improving Your Financial Habits

Tired hands, young and old; tired hands to assemble each plastic piece and screw every tiny screw; tired hands to pull levers and activate conveyor belts; tired hands to pack cardboard boxes and stack containers on steel ships; tired hands to navigate the weathered steering wheel of a semi-truck; tired hands to deliver it toContinue reading “One Thing to Remember About Improving Your Financial Habits”

“Follow Your Passion” Is Good Financial Advice

Here’s an interesting financial paradox: the less you obsess over wealth, the wealthier you will likely become. For example, Michael Batnick, Director of Research at Ritholtz Wealth Management, notes this wild investment fact: “Since 1916, the Dow has made new all-time highs less than 5% of all days, but it’s up 25,568% over that time.Continue reading ““Follow Your Passion” Is Good Financial Advice”

The Best Finance Books Might Be Fiction

To make better choices and build wealth, have you tried investing time with the works of Shakespeare? Our relationship with money is forged by experience. Why wouldn’t we then want the broadest experience possible to help us make important financial decisions? Experience by proxy is one of the values literary fiction offers. Reading can beContinue reading “The Best Finance Books Might Be Fiction”

Sell Your Hot Dogs at a Loss

How we spend money is as important as how we save it. Because we don’t express our truest selves with a 401(k) statement the way we can with a debit card. What is the meaning of money if you never happily spend it? In Kitchen Confidential, Anthony Bourdain famously wrote, “Your body is not aContinue reading “Sell Your Hot Dogs at a Loss”

How to Stop Carrying Too Much Financial Anxiety

Your heart starts racing when a credit card rep calls about a payment you accidently missed, and then you turn on the news to see the stock market plummeting 10%, so you log into your 401(k) account in a panic as you berate yourself for not saving more and then wonder whether to sell yourContinue reading “How to Stop Carrying Too Much Financial Anxiety”

The Relationship Between Money and Happiness

My happy place costs around $20, excluding tax. A few cold beers on a beach with family or friends is enough to make me feel satisfied in life. I suppose there are finer beaches than along the Detroit river, which is closest to me. But I’ve drank beers on beaches in other states and otherContinue reading “The Relationship Between Money and Happiness”

One Question to Improve Your Money Habits

Goodbye, dear reader. Scientists have announced a previously undetected asteroid is on a collision course with Earth. It will strike within minutes and wipe out all life on the planet. Take the short time you have left to first hug your loved ones. Then, since you’re a person who understands the importance of good moneyContinue reading “One Question to Improve Your Money Habits”

The Power of Framing in Money, Life

In a consumerist culture, happiness is closely associated with wealth. The more you earn, the more you can buy, the happier you will feel. Yet, there is a reason why studies show older adults are happier, and it’s not from accumulating massive levels of wealth. The secret is found in a quote attributed to RomanContinue reading “The Power of Framing in Money, Life”