Carl Richards is a Certified Financial Planner and a columnist for the New York Times, Morningstar magazine and Yahoo Finance. He is author of 2 books, The Behavior Gap & The One-Page Financial Plan. Carl lives with his family in Park City, Utah. You can find his work and sign up for his newsletter (which has an international audience) at www.behaviorgap.com/
Investor behaviour matters a lot. In fact, it probably matters more than skill. To understand why this is true, first, you need to understand one fundamental concept: Investment returns and investor returns are almost always different. In 1999, I was working diligently doing my job as an investment advisor or financial planner (I was never sure what…
Worry is a terrible strategy, but for a long time it was the only one I knew. Now, I consider this a safe place, so don’t judge me when I tell you a little story. For years, when I would send in the sketch that goes with my column for the New York Times, I…
I have a crazy idea I want to run by you. Imagine that a cultural anthropologist finds one of your credit card statements in 100 years. What would your spending suggest you value the most? Based on your spending, what assumptions might someone make about how you live your life? Our credit card statements (really,…
Remember that kid in your high-school geometry class who raised his hand and asked the question everyone knew the answer to? Remember how the class laughed and thought he was so dumb? It turns out that kid wasn’t dumb. That kid was humble. More humble than most of us. And being humble, when it comes to money,…
I’m a huge advocate of the “no shame, no blame” rule when it comes to money. But I think there’s some confusion about how the rule works. It’s not that you won’t feel guilt. It’s also not about avoiding responsibility. Instead, it’s about recognizing the zero-sum game of relying on shame and blame to make better money…
On your deathbed, it’s too late to make wish lists. That’s the thought that went through my head high over the ocean, willing the plane to go faster as I rushed thousands of miles back to New Zealand to meet up with my gravely injured wife in the hospital near Christchurch. Let me back up….
On paper, your investments in stocks, real estate or even cash may look like your greatest assets. While all those things are super important, you have something else that’s even more valuable. It’s the investment called you. Finding ways to increase your value while doing the things you love may be the most important…
I recently got together with two of my best friends from high school, Jamie and Jason. We’ve been friends for over 30 years. We don’t see each other as often as we’d like to because life is busy. But when we do it’s always amazing. Sipping tea in the Sugarhouse neighbourhood of Salt Lake City,…
In September of 2016, my family and I moved from the mountains of Utah to New Zealand. It was hard. Really hard. Like, harder than I expected. I’m not complaining. I’m just stating, that “travel” is not just the beautiful sunsets, gorgeous beaches, and interesting people you see on Instagram. I totally underestimated the cognitive…
I don’t run into too many people who love to budget. And when you add another person to the mix, like a spouse or partner, there’s a good chance one of you will actually hate the idea. Budgeting clearly has a marketing problem. It’s a bit like flossing. We understand how important it is to…
