Timeless Lessons on Wealth, Greed and Happiness by Morgan Housel
If you intend on getting serious about your finances, then “The Psychology of Money” by Morgan Housel, is a book that will help you like any financial advisor, but in a more jargon- free way.
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This book’s central thesis is that, while intelligence does play a role in financial success, behaviour also plays a significant role. It motivates you to make wise decisions in order to live a prosperous life.
Morgan Housel is a two-time winner of the “Best in Business Award” from the Society of American Business Editors and Writers and of the “New York Times Sidney Award”, and a two-time finalist of the “Gerald Loeb Award” for Distinguished Business and Financial Journalism.
His book “The Psychology of Money” sold two million copies and has been translated into 52 languages.
In only 19 short and crisp chapters, the author will make you reconsider your financial choices.
The book discusses our relationship with money and explains how our financial outlook influences the important choices we make in life.
The book opens with an anecdote that differentiates between – making money and managing money.
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If you are wondering whether it’s just another book that’s going to get you stuck in a mathematical loop, where the author will give you a set of formulae to manage your money, then we are here to put your worries
aside.
Since this book is the personal advisor you’d definitely be grateful towards!
The author has made sure to target the very basic human attributes which together develop into important decision-making skills.
Morgan Housel talks about the emotions of envy and greed and how they become the red flags in any financial decision or investment.
People often don’t lay down money matters on a spreadsheet, rather they discuss it in their personal spaces where emotions such as ego and pride are jumbled together.
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According to the author, the first step is to look at money for its value and its reality. If a person earns a sustainable amount, that doesn’t make him or her good at managing or valuing that money.
When our emotions revolving around social stratas, pride and greed come in between, that is when a person is bound to make impractical financial decisions, ultimately getting into the trap of debts and loans. And thus having little to no savings for the times of emergencies.
The author has spoken at various conferences where he talks about “Behavioural Finance and History”.
Thus this book explores the psychology of human beings and their tendency to be fickle with money and then, it provides simple yet effective rules to manage, save and invest money, without having financial insecurities.
The reader doesn’t have to worry about spending too much time on this book as it is written in a fast-paced and easy to understand manner. With each chapter, the author gives a back story of the human mind and the ways in which we can control our mind and understand money.
For those readers who have never been good with numbers, and for those who crumble into a deep hole at the thought of a math’s textbook-they can surely take this book as a lucrative guide where Morgan Housel has broken down the complicated issues of money and has connected it to human emotions.
If you are achieving wealth only because of your envy and pride, then these emotions become the reason for wrongful investments. The author has helped the readers to understand their brain and how it sees money.
Morgan Housel has given the best techniques to tell the readers that they should know, and define their stop-limits.
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If you are someone who struggles with drawing a line between being satisfied and the never-ending desires, then “The Psychology of Money” is your best bet to secure your emotions as well as your money.
For a beginner, this book might not be the best option to begin with, if you are looking to invest money. Although the book will provide excellent ways with which you can manage your money and be satisfied. The book does include few principles of Economics, which might be difficult to understand for a person with no background in the subject.
Even though the author has made substantial efforts to explain all the principles and financial contexts in a very informative way.
If you are a student about to start college, an adult in the work sector, or an entrepreneur, this book will save you from a lot of anxieties concerning money and how to manage it.
This quick read is the perfect way for everyone to begin their journey of looking at money, mindfully.
