Psychology

Book: Stumbling on Happiness

There has been a steady stream of research over the last few years showing how people are hardwired to make poor money decisions. This book takes a look at how our brains wiring makes us particularly inept at pursuing happiness. Unlike Blink, this book is not a fast read and is significantly more [...]

Spending Problem? Don’t Use Credit Cards

The Economist reports on research investigating how our brains make purchasing decisions and helps explain a different study which demonstrated people are willing to pay twice as much at an auction when using credit cards versus cash. The short message is to reiterate that for those who have [...]

Book Review: Blink by Malcolm Gladwell

This book came out a while ago, but I finally got around to reading it. It was a very quick and easy read. It is mostly a bunch of anecdotes backed with a few studies here and there to make their points. Here are the key ideas I derived from the book. Emotion and facial expressions are connected — [...]

Questions Couples Should Ask Before Marrying

Newsweek has a short piece on questions couples should ask before marrying. Having kids?  Who will take care of them? Shared financial goals along with compatible spending and savings habits? Who does what housework? Shared health histories? Level of affection expected? Open communication about [...]

Bringing Meaning to Your Life

Paul Farrell makes an impassioned plea for people to keep their eye on the right ball — bringing meaning to their lives. As a side note it has been interesting to watch Paul’s evolution over the years. He started as one of the journalists who would keep up the drumbeat for sane investing habits. [...]

Thoughts On the Business of Life

A collection of great quotes on ambition.

The Dilbert Blog: Affirmations

To help everyone go into the weekend on an upbeat, I though I would share a short piece by Scott Adams (creator of Dilbert) on the power of affirmations.

Altruism – The Joy of Giving

From the Economist … “Providing for relatives comes more naturally than reaching out to strangers. Nevertheless, it may be worth being kind to people outside the family as the favour might be reciprocated in future. But when it comes to anonymous benevolence, directed to causes [...]

Clements’ Nine Tips for Investing in Happiness

Jonathan Clements, personal financial columnist of the Wall Street Journal writes about putting money in its place. “If you want to be happier, forget spending dollars and focus on how you spend your time..” Make time for friends Forget the pay raise Don’t trade up (don’t move to a neighborhood [...]

Buyers Remorse is Biological

According to Dr. Jennifer James an urban cultural anthropologist, buyer’s remorse has a biological basis which typically lasts 24-48 hours. This is why sales people will often make themselves scarce for a few days immediately following a sale. If you are on the purchasing end and have more than [...]
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