Ep 190: Why Everyone Makes Mistakes With Money (And How To Get Better!)

At HerMoney, we’re always interested in hearing about the psychology of money and why we make the choices we make: Why do people continually fail to take action on things that are difficult or uncomfortable for them? Why do we all talk about earning money and spending money, but not saving it? 

These are just a few of the questions that Jeff Kreisler, author, comedian, and Editor-in-Chief of People Science, will tackle with Jean on this week’s episode. Jeff is the author of “Get Rich Cheating: The Crooked Path To Easy Street” and co-author of "Dollars and Sense: How We Misthink Money And How To Spend Smarter.” (His co-author for that one is behavioral economist Dan Ariely, who you can catch in episode 85 if you missed it!) Jeff has traveled the world to talk about sunk cost fallacy, solution aversion, and all the ways in which we allow ourselves to make poor financial decisions — despite knowing that we’re doing it. He says that while we can’t change human nature, thankfully we can build systems that will enable us to use our human nature for our own good. 

Jeff says there’s a “certain sense of shame” when you feel like you aren’t making all the right financial choices in life, but not knowing what to do with your money is an incredibly common thing — not something to be ashamed of. We all have complex emotions and uncertainty around our financial decisions, but when we face those big questions, the best thing we can do is seek advice from experts, and get on a path towards making changes in our systems and environments and how we do things. 

Thankfully, there are some easy behavioral science “tricks and habits” that can help us get out of our own way and conquer our personal finances, Jeff says. One suggestion is to go through your credit card statement — line by line — with someone else and articulate what each expenditure is for. When you have to explain your spending to an objective third party, it forces you to dig deep into questions like, “Did I really need this?” Another strategy is to split your paycheck into two accounts to essentially “trick” yourself into thinking you have less to spend than you really do. “You’re basically hiding money from yourself,” Jeff says. No matter how small the change you make, the important thing is that you’re giving yourself mental nudges to make lifelong changes. 

Then, in Mailbag, Jean tackles questions surrounding HYSAs (high yield savings accounts) and where to find the best rates. She also advises a woman who is just dipping her toes into the waters of investing for the first time, and counsels a woman who is just starting her career at 45 after having worked as a stay at home mom for the last 20 years. And lastly, in Thrive, Jean dishes some real talk on Facebook’s new dating platform, “Facebook Dating,” and whether or not you should consider putting yourself out there on the world’s largest social network.