In this installment of Kashable Conversations, we spoke with Jeff Kreisler, Editor-in-Chief of PeopleScience.com and an award-winning comedian, author, speaker, TV pundit, speechwriter and advocate for behavioral economics.
We sat down with Kreisler to discuss his book: Dollars and Sense: How We Misthink Money and How to Spend Smarter, which he coauthored with Dan Ariely, a Professor of Psychology and Behavioral Economics at Duke University. Our conversation was both entertaining and insightful, just like the book.
Fascinating, engaging, funny, and essential, Dollars and Sense challenges our most basic assumptions about personal finance, revealing the emotional forces that drive our decision-making, and how to counteract these illogical instincts.
You can listen to the full discussion on SoundCloud.
Here are some of the highlights of the conversation:
[0:44] To money, for the wonderful things you do for us, the terrible things you do to us, and all of the gray matter in between.
[2:48] When it comes to money, don’t stress about every little thing.
[3:23] Why are we so bad with opportunity costs?
[4:27] Every financial decision should factor in opportunity costs
[4:50] The Toyota Dealership Experiment – ‘What else could you do with $30,000?’
[5:50] What the easier question: ‘What would you like for dinner?’ or ‘Do you want chicken or fish?’
[6:51] Overcoming the inherent anxiety of money management
[8:00] The fallacy that everyone else is financially responsible
[10:50] The emotional forces of money affects financial planners too
[13:00] Retirement planning – How do we get into the right mindset when thinking about our future selves?
[15:59] Using virtual reality to interact with our future selves
[18:13] The employer connection to personal financial wellness
[19:03] Common logic errors of financial decision-making
[19:54] Priming and anchoring: connecting perceived value to arbitrary numbers
[23:45] Marketing language shapes our perception of value
[26:44] Recognizing marketing language when you see it, such as the term ‘’artisanal’
[28:15] Key takeaways – Don’t stress every little spend, but pay attention to the details of the big spends.
Want more?
Check out Jeff’s site here, or visit PeopleScience.com.
Learn more about Kashable here, or email us at sales@kashable.com.
Media inquiries: andrew.barlos@kashable.com.