Tom MacWright

tom@macwright.com

I read The Psychology of Money by Morgan Housel on

Review

I’ve read, and really enjoyed, Housel’s writing on his blog, and he often intersects with people like Nick Maguilli, whose book I read earlier this year and enjoyed.

Housel’s intent is similar to that of Ramit Sethi’s in I Will Teach You To Be Rich, and I think he accomplishes it better: this book does an excellent job giving you the general sense of how to think about money.

His talent, though, is in curation. Both on the blog and in this book, there are great stories from history, told well and connected to his points. They’re really compelling – this book went on my list because I realized just how many anecdotes I had come across via Housel and had stuck in my memory so clearly. When he finds a good reference, it’s really good.

Overall, this is an enjoyable, quick read. It isn’t a how-to guide. It’s really light on the specifics. But it’s all you need to know about applied behavioral finance: it gives you really good advice about how to think, how to direct your feelings in a way that maximizes the chance of an outcome you’ll like.

Details