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Why Smart People Make Big Money Mistakes and How to Correct Them: Lessons from the Life-Changing Science of Behavioral Economics Paperback – January 12, 2010

by Gary Belsky (Author), Thomas Gilovich (Author)

32 customer reviews

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Protect and grow your finances with help from this definitive and practical guide to behavioral economics—revised and updated to reflect new economic realities.

In their fascinating investigation of the ways we handle money, Gary Belsky and Thomas Gilovich reveal the psychological forces—the patterns of thinking and decision making—behind seemingly irrational behavior. They explain why so many otherwise savvy people make foolish financial choices: why investors are too quick to sell winning stocks and too slow to sell losing shares, why home sellers leave money on the table and home buyers don’t get the biggest bang for their buck, why borrowers pay too much credit card interest and savers can’t sock away as much as they’d like, and why so many of us can’t control our spending. Focusing on the decisions we make every day, Belsky and Gilovich provide invaluable guidance for avoiding the financial faux pas that can cost thousands of dollars each year.

Filled with fresh insight; practical advice; and lively, illustrative anecdotes, this book gives you the tools you need to harness the powerful science of behavioral economics in any financial environment.

Why Smart People Make Big Money Mistakes and How to Correct Them: Lessons from the Life-Changing Science of Behavioral Economics

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Product Details

Paperback: 288 pages
Publisher: Simon & Schuster (January 12, 2010)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 1439163367
ISBN-13: 978-1439163368
Product Dimensions: 5.5 x 0.7 x 8.4 inches
Shipping Weight: 8.8 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars See all reviews (32 customer reviews)
Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #114,013 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #296 in Books > Business & Money > Personal Finance > Budgeting & Money Management
- #367 in Books > Business & Money > Investing > Introduction
- #435 in Books > Business & Money > Accounting

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4.3 out of 5 stars

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Top Customer Reviews

A must read for investors and those interested in human behavior

ByLarryon March 3, 2010

Format: Paperback

Gary Belsky and Thomas Gilovich's book, Why Smart People Make Big Money Mistakes was first published in 1999. Their book had an enormous impact on me. It was extremely well written and provided fascinating insights into the newly emerging field of behavioral finance. The authors explained why even the smartest people make foolish mistakes. I am certain that every reader experienced what I did, see themselves in the examples and stories provided.

Among the many mistakes the book covers are playing with the house's money, mental accounting (treating the same situation in different ways), confusing something that is familiar with something that is safe, believing in hot hands, herding, the endowment effect, loss aversion, and, of course, overconfidence.

The book triggered a desire to learn everything I could about the field. Eventually I wrote my own book on investor behavior, Rational Investing In Irrational Times: How to Avoid the Costly Mistakes Even Smart People Make (2002).

Fortunately, Belsky and Gilovich have revised and updated their book. Like its predecessor it's a great introduction to the field of behavioral finance. It's both highly readable and entertaining. The book is filled with fresh insights and each chapter contains practical advice on how to avoid the serious errors that most of us make simply because we are human beings. I view it as a must read for not only investors, but also those interested in human behavior.

For those interested in this fascinating field I would also recommend Jason Zweig's Your Money and Your Brain, Daniel Ariely's Predictably Irrational, and Hersh Shefrin's Beyond Greed and Fear.

0Comment 65 people found this helpful. Was this review helpful to you?YesNo

This great book will really make you think

ByB. Spragueon June 11, 2010

Format: Paperback

Belsky and Gilovich give a great summary of the short history of the field of behavioral finance. More importantly, they present straightforward, thought-provoking suggestions about how to avoid making common financial mistakes. Much of economic theory is built upon the assumption that human beings are fundamentally rational actors, but this book shows that the idea that we act rationally and consistently in our best interest is just not true. I saw how contradictory and incongruous my own actions are in many areas of my financial life, especially with regard to investments, and I know that reading this book will make me more aware of preventing emotions like anxiety, pride, greed, and fear get in the way of making good decisions. This book is a must read not just for anyone who is an investor, but for everyone who takes part in our economic society (i.e. everyone). Read this book!

0Comment 25 people found this helpful. Was this review helpful to you?YesNo

ByGeoUtahon February 25, 2011

Format: PaperbackVerified Purchase

You'll never spend money the same after reading this book. It well written, entertaining and highly informative. I've bought a copy for family. Checked this out from the library and liked it so much I bought a copy.

0Comment 15 people found this helpful. Was this review helpful to you?YesNo

Should be required reading for all

ByMarcianne Milleron April 7, 2014

Format: Paperback

Martin Scorsese’s new movie, The Wolf of Wall Street, stars Leonardo DiCaprio as a drug-addled con man who made millions by hawking worthless penny stocks to legions of unsuspecting buyers. As I sat through the 3-hour greed fest, I kept thinking, “Gee, I’d never be that stupid with my money.” Yeah, sure.

I was so smart that I believed the HR person from my former employer, a California tech company, who convinced me I should keep all my retirement earnings in the company stock and not bother diversifying. A year later those earnings dropped 85% in one day. Later, I was so smart I let my ex-husband invest my remaining money in his latest fool-proof investment strategy—God help me. I’ll spare you the gory details when, all by myself, I went into Forex, the foreign currency exchange that is so popular right now. Oh yeah, I was one smart cookie with money!

If you’re like me (fess up, I know I’m not alone), you’ll want to read the books I discovered as part of my resolution to “Be Smart in 2014.”

Why Smart People Make Big Money Mistakes—And How To Correct Them: Lessons from the New Science of Behavioral Economics (Simon & Schuster, 1999) is a book I should have read—and memorized--years ago. It’s a solid, reader-friendly, amazing look at why so many of us are stupid with money.

Authors Gary Belsky (a money journalist) and Thomas Gilovich (a Cornell psychologist) lay out convincing, and shocking, reasons why we are stupid. The overriding cause of our stupidity, they claim, is over-confidence. Our own, first, of course. We watch a TV money meister for a few weeks and think we’re experts.

But also because, in our “Culture of Confidence,” we are induced to equate confidence with actual expertise. Big mistake. But we do it all the time—Career coaches teach us that confidence will win the job; spiritual gurus tell us to “act as if” we already possess what we don’t; we’re trained to trust people who act confidently, be it Presidents leading us to war, team leaders spurring projects that the numbers don’t support, or preachers pushing beliefs they themselves don’t act on. And women, alas, as liberated as we think we are, often still rely on male confidence. The book does offer impressive behavior modifications we can easily take on – and real-life investment advice—so when you finish the final page you can indeed be much smarter.

excerpt from review for Rapid River Arts & Culture magazine, Asheville, NC

11 comment 7 people found this helpful. Was this review helpful to you?YesNo

Why Smart People Make Big Mistakes

Bysteshe865on December 21, 2011

Format: PaperbackVerified Purchase

What a book! Now, if you have an overly sensitive ego, this book may make you a little uneasy. However, if you truely want some honest insights into why very intelligent people can make some huge mistakes, then read this book. In some places the reading is a little tedious. However, the examples given and the corrective measures talked about to avoid mistakes have a lot of merit. I'm very thankful that I took a chance on this book. Personally, I think it is a very good and very insightful book.

0Comment 2 people found this helpful. Was this review helpful to you?YesNo

Well-written and entertaining introduction to behavioral finance and economics

ByAlphanoron April 3, 2014

Format: PaperbackVerified Purchase

Belsky and Gilovich wrote a nice, well-structured and entertaining survey of the "new" science of behavioral economics and finance.

This small book should be more particularly of interest for beginners in this field who are looking for something easy to grasp without too much scientific jargon. Short stories and anecdotes nicely complement the more academic parts.

Major studies / papers are explained and mentioned, so even more advanced researchers should also benefit from this reading.

Overall, I give it a four star rating. Books by James Montier on this topic would be my first recommendation.

0CommentWas this review helpful to you?YesNo

Most Recent Customer Reviews

Published 27 days ago by Ivan Silva

Published 3 months ago by Amazon Customer

From theory to practice...just awesome!

Behavioral economics is a wonderful knowledge and vertical in the economics studies. This books helps you to implement some of these techniques in your daily personal finance...Read more

Published 3 months ago by mijael feldman

You must read this.

Published 9 months ago by Laura

It receive good reviews; but I found this book very confusing and not sufficiently focused. The explanations were difficult to follow.Read more

Published 1 year ago by jcn

Useful for any investor

Very useful by pointing out the psychological pitfalls that any person can fall into when investing

Published 1 year ago by Donna M Scattergood

fun & informative

Fantastic insights on how behavioral economics profoundly affects not only your own finances, but the overall economy. Highly recommend for anyone interested in personal finance.

Published 1 year ago by Jacs310

but still useful and informative if you are already an investor

Essential reading if you are new to investing, but still useful and informative if you are already an investor.

Published 1 year ago by Lukas

It is a great read. very useful for every investor. All the concepts are explained thoroughly and in a simple way.

Published 1 year ago by Amazon Customer

Concise descriptions about money mistakes we have all made and how to avoid them in the future. Could be the best money you've spent this year.

Published 1 year ago by spsanders

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