Behavioral Finance

Every day, we make thousands of decisions. Do I cross the street now or wait for an oncoming truck to pass? Should I have French fries or a salad for lunch? How much should I tip the cab driver? We usually make these decisions almost without thinking, using what psychologists call "heuristics" - rules that help us navigate life. Without these mental shortcuts, we would be paralyzed by the myriad of daily decisions. But in certain circumstances, these "shortcuts" lead to predictable mistakes - predictable if we know what to watch out for. Did you know, for example, that we are naturally inclined to sell investments that are doing well and hold on to those that are doing poorly? Or that we often choose suboptimal insurance plans, routinely buying insurance we don't even need? And why do so many of us not join our employers' pension plans, even if our employers offer to contribute? Behavioral finance is the study of these and dozens of other financial decision-making errors that can be avoided if you know the biases that cause them. In this course, we'll look at these predictable errors and where we're most susceptible to them. This course is designed to set participants on the path to making better financial choices. Learn how to improve your spending, saving, and investing decisions in the future.