Have you noticed that everybody is an expert nowadays? Every opinion is deemed as valid as every other and people, at least in their own minds, quickly ascend to savant status on the basis of reading a feature article on their favourite topic.
It seems every time you open a newspaper, you’re bombarded with the often competing views of equity analysts, economists and other pundits about the right level for stocks, the likely winning and losing sectors and what policy changes might mean for the market.
Back in 2000, two psychologists published a study about jam. Sheena Lyengar and Mark Lepper wanted to know what happens when you give consumers more or less choice.
Regret. This single emotion has been cited by Nobel laureate Daniel Kahneman as probably the greatest enemy of good decision-making in personal finance.
Much of the mainstream media commentary around investing carries with it the assumption everybody’s goal should be to try to ‘beat’ the market. But what does that mean? And does it make any sense at all?
Of all the benefits financial planners can provide, perhaps one stands out more than any other. It's one that's intangible, instinctive, qualitative, insightful and potentially life-changing at the same time.