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I have written two books on behavioral finance and investing, The Emotional Investor and Investment Illusions. As you can imagine, writing a book takes a lot of time and effort. By the time I was done with each of the books I wrote, I never wanted to see either again! I was just so exhausted and tired of all the re-reading and editing.
A publisher recently reached out asking if I would write another book. Just the thought of it made feel exhausted. I said I wasn’t interested. I felt like I don’t have anything new to say – after all, the science hasn’t changed since I wrote those books. But then a single conversation changed my view.
The Conversation That Changed My Mind
Two weeks ago I was speaking with Jim Murphy, a friend in the industry…it was just a catch-up call. Jim knows me well; he has hired me to speak and create content for several firms. He knows what I do and sees great value in the messages I share. As we were talking, he asked if I planned to write another book. I said to him, “Jim, I don’t have anything new to say.” At that point he asked about the presentations I have given over the years, how much advisors have liked them, and the applicable ideas shared. He specifically mentioned my newest presentation on how advisors can become their clients’ preeminent financial influencer (a presentation I gave today at NAPFA’s Fall Conference). I told him, “Yeah, but that would only be one chapter, not a book.” He said, “So make every presentation a chapter.”
At that point it hit me! My first two books were written for individual investors, they were my intended audience. I chose them as the audience because there are more investors in the world than financial advisors, and I wanted to reach as broad an audience as possible. But now my perspective changed. I thought to myself:
What if I write a book for financial advisors – a kind of handbook in applying behavioral finance to all areas of their practice?
And that was the moment I needed. I have created so many tools, so much content in The Behavioral Finance Network over the last decade. This includes behavioral worksheets, checklists, questionnaires, scripts, and much more. I have many presentations that I delivered to advisors over the years on applying behavioral finance in many areas of their practice. Why not bring that all together in some sort of handbook/manual?
Seeking Your Input
I have two questions for you – please take two-minutes, click this button, and send me your thoughts:
What would you like to have included in a behavioral finance handbook for financial advisors?
Are there any themes, topics, or specific instances that you would like to learn more about?
In the next week, I am going to create a rough outline of what I will be covering in the book. So any ideas you have will be very helpful. After all, I want to create something you will want to read. I want to create something that could be referred to often and help you help your clients make better decisions and improve the investor experience.
As of now, I am considering three main units (I could include more based on your input):
- The Investor Psyche (understanding why they do what they do)
- Common Investor Biases (what we come across and how to mitigate the influence of biases)
- Behavioral Finance in Your Practice (how you can use it to better market/brand yourself, communicate with clients, enhance frequency and quality of referrals etc…)
Please take a moment and let me know your thoughts. All emails will be responded to.
Thank you for reading and thank you for helping!
Related: Why Ignorant Investors Are Often Better Than Informed Investors