Morgan Housel has a new book, The Psychology of Money: Timeless Lessons on Wealth, Greed, and Happiness. In the book, Housel describes why doing well with money isn’t necessarily about what you know—it’s about how you behave.
For those who struggle with math, this assertion should be welcomed! Good investing and personal financial management has more to do with your ability to practice self-control than with your mathematical acumen.
Housel states:
“To me everything I’ve learned about money, whether it’s personal finance, or investing or running a business, is that it’s not a math based field. It’s a soft social sciences based field. It’s closer to psychology and sociology and history.
What’s going to separate the good from the bad in finance between people who do really well and people who do really bad is not your intelligence. It’s not your education. It’s not your IQ. It’s whether you keep control over your emotions.”
As Christ followers, this mindset should come easier for us than for non-believers.
Solomon writes, “Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and lean not on your own understanding” (Proverbs 3:5).
If we are disciplined to put back little by little consistently over time, control our emotions when the markets are volatile, and trust in the Lord with all of our heart, we have embraced a solid financial strategy to prepare us for the future.
Aren’t you glad retirement investing is not math!
Steve Crawley, PhD
Executive Director
Ministers Resource Services