Welcomeback. What are the biggest problems infinance?
Is that everybody is sodifferent.
Differentgoals, differentpersonalities, differentemotions, differentbackgrounds, different socialaspirations.
And we take thatbig, eclectic mix of people and so much of the financial media and financial advice is trying to give a one size fits all solution to something in which everyone is going to actually come up with a differentanswer.
They have differentneeds.
And that's part of my idea that the majority of financialdebates, when people debate about how should you spend yourmoney, how should you invest yourmoney, how does thiswork, where is thisgoing?
They're not actually people debating with eachother.
They are people with differentbackgrounds, different timehorizons, different risk tolerances talking over eachother.
And so what I want to do in this episode is not give you any answers or even really any opinions about anytopics.
I just want to ask you some questions because I think the way that you figure out what is right for you and what you're missing in finance and what you can improve on is not to go out and ask people for answers is to ask yourself some questions and come up with an individualized approach that works foryou.
So I think about these questions all the time in my ownlife.
And truth betold, I think there are some of these questions that you cannotanswer.
At least you cannot answer themhonestly.
But they are thoughtprovoking, Ihope, thought provoking questions that will help you think about the world and business and money in a differentway.
Alright, here wego. Who has the rightanswers?
But I ignore because they are notarticulate.
That one always gets me thinking because obviously what gets people's attention is a person who's making the mostnoise, often the person who is the most controversial or even who is just telling the beststory.
The best story alwayswins.
But being articulate or being a good storyteller is not the same as having the rightanswers.
And so I think about this all the time for people who have influenced my investingbeliefs, my moneybeliefs, or I could even say my politicalbeliefs, my socialbeliefs.
How much of that have I been influenced by because it's true versus just it sounds good and it makessense?
Alright, nextone. What have I experienced firsthand that leaves me naive to how somethingworks?
As former GE CEO Jeff ML oncesaid, every job looks easy when you're not the one doingit.
And so I often think the things that I complain about in theworld, oh that person's not doing a goodjob.
Oh that person's screwedup.
Oh look at that idiot overthere.
How much of those criticisms would I realize were unfair if I were the one in their situation and dealing with theiremotions, dealing with theirincentives, probably alot.
Every job looks easy when you're not the one doingit.
Alright, nextone. Which of my current views would I disagree with if I were born in a different country or a differentgeneration?
The honest answer isoh,a, I don'tknow, butb, a lot ofthem.
And this is why you get so many generational differences between parents and their children or their grandparents where you look at what another generation is doing and you just shake your head in confusion ordisgust.
Because what they experienced both socially and economically and politically are so different than what you and I have experienced if you're from a differentgeneration.
And as I like tosay, nothing is more persuasive than what you have experiencedfirsthand.
Alright, nextone. What do I desperately want to betrue?
So much that I think it's true when it's clearlynot.
This isa, this is a really difficult one to swallow because I think for a lot of people your willingness to accept something as true is calibrated by how much you need it to be true or how much you just desperately want it to betrue.
And so when you're thinking about how good are you at thistask?
How much do people admireyou?
How much do people likeyou?
Those kind of topics you're going to cling to information mostlikely, Ithink, that influences how much you want those things to betrue.
Alright, nextone. What is a problem that I think only applies to other countries or industries or careers that will eventually hitme?
It's so common when you see something terrible happen to another country or somebody else'sjob.
It is comforting tothink,well, that happened tothem, butme,not, that couldn't happen tome.
That happens to otherpeople, notme, not mycountry, not myfield, not mycareer.
But ofcourse, if it happened to otherpeople, of course it could happen toyou.
Maybe some people are more susceptible to bad events thanothers, same for countries andbusinesses, but nobody is immune from the ability of the world to humble you once in awhile.
And so when you see a whole company goingbankrupt, a whole industry falling intoirrelevance, a whole country kind of breaking downsocially, of course it could happen toyou.
And so what do I look around andsay,well, those poor unfortunatepeople?
And I kind of shake my head and it's veryexternal.
It feels like an out of bodyexperience.
Like,oh, that happens tothem.
And onme,well, some of those might happen to me and you eventually aswell.
Allright, nextone. What do I think istrue, but is actually just goodmarketing?
Marketing isso, sopowerful, soeffective.
That's why itexists. That's why we spend hundreds of billions of dollars a year doingit.
And how much of that am I influencedby?
Are you influenced by something that youthink,oh, you found this greatproduct.
