Rating: 
Summary: Useless, Hopeless, Senseless
Review: "Loss aversion, herd behaviors, overconfidence, anchoring, mental accouting, money illusion..."
As long as the history remember those tendencies were always with us. That's what we, human beings, are. No doubt those affect us in financial decisions along with EVERY decision we make.
One sound explanation to all of those tendencies is that we just don't have enough time for being mentally and intellectually sound everytime, every situation. Even though we want to, there are so much information we must filter and there are so many conditions we must choose... So we take shortcut: we follow a few rule of thumbs in order to save us time and energy to be a good husband, wife, friend and so on.
That's our inevitable choice to survive in this enormously complex world. Now you can think without any difficulties that there MUST be some you might knowingly unknowingly overlooked. So what? Do you regret? Look at you: you're browsing the myriad of books at Amazon to find something to improve yourselves. This is your struggle: you must sacrifice some other things to earn what you want. CONCENTRATION!!
Even if you'd thought you need some knowledgement in Behavioral Economics, this book is not for you. This is one of thousands pop psycology books out there without any practicabilities (in investing) or depth (in psycology). Authors even go far to say that "choose those stocks with below-average P/E ratios, you will be a lot richer" or "you can choose your lot with a few mutual funds and make regular contributions for them for next ten, twenty, thirty years.". If someone had any practical experience with stock markets, he or she would never never make such an irresponsible and absurd recommendation.
Don't bother.
Rating: 
Summary: A Masterful Money Lesson
Review: Belsky and Gilovich are true masters in writing. If a person is looking for a good book, this is it. It's money tips are invaluable.
Rating: 
Summary: Solid start to understanding behavioral finance
Review: Belsky does a very good job introducing many of the crazy things people do with their money, a good beginning to explain why markets are not efficient and an important fact to understand.
Rating:
Summary: Why Smart People Make Big Money Mistakes--And How To Correct
Review: Excellent! I wish I new this 30 years ago. A must read for all high school students.
Rating: 
Summary: WHY SMARTASSES MAKE MONEY WITH BOOKS LIKE THIS
Review: Finally the book I was waiting for! The answer to all my "why's" was published: I couldn't wait to read it. So I did.The first thing I got was a Quiz Show: Why do so many otherwise smart people make foolish financial choices? Why do investors sell stocks just before they skyrocket and --wait-- and cling to others as they plummer? Why do shoppers overspend? Why do we buy lottery tickets, why do we tip, why do we borrow, why do we have bowel movements, why do we breathe, why why why? Jesus H. Christ! We are looking for the meaning of life here. Yet, this book explains everything, and I mean EVERYTHING! In a "fascinating investigation" of the ways we screw around, the authors answer our plight by making money on our behalf and feeling great about it all. They also enter the omnipresent field of psychology to furnish a better reason on why we continuously bungle every financial process in sight: they dismantle you totally and reconstruct you partially, leaving your brain out as a superfluous part. In a brilliant statement, they also supply a gem of wisdom: "We believe... you can effectively change your behaviour in ways that will ultimately put more money in your pocket and help you keep more of what you already have." Isn't that a killer? What if you don't have any money in your pocket? Well, you shouldn't buy this book, of course! And what about all these "irrational errors" people make in spending the little they have? Come on, come on, let's be human: our financial judgement is clouded because it's a jungle out there and we don't need Abbot and Costello to tell us that we make mistakes, that we are indeed human and that we are simply trying to survive.
Rating:
Summary: Absolute mainstream garbage
Review: Forget the fact that these authors are extremely arrogant and examine their main thesis, which holds that the investing public is too ignorant to make their own investment choices, so they should rely on the "expert" mutual fund managers to make the choices for them. The authors in offering this advise contradict themselves, as they openly admit that most fund managers can't outperform an index fund, yet they assume that these "professionals" are still better at stock picking than the individual investor, when in fact these "professionals" can't even beat a random "dart board" portfolio (see the Wall Street Journal's yearly contest of "darts" vs. "professionals") Most important is that the authors blindly assume that the buy and hold strategy is the "cookie cutter" solution for ALL investors. This strategy is, and has proven in the past to be irreponsible. A more detailed analysis of this statement that stocks have had and average annual return of of about 3% greater than bonds, must be looked at in more detail. When you consider that about half of the historical returns from stocks have been via dividends rather than stock appeciation, and compare that to the average S&P 500 dividend today of around 1.25%, along with the lofty P/E ratio of around 35-42(depending on who cooked the books!!) you must come to the conclusion that even now after 2 years of a stock bear market, this is still the MOST EXPENSIVE stock market in history. What the authors fail to point out is that in the long cycle it does in fact matter WHEN you invest in the stock market, and you must recognize the PRIMARY trend of the market. Example: If you bought a random basket of stocks in 1927 and HELD them through the 1929 crash, it would have taken you until 1954 to get even (1980 on a inflation adusted basis). We are now at the threshold of a primary bear market that will dwarf the 1929 crash, since regression to the mean would yield a Dow of about 1000 and a Nasdaq of around 500.( according to Robert Prechter) It will take a lifetime to get your money back (if you have any money left after the panic) These "academic" authors like most Economists are dead wrong, and have failed to do their research adequately. It is a shame that people might read this book,...and use this advise to lose their life savings. If you want to read a book that tells the real story get Robert Prechter's "Surviving the Crash" or look at Martin Weiss "Safe Money report" or Richard Russell's Dow Theory Letters The name of game in the next few years will be preservation of capital, and to quote Richard Russell (one of the wisest sages in the business) "In a bear market, he who looses the least WINS"
Rating:
Summary: BEST book I have read in last 5 years
Review: Hi: This book is probably the best book I have read in the last five years. It takes what some may consider to be a relatively complicated area, behavioral finance, and breaks it down into easily understandable concepts. It is a quick, easy read and is absolutely fascinating. I would strongly recommend this book and have already read it twice myself. Andrew Stoltmann
Rating:
Summary: I'll never make decisions quite the same way again
Review: I am a "debt elimination specialist" - a financial consultant who teaches people how to pay off their debts and achieve financial independence quickly. Every day, I see smart people who have made big money mistakes, so the title caught my eye. I read the book thinking that it would be useful in helping me to understand my clients better. It did that AND MORE. I was surprised at the self-revelation that I received. At several points, I thought to myself, "These guys must have been reading my mail!" I'll never make any decision (financial or other) in quite the same way as I used to. I highly recommend the book.
Rating:
Summary: Intro to Behavioral Finance
Review: I found this to be an excellent introduction to behavioral finance and an easy read. Readers should find topics that are both new and familiar. This book is more for the individual investor and those looking for a beginning read in this area of Finance/Economics. Highly recommend!
Rating:
Summary: Intro to Behavioral Finance
Review: I found this to be an excellent introduction to behavioral finance and an easy read. Readers should find topics that are both new and familiar. This book is more for the individual investor and those looking for a beginning read in this area of Finance/Economics. Highly recommend!
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