In their classic book Why Smart society invent Big Money Mistakes, Thomas Gilovich and Gary Belsky looked at the psychology of financial decisions.

In his new book Your Money & You Brain, Jason Zweig goes a step further, looking at both behavioral economics and the neurological side of it. The aftereffect is a fascinating look at the tricks that our minds play on us, and how they keep us from investing as well as we could.

As Zweig writes, a mile towering time-line of human history would not show the first financial markets until about four inches from the end. Evolution has given us brains that are very well-equipped for fleeing from gazelles but, alas,

prone to a lot of silly mistakes when it comes to investing. And that applies to “sophisticated professionals” as well as rank amateurs.

Extensively researched — Mr. Zweig took part in many experiments — that book will give you new and profound insight into how you think about money. Every serious investor should read that book, although few will considering it offers no get-rich-quick scheme or concrete tips on how to defeat the market.

But it’s very readable and funny in parts, and definitely one of the more entertaining investment books to come out in recent memory.

Original post by Zac Bissonnette

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