What happens when you invite 50 behavioral scientists and interested citizens to address one of the country’s biggest environmental challenges? On October 24, 2019, we took on the NYC Stormwater Design Challenge, hosted by The Nature Conservancy,s in New York City. The Nature Conservancy, Decision Fish, Clicksuasion Labs, participants from the ideas42 2018 Behavioral Summit … The post Crowdsourcing Stormwater Solutions: Design Challenge 2018 appeared first on Decision Fish: Decide For Yourself ..read more

We can see the effects of the Ukraine War on the financial markets in the charts below. These charts are updated daily. They help us get a sense of how investors see how the war is going, and its effects on the world economy, now and in the near future. Ruble vs. US Dollar Higher … The post Financial Markets and the Ukraine War appeared first on Decision Fish: Decide For Yourself ..read more

We make thousands of decisions every day. Under pandemic conditions, many of these mundane decisions have suddenly become life or death choices. No wonder anxiety is rippling through society.  Should we: get needed medical care; go to the park, see friends and family; go shopping; order-in; eat out; or send our kids back to school? Decisions … The post ‘How Could I Be So Stupid?’: Making Decisions In A Pandemic appeared first on Decision Fish: Decide For Yourself ..read more

No toilet paper…anywhere? Really? It’s not unusual that people stock up in response to storms and political uncertainty. Indeed, some groups, “preppers”, accumulate years of supplies, anticipating a large-scale breakdown in society. Hoarding is a well-known psychological disorder, but that’s about collecting and retaining huge amounts of worthless items. However, empty supermarket shelves don’t necessarily mean … The post Where Did All the TP Go? The Behavioral Economics Of Hoarding appeared first on Decision Fish: Decide For Yourself ..read more

Ever since I changed careers to one with less income, I’ve been dying to talk to friends in similar situations about the financial aspect of their decision. How did they get comfortable that they had saved enough? How do they align their investing and spending with their values and reduced income? I likely waited too … The post The Money Taboo: What Can We Do About It? Talk! appeared first on Decision Fish: Decide For Yourself ..read more

How many things do we avoid because they could be boring? Meetings. Religious services. Chores. Waiting in line or on hold. Exercise. You can surely add your own. Intellectually, we know that each of these activities could be valuable, but we avoid them because the discomfort of boredom looms larger. What is boredom, really, how … The post How To Get The Most Out Of Boredom appeared first on Decision Fish: Decide For Yourself ..read more

Dear Kids, We are very proud of you for getting into college! You’ve done a great job applying for financial aid and saving your earnings from your summer job. Now, it’s the time to have The Talk. Don’t worry, not that talk! It’s about something much more terrifying: Money. We know that your savings and … The post How To Ask Your Parents For Money For College appeared first on Decision Fish: Decide For Yourself ..read more

A. Not us humans, that’s for sure.. Any objective view of the state of our economy, politics, technology and even our own day-to-day behavior provides loads of evidence that we are living for the moment. We don’t save enough for our retirement, our planet continues to warm and our economy gets more unequal because we … The post Q. Who Cares About The Future? appeared first on Decision Fish: Decide For Yourself ..read more

One of my best read (and Forbes.com Editor’s Choice) articles last year was about how the financial health crisis in this country is hurting our physical and mental health. When this happens, our financial health can be stressed even more, causing the circle to begin again with even worse effects. We can turn these vicious circles … The post Yes, We Can: 3 Ways to Improve the Nation’s Financial Health appeared first on Decision Fish: Decide For Yourself ..read more

Alpha is finance-geek speak for an investor’s skill that allows her to outperform an index, like the S&P 500, on a risk adjusted basis. At a recent behavioral finance conference, I sat on a panel that addressed the idea of behavioral alpha. Our moderator asked, “What is it and how do we get more of it?” I offered the observation that, … The post Negative Alpha: How Investors Can Stop Losing Money Unnecessarily appeared first on Decision Fish: Decide For Yourself ..read more