Decision making in personal finance

One of the more painful parts of this job is that we have to live through people making a lot of bad financial decisions. We are in the business of helping people financially and I’ve come to terms that we can’t help everyone. Some people simply just don’t want to listen and want to be told what they want to hear.

As we act in the best interest of our clients, we’re obligated to tell them our honest thoughts and advise them as such. However, it doesn’t always translate to them taking action.

My process for my own personal finance decision making is the same for nearly all the decisions I make. I first get all the data and facts, and then I weigh the pros/cons for myself. Personal finance is well.. a personal one. The data and facts is the truth and information you leverage. Then you have to apply the personal factor to things.

The biggest flaw I see in working with clients on personal financial topics is that they seem to latch onto arbitrary advice that they have read on the internet, or a friend told them something. That’s fine - and more info the better, but the part they are lacking is the personal aspect to all this. While that advice may work well for that one friend, it may not be the best advice for another person.

Personal finance is personal.