Dr. Daniel Crosby

You're analytical.

You're a numbers guy.

You're picking stocks.

There's nothing to do with human science in that world.

And I couldn't have been more wrong.

And the reason that it matters is when we look at the predictors of financial success, right, when we look at the predictors of whether or not people cross the finish line and reach their financial goals, the predictors of that are not what we think they are.

I think most people think it's stuff like, you know, did I have a high paying job?

Did I pick the right stocks?

You know, externalities to like, what did the president do?

What did the prime minister do?

What did we go to war?

You know, what did the economy do?

Sort of all these externalities that are out of our control when in reality, the best predictors of financial success over a lifetime is is behavioral stuff.

It's things like, did I stay the course over the long term?

Did I contribute a small portion of my paycheck every couple of weeks to sort of fund my future self?

So we tend to look at all the wrong things when we're making attributions about financial success.

And so understanding that and sort of taking the power back is not only the right answer, it's an empowering answer.

You know, we realize it's not all about what the president does or what the market does or what the economy does even.

It's really down to our decisions.

And that's a powerful thing for most investors to grasp that they don't immediately.