The Psychology of Money: Timeless lessons on wealth, greed, and happiness

The ability to do those things when most others can’t is one of the few things that will set you apart in a world where intelligence is no longer a sustainable advantage. Having more control over your time and options is becoming one of the most valuable currencies in the world. That’s why more people can, and more people should, save money.

Become OK with a lot of things going wrong. You can be wrong half the time and still make a fortune, because a small minority of things account for the majority of outcomes. No matter what you’re doing with your money you should be comfortable with a lot of stuff not working. That’s just how the world is.

professor Scott Sagan once said something everyone who follows the economy or investment markets should hang on their wall: “Things that have never happened before happen all the time.”

That stuck with me. Being able to wake up one morning and change what you’re doing, on your own terms, whenever you’re ready, seems like the grandmother of all financial goals.

If you want to do better as an investor, the single most powerful thing you can do is increase your time horizon. Time is the most powerful force in investing.

You can’t blame investors for doing this. If you view investing as a hard science, history should be a perfect guide to the future.

Nassim Taleb explained: “True success is exiting some rat race to modulate one’s activities for peace of mind.” I like that.

Charlie Munger once said “I did not intend to get rich. I just wanted to get independent.”

1. August, 1945. World War II ends.

To grasp why people bury themselves in debt you don’t need to study interest rates; you need to study the history of greed, insecurity, and optimism. To get why investors sell out at the bottom of a bear market you don’t need to study the math of expected future returns; you need to think about the agony of looking at your family and wondering if y