Morgan Housel: Understand & Apply the Psychology of Money to Gain Greater Happiness

In this episode, my guest is Morgan Housel, an expert in private wealth generation and management and author of the bestselling book The Psychology of Money. We discuss how desiring, pursuing, saving, and spending money impact our psychology and perception of wealth. We explore why people tend to either overspend or oversave and examine the most common mistakes made in the pursuit of financial freedom. Additionally, we discuss how to best use money — and one’s relationship with it — as a tool to create psychological security, freedom, and a deeper sense of life purpose.  

We also delve into the impact of purchases, social media, and wealth signaling on our internal reward circuits, the dangers of using money as a gauge of career progress or self-worth, and the healthiest psychological stances to adopt while building wealth at any level. By the end of the episode, listeners will have gained numerous practical tools for making smarter financial decisions and should have a clearer understanding of the role money plays in their psychology, happiness, and life.

Articles

• Prospect Theory: An Analysis of Decision under Risk (Econometrica)
• Lottery winners and accident victims: is happiness relative? (Journal of Personality and Social Psychology)
• The Own and Social Effects of an Unexpected Income Shock: Evidence from the Dutch Postcode Lottery (UC Santa Barbara: Department of Economics)
• Cognitive and attentional mechanisms in delay of gratification (Journal of Personality and Social Psychology)‍
• Attention in delay of gratification (Journal of Personality and Social Psychology)

Books

• 30 Lessons for Living: Tried and True Advice from the Wisest Americans
• How to Get Rich: One of the World's Greatest Entrepreneurs Shares His Secrets

Other Resources

• Steve Jobs' 2005 Stanford Commencement Address
• Conor McGregor: Notorious (Netflix)
• Unproven stem cell 'therapy' blinds three patients at Florida clinic
• The Moral Bucket List by David Brooks (The New York Times)
• Into the Wild (Film)
• Succession (TV series)
• Elon Musk on the the Lex Fridman Podcast
• Founders (Podcast)
• Man vs. Dog Thoughts (Cartoon)

Huberman Lab Episodes Mentioned

• Mark Zuckerberg & Dr. Priscilla Chan: Curing All Human Diseases & the Future of Health & Technology

People Mentioned

• Daniel Kahneman: Nobel Prize in Economic Sciences
• Warren Buffet: Chairperson, Berkshire Hathaway
• Charlie Munger: Vice Chairman, Berkshire Hathaway
• Anna Lembke: Professor of Psychiatry, Stanford University
• Ray Dalio: Investor, Hedge Fund Manager
• Anderson Cooper: Journalist
• Edward Thorp: Mathematics Professor, Author
• John Maynard Keynes: British Economist
• Paul Graham: Co-Founder, Startup Incubator Y Combinator
• Rick Rubin: Record Producer

Sponsors

• AG1
• Wealthfront**
• BetterHelp
• ROKA
• Function

**This experience may not be representative of the experience of other clients of Wealthfront, and there is no guarantee that all clients will have similar experiences. Cash Account is offered by Wealthfront Brokerage LLC, Member Finra/SIPC. Promo terms and FDIC coverage conditions apply. Same-day withdrawal or instant payment transfers may be limited by destination institutions, daily transaction caps, and by participating entities such as Wells Fargo, the RTP® Network, and FedNow® Service. New Cash Account deposits are subject to a 2-4 day holding period before becoming available for transfer.