Personal Development

Do I Have To Get Comfortable With Emotions To Be A Financial Planner?

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For some financial advisors, helping clients cope with the emotional side of money issues can be a little intimidating. As a psychologist with a clinical practice and consultant to advisors and families about money issues, here are some thoughts about an advisor's role in helping clients deal with the "soft" side of money.   Incidentally, I decided to address this issue because, at a recent webinar for Advisors4Advisors, an advisor said that many advisors feel uncomfortable assisting clients with this side of things.  

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Behavioral Finance on the Golf Course

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If you watched the Master's golf tournament today, you may have seen Phil Mickelson lose the tournament on the 4th hole. He hit a bad shot off the 4th tee that landed in a jungle to the left of the grandstand. At this point, he could have taken a definite loss and returned to the tee. However, he chose not to do this.

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If You Are Not Bumping Into People Who Want To Help You Because You Are Doing Good Work, Then You Need To Fix That Part Of Your Life

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  Humility has always prevented me from buying into the notion of American exceptionalism, but change wrought by the Internet is making me rethink.   The Internet now makes it easy for smart people to find each other and work together. I'm experiencing this every day.   It’s why the stock market is rising. It’s why optimism is returning. And it’s actually a really big deal for civilization.

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Please Share Your Observations About How Stress Over Money Causes Problems Affecting Couples, Families, And Other Relationships

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I'm closely involved with the effort to create a Division of Financial Psychology in the America Psychological  Association. This is a labor of love for me. Psychologists trained to work skillfully with financial issues and to collaborate with financial advisors have a lot to offer.

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As The Internet Rebuilds American Institutions, Be Grateful You Live In An Extraordinary Era Of Progress And Tap Its Potential For Doing Good

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America is in upheaval. Institutions are being crushed and rebuilt all around us and we are living in a time of revolutionary change, but most of us many not even fully realize what's happening. Creativity and destruction wrought by the Internet is changing America in often subtle but deeply significant ways. Here‘s why I’m so excited.

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