I've long heard that Morgan Housel's book The Psychology if Money is a great one for personal finances but I haven't had a chance to read it. This weekend, I came across a great article by Housel that outlines 13 helpful things he's learned about the art of spending money, and saving it.
We focus so much on how to make money in markets but the goal is really to be happy. In this sense, that's financial freedom but what exactly that entails can vary so much based on how you spend and what you value.
Here is an example:
When you see someone driving a nice car, you rarely think, “Wow, the guy driving that car is cool.” Instead, you think, “Wow, if I had that car people would think I’m cool.” Subconsciously or not, this is how people think.
There is a paradox here: people tend to want wealth to signal to others that they should be liked and admired. But in reality those other people often bypass admiring you, not because they don’t think wealth is admirable, but because they use your wealth as a benchmark for their own desire to be liked and admired.... If respect and admiration are your goal, be careful how you seek it. Humility, kindness, and empathy will bring you more respect than horsepower ever will.
A great way to find success in markets is by setting goals but don't just set a goal for how much money you want in your account. The goal isn't to have money, it's what you plan to spend it on.
