Why We're Irrational with Money - with Kristen Berman
Oct 4, 2019
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Kristen Berman, Co-founder of Irrational Labs, discusses why people behave irrationally with money. She highlights the importance of one-time decisions, simplifying decision-making, and pre-committing to financial goals. Kristen also explains the value of measuring process over outcomes and using accountability partners. She introduces the Three Bs - Behavior, Barriers, and Benefits, for better financial habits. The podcast explores strategies to automate behavior change, decrease friction in spending behavior, and finding the balance between simplifying and optimizing.
Making one-time decisions and automating financial behaviors can be more effective than relying on daily habits.
Simplifying decision-making through heuristics and defaults can support desired financial behaviors.
Engaging accountability partners and creating simple spending rules can increase the likelihood of achieving financial goals.
Deep dives
The Importance of Identifying Values and Aligning Behaviors
Identifying what one truly values in life, rather than conforming to societal expectations, is vital. The podcast emphasizes the need to align behaviors with these values. This requires continuous practice. A concrete example is given: automating savings or retirement contributions instead of relying on daily willpower to save.
The Overrating of Habits
The podcast challenges the common belief that habits are the key to behavior change. It argues that habits require daily effort and motivation, which is difficult to sustain. Instead, the focus is on making one-time decisions and locking in behaviors. Examples include implementing automatic savings or putting an automatic enrollment for retirement savings, which has proven to be more effective than relying on willpower and habit formation.
The Failure of Financial Education and the Power of Environment
The podcast highlights that financial literacy and education alone have minimal impact on actual behavior change. Knowing about financial principles does not necessarily translate into action. Instead, the emphasis is on designing environments that support desired behaviors. Simplifying decision-making through heuristics and defaults, such as rounding up debt payments or setting automatic transfers, can lead to better financial outcomes. The importance of surrounding oneself with the right peer group is also emphasized to avoid overspending and aligning with unhealthy financial habits.
Automation and Pre-Commitment for Financial Success
Automating financial decisions, such as setting up automatic savings and retirement contributions, can help individuals stay on track with their goals and reduce reliance on willpower. Pre-committing to specific financial behaviors, like saving tax refunds, can also double savings rates. These one-time decisions and arrangements remove the emotional aspect of decision-making and create a system that aligns with long-term intentions.
Accountability and Simplified Decision Making
Engaging others as accountability partners increases the likelihood of achieving financial goals. Sharing intentions and progress, and having someone check in on your actions, adds a layer of accountability. Also, creating simple and easy-to-follow rules for spending, such as limiting the number of drinks when dining out, simplifies decision-making and reduces the room for overspending. Shifting focus to measuring process and taking action, rather than fixating on outcomes, encourages consistency and positive behavior change.
#218: Kristen Berman is co-founder of Irrational Labs, a behavioral product design company, along with Dan Ariely.
She has a fascinating job that involves looking into why people behave the way they do with their money, and discovering the easiest solution to help them create more positive financial behavior.
In short, she’s a proponent of redesigning the current financial system to make saving automatic and easy, and that’s part of what we discuss in this episode.
If creating better financial habits has been a challenge for you, or if you have trouble framing spending as a positive thing, rather than a loss, then Kristen has awesome advice for you.
Here are some key takeaways from the interview:
1. Habits are overrated - one-time decisions are more effective. 2. Simplify decision-making by giving yourself a rule-of-thumb to follow. 3. Pre-commit to your financial goals. 4. Measure process versus outcome. 5. Use accountability partners to reach your goals. 6. The Three Bs - Behavior, Barriers, and Benefits.