Standard Deviations with Dr. Daniel Crosby

Tune in to hear:- How did Jeff’s professional path evolve from lawyer, to standup comedian and finally to behavioral science / economics?- What lessons could behavioral science stand to learn from the art of standup comedy?- If two different comedies tell a joke with similar content, the joke might land for one of them while feeling really caustic and tone deaf for the other. What might account for this difference and how can one exude more empathy and authenticity in such a retelling?-  What does Jeff mean when he says… “thinking a lot about money would be fine if, by thinking more about it, we were able to make better decisions?”- What is the pain of paying? How do companies wield this against us and how can we take the power back here?- Jeff talks about Ulysses’ contracts in his book. What can we learn from the myth of Ulysses and how can we practically utilize this to make better financial decisions?- Where is applied behavioral finance headed and where does Jeff want to take it at JP Morgan?www.jeffkreisler.comCompliance Code: 1929-OAS-6/29/2021

Tune in to hear:- On a previous podcast, Richard Nisbett expressed that the most central message of psychology is that we have no access to most of what goes on in our heads. What studies are illustrative of this dramatic conclusion he reached?- What are the implications of this stream of thought, particularly in regards to free will and determinism?- In light of this research, are things like introspection valuable or do they simply feel meaningful?- If environment is highly influential in our decision making process, what can we do to create environmental prompts to improve the decisions we make?- How can incentives for driving behavior backfire and why might consensus be a more powerful motivational tool?- How can we consider all sides, to more effectively protect ourselves from confirmation bias, in an age when it’s so easy for really harmful, unvetted ideas to get propagated and shared widely.- What’s a practical example of how one can use formal logic to improve decisions?Web: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00SSAXRCW/ref=dbs_a_def_rwt_bibl_vppi_i1Compliance Code: 1863-OAS-6/18/2021

Tune in to hear:- How did Anthony move from being homeless, and in a great deal of debt, to being one of the nation’s top educators on money matters and part of the Dave Ramsey franchise? What four steps were critical in this journey?- Anthony stresses the importance of intentionality in one’s spiritual journey, network journey, net worth journey and their overall mindset. Are these elements broadly applicable to the general population, or did they simply work for Anthony?- Where does Anthony see the strongest tie between spiritual wealth and material wealth?- How can having a therapist help you be a better investor and further refine a goals-based investment approach?https://www.ramseysolutions.com/anthony-onealCompliance Code: 1836-OAS-6/14/2021

- Three steps to mastering personal finance.- What is the knowledge or education gap in financial literature that Joe Saul-Sehy’s new book ‘Stacked’ fills?- What role might humor play in a successful financial plan?- How can we move people towards financial goals that are more visceral and poignant and away from mimetic, or culturally inherited, goals?- Why is automation such a powerful financial tool and how does Joe recommend people best utilize it?- What advice does John Saul offer on finding a good financial advisor to partner with? What unique considerations might different people have when looking for a financial professional?- How to come up with good interview questions for prospective advisors.https://joesaulsehy.comhttps://www.stackingbenjamins.comCompliance Code: 1823-OAS-6/10/2021

Tune in to hear:- What is Colin’s perspective on the extreme fear and greed that arose throughout the pandemic in 2020? These are constants within the market, but why were they of particular interest in this cycle?- Are investors primed for misbehavior because of what we went through last year?- Learn more about Colin’s new book Fed Up: Success, Excess and Crisis Through the Eyes of a Hedge Fund Macro Trader- Colin believes that both Quantitative Easing and Central Banks have a net negative impact on the global economy. Why does the believe the current policy is failing?- How can investors balance, or keep in tension, a critique of the fed with the reality that the narrative has frequently left people behind who were angry with the fed?- There are lots of smart people that think racking up a national debt is relatively inconsequential, but Colin believes that it matters a great deal. What lead him to this perspective?- How is the fed fueling wealth inequality with their current policies?- What can we, as a nation, do differently to minimize the wealth gap?- How would Colin have approached the pandemic differently, from a fiscal approach, if he was in charge of the fed?- What qualities do great investment thinkers seem to share?Web: www.colinlancaster.meCompliance Code: 1795-OAS-6/4/2021

Tune in to hear:- What might the personality of an ideal hire for a leadership position in asset management look like?- How can one measure things like emotional intelligence and curiosity that can seem kind of ethereal or hard to get your arms around?- Has Michael come across any counterintuitive, or surprising, discoveries in his research as he’s tried to fill talent gaps in the financial services industry?- How does a company best walk the line between having adequate conflict, to fully vet and consider all perspectives, but not such excessive conflict that it spills over into ugliness?- What does the concept of “psychological safety” mean and how can one achieve this perspective throughout their organization?- How do we get beyond just paying lip service to wanting productive conflict in an organization and actually get to a point where we can have these conversations?- What are some common behavioral traps within decision making processes used by asset managers, and how does Michael council people to begin to overcome these?- Is there really something magical about the human touch that is additive to the investment decision making process or can we simply automate these things away?- How might we build out a more modular model that takes the best of quant, analysis and data and the best of human decision making and merges these aspects together?- What has come into focus for Michael since his ALS diagnosis?Books:https://www.amazon.com/Learn-Sustain-Long-Term-Economic-Growth/dp/1944960058https://www.amazon.com/Get-Work-Future-Michael-Falk/dp/1704375827ALS Charities: https://iamals.orghttps://lesturnerals.orgRecent Writing:https://investmentsandwealth.org/getattachment/2166018f-6fbd-4389-ad61-8352e53d7537/IWM20NovDec-EverythingYouNeedToKnowAboutInvesting.pdfhttps://www.cfainstitute.org/research/foundation/2021/capitalism-for-everyoneCompliance Code: 1740-BCI-5/27/2021

Tune in to hear:- Carl Richards speaks about serving real financial advisors. This of course presupposes the existence of fake financial advisors, so what’s the difference between a real financial advisor and a fake financial advisors?- What practical advice can help one avoid a financial advisor that doesn’t have your best interests at heart?- How do we help clients articulate powerful goals that are salient and motivating without failing prey to this trip of false precision?- How do we begin to see ourselves as we truly are, allowing us to become better financial advisors?- We have a tendency as a culture to always move the goalpost on what is enough - what can we do to cultivate a spirit of knowing when we have enough?- How might we look at asset classes like cryptocurrencies and NFTs through a behavioral finance lensWeb: www.thesocietyofadvice.comCompliance Code: 1688-OAS-5/20/2021

Tune in to hear:- Is the classic retirement trope of working hard until your 65 and retiring to a life of leisure sort of an antiquated way of thinking about retirement?- Is the prospect of people having to work later in their life net good or net negative for most individuals?- Research shows that people who are retired, on average, are happier than those who aren’t. However, there’s also an outlier group of retired individuals who are much more depressed than those who continue to work. Is this due to not having enough resources, not being engaged with a community or some mix of the two?- Is it a better approach to work really hard and retire earlier or to give yourself the space and time to explore hobbies alongside work and work later into life?- What are the upsides and downsides of “FIRE” (Financial Independence, Retire Early)?- Social security is the biggest pillar upon which the average person’s retirement plan rests, but we know that social security faces many problems if something isn’t done quickly to fix them. Should we assume that social security might not exist in planning for retirement or how should we think about the longevity of social security?- What actions can we take to increase retirement savings? If money is tight in retirement, what options does one have?- How do we move the needle on the social security problem when no one seems to have the political will to pose a difficult solution?Web: www.jamiehopkins.comCompliance Code: 1589-OAS-5/10/2021

Tune in to hear:- Why might the narrative that “our parents’ generation had it much easier financially than we do now” be incorrect? What assumptions does it make?- When yields on a 50/50 stock and bond portfolio, yields are historically anemic right now. What are investors supposed to do in a time like this and how do we prevent them from just chasing yield and moving up the risk spectrum?- What has Michael’s personal experience with NFTs been like and how does he think about that part of the market?- Is the influx of active investment, particularly with commission free apps like Robinhood, likely to have a net positive or net negative effect on the markets and peoples’ understanding of them?- How can one temper being extremely active online with all the negative things that can come along with this?Web: www.michaelbatnick.comCompliance Code: 1517-OAS-5/4/2021

Tune in to hear:- Why is Adam Smith considered to be the original behavioral economist?- Mike is advocating for mission driven capitalism. How does this contrast with a more classic approach to Capitalism that’s focused on shareholder value?- Why might mission driven corporations outperform the S&P 500? Is there a specific mechanic at play here?- How can consumers and investors separate out true mission driven corporations from those that are merely posturing as mission driven corporations?- How does mission driven capitalism distinguish itself from other contemporary “do good” capitalism like ESG and impact investing?- Does Mike expect mission driven companies to have standard market returns or expect them to outperform?Web: themissioncorps.orgCompliance Code: 1447-OAS-4/28/2021