#18 - Morgan Housel: The Psychology of Money
Listen Here: Apple | Spotify
My guest today is Morgan Housel, a writer and public speaker with Collaborative Fund. He recently published his first book, The Psychology of Money. Morgan and I discussed how history alters our perspectives, Morgan's unconventional childhood, the beauty of serendipitous relationships, and some of our favorite books. We also touched on a number of personal finance topics.
I've been a fan of Morgan's writing for years, so this was a conversation I've been looking forward to for a long time. If you're looking for more information on Morgan, I published a curation including some of his best work, which you can find here.
Selected links from the show:
Show notes:
01:10 - How the time period in which you grow up influences your perspectives
04:15 - How living through crises can lead to positive financial effects
06:44 - Morgan's philosophy on saving, spending, and building wealth and how it has changed over time
"Having independence gives you a permanent level of happiness. It's likely to stick with you over time."
09:18 - The End of History Illusion
"Your outlook on life will change. When it comes to money, you can avoid the biggest regrets by avoiding the extreme ends of the spectrum - saving all your money or spending all your money."
13:03 - Morgan's unconventional childhood as a ski racer and how that shaped him
17:27 - Would Morgan allow his kids to follow the same path?
19:46 - The story of how Morgan started at the Motley Fool
23:00 - Cool connections from Twitter
"I'm not that interested in investing. I'm interested in how people think. When someone reaches out and invites you into their head - I love that."
24:28 - Morgan's role at Collaborative Fund
"No one wants to read marketing. People want to read things that are interesting."
27:00 - Morgan's daily routine
"You cannot force creativity. You cannot schedule creativity."
30:06 - Similarities between Morgan and Michael Lewis
32:05 - JR Moehringer's excellent writing and Shoe Dog
33:50 - Is the abundance of VC money a good thing?
37:05 - How people tend to discount huge discoveries until they are mainstream and how we can apply this phenomenon to the present
"It's easy to discount new technology because people discount the power of compounding...It's hard to imagine what it could become."
42:40 - How Morgan would invest an unexpected windfall
44:00 - Companies and regions where Morgan would place an investment bet
46:19 - The most surprising thing about publishing his first book
46:55 - The book Morgan has given most as a gift
48:15 - Morgan's advice to a recent college grad
48:36 - What Morgan falls back on when he's tired of reading
49:00 - What Morgan is most looking forward to when things are back to normal
