Mind Your Decisions

Welcome

Welcome new readers. If you’re coming from Yahoo Finance, Freakonomics, or Lifehacker, here’s the quick intro. I write a game theory article every Tuesday. On other days, I discuss smart money and life decisions. You can get all of my articles in the RSS feed or through email updates.

My quest for better money decisions

Most advisers tell you what to do without explaining why. It seems they feel you are not smart enough to spend your hard-earned money. As if they know better what someone else should do. I tell them to mind their own decisions.

I have much more faith in people. I think people are smart and can make better decisions–if better equipped. Money decisions to me are all about understanding strategic thought, running numbers to help judgment, and accounting for risk. I will teach you how I do these things.

You’ll be figuring out your own path to the top of the mountain. I want to show the world there is an alternative to preachy, moralizing money advice. I will occasionally chime in with my own opinions, but that’s not my focus. I want to focus on giving you tools so you can make the best decision. I will never give you cookie-cutter advice like “10 reasons to open a Roth IRA.” I instead will teach you important techniques through easy to use free financial tools and frameworks for decision making–to arm you with the best strategy.

In short, I give you the facts, and let you mind your decisions.

More about me

The original idea came because many of my friends were asking me money questions. I have since reflected on why they asked and trusted me. It has to do with the kind of person I am.

I am a math nerd at heart and numbers are second nature to me. I have been teaching and tutoring math at all levels for about ten years now. I’m not like those slick financial types who focus on learning “rules” and do crazy mental math. I focus on concepts and theory that you can apply to a broad range of problems. If you need to crunch the numbers, just use a calculator or spreadsheet. The brain is made for thinking.

I also have a passion for game theory, the branch of economics dealing with strategic interaction. Personal finance is full of strategic players—basically every one you deal with tries to profit off of you. Game theory tells you how to improve your bargaining position and improve outcomes. At Stanford, I was lucky to learn game theory from leaders in the field. I express my views in a popular weekly column called “Game Theory Tuesdays.”

I have been interested in personal finance since my first year of high school. I joined an investing club where we bought stocks with our own money. They say experience is the best teacher, and I’d have to agree. But investing is just the tip of the iceberg.

Personal finance is about learning ways to save money, choosing how to spend effectively, protecting important assets, improving careers, and slugging through hard-times. These are some of the biggest decisions your life. And you should be in charge of making them.