The Psychology of Money

The author reminisces about working as a hotel valet in Los Angeles. During this time, he became acquainted with a successful technology executive he considered a “genius” (6). He reports that, in spite of his gargantuan salary, this executive later became bankrupt due to poor financial decision-making. Housel uses this example to introduce the main argument of his work, writing, “The premise of this book is that doing well with money has little to do with how smart you are and a lot to do with how you behave” (7, emphasis added).

Housel underlines this point by contrasting two very different American men. The first, Ronald Read, never attended post-secondary education and spent his life working low-earning jobs such as fixing cars and cleaning, yet retired with a net worth of over $8 million due to persistent investing in blue chip stocks. Read’s story became well-known, as he donated much of his wealth to his local library and hospital in his will.

Conversely, Richard Fuscone went to Harvard, earned an MBA, and was a Merrill Lynch Executive. In spite of his success in the financial industry, Fuscone went bankrupt during the 2008 financial crisis due to his extensive borrowing to support his lavish lifestyle.