Jim here – one of the fun parts of reading a lot of personal finance articles around the start of the year are the annual recaps where people share what they’ve learned in the past year.
Today’s first article is similar, except it’s a bit grander. It’s ideas that have changed Morgan Housel’s life… which I’d argue are ideas that will have a massive impact on anyone.
Check it out:
Ideas That Changed My Life [Collab Fund by Morgan Housel] – “Everyone belongs to a tribe and underestimates how influential that tribe is on their thinking. There is little correlation between climate change denial and scientific literacy. But there is a strong correlation between climate change denial and political affiliation. That’s an extreme example, but everyone has views persuaded by identity over pure analysis.”
I very rarely use checks, usually to pay estimated taxes (speaking of which, I should look into that), and it turns out my friend Mike at Oblivious Investor just had an arduous 3 month ordeal dealing with check fraud! I didn’t know this type of thing still happened and it turns out it happens quite a bit!
My Experience with Check Fraud – And What You Can Learn From It [Oblivious Investor] – “Apparently somebody intercepted the check, chemically “washed” it to remove the ink on specific portions of the check, and wrote in a new payee, amount, and (partial) memo.” (JD sent this one along!)
How To Use Money Journaling: Improve Your Mindset And Your Finances [Clever Girl Finance] – “Money journaling is about more than just keeping a ledger. It’s about keeping a journal that’s purely dedicated to your finances and spending habits. When you start journaling, you commit to writing down everything you spend every day. To make it a money journal, you also need to write down how you feel about all your spending in addition to the numbers. This is the secret ingredient.”