The Psychology Behind Poor Investments and Other Important Decisions

When we make important decisions, we are often not as rational or objective as we’d like to believe. The base rate fallacy is the tendency to misjudge the probability of a situation by not accounting for all relevant information. This cognitive bias affects everything from first impressions to voting preferences to broad market behavior.

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A Unique Form of Real Estate Investment in a Tough Housing Economy (with Michael Farnsworth)

If you follow economic news at all, you’ve taken note of the changing conditions of the American housing economy in the last few years. First, high demand, low supply, and cheap debt fueled an extraordinary (and unhealthy) price surge. In response, the Federal Reserve ratcheted up interest rates to cool an overheated economy in the wake of pandemic-related disruptions

In years prior, economic conditions supported a vast proliferation of real estate investment. Individual investors to multinational corporations scooped up properties across the country for cheap. The returns were fantastic. But in my mind, those days were decidedly over.

When my guest today, Michael Farnsworth, discussed his novel concept of real estate investment, I was all ears. Do many of the real estate investment rules-of-thumb still function in a world of 7%+ mortgage rates and all-time high prices? Is now really the time to start a real estate investment portfolio? Is this even the time to buy a personal residence? And when it comes to short-term rentals, what are the ethical considerations for local economies and community fabric? We cover all this and more in today’s episode.

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Selling Our House: On the Road, Pandemic Edition

Selling our house during a pandemic, life on the road

It’s July. Once again, coronavirus infections are surging across the country. Mrs. CC and I, in a moment of hopeful optimism a few weeks ago, decided to list our house for sale. Where are we going? We don’t know, we’ll be homeless. Will we have income? Not sure. Considering we’re hitting the road in one week, there’s the shocking reality that we really don’t have a plan. And if we are anything, we are planners.

So…where do we go from here?

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From Love: Why I Care About Your Money

After over 89,000 words written here to date, I wonder if I’ve consistently taken the correct tone. It’s very easy to point the finger in judgment, to be the cynic, but there is far more difficulty in being a source of encouragement or inspiration. So, let’s take a step back today. I want to explain why I started this project, and why I care so deeply about you and your money.

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Full Pursuit of Climbing Isn’t Full Freedom After All

This week’s post was written as a guest post for the UK-based Chalkbloc.com. I’ll admit, there’s a bit of controversy here. I love climbing as much as the next guy, but I believe that full pursuit of the sport can leave us a bit unbalanced. Steve Bechtel, in his interview here last week, rightfully points out that no one is really all that balanced. You’ll hear no argument from me, but we might as well try. Financial stability is very simple, but not necessarily easy. Let’s see what it really takes to find the freedom we’ve been longing for.

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Steve Bechtel: The Importance of Time

Steve Bechtel is a Lander, Wyoming-based climber, trainer, author, and business owner. Steve is also a pillar of the Lander outdoors community, a long-time owner of Elemental Performance + Fitness and Climb Strong, a training program specifically tailored to climbers. After following Steve’s work for a number of years, I suspected he might bring his thoughtful approach to climbing and training to other aspects of his life. In this interview, he doesn’t disappoint.

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Creative Craig and His Incredibly Captivating Career

I’ve written much about the realities of American job satisfaction. I’ve routinely pointed out the growing sense of discontent in the traditional workforce, and that fewer people are truly passionate about their work. The ability to be creative is often associated with increased job satisfaction, so you can imagine how someone of that leaning would feel when forced to spend their days filing paperwork.

Last week I had an incredibly thought-provoking phone conversation with an old friend. My friend is one of the lucky few who are excited to jump out of bed and face the work day. But not only that, he’s also secured another foundational pillar of life satisfaction: financial security. I came away from this conversation with thoughts swirling in my head, and a clearer picture of what lies ahead for me as my corporate career comes to a close. 

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