Financial Decision Making

I cut this video just before the markets went kablooie.

I thought about shelving it, but then realized, memories are short. Already, I’m hearing about people trying to time the market, buying classes of distressed assets they know nothing about, and about the wealthy cutting back on the amount they buy but not the level at which they buy (in other words, a group who might have bought a total of 10 $5,000 TVs last year will buy 5 $5,000 TVs this year, instead of 10 $2,000 sets. And they certainly won’t buy merely 5 $2,000 sets). I’m also hearing, despite a range of predictions about how long this thing will take to play out, people making heady plans based on “optimistic” scenarios rather than “hoping for the best and planning for the worst.” Hi, America, have you learned *anything* since October?

It’s as if we didn’t get kicked in the teeth quite hard enough.

So you know what? Here it is. However much money you have (left) in your accounts, I hope this saves you some grief.

Jason Seiden is Co-founder and CEO of Ajax Social Media, a training company that shows professionals how use social media to work more effectively.