The Most Controversial Topics in Personal Finance

Some personal finance topics are perpetually controversial. Not “let’s cordially disagree” controversial but “you have offended everything I stand for” controversial. The fact that these topics are controversial is not that interesting on its own, but understanding the reasons why they are controversial is fascinating. ------------------ Meet with PWL Capital https://pages.pwlcapital.com/en-ca/co... Avoid Online Scams: https://pwlcapital.com/stay-safe-online/ References https://zbib.org/ae5d4eb94b3e47aa8789... Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs image by Hamish Croker Hedonic Treadmill image from The Decision Lab Video Chapters 2:51 Renting vs. Owning 7:25 Income Investing 13:25 FIRE Correction 17:52 I originally said happiness increases linearly, but it increases linearly with log(income) making my statement incorrect. For example, a $10,000 income increase has a decreasing effect at higher income levels, but a 10% increase has a consistent effect. I clipped out "linearly" to avoid confusion. A related study by one of the co-authors on the same data set, but not the study mentioned in the video, finds that control is the explanation for the observed increases in happiness with increasing log(income). https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.2016976118 Related Videos Renting vs. Buying a Home: What People Get Wrong    • Renting vs. Buying a Home: What People Get...   The Irrelevance of Dividends    • The Irrelevance of Dividends   The Relevance of Dividend Irrelevance    • The Relevance of Dividend Irrelevance   How to Retire Early (The 4% Rule?)    • How to Fund an Early Retirement (Beyond th...   The 2.7% Rule for Retirement Spending    • The 2.7% Rule for Retirement Spending   Check out my weekly podcast ‪@rationalreminder‬