Opinion
Housel: Affordable Housing Is the Single Biggest Social Problem in America
“So housing, affordable housing, I think is the single biggest social problem, certainly in America, probably in Canada right now. Because so many other social problems that might seem bigger than that are downstream of housing. A lot of the drug problem, the d…”
Opinion
Housel: Restrictive Zoning and Underbuilding Entirely Cause the Housing Affordability Crisis
“That virtually all of the reason that housing is so unaffordable is because we don't build enough, and the reason we don't build enough is zoning.”
Insight
Housel: Primary Home Equity Gains Are Phantom Wealth Unless You Relocate
“The equity that you build isn't really wealth because you, when you sell that house, you probably have to buy another one that went up in value just as much. And unless you are moving to a cheaper city, which of course that happens, You're not getting any bene…”
Disclosure
Morgan Housel Keeps 20% to 30% of His Net Worth in Cash
“It's probably 20 to 30%. Maybe it's high teens in that in that zone. And it's been like that over the course of big changes in my net worth. I've always added about like that.”
Insight
Housel: Resisting FOMO is the most critical financial skill for wealth
“Not having FOMO is the single most important financial skill. I think it's so important that you cannot ever imagine accumulating significant wealth over your lifetime if you are susceptible to FOMO.”
Insight
Housel: For most people, harder investing effort yields worse returns
“Investing is one of the very few endeavors in life where the harder you try, the worse you're probably going to do. And yes, there are exceptions to that. Renaissance technologies. Of course, you can name the exceptions for people who tried very hard and did v…”
Insight
Housel: Extreme success often stems from channeled anxiety rather than passion
“A lot of people who are very successful are just walking anxiety disorders harnessed for productivity.”
Opinion
Housel: George Carlin understood psychology better than Daniel Kahneman
“George Carlin understood psychology. I think better than Daniel Kahneman did. That's a bold statement, but I think that is actually true.”
Insight
Housel: Financial Contentment Is Achievable at Lower Incomes Than Most Expect
“What people actually want to get to, what they aspire to, whether they know it or not, is contentment, which is not happiness. It's a different emotion. You'd want to get to a point where you're just like, I'm good. Like, I'm very grateful for everything that …”
Insight
Housel: Chronic Discontentment Is the Root Driver of All Societal Progress
“That is the root of all progress, is that the majority of people wake up every morning and say, this is not enough.”
Insight
Housel: Simple Index Investing Will Outperform Complex Strategies Over a Lifetime
“I bet over the course of a lifetime, not in any given year, but over a lifetime, if you compared it to someone whose finances were very complicated and had all kinds of transactions, not only would I be likely to match those, but probably exceed them.”
Insight
Housel: You Cannot Switch From Youthful Reckless Spending to Saving at 35
“I think it's impossible to have a YOLO paycheck to paycheck mentality young in your young years and then assume that you're going to flip a switch when you're 35 and become a saver.”
Prediction Not checkable as stated
Housel: Younger Generations Are Probably Wrong That They Won't Surpass Parents
“I think they're probably wrong about that in general. Of course, there's going to be lots of examples where that was the case, but I think they tend to, I think, I would bet that they would be wrong about that.”
Insight
Housel: Transferring Wealth to Children at 30 Yields Greater Utility Than Inheritance
“If you can help them buy a house when they're 30, that is going to give them a much greater boost in life than if they get a million dollars when they're 75 after you die”
Insight
Housel: 'Just Be Yourself' Is Good Advice for Only 5% of People
“Just be yourself and Is good advice for like five percent of people. And I love that, that joke, that mean of like, most people should not be themselves. They should meter what they say and how they behave around other people in a signaling way in order to fit…”
What-if
Housel: America's Non-Fascist Great Depression Recovery Was a Top 10% Tail Outcome
“The outcome that we, that actually happened was like a top 10% outcome. It easily could have, if not should have, turned out as it did in much of Europe, where after the Great Depression, the people's response was like, maybe we should give fascism a try. Mayb…”
Insight
Housel: Rental Real Estate Is Active Labor, Not True Passive Income
“The vast majority of what people consider passive income, they're working their butts off for, particularly real estate. If you're a landlord and people are like, oh, it's passive income. No, it's not. Your toilet breaks, the roof leaks, the tenant doesn't pay…”
Insight
Housel: Gut Feelings Are Usually Accurate Syntheses of Uncrystallized Knowledge
“Gut feelings tend to actually be pretty good. That's not just a gut feeling that it's just that you can't crystallize what the thought is, but you know, which way you should go, you know, which way to do it. I think that tends to be the case that gut feelings …”
Insight
Housel: All Wealth Equals What You Have Minus What You Want
“One is that all wealth is what you have minus what you want. And it is so profoundly common and easy to ignore the second part of that equation that you have to minus what you want. And you are more in control of that by and large than what you have.”
Insight
Housel: Wealthy People Without Frugal Habits Are Merely Conforming to Society
“If you can look at particularly someone who is above average income and there isn't something in their life that they spend very little on, I think there's a high chance that they're just a sheep going along with society tells them they should want.”
Disclosure
Morgan Housel Refuses to Own International Index Funds
“No, I don't own any international funds. Part of that is I don't think you necessarily need to, because even among U.S.-based companies, I mean, they're doing half their revenue or more overseas, and so you get international exposure”
Assertion Partly supported
Housel: Income between brothers is more correlated than height or weight
“The stat that I think is so astounding is that income among brothers is more correlated than height or weight.”
Insight
Housel: Controllable Actions That Change Odds Are Not Luck by Definition
“If you can do something that changes your odds of an outcome, it's not luck by definition.
Luck to me, the biggest are where and when you were born.
You can't control it.
Bill Gates couldn't control it.
Elon Musk couldn't control it, but it has a massive incom…”
What-if
Housel: Warren Buffett Would Be Unknown Had He Retired at Age 60
“If Buffett had retired at age 60 or 50, like a normal person would have in that situation, you would have never heard of him.”
