For decades, financial advice hinged on the belief that humans are rational actors. But behavioral finance turned that notion on its head—showing that our wallets are governed as much by emotion, bias, and mental shortcuts as by spreadsheets and logic. From optimism bias to present bias, we overestimate our future earning power, underestimate our spending, and plan our financial lives like everything will go according to script. Spoiler: it rarely does.
As financial systems grow more complex, so too does the psychology behind how we interact with them. Why do some people ignore their bank statements entirely, while others obsess over their retirement accounts and still feel behind? Why do we chase short-term dopamine hits in shopping apps, even as we vow to “be better with money”? And how can planners, platforms, and policymakers design systems that support better financial behavior without blaming individuals for lapses?
Behavioral finance doesn't just diagnose problems, it offers tools for reimagining how we plan, spend, save, and invest. Whether it’s showing someone an aged version of themselves to boost retirement contributions, or helping a client define what money really means to them, these insights sit at the crossroads of human psychology and economic systems.
Below, we’ve curated a collection of articles that explore the full terrain of behavioral finance—individual biases, design strategies, population-level dynamics, and what it really takes to build financial systems that work with our brains, not against them.
