What is the main message of Mind Over Money?

The main message of Mind Over Money is the influence of psychology in making financial decisions.

How long does it take to read Mind Over Money?

The reading time for Mind Over Money varies depending on the reader's speed. However, the Blinkist summary can be read in just 15 minutes.

Who is the author of Mind Over Money?

The author of Mind Over Money is Claudia Hammond.

Money & Investments

Mind Over Money Book Summary - Mind Over Money Book explained in key points

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Mind Over Money summary

Name: Mind Over Money
Rating: 4.2 (298 reviews)
Author: Claudia Hammond

Claudia Hammond

The Psychology of Money and How To Use It Better

4.2 (298 ratings)

27 mins

Brief summary

Mind Over Money by Claudia Hammond explores the link between our emotions and financial decisions. It sheds light on how to manage money by examining the psychological factors at play. A highly recommended read for anyone looking to understand their financial behavior.

Topics

Wealth The Psychology of Money Personal Finances

Table of Contents

Mind Over Money
Summary of 9 key ideas

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Key idea 1 of 9

What’s in it for me? Learn how to master your thinking around money.

Have you ever made a New Year’s resolution to start saving for your pension, only to find that by the next year you haven’t managed to save a penny? Are you frustrated and bewildered by your own erratic shopping habits?

We all like to think that we’re rational creatures who make cool, informed decisions about everything in our lives. But when it comes to money, that simply isn’t true. As a small kid, we’re already becoming “financially socialized” by our parents, soaking up information about what money means and how to behave with it. By the time we grow up, money has become layered with our own complex associations and emotions. We link it to comfort, freedom, and security. It can make us feel exuberant, or filled with shame. No wonder we can’t make rational decisions – money pushes all our buttons!

In these blinks, you’ll have a chance to explore your own irrational thinking about money and become empowered to make better decisions about how you spend it, and what you spend it on.

In these blinks, you’ll learn

why cheap wine can be as pleasurable as the finest vintage;
how money can actually act as a barrier to motivation in our work; and
why we can’t stand to see money going up in flames.

Money evokes strong feelings in all of us.

Imagine seeing a million dollars going up in flames in a bonfire, the enormous pile of crisp 50-dollar notes emitting belches of foul smoke as it burns away. How would you feel? Probably nothing short of unbridled horror and fury, right?

Well, that’s precisely what British art duo the K Foundation did in 1994: they lit one million pounds on fire. The motivation behind their action? To perform a conceptual art piece.

You’re probably asking why on earth two men would burn such a vast sum of money – money that could have been used to buy food for the hungry or houses for the homeless. How could they have been so selfish?

The key message here is: Money evokes strong feelings in all of us.

According to one of the art duo’s members, Bill Drummond, they hadn’t actually destroyed anything real. They’d burned a big pile of paper rather than, say, apples and bread.

And therein lies the inherent contradiction of money. In a way, Drummond is right. Paper money in itself is valueless – or at least it would be if you lived on a desert island where there was nothing to buy.

But we don’t live on such an island. In reality, a million pounds can be exchanged for an enormous range of things. You could buy truckloads of apples or even create a huge apple orchard that could feed schoolchildren for generations to come.

If the K Foundation had destroyed a yacht, or a diamond ring valued at a million pounds, they may have received less of a backlash. But instead they destroyed something that was essentially a blank check for everybody’s dreams and aspirations. Understandably, this led to them facing a huge amount of controversy.

The backlash the art duo received derives from a simple truth: we all imbue money with meaning. We imagine what we could do with it, or how it could make our lives easier, happier, and more powerful. We resent others who have more of it. And we mourn the times we’ve lost it.

Money affects our lives so much that many yearn to enter a currency-free utopia. Imagine a world where we would never have to worry about mortgages – or how to buy a loaf of bread!

But maybe money itself is not the problem. Instead, maybe it’s how we allow it to unconsciously affect our choices and psychological states. Over the next few blinks, we’ll examine our relationship to money and how it influences our life choices.

We undergo financial socialization at a very young age.

We start learning about money at a very young age as we study the behaviors and responses of our parents. But just how young?

Well, in one experiment at a Finnish kindergarten, a group of six-year-olds were asked to create a theater play of their own design. All the decisions – from the story to the set to the casting – were theirs to make. Researcher Marleena Stolp observed them for six weeks, and she found that money dominated the kindergarteners’ conversations. They talked at length about what to charge for tickets and which merchandise they could sell to bring in extra income. This was despite the fact that financial considerations weren’t an explicit part of the task. Already, at the age of six, they held sophisticated insights about the need to generate money – and how to do so effectively.

We never grow out of our fascination with banknotes and coins.

Do you remember when you first became aware of money? Perhaps a grandparent slipped you a crisp bill for your birthday. Or you started accumulating all the change you could find in a piggy bank.

Small children value money as an object in itself. It’s shiny, decorated with heads and animals, and has a satisfying weight in the palm. Paper notes crinkle satisfyingly, sport exotic colors, and can be nestled in a wallet.

Our savings are drying up as we become increasingly irrational with money.

Since the day we were given piggy banks as kids, all of us have been aware of the importance of saving money. As we grow older, those messages are amplified into dire warnings about what will happen to us if we don’t start saving for retirement today! If that’s the case, how is it that so many of us find it difficult to save money – despite our best intentions?

The key message here is: Our savings are drying up as we become increasingly irrational with money.

We’re all prone to mental accounting when it comes to money.

You’re in the supermarket stocking up on supplies. A good bottle of gin catches your eye, but you flinch at the price tag: it costs 20 dollars, which feels way too expensive! A week later you’re on holiday, about to order a gin and tonic on a sunny terrace. It costs 10 dollars, but you barely notice the price. In fact, it’s about time for a refill!

Most of us make similarly inconsistent decisions about how we spend our money. The concept of monetary exchange is based on the idea that a dollar is worth the same amount in all circumstances, but that doesn’t take into account the inner workings of human psychology.

We need to be aware of how confirmation bias shapes our perceptions.

Rudy Kurniawan was making a fortune selling rare vintage wines, with sales topping 36 million dollars a year. Wearing his trademark white leather coat and forever carrying a fluffy French poodle, he cut an eccentric and striking figure. Influential people and millionaires relied on him to guide them toward the rarest and most delectable wines.

But it turned out Kurniawan’s operation was a sham; in fact, he was selling cheap red wine with fancy-looking labels. What’s surprising is how long he was able to get away with it. Wine connoisseurs were completely fooled by his bluff despite having supposedly refined taste buds.

Money can actually get in the way of motivation on the job.

Common wisdom dictates that money can motivate people to do just about anything. After all, would we get up and go to work every day if there were no pay involved? Probably not. Researchers have spent decades analyzing how money can incentivize different behaviors, and the results have been anything but straightforward.

For example, more money doesn’t always get people to work harder. In fact, with repetitive, manual jobs like berry picking, it can be beneficial to pay people by the basket rather than by the hour. Workers are motivated to work harder and faster when their productivity is directly correlated to their paycheck.

Money can help solve social problems – sometimes.

Work performance isn’t the only arena where money has been proposed as a potential motivator. It’s also been thrown at some of our thorniest social problems, such as addictive behavior – and even test scores in schools!

But can money really solve problems like a flailing public education system? In 2007, a controversial experiment distributed 9.4 million dollars among 36,000 school children across the United States. The condition? Passing a test or completing homework. While there were small improvements in test results, the money didn’t have a huge effect overall. The experiment worked best when rewarding effort rather than specific achievements.

Money can make us happier – but only up to a point.

When William “Bud” Post III won 16 million dollars through the lottery in 1998, he seemed to be living everybody’s wildest dreams. Who hasn’t fantasized about the life-transforming effects of such a huge win?

Unfortunately for Post, the win turned out to be a curse. Within five years, he’d declared bankruptcy, had served a jail sentence, and had been married – and divorced – six times! Clearly, the money didn’t make his life better.

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What is Mind Over Money about?

Mind Over Money (2016) reveals just how much our psychological baggage and irrational associations affect the decisions we make about money. From our nostalgic affinity for bank notes to how much we save to what we spend our money on, our behavior is influenced by years of “financial socialization” that we’re often completely unaware of. By acknowledging that this behavior is usually irrational, we can create strategies to help us rewire our brains and make money work for – rather than against – us.

Mind Over Money Review

Mind Over Money (2016) by Claudia Hammond is an insightful exploration of the complex relationship between our minds and our finances. Here's why this book is worth reading:

It provides a fascinating look at the psychology behind our financial decisions, helping readers understand why we often make irrational choices with money.
Through compelling case studies and real-life examples, the book offers practical strategies for improving our financial well-being and making better money-related decisions.
With its accessible and engaging writing style, Mind Over Money manages to make the topic of finance captivating and relatable, ensuring that it is definitely not a boring read.

Who should read Mind Over Money?

Psychology buffs looking for insights into how our minds rule our wallets
Would-be savers who want to get a grip on irrational spending habits
Anyone who’s wondered if winning the lottery really would make them happy

About the Author

Claudia Hammond is an award-winning author, broadcaster, and psychology lecturer who presents the BBC Radio 4 Program All in the Mind. Her other books include Emotional Rollercoaster: A Journey Through the Science of Feelings and Time Warped: Unlocking the Mysteries of Time Perception. Currently, she is Visiting Professor of the Public Understanding of Psychology at the University of Sussex.

Categories with Mind Over Money

Money & Investments Psychology

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