What do you think it would take to make better—or even perfect—financial decisions?

More information or more time? Even with that, you can also use less to do more with your money. And that means less bias when it’s time to make key financial decisions.

Our feelings, muddled memories, and even faulty reasoning can all nurture our biases. So can our fears and “intuition.” Still, with a little understanding of those biases, we can start to break free of them.

When you think about retirement, what worries you more?

Spending too much too soon? Or holding back so much that you miss out on the years when you feel your best?

Many people feel that tension. Not because they haven’t planned carefully.

But because retirement can feel like a high stakes balancing act.

When researchers study how spending may change across retirement, they see patterns people may not expect.

Fast forward ten years… What decision would you look back on and wish you had made today? More often than not, regret in retirement isn’t about a single mistake. It’s about missed chances to plan ahead while you still had options.

What if you’re unhappy when you retire? That’s a sad reality for more than 1 in 3 retirees. And almost half of them have one thing in common—they’re lonely. This shouldn't come as a surprise. Research shows that people generally aren't prioritizing social connections before retirement, and the trend toward maintaining existing friendships or cultivating new ones is even weaker. That can end up backfiring in a big way when we retire, even if we have massive nest eggs and solid financial plans.

Retirement is wonderful if you have two essentials — much to live on and much to live for.” — Unknown What happens when you retire and life doesn’t go according to plan? It’s a question worth asking before you commit to a fixed income and assume your bases are covered. That’s because even the best-laid plans can come up short. If that happens to you, you could have far less to fund the lifestyle you expected in retirement.

When the market hits a new high, a funny thing happens. Instead of celebrating, many investors might freeze. They worry that it’s too late. That a crash is coming. That they should wait it out. But here’s the thing: our brains are wired to feel anxious at the top. And understanding why that happens can help you make more informed decisions (without as much stress), especially when things look good on the surface. I put together a short article to explain what’s going on inside our heads during market highs, and what history has shown about investing at the peak.