Understand & Apply the Psychology of Money to Gain Greater Happiness | Morgan Housel

**Andrew Huberman** (0:00)
Welcome to the Huberman Lab Podcast, where we discuss science and science-based tools for everyday life.
I'm Andrew Huberman, and I'm a professor of neurobiology and ophthalmology at Stanford School of Medicine. My guest today is Morgan Housel. Morgan Housel is a partner at the Collaborative Fund and an expert in private wealth generation and management. He is also the author of the spectacularly bestselling book, The Psychology of Money. And today, we talk about the psychology of money. We talk about how money can change your psychology. We talk about how most people tend to lie at the extremes of either saving too much money or spending too much money. And we talk about how most people get it completely wrong when it comes to framing in our minds what money is, what its real value is, and its ability to generate happiness within us. And no, I am not going to tell you and Morgan is not going to tell you that beyond a certain dollar amount, you don't increase your happiness. Because as we all know, money cannot buy happiness, but it can buffer stress. We acknowledge that from the outset. And then Morgan goes on to explain that really what we're seeking when we talk about seeking wealth or money is freedom. Freedom is really about independence. And that if we are constantly in pursuit of wealth, well, then we are not truly free or independent. So today's discussion is as much about being happy, being free, feeling independent, feeling free of stress, as it is about this thing that we call money. So in other words, Morgan explains not just how to generate and manage monetary wealth, he explains that, but he also explains how to organize your life in and around this thing that we call career, the pursuit of wealth and happiness. And I can think of few topics as important as today's topic. I read Morgan's book, The Psychology of Money, and I loved it. I also loved today's discussion because I'm certain that after it's done, you will realize that you've probably been thinking about wealth and money incorrectly in a number of ways. And you've probably been pursuing it incorrectly in a number of ways. But by asking yourself certain probe questions that Morgan raises today and answering those questions, you can arrive in a place where your relationship to money and your pursuit of it really clearly matches your particular goals. Before we begin, I'd like to emphasize that this podcast is separate from my teaching and research roles at Stanford. It is, however, part of my desire and effort to bring zero cost to consumer information about science and science-related tools to the general public. In keeping with that theme, I'd like to thank the sponsors of today's podcast. Our first sponsor is Wealthfront. I've been using Wealthfront for nearly a decade as my high-yield cash account, and I absolutely love it. 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There are already over a million people using Wealthfront to save more, earn more, and build long-term wealth. Earn 4.25% APY on your cash today. If you'd like to try Wealthfront, go to wealthfront.com/huberman to receive a free $50 bonus with a $500 deposit into your first cash account. That's wealthfront.com/huberman to get started now. This has been a paid testimonial of Wealthfront. Wealthfront Brokerage isn't a bank. The APY is subject to change. For more information, see the episode description. Today's episode is also brought to us by BetterHelp. BetterHelp offers professional therapy with a licensed therapist carried out entirely online. I've been doing weekly therapy for well over 30 years. Initially, I didn't have a choice. It was a condition of being allowed to stay in school. But pretty soon, I realized that therapy is an extremely important component to overall health. Now, there are essentially three things that great therapy provides. 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