As the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of your financial life it is important to monitor the progress to your goals and your investment portfolio’s growth and return after fees. Spending a little time educating yourself more about investments and economics can help you monitor your financial life more effectively. There are several excellent thought leaders and materials to help you provide information and context to help you be a better CEO of your life. Here are three to explore.

Morgan Housel

Investment professional and financial journalist, Morgan Housel is a partner at the Collaborative Fund. His book The Psychology of Money: Timeless lessons on wealth, greed, and happiness has been on the Amazon best seller list for over 80 weeks. This accessible book is a deep- dive into how psychology and human behavior determine investment success. He uses interesting historical stories to reinforce his insights.

A second book Same as Ever: A guide to what never changes was published in November 2023, and has been a New York Times bestseller. In a rapidly changing world this book helps identify the things that stay the same to help you assess risk, invest wisely, and live your best life.

He also has a podcast, and is on X, and LinkedIn.

Kyla Scanlon

One of the most influential young economists is twenty-seven-year-old Kyla Scanlon. She has become the financial educator for GenZ. Using a whiteboard, excellent communication skills, and 2-minute TikTok videos she has developed a teaching style that is effective and appeals to the younger generation.

In 2022 she coined the term “vibecession” to describe the disconnect between consumer sentiment about the economy being negative when the economic data is still positive.

Her book, In This Economy?: How money & markets really work is a guide to understanding the core principles of economics. It uses plain language and analogies to make sense of topics like national debt, recessions, stock and bond markets, and employment markets. She says that it is an illustrated toolbox to understand the economy. Here is her description of the book from her TikTok. 

She is active on TikTok, Instagram, YouTube, X, and LinkedIn. She also has a newsletter and a podcast.

You can learn more about her in this Wall Street Journal feature article from September 2024.

Bill McBride

The most respected analyst on the United States real estate markets and interest rates is the data junkie Bill McBride. He was the first to warn of the subprime crisis and housing bubble. His blog/newsletter, Calculated Risk is released 3-5 times per week and is filled with data, charts, and insightful commentary. There is a free newsletter that can be sent as an email, or you can pay $100/year for more detail and commentary.

I hope that you will explore these three knowledge experts. Their insights will help make you a more effective CEO as you monitor the progress to reach your goals.

Ralph Broadwater, M.D., CFP®

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