A Little Light Reading

I don’t know about you, but I feel inundated with information these days. Now, much of this is normal in my profession. I’m used to the firehose of research reports, market watching throughout the day, economic news, and trying to keep up and make sense of it all.

But the rapid-fire nature of news reports about the coronavirus in recent weeks left me longing to unplug a bit this past weekend. After taking a deep dive into the $2 trillion relief package signed into law late last week, I looked around for a good book to fall into.

I had read The Wisdom of Finance a couple of times since it was published a few years ago, but it called to me again. Even though our current crisis isn’t the “fault” of finance, as it was back in 2008, the financial impact of coronavirus is all around us. Our lives are inextricably linked to the world of finance whether we like it or not.

So, as we seem to be entering Phase 2 (aka “the grind”) of our response to the pandemic and are being asked to shelter in place a while longer, I thought I’d share this book idea with you.

Don’t let the title scare you. There are no formulas or jargon-laden passages to contend with. Instead, the author illuminates core tenets of finance through stories from pop culture, literature, and elsewhere.

This theme resonates with me because concepts like leverage, the principal/agent conundrum, and risk management are viewed as financial terms but are really extensions of the human condition. And it’s easier to understand them, I think, when viewed through this lens instead of seeing finance as something foreign or somehow evil.

At under 200 pages this book could make an interesting (and perhaps enlightening) diversion between whatever else you’re reading these days. But you may find yourself coming back to it from time to time as certain themes have a chance to germinate.

If you’re one of those clients who trust me to manage their investments, let me know if you’re interested in this book and I’ll send you a copy, probably through Amazon since local booksellers seem to be closed.

Otherwise, I hope you and your families are doing okay. This situation presents hardships for everyone, often in unanticipated ways. We’ll get through this of course. It’s just going to take longer than expected.

Have questions? Ask me. I can help.