#195 Morgan Housel: Get Rich, Stay Rich

The Knowledge Project with Shane Parrish

The skills it takes to get rich are drastically different from the skills it takes to stay rich.

Few understand this phenomenon more than Morgan Housel. He's identified unique lessons about wealth, happiness, and money by studying the world's richest families and learning what they did to build their wealth and just how quickly they squandered it all.
In this conversation, Shane and Housel discuss various aspects of risk-taking, wealth accumulation, and financial independence.

Morgan explains the importance of understanding personal financial goals and the dangers of social comparison, lets everyone in on his personal financial “mistake” that instantly made him sleep better at night, and why the poorest people in the world disproportionately play the lottery—and why it makes sense that they do. They also touch on the influence of upbringing on financial behaviors, the difference between being rich and wealthy, and the critical role of compounding in financial success. Of course, we can’t have a writer as good as Morgan Housel on the podcast and not ask him about his process, so Housel concludes with insights into storytelling, his writing processes, and the importance of leading by example in teaching financial values to children.

Morgan Housel is a partner at Collaborative Fund. Previously, he was an analyst at The Motley Fool. He is a two-time winner of the Best in Business Award from the Society of American Business Editors and Writers and was selected by the Columbia Journalism Review for the Best Business Writing anthology. He's the author of two books: The Psychology of Money and Same as Ever.

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Timestamps:

(00:00) Intro

(04:46) Risk and income

(07:40) On luck and skill

(10:10) Buffett's secret strategy

(12:28) The one trait you need to build wealth

(16:20) Housel's capital allocation strategy

(16:48) Index funds, explained

(20:59) Expectations and moving goalposts

(22:17) Your house: asset or liability?

(27:39) Money lies we believe

(32:12) How to avoid status games

(35:04) Money rules from parents

(40:15) Rich vs. wealthy

(41:46) Housel's influential role models

(42:48) Why are rich people miserable?

(45:59) How success sows the seeds of average performance

(49:50) On risk

(50:59) Making money, spending money, saving money

(52:50) How the Vanderbilt's squandered their wealth

(1:04:11) How to manage your expectations

(01:06:26) How to talk to kids about money

(01:09:52) The biggest risk to capitalism

(01:13:56) The magic of compounding

(01:16:18) How Morgan reads

(01:22:42) How to tell the best story

(01:24:42) How Morgan writes

(01:35:42) Parting wisdom and thoughts on success