Some people have trouble sleeping because they worry too much about their investments. I have trouble sleeping when my hair gets too long (or there's a full moon, but that's another story). You might not believe my hair-somnia from looking at my picture, but it's true.
Just as it's often true some of the sagest advice comes from your barber. As I sat in the chair of my tonsorial specialist (he'd hate me calling him that, he'd rather just be called a "barber"), the talk soon turned to the market. I tried to explain to him how the biggest problem 401(k) investors have is information overload. This results in several behavioral anomalies that can harm those same investors (for a good rundown on these, check out "Tips 401k Plan Sponsors Can Use to Help Employees Avoid Risk Aversion," Fiduciary News, October 4, 2011).
Now Hal – that's the name of the guy who cuts my hair – doesn't brook academic jargon well. Hal pooh-poohs terms like "framing," "aggregation," "disposition effect" and "status quo bias." He has a much better word for all this. He calls it overthinking.
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