Bullshift: How Optimism Bias Threatens Your Finances

Written by John J. De Goey

Narrated by Justin Price

Does your financial adviser tell you to hold on and never sell? That markets recover in the long run? Does your adviser seem to always have an optimistic disposition? Do they tell you not to worry, no matter what is going on in the outside world? In Bullshift, John J. De Goey explores the hidden relationship between bias and financial markets. He makes clear that investors and financial advisers are not the rational decision makers that economic theory assumes them to be, and that “tried and true” investment advice is not always sound. De Goey shows that advisers are immersed in a culture of Bullshift — they simply don’t realize how their positive outlook on markets is based on industry-wide groupthink. Unfortunately, this problem affects much more than just your own investment portfolio. After three years of an international pandemic, the full economic impact of the response to it still hasn’t been felt. There’s more pain coming, but the financial industry’s eternal optimism, abetted by government policies designed to consistently encourage growth and avoid tough choices, is walking us toward a cliff for the global economy.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Everand Productions
• Release date: Jan 23, 2024
• ISBN: 9781094461946

John J. De Goey

John J. De Goey is an author, senior investment advisor, and portfolio manager at Wellington-Altus Private Wealth. With over twenty-five years of industry experience, he is a sought-after commentator, a frequent BNN guest, and a recognized industry thought leader. His articles have appeared in the Globe and Mail, the National Post, Canadian MoneySaver, and numerous industry magazines. He lives in Toronto.

Reviews for Bullshift

[Mela Nie · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Some Notes:
• Blind spots are also biases.
• Over-confidence Bias: Belief that you are better than you are and that outcomes will be fine.
• Hindsight Bias: Looking back at something thinking with the mistaken belief that you saw it coming.
• Sunk Cost Bias: Doing or not doing anything because you have already invested anything: Time, Money
• Mental Accounting Bias: Compartmentalizing broad investments for specific purposes.
• Recency Bias: Putting too much emphasis on the recent past hoping that the near future will be something similar.
• Availability Bias: Putting too much emphasis on information that is readily available.
• Status Quo Bias: Having the tendency to resist change.
• Confirmation Bias: Only valuing the information that supports your pre-existing viewpoint.
• Herding Bias: Going along with the crowd and giving in to peer pressure.
• Anchoring Bias: Allowing a random number or attribute to skew your judgement.
• Self-serving Bias: Heads? I'm smart. Tails? I'm unlucky.