Could Reading Literature Make You Better With Money?
Could Reading Literature Make You Better With Money?
Posted by Robin Powell on April 19, 2021
Could Reading Literature Make You Better With Money? By Jacon Schroeder
To make better choices and build wealth, have you tried investing time with the works of Shakespeare? Our relationship with money is forged by experience. Why wouldn’t we then want the broadest experience possible to help us make important financial decisions? Experience by proxy is one of the values literary fiction offers.
Reading can be more than just a way to accumulate knowledge. Some of the most useful money skills you won’t acquire from traditional personal finance and investing books. Qualities such as self-discipline, self-awareness, creative problem-solving, empathy, adaptiveness, among others. All of which science suggests can be honed by losing yourself in a novel.
It is why, when people ask the timeless question, What are the best finance books to read?, I’m likely to recommend the names of Tolstoy, Hemingway and Morrison, alongside those of Bogle, Graham and Hill.
Many notable business and finance personalities are voracious readers. Famously, Bill Gates releases an annual reading list and Warren Buffett often name-drops books in his Berkshire Hathaway shareholder letter. But rarely do high-profile people in these industries recommend literary fiction. The attitude is seemingly reminiscent of a character in the movie Sideways who disparages fiction by saying: “There is so much to know about the world that I think reading a story someone just invented is kind of a waste of time.”
Research, however, shows that reading fiction is very much a worthwhile activity. It can help us develop the abilities to manage our emotions and behaviours and plan for the future. Two necessary traits for good financial decision-making.
Here’s the story of how.
Conflict: We don’t recognize our future selves
To continue reading, please go to the original article here: