Whenever you ask anyone for help with your money, do you want to be told what you want to hear? If you think about the question, you’ll probably say NO, I’d rather be told the truth. But what if you are told something you don’t want to hear. You’ll feel upset, perhaps a little anxious, annoyed…whatever the emotional description, it’s broadly negative.
Imagine you need some financial guidance and agree to talk to 2 wealth managers. One says what you want to hear, the other says the opposite? Who do you choose? What are your feelings telling you?
Imagine you are now a wealth manager. You are seeing a potential new client and you know you are in competition. To secure the business, do you tell the potential client what they want to hear? Do you risk telling them what’s right, hurt their feelings only to find they no to your services!
We are all susceptible to confirmation bias, but if you know it exists you can build decision-making tools to help give yourself a better suit of emotional armour. It’s a bit like having a financial bodyguard.
So before you say yes to a wealth manager or private bank, you have someone who asks the right questions and has awareness of emotional bias to bring it out in the open. The result is the right decisions, not just a decision that feels right because you’ve been told what you want to hear. You don’t want to end up being your own worst enemy.