Money Puzzlers for You to Ponder
Think of them as financial brainteasers.
When it comes to managing money, there are all kinds of puzzling questions. For proof, take a look at the list below, which I put together with the help of William Bernstein, an investment adviser in North Bend, Ore., and Meir Statman, a finance professor at Santa Clara University in California.
Having trouble sleeping? Here are 29 questions to ponder late at night:
1. Why will we drive seven miles to save $10 on a $30 shirt, but we won't drive seven miles to save $10 on a $300 television set?
2. Why are people who are appalled by insider trading so quick to trade on inside information when it comes their way?
3. If foreign markets are so risky, why do citizens of those countries invest so much of their own money at home?
4. Why will we spend 20 years in a job we hate so we can get a traditional company pension and yet, when we retire, we wouldn't dream of using our own money to buy an immediate annuity, thus purchasing a similar stream of income?
5. When we decide we have too much in stocks, why do we sell in dribs and drabs when, in fact, the quickest way to reduce risk is to sell everything right away?
6. Why do life-insurance agents seem to be the only people who think cash-value life insurance is a great investment?
7. When the stock market plunges and pundits declare that investors are panicking and selling, why don't we ever hear about the buyers?
8. If a young company's outlook is so bright, why are the founders so anxious to sell shares through an initial public stock offering?
9. When we buy a mutual fund through our individual retirement account, why do we shrug off the fund's high annual expenses, but get really steamed when the fund company duns our account for the $10 IRA fee?
10. Why do investors with terrible results nonetheless brag about their one investment that went up?
11. Why do people who had the foresight to start saving at age nine continue to save when they are age 90?
12. If stocks are a long-term investment, why is there so much buying and selling?
13. Why do the most glamorous companies often turn out to be the worst investments?
14. If we are investing for the next 20 or 30 years, why do we get rattled when the market has a bad day?
15. When we buy a stock, why are we so confident we know better than the folks who are happily selling us their shares?
16. Why do people buy like crazy when the local department store holds a sale, but rush to sell when share prices get marked down?
17. Why do stock-market forecasters take credit when the market goes their way, while decrying the stupidity of others when it doesn't?
18. Why do mutual-fund companies constantly remind shareholders to act like long-term investors, even as they advertise those funds with the best short-run performance?
19. If saving money is the key to amassing wealth, why are we so convinced that the neighbors are rich when all we ever hear about are their new cars and their lavish vacations?
20. Why do we hold onto investments that, given the choice, we would never buy again today?
21. Why do folks, who proclaim that the stock-market averages can't be beaten, never seem content simply to buy and hold market-tracking index funds?
22. Why do we sell winning stocks and hang onto losers, even though selling the losers and hanging onto the winners would be the smarter tax strategy?
23. Why do fund companies and brokerage houses continue to mistreat investors, when these firms would likely make far more money over the long haul if they helped customers to prosper?
24. Why do ultraconservative investors, who are so afraid of losing money that they keep everything in certificates of deposit, also buy lottery tickets, where losing money is all but guaranteed?
25 Why do people scramble to buy investments after they have performed well, even though that good performance means future returns are likely to be lower?
26. Why do we insist that the new kitchen cabinets are an investment, even as we concede that the new bedroom chest of drawers is just another purchase?
27. Why will we raise our bid for a house by $10,000 without blinking, but we kick ourselves when we forget to take the coupons to the grocery store?
28. If the salesman is so sure the stereo is well made, why is he also trying to sell us an extended warranty?
29. Why do people spend countless hours planning their one-week summer vacation, and yet they never give a moment's thought to how they will pay for their 20-year retirement?
值得思考的27个理财问题
动脑筋想想这些理财难题吧。
谈到理财，总有很多令人费解的问题。在俄勒冈州投资顾问威廉?伯恩斯坦(William Bernstein)和加州圣克拉拉大学(Santa Clara Univerisity)金融学教授迈尔?斯塔特曼(Meir Statman)帮助下，我列出了以下一连串问题，让读者好好琢磨琢磨。
平时睡觉失眠吗？下面这27个问题，你可以在晚上睡不著的时候想想。
1. 为什么我们会为了节省10美元驱车到7英里以外的地方买一件30美元的衬衫，而不会为了节省10美元在买一台300美元的电视机时也这样做？
2. 为什么那些对内幕交易深恶痛绝的人在听到内部消息后也会立即跟风？
3. 如果说外国金融市场风险大，为什么这些国家的居民还会将大把的钱用于国内投资？
4. 当我们觉得持有股票头寸过高时，消除风险的最快捷办法就是将股票立即全部卖出，但我们为什么总是要一点一点的卖呢？
5. 为什么只用寿险经纪人才认为分红保险是不错的投资？
6. 当股市大幅下挫的时候，总有专家说投资者在恐慌抛售，可他们怎么从不对买股的人分析一下呢？
7. 如果一个初创的公司前途无量，那它的创始人为什么还急于通过首次公开募股出售股权呢？
8. 那些理财一塌糊涂的人为什么总拿自己某一次的成功投资到处吹嘘？
9. 为什么那些在9岁时就有远见开始储蓄的人到了90岁还在储蓄？
10. 如果说股票是一种长期投资，那怎么每天总有那么多买盘和卖盘？
11. 为什么那些最好的公司往往对投资者来说却是最坏的投资？
12. 如果说投资是为了今后20或30年的生活，那为什么股市一天不好我们的心情都会很糟？
13. 当我们在买股的时候，为什么总那么自信，觉得自己对这只股票的看法要比那些正卖出这只股票的人高明？
14. 为什么人们在商场促销时会疯狂购物，而股价下跌时却忙著卖股？
15. 为什么股市预言家在其预言准确的时候会得到好评，但预言不准时就指责别人愚蠢？
16. 为什么共同基金在做广告时总说能在短期内获得最佳回报，但同时却总提醒股东这是长期投资？
17. 邻居一会儿换新车，一会儿度豪华假期，既然你知道攒钱是积累财富的关键，为什么还会觉得邻居是个有钱人呢？
18.我们以前进行了某笔投资，如果今天再给一次选择机会我们绝对不会再次买进，但我们为什么还坚守著这笔投资不放？
19. 为什么那些声称投资回报很难跑赢大盘的人总不满足于只购买追踪大盘的的指数基金？
20. 为什么明知道卖出亏本的股票、留著赚钱的股票有利于避税，我们还总是卖出盈利的股票，死守著亏钱的股票？ 21. 从长期看，基金管理公司和券商可以通过让投资者发达来使自己更兴旺，可既然如此，它们为什么还要去欺骗投资者呢？
22. 为什么那些极其谨慎、只会把钱投资于存单的人也会去购买中奖几率几乎为零的彩票？
23. 为什么人们在一笔投资取得不错回报后还会继续追逐这项投资，尽管现在的高回报可能意味著今后的回报率会降低？
24. 为什么我们总是认为新厨柜是一项投资，但卧室的衣柜只是消费品呢？
25. 为什么人们会因为忘记去商店时带优惠券而沮丧，但在竞价买房时将报价抬高10,000美元连眼皮都不眨一下？
26. 如果销售员坚信其音响产品质量上乘，那什么还向我们推销延期质量担保？ 27. 为什么人们会不惜大量时间筹划一周长的假日，却不愿意抽一点时间思考一下自己20年的退休生活如何过？
