Why humans are bad with money

Ben Felix and Braden Warwick are joined by Dr. Charles Chaffin, a leading voice in financial psychology, to explore why investors so often act against their own best interests—and how better tools and frameworks can help bridge the gap between rational plans and real human behavior. The conversation blends behavioral finance, goal setting, and risk profiling, while also introducing a new evidence-based risk tolerance questionnaire now being made publicly available to listeners. The episode digs into why humans are wired for short-term survival rather than long-term optimization, how biases and environment shape financial decisions, and why coaching—not transactions—is becoming the advisor's most important role. Charles explains concepts like money scripts, financial flashpoints, identity-based goals, and financial self-efficacy, tying them directly to investing behavior and client outcomes. The discussion also goes deep on financial risk tolerance: what it really is, why people consistently misjudge it, and why psychometric tools outperform traditional questionnaires.

Key Points From This Episode:

(0:00:00) Introduction to Episode 395 and guest Dr. Charles Chaffin

(0:01:15) Charles' background in financial planning psychology and authorship

(0:02:30) Why PWL wanted to move beyond the Grable–Lytton Risk Tolerance Scale

(0:03:40) Introduction to the Money and Risk Inventory (MRI) and full disclosure

(0:04:55) Announcement: Public access to a psychometric risk tolerance questionnaire

(0:05:10) Risk tolerance vs. risk capacity—and how PWL combines both

(0:06:43) Why firms must map risk scores to asset allocations themselves

(0:08:35) The role of psychology in financial planning beyond technical advice

(0:10:17) The Klontz–Chaffin model of financial psychology

(0:12:05) Why humans are "bad with money": survival brains and emotions

(0:13:30) How heuristics and biases derail long-term planning

(0:15:42) Tools for overcoming bias: automation, pre-commitment, and friction

(0:21:29) How environment and social context shape financial behavior

(0:26:38) Financial flashpoints and their lasting impact on risk tolerance

(0:29:35) Financial self-efficacy and why low confidence leads to avoidance

(0:36:01) Money scripts: avoidant, worship, status, and vigilant

(0:40:07) Why understanding your own money scripts matters

(0:41:19) Common behaviors that lead to poor financial outcomes

(0:42:59) Practical strategies for recognizing and mitigating bad behaviors

(0:48:22) The role of identity in goal setting

(0:50:07) Why goals matter for motivation and behavior alignment

(0:52:56) Intrinsic vs. extrinsic goals and self-determination theory

(0:58:26) When quitting a goal is the right decision

(1:00:26) What financial risk tolerance really is

(1:02:16) Why people consistently misjudge their own risk tolerance

(1:03:31) How stable risk tolerance is over time—and what changes it

(1:05:12) Why reassessing risk tolerance regularly improves outcomes

(1:06:05) Handling couples with mismatched risk profiles

(1:07:37) Psychometric vs. revealed-preference risk questionnaires

(1:09:30) Evidence showing psychometric tools better explain real risk-taking

(1:10:39) Where traditional risk tolerance questionnaires fall short

Links From Today's Episode:

PWL Risk Profile Tool — https://research-tools.pwlcapital.com/research/risk-profile Meet with PWL Capital: https://calendly.com/d/3vm-t2j-h3p

Rational Reminder on iTunes — https://itunes.apple.com/ca/podcast/the-rational-reminder-podcast/id1426530582. Rational Reminder on Instagram — https://www.instagram.com/rationalreminder/

Rational Reminder on YouTube — https://www.youtube.com/channel/ Benjamin Felix — https://pwlcapital.com/our-team/

Benjamin on X — https://x.com/benjaminwfelix

Benjamin on LinkedIn — https://www.linkedin.com/in/benjaminwfelix/

Editing and post-production work for this episode was provided by The Podcast Consultant (https://thepodcastconsultant.com)