
Why We Think We’re Better Investors Than We Are - hvo
http://www.nytimes.com/2016/03/27/your-money/why-we-think-were-better-investors-than-we-are.html
======
subdane
"This despite overwhelming evidence that even professional investors are no
more likely to beat the market than monkeys throwing darts at securities
listings. Money managers, at least, are paid to make investment bets. But why
do amateurs believe they can outperform the professionals?"

To answer this rhetorical question with a rhetorical answer, because amateur
investors consider themselves to be smarter than monkeys throwing darts at
securities listings. And as an amateur, I have been better than a monkey (or
an index fund). But truth be told, if I had been pro, I would've held onto to
everything I bought instead of ever selling it for princely profits.

------
readme
It takes a shrewd contrarian to beat the market anyway, so if you fall for
this fodder you might as well heed its advice.

------
recursive
This seems to be assuming that we think we're good investors. I think, on
average, people are bad investors. And I'm quite average in this regard.

------
amelius
This also holds for the (time+effort+financial) investments in our own
startups.

------
kelukelugames
TLDR: just a list of human psychology traits. Hubris, optimism, hindsight,
attribution bias, and confirmation bias. Nothing new.

