Meir Statman – A Wealth of Well-Being: A Holistic Approach to Behavioral Finance

In his recent book, “A Wealth of Well-Being: A Holistic Approach to Behavioral Finance,” Meir Statman presents a third-generation of behavioral finance, expanding the circle of finance to describe normal people, neither rational nor irrational, striving to enhance their life well-being, beyond financial well-being. Life well-being is a portfolio of well-being in life domains, including finances but also family, friends, health, work, education, religion, and society.

The book is especially relevant to financial advisers because great financial advisers are, at their core, well-being advisers. Like great physicians who treat patients rather than merely illnesses, great advisers look beyond portfolios and balance sheets to the whole person. They recognize that financial well-being is inseparable from life well-being—comprising experienced (emotional), evaluative (life satisfaction), and meaning (purpose) dimensions—and that money serves utilitarian, expressive, and emotional roles.