Jay Mooreland
Jay is a passionate advocate for progress, both personal and professional. He founded The Behavioral Finance Network, an exclusive group of financial professionals, to provide coaching, client facing behavioral content and behavioral tools. This helps advisors add value and evolve into their clients' coach. Jay is also author of the Amazon best seller, The Emotional Investor: How Biases Influence Our Investment Decisions…and What You Can Do About It . Learn more here .
Articles by Jay Mooreland
- Opinion
Consumer Sentiment Makes No Sense Right Now
Corporate earnings remain strong. Unemployment is still relatively low. Household finances, by many measures, remain healthy.
- Opinion
The 14% Problem: Why Investors Should Stop Trusting Market Forecasts
But there is one major problem. The people making these forecasts are usually wrong. And not just slightly wrong.
- Artificial Intelligence
Most Advisors Are Using AI Backwards
But there is a growing risk that many advisors are removing the very thing clients hired them for in the first place. The human element.
- Practice Growth
Praise May Be More Powerful Than Portfolio Advice
One of the most important lessons I have learned about investor behavior recently came from…training my dog.
- Opinion
Investing Lessons From Travel Delays, Market Panic, and Human Nature
Along the way, I realized there are valuable investing lessons from travel experience that can apply to everyday life.
- Opinion
Client Anxiety Isn’t Biggest Risk to Portfolios — Investor Behavior Is
Perhaps the most natural thing is to placate the client, after all we are here to serve clients, by performing a review and talking to the client about it.
- Money & Life
Information Overload Is the Real Risk to Client Investment Behavior
Information is essential to our survival and thriving in the world. As children, we are taught – sometimes painfully – not to touch a hot stove
- Opinion
Behavioral Finance Fails Without Better Advisor Communication
Turn on the news today. Geopolitical tension with Iran. Oil spikes. Market swings. Conflicting forecasts. It feels uncertain, maybe even different.
- Opinion
Waiting for Clarity Before Investing? That Moment Rarely Comes
There’s uncertainty around the Iran conflict, oil prices are moving, markets are reacting, and there’s a lot we simply don’t know.
- Opinion
Owning Stocks Is a Privilege. Volatility Tests Whether Investors Keep It
When markets get volatile, clients don’t feel like owners. They feel exposed. They feel like they’re holding something fragile that could break
- Research
Most Investors Claim Long-Term Discipline—Their Behavior Says Otherwise
Explores what myopic investing looks like in real life, why it’s so common, and how investors and advisors can deal with it more effectively.
- Opinion
Is Embarrassment Is Costing You Better Decisions?
That realization stuck with me because it says a lot about how we experience embarrassment, and how much influence it has over our decisions.
- Opinion
Most Investment Mistakes Start Before Money Is Ever Invested
But if there actually were a Holy Grail, it wouldn’t be any of those things. It would be behavioral.
- Opinion
How To Make Clients More Resilient: 3 Behavioral Strategies Backed by Neuroscience
For investors, that creates a constant tension. We ask people to tolerate discomfort today for rewards that may not appear for many years.
- Research
The Real Cost Isn’t Fees—It’s Emotion: How Advisors Can Stop Clients From Self-Sabotage
Advisors don’t need more definitions of biases. They need practical tools they can actually use when emotions spike.
- Opinion
How One Awkward Moment at a Conference Turned Into an Unexpected Career Win
Don’t come naturally and often end in rejection. And unless you’re a glutton for punishment, rejection isn’t something most humans enjoy.
- Opinion
Why ‘Popular’ Advisor Communication Fails Clients—and What Actually Builds Trust
While investors chase fads such as crypto, real estate, or today’s AI chip stocks. Good advisors keep exposures reasonable and risks clear.
- Opinion
The Real Reason Clients Want To Go to Cash—and How To Talk Them Out of It
No matter what the markets are doing or what the headline du jour screams, there’s always a seemingly good reason for investors to go to cash.
- Opinion
Why Warren Buffett Believes Salesmanship — Not Analytics — Is the Real Superpower in Finance
Before diving into this topic, take a moment to think about what you believe is the most important skill in finance.
- Money & Life
The Right Way To Worry About Money—and Avoid Costly Mistakes
It fuels stress, heightens emotions, and can even rob us of sleep. But like many things in life, the key lies in moderation.
- Future of Advice
How Advisors Can Reframe Fees to Showcase True Value
As technology and AI continue reshaping client expectations, it’s worth re-examining what the AUM model signals and where it falls short.
- Opinion
What’s Behind the Wave of Withdrawing Guidance? Tariffs and Uncertainty Explained
It’s about how uncertainty—especially uncertainty like this—affects investor perceptions and decisions. #uncertainty
- Opinion
The True Test of Behavioral Finance: Coaching Clients When It Counts
If it is not done consistently and in a timely manner, it may be interesting, but loses its ability to help someone get through the tough times. #bias
- Opinion
The Flaws of Risk Profilers: Why They’re Failing Investors
The end goal is to suggest an allocation of securities commensurate with the investor’s risk tolerance or risk appetite. #risk
- Opinion
Why Most Investors Miss Out on Better Returns
This post shares some of the most interesting findings and suggests some ways advisors can help their clients reduce that performance gap. #investors
- Money & Life
Your Investments Returned 12%—But Are You Truly Happy?
You are reviewing your investment performance from last year. You realize your investment portfolio gained 12%. Are you happy with that? #invest
- Opinion
Investing Like Sherlock Holmes
Investors can improve their game by following Sherlock’s methods. #Sherlock #investing #views
- Opinion
When ‘Wait and See’ Is The Right Investment Strategy
The wait and see approach is a fantastic strategy for someone who is fully invested in their strategy. #investors #investing
- Opinion
Viewpoint of ‘Cautiously Optimistic’ is Useless
I find it interesting that a lot of market pundits will state that they are cautiously optimistic about the future. #advisors #optimism
- Opinion
Why Don’t We Tip at McDonald’s?
Tips are a way to show our appreciation for good service, and act as an incentive for providers to do their best job. #finance #tipping
- Opinion
The Illusion of Rationality
It’s not that we aren’t rational when making economic decisions, it’s just that we have a lot of other things influencing our perceptions
- Research
Perception Is Greater Than the Truth
If we want to be able to improve our own decisions, or influence those of another, we need to start with understanding perception. #investing