´óÏó´«Ã½

Money stresses people out. Radio 4’s Money Box speaks to people who are worried about the financial decisions they face all the time. Listeners have a huge array of questions wanting help. What should I do with my savings when rates are so low? Is now the right time to buy a home? Mortgage rates may be low, but are house prices about to crash? Can I trust investments that offer me a 8% return?

Well, according to Joseph Marks, one of the researchers on this project, it’s basically down to three things:

1. Choice Overload: It is easy to be overwhelmed when deciding between a dizzying array of seemingly good options. Although we might think it is preferable to have more options than less, research in psychology has demonstrated that choice overload can produce internal conflict, anxiety and ultimately result in decision avoidance. People simply do not have the capacity to appropriately process and evaluate such large amounts of information.

2. Complexity: In order to evaluate the options available in financial decisions, you need to get your head around all the jargon and probabilistic calculations associated with each choice. This is no easy feat even for those trained in economics, let alone your everyday man or woman.

3. Uncertainty: Big financial decisions are made on an irregular and infrequent basis, have high stakes and high levels of uncertainty. It is therefore very difficult to predict how these choices will pan out. This uncertainty puts people off – we worry that our decisions will be proven unwise and naïve; that we will lose hard-earned savings and feel the cold pang of regret.

Know your own body clock

The key to making better decisions lies in knowing your ’chronotype’ - whether you are a morning person or a night owl. ‘Morning people’ have more cognitive capacity in the morning, while ‘evening people’ have more in the evenings – so try to make your big decisions at the time of day when you’re at your most alert.

Learn to ‘satisfice’ or ask for help

Decision making is even harder for over-thinkers – in other words, those who are concerned about always making the ‘right’ decision. Learning to satisfice - or accept the first satisfactory decision - may help reduce anxiety. Or, if all else fails, get someone else to help make the decision for you. If it requires certain knowledge, delegating to an expert can help decrease the negative feelings associated with making a difficult decision – and leave you reassured that it’s in capable hands!

Know that it will get easier

The good news is that decision making, like many things, gets less difficult with age and as your experience grows. This is due to ‘crystallised intelligence’ – years of accumulated knowledge and wisdom. Secondly, as you get older, you’re more likely to maintain positive emotions for longer and are less likely to focus on the potential negatives of your decisions, or the impact they might have.

For more financial advice and ways to make the most of your money, listen to Money Box.