What Buffett knows

The science of neuroeconomics is about tradeoffs. Our ancestors spent millions of years learning to be impatient. We eat a lot today because we are hardwired to think that food might not be available tomorrow. Our bodies know this as fact: It’s why college students in surveys take $10 today instead of $11 tomorrow.

This is in spite of the fact that, if one measures 365 days, that the time value of $11 tomorrow vs. $10 today is the equivalent of 10% daily growth, which computes to an amazing annualized return. Assuming you could find someone who would make the same offer every day for a year, postponing enjoyment of the funds to Day Two would bring you $12.10, and so forth. Good luck finding someone who will do that.

Please go to your bookseller of choice and find an Hyperion book titled Long Fuse, Big Bang -Achieving Long-Term Success Through Daily Victories. It’s by a psychologist, Eric Haseltine. The book should help you and your practice. It will also get the message across, indirectly, of why Warren Buffett is one of a handful of supremely rational investors. He is able to set aside impatience, and does not require instant gratification.