Investor Behavior

Articles on the cognitive and emotional mistakes of individual investors, including overconfidence, loss aversion, herd behavior, and chasing past returns. The focus is on how psychology distorts decision-making.

A financial analyst reviewing investment trust discounts on a spreadsheet, illustrating the investment trust discounts and income risk question
Investor Behavior

The Discount Trap: Why Cheaper Isn’t Always Better for Income Investors

Imagine finding a £1 coin selling for 90p. You’d buy it without hesitation — the value is fixed, the discount is pure profit. Now imagine that same coin is actually a claim on a basket of assets whose true worth nobody can verify precisely, sold by someone who’s been trying and failing to offload it at that price for years. Suddenly the “bargain” looks different. This is roughly the situation facing anyone tempted by a discounted investment trust: the arithmetic is genuinely favourable, but the arithmetic is not the whole story.

A savings account statement beside cash and rising price tags, illustrating the hidden cost of cash over time
Investor Behavior

When “Safe” Cash Is Quietly Losing You Money

Ask most savers why they keep a large balance in a savings account rather than in the stock market, and the answer usually comes down to a single word: safety. Cash cannot fall to zero overnight, it is there when you need it, and it never sends you an alarming statement after a bad month for shares. But that comfort has a cost that rarely shows up on any statement — and according to Vanguard’s head of behavioural economics research, Andy Reed, it is a cost the UK is paying on a very large scale.

A surviving spouse reviewing retirement paperwork, illustrating the widow's penalty and higher taxes after a household changes size
Investor Behavior

When a Smaller Household Can Mean a Bigger Tax Bill

Losing a spouse is among the most disorienting experiences a person can face. In the weeks and months that follow, surviving spouses must navigate estate paperwork, benefit decisions, and financial accounts — all while grieving. What many do not anticipate is a tax surprise waiting quietly on the horizon: the same retirement income, or even a reduced version of it, can end up being taxed more heavily once a person files alone.

Scroll to Top