March 2020 Pushing yourself to take a step back from the details and adopt a broader, more inclusive view – that is, to think abstractly – can help you focus on what’s most important and better solve problems. So, whether the challenge in front of you involves critically examining your decision-making process from all angles, finding connection in new circumstances after a major life transition, confronting discomfort and awkwardness to have a tough conversation about money, or even something else entirely, pause a moment and consider the big picture before you embark on a course of action.

CHESS, POKER, INVESTING AND LIFE

In chess, all the right moves ultimately are knowable. In poker (and investing and life), you can hold a great hand and make all the correct choices, and you can still lose. Learn how to protect your psyche from the untoward influence of good decisions with bad outcomes and bad decisions with good outcomes. Read the full article .

LEAN INTO LIFE AFTER WORK

Many people don’t look before they leap from decades of life structured around an eight-to-five workday and into retirement’s more free-form time demands. The goal of this exercise is to help you develop or adapt intention, purpose, connection and community for every day and week of your “life-after-work.” Read the full article .

THE FEAR OF OFFENDING

We sometimes let things go, even to the detriment of ourselves or others, to avoid upsetting someone or rocking the boat. Read about some tools for finding your voice and overcoming the fear of offending a loved one when aging or diminished capacity make a difficult financial conversation necessary. Read the full article .

BIG-PICTURE THINKING AND BETTER FINANCIAL DECISIONS

Can a quick mental exercise reverse the negative effect that stress has on our financial decisions? A recent study from think tank The Decision Lab (along with Capital One) uncovered some simple ways that keeping the big picture in mind can make us better with money. Read the full article .

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