Book Review: The Behavior Gap

The Behavior Gap, by Carl Richards


If a picture is worth a 1000 words, then the sketches drawn by Carl Richards are certainly valuable. Richards' newly published book, “The Behavior Gap,” is even more valuable and highly worthwhile reading.

Richards has created a very unique and elegantly simple way of conveying financial thoughts by drawing sketches, using a Sharpie pen. These sketches are featured in weekly blog posts in The New York Times. Richards is a financial planner based in Utah.

In The Behavior Gap, Richards has done an excellent job of combining numerous sketches with a very forthright narrative of financial topics and life lessons. The book is well written and full of excellent advice, a lot of which is much deeper and more meaningful than they initially appear.

Richards clearly writes about topics ranging from the importance of the process of financial planning, as opposed to getting a thick financial plan, to happiness, money, and great conversations, and how all of these are so interrelated.

Richards writes: “Simplicity is both beautiful and functional. And yet, people are often disappointed when I propose a simple solution to their investment or financial planning problems. Such solutions can often be reduced to a simple calculation on the back of a napkin… Our attraction to complexity distorts the way we approach our financial goals. The simple options that have the largest impact and your financial success require discipline, patience, and hard work.”

We have a number of Carl's framed prints in our office already. This book will be a valuable addition to accompany those sketches.