In our introductory lecture, Dr. Campbell explores the practical psychology of wealth, showing how concepts and theories help explain wealth creation and management. We discuss emotions, decision-making, personality traits, and relationships as they relate to financial well-being, alongside basics like compound interest, diversification, and the difference between nominal and real values. Dr. Campbell emphasizes that building wealth requires both the skills to generate income and the discipline to invest wisely, noting that we often must resist natural instincts, making investing a demanding mental game.

In lecture two, we learn about the complex relationship between wealth and happiness, examining different types of happiness and their connections to financial well-being. The discussion delves into how wealth impacts happiness through various mechanisms, including stress buffering and increased control over life choices, while also addressing potential dark sides such as materialism and existential emptiness. The lecture concludes by examining how positive emotions can create beneficial feedback loops in financial decision-making, while acknowledging that the wealth-happiness relationship is more nuanced than simply "more money equals more happiness."

In lecture three, we investigate cognitive biases and heuristics in financial decision-making, showing how mental shortcuts and biases challenge the traditional model of rational self-interest. We focus on three categories: cognitive miser biases (like availability and anchoring), negativity biases (including loss aversion and risk avoidance), and self-enhancement biases (such as overconfidence and self-serving bias). Dr. Campbell closes with useful strategies for better financial choices, such as improving literacy, creating systematic plans, using mental accounting, seeking advice, and keeping our egos in check by balancing patience with humility.