Outsmart the Money Magicians Quotes

“There are specific ways the system actually is rigged and distorted so that our perception of our money is manipulated, very similar to how a stage magician does illusions. And also, like those stage tricks, these
financial manipulations are easy to see through with just a little bit of education and focus.”
― Christopher Manske, Outsmart the Money Magicians: Maximize Your Net Worth by Seeing Through the Most Powerful Illusions Performed by Wall Street and the IRS

“Just because brokerages disclose a convoluted
web of profiteering doesn’t mean it’s appropriate. It just means they are hiding these questionable practices in plain sight with a mountain of compliance language that no one will ever read.”
― Christopher Manske, Outsmart the Money Magicians: Maximize Your Net Worth by Seeing Through the Most Powerful Illusions Performed by Wall Street and the IRS

“When something—a mirror, an inaccurate measurement, or a costume—comes between us and the things we observe, facts can become less apparent, or they can get hidden away.”
― Christopher Manske, Outsmart the Money Magicians: Maximize Your Net Worth by Seeing Through the Most Powerful Illusions Performed by Wall Street and the IRS

“We, the people, should take more responsibility for doing things the hard, proper way instead of the easy, inaccurate way.”
― Christopher Manske, Outsmart the Money Magicians: Maximize Your Net Worth by Seeing Through the Most Powerful Illusions Performed by Wall Street and the IRS

“If you reinvest dividends, which can often be a very smart investment move, you will no longer get to see on your statement what you originally paid to buy the position. Instead, our dividend profit masquerades as principal in a very powerful illusion that affects almost every investor.”
― Christopher Manske, Outsmart the Money Magicians: Maximize Your Net Worth by Seeing Through the Most Powerful Illusions Performed by Wall Street and the IRS

“A group of investments isn’t something people can touch or examine in the physical world. Instead, the statement is the lens that investors use to view and understand their finances. It is what’s inserted between the observer and the observed, which, it’s important to note, is not created by the investor.”
― Christopher Manske, Outsmart the Money Magicians: Maximize Your Net Worth by Seeing Through the Most Powerful Illusions Performed by Wall Street and the IRS

“A portfolio can only be “seen” as the data representing the holdings in each account, which means that your monthly investment statement is not actually your portfolio of stocks and bonds. Instead, the investment
statement is more like the wrapper or costume between you and your money.”
― Christopher Manske, Outsmart the Money Magicians: Maximize Your Net Worth by Seeing Through the Most Powerful Illusions Performed by Wall Street and the IRS

“Size is not the proper way to measure a pair of boxing gloves. A boxing glove is measured by weight.”
― Christopher Manske, Outsmart the Money Magicians: Maximize Your Net Worth by Seeing Through the Most Powerful Illusions Performed by Wall Street and the IRS

“Occasionally, the “eyeball” approach to measurement is both imprecise and truly problematic, though we might not know that until it’s too late.”
― Christopher Manske, Outsmart the Money Magicians: Maximize Your Net Worth by Seeing Through the Most Powerful Illusions Performed by Wall Street and the IRS

“The way we measure the cost of something should change so we aren’t measuring the purchase price alone. We all need to be more aware of the cost of maintaining our lifestyle.”
― Christopher Manske, Outsmart the Money Magicians: Maximize Your Net Worth by Seeing Through the Most Powerful Illusions Performed by Wall Street and the IRS

“Treat debt the same as a really sharp sword. Use debt sparingly for well-thought-out reasons. Maintain debt properly. Aim to retire your debts at a reasonable point in the future.”
― Christopher Manske, Outsmart the Money Magicians: Maximize Your Net Worth by Seeing Through the Most Powerful Illusions Performed by Wall Street and the IRS

“Don’t increase your lifestyle until your passive income surpasses your active income. You’ll know you can and should buy that luxury item when the cost of keeping it is totally covered by your passive income. The
things you own (such as dividend-paying stocks, oil partnerships, and real estate investment trusts) should pay for the things you enjoy and consume.”
― Christopher Manske, Outsmart the Money Magicians: Maximize Your Net Worth by Seeing Through the Most Powerful Illusions Performed by Wall Street and the IRS

“Money made by our own effort is limited by how
much time, energy, and attention we can give to a task along with what other people will pay for us to do that task. Making money in this firsthand fashion is hard on us because we run our own personal rat race.”
― Christopher Manske, Outsmart the Money Magicians: Maximize Your Net Worth by Seeing Through the Most Powerful Illusions Performed by Wall Street and the IRS

“There are specific ways the system actually is rigged and distorted so that our perception of our money is manipulated, very similar to how a stage magician does illusions. And also, like those stage tricks, these
financial manipulations are easy to see through with just a little bit of education and focus.”
― Christopher Manske, Outsmart the Money Magicians: Maximize Your Net Worth by Seeing Through the Most Powerful Illusions Performed by Wall Street and the IRS

“Homes, and other purchases like it, supposedly prove to our community that we have money, but many times these purchases are just signaling to others that we used to have money.”
― Christopher Manske, Outsmart the Money Magicians: Maximize Your Net Worth by Seeing Through the Most Powerful Illusions Performed by Wall Street and the IRS

“In our race to show off our wealth, we are more like a rat on a wheel consuming material goods while trying
to keep up with the Jones family.”
― Christopher Manske, Outsmart the Money Magicians: Maximize Your Net Worth by Seeing Through the Most Powerful Illusions Performed by Wall Street and the IRS

“A reflection of something cannot exist without
the real thing to support it. Said another way, a reflection of something is dependent on what’s true and real.”
― Christopher Manske, Outsmart the Money Magicians: Maximize Your Net Worth by Seeing Through the Most Powerful Illusions Performed by Wall Street and the IRS

“We’re conditioned that our success (and our neighbor’s) is best measured by looking at our possessions. Those possessions influence perception, and because a certain perception earns us status, we chase the proof of wealth rather than wealth itself.”
― Christopher Manske, Outsmart the Money Magicians: Maximize Your Net Worth by Seeing Through the Most Powerful Illusions Performed by Wall Street and the IRS

“When you give your money to a restaurant or a retail store, the goods you get in return might show others something of your financial means, but it also depletes your wealth. You’re showing people that you used to have money and now you have something that costs more money.”
― Christopher Manske, Outsmart the Money Magicians: Maximize Your Net Worth by Seeing Through the Most Powerful Illusions Performed by Wall Street and the IRS

“Most people believe, “My lifestyle is about the same every month. Our savings are fixed. We make a salary, so what we earn is fixed. And lastly, what we spend is fixed.” But the truth is that no one reading this book has a robotic life filled with endless repeating loops
where they get paid the exact same amount of money every single month for decades on end. We all have fluctuations in our income.”
― Christopher Manske, Outsmart the Money Magicians: Maximize Your Net Worth by Seeing Through the Most Powerful Illusions Performed by Wall Street and the IRS

“False awe is just a gentle way to describe manipulation.”
― Christopher Manske, Outsmart the Money Magicians: Maximize Your Net Worth by Seeing Through the Most Powerful Illusions Performed by Wall Street and the IRS

“Magicians the world over love to make people’s money disappear because it’s an easy way to raise tension and arouse curiosity”
― Christopher Manske, Outsmart the Money Magicians: Maximize Your Net Worth by Seeing Through the Most Powerful Illusions Performed by Wall Street and the IRS

“Wall Street works hard to make sure we focus on growing our net worth, but is that truly our goal? Is “more and more” really the answer, or are you being tricked into being a consumer who asks the wrong questions?”
― Christopher Manske, Outsmart the Money Magicians: Maximize Your Net Worth by Seeing Through the Most Powerful Illusions Performed by Wall Street and the IRS

“Once you know how an illusion is performed, you cannot go back to being tricked by it.”
― Christopher Manske, Outsmart the Money Magicians: Maximize Your Net Worth by Seeing Through the Most Powerful Illusions Performed by Wall Street and the IRS

“Deception and misdirection are acceptable in a magic show, but they are not at all appropriate in the arena of finance. The way we look at our investments and what we see when we examine our portfolios are both important because our view determines how well we
navigate toward our financial goals.”
― Christopher Manske, Outsmart the Money Magicians: Maximize Your Net Worth by Seeing Through the Most Powerful Illusions Performed by Wall Street and the IRS

“If you’ve ever thought that it shouldn’t be so hard to examine your investment portfolio or hold your financial advisor accountable, you’re right. The system distorts your view of your money in the same way that a magician stacks the deck against the audience. It’s not evil or bad, but once you know how the magician does the illusion, you simply cannot be tricked so easily anymore. And once we all are in on the trick, the
financial industry will need to improve, because the old, tired illusions won’t work anymore.”
― Christopher Manske, Outsmart the Money Magicians: Maximize Your Net Worth by Seeing Through the Most Powerful Illusions Performed by Wall Street and the IRS