“Well, if we break money down to its simplest components, right? And how we handle it, what do we do with our money. We really do 3 things, right? We spend it. We save it. We give it away. And if you think about what actually goes into the decisions around each of those you know. They’re all about emotions and behaviors. Spending is about modesty and prudence and thrift, or it’s about greed and envy. Saving is about delayed gratification and Patience. Giving is generosity. It’s a sense of gratitude. So it’s easy to think about this as a sort of you know, hard mathematical science, but I prefer to think of it as a social science. Money is about behavior as much as it is about numbers and math.”

Ron Lieber is a husband, father to 2 children, and since 2008 has been the money columnist for the New York Times. Before joining the Times, Ron wrote the Green Thumb Personal Finance Column for the Wall Street Journal, and was part of the startup team at the paper’s Personal Journal section. Ron is a graduate of Amherst College, and a best selling author of three books: Taking Time Off: Inspiring Stories of Students Who Enjoyed Successful Breaks from College, and How You Can Plan Your Own, (co-authored with Colin Hall), The Opposite of Spoiled: Raising Kids Who Are Grounded, Generous, and Smart About Money and The Price You Pay for College: An Entirely New Roadmap for the Biggest Financial Decision Your Family Will Ever Make. Just in time for the college application season, Ron also has a brand new online course called “Merit Aid: What it is and How to Get it“.