WILLIAM R YOUNG

CFP

I’m a surfer and financial professional who integrates Stoicism, behavioral psychology, and finance to help investors navigate uncertainty. In both surfing and investing, we can’t control the waves, the water temperature, or the breaks—just like we can’t control the markets. But we can control when we enter, the tools we use, our mental discipline, and our preparation. Success comes from managing risk, staying adaptable, and practicing in all conditions. Those who stay calm, prepared, and disciplined are the ones who ride the waves—not get wiped out by them.

My focus is affective forecasting—how investors misjudge their future emotions and make decisions based on flawed predictions. With a deep foundation in behavioral psychology and finance, I draw from the groundbreaking work of Daniel Kahneman and Amos Tversky, who reshaped our understanding of risk, decision-making, and cognitive biases. Kahneman, despite his background in psychology, was awarded the Nobel Prize in Economics, proving that markets are driven not just by data, but by human behavior.