Kitces & Carl argue an irrevocable decision can beat a reversible one

Michael Kitces and Carl Richards argue in episode 201 of Kitces & Carl, published October 15, that an irrevocable decision can lead to greater happiness than a safer, reversible one. Keeping every option open can leave a client with no progress made.

Renting a paddleboard a few times before buying one is a low-stakes way to test a preference, and so is spending a prolonged stretch in the city or country a client wants to live in. The decisions the episode puts in the harder column are when to retire, quit a job or start a business, where succeeding and failing both carry consequences.

The episode offers arithmetic for deliberation: give a client ten units of energy, then ask how much should go to analyzing the pros and cons and how much to making the decision turn out right. Kitces and Richards say some decisions are worth a long look, and argue that often it is worth simply deciding and moving.

The advisor has two jobs in the episode's framing: giving clients a complete view of their financial flexibility and options, and asking what the client would do if the default option disappeared.

The episode says the advisor may also serve an accountability function when a client has been stuck in indecision for a prolonged period; flagging that stretch can be helpful.

The September 17 episode of the same podcast looked backward at a decision already taken, arguing that advisors should rebuild a client's reasoning before they rebuild the portfolio. Episode 201 is aimed at the decision that has not been made yet.