From Joe Wiggins at Behavioural Investment: A major impediment to our ability to obtain useful information and insights in financial situations is our, often overwhelming, desire to manage how we appear to others. We are prone to ask, or fail to ask, questions because of how it may reflect on us, rather than because of the importance of the question. Don’t ask questions to prove your competence — you should be able to justify why you are asking a particular question. But not asking questions to avoid appearing incompetent is a more pernicious problem. Asking a too "simple" or a really "dumb" question can be painful and bruising to the ego, but not asking the question can be far more costly. If you fail to ask simple questions, there are likely to be significant gaps in your understanding of an investment. Besides, simple questions can be the most difficult to answer, particularly where complicated investment products are concerned. It is easy to become lost in the weeds of an invest...
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