What can World War II teach us about financial literacy and planning? 

Plenty. The focus on absence of something, for once. 

In 1943, the U.S. military studied where returning planes were shot to decide where to add armour. They looked at the bullet holes in the wings and fuselage and figured they needed to make them stronger. 

Till mathematician Abraham Wald pointed out they were doing it wrong. They needed to reinforce the spots where there weren’t any holes. 

Surprised? Don’t be.

As Wald pointed out, if a plane made it back without any damage in some areas, it showed that ANY damage there was fatal. That such impaired planes weren’t able to fly back to base. 

In the world of personal finance, the ‘holes’ are the low global financial literacy rate. Only 1 in 3 people even have the most basic levels of personal finance understanding. The real tragedy is the absence of a plan.

Being ‘literate’ – knowing how interest compounds or what inflation is – is a technical skill. But having a plan is a behavioural one. You can be a math genius and still be a financial wreck if you haven’t mastered the humility to plan for things not going according to plan.

Wealth isn’t just about what you know; it’s about how you behave when the world gets messy. The biggest gap isn’t in our spreadsheets: it is in the distance between what we know we should do and what we put on paper.

Take control of your future now. The best time to create your financial plan was in your 20s. the next best time is NOW.

CLIFF, coming soon, is a book written after a decade of examining personal up close and getting insights and examples from hundreds of people, books and videos. Filled with stories, examples and cartoons. Almost no numbers or charts. Because to create a plan you need the mindset first. The confidence. The rest will follow.