Making the most of your money

I keep coming across an interesting problem. People say they want things to be simpler — investing, life insurance, retirement planning, etc.
But when a simpler (and effective) option is proposed, they reject it as too simple.
In most of the money situations I’ve come across, the best solution is almost by definition the simplest. (Note: I didn’t say the easiest.)
So why don’t we go for simple?

1. WE DON’T BELIEVE IT WILL WORK.
We’re attracted to complexity because anything that requires a lot of something — time, details, money — should work, right?
By default, if it’s simple, say only two steps instead of ten, we think we’re missing out.

2. WE THINK SIMPLE SHOULD BE EASY.
It’s like the guy who goes to the doctor and says he doesn’t feel well.
There must be something wrong with him that a pill could fix.
But all the doctor says is, “Get more sleep, eat healthier food and exercise three times a week.”
It’s the simple solution, but it’s not easy.

3. WE LIKE TRADITION.
We get used to how things should look, work, act, etc. (Think of dishwashers; they all basically do the same thing.
So any time we see something that’s too different from what we’re familiar with, we treat it with suspicion.
And if we’ve come to expect that money options should be complex, we’re going to be wary of anything simple.