Welcome to Fix-It Friday, the podcast segment that simplifies financial strategies to help you make smarter decisions hosted by Jonathan Blau, CEO of Fusion Family Wealth. This episode explores how availability bias causes investors to confuse temporary market volatility with true financial risk. Using the familiar comparison of flying versus driving, Jonathan explains why our emotions often exaggerate highly visible risks while overlooking the slow, long-term impact of inflation. Learn why market turbulence is a normal part of investing, how behavioral biases influence financial decisions, and why staying invested in great businesses has historically been one of the best ways to preserve purchasing power and reach long-term financial goals.

What You’ll Learn:

✅ What availability bias is and how it affects investment decisions

✅ Why market volatility is temporary—but inflation can permanently erode wealth

✅ How the flying vs. driving analogy applies to long-term investing

✅ Why focusing on long-term ownership instead of short-term headlines can improve financial outcomes

Want to make smarter financial decisions grounded in clarity and confidence? Subscribe and share the Crazy Wealthy Podcast. To learn more about Fusion Family Wealth’s evidence-based investment strategies, visit www.fusionfamilywealth.com and request our current disclosure brochure.

Key Timestamps:

00:00 – Introduction to availability bias and today's topic

01:30 – Would you rather fly or drive? Understanding perceived risk

02:00 – Why market volatility feels scarier than it really is

02:35 – Inflation vs. volatility: understanding the real danger

03:10 – How availability bias influences investor behavior

03:55 – The fix: Don't confuse discomfort with danger

04:25 – Why owning great businesses helps preserve purchasing power

Key Takeaways:

🔹 Our emotions often overestimate memorable risks while underestimating long-term ones.

🔹 Market volatility is temporary; inflation quietly reduces purchasing power over time.

🔹 Availability bias can cause investors to make emotional rather than rational decisions.

🔹 Successful investing requires focusing on long-term probabilities instead of short-term headlines.

👤 About the Host:

Jonathan Blau is the President and CEO of Fusion Family Wealth, a fiduciary wealth management firm he founded in 2013 to help families achieve clarity, confidence, and purpose with their money. With a deep focus on behavioral finance, Jonathan teaches investors how to recognize emotional biases and make evidence-based decisions that support long-term success. A sought-after speaker in wealth management, Jonathan previously held senior roles in tax and estate planning at Arthur Andersen. He holds a BS in Finance, an MS in Taxation, and an MBA in Accounting. Based on Long Island, Jonathan is active in the local business community, supports organizations such as the Middle Market Alliance and Sunrise Day Camp, and enjoys boating with his family.

LinkedIn – Jonathan Blau

Fusion Family Wealth Website

Crazy Wealthy Podcast

availability bias, investing psychology, behavioral finance, market volatility, inflation risk, long-term investing, financial planning, investment strategy, stock market, purchasing power, investor behavior, wealth building, Jonathan Blau, Crazy Wealthy Podcast, Fusion Family Wealth

A copy of Fusion's current written disclosure brochure discussing our advisory [00:00:15] services and fees is available upon request or at www.fusionfamilywealth.com.

It's when we put more emphasis on not [00:00:35] the probability of an event occurring, but how available to our recent memory is an [00:00:40] event like that today, and they're two different things. So title of today's podcast [00:00:45] is Flying, Driving, Investing, and Availability Bias.[00:00:50]

And now, here's your [00:01:25] host

Turbulence gets our attention, and we're not in [00:01:50] control. Someone else is flying the plane, and when things get shaky, it feels awfully [00:01:55] dangerous. Yet statistically, flying is far safer than driving. Investing is [00:02:00] actually very similar. The market's version of turbulence is what's called volatility, [00:02:05] the up and down sharp movements around the long-term trend lines.

Volatility is temporary turbulence. Inflation [00:02:35] is a slow leak in our financial plan Many investors try to avoid the discomfort of [00:02:40] market volatility by moving to things like cash, certificates of deposit, [00:02:45] bonds, or other investments that feel safer. The problem is that while those [00:02:50] choices may reduce the short-term bumps, they can increase the risk that inflation slowly [00:02:55] erodes the purchasing power of our dollars over the long term.

Plane crashes make national [00:03:20] news. Millions of safe takeoffs and landings do not. Market crashes [00:03:25] dominate headlines. Decades of market compounding and wealth [00:03:30] creation rarely make those headlines. In reality, stock markets have produced positive returns far [00:03:35] more often than negative returns, and the magnitude of the gains has historically far exceeded [00:03:40] the magnitude of the losses over long periods of time.

It's the [00:04:05] inflation that quietly steals your purchasing power over decades. A portfolio [00:04:10] heavily weighted toward ownership of great businesses has historically offered investors a far greater [00:04:15] probability of preserving and growing purchasing power than one heavily weighted toward [00:04:20] fixed dollar assets or cash equivalents.

I hope you enjoyed this version of today's [00:04:55] Fix It Friday. You can find us on the fusionfamilywealth.com website, [00:05:00] crazywealthypodcast.com, and all of your favorite podcast venues. Have a great [00:05:05] weekend. Until next time.

Disclaimer: The previous podcast by Fusion Family Wealth [00:05:30] LLC, Fusion, was intended for general information purposes only. No portion of the podcast serves as the receipt of, or as a substitute [00:05:35] for, personalized investment advice from Fusion or any other investment professional of your choosing. Different types of investments involve varying degrees of [00:05:40] risk, and it should not be assumed that future performance of any specific investment or investment strategy or any non-investment related or planning services, [00:05:45] discussion, or content will be profitable, be suitable for your portfolio or individual situation.

No portion of the video content should be construed by a client or prospective client as a guarantee that he or she will experience a certain level of [00:06:05] results if Fusion is engaged or continues to be engaged to provide investment advisory services. A copy of Fusion's current written disclosure [00:06:10] brochure discussing our advisory services and fees is available upon request or at www.fusionfamilywealth.com.