When it comes to investing, risk is loud. Opportunity is quiet.

Frank J. McKiernan, Barrons
4 min read19 Aug 2026, 06:36 AM IST
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most humans are wired to overestimate risk in the short term and underestimate opportunity in the long term. (Pexels Photo)
Summary
Why humans overestimate downside and underestimate potential upside.

We didn’t stumble into modern civilization by accident. We got here because, across centuries, someone was willing to bet time, effort, resources, and reputation on outcomes that weren’t guaranteed.

Mark Zuckerberg, CEO of Facebook parent Meta, has said the best piece of advice former Meta board member Peter Thiel gave him was this: “In a world that’s changing so quickly, the biggest risk you can take, is not taking enough risk.”

Frank McKiernan is a co-founder and managing partner of Third View Private Wealth. He began his career as an analyst at Markit (now S&P Global) and moved on to roles at Morgan Stanley and Credit Suisse in New York. Before founding Third View Private Wealth, he was an advisor at Procyon, an RIA in Connecticut.

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