Have you ever wondered why you use money in a particular way? Your money personality shows how many everyday forces impact whether you make purchases to fulfill desires, to meet your needs, or to make yourself feel a certain way. Some spending influences that attribute to your money personality include: advertising, media, society, friends, family, and easy credit.
There are 8 Money Personalities:
- Saver—You are future-focused and resistant to spend down your capital, even if spending down would be more consistent with your other values and goals. You’re frugal, and love getting a good deal. As an investor, you aim for excellent investment returns and growth. If you need current income, you want to make sure your principal is growing overtime.
- Pleasure Seeker— You tend to buy things or experiences that aren't necessary but please you. Your investments might include vacation homes, art collections, restaurants, or other collectibles. You enjoy travel, fashion, and good food. Your values might lean towards health, retail brands, food security, or conservation. Spending on discretionary items creates tension in one or more of your relationships.
- Star— You spend money on clothing, hair, beauty, jewelry, entertainment, personal improvement, and other items that enhance your image or influence. You invest in ideas with viral potential. You give to trendsetting charities. You seek recognition for your spending, investing, or giving, even if only on social media. You’re vocal about your passions and interests, whether career, social action, or consumption related.
- Idealist— You value working towards societal transformation or some other expression of your values (which could include non-profit service, creativity, or spiritual practice). You likely believe there’s an urgency to our problems, and we must all work hard to find a solution. You tend to speak in extremes and believe that political activism and corporate engagement are your best tools.
- Empire Builder— Your "empire" (e.g., business, foundation, career) occupies your attention more than 75 percent of your waking hours. The scope and scale of your envisioned payoff, legacy, or impact keep increasing. You tend to concentrate your assets and efforts, perhaps in too few areas. You're reluctant to pull money out of your empire business, real estate portfolio, or single asset other than what's necessary for ongoing spending.
- Caretaker— You seem to feel empathy and compassion viscerally, perhaps more so than most people around you. You have a hard time saying " to some person or people. You envision a future where there's less suffering and more happiness. You have difficulty resisting your generous impulses.
- Innocent— You'd instead get a root canal without anesthesia than balance your checkbook, pay your bills, or write down your expenses. You tend to be optimistic more often than pessimistic and may find it hard to separate good ideas from bad or truly trustworthy people from charlatans. You're more interested in qualitative stories than quantitative metrics about your investments or charitable grants.
- Guardian— Your financial decision-making style falls into one of two extremes. You succumb to analysis paralysis or make a decision only after excessive analysis and the best due diligence. You are focused on financial doomsday possibilities hence, you analyze "what if" scenarios often. Your emotional responses and level of worry are out of proportion to your actual financial circumstances. If you have more than enough, you may project your worry onto others.
Learn more about your money personality.
When you understand your money personality and attitudes toward money, you can make adjustments and changes as needed to help you achieve your goals.
Learn more about the different types of money personalities by watching this recorded webinar conducted by our partners at GreenPath Financial Wellness. https://vimeo.com/769192166
All of the financial education resources provided here are from our partner, GreenPath Financial Wellness, a non-profit organization.
