6 Types of Money Personalities
What is your level of confidence in managing your money? Do you feel determined to grab it by the horns or are you fearful and avoidant when you’re around it? Our relationship with money is powerful. It’s one of the core beliefs that develops our lenses of the financial world. If your relationship with money is ambivalent, your opportunity is limited.
Learning to see who you are in relation to money is one of the most valuable things you can give to yourself. Today, I want to share with you the 6 different types of money personalities; they’re the force behind our financial instinct. These concepts are not new. They were discussed by several authors before me. What’s new here is my use of the relationship language to translate these financial terms into something that are more relatable for you. I want to thank Susan Zimmerman, “the fiscal therapist,” for giving me the inspiration to write this blog.
My hope is that by understanding your money psychology, you can make positive changes in your financial life. Just remember:
· No one money personality is better than another. That’s not what this blog is about. You’re here to learn your relationship with money and create a balance in your financial behaviors.
· Your money personality is fluid on the spectrum of spending and saving. You can be a spender in one context and a saver/investor in another. We’ll discuss more on that later.
· Your money personality can change! Don’t let your current money habits define who you are. If you take action now, you’ll be surprised how well you can do financially in 1 year, 3 years, or 5 years from now.
Are you ready to meet your money personalities?
1. The Luxury Spender
Belongs to the spender’s class. The name explains its style loud and clear. Luxury spenders adore brand name products like Gucci bags, Louis Vuitton sunglasses, and Armani footwear. They love driving nice, expensive cars like Porsche, BMW, or Mercedes. They love taking extravagant trips. Status and image are important to the luxury spender because they make them feel “I am important” and/or “I am a success.”
The Luxury Spender is often viewed as generous, giving, and entertaining. Though they can appear as domineering and are prone to try to show off to others. Their weaknesses may include their impulsivity and compulsivity in possessing flashy items, as they are the cushion of their sense of self-worth.
2. The Fun-Seeker
Is also on the spender end of the spectrum. The Fun Seeker is an impulsive shopper. The difference between her and the Luxury Spender is the purpose of spending. The Fun Seeker does not care much about purchasing expensive, flashy items, that is not what they seek. Excitement and escape from boredom are what the Fun Seeker is after.
The Fun Seeker is usually a spontaneous and loving individual. They are prone to be a people pleaser. Their financial life involves broken bank accounts, high interest credit card debts, and overdue bills. Fun Seekers have very little to no patience for delaying gratification. Self-indulgence and compulsiveness are some of the weaknesses that drive Fun Seeker’s money behaviors.
3. The Indecisive Planner
Feels ambivalent towards their financial goals. They can do really well in building up their savings for a while and then blow them up due to their urge to splurge the next day. The Indecisive Planner is usually sincere about wanting to be debt free and has good intentions in saving for the future. However, they’re easily influenced by peers and other external sources.
The Indecisive Planner’s weakness is their conflicting desire between spending and saving due to not comprehending the true value of their financial goals. They often experience feelings of frustration and self-doubt as a result of the constant change in their money behaviors.
4. The Financial Worrier:
Leans towards the saving end of the spectrum. These individuals are responsible and proactive in their financial life. Yet, they are anxious about money. No matter how much they earn in their job or save for their future, Financial Worriers are afraid of not having enough money.
The Financial Worrier’s weakness is their fear of loss of control. Insecurity is their close, yet unhelpful friend who is behind their attachment to money. The Financial Worrier is resistant to change as it brings about fear and uncertainty.
5. The Cash Saver:
Belongs to the saving group. The Cash Saver is a natural at saving. In fact, they loves to secure cash away and track their balance on a daily basis. The Cash Saver is well-organized with balance sheets, a budget allowance, and monthly expense log. They can come across as “cheap” and “uptight” in the eyes of their family members and peers.
The Cash Saver’s weaknesses can include their obsessiveness in tracking and planning. It’s fear of losing that creates their constant crave for saving. They feel safe when they can stack more cash in their savings; they feel depressed and anxious when their accounts fluctuate. Because money often means security, The Cash Saver tends to hold on to it dearly. It’s difficult for them to grow their money in investments due to their fear of the unknown and loss of control of their cash.
6. The Growth Builder:
Is the financial adventurer. The Growth Builder does not want to stop at saving. He wants to grow his money exponentially with different types of investments. They are good at tolerating risk and the fluctuation of their accounts. They are eager to learn how to make their money work for them.
The Growth Builder’s weakness includes their thirst for excitement through compulsive trading and high-risk investments. It’s easy for The Growth Builder to go broke or destroy their savings due to greed and unrealistic expectations. It’s the addiction to excitement that The Growth Builder needs to be aware of in managing their money.
Which of the above is your dominant money personality? If you identify yourself with more than one characteristic above, it’s totally okay. In fact, many people have found that they can be somewhere in between the spending and saving ends.
The goal is to understand the strengths and growths of your money personality, so you can continue to practice what you’ve been doing well and improve your money habits by learning from your other money-mates. If you love this post, look out for my future articles where I will go in depth about each and every one of the 6 money personalities and what you can do to tame yours.
