Image via WikipediaHow many of you have ever noticed that you are fairly consistent with regard to your behavior and thoughts pattern around money? How many of you wish you had a better understanding of why and how those behaviors and thoughts work so that you could make them more supportive of your financial goals? Great.let's talk about 'money' personalities.
Once you understand the personality at work, you can work with the personality to inspire lessons that will lead the child to financial self-reliance later on.
Adults in our programs, like Creative Wealth for Women workshop, love learning that they are not alone and that there's ways for each personality to improve their money habits and behaviors.
Most of us understand the meaning of the word personality.
We use different personalities as defense mechanisms, to impress others, to make us feel good, to help us cope with certain situations, etc.
Believe it or not, we have all developed a money personality as well, and learning about these money personalities is important when you're exploring how you and your child deal with money.
They are: the Saver, the Spender, the Avoider, the Monk, the Amasser and the Worrier.
The age-old question of nature versus nurture plays a role here.
They shake their heads, not understanding how three children raised in the exact same environment can end up with completely different thought patterns and behaviors around money.
If the scenario above is you, and you do a little honest digging through your memory, you may begin to notice that you were in slightly different financial situations with each child; perhaps becoming increasingly financially savvy and stable as each child was born or progressively under more financial stress.
In addition, don't forget the powerful effect of the mother's emotional state during pregnancy.
you can see how each person in a family may develop a completely different and unique money personality within the same financial environment.
Once a money personality has started to develop, children see everything from that point of view and through that conditioning.
The main money personalities are as follows:
The Saver-Sammy the Squirrel
Sammy likes to save his money for things he wants to buy and for a rainy day, in case he needs money for something.
The Spender-Manny the Monkey
Many spends every cent as soon as he gets it on piddlystuff.
He also likes to buy things and do things for friends and loves to be the life of the party.
Just mentioning the word "budget" makes him want to run away.
Money is beneath her.
She may feel that money isn't spiritual.
She avoids paying bills, looking at credit card statements or paying back debts.
She doesn't know how much money she has in her wallet, exactly how much money she makes, owes or has saved-if she has any saved.
The Money Worrier-Carl the Clam
Carl worries about money constantly.
No matter how much money he has or doesn't have, he can't stop worrying.
The Amasser-Andy the Ant
Andy wants to see his money grow constantly; saving and investing make him feel powerful and secure.
Each money personality has it's supportive roles and its unsupportive roles.
You probably recognize people in your life that have one or more of these money personalities and since we're not in this world alone, you may want to learn to recognize these personality traits when you get into business and personal relationships with others.
And as we all know, awareness is the first step toward change and change is what we need to keep our kids from being in the same financial mess many of this nation's adults have found themselves in.
For more information about money personalities, read Money Harmony: Resolving Money Conflicts In Your Life and Relationships, Walker and Company, 1995 by Olivia Mellan.
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