Money on the Mind: Understanding Money and Personality

Jessica Quindlen: [00:00:00] Welcome back to the Sound Cents podcast. I'm Jessica Quindlen. Today, we're discussing the four money personality types. I have with us Emma Protsik, our Financial Coaching Supervisor. Hello, Emma.

Emma Protsik: Hi, Jess.

Jessica Quindlen: And Laura Straub, our Community Education Lead. Hello, Laura.

Laura Straub: Hey, hey.

Jessica Quindlen: All right, so let's dive right in. Can you describe each of the four money personalities?

Laura Straub: Absolutely. We'll start off with Achiever. Achievers are driven to meet their goals and they like to make financial decisions pretty quickly and on their own, so they tend to be a little bit more quick or impulsive with some of their decision making.

When it comes to kind of some of those financial behaviors, just like be mindful of that, especially if you're in a relationship, you tend to make more on-the-fly decisions when it comes to your money. So just work with your significant others when it comes to some of those decision-making processes or reach out to financial experts too.

Now, Enthusiasts - I will say that this is where I fall - we tend to have a [00:01:00] desire to explore that adventure and we're using our money for the lifestyle that you want.

With this personality trait, we tend to be a little bit more generous with our money or go a little bit more off our budgets than we intended too just because we're living in the moment. So really going over your budgets, doing kind of a monthly look back, seeing what you are spending your money on can really help you out if this is where you tend to fall. Or reaching out to like our financial coaches and just having that third person just kind of helping you out.

Now, Emma, what are our other two?

Emma Protsik: The next one is the Steward. This is actually where I land in the money personalities. But our Stewards are all about stability and harmony. They do kind of carry that responsibility around finances, so they typically will have a pretty good foundation as far as financial education goes. You know that budgeting, getting that plan in place.

One thing about our Stewards that’s important to keep in mind is you may be a little bit risk averse. I know [00:02:00] myself included in that. So our Stewards might miss out on certain opportunities, whether that's investing or taking risks to move up in your career.

Accountability buddies can be really helpful for that. Always getting that second opinion. But if you are a Steward, don't be afraid to step out of your comfort zone.

And our final money personality is the Analyst. Our Analysts love two things that is learning and planning. Research is probably a big part of how you go about making financial decisions if you are an Analyst. That comes from that real place of curiosity. You want to know more; you want to know all the details about something. So that detail orientation is a great trait for money, right? Getting organized with it.

But be careful with that. Don't get too caught in the weeds. I see sometimes with our Analysts that they are focusing so much on those little minor details; they can't move forward with those plans. So, make sure you're again, you can do that research. You can get all the details that you need, but don't let it slow you down.

Jessica Quindlen: Fantastic. Do you both feel that people are typically aware of which of these they fall into [00:03:00] in your work coaching and educating? Or is this something you really have to be introspective and figure out on your own?

Laura Straub: I think a little bit of both. I think the most part we can kind of see like, okay, are we spenders or savers, are we risk averse or are we like, yeah, let's just go for it.

We can kind of see a little bit of where we might be landing. We may just not have the name for it of where we're falling with our personality. Now, we do have a quiz that y'all can take it'll be in the show notes. Right, Jess?

Jessica Quindlen: Yes, I'll put it in there.

Laura Straub: Perfect. So, you can take it and see which of these four personalities that you fall in. But again, I think for the most part we can see “oh yeah, that sounds like me, like I'm doing that.” But you can also have a little bit of both. So, like I said, I am more of that Enthusiast, but sometimes I will definitely be the Analyzer, so you can showcase a little bit of both those personalities and grow with them to where you bounce between a few of them.

So [00:04:00] don't be afraid if you are like, “no, that all sounds like me.” That can be the case. Don't worry.

Jessica Quindlen: I'd be curious too, if it changes on what you're shopping for. For instance, clothing and shoes might be a lot different than houses and cars.

Laura Straub: Yep, exactly.

Jessica Quindlen: Vacations and things like that. Because even with some of those, I was like, “Oh, I definitely fall into that.”

But then I was like, “well, sometimes I'm like this.” So, I certainly think it's all over. Can you two talk about the difference between these money personalities and then the money scripts? I know this episode we're really focusing on the personalities, but can you give us a high-level overview of the difference between those two and how they might overlap as well?

Emma Protsik: I think for money personalities, it's kind of that overarching, how you feel around finances and how you might first decide to approach something, that gut reaction that you might have. Our money scripts are a little bit more focused on that behavioral, that true psychology piece.

So, it does dive into a little bit more of specific financial situations. How do you feel about this? Both are great. There are [00:05:00] so many other personality money quizzes you can take to see where you fit, so it is good to explore different options to get that full picture.

Jessica Quindlen: How do emotions come into play when making financial decisions?

Emma Protsik: Oh, they are everywhere. So, Jess, I think you brought up a great point, right? Like the situation matters. What are we purchasing? What are we working towards? It might alter how we are feeling and go about those goals that we have.

When we are faced with certain emotions, we might act irrationally. We might be even put in a fight or flight stance. That's where I see a lot of people making those rash decisions that might lead to some financial mistakes later down the road.

It's always good to also be mindful of when you are feeling happy emotions because you get a little bit more confidence. So again, being mindful of where you are currently. We've said it a couple times on the podcast but be aware of those emotions. Acknowledge that they're there. Make sure to give yourself some time away from that situation, whatever emotions you might be feeling, before you make any big decisions.

Jessica Quindlen: I love that. I know [00:06:00] we started on this, but could you provide some examples of how certain emotions lead to specific behaviors?

Emma Protsik: I can give you a personal example for myself. When I have a not great day, whether personal or professional, I am one that will lean towards impulse purchasing. I will go out and spend the money when I'm feeling those negative emotions trying to get that little dopamine rush that the checkout and buy now gets me.

But it's important to keep in mind that everyone's different. So, Jess, maybe when you're sad, you're not more inclined to do that shopping. Maybe it's more when you're happy, right? You're just trying to kind of keep that high going. So again, it's good to do that introspection Laura was talking about. Being able to take a peek at how you're approaching those situations. What's going on currently in your head.

Laura Straub: Yeah. And especially like you brought up earlier too, those big purchases. There's so much emotion going on typically when we're making that decision whether it's to replace an appliance in our house.

So, we can see some of those different personalities come out. If you're an Achiever, you're probably [00:07:00] going to go to the store and immediately pick out an appliance. You're not going to spend time necessarily looking through where to get it, what to do it. You're going to fix the problem.

Where if you're the Analyst, you might take even longer. Then you're out of that dishwasher for a longer point of time, trying to research and figure it out. So, we can definitely see those kind of coming into play

Jessica Quindlen: Well, yeah. And I think it's interesting what you were saying, Emma, about emotions and an impulsivity because I am very similar to you. I love that dopamine fix, especially when I'm not feeling so great. But I think for others, sometimes impulsivity is more linked to anger or more linked to happiness.

And so, it's figuring out for yourself what emotions create what. Because I have friends who, when they're upset, the last thing they're going to do is spend money.

We've discussed a lot about emotions. How can we identify emotional triggers for us when it comes to spending money and how can we navigate them?

Laura Straub: Yeah, we love to suggest writing it down, having a money journal.

So, writing down - even if it's on the [00:08:00] back of the receipt, y'all, if a whole journal is too much - but writing down like what you were feeling when you made that purchase, why you even went and made that purchase, who you were with. Sometimes that can have a big play in it.

My mom makes a me spend so much more on clothes when I go clothes shopping with her then I would if I went by myself. So, identifying some of those can just really help paint that picture for you of what those triggers are. Is it a friend or the emotion that's causing you to spend more? Or spend less maybe?

But also looking at what happened earlier that day. Did something lead to you feeling sad? We can maybe come up with a different alternative than shopping or spending money or taking a risk with an investment to combat that emotion.

How we're stressed out can really come into play too, so figuring out are we stressed because of emergencies popping up constantly? Do we need to set up an emergency saving plan [00:09:00] instead? There's lots of things you can do, but even just simply writing on the back of the receipt. Even if you just put a smiley face or a sad face to quickly assess what's happening with this purchase, and get you in that habit to identifying why we're making the purchases we are making.

Jessica Quindlen: I love that. And I know something, Emma, this is your advice that I try to do. I'm not as good as Bree, but waiting 24 hours. Of course, I think that often can be linked to some bigger purchases. You know, buying a pack of gum, not necessarily. But I do think that can be great advice too, because you might wake up the next day and be like, “actually, no, that wasn't an emotional purchase.

Yes, I had a bad day, but, X, Y, Z.” Or, “Oh my goodness. I so did not need said expensive thing.”

And I also like what you said. And Emma, we have talked about this off mic and it's an episode I want to do about spending money when you're with people and how that changes. I've definitely experienced this with different friends, different family members, different sides of my family. Feeling I need to spend more or less or any of [00:10:00] that.

And I just think it's really interesting because I'm not always aware of it until we have these conversations and I'm like, “huh, I definitely do that.”

Yes. And I'll say, this is horrible and I probably shouldn't admit this, but I'm someone who when I stress about money, I will sometimes ignore it and spend more.

Emma Protsik: That's money avoidance. That is very common, Jess.

Jessica Quindlen: I will sometimes be so stressed and so overwhelmed, and then I buy more things.

Emma Protsik: You’re not alone.

Jessica Quindlen: I know. That's why I wanted to share it because I know I'm not alone in this.

So, are there strategies for aligning the different money personalities when you're in a relationship? We touched on this a bit with friends, but I'm speaking more about relationships where you're combining finances in some capacity.

And I don't think Achievers are always together or those kinds of things. So how can we navigate that?

Emma Protsik: Step number one is going to be again, just identifying. So, we talked a lot about that.

So do [00:11:00] that introspection, that self-reflection to figure out where each partner lands. And I really do recommend doing this truly solo at the beginning, so you don't have any kind of biases coming into play. Think about your spending, how you're aligning with it, get that truly defined, and then come together and have that conversation.

Also, we’ve talked about it before. I feel like savers always find spenders to be with to combine finances. You're exactly right. Those opposites do attract. So, it is again, just getting on that same page. But I will say it can be a little challenging if you haven't had some of these conversations with your partner before. Give yourself that space, give yourself that grace to have that healthy conversation.

But what's great too about starting this conversation is now you have that accountability buddy, right? We talked about those spending habits. We can talk about those financial goals. How are they aligning? How can different personal experiences we have get in the way of what we want to achieve together?

So again, it is a little challenging to start that conversation, but it always gets easier the more that you do [00:12:00] it.

Jessica Quindlen: I love that. Anything else to add on money personalities?

Laura Straub: Check out that quiz y'all down in the show notes. See where you're landing.

Jessica Quindlen: Awesome. Well, that brings us to the end of our show. Emma, Laura, thanks so much for being here.

Laura Straub: Thank you.

Emma Protsik: Thanks.

Jessica Quindlen: Thank you for listening to Sound Cents from Ent Credit Union. Be sure to follow our podcast as well as rate and review us. I'm Jessica Quindlen. I will see you in two weeks, same time, same place.