(Continued below ...)
 

Awareness makes it safer for you to explore practical financial strategies you might not have been able to attempt before. Once you understand your traits, you can take optimal action to improve your entire Money Type profile. You can set goals based on your strengths with money that will help you realize your dreams and learn to manage your core weaknesses so that they do not trip you up any longer. When you get your money weaknesses under control, you can consolidate your debts and pay them off efficiently, start building a growth portfolio, understand retirement and estate planning, work with a financial planner, choose the best mortgage to make the most of your real estate dollar, and accurately assess your risk tolerance (I have a quiz you can take to learn more about this in Chapter 8) and learn how to control a long-term financial and investment plan, and much, much more.

A little more success with finances builds your confidence with money and extends your reach just enough to realize some dreams. You and your money are going to have a lifelong relationship, and to make any relationship flourish, you need to know your strengths, weaknesses, undeveloped talents, and also which traits are so fundamental to your core personality that you'll need to make peace with them.

What you feel and how you show your feelings to the world pretty much show up in your Money Type.

INSIDE MONEY TYPES: MASTER YOUR TYPE AND CHANGE YOUR FORTUNE

So, let's get to the nitty-gritty: What makes a Money Type, and what makes it yours?

As I began to analyze how people deal with money, I saw that certain groups of traits clearly defined a financial personality, which is what I mean by a Money Type. These are the dominant traits that drive people to prosperity, to ruin, or down a more secure path. If I've learned anything in doing the extensive research for this book, it is that everyone has a set of attitudes, fears, behaviors, and values that, when put together, fit into a distinct personality or Money Type. Dozens of traits make up the Money Types.

With thousands of cases to evaluate, I formulated sets of behaviors and beliefs that reveal how you care about, use, spend, invest, lose, and earn money. For example, one profile of a Money Type stresses striving for more. Another tends to deny the impact of money on their lives, while yet another takes excessive risks with money or simply prefers to coast along, intent on maintaining the status quo. Maybe you're tightfisted about money and don't like spending, borrowing, or giving to others. These traits are reflected in, for example:

• How you feel about money in general. Perhaps you think money is more important than anything else, or, conversely, is given too much importance.
• How your background affects the way you deal with money now. Perhaps you grew up with very little, and now do what you can to ensure you don't duplicate your parents' money struggles.
• What your fears and fantasies are related to money. Perhaps you fear poverty, and being out on the street, and therefore, you cannot spend money.
• What your financial situation is now. Perhaps you're doing okay, but you inherited some money you want to invest. You don't know where to put it to keep it secure and have it grow.
• Where your ultimate financial goals lie. Perhaps you'd like to buy a beachfront home to retire to and not worry about running out of money to live on.

Then I had another revelation: The best way for me to help people effectively was by tailoring my advice for the best fit within your dominant personal financial style. I could match a person's emotional experience of money with individualized practical financial advice. This was the key to effective change. In working out the types, I found that almost everyone falls within one dominant Money Type but has a characteristic or two from other types. As you read through the chapters devoted to each Money Type, you'll see how your complete financial personality is revealed to you more clearly.

Here, then, are brief profiles of the six basic Money Types. You'll probably see yourself in one or more of the types, but start out by focusing on the behaviors and money habits that most dominate your finances now. Be sure to read every chapter. There are true stories, confessions, revelations, and real financial turnarounds to inspire your own efforts! Start with:

The Strivers

For you, the starting point is about acquiring, achieving, and letting others know how much you have. Since money and what it can buy are measures of success, Strivers find a way to play the part of the success story before they've attained the role. At their best, Strivers have energy and drive to make things happen. You make great entrepreneurs, who are willing to take a chance on new ideas, and invest in yourself. Strivers get into trouble when the focus is on overspending-and in forgetting how your income matches up with your expenses. Striving to live up to standards beyond your means tends to get you into debt and interpersonal troubles.

Money mastery for Strivers: If anyone can meet the challenge of gaining control of money by cutting back on nonessentials, it's you. You should still be able to afford some luxury items, but most importantly, you'll learn how to put money aside for the future and make your money grow.

previous  |  1  |  2  | 3  | 4   | next 

Copyright © 2006 by Amherst Enterprises, Ltd., and Lynn Sonberg Book Associates