|
| Money struggles |
| it may be all in your head |
|
|
|
By Vince Scully
As the parent of a young child, you probably don't need me to tell you that balancing the family finances can be a bit of a juggling act. Early childhood is often a particularly challenging time for couples. Just as your income falls, no longer having two full time incomes, your expenses skyrocket.
But what you may not know is that much of how you react to this situation and how you deal with money matters in general is deeply ingrained in your psyche. Just as we have a set of unique core values that defines us, we also have a set of intrinsic attitudes when it comes to money.
Money is such a personal subject - in fact many parents say they are happier having the sex talk with their teenager than talking money with each other. Our attitudes to money are heavily influenced by our life experiences, our parents and even our childhoods
Money is neutral; it is neither good nor evil. It merely takes on the properties we endow on it. And it means different things to different people.
To some it means security. To others it means freedom or love, respect or power. To many it means happiness. But money alone is incapable of giving us any of these. This complex relationship between our inner selves and our wallets is what makes dealing with money so fraught. There is simply no one right answer.
Everyone has a unique money personality which affects how we behave and how we feel about money. Much as our body type dictates what we need to do to lose weight, our money personality type reveals why we spend and what we have to do to save.
Taoists understand this by embracing the concept of Wuwei (or non-doing). This is not to literally do nothing, rather it is about doing what is required and nothing more. If we follow the laws of nature, things get done. If we go against them little gets done, no matter how hard we try.
If we try to lose weight by cutting out all the things we like, we don't succeed. If we try to balance our budget by working longer, this leaves us no time to enjoy life. Saving by cutting out things we love, won't last long.
By understanding why we do what we do when it comes to money, we can play to our strengths and develop skills to manage our weaknesses.
At LifeSherpa, the online financial advice service I founded, we use the MoneyMax® profile to help us analyse these attitudes and help our members better understand their relationship with money. This tool focuses on 13 psychological traits that affect how we deal with money (such as risk tolerance, decision making style, rationality, altruism, trust and need for involvement) to assign each of us to one of nine personalities.
Each of these personalities encapsulates a set of traits – from the High Roller who thrives on stimulation and seeks out risk, to the Achiever who prefers saving for the future to spending now.
Knowing where you fit on this spectrum will inform your money plans and provides a great framework for couples to reach a better understanding of each other.
You can try it for yourself for free by clicking here.
No personal information is requested – Just agree or disagree with 28 statements about money and you get an 11 page report full of insights about you. Encourage your partner to try it too.
LifeSherpa are giving away 6 copies of the book The Latte Fallacy: And other money myths. To go into the draw to win your copy simply complete this interactive quiz.
Vince Scully is the author of 'The Latte fallacy (and other money myths)' and founder of LifeSherpa - Australia's first online financial advice service tailored to the needs of younger Australians. LifeSherpa provides access to your own advisor and a range of tools to help you live the life you want with the money you have. Great advice should be affordable and accessible to all no matter how much you own or earn.
|
|
|
|
