, On Friday August 26, 2011, 3:38 pm EDT
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People's money habits are generally ruled by their personalities. While you can't change a person's basic personality type, you can persuade your partner to save or nudge your overly thrifty teenager into springing for a second pair of shoes.
Everyone in my family of four has a different personality type, and I've noticed we often clash when it comes to money matters. Here are the four basic personality types that affect the way we handle money, and what we do to smooth out our differences.
Laid back type
My youngest son with a laid-back personality is almost too thrifty. He is not at all money motivated. He has money in the bank not because he's a super saver, but because he rarely wants to buy anything. We get frustrated when he won't let us buy him new things, even when his jeans have holes in them. His life aspiration is to live in a van in Canada. Since he hates to shop, I quiz him about his style and color preferences on the Internet, and then order him new things.
Thinking type
My 18-year-old son is a thinking type who likes to save and isn't afraid to spend. He plans out his purchases years in advance. When he took a vacation by himself to Chicago this summer, he kept a meticulous record of his expenditures. We clash because he is extremely independent. Our solution was to help him open financial accounts at an early age, and teach him how to manage his own accounts so he would feel financially secure on his own.
Social type
Being a more social type, I like to shop for entertainment. My husband helped me turn from a spender into a saver by setting common goals. Once I could visualize how much fun we would have, I was more willing to be frugal and save. Knowing that I'm more motivated by experiences and he is more motivated by things helped us compromise.
Motivated type
My husband is a motivated person who falls into the workaholic and risk taker category. He likes to spend money on things that make him happy, but also buys things for others. We clash when he wants to take bigger financial risks such as buying rental properties. His motto is the greater the risk, the greater the reward. We keep financial peace in our marriage by letting him invest 10 percent of his portfolio in the more risky individual stocks. We have agreed to buy a rental property after we pay off the mortgage on our primary residence.
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