You shouldn’t approach financial planning unless you understand the type of personality you have. We aren’t talking about your personal or professional attributes. Every person has a certain personality when it comes to money matters. There are six money type personalities.

 

1. There’s the enthusiast. The enthusiast is a person who is proactive with his or her finances. Most enthusiasts will have a financial plan in place, would know where to put in how much money, how to make smart investments and will be financially informed and confident. The enthusiast is decisive. It is estimated that less than 14% of all working Aussies are enthusiasts and they are mostly men. These people have more than one third of the personal wealth of adult Aussies.
2. Then there’s the delegator. You could equate the delegator and the enthusiast but they differ in one key aspect. Delegators don’t really delve into the money matters themselves. They are proactive and want to be financially empowered but lack the knowledge and confidence to get things done without any help. Delegators would always get some advice and may even hand over the money for a professional to manage. That is not an unwise thing to do when one lacks knowledge and may end up making poor choices. The purpose is to end up with substantial wealth, legally and it does not matter if you are getting someone to manage your money.
3. The third money type personality is the avoider. The avoider will find some way or the other to avoid financial planning, he or she would not see a planner, not get any advice and even if someone gives them sane unsolicited advice, it would fall on deaf ears. More than one fifth of the working populace in Australia is of avoiders. Not surprisingly, they have less than 10% of the personal wealth of working Aussies.
4. You could be a conservative DIY. There are many young and old people who don’t want to hire a financial planner, who don’t wish to tread the same line that has been tread for decades and would rather have their own way to getting things done. A conservative DIY would do all the research, indulge in the legwork, assess all options and make decisions pertaining to savings and investments. Conservative DIY usually does well and they are typically medium to high net worth individuals.
5. You could be a player if you like the scintillating world of stock markets, shares, commodities and myriad kinds of trading. Being a player is not necessarily a bad thing if you can use the tides in your favour. Again, the objective is to amass wealth.
6. The sixth money type personality is too busy. These people may have all the right intentions but do nothing about. They procrastinate and suddenly it is old age and nothing more can be done.