By By Dane Roberts Wans On Bookreview
Were you aware that each of us has a personality style and each style affects the way we handle our money? Have you been looking for a primer that can explain finances to you in a way that is understandable? This just may be the book you’re looking for.
The premise is we handle our money according to certain personality styles. “Your money personality is really the result of your own deeply personal experiences you have encountered along the way—even if they no longer serve a purpose,” the author suggests.
Subtitled “Discover your Financial Personality and Live the Millionaire’s Life,” it is divided into three main sections: The Personalities, The Relationships, The Realities.
The introduction starts out by suggesting our personalities, with our temperaments, hopes, fears, and self esteem form our relationships to how we handle money. “There are three things you can do with money. You can acquire it, you can use it, you can manage it.”
In this book we’re introduced to a wide-array of personalities: The Diva, The Do-Gooder, The Diligent Investigator, The Dionysian, The Dependable Hoarder. The Diva is into impulsive spending. The Do- Gooder is trusting with his money and allows others to borrow from him. The Diligent Investor takes to the extreme the analysis of detail when it comes to the investment of his assets. The Dionysian is a procrastinator and shirks responsibility. The Dependable Hoarder is fearful of the future.
“Your money personality goes with you wherever you go and plays a major role in all your interpersonal relationships,” the author points out. “Our money personalities profoundly affect how we connect with those around us,” It affects your friendships as well as how you rear your child even down to how you instruct your child in the area of money management.
The author suggests that each child has one of the personality styles talked about and it affects how they will respond to your instruction. “We are all born with our personalities hardwired into our DNA.”
The author also handles an area that very few of us like to admit to. We are all going to get old and retire someday and there are suggestions of some things we, who are procrastinators, can do in the present to help the transition into retirement.
In the last section the author shows how your personality style can be molded to bring about a winning mind set which she calls the millionaire personality.
I wish I had read this book when I was younger. It would have saved me from worries now that I am nearing retirement. Don’t wait until you are approaching middle age and making retirement plans to read it. Start young.
Julie Stav is a financial planner, broker, and best selling author as well as host of a daily radio show. She had dedicated herself to the education and empowerment of millions of Americans. Stav has also authored “Get Your Share” and “Find Your Future,” both New York Times best sellers.
DANE ROBERT SWANSON lives in Santa Monica. He desires to hear how you are enjoying these book reviews. Contact him at
Originally published in the Santa Monica Daily Press print edition on July 12, 2007. Read the original PDF.