Want to Achieve Your Money Goals? Discover Your Money Mindset.

Setting money goals is like going on a road trip.

There's that place up north, always sunny, with rolling waves and lush subtropical vegetation. Helen and her three closest friends have been talking about going there together for years..

Finally one day, the planets align: the four manage to take two weeks off, pack their bags and hit the road, destination: up north!

They don’t care that they’ve never travelled together before. They’re too excited to remember that, although they are long-time friends, they are also very different. 

Sophie appreciates the nice things in life - she always stays in designer hotels and is happy to pay a premium for it. She usually checks out late after hitting the gym and the hotel buffet. 

Ross lives for his waves; he’s the laid-back one and is happy as long as he’s at the beach.

Dan is a foodie. He doesn’t care about where they stay or how long it takes to get there, as long as they stop every couple of hours for coffee in the places he researched for hours on the net. 

Then there’s Helen, pragmatic, frugal and solution-focused, who cares only about getting to that corner of paradise in the shortest amount of time. She can’t wait for the dream to come true.

With such a diverse bunch of people, how long will it take them to realise this is not going to work? 

The answer is: one day; just enough for Dan to have some serious Almond Magic’s withdrawal symptoms (if you’re wondering what a Magic is, you’re in good company as I had to research that myself. Apparently, it’s a double-shot espresso and ¾ milk). He stormed out of the hotel Sophie insisted they stay in for the first night (like me, the barista didn’t know what a Magic was). 

Ross followed suit, but went the opposite direction (towards the nearby beach to chase some tubes). Disappointed but not defeated, Helen kept heading north alone, but some say she ran out of money pretty quickly. She was last seen on social media, where she posted about a crowdfunding project that would have helped her make her dream come true. Hopefully.

When people set money goals, something similar happens to them.

They make a plan; they feel fired up and start working towards it. Thanks to the initial enthusiasm, they make good progress and start feeling good about themselves.

Then life gets in the way. They are pulled in different directions by opposing forces diverting them from their destination. Soon, the money they were going to save or invest gets hijacked to buy a new phone or a holiday, leaving no resources for the bigger goal.

Looks like self-sabotage? This only happens because they’re not clear about their relationship with money and what they want from them.

Money in itself is never good or bad. It’s just an instrument that helps you get where you want to go. 

It’s up to you to decide the destination: a new car, a degree to change career or the house you’ve been dreaming about for years.

And once the destination is set, you need to stay on track (i.e. make sure all your friends on the trip are on the same page). Even when there’s only yourself at the wheel, with life’s many pressures, it’s easy to feel pulled left, right and center.

But don’t despair: achieving your goals is possible. The first step is to become aware of your money mindset.

Money Mindset

Money mindset takes different meanings, and it is often used as a cover for selling get-rich-quick schemes - I’m sure you’ve heard before about the ‘Millionaire mindset’. 

For us, money mindset refers to the beliefs and attitudes that drive your behaviour around saving, spending, and handling money.

It manifests in beliefs like: ‘Rich people are bad’, ‘I don't deserve this’, ‘I'll never have enough’.

Money is a personal subject and our childhood, parents and life experiences heavily influence our attitudes towards it. To some it means security, to others it represents freedom, love, respect or power. To many, it is a synonym of happiness.

Photo by Annie Spratt

The relationship between our inner selves and our wallets is complex, so there is no right answer. But understanding it is paramount if we want to achieve Life’s big and smaller goals.

How to Discover Your Money Personality

Financial planners have long used risk profilers to assess the suitability of investments for their clients. But focusing on one single factor to develop a plan can deliver poor results and offer lower chances of staying on track in the long run.

The Moneymax money personality profiler goes much further. World-leading psychologist and Huffington Post finance legend Dr Kathleen Gurney designed it to help people be more successful with their money. 

It is a psychometric tool that encompasses 13 broad personality aspects. These attitudes revolve around your relationship with money. Think about risk tolerance, decision-making style, rationality, altruism, trust and involvement. 

The test measures 13 key financial traits, which capture why you do what you do with money. These attitudes are then matched with one of nine money personalities.

The money personality types range from the High Roller, who thrives on stimulation and is prepared to take risks, to the Achiever, who prefers saving for the future rather than spending now.

Why You should Know Your Money Personality

Knowing your beliefs and attitudes towards money is a key step towards achieving a money mindset that is in line with your values and supports your life goals.

By being aware of your strong points and shortcomings, you can play to your strengths and develop skills to manage your weaknesses.

Yes, you got it right: you can change your attitude towards money!

If you are in a relationship, knowing where you fit can also help you understand your partner even more. It gives you a useful framework to have a blame- and judgement-free discussion about what matters to you both when it comes to money.

To sum up, it helps understand the motivation behind your savings, spending and investment decisions, so you can find the financial approach that works for you (and get to your final destination).

Photo by Anton Mishin

Bottom Line

Having a happy relationship with money can be tough - whether you have millions or just a few bucks. That’s because you and your money have ups and downs. And just like in any other relationship, we all carry some baggage.

Living happily with money comes down to knowing your personality type, so that you and your money can be on the same team.

Are you a High Roller who thrives on stimulation and challenge? Maybe you’re a Hunter, who enjoys the finer things in life. After all, you know you can't take 

If you’re good with money, you may think you’re a Perfectionist, but you might actually be a Money Master. Do you know Money Masters are the ideal personality, but there’s less than one in ten in the population?

Find out your personality type by taking this five-minute quiz. Did I mention it’s free? Well, it is.

At the end, you’ll receive a full report showing you how you can take advantage of your personality to make the most of your money.