She's On The Money - What's Your Investing Personality?

Episode Date: December 27, 2022

New year, new you...right? This time of year is perfect for self reflection and goal setting, PLUS who doesn't love a personality quiz? So, on today's show we take a look at the different kinds of investing personalities. Listen in to find out which one you are, and set your "investment self" on the right path for 2023! What's Your Money Personality? Find out here. Acknowledgement of Country By Natarsha Bamblett aka Queen Acknowledgements. The advice shared on She's On The Money is general in nature and does not consider your individual circumstances. She's On The Money exists purely for educational purposes and should not be relied upon to make an investment or financial decision. If you do choose to buy a financial product, read the PDS, TMD and obtain appropriate financial advice tailored towards your needs.  Victoria Devine and She's On The Money are authorised representatives of Money Sherpa PTY LTD ABN - 321649 27708,  AFSL - 451289.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Hello, my name is Natasha Nabanunga-Bamblett. I'm a proud Yorta Yorta, Kurni, Wolperi and Awadjuri woman. And before we get started on She's on the Money podcast, I would like to acknowledge the traditional custodians of the land of which this podcast is recorded on Awadjuri country, acknowledging the elders, the ancestors and the next generation coming through. As this podcast is about connecting, empowering, knowledge sharing and the storytelling of you to make a difference for today and lasting impact for tomorrow. Let's get into it. She's on the money.

She's on the money. Hello and welcome to She's on the Bunny, the podcast for millennials who want financial freedom. My name is Jessica Ricci and today with me I have finance expert, Victoria Devine. Hello, Miss Jessica Ricci. Hello, hello. How are you? Still can't get your name right, can you? Jessica Ricci. We're going to talk about personality today. I'm very excited about this episode because I feel

like so many times we talk about risk and stuff and it's like not nearly as sexy as stereotypes. types. Yeah, strap in. It's going to be a fun one, but we're all kind of self-reflecting, I think, coming up to the new year. And over the past decade or so, there has been a real boom of money personalities, BuzzFeed quizzes, books and courses and websites. And it makes a lot of sense because obviously it's totally essential that we have a deep understanding of our attitudes towards money and investing, as well as the emotions that hide behind the decisions that we're making around money. Obviously very important or also important, which Disney princess am I? My fave. Buzzfeed quiz. Which one did you come out as? I think I

got Cinderella. Yeah, I got Belle. So this is not surprising. Also, that's what we did over our Christmas period. If you guys want to know if we switched off, obviously we did. But I'm excited to talk about this because obviously at this point of the year, as you were saying, Jess, like we're being reflective, but at this particular point of the year, I feel like we're over the Christmas stuff. We've gotten through getting back to work and now we're really like, what is going on with our lives? So now is a great time to, I guess, talk about different money personalities and one that you might resonate with because it's not actually that exciting to talk about risk profile. Really important to talk about risk profiles and understand them, but sometimes it's

kind of like, well, what do I actually align with? What might my money story be guiding me down the path to? And I wrote about this in my first book and I think I summarized it a little in my second because I do think it's important to even just reflect on these things and be like, well, why would I fit in that personality type? So we're going to go through all of them today. And this isn't just Jess and I making up like star sign content. I promise you, this has actually come from real research. So all of this has come from Dr. Kathleen Gurney, who is a financial psychology pioneer, you would say. And she found that investors fit into one of nine different personality types. So today we're going to go over those nine personality types. And do you want to kick

it off, Jessica Rucci? I'm excited to learn which one I am. Do you reckon at the end of the episode, we like identify which one we are and then we'll do a thread in the Facebook group because I want to know what everybody else is and what they most resonate with. I'm not going to ask you now, but I want to know what you think most of the She's On The Money community are as well. Because there's one that I think most people will fall into the bucket of. Oh, I'm interested. All right, kick it off. Tell me what is the first one? All right. So the first money personality gurney outlines. It's called a high roller, Ms. Jessica Ricci. So these guys, they are thrill seekers who enjoy financial risk, not you or I. For them, money brings instant power and recognition.

They're creative, they're extroverted and arguably very competitive, and they prefer to risk their assets rather than be bored by financial security. Definitely not me. Definitely not anyone in the She's On The Money community. So kind of like a Samantha from Sex and the City. Oh, she likes risk, but I feel like it's a different type of risk, Jess. Yeah, you're not wrong. I don't think her financial literacy was up there in the show. Hopefully it's improved since then. If not, she can slide into my DMs and we can have a chat. Yeah, but I feel like this is less likely to be someone in the She's On The Money community, not because risk-taking is bad. Risk-taking is something that I align with, to be honest. It's just that I would not take a risk that would

compromise my financial security. Like it's just not an option to me. I just don't want to do that. and the idea that you would prefer to risk your assets than be bored by financial security. Like, no, sorry. Because yeah, as you said, risk-taking inherently isn't a bad thing. And there are a lot of people who do err on the side of, you know, riskier risk profiles, I guess. On Money Diaries late last year, we spoke to a diarist who sold their entire house to start a business. And like that obviously was a really big risk with a lot of return, but like really big risk. I couldn't do it, but they did. So maybe they're a high roller. Maybe, but I don't think that that choice was made because they were bored by the thought of being secure financially.

No, but like bored with the status quo, maybe. True, true, true, true. So the second money personality is called an optimist. And for optimists, money brings them a sense of peace of mind. They're far more interested in enjoying it than making it grow. They're not highly involved with their money, their taxes, their investments, mainly because they find it too stressful. So they're always, it'll happen one day, it'll be fine. I don't need to worry about it at all right now. And they're kind of just maybe the type of people from my perspective who just live paycheck to paycheck, but are super happy with

that. And they're not interested in engaging with an investment journey. I don't know if that's because they're not interested or educated in it, but the idea that they just find it too stressful. I'm like, it's not stressful. I promise it's fine. We can make it easy. Yeah. Maybe the kind of person who's had some kind of financial trauma in their past. Yeah, potentially. And that's what's triggering off those feelings of stress and anxiety as well might fall into that basket. Absolutely. And I think optimists are what our community were before they came here. Yeah. Right. Like so many people say that to us. They're like, oh, my gosh, money used to give me mad anxiety. I bury my head in the sand. I wouldn't do anything

because money personalities aren't set. They are actually quite fluid and they're based on your education, your background, your history, your money story. And obviously, if you're someone who was an optimist and you're like, I'm not going to focus on any of these because it's too stressful, but then you learn more about it and really reflect on your money story and understand where you've come from and where you want to go. Like you can move out of that. I don't think it's a bad thing though, because if you're happy, are we really the ones to say that you're doing the wrong thing? No. And I think none of these, I would assume personalities are bad things, right? Like it's just, you know, you fall into one and maybe that helps you identify your strengths and

your weaknesses because every category, like every person is going to have them. Agreed. And I think it's a bit like star signs, right? So like, I would love to think that I'm a big star signs person, but it's kind of like, I'm also a very technical scientific person. So I love star signs because I just love the drama of it. The fun. Like I love the fun. I love reading them in the newspaper. I love, you know, aligning to something and being like, oh my God, that's me. Ha ha. I think we all like content that reflects us, right? Like if I sat you down and said, Jess, this is you. You'd be like, oh my God, it totally is. Like we as humans like stability. We like consistency and we really like knowing where we're going. So if I say, this is you, you're like, oh my gosh,

I feel in control. So it's something that as humans, we actually gravitate towards stereotypes, which is why they're so easy to make. And while these aren't stereotypes, I feel like it's kind of similar in a way. Yeah, for sure. What have you got for option number three? All right. So money personality number three is entrepreneurs. So these guys are high income earners who enjoy the power and prestige of money. They are mostly male dominated. They're driven by a passion for excellence and achievement and investing in the share market is their favorite strategy. So I mean, I don't really like that it's male dominated. Interesting that the name that was given to it was entrepreneur because I feel like especially in our community, so many people are

entrepreneurs. You're an entrepreneur. I would argue on some level, so am I, and we're both women. So I find it interesting that that was the name that she chose to give to it, even though it's like mostly male dominated. From my perspective, and I've just Googled the definition, Jess, entrepreneur, the dictionary definition is a person who sets up a business or business says taking on financial risks in the hope of profit. I don't know if I'd call it entrepreneur. Maybe there's a secondary definition to entrepreneur where you're kind of like finding different opportunities. You might be a full-time salary and wage earner, but you're not out on your own with your own business. And I would argue that going into the share market

is definitely finding your own opportunity and working towards financial freedom. So I kind of get it. Jess, it's also a little bit stereotypical and something I probably should have pointed out earlier is that Kathleen Gurney has been around for a while. So there actually isn't a lot of recent research into money personalities. This research originally appeared in 1988. And I think that that is a little bit reflective of this idea that it's male dominated, because I would assume that a lot of people in the she's on the money community would resonate a bit with that. But did you pick up on the underlying vibe? It's kind of like an egotistical vibe where it's like high income earners who enjoy the power and prestige of money.

Yeah, it seems very like finance bro. Yeah. Whereas I would say that I definitely do, but I wouldn't want it phrased that way. I'd be Like, yeah, I love the opportunity that money can bring and I obviously would love to make more of it. And I would say that I am definitely driven by a passion for excellence. I nearly said to you, do you fall into this category? Why didn't you? Is it because it just sounded a little bit self-involved?

Yeah. And because of the male dominated thing as well. I think the whole thing, when you read it out, had a slight negative tone to it, or at least that's how I was interpreting it. We should make up our own. Yeah. I think we should make up our own. Maybe we'll rewrite them.

All right. Well, let's move on to the next one, because otherwise I'm going to get too savage on entrepreneurs. Jess, the next one is hunters. So hunters are known as highly educated, above average income earners who tend to spend and invest impulsively. So they are mostly female dominated, stereotype, and they attribute financial success more to luck than ability and judgment.

I would be really interested to know how she put these together with the gender thing because that list that you just read, again, I was like, oh, I could almost see you fitting into that in a way. You think I'm an impulsive spender. I think you're impulsive in general. What did we call that the other day? Like last year, you started calling me neuro spicy. Neuro spicy.

Reading through back though, you definitely don't attribute your success to luck. I really wonder, like, nothing about those attributes that are listed make me think, oh, it would be inherently male or female. Like, I kind of thought that the whole purpose of this was so that people could break it down based on their personality. And while, yes, maybe males are more heavily weighted in one or another, I don't really see its relevance. Yeah, look, it doesn't have to be.

I mean, it says mostly female dominated. It doesn't say that it is exclusively women. And I mean, highly educated, above average income earners. I think there's a lot to say for this one around just having a little bit of self-confidence as well. I feel like too many people in our community attribute their success to luck instead of their ability and their expertise and their education and their ability to make a good decision. And I always want to like shake them and be like, no, it's because you're a cool human. Like you didn't accidentally get a good pay rise. You didn't accidentally land a great job. I mean,

it's one of those things that I think that that does play into women more than men because we know when we talk about stats around you know whether a man is more likely to go for a job than a female and we know that men will as women I feel like everyone's a little bit more cautious and less likely to blow their own horn in a way yeah I just feel like sometimes we're a little bit too self-critical and that's probably I mean you don't always have to align to absolutely every attribute of a personality type that's a great point yeah like you know when you have like I'm of cancerian. So sometimes I read through stuff and I'm like, oh my gosh, that makes so much sense. And then there's like one line, so I just disregard it. So I'm like, no, no, no, I was on board with

that. Like delete that. Everything about me, that makes sense. Yeah. So I'm sure that you could align to some of that and go, oh, maybe I am a hunter. But I think this whole episode, Jess, is really about just us reflecting on, well, what is our money personality? And if you don't align to any of these, maybe you pick up little things that have articulated the way that you maybe feel about money that you haven't thought before. So you might actually feel like you're attributing your financial success to luck and no one's ever articulated that to you before and you go, wow, actually, I should stop doing that. I should have my own back a little bit more. Or maybe if you go a little bit earlier into what we were talking about before about the high

rollers, maybe you are willing to risk your financial security to have a big win or do something really different and that's cool, but it's nice to have that articulated and give you that reflection point, I think. Yeah, I agree. It's really interesting to see what things kind of trigger little light bulb moments as you're listening through. What's the next one that you've got, VD? All right. So the next one before we go to a quick break is the perfectionists. So these guys, they're afraid of making a mistake and they often avoid decision-making altogether. They'll consider every single angle and then find fault with practically any risky venture at all. And they will find looking for suitable investments really, really difficult. Do you feel like that

resonates with anybody? I feel like that applies to me in life in general. I'm a very risk adverse person. That's okay. It's not a bad thing at all, but I think, yeah, as someone who looks big picture, I find it very helpful actually in what I do, but I definitely relate to finding fault with everything and it probably comes back to also being an anxious girly that yeah you kind of go oh like what are the potential problems in things and I can definitely feel that with investing as well and that's why I prefer like ETFs yeah like I like that for me that feels like it takes a lot of the risk off of me and if I absolutely do want to purchase individual shares I do that knowing you know a significant amount of risk involved and it's a very small allocation

within my broader portfolio so happy that you're saying that don't I sound really professional no But like two years ago, you were like, I've never invested. I'm not sure. And now I know that you've got like your ETFs that you really love. And like the other day we were talking about what you had on Sharesies. You were literally like, oh, yeah. And on Sharesies, I bought this, this and this because I was just really interested in following them.

So I put some cash behind it. And I was like, girl, who are you? Do you even see who you have become? You're a queen. I love it. I'm very proud. And it's all thanks to you. I had your first dividends literally last year.

I know. Who are you? So exciting. This is very off topic. I had a meeting yesterday. with just someone else in the finance space. And they were talking about things that were quite technical. And I was like, I understand all of this. And I can reply back and sound educated. And I was just so proud. Yeah, we were at a funds management networking event and Jess was like,

yeah, okay, well, what's the diversification on that? And how did you come to that conclusion? And I was like, I am obsessed with you. No, so, so proud. Going back to perfectionists though, as a money personality type, I feel like I really resonate with this actually, which I don't think any of you guys saw coming. But the reason I resonate with it is because perfectionism is a trait of ADHD, which I do have. And Jess, I think you can probably agree that sometimes I'll just avoid decision-making altogether because it feels too overwhelming. The analysis paralysis thing. Yeah. And I literally bury my head in the sand when you're like, V, I really need you to. And

I'll be like, I'm going to go away now. I am running for the hills. No, thank you. And then I always, always, always consider every angle and then tell you they're all crap. And I'll be like, no, I don't want to do any of these. I mean, I don't find investments difficult, but our neuro-spicy friends, I reckon there are a few of you who are like, I think that's me. And that would make a lot of sense because often when you are a bit neuro-divergent, you do really resonate with a perfectionist mindset. And I just find that really interesting. Oh my gosh, that is super interesting. All right, let's go to a really quick break. And when we come back, I want you to tell all about the next four personality types that don't go anywhere.

Welcome back, everybody. Today, we are talking all about money personalities, which has been really interesting so far. We've gone through five and I'm having little light bulb moments here and there of things that I'm going, oh, that could be me. That could be me. So maybe you're having the same experience at home. But Victoria, tell me, what have you got coming in as our sixth personality type. All right. So coming in at number six are the safe players. So safe players are average earners who prefer secure investment. Relatable, love a secure investment. They lack the confidence and motivation to take more calculated risks, even though they actually might be pretty well educated. They feel they're doing fine financially

and repeat investment strategies that seem to work for them. So I think that's a good place to be. It sounds like the definition of playing it safe really, doesn't it? Yeah, not a bad place to be. And I mean, if we compare it to the people who are optimists, it's kind of like the step up from an optimist. Like you're optimistic, but like safe player sounds like a step down when you like go, an optimist would be like super excited about the market, but they're not. They're actually just like a bit bury their head in the sand and prefer to avoid it because they find it stressful. So I'm surprised by these definitions, to be honest. Jess, I'm not going to lie. I think I could do a better job.

Maybe that means that we should rewrite them and rename them. I'm going to. I'm going to. It might not be scientific, but I don't even care. Yeah. All right. Tell me, what have you got for number seven? All right. So number seven, we have achievers. These are the second highest income earners. They're usually college graduates and most of them are married, surprisingly. They feel hard work, diligence and effort will pay off. They're really proud of their accomplishments and tend to recoil at other people handling their money. Protecting their assets is their primary consideration. Yeah, interesting. So they're also potentially a little bit risk adverse,

would you say, because they want to protect their assets? I mean, you're not necessarily risk adverse if you want to protect your assets. So the thing I find really interesting is I would say that I want to protect my assets. But if you looked at my investment portfolio, I'm a really aggressive investor. And to be categorized as an aggressive investor, it means that most of your assets are exposed to the market. So if you look at my investment portfolio, I actually don't carry a lot of cash. Like I'm not sitting on a whole heap of cash because that's what makes me feel safe. I actually have most of it in shares. But then I've said to you before, Jess, especially on the show, I'm a conservative, aggressive investor. And that's because I pick blue chip

stocks. Like I pick tried, true, tested assets that I don't feel uncomfortable buying and I feel are quite safe, but I have a lot of exposure to them. I don't actually want to buy, you know, small caps. I don't want to buy companies that are really tiny and have a lot of risk associated. So I want to protect my assets, but I also invest a lot and I do definitely cringe at other people handling my money. Maybe because it was literally my job for the longest time to handle other people's and I kind of know what I'm doing. So I don't want your advice. Get your little mittens off my stuff. Stay away. It sounds like they're pretty independent as well. Yeah. And the thing I like though, is that they do feel like hard work, diligence and effort will pay off.

And to quote Judy Devine, my mother, I remember her saying one time, I think I was in VCE, but this has really stuck with me. She said, hard work will never betray you. And I was like, oh, that's a really good quote, mum. Like you're basically like Gandhi. Wow. But it's something that I always remember, especially when I feel really overwhelmed or really like I'm not being successful and I just can't be bothered anymore. No, like if I put in more hard work, like it's not going to betray me, like it'll do the right thing by me. And I feel like that quote sits perfectly in Achievers. Yeah. I really like that. I think that line is another one that I, of everything that we've read so far that I feel like I identify with the most is the idea that

like you work really hard and you do whatever, but theoretically you do it because you're working towards something else. Yeah, absolutely. All right. That leads into number eight, Jess, which is money masters. I like the idea of this one. So money masters, they're the number one wealth accumulators, even though they don't necessarily earn the most. That sounds nice. It sounds like the she's on the money community. They rank first in the degree of desired involvement with their money and enjoy the participation. They trust the recommendations of others and they act on sound advice. Success through determination is their philosophy. This is another one where there's like an undertone of, do you know how we said before

that entrepreneurs sounded really like negative? This one sounds really positive. Like you read that and you go, oh, I want to be a money, and even the name money master. Yeah. I think it's the she's on the money community. I know I'm not meant to be telling you that. I was meant to tell you that at the end, but we only have one to go. But I do genuinely only think that the community are either money masters or they're working towards being money masters. Because as we know in our community, you don't actually have to earn the most to end up being financially secure and invest. Like it's not what you have, it's what you invest. And it's not like about timing the market. It's about timing the market. And I think you guys are really

intelligent now. Literally, we've been doing this for nearly four years, Jessica. And I just feel like everyone's kind of gotten to a point where they enjoy the participation and they really want to be involved in their portfolios and have decisions and they do trust recommendations of others, but they only act on the ones that are sound advice. So like, I want to talk to people about money. I want to know what ETFs they're investing in. But then I also put on my hat of, well, where did they get that information? Is that information that I should be, you know, acting upon or is that just a nice conversation? And I think we've gotten to this beautiful place in our community where you guys are like, yeah, but where's that information coming from? Like,

is it just interesting or is it actual advice? Yeah. Which obviously this podcast doesn't give actual advice because that would be illegal. But I think it's guiding you down the right path because at the end of the day, Jess, like I did work as a financial advisor. So we're not just talking smack, you know? Yeah. No, not at all. And the enjoying the participation, I think, is something we've seen a lot this year at our events, particularly the book tour where we were talking just around investing and to see so many people show up so passionate and so excited. and I like to think that as much as the money master, it says that they're the number one wealth accumulators. I would like to think that in order to reach that personality type or that

status or whatever, it doesn't mean that you need to have done everything perfectly or have the most money. Like I genuinely think that a lot of people in our community who are earlier in their journey probably fit into this personality, which is a really special, cool thing. Yeah, I love it. All right, on to the very last but not least money personality, we've got the producers. So they rank high in work ethic but lower in earned income due to the lack of self-confidence in money management skills that they have. They work hard, they do desire more, but they do feel like they have difficulty getting ahead financially. Financial investment education would help these guys. Yeah, that's interesting, isn't it? Because I think that's maybe a starting point for a lot

of people. I feel like that's where I was a few years ago. Oh, I can see that. Especially in like my early twenties, I worked really hard. I didn't earn great money, but not many people do when they're young. And I, yeah, like I had a lot of debt. I didn't invest. I wanted more money. I think people always want more money. Your personal growth has been wild. It has been a privilege to see, honestly. I love it. But for those of you who might not have followed, she's on the money as long as Jessica has worked here because it's been a while now. Sorry, Jess. But Jess actually came from the community and like got out of debt because of the podcast and then kind of grew into this role. And I just think it's so special that you don't just, you know, work at She's On

Money. You were the community, you are the community, like you were our target audience and then you were our target audience when we were recruiting as well. And it just all worked out really well for me, honestly. So honestly, it's so fun. So Jess, what personality do you think you would put yourself in the bucket of? It's so hard because like we kind of said at the start, I see myself in a couple of them. You can be a couple. I'll let you pick two. I feel like I lean most into the perfectionist and the achiever. And I feel like it's a hybrid of both. Like I am very, like we said, risk adverse. And I am just as a general human, a bit of a perfectionist. And so I totally relate to considering every angle and every outcome and

wanting to be really sure with the choices that you make. But then in the achievers, I have a very similar ethos. I think of like, I believe in hard work. I believe that if you want something and you work hard enough, there's a way to find that and a way to make that happen. And I know that that is a bit of a privileged statement, but I do believe in the value of pursuing things diligently and working at them and beating your head against the wall sometimes until you kind of figure out a way to get the outcome that you want. So if I could mash those two together and be the Pachiva. That would be me. The Pachiva. Jessica, the Pachiva. I like that. How about you? Where would you categorize yourself? See, this is where I'm going to tell you there's actually a

quiz you can do to work out which bucket you fall into. So you don't actually just have to listen to this podcast and play a guessing game. There is going to be a link in the show notes and I came out as an achiever. So I know that that is me just looking at it. But even when I did the survey, it like comes out with who you are and what that means. And then it gives you a whole heap more information based on the way you answered the questions of how it might work for you. So it's free. We'll put the link in the show notes, but maybe Jess, you can now go do that. And instead of guessing and becoming a pachiva, maybe you could be one or the other. Oh my gosh. That's so funny. What a cool, fun little episode. I hope people enjoy this. I know

it was a little fluffier than normal. Oh, I don't care. You guys, you guys deserve a fluffy, fun episode because we're going to be really deep into investment content this year. So hold your horses. Yeah, 100%. So I hope that you guys enjoyed. Thank you so much for listening. Go to the Facebook group because we'll put a thread up today. Go and tell us which money personality you fall into because we're super duper curious. But I think it's time for us to roll out, BD. All right. See you next week, guys. Be good. Bye. the advice shared on she's on the money is general in nature and does not consider your individual circumstances she's on the money exists purely for educational purposes and

should not be relied upon to make an investment or financial decision if you do choose to buy a financial product read the pds tmd and obtain appropriate financial advice tailored towards your needs. Victoria Devine and She's On The Money are authorised representatives of Money Sherpa PTY LTD ABN 321 649 27708 AFSL 451 289.