While the bliss of proposals and wedding planning and honeymooning can be one the best times of life, what comes after is the most important. Understanding how your partner views money and how that differs from how you view it can help you both learn more about your financial habits, strengths, and challenges before tying the knot.
We spoke with Michael Segovia of the Myers-Briggs Company and Elisabeth Kozack at Marcus by Goldman Sachs about financial personalities and how they can impact your relationship. They partnered up to develop a free Financial Personality Quiz to help you discuss your relationship with money with your S.O. Are you a Confident Money Manager or Laid-Back Balancer? Find out and learn what all that means below!
The Personality Types
So what is a financial personality? "A financial personality describes how you spend, save, invest, and overall how you manage your wealth," says Kozack. It's important to know what makes you tick when it comes to money in order to blend finances in a relationship and talk through your plans. Here's a breakdown of the personalities (you can learn more about each one here):
Confident Money Manager
This is the long-term thinker. They're generally the planner when it comes to money, or really anything else in the relationship. "They are more likely to not only create a financial plan, but also keep up with it over time," says Kozack.
Short-Term Strategist
If you're an STS, you're more likely to prioritize short-term gains over long-term financial plans, adapting your future financial goals as you need to.
Value-Based Planner
This personality type tends to make financial decisions based on the view that money is a tool that can help people and the causes that they care about versus necessarily accruing personal wealth. "The strong sense of direction, we think, guides both their short and their long-term financial future," says Kozack.
Laid-Back Balancer
This money type might not consider financial management to be their thing. "They're not one to be overly involved in long-term planning or focused on wealth building, but instead they might view money more in terms of how it can be used and who it can be used for," adds Kozack.
So what happens if you and your sig-O have conflicting financial personalities? Don't fret. Just as in other aspects of a relationship, it's important to work together with a little give and take.
"It really comes down to, are you motivated to learn from the other side while also bringing what you have to the table? We know any type can do anything. And when we look at these personalities, we're talking about a preference," says Segovia.
So if you're a Laid-Back Balancer who prefers to act on impulse, and your partner is a Value-Based Planner who needs to schedule things out and plan for a rainy day, then you come together and hear each other out.
"It just all goes back to communication and checks and balances along the way," says Segovia. In fact, by talking it out and compromising, you can start to learn from each other in other areas of life too. Balance is key, right?
"It's amazing how much it can encompass so much of what we prefer. My partner and I have been together for 12 years and we've learned that it's just about deciding that this time we'll do it this way, next time we'll do it that way. And then let's come together and see what we can learn from both ways."
So do financial opposites attract or are you doomed to conflict? Kozack recommends talking openly about your finances.
"As a couple, take your time when discussing finances and be able to align on those financial milestones as you think about the new chapters in your life, whether that is marriage, purchasing a home or planning a family," Kozack says. Tough conversations may arise when you're discussing finances, she adds. Make sure to outline your shared goals and determine what the most efficient path is that leads to those goals. Then have regular check-ins on your finances.
A rule of thumb, she adds, is to save enough to cover three to six months of your living expenses. "Parking that in a lower, no fee, online, high-yield savings account is often a great way to start," she says.
Find more relationship advice on our Relationships page and learn more about money in B + C's The Money School.
This article has been updated from a post published on Oct. 2021.
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