I read an article today about research done on common personality traits of the financially “successful”. They were listed as:
1. A propensity to plan correlated with a higher than average accumulation of wealth regardless of annual income.
2. Financial literacy regardless of math confidence correlated with a higher accumulation of wealth.
3. Having feelings of powerlessness ( as reported by the study’s subjects) correlated with a lower accumulation of wealth.
4. Conscientiousness and emotional stability were most directly linked to a greater accumulation of wealth.
Each of the four traits above demonstrate the benefit of living with purpose and intention. Whether you want to be happier at work, or do better with your retirement saving, or be a better spouse, you’d better pay attention to the list above because not in the top 4 is “cross your fingers”.
I often meet people extremely frustrated with their financial situation and I see just as many people with low incomes report frustration as I do people with high incomes. In fact, those with higher incomes tend to report even more frustration because they feel they’ve let their good opportunity “slip away”. Conversely, I get to meet people who feel extremely confident in their financial position regardless of how much they make. When I ask them why they feel comfort and contentment almost without exception they say “because we’re living just as we’d planned”. Perfect!
People ask me all the time for financial “tips” and for ways to save more for retirement, for college, etc. And while in the middle of everyone’s unique financial plan there lies a lot of important details that require examination and hard work, I believe the universal “tip” for financial wellness is to create a long-term habit of doing everything on purpose. Purposefully manage your career. Purposefully be the parent you want to be. Purposefully stay healthy. Do those things and your finances cannot escape the power of your control if you choose to exhibit it.
So look at the list above again and think about how planning, how educating yourself with the realities of financial engineering, how feeling empowered, and how awareness and empathy of the world around you can make you more capable of accumulating and acquiring the kind of life (both financially and otherwise) that you want.
