When it comes to money, we all have a unique perspective that shapes our financial decisions. Many of us are familiar with various finance personalities on TV and radio, like CNBC’s Jim Cramer, Suze Orman, or my favorite Bloomberg’s Tom Keene. And while these personalities heavily impact our financial choices; it is our individual experiences and personal perspectives that create our unique Financial Personalities.

 

There is a long-standing belief that market decisions should not be based on our personal thoughts and feelings. However, metrics like investor sentiment, consumer confidence and other Behavioral Economic principles help market analysts and portfolio managers with their outlook and investment decisions. The field of Behavioral Finance has continued to expand on these notions and research shows some compelling evidence on these relationships. Emotional decision making reduces investment returns by over 4% and 53% of investors say that thinking about their finances makes them anxious.¹ Although many people feel that ignoring or suppressing their emotions can create better outcomes, research suggests otherwise. An empirical investigation found that engaging emotions during decision making results in better performance when looking at 101 stock investors. Individuals in this study who were more mindful of their emotions and engaged their behavioral biases during the decision-making process ended up with better outcomes.²

 

During the initial and ongoing Financial Planning Process (FPP), I regularly review and collect quantitative and qualitative data impacting clients. Quantifiable data reflects information that can be counted, measured, and expressed using numbers, like retirement savings rates and budgeting expenses. Qualitative data is descriptive and conceptual in nature, involving information relating to expectations and concerns, determining the characteristics of the individuals and how the financial planning data is analyzed.

 

With the expansion of our FPP and related services over the last two years, additional tools and resources have become available to our clients like: MoneyGuidePro goals-based planning, addition of monthly subscription options and the recently launched Clic Client experience. In keeping with the Leading Edge motto of being at the forefront industry advancements, I am happy to announce the launch of the Financial Personalities Assessment, a new financial planning tool that builds on the qualitative data and allows for better, more meaningful conversations resulting in long term financial growth. This assessment will allow us to discover your financial personality and determine a plan that is right for you.

 

What is Your Financial Personality? If you are interested in learning more about this assessment and seeing your results, please give us a call or reach out via email and schedule a meeting today. We look forward to hearing from you and to continuing serving your financial needs.

 

 Shar Gogerdchi, CFP^®