What’s your money personality?

Ted Klontz knew he should save for retirement. He even hired a financial advisor to help him create a plan. But when the time came to add money into his retirement account, he didn’t do it.

Frustrated with himself, Klontz—researcher, author and co-founder of an organization focused on the thought process of financial decisions—asked a friend for advice. The friend asked what retirement would mean for Klontz. His response: It means you quit.

“In my family history, people who retired never did anything related to their entire work career. That part of their life just stopped. I loved what I was doing and couldn’t imagine quitting,” Klontz says.

After saying it out loud, Klontz realized what had been holding him back. The beliefs he held about retirement didn’t reflect his true vision for his future. They did, however, shape his actions in the present. With that realization, he was able to imagine his dream retirement. In that dream, he would do work that inspired him, complete it on his schedule and live where he wanted to.

Once this vision became clear to Klontz, he began catching up on his retirement savings. He also created a plan to sell his business. This allowed him to build the retirement he imagined for himself and his family.

“Evolving my belief about retirement shifted everything for me,” he says. “Sometimes those massive changes happen just by getting another piece of information, either from inside you or from somebody from the outside.”

Let’s explore why it’s important to understand your money beliefs. We’ll also look at the most common financial personalities and what they mean for your future.

Klontz and others in his field have made a similar case: To improve your financial future, you need to take a look at your financial beliefs.

Once you understand what your financial personality is, you can start to change your behaviors. That could include your daily spending habits or your long-term savings plan, Klontz says.

“The best financial plan, or the best investment advice in the world, is no substitute for understanding one’s own relationship with money,” says Deborah Price, author and CEO and founder of a financial coaching firm.

Understanding your relationship with money means a few things. You can start looking at the money habits, behaviors and the lessons you learned growing up. According to Price, most money habits begin in childhood. She adds that many people need guidance and support to spot these patterns.

Say you are focused on growing your emergency savings, but you still spend too much on clothing or travel. Or perhaps you want to focus on saving for long-term financial goals. However, you’re leaving extra money in your checking account instead of moving it to your online savings account.

Understanding your financial behaviors can help you identify ways you may limit your efforts without realizing it. This might include actions that get in the way of saving or investing, Price says.

As you learn about your financial personality, you can start to understand why you spend the way you do. This can help explain why your spending habits don’t always match your financial goals. You can also figure out steps that will help you control your finances.

It’s the difference between what people say and what they do that has motivated Klontz’s research. He has worked with other researchers to collect data from thousands of people to understand their subconscious beliefs about money. From that data, Klontz says they identified four main behavioral patterns.

A person might not fit these descriptions perfectly. But by learning about the common financial personalities, you can better answer the question: What’s my financial personality?

Here are the four personality types, according to Klontz:

People with this pattern are likely to believe money itself is bad, Klontz says. They also think people with too much money are showing off their wealth. “They don’t even bring the subject of money up,” he adds. Money Avoidance may also mean not checking in on your bank account and avoiding regularly taking a look at your bills. If you’re this type of spender and saver, you may believe there’s value to living with less money.

If you relate to Money Worship, you may feel that more money will mean greater happiness, Klontz says. You might believe that money can help solve the problems you face. Someone with this money personality may be cautious of other people managing their money. This type of spender is also more likely to carry credit card debt if they’re spending to find happiness.

With this pattern, people connect their self-worth with their financial success, Klontz says. While there are things in common with Money Worship, people with this habit focus more on showing their wealth in a way others can see. This type of spender may end up buying more than they can afford.

Money Vigilance is defined as being careful about finances and focusing on saving. These beliefs can lead to positive behaviors. For example: saving and planning for your financial future. At the same time, this type of spender might worry about money, Klontz says. They may also feel bad about financial success. Their feelings can make it harder for them to enjoy the good things about financial security.

As you think about your beliefs about money, you’ll learn a lot about yourself. You can then begin to answer the question: What’s your financial personality? This process can help you understand what type of spender you are today. It can also shape how you spend and save in the future. 

• Your money personality shapes many of your financial habits. You may not even realize it’s influencing your decisions.

• Identifying your money beliefs can help you make better spending and saving decisions. Those choices can better fit your long-term financial goals.

• Understanding your financial behaviors is the first step toward building healthier money habits. It can help you make more informed financial decisions.

Now that you know your money personality, you can put that knowledge toward building a healthy financial future by opening a 360 Checking or 360 Performance Savings account online in about 5 minutes.