The Four Wealth Creation Personality Types

Certain personality traits are more conducive towards being successful at wealth creation. Find out which personality type you are, and how likely you are to succeed.

This following diagramcan give you a good idea of whether or not you will succeed in creating wealth over the course of the rest of your life. 

As you can see, it's basically a simple cross which displays knowledge and action.

The vertical line charts your level of financial know-how, the knowledge you need to make an informed and successful financial decision.

The horizontal line indicates your willingness to take action in order to create that wealth.

The reason for choosing these two factors is simple. You can't create wealth unless you are prepared to take action and make a deliberate effort to do so. And you can't take action unless you have some knowledge and understanding of how wealth is created.

This is how it works: Anyone who finds themselves in the top half of the square i.e. above the action line, has a higher than average knowledge of how to create wealth.

Anyone who finds themselves to the right of the vertical line has a higher than average predisposition to take action in order to create wealth.

We have populated our diagram with four typical investor mind-sets - see which one is closest to your own. It's a worthwhile exercise in self-reflection to think about where you might place yourself in this diagram.

Let's start with Grace.

GRACE stands for Growing Richer, Aware, Committed, Empowered.

Grace is close to the top of both the action and the knowledge segments. Grace understands the basics of investment and has a definite goal in mind. She has developed a plan to reach that goal. She appreciates that by taking a long-term view and being very committed to it, she has an excellent chance of getting there.

On Grace's left, we find a very different kind of personality called Kevin.

KEVIN stands for Knows Everything, inVests In Nothing.

Kevin understands the basics of investment, but is just too scared and lacking in confidence to make the commitment to act on that knowledge. Kevin can often be very cynical.

We've all met the odd Kevin. He's the guy at the barbie who, when you say you are saving for the deposit on an investment property, replies: Why would you do that, at this time, the market's this and that and you borrowed how much?!?

For all his theoretical knowledge of investment markets, Kevin has never realised that there is no right or wrong time to start creating wealth and that the important thing is to make a start.

If we move to the bottom right-hand quarter of the diagram, we meet a very different person called Hank.

HANK stands for High Ambitions, No Knowledge.

Hank is strongly motivated to create wealth, but has a low knowledge base and doesn't know where to start. Hank has typically been working for a while and could be self employed or rising up the corporate ladder. He is paying off his house, but knows he will have to do a lot more to reach his dream of a comfortable retirement, or making a sea change in his 50s. Hank is often a risk-taker, jumping into things without properly understanding them or the associated risks.

If Hank has a personal goal and is prepared to take action to achieve it, all he needs to get there is a mentor who can help him design a bridge between where he is now and where he wants to be - using his current financial situation as the starting point.

And finally, in the bottom left hand corner, we meet Nina.

NINA stands for No Interest, No Action.

Nina knows nothing of investment or wealth creation and does not want to know. Sometimes Nina can be poorly educated and just scraping by, with no energy for anything beyond the next fortnight's survival. However, Nina could also be a couch potato who never thinks about anything much. Or a party girl, living only for next weekend's fun and games.

Of course, when it comes to creating wealth, Nina is out of reach of anyone who can help her. But - and this is a very important but - none of us is locked into any one of these four squares for life.

Nina the party girl could turn into Grace the committed saver as she grows a little older, maybe marries and starts a family, and starts thinking about a future that's more than a week away. One thing we have discovered time and again is that when people have a defined goal, they will make the sacrifices necessary to achieve it, even if that means giving up a few of today's pleasures for better lifestyle choices or security in the future.

We meet a lot of Kevins in our business too. They generally come to us in the year they turn 50, when they wake up and panic because they have to retire in 10 to 15 year's time and have no idea of what they are going to live on when their salary stops. (It's never too late to start, but imagine how much more we could have done for Kevin if he came to us when he was 30?)

Best of all, many Hanks grow to be Graces with our advice and support. From people who had no knowledge of the finer points of wealth accumulation, they grow into investors who know where they want to go financially and exactly how they are going to get there.

If you're already a Grace, in the top right-hand corner, you're high on action and have the knowledge to back it up, so congratulations. If you're not, our mission at Moneytree Partners is to help you get there. We'll help you clearly define your financial goal and design the bridge or plan that will take you there. And we will stay with you and continue to advise you on the journey. Give us a call, and get out of the box you're in now.