6 money types for clients

Your clients’ perceptions of money affect how they make financial decisions. If you can understand how clients view money, you’ll understand how open they are to change and plan for it.

James W. Gottfurcht, Ph. D., a psychologist who helps financial professionals and clients overcome irrational thinking and behavior, suggests there are six types of clients who seem to especially benefit from a psychological presence in a financial advisor’s approach. These are the clients who:

1) Suddenly acquired wealth. Since they did not earn the money, they are more likely to experience difficulty maintaining and growing their wealth.

2) Have high levels of financial stress. They express anxiety, worry and fear about some aspect of their wealth.

3) Faced marital or family problems. Money often becomes the focus of arguments, power struggles and conflict.

4) Experienced previous financial setbacks. They may be blind to the fact they are sabotaging their financial future.

5) Are poor risk-takers. They are either too conservative or too impulsive. The more conservative risk-taker fails to invest and make financial decisions in a timely enough manner to profit from the risk. The impulsive risk taker simply overreacts and makes dangerous and often damaging choices to their financial success.

6) Are eager and motivated to make personal and professional growth. This is the client you want to have in your book of business. They possess what Gottfurcht calls “prosperity thinking, not poverty thinking.”

Read more in the 2006 Annual Meeting Focus Session, “The Psychology of Money,” presented by Katrina Bright Cochran, Ph.D., a licensed psychologist. (MDRT members only)

For more ideas, watch

• “Science of investing” with Top of the Table qualifier Guy E. Baker, MSFS, CFP
• “Scarcity or abundance mentality” with financial advisor coaches Bill Bachrach and Bill Cates, CSP, CPAE
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