The Money Couple Minute:
Your Money Personality: The Risk Taker

Every person has a distinct way of thinking about and dealing with money.  And in a relationship, those distinctions can be the difference between being on the same page about financial issues and having money be a constant source of conflict.  After all isn’t there a money component to just about every decision we make as a couple?  That’s why when couples ask us how they can stop fighting about money, the first things we tell them is to figure out their Money Personalities.

Over the next few Money Couple Minutes, we’ll dig in to each of the five Money Personalities we identify in our book, First Comes Love, Then Comes Money: the Saver, the Spender, the Risk Taker, the Security Seeker, and the Flyer.  We have learned that each person has two of the five Money Personalities, a Primary and a Secondary.  So keep that in mind as you identify what you and your partner are.

As you learn more about your Money Personalities, you’ll gain invaluable insight into the ways you and your spouse handle finances and find ways to stop fighting and start working together.

This week, we focus on the Risk Taker.

For Risk Takers, the thrill of jumping into a financial challenge doesn’t just come from a huge payout on an investment, it comes from taking the risk in the first place.  Even if they never hit it big, Risk Takers never give up on following that rush they get from trying out a new idea, even if it cost them everything.  It’s just how they’re wired.  If you’re a Risk Taker you:

• Are a conceptual thinker.  Risk Takers aren’t worried about details.  They don’t get hung up on the how of an idea.  Instead, they get a bead on something - a business opportunity, an investment option, a real estate deal - and they move.  Fast.
• Get excited by possibility.  Risk Takers get more excited about the idea of something than the thing itself.  By the time the deal plays out and they’ve got their return, they’ve moved on to the next big idea.
• Love finding your next adventure.  For Risk Takers, no idea is too out there, no risk too big.  Their sense of adventure takes over and they want in.
• Listen to your gut.  More than conventional wisdom, more than financial experts, a Risk Taker trusts her intuition.  If a deal doesn’t feel right, she won’t do it.  But if something strikes her, she’s on it.
• Aren’t afraid to make decisions.  Risk Takers don’t ding around when it comes to money.  They make a decision and make it fast.  That can be a real plus when there are important financial decisions on the line.

There are also challenges to this Money Personality.  If you’re a Risk Taker, you need to be aware that you can be:

• Vulnerable.  Risk Takers are often the victims of cons.  The thrill of the deal and the desire for wealth can make for a toxic combination in the Risk Taker.  Because this kind of loss can be such a blow, the Risk Taker might try to hide the loss from his partner by making more high-risk deals, shifting money around, even gambling in an effort to recoup the lost money.
• Blinded by possibility.  When a Risk Taker gets a hold of an idea, reason has left the building.  And with it go concern for other people’s feelings, attention to details, and long-range planning.
• Easily resented.  Even if a Risk Taker is in a relationship with another Risk Taker, the quick decisions, the leveraging of assets, can end with two people who don’t like each other very much.  When a decision pays off, everyone’s happy, but all it takes is one bum deal to create a rift of resentment.
• Impatient.  The Risk Taker’s decisiveness can cause her to lose patience with people who don’t sign on to her big ideas as quickly as she’d like.  They make decisions without consulting the people those decisions impact most - their partners.
• Insensitive.  Risk Takers hate feeling hemmed in by other people, so rather than work for compromise, they charge ahead and deal with the relational fallout later.  And when the Risk Taker’s partner isn’t on board with the decision, there is always relational fallout.

A Risk Taker can be a great partner because she is always thinking about the future and finding ways to make it better financially.  The challenge for the Risk Taker is to keep her partner involved in financial decisions and be willing to say no to a deal.

Make It Happen!

Scott and Bethany Palmer
The Money Couple

Money Huddle Tip:  If one of you is a Risk Taker, take some time to talk about the impact this Money Personality has on your relationship.  What are the strengths the Risk Taker brings?  What are some of the challenges?

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