With the year almost in the rearview mirror, I wanted to share with you what you can expect from DataPoints in the new year. Our team is focused on providing our advisor clients tools to uncover client money mindset, personalize advice and guidance, and apply the psychology of financial planning. Focus: Identifying Client Money Mindset If you’re a small business owner like us, you know it is tempting to be all things to everyone. …
Explore Gratitude Our financial psychology is shaped by life events. Exploring past experiences can help us understand how we react and feel today.  Use the questions below to explore the way you feel and express gratitude. Think about a time you felt an overwhelming amount of gratefulness. What were you grateful for, and how did that experience shape how you express gratitude today?   In what areas of your life do you find it easy to …
A personality test can efficiently measure a client’s money-related attitudes, values, and other characteristics. While not a perfect science, a well-developed test can accurately assess a client’s personality without some downsides of in-person interviews, which can take time and be impacted by interviewers’ biases or lack of structure.  But like any assessment, personality tests are prone to some errors. These errors could include how clients respond to a test based on wanting to look …
In a survey research project designed to understand client reactions, we examined behaviors, satisfaction, and preferences among clients of a growing firm in the Southeast. Clients were overwhelmingly satisfied with the firm’s service and advice, and the majority (92%) would recommend the firm to others. In addition to the survey (Likert) statements and other quantitative-type survey questions, we also asked clients a few open-ended questions. Combining qualitative and quantitative data provides a richness that …
Let’s Agree to Disagree Agreeableness is a personality trait that is often overlooked or misunderstood when managing our financial lives. The field of personality psychology generally recognizes five primary personality traits that are understood to form the basic foundation of individual personality (often referred to as “the Big Five” or “OCEAN model”). These include openness to experience, extroversion, conscientiousness, neuroticism, and agreeableness. Here we take a closer look at the last trait, agreeableness. We …

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