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 …
Always Say No? Always Say Yes? Which Is It? Warren Buffet is cited for the wisdom that “the difference between successful people and really successful people is that really successful people say no to almost everything.” Over the years I’ve heard any number of snippets of advice from Mr. Buffet and I have to concede that I usually find myself nodding in agreement with his folksy, common-sense perspective. It’s hard to argue with his …
I recently had a conversation with my teenage daughter where we had reason to consider the financial situation of an elderly couple that are family friends. My daughter became aware that this family had an (undisclosed) amount of money to live on for the rest of their lives, and that was it. She made an off-hand remark that “they have that amount of money to live on, and that’s it? That would stink.” This …
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 …
If you have watched a fintech product demo that includes anything remotely related to financial psychology, you might hear the word “personality” thrown around a lot. For example, I heard one very confident salesperson recently refer to his platform as measuring “investor personality” when the tech was measuring the client’s current feelings about investing. Personality characteristics predict a wide range of future outcomes regarding human behavior. The Big Five (or OCEAN) model of personality has been …