Psychometrics: Measuring Unseen Client Characteristics Psychometrics is the science and practice associated with the measurement of human characteristics. These are often referred to as “unseen” individual characteristics, including cognitive ability, personality, and knowledge. Typically, psychometricians are borne out of applied psychological and educational fields. Psychometrics has been used for over a century in a variety of fields for decision-making, counseling and coaching, and self-assessment, including, but not limited to: Clinical psychology and psychiatry Educational …
Knowledge is power, and the basis of all knowledge is having the right data. Datapoints (or, data points, if you like) are the smallest form of data. Think of them like information atoms. Alone, they’re seemingly small and insignificant. But when you combine them, you can discover trends, uncover essential information, and better understand the world around you. These minuscule particles of information can be essential to learning about others and ourselves. Here’s what …
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 …
Individual personality traits can (and do) impact whether a client achieves financial goals. Behavioral assessments can help uncover client personality, values, attitudes, and beliefs. In turn, you can use this information to help provide the client with personalized guidance, education, coaching, or nudging to help them follow the financial plan and otherwise achieve goals. Below, we will discuss best practices in implementing behavioral assessments in a financial planning client workflow. Let’s start with a …
Financial planners and coaches use the KMSI-R (Klontz Money Scripts Inventory-Revised) test to assess client money beliefs. Why? There is a continued and increased focus on financial psychology in the financial services world. The CFP Board has recently updated its knowledge topics to include the psychology of financial planning, covering everything from client attitudes to critical life experiences that could shape a financial plan. Financial planners recognize that money personality is a key component impacting …

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