One of the hallmarks of a millionaire-next-door client is that they use their resources wisely. The “frugality chapter” of The Millionaire Next Door highlighted how frugality was part of the millionaire journey of small business owners, c-level millionaires, and others. If you’re familiar with the books, many continued those practices even after they passed the $1 million mark. The Science of Frugality In general, the more frugal you are, the more likely you will …
Financial psychology is the study and application of psychological theories, methods, and practices to the areas of personal finance and financial services. The field takes into account two areas. First, financial psychology includes how each of us relates to and makes decisions about money. In other words, financial psychology includes what psychologists refer to as “individual differences” in money-related behaviors and decisions. Second, financial psychology covers the client-advisor relationship, that is, the application of psychology …
Much of the power and allure of social media for small and mid-size businesses is its simultaneously attractive qualities of cost (i.e., free without using ad features) and power in the opportunity to grab the attention of customers and fans. At DataPoints, for example, we typically use social media to share insights regarding the topics of psychology and wealth, our product updates or releases, and interesting research results. There are professional benefits, too, outside …
As we approach Thanksgiving in the United States, the bustle of life may seem to be slowing. That calm, however, is underscored by the advertising and enticements of retailers hoping to move into the black side of the ledger for the year on the day after the holiday of gratitude. Otherwise known as Black Friday. Indeed so many of us will go shopping on that day that it will almost appear that everyone is …
Our data consistently tells us that in the arena of personal-finance outcomes, behaviors matter. They matter a lot. So we thought it was time to try and quantify—from a dollars and net-worth perspective—exactly how much is “a lot.” We’ll consider savings rate as a critical behavior. We have talked here before about the difference in savings rates between “high-potential” and “low-potential” individuals, as measured by scores on the DataPoints Building Wealth assessment. As a quick …