Wealth Versus Income: The Psychological and Behavioral Differences

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 …
Budgeting. Investing. Spending. Each of us reacts to money-related topics on a scale from negative to neutral to positive. Money attitudes are not perfect predictors of financial behaviors. However, how we feel about budgeting, spending, and investing can and does impact our financial goals. Indeed, our attitudes can affect the entire financial planning process, especially when working with others who may not share our perspectives. What Are Attitudes? Let’s start with the basics. What …
Sometime around 2000, I gambled some of my money away while fooling myself into thinking I was doing something very sophisticated. I wasn’t in Las Vegas: I was sitting at my computer buying shares of Krispy Kreme Donuts on eTrade. I had seen the front page of Forbes or Fortune or some other publication touting the company’s success and its future prospects, and decided on my own, without seeking the counsel of my wiser …
The psychology of wealth accumulation is one of our key research areas here at DataPoints. Our research efforts began with a deep analysis of the findings from The Millionaire Next Door. This book demonstrated the habits and lifestyle of those who accumulate wealth on their own, and the key behaviors that allow individuals to transform income into wealth were confirmed in The Next Millionaire Next Door. This body of research, as well as research from other …
In the field of industrial-organizational psychology, we assume that organizations operate within complex environments and can shift and change depending on those environmental forces and by the individuals that work within those companies. In light of this foundational premise, it only makes sense to explore how a change in the way individuals view work, income, and retirement might impact the organizations with which they are involved. A New Approach to Careers? The growing financial …

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