Olivia Mellan told our gathering at the Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City (October 21, 2010) that we can take steps to gain harmony with our money. First, determine our money personality types, one of the five she describes as hoarders, spenders, money monks, avoiders and amassers.
I think it’s safe to say in our relationship, I’m the hoarder and my spouse is the spender. Olivia says opposite money personality types in couples are a frequent occurrence.
Our past history with money – while growing up in particular – has a lot to do with how we handle money as adults. The good news is that Olivia believes that we can make positive changes in our individual and joint (couples) behaviors in regard to money through exercises, dialogues, and other communication techniques.