Does Personality Matter When It Comes To Finances?

I’ve written before that I’m an introvert. My personality has controlled my social life for as long as I can remember. I’ve always preferred spending time alone to spending it with others. But I’m convinced my personality has affected many aspects of my financial life as well. 

Some HumbleDollar readers might be familiar with the Myers-Briggs personality test. Years ago I took the test. I am classified as an INFJ. When I read a summary of the traits typically exhibited by people with this personality type, I knew the test results were spot-on. 

One of my favorite quotes about INFJ personality types reads, “With their rich inner lives and their deep, abiding desire to find their life purpose, they don’t always fit in with those around them.”

Bam! I couldn’t have described myself better if I had tried. 

So how do I think personality might drive financial decisions? For myself, my deeply introverted personality means I’ve never spent much money on social activities. Going out to eat, shop or attend a concert holds almost no appeal to me. Give me a few books, a laptop computer and a remote control and I’ll be happy for days…no, make that weeks. 

I’m a perfectionist. My attention-to-detail is so extreme I often consider it a fault. I’m goal-fixated, as long as the goal involves something I’m passionate about. 

From a financial standpoint, those qualities mean I’ve spent far too many hours of my life balancing checkbooks to the last penny. It means I fret about the balances of my retirement accounts far too often. And when it comes to spending money, I’m obsessively frugal unless it means buying something related to dogs. Then all bets are off. 

Do you think your personality drives some of the decisions you’ve made in your financial life?