Changing the way you think about money is at the center of what we do at QuadReal Investment Group. It is truly amazing how misunderstood is the concept of money and how to acquire it and how to use it to make more money. Money usually comes freighted with emotion. Ever splurge on a gift? Fret over a household bill? Feel good about handing some down and out soul a dollar? Even with long-term efforts that we’d like to think are levelheaded – like paying for a home or saving for retirement – our fears and dreams shape our behavior. Everyone has a financial personality. This is something it takes a long time for an individual to learn and define.

Over the last 13 years of doing this business, I have spoken to and advised hundreds of people - some successful, some struggling – on how to resolve their money problems. Not always has it been advice on real estate investing. Often times it has been advice on simply changing the way they look at money. For years I have been surprised at how many people just nodded their head, appearing to understand and accept, or who came back time and again asking the same question(s) they had asked me before.

At first I tried to provide more clarity and detail about, say, payment schedules to control debt or asset allocation when diversifying their investments. But eventually I realize that the practical matter I was addressing with such optimistic fervor  – “What do I do now?” – wasn’t the heart of the problem. To understand what was really going on, I had to supply the unspoken part of the question: …given how I feel about money.”

The more closely I listened, the more clearly I heard other emotional subtexts too. Things like:
“I’m so afraid I’ll end up on the street. I can’t do anything. I have no skills and I have no savings.”
“I just know if I give the stock market one more chance I’ll hit the jack pot and have everything I ever wanted.”
“I’m comfortable…but I don’t dare wish for more.”
“I don’t know a thing about managing money and whenever I try, I feel like a moron.”

As I listened with new ears, the real challenge became obvious to me. Money management may be outwardly rational. It’s about income and outgo, budgeting and saving, insuring against disaster and investing in the future. But inwardly, it’s utterly emotional. Your decisions are influenced by attitudes about money you acquired growing up and the experiences since then that have made you more cautious or more confident.

In short, what money means to us is always bubbling just under the surface. It shapes our day to day spending, our appetites for risk and whether we can stand to think about money matters at all. It reflects the emotions we have attached to money – for good or ill – that equate having enough with being respected or happy or even loved. Why do these people repeatedly ask the same questions? Because they keep reacting to money the same way – the only way that feels real.

If you have never established a cordial working relationship with money – if you find investing decisions too scary or can’t stick to a budget or are somehow always putting off saving - it’s time to take a long, gentle look at yourself. I say gentle because nobody’s perfect or anywhere near it. We all can learn to do better.

To help you out, I have identified six basic financial personalities – money types – from the hundreds of personal stories I have been told. I have dubbed these types Ostriches, Strivers, Debt Desperadoes, Squirrels, Coasters and High Rollers. I am detailing them below. As you read, you may recognize aspects of yourself in all of them, but in my experience, one or two will stand out.

When you find your type, you will be on your way to making more money, because simple self-awareness is half the battle. When you know who you are, you can acknowledge your weaknesses and set goals based on your strengths. Mastering your money type doesn’t mean becoming someone else. It means knowing which traits are fundamental to your personality, making peace with them, and then taking a few concrete steps to help yourself.

You are An Ostrich If…..
You are baffled, intimidated or embarrassed by money, or just too dreamy to tend to business. So you stick your head in the proverbial sand, feigning indifference. But this doesn’t mean your finances are down a hole. Found in every walk of life, Ostriches are stubborn survivors who like to think they have better things to do than mind their money.

Your Common Problem: They are late in starting to save. Shaken awake from their financial slumber, Ostriches need to play catch-up ball.

Your Challenge: Take that self-protective streak and turn it to productive use. Get over your embarrassment about what you don’t know and tackle one financial need at a time.

What to Do: Automated money management was made for the Ostrich. Pay bills on line or allow regular payments to be tapped from your checking account. Direct deposit your paycheck and send as much as you can straight into savings, an Ira or 401(k) plan. If the choices among mutual funds are daunting, buy all-in-one funds that diversify your holdings for you.

Words to Live By: If you believe you can’t, you are right! Believe you can.

You Are A Striver If…
You are a status seeker. For you, life is about acquiring stuff and showing it off. You may have the energy and drive to succeed, but you’re prone to overspend, and that can get you into debt and interpersonal clashes.

Your Common Problem: Bad cash flow. You’re not broke but you are living off your future by running up credit card debt and neglecting to save or invest.

Your Challenge: Harness your considerable will and put it toward matching income and expenses.

What To Do: Pick the luxuries that mean the most to you and let the rest go. Begin by figuring what you really spent in the last year. Be sure to include all the biggies – insurance, tuition, repairs, adult toys, gifts. Then start cutting. Once you live within your means, set a short term savings goal and make sure you meet it.

Words To Live By:  Self worth is the gift you give yourself. You are not your possessions.

You Are A Debt Desperado If…
You are a spending addict who is in denial about your spending habits, or you are a desperado of circumstance, overwhelmed by medical costs or other personal catastrophe. Either way you are not used to admitting that you need help…and quick.

Your Common Problem: The slippery slope. Little by little you fall further behind by opening new loans to pay off old debts coming due.

Your Challenge: Holding onto your ability to take a punch and keep going. It may have put you in trouble before as the setbacks mounted; now, it will help you get out of debt – and let’s hope bankruptcy.

What To Do: First, don’t ignore your problems. Face your creditors and, no matter how hard they press you for full payment, put your own survival first. To work out a repayment schedule with lower interest rates, get professional help from a credit consulting firm that you have checked out for credentials and legitimacy. One national service that we recommend is Debt Relief solutions (800-433-2843; www.debtreliefsolutions.com)

Words To Live By: The past is the past. You cannot change it, and it isn’t coming back.

You Are A Squirrel If…
Saving is what you do, clipping coupons and pitching pennies to keep your spending in line with income. Bravo for that! But many squirrels learned these habits during past adversity, and when your lingering fear of losing everything takes hold, you can turn into a miser who lives way below your means. Fear also keeps you in the least risky and least rewarding investments. It will definitely keep you of real estate. You’re only cheating yourself.

Your Common Problem: Like people, money that sits doesn’t age well. Inflation steals value. Savings accounts and mattresses don’t offer the best returns.

Your Challenge:  Don’t keep reliving your fears. Temper your instincts and see that money isn’t by nature a source of pain.

What To Do: While you are the most patient of the money-types, you are missing out on superior gains that have been the rule for patient long-term investors in mutual funds. Remember the saying: no risk, no return. Diversification is all about moderating risk without sacrificing return by spreading holdings among different investments. Stocks that pay dividends (like blue chip and utilities), immediate annuities and short-term bond funds are low risk investments that can do more for you than most bank accounts. Moderate risks worth your consideration include stock-and-bond mutual funds, portfolio and quick-turn real estate and corporate bonds rated above junk. The more you have to invest, the more open you should be to a range of risk.

Words To Live By: A penny saved isn’t much. Live a little, you owe it to yourself.

You Are A Coaster If…
You are focused on stability and – congratulations! – you’ve achieved it. You are likely to have decent insurance coverage and some retirement savings. But you are complacent about working out what you’ll really need in later years, and that could cost you in dollars and dreams.

Your Common Problem: You are over-invested in your current comfort – and maybe a little scared of admitting you still have unfulfilled ambitions.

Your Challenge: Use your firm foundation to launch yourself toward a higher goal.

What To Do: It is time to crunch some numbers and project exactly how much you will need and when you will need it to ensure a comfortable retirement. Do you have disability insurance? Can you afford long-term care? Once you know how you are doing, factor in your ambitions. Review your portfolio, and see if you get a better return by holding investments with a wider range of risk. A financial planner may be of great value to you at this juncture.

Words To Live By: Time to dream big. Your savings can get you there.

You Are A High Roller…
It’s the gambler’s life for you. But casinos are not your only hangouts. Your biggest thrills come from investing yourself in an outcome, which is why entrepreneurs often belong under this heading. You tend to think you are smarter, faster, shrewder – and invincible. Staking everything on yourself, you are in it to win.

Your Common Problem: Money and heated emotions seem to go together for you. You have got something to prove to yourself – over and over – and you tend to underestimate the potential for bad results.

The Challenge: To be bold – yet no older than you need to be. Laying it all on the line every time is a sure-fire loser of a strategy. You need to get out of overdrive.

What To Do: Establish a safety net so you can pursue your high-wire act and live to play another day. Set goals for any investment, deciding in advance on a definition for success, i.e., when to take your profit. Entrepreneurs: bring in a business manager, and use other people’s money. It’s a great reality check. For some of you, joining Gambler’s Anonymous can help!

Words To Live By: I fought the odds and the odds won.

So there you have the six money type personalities. Where do you find yourself?

When it comes to money, we all want the same thing: Enough. But according to new studies from Boston College, the retirement safety net for Americans is sagging, leaving it to individuals to make up the difference. A record 43% of us cannot expect to retire at 65 and maintain our living standards. The younger you are, the less likely you are to be on track financially.