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Spanish
Speakers |
Financial Educators
and Counselors |
Financial Planners
and Advisors |
Counselors, Coaches,
and Therapists
Marriage and
Premarital Educators |
Individuals,
Couples, and Parents |
Teachers and Youth
Leaders |
Business Consultants |
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Our Story |
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The idea for the development of Money Habitudes
started when people unexpectedly began sharing their stories and secrets
about money. They ranged from wealthy executives to single parents
living on a shoestring. Many were very financially savvy and were saving
and investing for the future, including some people living on minimal
incomes. Unfortunately, more often seemingly rational, intelligent men
and women would confide in me about their irrational behavior related to
money. Even though they knew better, they would continue to make poor
money choices or never followed through when they had a plan.
Why would people do this? And why would they suffer shame or guilt, get
angry with themselves or accumulate unmanageable debt when they knew
they had other options and could have made better choices? I was
intrigued and decided to research the financial and psychological
literature to see if there were answers. In fact, there is a new science
of behavioral economics which studies the patterns of thinking and
decision making as it relates to irrational financial behavior. In their
book Why Smart People Make Big Money Mistakes and How to Correct Them,
Dr. Thomas Gilovich of Cornell University and Gary Belsky state, "…in
the main, we are blissfully ignorant of the causes of most of our
monetary missteps and clueless as to how we might correct them."
Examples of recurring themes related to problematic money behavior that
surfaced in my workshops and were repeated in the literature are:
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Having little or no communication about how money decisions are made.
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Keeping debt, gifts, spending, earnings and investments a secret from a spouse.
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Knowing there is a need to save and invest for the future but not doing it.
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Ignoring their financial reality to live a more expensive lifestyle.
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Living frugally but going into debt for a wedding.
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Giving generously with no thought about the personal consequences.
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Having no interest in managing their money and being totally clueless about their finances.
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Making risky investments or totally avoiding all financial risk.
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Given the above, I became determined to find a way to help people break
the taboo of not talking about money and to get them thinking openly and
honestly about their relationship with money. My solution needed to be
interactive, quick and fun. It had to be non-threatening, non-judgmental
and, of course, effective.
After extensive research, Money Habitudes cards were developed as a
familiar game-like activity associated with a positive social
experience. The categories, statements and interpretations were based on
the most common themes found in financial and psychological research and
popular publications. After being tested on multiple focus groups, the
revised cards were reviewed by professionals around the country
including consumer educators, financial planners, accountants,
psychologists, counselors, personal and professional coaches, military
personnel, career counselors, human resource professionals and leaders
of financial associations and community programs.
Since becoming available, Money Habitudes cards have been used
successfully with individuals, couples and groups with varied audiences
in different settings including investment seminars, financial literacy
programs, pre-marital classes and couple’s programs, career counseling,
community and faith based classes on communication, money management and
self-development and counseling settings. The cards are being used by
individuals and groups throughout the world. They're currently
distributed in Australia and are used by individuals in many countries
besides the United States, including Canada, Thailand, and throughout
Europe. In fact, in response to many requests, the original Money
Habitudes has been translated into Spanish and a new edition was
published for teenagers.
Click here to browse the current selection of Money Habitudes cards and
guides.
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