12 August, 2021

Money management personalities revealed

When it comes to paying off a mortgage faster, it might be easy to categorise home-owners into those who overpay every month, and those who sit tight and are comfortable with what they're currently paying and how it fits into the jigsaw of their existing bills.

But, new research* from mortgage-payment app Sprive.com, which enables users to chip away at their mortgage each month, has found that there are in fact four distinct groups of money management personality groups who spend, save and overpay; the planner, the saver, the unaware and the indifferent. 

Jinesh Vohra, CEO of Sprive.com, comments: “Identifying your money management personality can help you to understand yourself better and can also help you to make smarter financial decisions and perhaps even improve your mortgage payments too – no matter what stage of life you are at or what your attitude towards money is.”Clinical psychotherapist Stephanie Regan says: “Many clients wonder why they get into trouble over-spending even when they have the knowledge and know that they do not have funds available.

“Much of our behaviour is dictated by our unconscious desires and what we have learned in our early childhood, so if parents were savers and managed to pay off their mortgage early, there's a good chance the child will want to emulate that too. “The knowledge-behaviour gap can damage financial health and leave many people feeling discouraged and hopeless as the situation repeats itself over and over again.

“To be financially successful, we not only need to develop a habit of saving, we need to become hoarders of money, and that takes practice because as humans, we're not wired to be that way.  “Certainly, financial security is not achieved by just saving some money for tomorrow, next week or next month. It requires us to plan and create a hoard of money in different ways so that wealth can grow for years to come.” 

The Four money management types, by Sprive 

The Planner: You want to pay off your mortgage within a certain timeframe and to pay your lender the least amount of interest possible. You're committed, and goal driven and like to track your progress daily and tick off milestones along the way. You're driven and won't be off-railed until you have reached your goal.

The Saver: You would love to be mortgage free, but can't do it right now and so are busy getting your finances in order so you can pay it off in large chunks later in life. Your probably mid-way through life with children in their teens. You have more time and a little more disposable income.

The Unaware: You want to save money and become mortgage free, faster, but don't know how to go about making it happen. You have no time to research and it's at the bottom of your list of things to do.

The Indifferent: You're not interested in your mortgage and are quite happy to spend the rest of their life paying it off. You're comfortable with that decision and aren't interested in others financial motivations.

Jinesh concludes: “Mindset very much dictates how people feel about money, and how it is spent. We want people to view Sprive as a pathway to achieve smart mortgage freedom goals and in the process help those who want to help themselves.”

*Research undertaken via LinkedIn poll: 2200 respondents