How to Improve Your Financial Literacy by Knowing Your Money Mindset

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I have a real treat for you today!

I interviewed my friend and fellow blogger Lisa Bennett and she graciously agreed to share her knowledge and expertise with us. How cool is that!?

First, let me introduce Lisa.

Lisa grew up in a family that didn’t talk about money. Like, at all. 

She watched her mom balance the check book and write their budget out on the back of envelopes. Lisa marveled at how her mom made the magic happen and kept her family of 4 kiddos afloat.

In her early 20s, Lisa finally started building her foundation for financial literacy from two neighbors. It has made a profound impact in her financial life, and she believes that learning financial literacy at a young age can change your life.

So, Lisa kept learning and built courses and workshops to help people of all ages understand their own money mindset. Now that she has those courses and workshops, she can help you improve your financial literacy too.

Lisa believes in a few cornerstones to mastering your finances and reaching your financial goals. These are in no particular order.

• learn your money mindset, or what you believe about money
• improve your financial literacy, 
• If you feel stuck about your future with money, hire a coach (if possible), talk about it with family members or friends; and *definitely* have regular talks about it with a life partner.

Lisa wants to help people (like you and me) figure out how to be smart with money and understand how our own attitudes, upbringing, and mindset affect our financial life and stability. 

How Can Lisa Help You Improve Your Financial Literacy?

She offers free workshops, sells great products and courses, and writes great content on her blog to help people of any generation become financially savvy. You can find more of Lisa’s products and writing at Workforce Millionaire.

Lisa has spent her life in education, working with young children and adults over 30 years. 

Quick side note: One thing I love about Lisa is her giving heart. She’s poured her life into teaching kids and adults, and now uses the proceeds from her blog, courses, and speaking gigs to give back. 

30% of all proceeds go to her favorite non-profit “Now is the Time”. You can find more information about it here. 

Okay. Now that I’ve chatted your ear off about Lisa, let’s dive into this interview.

Lisa works a lot with people helping them understand their own feelings, attitudes, and mindset toward money. She believes, and I agree with her, that what you think about money matters.

Not only does it matter, but knowing what you think about money can help you manage it better and improve your finances. Knowing your money mindset can change your life. It’s that simple.

In my interview with Lisa I ask her a lot about money mindset and how it affects your finances. She refers to your money mindset as your money archetype. I’ll use them interchangeably throughout the interview, so just remember money archetype = money mindset. 

Here we go.

First off Lisa, how did you get involved in helping people improve their financial literacy?

The top 2 things Americans don’t like to talk about: sex and money. I realized in September 2017 that money was a subject I could get comfortable talking about, and I am an award-winning speaker with over 15 years of training in my history. 

I began creating programs and workshops around financial literacy in early 2018, after I realized that my money savvy expertise is valuable for MOST people, and I would enjoy coaching them.

What do you love about helping people learn financial literacy?

I love to become very present with clients and listen to them deeply to help them understand how they can move into a different future.

What’s one thing you think holds people back from being better with money?

Fear holds people back. 

Generally, fear is our greatest enemy. 

We actually fear a lot when it comes to money.

• fear of doing anything risky with money, 
• fear of having to change the way you’re doing something and start a new habit, 
• fear that your self-image will be challenged, 
• fear that someone will ask the questions that will make you get real about your money habits and do some serious life transformations. 

The thing is, as with all coaching, the results are in your hands. You can embrace change and step through the door into something new, or stay where you are. 

Coaches are there to coach you forward, but all of the movement is up to you. The power to improve your financial literacy is in reach.

You talk a lot about money mindset on your website, and money archetypes. What is a money archetype?

An archetype is a typical example of a certain person or thing. A money archetype is a typical example of how someone feels with, thinks about, and works with money. There are several different money archetypes (based on Brent Kessel’s book).

How does knowing your money archetype help you manage your money better?

That’s a great question. Knowing your archetype holds a mirror to your strengths and weaknesses with money. Your money mindset allows you to “do the work” that will set you free from any limiting beliefs that are part of your archetype. 

For instance, Irene (Innocent money archetype) may have an internal dialogue that says, “I’ve never been good with money”. The truth is she might not have been taught about financial matters by her parents or her parents might’ve been bad at managing their money. 

As a result, Irene believes she’s bad at managing money. 

So, understanding her archetype will help Irene do a few things. She can

• Utilize her strengths, 
• Do exercises to free her from untrue money beliefs, 
• Get a coach to help set her on her best financial track 

All of these strategies can help her for the rest of her life. And it all comes from knowing her money mindset.

In this case, Irene the Innocent can learn enough about money that makes her feel comfortable to set her finances up so that she has to handle and look at money as little as possible (think auto pay and auto deposits).

Once she does that, Irene can focus on her strength as a healer or artist (very common with this archetype).

Now Irene has her finances in order, and she doesn’t need to feel stressed about being “bad with money” because she has a plan that fits with her money mindset.

What advice do you have for people once they find out their money archetype?

First, to discover your archetype, you’re welcome to download the free money archetype quiz on my website. I’m also available for free 45-minute Money Discovery sessions to talk about your current feelings and situation with money.

Secondly, I recommend that you have a strong friend or partner who has different money mindset than you. This friend can help balance you out. 

For instance, I’m naturally a Saver. I need Denise, who is an Idealist, to help me see the possibilities with my money that can help the greater good. 

I also need an Empire Builder in my life (such as my business mentor, Ed) to help me get past my feeling of needing to save and into a feeling of possibility that I could grow the money into something even larger by investing.

Why do you think it’s so important for people to know their money archetype?

There are many, many reasons why it’s important to know your money mindset. It helps you know yourself, see your strengths, and eliminate the ways in which you’re hindering yourself.

For example:

• You may be blocked from a comfortable financial future by your limiting beliefs about money (Guardian); 
• You may not see the possibilities of joy in your life by *using* your money (Saver). 
• your archetype may allow you to ignore important financial details that can get you into hot water (Innocent). 
• You may be sacrificing your future for someone else (Caretaker). 
• You may be dedicating your life energy to work while whittling away at your own health (Empire Builder). 

Once you know your money mindset, you can get out of your own way and use your money to your advantage.

I’m a big fan of budgeting, Lisa. Does knowing your money archetype make budgeting easier? 

Again, knowing and embracing your money archetype will be like discovering you have a superpower (I can save money) while also having a weakness, your Kryptonite (hard to spend large sums to grow it into something greater). 

For some, budgeting isn’t hard and can even be fun. 

For people whose archetypes prefer not to think about money, a high-level budget with auto deposits, automatic savings and auto payments may be the best. 

Other people who *like* to handle money and numbers, a budget can be like a game, where they post their successes (I see a lot of this in the Twitter financial community) and reward themselves for every goal reached.

What’s the best thing about knowing my own personal money archetype?

Jamie, I know you’re married and have a young family. One of the best things you can do for yourself as a *benchmark* is to talk about, understand and document your archetype AND your wife’s archetype, align on your strengths, and help each other to uncover and work out your weaknesses. 

Twenty years ago I married a man who told me nothing about his financial situation. I loved him and trusted him and never even thought of running a credit check on him. 

A year later I discovered he was bankrupt, and held a tremendous amount of shame around money. 

It wasn’t the end of the world, but we had to manage our money in a way that I felt comfortable with, and where he was getting himself out of debt. 

The answer for us was that we both hired the same financial advisor. I needed to manage the monthly finances, and we both also held personal accounts. 

But the answer is different for different couples.

And again, I’m here to coach people about their comfortable financial futures. 

I *always* talk about money archetypes with my clients, because it influences everything you’ve ever done with money. 

I have one more question for you Lisa. How can people get in touch with you and find out their own money archetype?

I have open slots in my calendar every month for free 45-minute personal coaching sessions. Send an email to my Assistant at [email protected] if you would like to set up a free Money Discovery session.

That’s it! I had a blast interviewing Lisa and hearing her thoughts to improve your financial literacy. She’s a great resource and I hope you enjoyed learning from her. 

Leave a Comment for Lisa!

What questions do you have for Lisa about money mindsets or just about money in general? 

Our budget and goals changed our lives and it can change yours too.