Elsevier

Dental Abstracts

Volume 62, Issue 2, March–April 2017, Pages 63-64
Dental Abstracts

The Front Office
Financial behavior and personality archetype

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.denabs.2016.12.007Get rights and content

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Background

Financial experts have been studying the relationships between personality type and financial behavior for years. The goal is to understand the strengths and weaknesses associated with each type so that the associated behaviors will be more predictable. Applying this research to dental professionals’ behaviors and financial decisions yields some interesting insights. Nine key archetypes were identified by Russ Alan Prince and Brett Van Bortel. These archetypes and their weaknesses and strengths

The Family Steward

Family stewards are focused on taking care of family as their primary concern. Their goals reflect obligations such as paying for college, owning a home where family can gather, and being able to leave some wealth to their offspring. They derive emotional satisfaction from bringing their children into dentistry and setting up a generous success plan, even at the cost of their own financial well-being. This generosity can compromise the quality of their own retirement and can undermine their

The Independent

The goal of the independent is to have the freedom and financial security to do whatever he or she desires. These individuals dream of enjoying hobbies, travelling, and pursuing entrepreneurial ventures, but they tend to leave their financial planning up to others. Independents must be aware of their tendency to neglect practice responsibilities while chasing their dreams and purposefully allocate more time to practice building.

The Phobic

Phobics hate dealing with money and do not take personal responsibility for their finances. They tend to hire a manager based on their gut instinct and leave all that financial stuff to him or her. Rather than face difficult situations, they are likely to put off hard decisions, such as letting a team member go, hoping that things will just work out. Their emotions can derail their best decisions. They need to remove emotion from the equation dealing with finances and with who they hire to

The Anonymous

Those of the anonymous archetype are intensely private and do not want to disclose their financial positions to anyone. Rather than expose any financial information to others, they avoid seeking help with finances. Often they lack financial experience but choose to handle things themselves without anyone else’s feedback. This means they never obtain good advice from professionals in financial matters, which can limit their financial growth. They need to find someone who is trustworthy to help

The Mogul

Moguls seek power, wanting control and influence in their personal, professional, community, and financial dealings. They often have some financial knowledge and use it to flex their power and control. Moguls need to recognize their own limitations and admit that they lack expertise in some areas and should share control of some decisions. They need to learn to delegate.

The VIP

Status is the focus for VIPs. They want prestige and the respect of others. They are all about appearances and getting attention for having nice things. Their financial status is generally managed by using others’ advice and insight. This luxurious lifestyle can put their retirement savings at risk, so that they end up working beyond their ideal retirement date so they can maintain their appearances. VIPs need to watch their tendency to overspend and learn to make compromises so that they have

The Accumulator

Saving is the key work for accumulators. These persons save more than they spend and have a lifestyle far below their actual means. They do not approve of outward displays of wealth, but love to watch their money grow. The more they have, the better they feel. This hoarding of money is hard to stop even with retirement and they often die with more money than they could have ever spent. Accumulators need to stop feeling guilty for spending on things that make their life more enjoyable. They

The Gambler

Gamblers are motivated by the excitement and drama associated with investing, which they see as their hobby or second job. They constantly review their portfolios and tend to be highly sensitive to financial performance highs and lows. They know about investing but don’t always make wise decisions. Their risk tolerance tends to be higher than usual. They can squander a great deal of money on bad deals. As a result, they need to learn to wait and build a stable portfolio of diversified and

The Innovator

Innovators may have picked up some financial knowledge along the way but they are supremely confident in their abilities to analyze complex financial issues and will defend their views vigorously. They prefer to be on the forefront of wealth management and are on the lookout for new products, new services, and complex analytical methods. Often they choose to dabble in side businesses. Innovators need to be aware that “complex” or “sophisticated” analytical methods for wealth management may not

Discussion

In 2010 the American Dental Association found that the average retirement age for dentists is 67—a full 5 years later than the average retirement age for others in the United States whose income is often decidedly less. This shows the power of having a successful financial plan in place. The correlation of archetype and financial behavior may help to guide dentists to make better choices.

Clinical Significance

Behavior may be much more important than knowledge when making financial decisions,

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Harper R: Character studies: Your financial tendencies likely depend on which of these nine archetypes fits you best. Dentaltown Aug 2016, pp 52, 54, 56-57

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