The Psychology of Money - An Investment Manager\'s Guide to Beating the Market

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Temperament and Client Service

I don’t know what your destiny will be, but one thing I know:
the only ones among you who will be really happy are those who
will have sought and found how to serve.
—Albert Schweitzer

Although the primary purpose of this book is to help investors in
their thinking and decision making, the framework of personality
styles is especially powerful in client relationships. If you’ve worked
your way to this point, you have a pretty good understanding of
personality types. Therefore, it would be a shame not to show how
these tools can be used to serve clients in the financial field. Read-
ers who don’t act in this capacity may want to skip this chapter,
but first consider that these tools are equally important in discus-
sions with spouses, significant others, relatives, friends, and chil-
dren. Money is one of touchiest subjects in our personal lives and
the following material is designed to make the conversation
smoother.
For starters, have your clients (or family members) take the
MBTI. I realize that you may get resistance to this. You may hear
something like, “I’m not crazy, I don’t need a personality test.” In

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