Loaded: Money, Psychology, and How to Get Ahead Without Leaving Your Values Behind - Hardcover

by Sarah Newcomb (Author)

"Research studies over the past few decades reveal an interesting paradox: Lack of money is linked to depression, relationship problems, lower performance on difficult tasks, and even shorter life expectancy, yet just thinking about money can lead to antisocial behavior and reduce compassion. It would appear that money creates a lose-lose scenario: If you don't have it, your performance suffers, your relationships suffer, and you may die sooner. But, if you have great wealth, you may be more likely to engage in victim blaming, and less likely to help others by choice. How do we solve this conflict? Do we have to choose between caring about people and caring about money? How do we create lives of great value, without compromising our own deep values? We do it by working with our psychology. By mindfully developing a healthy relationship with money and learning some simple new ways of thinking, we can avoid the psychological dangers that can accompany both poverty and wealth"--

Front Jacket

Does money represent luxury, security, and peace of mind, or stress, inequality, barriers, and greed? LOADED is written for anyone who struggles with their complex relationship with the so-called "root of all evil."

Rather than offering traditional financial advice, Sarah Newcomb (a Morningstar behavioral economist) digs deeper and approaches money management from a fresh angle. LOADED explains how our experiences with money have a psychological basis and can often run counter to our core values.

Our personal history has a profound influence on how we handle or mishandle money. In reality, however, money is a simple tool, a neutral resource that is full of possibilities. It can be used for good or for ill, and how we use it is entirely a matter of personal choice. Our relationship with money is almost never about the numbers. It is about the stories we tell ourselves because of those numbers. We all come to believe certain stories based on our upbringing and our experiences with money. This is where our relationship with money is rooted, and this is where sound money management begins.

Based on years of research and filled with illustrative stories, LOADED offers an important guide for identifying the harmful core beliefs about money and what can be done to challenge and overcome those negative beliefs. Once a clear understanding of an individual's beliefs about money is established, the human-centered approach to budgeting and money management can be put into action. This budgeting structure incorporates several principles from psychology that are missing or misaligned in traditional budgeting methods.

The fresh approach outlined in this book is a money management method rooted in psychology that offers a way of changing one's financial life by creating a plan for money that is both deeply satisfying and also sustainable over the long term. The author also includes a wealth of worksheets and personal money psychology assessments to aid in the LOADED process.

LOADED offers an approach for discovering and understanding your relationship with money that will lead to more peace and satisfaction in your financial life.

Back Jacket

Praise for LOADED

"LOADED is that rare resource which somehow captures both theoretical and practical wisdom about money, personality, and life. Your views - and actions - with money will be much improved after reading the wonderful advice in LOADED."
--James Grubman, PhD, author of Strangers in Paradise: How Families Adapt to Wealth Across Generations and co-author of Cross Cultures: How Global Families Negotiate Change Across Generations

YOUR MOST VALUABLE ASSET...IS YOU. LOADED WILL TEACH YOU HOW TO MAKE THE MOST OF IT.

Based on decades of research and years of hands-on experience with people from all walks of life, LOADED is a must-read for anyone who finds themselves caught between the desire to thrive financially and the complex emotions and conflicting priorities that money so often brings to our lives.

Inside, you will learn to:

• Check your stories. Pinpoint and change beliefs that hold you back.
• Choose your strategies. Learn how to align your money with your needs.
• Cultivate your value. Put your unique resources to use and earn more.

Deeply researched, yet written in an approachable, conversational tone, LOADED offers insight into how your personal experiences have shaped your financial attitudes, and how you can build a healthier relationship with money.

Author Biography

SARAH NEWCOMB, PhD, is a behavioral economist at Morningstar and HelloWallet (a personal financial wellness company owned by Morningstar). An interdisciplinary scholar, Sarah is well versed in consumer psychology, economic decision-making, personal money management, and cognitive and social psychology.