Do you wonder why you use money the way you do?

The 8 Money Archetypes: Guides in our financial journey

Money can feel like a family member. We cannot stop having this long-term relationship with it as it is a fundamental part of our lives. How we relate to people is very much based on how we learn to do the things we do. In many ways, this same principle applies to the ways we connect with money.

Our personalities are very unique, yet there are patterns that we can perceive in our behaviour that allow us to connect to others. We naturally present similar manners, values, interests, and customs- aspects we develop over the years while growing up. These lead us to the idea of Archetypes.

What do I mean by Archetypes?

In creative writing, Archetypes refer to an element that appears again and again in stories from cultures around the world and symbolize something universal in the human experience.

"The hero’s journey is inside of you; tear off the veils and open the mystery of your self." – Joseph Campbell

The concept of psychological archetypes was originally advanced by Carl Jung, the father of modern psychology. In Jung’s psychological framework, archetypes are innate, universal prototypes that are highly useful for interpreting observations or behaviours that are largely unconscious.

Our collective history shows us that the things we learn and feel that work for us over time, we repeat them and use them to connect to others, to relate. These things we do in a similar manner help us connect to other people and to ourselves, the same way to money matters.

After over 25 years of experience and extensive research in neuro-economics, psychology and finance, the Money Archetypes were developed by Deborah Price, founder of the Money Coaching Institute.

What are the Money Archetypes?

The Money Archetypes are used as wise guides in Money Coaching. They were designed to portray the essence of our behavioural and emotional patterns in the collective, to reveal unconscious beliefs to lay out a map for understanding the path that has been connected to our financial decision-making all our life.

These 8 money types can change depending on our experiences, learnings and decision-making. Our money archetypes are not our personality or "who we are." They are symbolic metaphors that help us to understand our patterns and behaviours. They show us "where we are" so that we can become aware of and change our unconscious behaviours.

Which of the 8 Money Archetypes below do you relate to?

Archetypes are powerful teachers and allies since they inform us where we need to grow. We usually see at least 2 archetypes in ourselves as predominant. They can also be transformed once we become aware of them, which serves us to make headway to a more fulfilling financial path. Since we have so many different sources of learning, we have unique combinations of these types, depending on the journey we have been on.

The Innocent

The Innocent takes the ostrich approach to money matters. Innocents often live in denial, burying their heads in the sand so they won’t have to see what is going on around them.

The Innocent is easily overwhelmed by financial information and relies heavily on the advice and opinions of others.

Innocents are perhaps the most trusting of all the money archetypes because they do not see people or situations for what they are. They are not unlike small children in the sense that they have not yet learned to judge or discern other’s motives or behaviour. While this trait can be very endearing, it is also precarious for an adult trying to cope in the real world.

We all start out our journey in life as innocents. However, as we grow and develop, the veil of innocence is lifted and replaced by our experience with the outer world.

The Victim

Victims are prone to living in the past and blaming their financial woes on ext