Do you have a profitable personality?

Most of us know someone who has a knack of making money. Whether we call it the Midas touch, or just good luck, making money comes easy for some people and almost impossible for others.

There is a personality type that makes winning investment decisions constantly, and tends to make money with ease. This person is the type to buy a brick-veneer “renovator’s delight” on the outskirts of town for a song, only to sell it two years later for a six-figure price tag. Or the type of person to buy gold before the bull run, a takeover target months before the market finds out and the share price spikes, or a vintage wine that suddenly becomes the flavour of the month.

Why is it that some people make the art of investing seem so easy?

It could be said that some people sport a profitable personality. These people gravitate towards money-making opportunities but more importantly stay clear of areas of the market or specific investments that will fail to deliver over the long haul.

Having a profitable personality is less to do with nature, nurture or education, but more to do with mindset. Profitable personalities have the clarity of mind to spot opportunities that others don’t.

Behavioural psychologists have noted that many people make lifestyle, budgeting or investment decisions without actually thinking about it. We act on habit, or instinct, which can often lead us astray. A good example, that’s close to home, is filling our car with petrol.

Many people in Australia spend time driving past petrol stations and comparing the range of petrol prices on offer. It’s not uncommon for the typical Australian to drive across town in order to save 3 or 5 cents a litre on a tank of petrol. The thinking goes something along the lines of “well, I’m saving money and that’s a good thing right.” But when you really think about it, on a 50 litre tank of petrol, we’re looking at a $1.50 or $2.50 saving on a 3 or 5 cents discount, not taking into consideration the extra petrol used during the hunt for petrol in the first place.

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