Money As Emotional Currency

This book explores the trace of the emotional undercurrent stirred by money from its beginnings in childhood to its consolidation into adult life, through love and work, for individuals and society alike, and with an emphasis on ordinary development, rather than on pathology.

Every day, women face new challenges that come with having control over, and responsibility for, their financial lives. Sometimes exciting, sometimes frightening, these issues always have an emotional side. Author and psychotherapist Dr. Kate Levinson offers fresh approaches to navigating the astonishing range of beliefs about the role of money in our lives, coming to terms with our feelings about being “rich” or “poor,” and exploring our inner money life so that we can put our feelings to work for us in a positive way. By understanding our intimate history and relationship with money we are better able to handle our money anxieties, solve our money problems, enjoy the money we have, and make room for other, more meaningful values.

Every day, women face new challenges that come with having control over, and responsibility for, their financial lives. Sometimes exciting, sometimes frightening, these issues always have an emotional side. Author and psychotherapist Dr. Kate Levinson offers fresh approaches to navigating the astonishing range of beliefs about the role of money in our lives, coming to terms with our feelings about being “rich” or “poor,” and exploring our inner money life so that we can put our feelings to work for us in a positive way. By understanding our intimate history and relationship with money we are better able to handle our money anxieties, solve our money problems, enjoy the money we have, and make room for other, more meaningful values.

Doing well with money isn’t necessarily about what you know. It’s about how you behave. And behavior is hard to teach, even to really smart people. Money—investing, personal finance, and business decisions—is typically taught as a math-based field, where data and formulas tell us exactly what to do. But in the real world people don’t make financial decisions on a spreadsheet. They make them at the dinner table, or in a meeting room, where personal history, your own unique view of the world, ego, pride, marketing, and odd incentives are scrambled together. In The Psychology of Money, award-winning author Morgan Housel shares 19 short stories exploring the strange ways people think about money and teaches you how to make better sense of one of life’s most important topics.

"Christine Luken does a wonderful job taking complex financial topics and making them easy to understand. Reading Money is Emotional is like having a conversation with a knowledgeable friend." -Robert Pagliarini, CFP, EA, Author of The Sudden Wealth Solution _______________ If money is emotional, then why do we persist in trying to manage our personal finances logically? We already know what it takes to become financially healthy: spend less than we make, pay down our debt, and save more money. Money management books, tools, and techniques abound, yet most of us don't utilize them. Maybe you've adopted the practice of ignoring money problems until they are barreling down on you like a tidal wave, as I once did. I know what it feels like to be drowning financially. I'd like to propose a better alternative, one that doesn't require you to eat beans and rice or to spend hours updating budget spreadsheets. My approach to personal finance is called "Mindful Money Management." It is unique in that it harnesses the power of your emotions, so they can propel you forward like a rocket booster towards your Preferred Financial Destination. Yes, money is emotional, but you can prevent your heart from hijacking your wallet. Let me show you how.

Having a good relationship with money is tough—whether you have millions in the bank or just a few bucks to your name. Why? Because just like any other relationship, your life with money has its ups and downs, its twists and turns, its breakups and makeups. And just like other relationships, living happily with money really comes down to love—which is why love is the basis of money maven Kate Northrup’s book. After taking the Money Love Quiz to see where on the spectrum your relationship with money stands—somewhere between "on the outs" and "it’s true love!"—Northrup takes you on a rollicking ride to a better understanding of yourself and your money. Step-by-step exercises that address both the emotional and practical aspects of your financial life help you figure out your personal perceptions of money and wealth and how to change them for the better. You’ll learn about thought patterns that may be holding you back from earning what you’re worth or saving what you can. You’ll learn how to chart your current financial life and create a plan to get you to where you want to be—whether that’s earning enough to live in a penthouse in Manhattan or a cabin in the Rockies. Using client stories and her own saga of moving from $20,000 of debt to complete financial freedom by the age of 28, Northrup acts as a guide in your quest for personal financial freedom. She’ll teach you how to shift your beliefs about money, create a budget, spend in line with your values, get out of debt, and so much more. In short, she’ll teach you to love your money, so you can love your life.

Drawing on the latest scientific research, Jason Zweig shows what happens in your brain when you think about money and tells investors how to take practical, simple steps to avoid common mistakes and become more successful. What happens inside our brains when we think about money? Quite a lot, actually, and some of it isn’t good for our financial health. In Your Money and Your Brain, Jason Zweig explains why smart people make stupid financial decisions—and what they can do to avoid these mistakes. Zweig, a veteran financial journalist, draws on the latest research in neuroeconomics, a fascinating new discipline that combines psychology, neuroscience, and economics to better understand financial decision making. He shows why we often misunderstand risk and why we tend to be overconfident about our investment decisions. Your Money and Your Brain offers some radical new insights into investing and shows investors how to take control of the battlefield between reason and emotion. Your Money and Your Brain is as entertaining as it is enlightening. In the course of his research, Zweig visited leading neuroscience laboratories and subjected himself to numerous experiments. He blends anecdotes from these experiences with stories about investing mistakes, including confessions of stupidity from some highly successful people. Then he draws lessons and offers original practical steps that investors can take to make wiser decisions. Anyone who has ever looked back on a financial decision and said, “How could I have been so stupid?” will benefit from reading this book.

If we understood the true role of money in our lives, writes philosopher Jacob Needleman, we would not think simply in terms of spending it or saving it. Money exerts a deep emotional influence on who we are and what we tell ourselves we can never have. Our long unwillingness to understand the emotional and spiritual effects of money on us is at the heart of why we have come to know the price of everything, and the value of nothing. Money has everything to do with the pursuit of an idealistic life, while at the same time, it is at the root of our daily frustrations. On a social level, money has a profound impact on the price of progress. Needleman shows how money slowly began to haunt us, from the invention of coins in Biblical times (when money was created to rescue the community good, not for self gain), through its hypnotic appeal in our money-obsessed era. This is a remarkable book that combines myth and psychology, the poetry of the Sufis and the wisdom of King Solomon, along with Jacob Needleman's searching of his own soul and his culture to explain how money can become a unique means of self-knowledge. As part of the Currency paperback line, it includes a "User's Guide" an introduction and discussion guide created for the paperback by the author -- to help readers make practical use of the book's ideas.