Nigel Latta's Mind Over Money returns to ask the tough questions
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Nigel Latta is looking at how your personality affects your relationship with money for his new season of Mind Over Money.
Can money buy happiness? Are there downsides to frugality? Is it your parents' fault if you're not good at managing your finances?
These are some of the big questions Nigel Latta asks in his new season of Mind Over Money.
Last season the documentary series looked at the psychology of money but the new episodes are based around the theory that individuals each have a distinct 'money personality'.
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Nigel Latta says savers can learn from spenders.
It shows how the decisions we do, and don't, make can help or hinder our lifestyles, goals and personal relationships.
Latta says there are four money personalities – the power spender, the social sharer, the freedom seeker and the security saver.
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"There is a ton of research that shows that we're all born with a personality and a certain set of character traits and they change and develop over your lifespan but there is a stableness to who we are," says Latta. "So if you're a saver, you're kind of always going to be a saver. You can learn along the way to let go a little bit.
"Just like if you're a spender and you're a social sharer who always spends money on other people, to your detriment. It's that whole thing of generous to a fault.
"You can learn some strategies to address that but the first thing you need to understand is what you're doing and why you do it. But then you're more able to step back and go, 'OK, so these are the things I need to change'.
"We all want to know, so which one am I? When you do start to understand more about the money personalities you do go, 'Yeah, I think I'm kind of that but, in reality, I'm actually that.'
"We hope like the first (season), it will provoke people to have conversations with their partner and even internal conversations with themselves about who they are and why they do stuff."
Case studies discussed on the show highlight how people who each have their own money personality behave.
"People generally don't like talking about money but we have found people who were pretty open about that kind of stuff," says Latta.
"We met a lovely guy who spends a lot of money on Star Trek memorabilia and when we turned up to interview him he opened his door and he was already in his Star Trek costume with his Vulcan ears and stuff. He was really cool and super honest about stuff.
"We talked to a woman who was a power spender who didn't want to be on telly but she told us about how when she buys stuff at shops she takes the price tag off and she (almost) never gets the bag.
"But if she does get the bag she hides it in the wardrobe as soon as she gets home and a month after she bought it, she'll pull it out and her partner will go, 'Is that new?' and she says, 'No, I've had that for ages. What are you talking about?' "
Then there is the example of the man who ended up thousands of dollars in debt when his partner, who had access to his credit cards and bank account, spent more than he hoped.
"It does make the point that the money talk is something we need to have in relationships," says Latta.
"It really is important to have that conversation and have it pretty early because if you don't, everyone is going to be blundering along and reacting and that's when resentment and that kind of stuff can kick in whereas you can complement each other and it can work out really well. Savers and spenders actually can work quite well together because one teaches the other useful things.
"The spender teaches the saver about spending so you actually enjoy life and the saver says yes, but it's good there is stuff in the bank."
Besides the case studies, Mind Over Money offers advice on how to improve your finances and change your behaviour for the better.
"We have an episode on investments because investment for some people feels like something only rich people do or it's something you need this specialist knowledge to do. And yet you kind of don't.
"So we talk to some people who demystify all that stuff and make it seem like it's stuff that not only normal people can but should do.
"Even if you've only got a couple of dollars a week that you can put into something, there are still things you can do."
Mind Over Money, TVNZ 1, starts Monday April 23.
TV Guide
Aphibarnrat hopes to rebound from tough season
Kiradech Aphibarnrat makes his 2020 calendar year PGA TOUR debut at this week’s Waste Management Phoenix Open with a sense of trepidation following a topsy-turvy 2018-19 season.
The Thai star enjoyed three top-5 finishes in the early portion of last season, but an untimely knee injury slowed him down as he finished 83rd on the FedExCup points list. He also failed to make the International Team for the Presidents Cup, which was a massive goal for him.
Aphibarnrat’s world ranking has now also dropped to 120th this week – he started 2019 in 37th – and with the Olympic Games looming this summer, the burly Thai knows he has a battle on his hands to qualify for Tokyo. He is currently the second highest-ranked Thai after Jazz Janewattananond.
Utmost on his mind, however, is to ensure he is in good physical shape to compete.
“I have to think my body is much better now, but it’s still not 100%,” Aphibarnrat said. “I’m looking for that one good week to bring my confidence back to normal. In the past few months, I’ve been working more in the gym and hopefully it’ll be better for me. I’ve been building the muscles around the knee and I think it’s going in the right direction.”
Aphibarnrat hopes his second full year in the U.S. will be more rewarding. He believes he is now more accustomed to the golf courses and requirements to excel against the world’s best players every week.
“I believe I can do better. I started well last year but I didn’t quite manage to play my best golf at all, which is partially due to my injury. I had a lot of missed cuts and I didn’t get used to some of the courses,” he said.
“My coach Mike (Walker) looks at my stats regularly, and it was obvious my iron play was not as sharp as what I’m used to. The chipping and short game were not good too and there are a lot of things to improve, which I have been working on.”
Aphibarnrat played one tournament during the fall portion of the 2019-20 season, finishing T8 at THE CJ CUP @ NINE BRIDGES in Korea. He knows he has some catching up to do, as he’s presently ranked 147th on the FedExCup points list.
“I think I’m a bit nervous,” he said. “I want to make my golf game more consistent and while I’ve played great golf over the last four to five years, I have struggled in the last six months. It doesn’t mean it’s the end of my career ... I just have to rebuild my game, regain my confidence and have trust again.”
Aphibarnrat suffered a partial tear in the anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) of his right knee during the Masters and subsequently played through the injury with several breaks in between tournaments.
In hindsight, he felt it wasn’t the wisest decision.
“I’ve not played with an injury before and it cost me a lot,” he said.
“It’s time to prove what I can do. The top-10 in Korea was a good start and everyone knows I will play in many tournaments. I just need to bring my A-game out and choose the courses to my advantage. In the first two to three months, I will play in as many events as I can. I also aim to play in the smaller events and try to find my first win on TOUR which can make things a lot easier.”
During the break, he has moved closer to the home of fellow Thai LPGA stars Ariya and Moriya Jutanugarn in Orlando, Florida, which he believes will benefit him and wife, Tunyatorn.
“I like it so far (in the U.S.),” he said. “We’ve moved to the same compound as Ariya and Moriya and it feels more like home now. I wanted to be able to walk over to their house as they are like my sisters.”
He will make his third appearance at the Waste Management Phoenix Open, where he finished T67 in his debut in 2014 and T33 last year.
Here's how much you'd need to save during your working years to retire with $2 million
Katie Brockman, The Motley Fool Published 1:30 p.m. ET Jan. 19, 2020
Cybersecurity experts share three tips for protecting your 401(k) and other accounts from online thieves. Wochit
Today's workers have a challenging task ahead of them in saving for retirement.
It's a rare employer that still offers a pension, and Social Security benefits are only designed to replace around 40% of your pre-retirement income. That means the majority of your income in retirement will need to come from your savings.
Retirement isn't cheap, though, and the average worker estimates retirement will cost around $1.7 million, a survey from Charles Schwab found.
That might sound like a crazy high number, but it may be fairly accurate depending on your situation.
If you spend $60,000 per year and live for 25 years in retirement, that's $1.5 million right there – not even accounting for inflation. And with healthcare and long-term care costs skyrocketing, you could spend tens or even hundreds of thousands of dollars on those costs alone.
With that in mind, say you wanted to build an especially sturdy nest egg worth $2 million. How much would you need to save right now to reach that goal?
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Age makes a major difference when saving for retirement
One of the most important factors when it comes to how much you need to save is your age. The more time you have left to save, the less you'll need to save each month to reach your goals.
This is why it's so crucial to start saving early. Thanks to compound interest, your money grows exponentially the longer it has to grow. So it should be no surprise that the sooner you start stashing cash in your retirement fund, the easier it will be to reach the $2 million mark.
For the sake of simplicity, let's assume you currently have no retirement savings and you're earning a modest 7% annual rate of return on your investments. Depending on the age you begin saving, here's how much you'd need to save each month to reach $2 million in savings by age 67:
It may be tough to stash away more than $500 per month at age 20, but it's downright impossible for the average person to save over $19,000 each month if they wait until their 60s to start saving for retirement. So even if you feel like you don't have much to save now, keep in mind that the longer you wait to start, the more challenging it will become to reach your goals.
Boosting your retirement savings when you don't have much cash to spare
If you're feeling discouraged by how much you need to save for retirement, remember that doing anything is better than doing nothing.
The majority of workers will not be able to save $2 million by retirement age, but that doesn't mean you're doomed to live your golden years in financial despair. What's most important is that you're saving something for the future.
If you're finding it challenging to round up any cash to save for retirement, take a hard look at your budget to see if there are any areas where you can cut back.
Start tracking your spending to get an idea of which categories of your budget you're spending the most in, then try to reduce your spending wherever you can. Sometimes it's tough to tell exactly where all your money is going each month, but once your expenses are laid out in front of you, it will be easier to see if there are areas where you're overspending without realizing it.
Once you have some extra cash to save, make sure you're investing it in the right places. More than half (53%) of Americans are putting at least a portion of their retirement savings in a savings account, according to a survey from Morning Consult, which is a mistake that's more harmful than it may seem.
Even the best savings accounts only have interest rates of 1% to 2% per year, which is hardly enough to keep up with inflation – meaning your money could actually lose value if you keep it in a savings account long-term.
Although the stock market has its ups and downs, you'll typically see long-term returns of around 6% to 10% per year – as long as you're properly diversifying your portfolio. So if you want to save a significant amount for retirement, you're much better off investing in the stock market than stashing your cash in a savings account. It may be intimidating, but it's the best way to help your money grow faster in a relatively short period of time.
Retirement can be incredibly expensive, and it may be daunting to try to save as much as you need. Most people may not be able to achieve $2 million in savings by retirement age, but it's still important to save as much as you can.
Every dollar counts, and the earlier you begin saving, the better off you'll be in retirement.
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The Motley Fool is a USA TODAY content partner offering financial news, analysis and commentary designed to help people take control of their financial lives. Its content is produced independently of USA TODAY.
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