* Gallup conducted a worldwide survey of job satisfaction and found that 15% of people really love their job; 62% of people don't really care and are just trying to get through the day; and.... 23% of people actually just loathe their job. So eight out of 10 of us are far more interested in our time out of work than the time we spend at work. Maybe it's time we used our money personalities to make sure that that non-work time really counts. (CHILDREN GIGGLE) Thank you. In the season finale, we're going to meet a whole lot of people who know their money personality and have figured out how to use it to their advantage. There's Abhi, the Power Spender; Blair, the Security Saver; Rawaa, the Sociable Sharer; and the Rose family, a couple of Freedom Seekers. All of these people are making the most of their money personality and getting the most out of their life. (JAUNTY ELECTRONIC MUSIC) Copyright Able 2018 We have used scientific studies and our own research and discovered four key money personalities. The Power Spender ` who reacts to money in an emotional way and gets a dopamine hit from buying stuff. For the Security Saver, money can make them feel safe. They're more likely to have put something away for a rainy day. The Sociable Sharer uses money to have a good time with people. They're the kind of person you want as your best mate. And a Freedom Seeker sees money as a way to independence. For them, it's all about having new experiences. This has been a series about how we all value money for different reasons ` power, security, freedom and love. But no matter what your money personality is, it's important to remember that money isn't everything. We think the way to get someone to do a job is to throw money at them. We feel good because of the money, and so we keep working. But is that true? I've told Florence here that she can draw for five minutes and when she hears the bell,... (BELL RINGS) ...she can either stop or keep going ` her choice. The creative juices are flowing. All the kids are enjoying their free time with the crayons. (JAUNTY MUSIC) (BELL RINGS) Hey, Florence. (CHUCKLES) Nice picture. You know when you heard the little bell sound, did you want to stop or did you want to keep going? Oh. Why did you want to keep going? (GIGGLES) Because I like it. WHISPERS: Because you like it. (BELL RINGS) Hey, Nathan, I'm just curious ` did you hear the little bell sound? And did you think, 'I'm going to stop,' or 'I'm going to keep going'? Stop. Mm-hm. But you kept drawing. Why do you think it is that you kept drawing? Because I love drawing. (BELL RINGS) Uh, I thought about stopping. But what made you keep going, do you think? Uh, because I needed to do a little bit,... so I just did a little bit. Needed to get the job finished. Mm-hm. Right. After five minutes, all the kids kept drawing, even though the time was up. So what happens if we get some other kids and pay them to draw for five minutes? I'm gonna put this $5 right there. And what I'd like you to do is just to draw whatever you want for five minutes, and then once the five minutes is up, you can have that $5. Sound like a good deal? Yep. OK. And your time starts... now. Just like before, the kids are really into their drawing, and the $5 hasn't affected their creativity at all. (BELL RINGS) (INTRIGUING MUSIC) Is it finished? (BELL RINGS) (BELL RINGS) OK, so the five minutes is up. Do you wanna keep drawing or take the $5 and finish? It's finished. OK. And that... is yours, young man. $5. There you are. Thank you. I'll take the dollars. OK. That's a good call. So there you go. This... is yours. Nice. Mm-hm. Research has shown over and over again that money doesn't motivate us. What makes us like our work is that we feel that we're doing something worthwhile, that we're challenged by our work and appreciated by our workmates. Money is secondary. And the idea of focusing on something more important than money is something all Security Savers need to learn. This Security Saver, Blair, won a competition when he was 18. First prize was either a trip to see the Super Bowl with your mates or $10,000. He took the money. I thought, 'I don't really fancy going to see the Super Bowl.' So I thought, 'Nah, we probably won't go with that option.' I'll go with the saver option and take the 10 grand. I can remember being 7 or 8 years old, if that, walking into the bank and opening up my first bank account. And that was kind of the beginning of it all, really ` the step up from the piggy bank that you sit on your top shelf. Did you go without things to save money? Well, the big option there was move out of home like every other` you know, all your friends at 18 years old, and I thought, 'Nah, well, hold on. There's actually no reason to do that.' I'd rather buy my own house than pay someone else rent. What do you do with the money that you save now? Several years ago, I started looking at shares as a kind of foot in the door, as opposed to purchasing a home or something like that, which is the next big step. So, if one of the common traps for Security Savers is saving for the future and not living enough in the moment, how does Blair find the right balance? I'd say that probably came down to a relationship break-up I had about five years ago. And that made me re-evaluate where I was at in life, which led me to spend a bit more money here and there and create some alternative goals ` going overseas and seeing the world and spending more time with friends, going out to concerts and things like that. Blair has overcome the biggest issue of Security Savers ` he's figured out how to live in the moment. Coming up ` we join a Sociable Sharer who's worked out how to share without breaking the bank, and a Power Spender who's very content with her spending. * (UPBEAT MUSIC) What do you think the right balance in life is? Do what you want to do. Follow your dreams. And if you worry about money too much, it's pretty much gonna give you just a headache. Save with a goal in mind. Um, but at the same time, you kinda control your impulses. The right balance in life is when you can do things that you really love and things that you really need. (CHUCKLES) And that's like... you can find that balance. (UPBEAT MUSIC CONTINUES) Rawaa is a Sociable Sharer. She was born in Dubai from an Egyptian mum and an Iraqi dad. She's not sure how much her sharing nature comes from her culture and how much is her money personality. I like going out, you know, and dining out and shopping. Travelling, buying presents, taking people out, you know, for coffee and lunch, especially at work. I'm like, 'Oh, let's go. Let's go.' So I do spend a lot of money. So, you come from a culture where generosity is... like, it's a key part of the culture. That's right. Like you don't ask people for money when you invite someone out for lunch. You buy lunch. Absolutely, yeah. And if it's your birthday, you don't actually split the bill. You pay for everybody. So what was it like coming to New Zealand? It was so different for me, because in school, I would just shout people lunch. And whatever money I have, I'm like, 'Oh, yeah, you can borrow it.' But you never get it back, which I didn't know. And I remember, like, one incident that happened where this girl, I used to shout her, like, lunch, and she had crackers, and she didn't want to share them. And I thought that was so strange for me. Rawaa's daughter, Ella, is growing up to be a Sociable Sharer as well. It's really funny because I end up sounding like my mum. You know, cos my mum would be like, 'Oh, why are you paying for them?' And she does the same thing. She'll be like, 'Oh, can I buy for my friends, please?' And I'm like, 'No.' (LAUGHS) Like, 'Get her mummy to buy it for her.' And Rawaa has found ways to be generous with people that doesn't leave her feeling like she's being taken advantage of. It's a problem all Sociable Sharers need to solve. When we go out and they don't wanna spend money, then I'm like, 'OK, let's do something else.' Go for a walk on the beach, then, or, I don't know, enjoy something that's, say, $2 instead of going for an expensive dinner. The trait that motivates Sociable Sharers is love. Now, of course, they don't have exclusive ownership of that emotion ` most of us feel love towards our friends and family. So here's something important ` all of us have a bit of all the other money personalities. In this experiment, we wanna find out if sharing is something we all do. The experiment involves me leaving the room, and the kids don't know they're being filmed. OK, so, we've still got a couple of things that we need to do. Yep. But we've got a little snack for you guys in the lunchbox. So you guys can have a snack, then we'll come back and we'll start, yeah? Yeah. OK. All right. I've got sandwiches. Nothing. Here's where the experiment actually begins. Only one of the lunchboxes has a sandwich in it. I got the jam sandwich! Oh, I didn't. What will these kids do? Will one of them go hungry, or will the Sociable Sharer in all of us make an appearance? I don't have anything. It's magical. (GIGGLES) Not fair. (CHUCKLES) (GIGGLES) Dumb. (GIGGLES) WHISPERS: I think we need to share it, then. After the initial surprise of only one of the lunchboxes having a sandwich, we begin to see a trait appear in all of the kids ` sharing. Half. (BOTH GIGGLE) Thank you. And another piece cos you'll be hungry. No matter what your money personality, all of us have a little Sociable Sharer inside us and a Freedom Seeker and a Security Saver. In fact, the reason behind a purchase ` say, a banjo ` might be because one of the other money personalities within us takes control of our EFTPOS card, just for a while. Hey. So I'm going to learn to play the banjo and then busk my way around the country. Yeah, I'm going to take the banjo home and have a bit of a sing-along with the family. (PLAYS NOTES) Yeah, my friend broke his banjo, so I'm gonna help him out. Yeah, it's been a super stressful day, so I thought I deserve a new banjo. Even on non-stressful days, Abhi, a Power Spender, enjoys treating himself ` like we all do. Do you ever get buyer's remorse? Like, do you ever buy something and then think, 'Oh, I shouldn't have bought that.' Yeah, I do think sometimes, you know. I do. Like, I go with the flow. Abhi's big weakness is his love of shoes. You might be thinking that's great for Abhi ` he's got parents to help him out. But he's also studying, working two jobs and looking to the future. Abhi's recognised his money personality. Balance for him will mean dealing with the realities of a mortgage and job while still finding a few ways to indulge so he can pamper the Power Spender within. We want to see why Power Spenders buy and if it's any different from other money personalities. Is brand a big motivator for them? Brands can be really useful, because in theory, they tell us that a product is going to do what we think it's going to do. They can save us time when it comes to making decisions, and also they make a bit of a statement about who we are as people. We're going to ask people how they choose to buy shoes, sunglasses, a car and a phone. Do they buy on price, which will give them a red house, on quality, a green house, or on brand, which makes a blue house. Are you buying shoes on the basis of the brand, the quality or the value, the price? Um,... the quality. I have to say, I think, brand. Brand means a lot to me. Probably the brand. Brand. I go for value. Right. If you were buying sunglasses, are you buying them on value, brand or quality? Value. Value? Probably a brand. You know, I think I'd go quality. All right, all right. No pattern was emerging. It looked like all the money personalities were buying for different reasons. If a brand's got a good reputation, and it isn't just cos it's an expensive brand, I'd go for it. I don't know. In the Island culture, it's more like, the more you spend on your family, your friends, it's, like, they... It's showing them that you love them, and, like, yeah. There was only one person who chose everything on brand, and it wasn't a Power Spender. So, John, this is quite interesting. Like, you're a Security Saver. I would have expected this to be mostly driven by value, but you're the first person who's chosen everything based on brand. Why do you think that is? Well, I think having the security thing, you've probably got the income; well, then you can spend on a decent brand. So it turns out, all of our money personalities are influenced by brands at different times for different reasons. It might be the Power Spender who likes the flash shoes cos of what is says about them, or the Security Saver, who, after a lifetime of working hard, thinks, 'Time for a treat. I'll buy the nice one.' If you're not into seafood... Coming up after the break ` we look at how to focus your money personality to create the best outcomes. And we have the secret formula to happiness. * Money, and the stuff you can do with it, is supposed to make us happy, but it doesn't always. And buying something that makes one person happy can make another person feel anxious and regretful. So is there something to be learned by spending according to your money personality? Freedom Seekers seem to understand that spending money on experiences rather than things makes them happier in the long run. The Power Spenders love the dopamine hit of buying. But if you're worried about your spending, maybe it's about getting smaller treats more often, rather than an expensive thing that you often get bored of. You Sociable Sharers are already spending more than the rest of us on good causes and your loved ones. Research has shown that the more you spend on those things, the happier you're likelier to be ` within reason, of course. Security Savers don't often splash out on anything extravagant. But remember not to miss out on life. You could follow a Freedom Seeker and spend a little more on experiences, but your personality will dictate which experiences to spend that hard-saved money on. It's a bit like if spending were like eating ` you have to figure out the stuff you really like. So if you're not into seafood, then... a plateful of kina is never gonna do it for ya. Oh! If it's not your thing, it's never going to be your thing. But... if you really like cronuts, it's a whole other story. People who have figured out their own financial kina and cronut preferences are much happier than those who haven't. It goes without saying that you can't eat cronuts all the time. You still need your financial fruit and vegetables. So how do you have a balanced spending diet? Well, the Rose family do. Meet Bex and Marcus and their two kids, who were in our first series. When I met them last year, they told me what was important to then. Making memories is more important than having something physical to keep, you know? And I think life's too short. I want the kids to look back on their childhood and go, 'Wow. We saw and did so much stuff.' That saying that money can't buy you happiness. Would you agree with that? I certainly don't think you need squillions of dollars to have fun as a family. Studies have shown that after you've paid the bills, there's a formula on what you should do with the rest of your money to make you happiest ` put 25% into savings; spend 25% on stuff; put 10% into giving to others; and 40% on experiences. That's a big emphasis on experiences. So it's no surprise that Bex and Marcus and both Freedom Seekers. What have you been up to over the past year? Lots of adventures. Making lots of memories. Yeah. It's been our hashtag, actually. It's quite... At the end of each one, #MakingMemories. People give us a bit of grief for that, but that's all right. They do. Even in the weekends, like, Ryder's picked up on it now. We'll go to a beach or whatever, and we'll come home, and he goes, 'Oh, we spent no money today,' and we're like, 'No, we didn't, actually.' So it slowly getting across to him that you don't have to spend money every day to make it enjoyable or make memories with the kids or stuff like that, so... For Bex and Marcus, discovering they're Freedom Seekers has actually made them think more about their future. Although we actively save from week to week, we haven't really thought about beyond 10 years. I think we definite` It's our goal for 2018. It really opened my eyes, thinking, 'Actually, this is coming around quicker than I'd expected.' We'll definitely need to start thinking about, you know, 65-plus, I guess, and what we need to be doing to get to a point where we're comfortable and we can make our own memories without the kids. (LAUGHS) Bex and Marcus use their money in a way that research has shown is likely to bring happiness. And what's interesting is the way the four areas of spending map on to our money personalities. After the Rose family have paid the bills, they save 25%, which is the Security Saver inside them; they spend 15% on stuff, which is their Power Spender side; they spend 20% on giving, showing off their Sociable Sharer part; and finally, their biggest expenditure is on experiences ` the domain of the Freedom Seeker. You'll probably use the largest slice of your money on whichever your dominant money personality is. But remember, happiness comes from using your money in all four areas ` saving, giving, having experiences and buying stuff. If one area is way out of whack, that means you need to figure out a way to bring a little balance back to your spending and to your life. La, la, la! It's easy to get caught up in the daily grind ` work,... home, watch a bit of telly, wake up the next day, do it all again,... and not spend any time thinking about what's really important to you, what you really value. Understanding your money personality can help you get those answers. Perhaps you're a Security Saver who just needs to live more in the moment. Or maybe you're a Sociable Sharer who needs to plan for that next party. You might be a Power Spender who, with some careful budgeting, can buy those lovely new shoes. Or maybe you're a Freedom Seeker, and all you need to do is spend more time at the beach. (INSPIRING MUSIC) If we can spend and save in the right places, we may just get the balance of life right, which could turn out to make us happy. What's the point of money? Mm, that's a big one, right? (LAUGHS) Money is... a way to get you through life and to get you the things that you want. Money is for just those experiences, and ensuring you live a stable life full of happiness, full of joy and, yeah, getting out there. Captions by Jean Teng. Edited by James Brown. www.able.co.nz Captions were made with the support of NZ On Air. Copyright Able 2018