The Power of Your Money Story in Financial Planning

By TRG Advisors on May 14, 2024

Every day, we are influenced by a “money story” that impacts our financial decisions and even our well-being. These beliefs become our reality and without awareness, we pass these messages on to subsequent generations. So what is a money story, why is it important and how can it impact how we think and behave?

A money story is a collection of our thoughts, beliefs, attitudes, and feelings about money. We start crafting this story at a young age when we become aware of money and observe how those around us manage it. We start writing our story and developing money scripts, which influence how we make decisions. Your money story is unique to you and you have the ability to change it as you control how the story progresses.

If money stories are so powerful in our financial lives, why is this the first time many of us are hearing about them? What if I don’t like part of my money story? How do I go about changing it? What’s the best way to begin a dialogue with your family members about money stories?

To answer these questions and more, we spoke with Kathleen Burns Kingsbury, founder of KBK Wealth Connection, financial therapist and host of the Breaking Money Silence^® podcast. Kathleen’s mission is to empower women, couples, and families (and the advisors who serve them) to shatter money taboos and communicate more effectively about financial matters.

Here are some insights she provided:

• Your money story begins developing around age five and by age 15, it is solidified. That doesn’t mean you can’t change it. It just means that that is the critical period of time in which your beliefs around money are established.
• 95% of a person’s money story is created unconsciously, so we often aren’t aware of its powerful influence on our decision-making. And as a result, people often make emotional, irrational decisions around money.
• Key influences on one’s money story include culture, generation, class, religion, ethnicity, gender, age, sexuality, and (dis)ability, and media.

In this webcast, learn how to uncover and harness the power of your money story to improve your well-being, gain clarity in financial decision-making, and foster conversations about wealth across generations. Walk away with:

• A greater understanding of how your story was written
• A technique for rewriting the unwanted parts of your money story
• A simple tool for identifying generational money messages and patterns, Money History Questionnaire
• Tips for using your money story to talk to the next generation about wealth

For more insights, including examples of how sharing your money story is helpful, watch “The Power of Your Money Story in Financial Planning (Passing down wealth…or Well-th”). Come away with tips for bringing your money story to your conscious mind.

As you begin exploring your money story on your own or with your loved ones, feel free to reach out to your financial advisor. Talking about money can be uncomfortable, and they have experience facilitating complicated discussions of financial matters.

Meet the Presenter

Kathleen Burns Kingsbury

Kathleen Burns Kingsbury, the founder of KBK Wealth Connection, is a financial therapist and host of the Breaking Money Silence® podcast. She is an internationally published author and speaker. Breaking Money Silence®: How to Shatter Money Taboos, Talk More Openly about Finances, and Live a Richer Life is Kathleen’s fifth book. 

Named one of nine amazing conference speakers by InvestmentNews, Kathleen is a sought-after keynote speaker, consultant, and coach on the topic of women and wealth and couples and money. Her mission is to empower women, couples, and families (and the advisors who serve them) to shatter money taboos and communicate more effectively about financial matters.

As an expert on financial psychology, Kathleen has appeared on television and written for consumer and trade publications. Her work has been featured in The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, PBS News Hour, Money Magazine, TODAY Money, Forbes, and CNBC. Kathleen served as an adjunct faculty member at the McCallum Graduate School at Bentley University from 2009 to 2019 where she taught the Psychology of Financial Planning in the CFP program. She currently teaches in the Business and Management School at Champlain College.

When she is not working, Kathleen is an avid alpine skier who lives for the next powder day. In the off-season, she enjoys mountain biking, kayaking, and laughing with her friends. She lives with her husband in the beautiful Mad River Valley of Vermont.