Have you ever taken a personality test? Up until the beginning of this year, I'm not sure if I ever had before! But…that all changed back when we started Laptop Empires earlier this year.
The reason for taking the test had absolutely nothing to do with personal finance – my assistant, business partner, and I wanted to see what types of personalities we all have so we could work well together.
At first, I honestly thought that personality tests were a little pointless. I mean…it might get close, but is some simple test really going to make me understand why I do the things I do?
Probably not. It seemed pretty similar to voodoo science or horoscopes (no offense if you're way into that stuff).
But then…
I took this test from 16 Personalities, and my mind was freaking blown.
Now you might be wondering if this is a sponsored post for them, but it's not. I kinda wish it was because I would love to get paid for something like this haha.
I'm honestly just sharing this with you today because I think it's a lot of fun to take a test like this, and after getting my own results (which I'll talk about below), I really started to think about the “why” behind the way I've approached my own finances in the last few years.
Let me share a quick secret with you about my personality and money…
I hate budgeting. Like…I hate it. That doesn't mean that I don't see the value in it, and it certainly doesn't mean that my wife and I don't do it.
I share free budget templates all the time with M$M readers! They really do work.
But tracking every expense has always been something I wasn't excited about. I much prefer to use online tools like Personal Capital and Mint that track everything for me.
For whatever reason, I'm way more about the big picture. One of my life goals is to be a multi-millionaire (like have at least 10-20 million dollars in the bank) by the time I turn 40.
Everything I've done in the past few years has been to put myself and my wife on that path. M$M, my digital marketing business, Laptop Empires…all of it.
And along the way, I don't focus too much on the small details as long as it looks like I'm getting to where I want to go.
This is where my wife comes in. She's super into the details. She likes spreadsheets. She gets the stuff done that I don't focus on, which in reality is probably what makes it all actually work.
Basically, she's a nerd (she doesn't really read my posts anymore so I can say whatever I want). 🙂
After we took our personality tests, it all made a lot more sense! I was actually really surprised by how accurate the test was, and it made me think a lot harder about why I make certain financial decisions.
Here's what my personality test results were:
INTP Personality (“The Logician”)
From 16personalities.com:
“The INTP personality type is fairly rare, making up only three percent of the population, which is definitely a good thing for them, as there’s nothing they’d be more unhappy about than being “common”. INTPs pride themselves on their inventiveness and creativity, their unique perspective and vigorous intellect. Usually known as the philosopher, the architect, or the dreamy professor, INTPs have been responsible for many scientific discoveries throughout history.”
You can read more about my personality type here, but the basics are that I really focus on being inventive and creative, and pretty much ignore everything else along the way.
In fact, here's the graphic that 16 Personalities uses to describe people like me:
via 16personalities.com
Notice how she's super-focused on the thing that she's trying to figure out, and everything else is total chaos and grayscale behind her?
My wife saw that picture above and laughed like crazy. All you have to do is take one look at my office sometimes to know that I work like a madman on the stuff I'm focused on, and everything else will be a total disaster because it's not as important to me. It's actually really annoying haha. I don't even notice half of the things that happen around me while I'm going through my day-to-day existence.
It was the same way when I was paying off my $40k of student loan debt…
Fun fact: I didn't even have an emergency fund when I was paying off my loans at first. I just started throwing as much money as I could from my teaching paychecks at the debt and hoped for the best.
Most normal people would probably have planned out everything quite a bit more, but for some reason, my brain just laser-focuses in on stuff and I make the biggest moves possible to make it all happen.
I did end up paying off my student loans in 18 months, but if I had some kind of medical emergency or big expense during that time…I would have been 1,000% screwed.
But looking back with some context from this personality test, I get it. Even better – now that I know how I do things naturally, I can do more to alter my behavior moving forward.
By the way, my personality type also comes with some wonderful negative side effects like:
- Absent-mindedness
- Condescension
- Insensitivity
You can read through my strengths and weaknesses here (16 personalities gives you a list for each personality type).
I don't necessarily agree with all of them, but my wife said that it was kinda true so here we are haha.
Oh, if you were wondering, here's what my wife got:
ISTJ (“The Logistician”)
From 16personalities.com:
“The ISTJ personality type is thought to be the most abundant, making up around 13% of the population. Their defining characteristics of integrity, practical logic and tireless dedication to duty make ISTJs a vital core to many families, as well as organizations that uphold traditions, rules and standards, such as law offices, regulatory bodies and military. People with the ISTJ personality type enjoy taking responsibility for their actions, and take pride in the work they do – when working towards a goal, ISTJs hold back none of their time and energy completing each relevant task with accuracy and patience.”
Here's her graphic:
via 16personalities.com
See? She's an overly-organized nerd. You can read more about her personality here.
You should take the test too!
Now look – I'm not saying this thing is absolutely scientific, but it does seem pretty scarily accurate for everyone that I've given the test to so far.
If nothing else, it's a lot of fun and a killer conversation-starter if you're with new people. Best of all, you might find out why you approach personal finances the way that you do!
Take the test here (it takes 10 minutes or less) and then drop your personality type in the comments below!
I already knew mine because we’re all about Myers-Briggs in higher ed haha. I’m ESFJ. Not everything is spot on…but a lot of it is. If you like this, you should definitely check out Clifton StrengthsFinder (you can probably find a free version like this one). It’s pretty interesting as well.
I’ll check it out!
Pretty interesting test. I’m a defender. 🙂
The Defender personality type is quite unique, as many of their qualities defy the definition of their individual traits. Though sensitive, Defenders have excellent analytical abilities; though reserved, they have well-developed people skills and robust social relationships; and though they are generally a conservative type, Defenders are often receptive to change and new ideas. As with so many things, people with the Defender personality type are more than the sum of their parts, and it is the way they use these strengths that defines who they are.
Defenders are true altruists, meeting kindness with kindness-in-excess and engaging the work and people they believe in with enthusiasm and generosity.
Awesome! Glad to know that super-nice people read M$M 🙂
I got INTP-A, but I normally get INFJ when I take these types of personality tests. To be honest, I don’t put TOO much stock into them. I think it’s a little ridiculous to confine the entire spectrum of human personality into a limited number of boxes.
With that said, every one of your preferences about budgeting, throwing money blindly at student loans, and not keeping much money in an emergency fund all eerily resonate with me, so there’s certainly something to be said about them.
Ha yeah I hear ya, I don’t live or die by the personality test either, but I do find myself agreeing with a lot of what mine usually come back with. That’s funny on the preferences part!
I am the ISTJ as well, and I have been since I started taking various versions of this test. I find the 16personalities.com one most accurate though.
It fits me perfectly and taught me a lot about myself and how I handle situations. I’ve never really thought about it in terms of money, but I can see how it could be useful. I like to know things are steady and sure, and that falls into the way I think about money too. I want to know my income is stable, my savings are sound, and my debt can at least be paid. Sometimes I think I prioritize savings more than my debt. Not sure if that’s good or bad!
Thanks for sharing your personality! Always love reading about other people!
You’re welcome! I thought it would be interesting to show other people what’s rattling around in my skull haha
I can say whatever I want because she doesn’t read my posts 😂On another note, my personality also fits me very well, especially when it comes to money! Some things are a little “off” but I know it’s because everyone, even those with similar personalities, will always have unique characteristics that they don’t share with others.
hahaha! She used to proof my posts back in the day, but I have an editor now so I can get away with more. 🙂
I took this back in 2016 and it is so accurate as you mentioned. I’m the INFP, “The Mediator”. Haha, so true in many ways.
Ha that’s so cool!
That’s interesting. I think I’m a mixture of a Defender (ISFJ, -A) and a Logician (INTP-A). I took the test twice and those were the results. When I put my mind to something I stick with it and don’t give up. At the same time I’m emotional and empatic. I’m introverted but enjoy social activity very much.
Yeah I’m apparently not emotional or empathetic haha
I actually took the test after you and Mike mentioned it on your podcast, just like I downloaded Work Less, Make More after Mike mentioned it (like, paused the podcast to look it up and download, lol)
I’m an ENFP-A “The Campaigner”, which is fairly rare but also very likely to be an entrepreneur, so maybe that means my cookie business will take off when I lanch in October!
As for debt payoff, my husband and I are finally on track and we should be paying not one, but TWO credit cards off this month! It feels so good to finally be making progress and I’m so addicted to that feeling that I have to hold myself back from throwing every penny at a credit card and leave some money to live off of lol
I hope your cookie business does take off! Congrats on paying off the debt 🙂
Cool to see you writing about this. I’ve been a big fan of it, but also FYI it’s not fully grounded in science. Useful as a self-awareness/assessment metric, but one test should definitely NOT be taken as a fact considering that most people get a different result if they take it again after a month.
With that said, I’ve definitely found it useful myself for personal development stuff, but the results have been inconsistent. (INTJ/INTP/some other results).
If you like stuff like this I recommend checking out the Enneagram also & Perry Marshall’s marketing DNA tests.
Cheers!
Yeah I totally get it – I think I mentioned somewhere in the article that it’s not totally scientific, but it’s fun and I found it to be pretty accurate for myself. I’ve taken it a few times again since the first time and it keeps coming back with the same results, but I’m sure it changes for some people.
Advocate Personality (INFJ, -A/-T)
The Advocate personality type is very rare, making up less than one percent of the population, but they nonetheless leave their mark on the world. As members of the Diplomat Role group, Advocates have an inborn sense of idealism and morality, but what sets them apart is that they are not idle dreamers, but people capable of taking concrete steps to realize their goals and make a lasting positive impact.
I’ve taken similar tests several times. 50:50, I am a ISTJ/ISFJ. I can be meticulously thorough and focused on tasks, at the same time, I also overwhelm myself a lot by taking on too much (unexplained need to prove myself to world even though the world hasn’t demanded anything from me…) This weird combo resulted in my messy, uncontrolled debt situation.
I was managing it really well until I switched to a job that offered more pay. Clearly, I missed the mark on living below your means and avoiding lifestyle inflation… I was financially more stable making $20k less than what I’m making now. The “T” and the “F” sways a lot with my depression state at the time of taking the tests.
Very cool 😎 I’m a Protagonist… & my brain 🧠 is tired now…(its 3:30 pm on Friday afternoon here) I will go back & look at how it relates to my finances. So important as I’m currently healing & preparing right now for an awesome financial future…
Thanks for sharing Bobby
No problem!
While taking a break, I read this post and took the test. I’ve taken the Myers Briggs no fewer than 5 times and it always comes out to INFJ (pretty evenly split between F and T). According to 16personalities INFJs are Advocates.
“Advocates tend to see helping others as their purpose in life, but while people with this personality type can be found engaging rescue efforts and doing charity work, their real passion is to get to the heart of the issue so that people need not be rescued at all.”
I’d say that description is dead on and kind of funny since I took the test while taking a break from putting together a budgeting workshop to teach people how to help themselves out of debt and achieve their goals.
I got Architect – INTJ… Weird to think I have the same personality type as Elon Musk. I’m a bit less productive than him haha.
haha! Mine is the same as Bill Gates and Einstein. I feel the same way.