Sarah Newcomb - Loaded

Sarah Newcomb

Cover design: Michael Pettit, Morningstar, Inc.
Cover image: Michael Pettit, Morningstar, Inc.;
brain root thanaphiphat/iStockphoto;
money tree UpperCut Images/iStockphoto

Copyright 2016 by Sarah Newcomb. All rights reserved.

Published by John Wiley & Sons, Inc., Hoboken, New Jersey.
Published simultaneously in Canada.

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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data:

Names: Newcomb, Sarah C., author.
Title: Loaded : money, psychology, and how to get ahead without leaving your
values behind / Sarah Newcomb, PhD.
Description: Hoboken, New Jersey : John Wiley & Sons, Inc., [2016] | Includes index.
Identifiers: LCCN 2016001707 | ISBN 9781119258322 (hardback) | ISBN 9781119258339 (ePDF) | ISBN 9781119258346 (ePub)>
Subjects: LCSH: Finance, PersonalPsychological aspects. |
EconomicsPsychological aspects. | BISAC: BUSINESS & ECONOMICS / Personal
Finance / Money Management. | BUSINESS & ECONOMICS / Personal Finance /
General. | BUSINESS & ECONOMICS / Personal Finance / Investing.

Classification: LCC HG179 .N447 2016 | DDC 332.024dc23 LC record available at http://lccn.loc.gov/2016001707

To Zo: May you never stand in the way of your own dreams.

THANK YOU to the following individuals, without whose contributions and support this book would not have been written:

First, to the incredible professors who have inspired and challenged me, and taught me to diligently question my assumptions: Jim Grubman, George Criner, Mario Teisl, Shannon McCoy, Caroline Noblet, Bill Halteman, and Linda Silka. Your scholarship and support have made this work possible.

To my colleagues, who have championed and supported this work through many stages and drafts: Rob Pinkerton, Steve Wendel, Amna Kanoun, Merve Akbas, Erik Johnson, Mary Dyer, Marion Syverson, Ryan Pickering, Caroline Collins, Pedram Rahmatabati, Diane Batty, Renee Benz, Carling Spelhaug, and Michael Pettit. Your patience, creative contributions, encouragement, and cheerleading made all the difference in the world.

To the team at Wiley who believed in the idea and helped turn out a great work in record time: James Belcher, Michael Henton, Meg Freeborn, Susan Cerra, and especially Tula Batanchiev, who first saw the value in this work, and held my hand through the entire process. You all have been amazing.

To my family, and those friends that I love like family: Chris, Amy, Jesse, and Jake Newcomb; Jason Mills; Robin and Jim Hamilton; Zo and Graham Morehead; Jonathan McCullum; Kristen Brown; Stacia Dreyer; and Michelle Johnson. If not for all youve given, this book would simply not exist.

Lastly, to all of the people who I have had the pleasure to teach and counsel over the years. Thank you for sharing your stories and your struggles. I am sure I learned far more from you than the other way around.

THERE IS NO SHORTAGE of books for those who love money. Enter any bookstore and you will find guides to help you think rich, attract money, or beat Wall Street. These may appeal to people who aspire to great wealth and luxury and those who associate money with opportunity, happiness, and freedom. But where is the book for the rest of us? Where is the book for the people who have come to equate money with stress, inequality, barriers, or greed? Where is the book that acknowledges the darker side of the financial world?

That book is here.

My own journey into the world of financial psychology began in 2005 when, after receiving a bachelors degree in mathematics, I still struggled to make sense of my financial life. As a summa cum laude in math, I had to admit that my issues with money had nothing to do with numbers. I love numbers. I had no trouble understanding interest rates and balance sheets. Why, then, wasnt I able to get a handle on my own money? Why did it seem that no matter how I tried, there was never enough?

In the fall of 2006, I began a graduate program in personal financial planning. I wanted to put an end to my financial stress, and learning how experts manage money seemed the most logical way. It was during my time at Bentley University that I met the teacher who would change my financial life and alter the course of my career. Dr. James Grubmans class, Psychology in Financial Planning, was a turning point. The purpose of the course was to prepare us as young financial planners for the client who would one day walk into our office feeling like a complete failure because he had only made $50 million that year. How would we handle this? Would we inwardly scoff and judge, or would we listen long enough to understand that this young business owner lived in the shadow of his fathers legacy, and that no matter how successful he became, he would remain convinced that his father could have done better?

I learned a priceless lesson from Dr. Grubman: A persons relationship with money is almost never about the numbers. It is about the stories we tell ourselves because of those numbers. Each of us has come to believe certain stories based on our upbringing and our experiences with money: stories about who we are and who we are not, stories about what we can and cannot do in the world. This is where our relationship with money is rooted, and this is where sound money management begins. It starts with a story.