The theme this week on the Retirement Quick Tips Podcast is: 5 personality traits of self-made millionaires. These five traits when combined together can help predict those of us who will have a higher net worth

Today’s self-made millionaire trait is: Extraversion 

An extrovert, according to Wikipedia, is someone who is “outgoing, talkative, energetic,  whereas introversion is manifested in more reflective and reserved behavior…Extraversion and introversion are typically viewed as a single continuum, so to be high in one necessitates being low in the other.”

As someone who used to get kicked out of health class sophomore year in high school with great regularity for talking too much, and am generally comfortable striking up with most people with little reservations, I would consider myself a more extraverted person.

Knowing that an orientation towards extraversion is a more common trait in millionaires, it leads to a couple of follow up questions in my view... At least as far as financial success and the traits of millionaires, why are extraverted people more likely to become millionaires? And is extraversion vs. introversion something that can change. 

Of all the personality traits, this one seems the least malleable - either you’re shy and quiet, or gregarious and you tend to talk too much, and there doesn’t seem much you can do about that if you want to change how extraverted or introverted you are. 

But in my own life, I’ve actually become noticeably less extroverted over time. I enjoy spending more time alone and it can be draining to be at a big party or event with lots of people. Many times, I’d just prefer to stay at home and read a book. 

Because extraversion and introversion operate on a continuum, this trait can shift. I know someone who was very shy as a child, but has needed to become more social in his adult life because of his profession, but it wasn’t easy and he says it wasn’t without great effort. 

So what about why extraversion leads to a higher chance of becoming a millionaire?

One study found that more extroverted people — those who were more confident, sociable or assertive — had a 25% higher chance of being in a high-earning job. 

My husband is introverted, and recently he has a dilemma that we were discussing, which required him to ask something of someone else. It seems obvious to my more extroverted personality to just ask for what you want…what’s the worst that can happen? You can never expect anything from the other person unless you ask….just ask! To me, it’s no big deal, but to his more introverted self, it’s not as easy to be assertive and just ask for what he wants. 

And I think that’s likely the driver behind extroverts being more likely to be millionaires…they’re more assertive and probably also more likely to climb social hierarchies because of their comfort level in being with other people. 

That’s it for today. Thanks for listening! My name is Ashley Micciche and this is the Retirement Quick Tips podcast.  

----------

>>> Subscribe on Apple Podcasts: https://apple.co/2DI2LSP

>>> Subscribe on Amazon Alexa: https://amzn.to/2xRKrCs

>>> Visit the podcast page: https://truenorthra.com/podcast/ 

----------

Tags: retirement, investing, money, finance, financial planning, retirement planning, saving money, personal finance