Crazy About Money: How Emotions Confuse Our Money Choices and What To Do About It

Many of us are crazy about money. We spend too much of itand save too little. We hoard it and we sink into debt over it. Welavish it and are stingy with it. We lie about it and fight overit. We think about it all the time and we avoid thinking about itat all.
What makes us act this way? Welike to believe that our choices and actions are guided byrationality and common sense. But in fact, reason and common senseoften have little to do with our money behavior. Even trainedfinancial professionals can be crazy about money. Rather, ourdecisions are governed by our emotions and money beliefs.
If these emotions and beliefs arebalanced and clear, we will act wisely with our money. If they areconfused, we will make poor decisions, creating financial havoc anddeep unhappiness. Crazy About Money helps you identify theunconscious emotions and beliefs that typically develop inchildhood and drive your money decisions as an adult. It also showsyou how to change misguided attitudes that lead so many people intomoney trouble. ? 
Crazy About Money uses real andcomposite cases drawn from author Maggie Baker's30 years of clinical psychology practice. You'lllearn about Mary, who has a basement full of useless Internetpurchases she made to get even with her seemingly indifferenthusband. And about Harry, an 89-year-old multi-millionaire bachelorwho nearly decided to move into a state-assisted living facilityfor fear he would run out of money. You will also meet others who,perhaps just like you, over-spend, under-save, and make poorinvestment decisions.
In-depth discussions explain howmany people, once they understand their motivations, are able tobreak short-sighted or destructive money attitudes and patterns ofbehavior. Exercises at the end of each chapter will help youexamine your own feelings and actions and point the way towardsmarter choices with money, whether in saving, investing, spending,giving, or sharing.

The Story Behind This Book

During the U S stock market rise in the late 1990s, we were all in a state of "irrational exuberance." I lost a lot of money when the technology bubble finally burst in March, 2001. I felt terrible about these losses and became paralyzed about making any money decisions for the next year. I threw all my monthly statements in a box I never looked at them. I avoided thinking about money and tried to block all these losses out of mind. I nearly went "out of my mind" until I began realize that I wasn't the only one who had gotten caught up in the good times. Slowly I began to have compassion for myself and come back to my senses. This event propelled me to write Crazy About Money so that other people might learn about thier relationship to money and avoid making big money mistakes.

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Praise and Reviews

In Crazy About Money, psychologist Maggie Baker helps us grapple with our “money devils.” Through her insights and exercises, we can understand more deeply and fully where our money attitudes originate, learn how to change them, and eventually become Money Masters. A priceless contribution to the field of money psychology, this book is a must-read for individuals and couples facing money conflicts or money avoidance. Mental health professionals, money coaches and financial professionals will also find it a great resource for themselves and their clients.

Olivia Mellan, psychotherapist, money coach, speaker, and author of Money Harmony, Overcoming Overspending, and Money Shy to Money Sure (with Sherry Christie) (www.moneyharmony.com)

Maggie Baker’s Crazy About Money is a critical and extremely timely contribution to dialogues about money, our number one source of stress. Bringing together personal, clinical, and behavioral finance knowledge in a clear and understandable way, Maggie suggests real solutions for individuals and families across the wealth spectrum who have difficulty dealing with money. Read this book — and insist that your financial advisors read it as well! G. Scott Budge, Ph.D., Psychologist and Managing Director, RayLign Advisory, LLC

Maggie Baker’s Crazy About Money is unique in describing how we form and act on money scripts at various stages of life, from childhood through retirement. Using her own story as well as her experience as a clinical psychologist, she has created a readable, useful book that can help you build a healthier relationship with money.

Rick Kahler, M.S., CFP ®

Kahler Financial Group and Board Member, Financial Therapy Association

Crazy About Money takes a uniquely direct approach to how and why so many of us struggle with money.  Dr. Maggie Baker draws on her extensive professional experience with financial psychology and her personal journey with her own finances to teach us that a healthy relationship with money is both freeing and attainable.  Her straightforward tell-it-like-it-is style makes this book a great read for anyone looking to understand his/her own attitudes and spending habits.  For the financial professional, this book is a valuable tool to help build a strong, open and honest dialogue with clients. 

Leslie Gordon Mayer, Ph.D. President &CEO, Mayer Leadership Group; Fellow, WhartonSchool of Business

  What about this: In Crazy About Money,  Dr. Maggie Baker taps into her 30 years of counseling clients and distills her advice into an entertaining blend of actual cases, why we REALLY see talking about our money as the last taboo, and what just understanding what money type we are is so important to understanding why we handle it the way we do. Those childhood experiences with money, and how they fit into the rest of our background, doom us to being enslaved by old and destructive patterns until we see them, clearly. Because we see other people’s cases, we can painlessly recognize our own money blind spots. As a person who has worked with couples and individuals full-time for 15 years, I find this book is the most down-to-earth, absolutely useful tool I’ve seen. Financial advisors will find it indispensable, and will want to hand copies to clients, for sure. Funny, humane, and to the point, this will be the most fun you’ve had while learning why we act as we do. This will be a bible for anyone who teaches or counsels people about their money. Kent Engelke,Managing Partner and Chief Strategist, Capitol Securities Management and quoted often on the Dow Jones newswire.

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