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Money Mammoth: Harness The Power of Financial Psychology to Evolve Your Money Mindset, Avoid Extinction, and Crush Your Financial Goals
A look at the psychological barriers to financial success and how to create a better financial future
When it comes to our relationship with money, we are in the Stone Age. Despite the relentless barrage of information and warnings from financial experts, the average American is in terrible financial shape. It turns out that human beings are just not wired to do the right things around money--such as saving and not overspending. That's why financial success is so difficult to attain. When it comes to our financial instincts, we are no more evolved than our ancestors who hunted the Woolly Mammoth 400,000 years ago.
Recent findings from the field of financial psychology could help the many Americans who know what they need to do but just can't seem to make it happen. If you fall into this category, consider Money Evolve Your Money Mindset and Avoid Financial Extinction.
This book looks at financial well-being from a psychological and evolutionary perspective. It reveals the obstacles that prevent people from taking their first critical steps towards financial wellness. It examines how our instincts and beliefs about money influence our financial behaviors. It explores money beliefs, how they develop, and how they drive our money behaviors
As the world's leading experts in financial psychology, authors Dr. Brad Klontz, Dr. Ed Horwitz, and Dr. Ted Klontz can help
Discover how the experience of your ancestors are impacting your finances Understand how your friends, family members, and tribe may be holding you back Overcome mental roadblocks to wealth and success Harness the power of your emotional brain to transform your relationship with money Build confidence in your ability to take control of your financial future In Money Mammoth, the authors reveal the secrets to harnessing the power of your psychology to reach your financial goals.
When it comes to our relationship with money, we are in the Stone Age. Despite the relentless barrage of information and warnings from financial experts, the average American is in terrible financial shape. It turns out that human beings are just not wired to do the right things around money--such as saving and not overspending. That's why financial success is so difficult to attain. When it comes to our financial instincts, we are no more evolved than our ancestors who hunted the Woolly Mammoth 400,000 years ago.
Recent findings from the field of financial psychology could help the many Americans who know what they need to do but just can't seem to make it happen. If you fall into this category, consider Money Evolve Your Money Mindset and Avoid Financial Extinction.
This book looks at financial well-being from a psychological and evolutionary perspective. It reveals the obstacles that prevent people from taking their first critical steps towards financial wellness. It examines how our instincts and beliefs about money influence our financial behaviors. It explores money beliefs, how they develop, and how they drive our money behaviors
As the world's leading experts in financial psychology, authors Dr. Brad Klontz, Dr. Ed Horwitz, and Dr. Ted Klontz can help
Discover how the experience of your ancestors are impacting your finances Understand how your friends, family members, and tribe may be holding you back Overcome mental roadblocks to wealth and success Harness the power of your emotional brain to transform your relationship with money Build confidence in your ability to take control of your financial future In Money Mammoth, the authors reveal the secrets to harnessing the power of your psychology to reach your financial goals.
265 pages, Kindle Edition
Published November 11, 2020
44 people are currently reading
348 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 15 of 15 reviews
October 19, 2024
Money Mammoth: Harness The Power of Financial Psychology to Evolve Your Money Mindset, Avoid Extinction, and Crush Your Financial Goals by Brad Klontz, Edward Horwitz, and Ted Klontz
8h 22m narrated by Graham Rowat, 265 pages
Genre: Nonfiction, Money Management and Budgeting, Retirement Planning
Featuring: About the Authors DR. BRADLEY T. KLONTZ, Psy.D., CFP® DR. EDWARD HORWITZ, Ph.D., CFP®, FBS, ChFC, CLU, CSA DR. TED KLONTZ, Ph.D.; Foreword by Ron Carson, Introduction, Your Money Mammoth, Our Extinction Level Event, Today's Reality, So Who Are You?, You Are Wired To Spend, You Are Wired To Try To Keep Up With The Joneses, All The Rules Have Changed, We Must Evolve, The Winds Of Change, A Historical Moment, Time To Evolve, Notes, Your Origins, Your Ancestors, The Ancestor Room, So What's In Your Ancestry Room?, Why Aren't You Rich?, Death To Savers, Your Parents, Become Your Own Anthropologist, When Money Helps, When Money Hurts, Financial Enmeshment, A Family Story Of Financial Destruction, Parents Know Best?, The 2008 Housing Crisis, Your Children Can Money Make You Insane?, Were You A Spoiled Child?, The College Admissions Scandal, Money Is A Powerful Reinforcer, Humans Are Lazy, Financial Enabling and Financial Dependence, Cutting The Financial Umbilical Cord: Five Steps, Raising Financial Healthy Children, It's Not Do Simple, A Big Heads-Upn Quick Start Tips For Healthy Financial Habits, Allowances, A Family Allowance, Talk About Money (But Not Too Much), Your Mate, Genetic Differences?, The Giver Versus The Saver, Interdependence Versus Independence, Booby Traps, Where From Here?, How Are You Doing With Money?, Finding The Right Kind Of Help, The Conversation Intervention, Setting The Stage, Your Tribe, Your Extended Family, The Hill, What Saves You May Kill You, Relative Deprivation, How Can We Keep Them Down On The Farm, What The Tribe Eepects, The Modern-Day Tribe—Risk Sharing, Feeling At Home In Our Tribes, Your Tribes, Tribal Influence, Tribal Entitlement, How Tribes Handle Success, Professions As Tribes, Jim's Reality Meets Professional Reality, Kill Dr. Phil, When Should You Seek A New Tribe?, Using Tribal Expectations To Evolve, Alex Harnesses His Money Mammoth, Your Adaptations, Your Instincts, Martha and Her Instincts, Tom and His Instincts, Overcoming Mindsets, Our Money Mindsets, Our Financial InInstincts Toward Savings, Our Anti-Hoarder Bias, The Give-Away, The Modern Savers, The Drive To Share Is Hardwired, Our Subconscious Co-Pilot, Behavioral Finance, Your Environment, Demographic Community, School Size and Diversity, Community Job Environ ment, Jason's Story, Economic Timing, The Story of Rick and Carrie, The Belief Stew, The Anchor of Your Past, Your Chosen Environment, Who Takes Care of You?, Your Financial Flashpoints, Ancestral Flashpoints, Family Financial Flashpoints, Your Financial Flashpoints, Cultural Flashpoints, Filling in the Blanks, Coronavirus Flashpoint, Depression Flashpoint, Flashpoint Context and Growth, Conclusion, Your Money Scripts®, Money Scripts®, The Klontz Money Script® Inventory, Scoring Procedures, Analysis, Changing Our Money Scripts® Can Be Tough, Rewriting Your Money Scripts®, Your Financial Behaviors, Financial Behaviors, Financial Behavior Change Strategies, Your Evolution, Your Transformation, Six-Step Process Of Change, Change In Action: Results of a Field Trial, The Employee Retirement Plan Meeting Dilemma, Tell Me A Story: Paint Me A Picture. Show Me!, Summary, Journaling, Reflections, Your Vision, Avoid the "When-Then" Trap, Discovering Who You Are, Achieving Your Financial Goals, What We Found, What This Means:Seven Steps to Achieve Your Financial Goals, Social Pressure, Your Relationship Assume 100% RResponsibiliy For Your 50%, Speak Your Truth, Listen Now o Pay Later, Know The Odds, Love Is Not Enough, Love Thyself, No Carry-On Baggage Allowed, Beware of Invaders, Children Need Not Apply, Safety First, Creating Your Relational Financial Vision, The Shared Vision Process, Your Plan, Are You Ready To Take Action?, (It's Okay If You're Not), Money Mammoth Evolutionary Path, Start Here: Building Your Mammoth Foundation, Survival, Types of Insurance Needed, Hunting and Gathering, Savings, Investing & Retirement Plans, Adaptation Versus Extinction, Money Mindsets, Progress Measurement Tools, Your Success, Your Financial Survival Guide, Your Evolution, Becoming Your Money Mammoth, It's Your Time to Evolve, Tge Blue Pill or The Red Pill, PDF, Index, End User License Agreement, List of Tables
Rating as a movie: PG-13 for adult situations
Songs for the soundtrack: "Cheers Theme" by Gary Portnoy and Judy Hart Angelo
Books and Authors mentioned: Dave Ramsey, Good to Great: Why Some Companies Make the Leap...and Others Don't by James C. Collins
My rating: 🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟💰🦣
My thoughts:📱25% 2:04:38 Chapter 5: Your Tribe - This is so good! I'm going to have to reread this. I'm devastated I didn't read it sooner.
📱33% 2:44:51 Chapter 6: Your Instincts - This book is brilliant. The psychology behind these events is astounding.
📱57% 4:48:09 Chapter 10: Your Financial Behaviors - This is the sweet spot of I'm not alert enough to absorb efficiently so I'm taking a break.
This book is great, it is going on the revisit annually list. I highly recommend it. This book doesn't give much financial advice as its goal is to find out your money personality, money scripts, and culture then use the information to meet your financial goals.
Recommend to others: Yes! This is a great start to analyze yourself and your family and decide why you do what you do and if you want to change.
8h 22m narrated by Graham Rowat, 265 pages
Genre: Nonfiction, Money Management and Budgeting, Retirement Planning
Featuring: About the Authors DR. BRADLEY T. KLONTZ, Psy.D., CFP® DR. EDWARD HORWITZ, Ph.D., CFP®, FBS, ChFC, CLU, CSA DR. TED KLONTZ, Ph.D.; Foreword by Ron Carson, Introduction, Your Money Mammoth, Our Extinction Level Event, Today's Reality, So Who Are You?, You Are Wired To Spend, You Are Wired To Try To Keep Up With The Joneses, All The Rules Have Changed, We Must Evolve, The Winds Of Change, A Historical Moment, Time To Evolve, Notes, Your Origins, Your Ancestors, The Ancestor Room, So What's In Your Ancestry Room?, Why Aren't You Rich?, Death To Savers, Your Parents, Become Your Own Anthropologist, When Money Helps, When Money Hurts, Financial Enmeshment, A Family Story Of Financial Destruction, Parents Know Best?, The 2008 Housing Crisis, Your Children Can Money Make You Insane?, Were You A Spoiled Child?, The College Admissions Scandal, Money Is A Powerful Reinforcer, Humans Are Lazy, Financial Enabling and Financial Dependence, Cutting The Financial Umbilical Cord: Five Steps, Raising Financial Healthy Children, It's Not Do Simple, A Big Heads-Upn Quick Start Tips For Healthy Financial Habits, Allowances, A Family Allowance, Talk About Money (But Not Too Much), Your Mate, Genetic Differences?, The Giver Versus The Saver, Interdependence Versus Independence, Booby Traps, Where From Here?, How Are You Doing With Money?, Finding The Right Kind Of Help, The Conversation Intervention, Setting The Stage, Your Tribe, Your Extended Family, The Hill, What Saves You May Kill You, Relative Deprivation, How Can We Keep Them Down On The Farm, What The Tribe Eepects, The Modern-Day Tribe—Risk Sharing, Feeling At Home In Our Tribes, Your Tribes, Tribal Influence, Tribal Entitlement, How Tribes Handle Success, Professions As Tribes, Jim's Reality Meets Professional Reality, Kill Dr. Phil, When Should You Seek A New Tribe?, Using Tribal Expectations To Evolve, Alex Harnesses His Money Mammoth, Your Adaptations, Your Instincts, Martha and Her Instincts, Tom and His Instincts, Overcoming Mindsets, Our Money Mindsets, Our Financial InInstincts Toward Savings, Our Anti-Hoarder Bias, The Give-Away, The Modern Savers, The Drive To Share Is Hardwired, Our Subconscious Co-Pilot, Behavioral Finance, Your Environment, Demographic Community, School Size and Diversity, Community Job Environ ment, Jason's Story, Economic Timing, The Story of Rick and Carrie, The Belief Stew, The Anchor of Your Past, Your Chosen Environment, Who Takes Care of You?, Your Financial Flashpoints, Ancestral Flashpoints, Family Financial Flashpoints, Your Financial Flashpoints, Cultural Flashpoints, Filling in the Blanks, Coronavirus Flashpoint, Depression Flashpoint, Flashpoint Context and Growth, Conclusion, Your Money Scripts®, Money Scripts®, The Klontz Money Script® Inventory, Scoring Procedures, Analysis, Changing Our Money Scripts® Can Be Tough, Rewriting Your Money Scripts®, Your Financial Behaviors, Financial Behaviors, Financial Behavior Change Strategies, Your Evolution, Your Transformation, Six-Step Process Of Change, Change In Action: Results of a Field Trial, The Employee Retirement Plan Meeting Dilemma, Tell Me A Story: Paint Me A Picture. Show Me!, Summary, Journaling, Reflections, Your Vision, Avoid the "When-Then" Trap, Discovering Who You Are, Achieving Your Financial Goals, What We Found, What This Means:Seven Steps to Achieve Your Financial Goals, Social Pressure, Your Relationship Assume 100% RResponsibiliy For Your 50%, Speak Your Truth, Listen Now o Pay Later, Know The Odds, Love Is Not Enough, Love Thyself, No Carry-On Baggage Allowed, Beware of Invaders, Children Need Not Apply, Safety First, Creating Your Relational Financial Vision, The Shared Vision Process, Your Plan, Are You Ready To Take Action?, (It's Okay If You're Not), Money Mammoth Evolutionary Path, Start Here: Building Your Mammoth Foundation, Survival, Types of Insurance Needed, Hunting and Gathering, Savings, Investing & Retirement Plans, Adaptation Versus Extinction, Money Mindsets, Progress Measurement Tools, Your Success, Your Financial Survival Guide, Your Evolution, Becoming Your Money Mammoth, It's Your Time to Evolve, Tge Blue Pill or The Red Pill, PDF, Index, End User License Agreement, List of Tables
Rating as a movie: PG-13 for adult situations
Songs for the soundtrack: "Cheers Theme" by Gary Portnoy and Judy Hart Angelo
Books and Authors mentioned: Dave Ramsey, Good to Great: Why Some Companies Make the Leap...and Others Don't by James C. Collins
My rating: 🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟💰🦣
My thoughts:📱25% 2:04:38 Chapter 5: Your Tribe - This is so good! I'm going to have to reread this. I'm devastated I didn't read it sooner.
📱33% 2:44:51 Chapter 6: Your Instincts - This book is brilliant. The psychology behind these events is astounding.
📱57% 4:48:09 Chapter 10: Your Financial Behaviors - This is the sweet spot of I'm not alert enough to absorb efficiently so I'm taking a break.
This book is great, it is going on the revisit annually list. I highly recommend it. This book doesn't give much financial advice as its goal is to find out your money personality, money scripts, and culture then use the information to meet your financial goals.
Recommend to others: Yes! This is a great start to analyze yourself and your family and decide why you do what you do and if you want to change.
January 1, 2021
As I grow older, I repeatedly discover that others think differently than I do. This shouldn’t surprise me but it does. Money Mammoth uses examples to show that, no matter what your issues with money are, you are not alone. Others also have trouble getting ahead, thinking with a long time horizon, and believing that they deserve financial success.
The most useful discussion for me was the concept of following your tribe. How did your parents and grandparents deal with money issues? The community you live in as a child leaves a strong impression (think about your visits back at holidays and how everyone reverts to their past roles), and if our group is individualistic then we will be too. Knowing the money background of your partner can help you succeed both financially and in a committed relationship. Urban/rural, race and socioeconomic status all play a part. It would be interesting to study the ability to move up the socioeconomic ladder looking through this lens.
What was new to me was the tribe concept, where those who do well are expected to take care of those they left behind. They also self-protect, and I see that in some groups that take in kids that aren’t theirs genetically. This is true for many lower socioeconomic communities, and reading this book helps me better understand the challenges those groups face.
This easy-to-read book is excellent for those looking to learn from solutions others have developed in the behavioral finance field, and I think it would be really helpful for financial advisors who want to better identify characteristics across the wide range of people they meet.
The most useful discussion for me was the concept of following your tribe. How did your parents and grandparents deal with money issues? The community you live in as a child leaves a strong impression (think about your visits back at holidays and how everyone reverts to their past roles), and if our group is individualistic then we will be too. Knowing the money background of your partner can help you succeed both financially and in a committed relationship. Urban/rural, race and socioeconomic status all play a part. It would be interesting to study the ability to move up the socioeconomic ladder looking through this lens.
What was new to me was the tribe concept, where those who do well are expected to take care of those they left behind. They also self-protect, and I see that in some groups that take in kids that aren’t theirs genetically. This is true for many lower socioeconomic communities, and reading this book helps me better understand the challenges those groups face.
This easy-to-read book is excellent for those looking to learn from solutions others have developed in the behavioral finance field, and I think it would be really helpful for financial advisors who want to better identify characteristics across the wide range of people they meet.
September 29, 2022
I didn’t actually complete the book. It wasn’t worth it. I skipped or skimmed significant portions of the book because it was so repetitive.
The authors don’t use inclusive language and they focus on a nuclear family when discussing finances. As someone who has no children nor plans for children, several chapters were easily skipped because I couldn’t see how the information would play into my own life.
Do yourself a favor and choose something else. If you really want to get the concepts of this book, Paula Pant from Afford Anything interviewed the authors several years ago. It’s about a 1 hour episode and I don’t think you’ll miss anything by saving yourself the time.
The authors don’t use inclusive language and they focus on a nuclear family when discussing finances. As someone who has no children nor plans for children, several chapters were easily skipped because I couldn’t see how the information would play into my own life.
Do yourself a favor and choose something else. If you really want to get the concepts of this book, Paula Pant from Afford Anything interviewed the authors several years ago. It’s about a 1 hour episode and I don’t think you’ll miss anything by saving yourself the time.
November 1, 2023
I enjoyed this book. It was a nice combination of behavior economics and personal finance. I am pretty different when it comes to money. I don't think like most people. For that reason I only gave the book 4 stars. The book's audience is more of normal people struggling with understanding money and the discipline it takes to "win". I think for the average person this book would be very helpful. I really didn't find a whole lot applicable to me and I disagree that the average person needs a financial advisor. I did really appreciate the analogy of extinction and the mammoth as well as the steps to cover for a full financial overall. There were also several strategies shared to help gameify savings, investing and money management that would be helpful to the average person. I plan on reading it again soon with the goal of trying some of the exercises.
November 10, 2022
Solid finance principles. Gives good considerations for analyzing your beliefs and habits regarding money, reasons why you hold them and suggestions for moving beyond them (if needed).
Side note on the writing style, not the informational content: They book badly needed a solid foundation editor to minimize repetition. Hence, the 3.0 star rating (content 4.0, writing 2.0).
Side note on the writing style, not the informational content: They book badly needed a solid foundation editor to minimize repetition. Hence, the 3.0 star rating (content 4.0, writing 2.0).
February 3, 2023
Does a good job of making you think of where your relationship and feelings towards money come from. It makes you do a self-inventory of your MoneyScripts and financial flashpoints which allow you to connect some dots on the decisions you make today. This all accomplished in the first half of the book, the second half is pretty redundant.
December 6, 2024
Money mammoth is a great personal finance book. Yes, the advice within its pages is basic financial knowledge. Such as, invest in S&P 500 ETF’s…look into a 529 plan for your kids education, and so on. However, every once in a while it’s good to be reminded of the basics. Four stars is my rating because I personally didn’t really learn something new.
January 7, 2025
Really solid introduction to the psychology of money. More focus on theory than practice (which makes sense, as the authors are academics), but still lots of good nuggets to implement and concepts to consider regarding the blocks that keep us from realizing greater wealth in our lives and passing it on responsibly.
November 22, 2023
Pretty comprehensive look at a persons relationship with money. Appreciated all the talk around the emotions around money and how our environment in our youth influences too. Overall I thought this was one of the better books about money I've read.
April 21, 2021
Honestly...felt like the same kind of information in Rich Dad Poor Dad or How to Become a Millionaire. If you have read those two books, no need to read this.
April 28, 2021
Nothing but personal finance facts from my Creighton capstone professor Dr. Horwitz! Extremely well done - wish every person in America would read this.
April 8, 2023
Book was interesting. But not as interesting as author’s appearances on podcasts.
March 20, 2025
Really smart ideas that I hadn’t considered before.
August 14, 2025
Audio
July 22, 2022
Some new ideas, some old ideas. Psychology is still a ways off from effective self-treatment for deeply rooted habits.
Displaying 1 - 15 of 15 reviews