Are You Financially Offence or Defense?

Over the years I read many financial books, attended seminars, and been in financial professions so I’ve heard many ways to classify people and their habits.  Recently I was listening to something (sorry I don’t remember what) but they used the term Financial Offence and Defense. I had never heard the term before and it has mulled in my brain for days. The more I contemplate the idea the more I realize it is awesome so I wanted to share it with you.

Offence is the ability and focus on making money. Defense is the ability to manage the money frugally and wisely. Now with that simple definition think of a number of people you know including yourself. Which category do they fall into?  Me, I’m by far a natural defense player. Any name or family member I can think of I can immediately decide which player they are. Cool isn’t it?

Now for the interesting part. We naturally gravitate to those things that are easy to us and are our inclination. For example, since I am a defense player I always read and attempt to figure out how to be a better defense player. But, what I realize is that I need to learn more about offensive if I want to improve my game. Make sense?

I recently read The Millionaire Next Door. One of the things that was interesting was that it mentioned that the husband was usually the primary wage earner (offence) and the wife was usually frugal and managed the money (defense). Between the two of them they were a winning team.

Isn't this is exciting? I like simple things. When we remove all the sales pitches, long explanations, and personal analysis of why we do what we do just give us the simple answer and we can go with it.

Knowing this, isn’t it easy to see why some individuals or couples are more successful than others? Now I’m not talking about the gamblers, big spenders, and those with obvious financial flaws. This is for the hard working, diligent people who can never seem to get ahead. Maybe they are losing the game because they have not recognized or worked on the area they lack so they keep missing the touchdowns.

I would be very interested in knowing what the readers would call themselves so I hope you will humor me and write it in the comments. You can put anonymous if you don’t want your name out there. My guess is that most In The Trenches readers are defense. Why? Because you are reading blogs about frugal living, saving money, and cutting back. If you were offense you would be probably be reading about how to invest a dollar to make a million in a month. Am I right?