Mindset Matters.

Get to know the six Money Mind States that shape how clients think, decide, and plan. By understanding where each client is at any moment, you can tailor conversations, recommendations, and next steps to their mindset. The result is stronger relationships and more effective Financial Blueprints for Life that stay relevant every time you meet and as clients’ needs evolve.

Six Mind States in Sixty Seconds

If you recognize some of your clients in the video, explore the 6 Money Mind States more deeply below. Learn how you can best support clients’ goals, whatever mind state they’re in.

Learn how to use the 6 Money Mind States to create distinct plans for diverse clients.

Liberated

Prioritizing

Drifting

Juggling

Freewheeling

Firefighting

Liberated

Confident, debt-free, and focused on living life. Comfortably covering wants and needs, free of major debt, and feeling in control of long-term plans.

How to position their Financial Blueprint for Life:
A Financial Blueprint for Life means protecting freedom and choice. It’s about staying flexible, sustaining income, and supporting new chapters like travel, purpose, or working differently without financial stress or second-guessing. They want a future full of options for themselves and their families.

How to build a good relationship:
Build trust by respecting what they’ve already achieved. Acknowledge their confidence, avoid overexplaining, and position yourself as a partner who helps protect the momentum they have started. Work as a team, cocreating the future.

Three critical questions to ask:

What does freedom look like for you now?
How do you want your money to support your lifestyle as it evolves?
What would you like to protect most going forward?

How they think

Money is a way to support the life they want, not something to worry about constantly. Planning feels familiar and reassuring. The goal is staying flexible, protecting what’s been built, and keeping options open as life continues to evolve. Life is for living.

What they're feeling

How they behave

Prioritizing

Put long term goals first. Sacrifice now to secure the future.Focused on achievement and doing what’s best for family; willing to delay fun to reach financial goals.

What a Financial Blueprint for Life means:
A Financial Blueprint for Life is a clear, disciplined plan that supports family, responsibility, and long-term goals. It creates confidence that today’s sacrifices are building flexibility and security for the future.

How to build a good relationship:
Respect for their discipline and values. Be practical, structured, and outcomes-focused. Reinforce that planning doesn’t limit options but it creates more control and clarity over time.

Three critical questions to ask:

What are you working toward right now?
Who are you planning for beyond yourself?
How do you want today’s decisions to shape your options later in life?

How they think

Money is about responsibility and long-term outcomes. Planning is how important goals become reality. Short-term sacrifices make sense when they protect family, stability, and future freedom. A clear plan brings structure to an otherwise uncertain financial landscape.

What they're feeling

How they behave

Drifting

They know they should plan more seriously for the future but struggle to make the decisions on which to base those plans. Aware that finances need attention, but don’t feel a sense of urgency. Think about getting organized but can’t get started.

What a Financial Blueprint for Life means:
A Financial Blueprint for Life should feel like a gentle starting point and not a rigid plan. It helps turn vague intentions into manageable steps without forcing big decisions before they feel ready.

How to build a good relationship:
Lower the pressure. Be patient, reassuring, and focused on progress over perfection. Help them feel understood before asking for commitment or change.

Three critical questions to ask:

What’s been on your mind about the future lately?
What feels hardest to get started with?
What would feeling more organized actually change for you?

How they think

The future matters, but it feels vague and easy to postpone. Planning makes sense in theory, yet decisions feel hard to start. There’s always time to get organized; just not right now.

What they're feeling

How they behave

Juggling

Managing debt smartly to avoid making compromises. Treats debt as a tool; moves money around to create flexibility and keep life running without giving things up.

What a Financial Blueprint for Life means:
A Financial Blueprint for Life should provide structure without rigidity. It helps balance competing priorities, manage tradeoffs, and create breathing room without forcing them to give up the life they’re maintaining in the short term. They need to feel the benefits of structure in small steps before they will feel ready to do more.

How to build a good relationship:
Acknowledge how much they’re already managing. Be practical and flexible. Focus on simplification, tradeoff management, and reducing financial friction rather than chasing perfection.

Three critical questions to ask:

What feels hardest to keep balanced right now?
Where do you feel the most financial pressure?
What would make things feel easier month to month?

How they think

Money is something to actively manage. Planning is about keeping things moving without giving anything up. Flexibility matters more than simplicity, even if it means constant adjustments and tradeoffs.

What they're feeling

How they behave

Freewheeling

Live in the moment, overlook future consequences, and continue taking on debt. Financial planning feels far off, they’ll handle whatever financial issues they have when they are forced to do so.

How to position their Financial Blueprint for Life:
A Financial Blueprint for Life feels like optional guardrails, not restrictions. It creates future flexibility while still supporting freedom, experiences, and the ability to adapt as life changes.

How to build a good relationship:
Avoid judgment and heavy structure. Keep conversations conversational and future-focused. Emphasize choice, flexibility, and how small decisions today can have big and positive impacts in a future of true financial freedom.

Three critical questions to ask:

What do you want more of right now?
How do you see work fitting into your future?
What would you want in place if life changed suddenly?

How they think

Life is for now, not later. Money supports experiences in the present, and planning feels restrictive. The future can be dealt with when it arrives.

What they're feeling

How they behave

Firefighting

Financially and emotionally stressed. Living month-to-month, juggling late bills, counting days until payday. Feel that they are moving from crisis to crisis and don’t have the mental energy to plan ahead. No clear pathway out of their current situation.

What a Financial Blueprint for Life means:
A Financial Blueprint for Life represents relief and stability. It’s less about the distant future and more about creating control, predictability, and a path out of constant financial stress.

How to build a good relationship:
Lead with empathy. Simplify everything. Focus on listening first, reducing immediate pressure, and helping them regain confidence before introducing longer-term planning concepts.

Three critical questions to ask:

What feels most stressful right now?
What would make things feel more manageable?
What’s the first small win that would help you breathe easier?

How they think

Today matters more than tomorrow. Financial planning feels impossible when immediate needs take priority. Long-term thinking feels overwhelming and out of reach.

What they're feeling

How they behave

10 years of research

The Money Mind States framework is based on a 10-year longitudinal study by Jackson's research partner, Metia. It uses rigorous ethnographic research, advanced data-science techniques and observation of actual behaviors to reveal the mind states that shape how people think, feel and act when it comes to financial planning. Mind states aren't static; clients may shift their mind states as their lives change. Understanding these states helps you meet clients where they are today and build financial blueprints that evolve along with their outlooks.

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