Taking risk in investing is very much a reflection of your personality. That may not surprise you if you have always been the adventurous type, but even so the answers of how you feel about different kinds of risk differs. For instance, a skydiver who puts his or her life on the line, may actually be a very, very conservative investor.

Traditionally, a financial salesperson will help a client think about the amount of risk they are willing to accept when they invest through a risk tolerance test. A client may be presented with various charts and diagrams showing how various asset classes have performed during different market periods. The client then selects the volatility quotient that they feel the most comfortable with.

It has always been known that investors have rational and emotional sides to their viewpoint of money. Some experienced US advisors not only use the classic risk tolerance model to assess their client?s tolerance, but they also test their client?s investment temperaments.

According to Ann Perry, in an article for www.thestreet.com on September 8, 2004, one of the most interesting websites to review for discovering this new type of you is www.advisorteam.com. This website represents a huge leap in the learning process of understanding behavioural finance, and works on the theory that investors tend to invest far more based upon their basic temperament than by rational logical understanding of markets.

Advisorteam.com has a very interesting online self-test called Temperament Sorter (available for free) which is used by academics, corporate human resource personnel, and independent counselling services for not only investing but career guidance, premarital/post marital counselling and conflict resolution in the work place.

It takes just a few minutes to take the test, which then places you in one of four categories. Keep in mind that this is not a test of good or bad traits, but another way to understand yourself and your attitudes.

You may be even more surprised to find not even one reference to investing your money. Take the test and find out which of four temperament types you are:

Guardian: Cornerstones of society, serving and preserving the most important social institutions. They follow the rules and cooperate with others.

Artisan: Impulsive, competitive and believe in luck. They resist being tied down or confined. Live for today, not tomorrow.

Rationals: Logical and fiercely independent thinkers they will tackle all problems, but are sceptical of all ideas, even their own.

Idealists: Passionately concerned with personal growth and development, idealists always want to discover who they are and how then can improve. They are gifted in helping others find their way in life.

In investing, guardians live up to their name, being very conservative investors. Rationals (surprise) and artisans are the biggest risk takers.

Find out what your temperament is. Here are a few of the 70 questions to whet your appetite:

Temperament Sorter

1. Are you inclined to be more:

Hurried than leisurely

Leisurely than hurried

2. In making up your mind are you more likely to go by:

Data

Desires

3. Does interacting with strangers:

Tax your reserves

Energise you

4. Is it preferable mostly to:

Just let things happen naturally

Make sure things are arranged

5. In a heated discussion do you:

Stick to your guns

Look for common ground

6. At work do you tend to:

Keep more to yourself

Be sociable with your colleagues

7. At work, is it more natural for you to:

Try to please others

Point out mistakes

8. Which is more of a compliment:

?There?s a logical person?

?There?s a sentimental person?

9. Is it worse to:

Have your head in the clouds

Be in a rut

@$:

10. Do you think of yourself as a:

Tough-minded person

Tender-hearted person

11. Do you like writers who:

Say what they mean

Use metaphors and symbolism

12. Which do you wish more for yourself:

Strength of emotion

Strength of will

13. Children often do not:

Exercise their fantasy enough

Make themselves useful enough

14. Do you prefer contracts to be:

Settled on a handshake

Signed, sealed, and delivered

15. Do you more often see:

What?s right in front of you

What can only be imagined

16. Are you prone to:

Exploring the possibilities

Nailing things down

17. Are you drawn more to:

Fundamentals

Overtones

18. Do you tend to choose:

Rather carefully

Somewhat impulsively

19. Are you more comfortable in making:

Value judgments

Critical judgments

20. At a party, do you:

Interact with a few friends

Interact with many, even strangers

The sorter consists of 70 questions and will take about ten minutes to complete.

Your responses should reflect ?the real you?, not the way you want to be, think you should be, or are asked to be by someone else.

You may skip any question you are unsure of. However, if you don?t provide enough responses for the system to calculate a result, you will be prompted to answer a few more questions.

There are no right or wrong answers.

There are no right or wrong personality types.

Try this website today. www.advisorteam.com