🤑 How Money Messes With Our Minds

Why Understanding Your Relationship With Money Matters, Quick Quantum Computing 101, Plus — How Long Will These Tariff Policies Last?

Author

Katie Perry
April 05, 2025

Welcome to Tuesday Thursday Saturday! I share a snapshot of trending stories across business, tech, and culture three times a week. Subscribe and tell me what you want to hear about next! - KP

The Big Story: Why Money Makes Us Feel Things

Yesterday, I woke up, did my morning Stocktwits show, and watched a fresh new horror unfold — we were having one of the worst days in the stock market in recent history! A real “maybe don’t look at your 401K” kind of day. 

A word to the wise: If you’re about to do something historically significant, make sure the resulting moniker isn’t ripe for alliteration. This one has staying power!

After lunch, I slammed my laptop shut and hopped on the 7 train to attend Mets Opening Day with my friend Erin. For the record, I’m a Yankees fan, and Juan Soto is a traitor, but I do love a good baseball game. And it was freaking beautiful outside. 

I ate a hot dog, took down a bag of Cracker Jacks and a twenty-dollar Coors Light, and, for a few hours, actually disconnected from the chaos. The Mets won 5-0, and I had a fabulous time participating in the PETE AL-ON-SO chants.

Sheesh. At least it was a tall-boy?

Later that night, I got home. And like a rational adult with absolutely no impulse control, I started doom-scrolling CNBC.com, X, and my stock trading app. YIKES. That was a nice departure while it lasted.

It’s hard not to feel some type of way about money. Money is just a tool, as they say, but in a capitalistic society, it goes deeper than that. Our access to money and our ability to use it directly influence the things we can (or can’t) do in life. And although studies show that after a certain level of security, money doesn’t make us any marginally happier, it still has an emotional hold on each of us.

Behavioral psychologists and economists agree: money taps into some of our most deeply held fears, beliefs, and desires. And those beliefs often trace back to our upbringing, our class background, and the stories we’ve been told (or not told) about what money means.

A few years back, I went to a workshop where I was introduced to some common archetypes for the way different people relate to money. Here’s a quick summary. Which one are you?

Security: “Money keeps me safe.”

If you grew up in a lower-income household, or even one that just felt precarious, you might associate money with safety and survival. That’s not abstract. It’s real. In that context, money isn’t about luxury; it’s about being able to breathe.

  • Behavior: You save diligently, worry about debt, and may avoid risk (even when it’s strategic).

  • Origin: Early exposure to instability or scarcity. Hearing “we can’t afford that” wasn’t just occasional; it was a throughline.

  • Socioeconomic lens: This mindset is especially common among people from working-class or economically insecure backgrounds, where financial shocks (like medical bills or job loss) can change everything.

  • Watch out: Fear can lead to missed opportunities or paralysis, even when you're in a better place than before.

Status: “Money proves I’m successful.”

This mindset often shows up in people who grew up around money, or at least near people who had it. Maybe you felt the need to keep up. Maybe wealth was linked to self-worth, and status symbols weren’t just nice, they were necessary.

  • Behavior: You track titles, income brackets, and brand names. You may equate your value with how nice your apartment is, or what’s in your bank account.

  • Origin: Learned that money buys respect, admiration, and social capital.

  • Socioeconomic lens: People raised in middle- or upper-middle-class environments often internalize this connection between money and merit.

  • Watch out: The chase can be endless. It’s easy to feel like you’re always behind, even when you’re far ahead by most standards.

Control: “Money helps me stay in charge.”

For some people, financial order equals emotional stability. If you grew up in a household where money felt unknown or unpredictable or where decisions didn’t always make sense, then having control over your finances becomes a way to create calm.

  • Behavior: You set budgets, track every dollar, and hate financial surprises.

  • Origin: Control is a response to uncertainty, especially if money conversations growing up were tense or inconsistent.

  • Socioeconomic lens: This shows up across classes but especially in families that swung between feast and famine: people who had “just enough” but not always.

  • Watch out: Rigidity can become isolating. Money becomes something to manage, not something to use with flexibility.

Freedom: “Money lets me do what I want.”

People with this mindset tend to see money as a passport: to leave jobs, to book flights, to say no. If you grew up watching someone make bold choices (or wishing you could), this one might resonate.

  • Behavior: You prioritize flexibility, maybe freelance, and spend on experiences over stuff.

  • Origin: A desire for autonomy, often shaped by watching people either constrained by money or even empowered by it.

  • Socioeconomic lens: People who grew up with relative financial security often develop this mindset because survival wasn't the main concern — choice was.

  • Watch out: You might avoid structure and long-term planning, which can backfire in downturns.

Avoidance: “Money stresses me out, so I’d rather not deal with it.”

Sometimes, money wasn’t talked about at all. Or when it was, it caused fights. In those environments, avoidance becomes self-protection. But that defense mechanism doesn’t hold up long-term.

  • Behavior: You delay paying bills, dread looking at your balance, and feel shame about your financial reality.

  • Origin: Emotional or logistical chaos around money growing up, including conflict, fear, and secrecy.
    Socioeconomic lens: This can show up anywhere but is especially common in households where money was either a source of trauma or taboo.

  • Watch out: Denial has a cost. Avoidance makes small problems bigger and delays your ability to build confidence and control.

So what / now what

When money’s top of mind, we’re not just thinking about stocks and bonds — we’re talking about identity, security, control, and fear. That relationship is emotional. It’s inherited. And it’s not the same for everyone.

Staying informed matters. Being financially literate means paying attention — to the markets, the headlines, the shifts. But sometimes, honestly, the smartest thing you can do is spend four hours in the cheap seats.

Daily Rip Live Recap: Going Deep into Quantum Computing with IonQ CEO Niccolo De Masi

Every weekday, Shay Boloor and I run down the biggest market news and events LIVE on Stocktwits’ morning show, The Daily Rip Live. 

Following Liberation Day on Wednesday, investors faced back-to-back bloody days to end the week. Across financial media and social media, there was a lot of chaos, panic, and confusion. It reminded me of that part in Dumb & Dumber where Lloyd Christmas laments, “…our pets’ HEADS are falling off!”

But before things got REALLY bad, Shay and I were able to sit down with Niccolo De Masi, CEO of IonQ for an extended interview. My big takeaway: If you're still thinking of quantum as some far-off science experiment, you're behind! Quantum computing and networking already have some super interesting real-world applications.

  • Quantum is a national security issue: De Masi says that dominance in quantum computing is a national security imperative. IonQ is working closely with the current administration and several government bodies already. I asked if there were countries or bodies they wouldn’t work with based on this context, and he said yes. $IONQ ( â–˛ 1.8% )  

  • Quantium isn’t just a "science experiment." De Masi explains that IonQ is selling real systems to real customers like the U.S. Air Force, Microsoft, Amazon, and more. This differs from other quantum companies that are more in R&D mode. What’s interesting about companies in this space, he points out, is that the nature of work makes it difficult for them to promote and market, which is why you might not always hear specifics about it. Sound familiar, $PLTR ( â–˛ 4.64% )

  • About the tech: IonQ is known for their small, room-temp machines that don't need cooling tech — which means they could eventually sit in drones or satellites. It's not just hardware, though. De Masi says they're building a full-stack ecosystem.

Hear Shay and I yap about the markets every weekday at 9 a.m. ET on X (@stocktwits), YouTube, LinkedIn, or in your Stocktwits app. Follow me there — I’m @stocktwitsKP!

Now Here’s a Chart

How long will these new tariff policies last? One Goldman Sachs wealth manager issued an investor survey on Friday, and the results (via 240 clients) were ALL OVER THE PLACE.

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Tuesday Thursday Saturday is written by Katie Perry, owner of Ursa Major Media, which provides fractional marketing services and strategy in software, tech, consumer products, professional services, and other industries. She is also the co-host of Stocktwits’ Daily Rip Live show.

Disclaimer: The contents here reflect recaps and summaries of pre-reported or published data, news, and trends. I have cited sources and context for the information provided to the best of my ability. The purpose of the newsletter is to inform and educate on larger trends shaping business and culture — this is NOT investment advice. As an investor, you should always do your own research before making any decisions about your money or your portfolio.