The rest of us probably couldn't get along without givers. These are the volunteers, donors to charity and friends indeed. Givers feel good taking care of other people. They buy gifts for friends that they would never buy for themselves. They deny themselves so they can leave something for the children. They put time, energy and money into what they believe in. For some of them, having money is almost a sin, and the only proper thing to do with it is give it away. But for most, there's just a lot of pleasure in making other people happy or doing good.

Danger zones: Givers can get into trouble when they ignore their own needs. Tempting as it may be to help your kids buy their first homes, if you're doing it at the expense of your own retirement income, you could end up a burden to them in the long run. You might also be creating dependent children who never find out how to take care of money because there's always more where that came from.