Oliver Schnusenberg Ph.D., CFP®, BFATM was born in Germany, where he lived until 1989, when he moved to the U.S. In 1993, he received his B.S. degree in Hospitality Management from Lynn University in Boca Raton, FL. He has since completed an MBA degree with a specification in Accountancy from the University of Illinois and received a Ph.D. in Finance from Florida Atlantic University.
Oliver has taught at St. Joseph’s University in Philadelphia and is currently an Earle C. Traynham Professor of Finance at the University of North Florida. His work, which focuses primarily on Behavioral Finance, is published in a variety of journals, including the Journal of Financial Research, Energy Economics, and the Journal of Behavioral Finance. Oliver has co-authored a book entitled Closed-End Funds, Exchange-Traded Funds, and Hedge Funds, which was published by Springer in 2009.
Since 2014, Oliver has obtained the CFP® and BFATM designations as well as the Psychology in Financial Planning Specialist Badge. He teaches in the Finance and Financial Planning majors at UNF and is a member of the Financial Therapy Association and the Institute for Financial Wellbeing. He is a certified life coach and certified in neuropsychotherapy.
In 2024, Oliver founded Equilibria Evolution, which transforms client’s financial lives through neurofinance. Oliver lives in Jacksonville with his wife Lynda.
How would you summarise your passions?
My passion is facilitating values-based and goal-driven personal development and well-being, whether that’s in the classroom or during financial and life coaching. In today’s world, it’s very easy to be overwhelmed by noise and let life drive you rather than the other way around.
What’s your happiest memory?
There are many, but my happiest memory is getting married to my wife Lynda in 2007. We met on the University of North Florida campus in 2005, where she was a student shortly after I started working there as an assistant professor (the equivalent of a lecturer in the UK). I was immediately attracted to her smile and quiet demeanour. Lynda worked at the Mayo Clinic for 35 years and recently retired from there in 2022.
I also have a very happy memory of driving to Colorado one winter break with my college roommate, Kim. It must have been 1990 or 1991. We have to cross a pass over the Rocky Mountains and had to stop to put chains on the car. There wasn’t a single other car around. The car was off and it was extremely quiet. Looking up, the sky was full with thousands of stars. That was probably the most peaceful moment I have experienced.
What do you wish you’d been told about finance when you were 15?
That you need just enough to do everything you want to do. Everything else is garnish.
What made you want to work in finance?
I entered the field of finance on the academic side and changed my major from accounting to finance. I found finance research to be much more alive and relevant than accounting research. I also liked the inherent uncertainty of finance. While there are theories for everything, we can’t usually explain or forecast something with a high degree of certainty.
How did this lead to you becoming a financial coach?
There are many reasons, but first and foremost the lack of financial literacy, especially among young people. Driven by neuromarketing, companies are much smarter than we are when it comes to our decision-making and know how to get us to spend money. I think everyone needs a financial coach or someone to advise them to take some of that decision-making power back.
What prompted you to join the Institute for Financial Wellbeing?
I live in the US, but am German by birth. I’m a member of the Financial Therapy Association (FTA) and had the pleasure of hearing Chris Budd speak at the FTA conference in May of this year. I found out about the institute through him and have found that membership to be a good complement to the FTA.
How do you feel financial wellbeing is developing as a concept in North America?
That’s an interesting question, as I don’t think there is one definition that fits everything that’s being done in the field. An overarching concept is perhaps a holistic view of financial health that encompasses all aspects of a person’s life and how they manage their financial resources to support their current and future needs.
As such, it includes financial security, financial literacy, psychological and emotional aspects, social and cultural contexts, personal values and priorities, and long-term financial planning. Financial wellbeing is now understood to be much broader than the focus of just financial security from decades ago.
In my opinion, every financial decision has both a financial component and an emotional component, and we pay too much attention to the financial component and not enough attention to the emotional component.
What is your top tip for someone wanting to improve their financial wellbeing?
The best starting point is to identify what your values are. Based on these values, what are the goals you’re trying to accomplish? How much money do you need to get there? This changes throughout one’s lifetime, of course, but once you know your values, identify how each decision you make contributes to your goals based on your values or not. This will result in a life where you live in alignment, and your values, goals, and actions are congruent with each other.
Who or what is your favourite wellbeing guru, podcast or book?
There are many, but if I had to pick one, it would probably be Vicki Robin’s and Joe Dominguez’s book Your Money or Your Life.
To a lesser extent, Bill Perkins’ Die With Zero.
I think both books are essential in understanding what the purpose of money is (to facilitate living our lives), rather than making money itself the end goal.
What are you doing to advance your own financial wellbeing?
I am a lifelong learner. I teach Behavioral Finance and have developed the first undergraduate class of that nature in the State University System in Florida. However, I always felt that understanding our decision-making on a neurological level is extremely important. I’m currently pursuing an MSc in Psychology and Neuroscience in Mental Health from King’s College London to better understand the neurological basis of financial decision-making, which is studied in the emerging field of neurofinance.
What do you love to do when you’re not working?
I love to read and listen to podcasts. In the words of my wife, I am a darn good cook and cake baker.
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