Well, there's a difference between bragging rights and information sharing. If a friend wants to discuss what kind of portfolio allocation is appropriate for their age and assets, that's a different 'personal finance' question than "how much money did you make last year?"
I'm always nagging people to get their legal docs done which is an important part of financial planning, IMHO.
I've never been averse to discussing money because to me money is not a big deal. I know many people who have less, OTOH I personally know many people who have a lot more. I've never identified it as part of my self-image, so I never understood why anyone would care what my salary was (I never made a secret about what I earned), or what I have now. I feel I'm lucky to be where I am. It's nothing to boast about, or even worth boasting of. 50% of it was hard work and planning, but at least 50% of it was luck.
Mind you, luck can be good OR bad. Fortunately for us, the good luck outweighed than the bad!
I'd rather be open about money. My sister is very competitive about spending, which is absurd in my eyes. She's a divorced single mother without a pension. I'm in a long-term, very happy marriage, we were DINKIES (remember that one? Double Income No Kids), my spouse has a generous state pension with amazing benefits. We can spend every cent we receive, and we receive a goodly # of them; she has to watch her expenditures and budget carefully. She and I inherited nothing from our parents; my spouse and I just inherited his mother's entire estate.
But to her, if I spend $200 on her, she MUST spend $200 on us...despite the fact we have twice the amount of annual income and four times the total assets. Despite discussing this with her, she refuses to change. So we carefully keep "The Balance" even between us, in a mental checkbook.
I find this fatiguing, actually. To the point where I'd rather not even offer to get together. We have a pair of younger friends who have spent the last four years pulling themselves out a huge financial hole - and I mean really, really big. They sweated and budgeted and chipped away at it, and are finally getting themselves to a positive point in their lives.
We enjoy spending time with them and often pick up the tab when we go out. Why? Because we have discussed money and personal finances with them. We're very proud of the hard work they did, and even in retirement we have substantially more money to spend than they do. They have their pride; they pick up the smaller expenses, but when it's a big expense, we usually insist that we pick up the tab. We told them to keep saving as much $$$ as possible, because those years of indebtedness made them fall behind where they should be in retirement savings.
Being able to discuss money frankly with our friends was easier than discussing it with my sister. Her pride refuses to let her give in despite all logic. When I was younger, I had older friends/family treat me to many nice restaurants or special events. I can't repay those people for their kindness and generosity. I think it's only fair, now that we're in a good position, to be equally generous to others. But it only works for those who don't equate money with self-worth, I guess.
