Financial stress and anxiety

We came across a recent article which revealed that around half of the people surveyed suffered from financial anxiety or stress. This means that as long as at least 2 people read this someone should recognise themselves in the study.

Is it you? 😧

The terms Stress and Anxiety are often used interchangeably. They are linked, but may not necessarily be the same. For now, we’re happy they are close enough and will use the term ‘financial anxiety’ throughout.

Money, or lack of it, can have a major effect on our physical and mental health. Having insufficient money to enjoy safe housing, put food on the table for family or pay heating bills is clearly an appalling position to be in.

Most of us don’t face that pressure on a daily basis, but still, we suffer from financial anxiety. How can that be?

Here are a few thoughts:

• My parents taught me that money doesn’t grow on trees
• Money is the root of all evil
• I don’t deserve to have a lot of money
• We need to keep up with family and friends
• I can’t let our children down
• My partner looks after the finances
• I don’t have enough time/knowledge to sort out my money
• I feel ashamed of how much debt we have
• I’m afraid of not having enough money in retirement

As with most things the internet can be a blessing or a curse. It gives us access to all the information we need to change our bank accounts, set up savings, investment and pension plans, get the best deals on products.

But it also can lead to paralysis caused by information overload, where there is just so much detail it becomes impossible to see a clear path through the jungle. Conversely, it is easy to avoid making a decision until we have just a little more knowledge.

Social media reinforces this by constantly bombarding us with images of other people, so we end up making decisions based on the lifestyles of those who are, or appear to be, more successful than us, rather than because they reflect our own beliefs, values, aspirations and plans.

Whatever the situation there is always emotion involved in how we respond to where we are and where we would like to be. We might like to pretend we are making logical decisions, but this is rarely true.

At Serenity, we believe it is necessary to have these conversations to help you overcome your fear, shame and anger.

• We provide a safe space to talk about money and the emotions it evokes
• We provide support to help you move through the current problems
• We appreciate the efforts you make to move forward
• We help you identify and build a plan to get you to where you want to be
• We encourage you to take small positive steps
• We help you build your confidence around money

Together we can replace financial anxiety with financial confidence.

Ian Kemp – Financial Life Planner