Most people don’t like to talk about money – they don’t like to talk about it wtih their spouse. they don’t like to talk about it with their kids and they don’t like to talk about it with their friends.
Why is that?
There’s two driving factors that make money a taboo topic:
#1 Negative Attitude About Money
About 80% were raised either in poverty or the middle-class. For this 80%, money is rarely abundant and more often a scarce commodity. When you’re raised in a home where money scarcity is a common issue, you bear witness to the palpable stress money issues cause your parents and the household. You witness the effects of financial stress, which manifests itself in the form of parental fights over money.
These fights about money create a toxic atmosphere within the household. Consequently, most children grow up thinking about money in a negative emotional way.
As adults, these negative emotions automatically create money stress, and this money stress rears its ugly head every time the topic of money pops up.
Whenever the topic of money pops up, so too does the stress they experienced in their childhood.
So, as adults, in order to avoid this stress, they put up a Chinese fire wall around themselves, whenever the topic of money is raised. This wall is a defense mechanism that helps keep the childhood money stress away.
Even worse, this wall further manifests the habit of not dealing with money issues at all. as adults.
#2 No Plan
Because most adults are infected during childhood with a negative money mindset that prevents them from dealing with money issues, they fail to plan. This is why most people don’t have a financial plan.
The great irony is this – having a financial plan is an antidote to a negative money mindset. Having a financial plan empowers you, by allowing you to confront the fear of dealing with money issues, enabling you to overcome your childhood fears surrounding money.
A financial plan helps you focus, in a positive way, on your future. It gives you the courage to direct your attention on your finances, efficiently and effectively.
Overcoming the fear that a negative money mindset creates is very empowering.
Plus, if you’re married, it creates a powerful financial partnership that helps to keep that childhood fear of money on the shelf.
Lastly, and this is very important, with a financial plan, the amount of time required of you will be less than one hour a month. Financial plans create efficiency, in dealing with money.
Tom Corley is an accountant, financial planner, public speaker, and author of the books “Effort-Less Wealth: Smart Money Habits At Every Stage of Your Life” and “RichKids: How to Raise Our Children to Be Happy and Successful in Life“. Corley’s work has appeared on CNN, USA Today, The Huffington Post, SUCCESS Magazine, and many other media outlets and podcasts in the U.S. and 27 other countries. Tom is a frequent contributor to Business Insider and CNBC.
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