Weekend Reading: Ten Insights from the Originator of Financial Therapy

This article appears as part of Casey Weade's Weekend Reading for Retirees series. Every Friday, Casey highlights four hand-picked articles on trending retirement topics and delivers them straight to your email inbox. Get on the list here.
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Weekend Reading

The behavior and decisions you make around money root far deeper than you might ever realize.

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Believe it or not, there are psychological reasons you make one financial choice over another, which is why many individuals turn to financial therapy for guidance in learning to address any negative money mannerisms.

Understanding your money mindset: Often times, you may be unaware of how your emotions play into your financial actions, but here, you will find noteworthy words of wisdom from the practicing founder of financial therapy, Bari Tessler. Of the ten takeaways, several include:

📌 “Most of us never received an education in financial literacy or emotional literacy.” – These skills are not learned, but inherited, which means you have to make a conscious choice to acquire both.

📌 “Money is an emotional subject.” – Statistics say we make 80 percent to 100 percent of all money decisions based on emotion.

📌 “Money shame is real.” – At one point or another, we have all felt shame around money. These feelings can often originate from our childhood, only to resurface as a driver of our money behavior as an adult. The key is to address the shame, pinpoint why it’s there and learn to cultivate new financial behavior.

📌 “Your body has a lot to say about money.” – Pay attention to your body’s physical reaction to financial decisions, such as shoulder tension or a “gut feeling”.

📌 “Money can be deeply meaningful.” – It can help create experiences with people that make life worthwhile, not to mention, bring you security and peace of mind.

Look inward: Question your financial decisions, motivations and emotions by looking at them from the outside in. Ask yourself: How might others view these things? Does this decision REALLY make sense?