‘I don’t have time to learn about money’

ONE of the greatest obstacles people face when it comes to finance is taking the time to properly understand it.

What would you say to someone like me who does not have the time or interest to learn about finance?

I know we could be doing better. We are getting by fine, we earn well, but we do not know what we are doing with our finances, so I am sure there are opportunities we are missing (like investing). But between my job and raising kids, I do not have the time or the interest to dedicate to figuring it all out.

Response: I would say this is the greatest obstacle most people face on the journey to fixing their finances.

One of the greatest obstacles people face when it comes to finance is taking the time to properly understand it.

Contrary to what most people think, it is not the journey itself that is hard. So many people think that figuring out your finances must be complicated.

But for most people, the biggest challenge is not the journey itself. It is the resistance they have to even starting the journey. Years of avoidance and procrastination keep them stuck.

Some would say the short, quick answer is: Hire a financial adviser to sort it out for you. I do not quite agree.

You are always better off having a basic understanding of your finances, even when working with a professional. This lends itself to a healthier client-professional relationship, where you can ask good questions, understand the advice given to you and take part in decision making.

I am not a fan of fully and blindly outsourcing your finances to a professional without even a basic understanding of how finance works because this can leave you vulnerable and dependent. At the end of the day, it is your money. No one will care about it as much as you.

So, today, I want to challenge you to think a little differently about how you are approaching this.

1. Is it really a “lack of time” that is the problem?

The way we spend time says a lot about what is important to us, and what we value. I am not saying you are not busy, or you are making excuses. But if you really wanted to, if it were really a priority, you would likely be able to find half an hour a week.

You might not be interested in the subject of finance, but you likely are interested in financial security and success.

So, can you not find half an hour a week? Or are you choosing to spend that half an hour a week on something else? Usually, time is just the easiest reason to give ourselves because who can argue with that? There are only 24 hours in a day, so if you are out of time . . . not much you can do about it, right? But when you dig a little deeper, often you will find out that the real reason is something else. What is stopping you from finding half an hour a week for your finances?

Is it that you are scared of what you will find if you sit down and look at your money? Is it a fear that it is going to be too complicated, and you will not get it? Is it that you do not want to feel the anxiety that comes up when you realise you have no idea what you are doing?

How would your actions towards the task change if you started to recognise and appreciate the enormous impact it could have on your life?

2. You do not need to be interested in finance.

The entertainment industry paints a very specific image of what a finance person looks like. It looks like Leonardo Di Caprio in “Wolf of Wall Street”, or Damien Lewis in“Billions”. They wear slick suits, they are money-hungry and they love the game. But you do not have to be passionate about finance to manage your money well. You do not need to love watching finance news, or enjoy tinkering with spreadsheets.

No one enjoys things they are bad at. It is painful to be bad at something. It is embarrassing. It hurts our ego. So, we avoid it like the plague. But that is the hardest bit. Getting over the discomfort of being bad at it. Eventually, you will realise that even though you are not interested in the subject of finance, you are, in fact, very interested in the outcome of financial security and success. That is a pretty good reason to develop an interest in your finances. Don’t you think so?

Paridhi Jain is the founder of SkilledSmart, which helps adults learn to manage, save and invest their money through financial education courses and classes.