Conquer six financial fears

Deep down, are you frightened of money? Here’s what you need to know to address your anxiety

FOR many Australians the major hurdle to building real wealth is not the performance of investment markets … it’s what’s happening in their head – how they control their f inancial fears.

All of us are governed by basic human emotions … vanity, lust, greed, fear, joy, sadness. When it comes to matters of money, fear is often the overwhelming emotion which can destroy our ability to manage our finances properly.

Understanding those fears, and knowing how to overcome them, can be both a liberating experience and a critical turning point in building wealth. Here are six biggest financial fears that we see holding people back and how to conquer them. MONEY IS TOO COMPLICATED The fear of not understanding and being made to feel a fool is so common when it comes to dealing with financial matters. It is basically an automatic surrender to have anything to do with any money decision.

They want someone else to do it and, as a result, they take no responsibility for what eventually happens. They don’t read the fine print of investments, they aren’t willing to educate themselves or learn from experiences or others.

Change your thinking. Believe us, money isn’t complicated. It’s common sense. Challenge yourself to learn about the different parts of your financial life. Do it slowly. WHAT IF I MAKE A MISTAKE? We all make mistakes. That’s life. The best we can do is limit the damage and rectify it as quick as we can. But for many people, this fear of making a mistake paralyses them from making any decisions at all.

Keeping your money in a bank savings account earning incredibly low interest, or under the mattress, means you will go backwards financially as your cash is ravaged by inflation.

There are tools and strategies to minimise risk while maximising returns.

Good advice and a diverse portfolio of investments will help overcome this fear. I’LL GET FIRED AND NEVER HAVE ENOUGH During high unemployment or underemployment this is a very common fear. A regular wage becomes a financial lifeline on which we all depend and fear losing. It can mean we are stuck in jobs we hate or are too scared to ask for a pay rise.

To overcome this fear, it’s important to have a back- up plan. Assess the future prospects of your employer. If the outlook isn’t so bright, start looking at what else you could do. Target potential new employers and start developing new skills to transition to a new career.

Just having a well thought out back- up plan will control your fears.