I’m a Financial Advisor: Here’s How I Conquered My Biggest Financial Fear
Maybe you stare at your student loan balance every month with eyes befitting a horror movie heroine about to face down the big baddie.
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Maybe retirement is your nightmare fuel, and you imagine tarnished golden years. Or maybe you live with the memories of a childhood watching your parents struggle to make ends meet.
Every day, you read sites like GOBankingRates, wishing that you were as confident and savvy about money as our experts. However, you might be surprised to know that even financial experts have experienced their own shares of anxieties about money.
We asked several experts about their own financial fears and learned that the experts have had to overcome many of the same blocks that average people do. Fortunately, they also have the knowledge to help themselves — and you — overcome those fears.
Using a Passion for Knowledge To Overcome Fear
Today, Naomi Strong is a finance expert and writer confidently sharing her advice on topics ranging from day trading to making money online. But she wasn’t always so assured.
Watching her family struggle during childhood made her fearful that she would repeat the same patterns moving into adulthood.
Strong realized that the only way to heal her fears around financial insecurity was to learn more about money management. So, she started analyzing her own habits around money, while also adding extra income streams.
“My fear of living with money troubles outweighed any anxiety I had about starting the process, and this mindset helped me get started without feeling overwhelmed by anxiety,” said Strong.
Most importantly, she tapped into her skills as a writer and researcher to not only discover more about financial literacy, but to generate more income.
Soon, she was putting extra funds into high-yield savings accounts and opening brokerage accounts. Strong used her own passions to guide her in writing books and providing financial planning for families.
For other people who might be starting their financial knowledge journeys from a place of fear, Strong had this advice: “The discomfort you’re feeling now from not addressing your relationship with money will only grow into ongoing pain until you take the steps to resolve it.”
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Getting Creative to Heal Childhood Anxiety About Money
When Hazel Secco, Certified Financial Planner (CFP), Certified Divorce Financial Analyst (CDFA), president and founder of Align Financial Solutions, LLC, was a child, she discovered first-hand the pain of living with financial insecurity.
Secco witnessed her mother endure an abusive relationship while also serving as the primary breadwinner which deeply influenced her own relationship with money.
As Secco developed her expertise in finance, she came to understand that having a lot of money doesn’t always guarantee peace of mind. Instead, having clear goals and a plan for achieving them is essential to long-term financial health.
To work through fears around losing money, especially related to sudden financial or life events, Secco uses mindfulness exercises and visual strategies.
“Ultimately, we can all strive to plan as best as we can, while trusting in higher guidance for the rest,” added Secco.
Even Financial Experts Worry About Student Loans
Millions of Americans have student loan debt, including many people who go on to become financial advisors and experts. The prospect of paying back student loans, especially when they come in several batches from different lenders, can feel daunting.
Confronted by his own student loan debt, Scott Lieberman, the founder of TouchdownMoney, decided to find an approach that helped him build confidence and even have a little fun with the process.
He applied Dave Ramsey’s “Debt Snowball” approach to his own student loans. This, he said, “made the payments feel like a fun game and challenge and not so overwhelming.”
Sometimes, even the triumph of paying off student loans can come with unexpected feelings of anxiety.
When Carter Seuthe, the CEO of Credit Summit Debt Consolidation, made the final payment on his student loans, he was hit with a sudden feeling of “what now?” He felt slightly overwhelmed by the feeling of being debt-free after so many years.
“Once I finally had no student loan debt to repay, I became more concerned about accumulating other kinds of debt or making poor decisions,” he continued. “I wanted to be smart with the money I no longer had to put toward debt repayment, but I’d gotten so used to my loans.”
With time and some additional guidance, Seuthe’s fears eased. But his story shows that even moments of achievement can require an internal recalibration.
Financial Experts Also Worry About Inflation
Though Thomas Brock, a Certified Financial Analyst (CFA) and Certified Public Accountant (CPA), is an expert contributor and reviewer for Annuity.org, with over 20 years of experience across investments, corporate finance, and accounting, he wasn’t immune from worries about inflation.
Brock says that the spike in inflation from 2021 to 2022 caused him significant anxiety. To manage the increased cost of living, he had to make some adjustments to his budget.
However, Brock also took a high-level view of his finances, specifically the impact high inflation could have on his cash reserve and the fixed income portion of his investment portfolio. Acting quickly, he substantially increased his investments in floating-rate bank loans via a mutual fund.
With some foresight and planning, he was able to surmount his fears and produce a nearly 10% yield.
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This article originally appeared on GOBankingRates.com: I’m a Financial Advisor: Here’s How I Conquered My Biggest Financial Fear
