Behavioral Wealth Building: The Real Solution To Financial Stress

To build a healthy relationship with money, you must have a good understanding of your financial behaviors.

Some people with little money have big problems and need help to manage their money. Others go looking for a financial planner — but some mistakenly think they need someone to help them when the problem is that they don’t know how (or even if) what or where to begin. But what they really need is someone who can help them make better decisions about their wealth — which is where we come in.

A financial therapist helps people understand and resolve their emotional reactions to money issues. A financial therapist can help you identify which aspects of your personal finances to prioritize and suggest ways of approaching these problems in order to solve them most effectively.

Money is a very emotional issue for people. We all have different ways of handling money and spend it according to our individual needs: some throw caution (and budgets) to the wind; others are ruthlessly frugal; still others balance their spending with realistic expectations about what they can afford. Despite these differences, there are ways in which everyone can improve their financial lives.

Behavioral wealth building teaches you to understand and make better decisions about your money. Financial therapy helps you identify and address the issues that most urgently need your attention, making them less scary.

What is Behavioral Wealth Building

Financial therapy is a process that helps individuals understand their money behaviors and then work towards changing them for the better. Behavioral wealth building takes this one step further by helping individuals make meaningful and lasting changes in their financial lives.

If you find yourself struggling with any aspect of your financial life, such as saving money or spending too much on unnecessary things, behavioral wealth building strategies can help.

We ask questions that go beyond the usual “What kind of banking products do you use?” ones. For example, what is most important to analyze when dealing with your finances? Of three parts of your financial life, which one would you like to improve and how? What is your relationship with money like — briefly describing it using two or three words.

These questions help a financial therapist understand people’s relationships with money at an emotional level.

Who can benefit from Behavioral Wealth Building

If you’re now wondering how behavioral wealth building can help your finances and whether it would be worth talking to a financial therapist, here are some situations where that might make sense:

• Students who are interested in learning how to make more money, save and invest so they can experience financial freedom.
• People who are working with a therapist and want to try a new approach without being biased toward one treatment method.
• Anyone who wishes to understand his or her financial behaviors and change them.
• People who want to change their money behavior but don’t know how.
• People who have difficulty saving and have little to no emergency fund.

Behavioral wealth building can help you achieve a more peaceful and productive financial life by addressing issues such as procrastination, impulse spending, overspending or lack of savings. To build wealth and plan for the future, we must resolve these issues because they will interfere with our financial path.

Ready to Begin the Journey?

Financial therapists help people build wealth by understanding that money isn’t the only factor in making decisions, and human needs are important too.

Financial therapists can help you create healthy financial structures that will provide long-term relief. Bankers or Advisers are trained to manage money — but not to build good behaviors around it.

A financial therapist blends the general principles of finance — along with a deep understanding of human behavior.

I encourage you to try behavioral wealth building because it is a process that will likely reduce the anxiety that typically accompanies making financial decisions and provide you with an opportunity to expand your knowledge of investing.

If you’re still purchasing lottery tickets or tossing coins in wishing wells rather than partaking in any of these other approaches, it may be time to consider real options that could one day change your outlook on wealth building.

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George Blount coaches individuals to navigate and react to economic change and financial stress in their lives. Organize your financial life, nurture your money mindset, and learn what to know about money concepts. Learn more at https://georgeblount.com/