Your Worst Money Problems Are All In Your Head?

A recent survey of financial planners found that approximately 25% of their time with clients is spent on nonfinancial issues, such as spirituality, death, family dysfunction, illness, divorce and depression and not money problems. A more holistic practice, say those who offer it, can lead to breakthroughs with the worst self-saboteurs, or at least to self-aware clients who are more motivated to follow through on the advice they’re given.

I stumbled upon this article while researching information for my next book, and it brings up a lot of solid points. Are your worst money problems in your head?

We’re all motivated by money beliefs, many of which we form in childhood. In the same way that a script informs an actor in a play, these money scripts inform our financial life. Some scripts are accurate and functional, says Brad Klontz, a clinical psychologist, certified financial planner and pioneer in the emerging field of financial therapy. But many contain only partial truths or get twisted somehow. For example, “You should work hard for your money” becomes “Money not earned is not worth having,” with potentially disastrous results. “I’ve had clients come in with a $5 million inheritance, depressed and despondent, says Kahler. “Left to their own devices, the money would have been gone in five years.”

Money worship. These beliefs often boil down to variations of Money can buy happiness and You can never have enough money. Such thinking can lead to workaholism or lots of credit card debt—and possibly to compulsive spending, hoarding or unreasonable risk-taking. The irony is that research shows there is no significant correlation between happiness and money once household income rises above $75,000 a year.

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