By Mike Gibbons, RICP®
Whether we’re aware of it or not, emotions play a significant role in our financial decisions. For pharmaceutical professionals and healthcare workers, it’s not uncommon to experience an emotional response when dealing with financial issues—but should we let emotions dictate our choices? Despite our best efforts, it can be challenging to separate emotions from our finances.
Why is this the case? Our money habits are often formed very early on in life. For instance, someone who knows they should save instead of spend might still struggle to change their behavior due to an emotional attachment to spending—it feels good, even though they understand it might not be helpful in the long run.
It’s clear that emotions impact our financial decisions, so let’s delve into how these money habits develop and explore strategies to reduce emotional influence, enabling more rational and effective financial planning.
The Money Script
Do you sometimes feel like the discipline to make rational and well-thought-out financial decisions must be too good to be true? Because no matter how hard you try, you just can’t seem to stick to it? Well, I am sure there are others that feel the same way. These feelings are not uncommon and are most likely due to the emotional and psychological baggage we all carry around relating to our money, otherwise known as our money scripts. And, as with most of the baggage we’ve lugged into our adult lives, these scripts usually start forming at a very young age.
Even though we may not be aware of it, we spend our childhood picking up on how our parents and other significant role models relate to and handle money, and over time, our brains are subconsciously trained to respond in similar ways. If your parents were confident in their ability to make wise investments, you will likely face investing with confidence as well. Contrarily, if you experienced your parents scrounging to get by and often quarreling over expenses, you may experience some pretty strong feelings of guilt when making certain purchases.
The seeds of money scripts are planted in childhood, watered by observation, and eventually grow to influence your emotional beliefs about finances as an adult. For this reason, it is vital to be intentional and diligent in talking to your kids about money and modeling healthy financial behaviors. It is just as important to take the time to examine yourself and understand your money scripts and how they influence your financial behavior.
The Negative Side of Money Scripts
To be fair, not all money scripts are bad. Some behaviors we learn plant seeds for beneficial emotions about finances. However, other behaviors, such as money avoidance, focus on financial status, or the idolization and even worship of money, can be flat-out detrimental. Unhealthy emotions and belief patterns can lead to all kinds of financial problems, such as financial infidelity, compulsive buying, pathological gambling, and financial dependence. Certain money scripts have been tied to lower levels of net worth, lower income, and higher amounts of revolving credit.
Those may sound extreme, but have you ever let panic during a market downturn take your focus off of your long-term investing plan? Have you ever been unable to make a decision because you were paralyzed with worry and anxiety about the future? Have you ever wreaked havoc on your budget for the momentary high of acquiring something you really wanted? All of these behaviors stem from your personal money script.
Money Scripts Can Be Changed
We often think that if we had more money, we wouldn’t have any problems. But we have money problems because of how we approach money, not necessarily because we don’t have enough. This is good news! We might not be able to drastically increase our income, but we can learn to control our attitudes and perceptions. Our money scripts may be ingrained from childhood, but they are not permanent. With a focused and concerted effort, they can be changed.
The first step you must take in overcoming your money scripts is to identify them. To do this, you must become aware of your emotional responses to common financial situations. Begin to stop and notice your emotional responses to these common experiences:
Earning money
Buying things
Budgeting and tracking expenses
Making financial decisions
Volatile markets
Healthy markets
Thinking about your financial future
How do these things make you feel? Anything that elicits strong emotions warrants further reflection. Keep in mind that negative emotions are not the only ones that can harm your financial life. Some positive emotions, like optimism and self-confidence, can bring about negative results if unwarranted and left unchecked.
How to Manage Emotional Money Decisions
The key to changing your money scripts and developing healthier money habits is learning to control your emotions. You can also build some new, healthy habits that protect you financially and incorporate them into your life. Habits and disciplines such as taking advantage of automatic savings, investing through your bank or employer’s retirement plan, scheduling regular family budget meetings, and enlisting the help of someone reliable to keep you accountable are great places to start. Eventually, you will learn how you respond to emotional triggers and you can then take steps, like mandating a “cooling off” period for yourself, before making any decisions.
Finally, you need to be willing to forgive yourself when you make mistakes. Leave the past in the past and move forward with the new knowledge you have gained. Choosing to forgive yourself for past mistakes frees you up to be more effective with your new tools. As you begin to collect victories, both big and small, you will likely find it even easier to extend forgiveness.
Work With a Valued Financial Partner
As a pharmaceutical professional, partnering with the right financial planner is a critical step on your financial journey. So it’s essential that you feel confident and comfortable with your advisor. Financial planning is an ongoing process, and our team at Gibbons Financial Group is dedicated to supporting you every step of the way.
Are you ready to explore how we can work together? I invite you to call 224-419-5550 or email me at Mike@gibbonsfinancialgroup.com to schedule a complimentary consultation. And be sure to join our free webinar, Retiring Early From Pharma.
About Mike
Michael J. Gibbons is founder and president of Gibbons Financial Group, an independent advisory firm providing custom-tailored financial planning and investment management services to pharmaceutical and healthcare professionals and their families. Mike has over 25 years of experience and spends a significant portion of his day working with pre-retirees and retirees, focusing on asset management, Social Security and pension planning, as well as retirement income preparation.
Mike has degrees in both business and psychology from Lake Forest College and currently holds his Retirement Income Certified Professional (RICP®) designation from the American College. Mike was named a Five Star Wealth Manager for 2016 and 2018* Mike is heavily involved in his community, having served on the Village of Gurnee Police Pension Board as a Community Volunteer and the St. Patrick’s Parish Financial Board. When he’s not working or volunteering, Mike loves playing golf and spending his time with his wife and children. To learn more about Mike and how he can help you, connect with him on LinkedIn, visit his website, and register for his free webinar, Retiring Early From Pharma, created specifically for professionals retiring from the pharmaceutical, biotechnology, and healthcare industries.
*Award based on 10 objective criteria associated with providing quality services to clients such as credentials, experience, and assets under management among other factors. Wealth managers do not pay a fee to be considered or placed on the final list of 2016/2018 Five Star Wealth Managers.
Content in this material is for general information only and not intended to provide specific advice or recommendations for any individual.