Recent Posts

Tired of reading the same financial details? This reaction, although normal, can cost a huge amount of money. An investor can easily deal with this fear by merely entrusting everything in the hands of his financial advisor. But some ought to handle their own financial affairs.

What is financial phobia? How can an investor deal with such anxiety?

In a 2003 University of Cambridge research, one in five people in the United Kingdom has financial phobia. Its symptoms can be extremely physical. The same study revealed nearly half of them endure a racing heart just at the thought of contending with their money, 15% feel immobilized, 12% get sick, and 11% become dizzy.

Aside from these signs, a series of financial matters and coping with these results to dangerous behavior, including inability to face changes investment conditions, as well as trusting or depending on wrong individuals. Worst, they abandon their affairs altogether, leaving correspondence and deadlines behind. Such avoidance can make traders accumulate debt obligations, which makes them susceptible to exploitation. Those who do not focus on their finances and portfolios tend to display certain degree of financial phobia.

Who are at risk of having financial phobia?

The Cambridge study stated most phobics are intelligent and competent in other aspects of their lives, but are dumb at handling their money. Realistically speaking, when it comes to dealing with investment and other financial matters, many individuals do not find this appealing. This fear is most common among women and younger individuals.

For them, money management is complicated in nature, and reading a lot of financial books and encountering financial jargon makes it more complex. Those who hate numbers and figures may likely turn away from these topics. However, lack of knowledge about this industry can expose traders to a set of risk, especially if advisors do not prioritize your best interests. So it is better to get into the nitty-gritty of your financial affairs.

How to handle financial phobia?

The first thing you should do is to recognize and accept that you have a financial phobia. Solve it in small ounces, with the right supervision of course. Take heed from financial experts. It is also helpful to gain access to a bunch of resources about investment, including newspapers, books, magazines, and online articles. By doing so, you may discover something appealing and your fears might subside in the long run.

If you opt to not to manage your assets all by yourself, you can delegate this to someone else. But you have to pay a relatively small amount of money to pass this responsibility to another person. Nevertheless, you should have a little knowledge to select a good advisor and monitor the work on your behalf.

You can also overcome this phobia by educating yourself continuously. It helps to incorporate some sort of financial training into the curriculum. One way of disarming fears is by employing the Fun with Finance or Idiot’s Guide to Investment method.

Even the seasoned investors have once experienced financial phobia. But this dilemma can be conquered by facing this problem, taking measures to control your financial affairs in one way or another, and resolve it in small steps. This is not much difficult to overcome this fear, with an appropriate amount of knowledge and determination, and by being open-minded.