You’ve read the finance blogs and watched the vlogs, and, somehow, you’re still not where you want to be with your money. Perhaps you’re getting by but not flourishing. Perhaps you’re spending more than you’re saving. Or perhaps you just feel like you’re always catching up.
The main barriers to financial growth are often unrelated to income or intelligence. They have to do with behavior, emotion, timing, and clarity. In this article, we’re going to discuss the biggest hurdles preventing individuals from identifying and committing to the right financial priorities.
Emotional Spending Over Strategic Planning
There is an emotional aspect to spending money. This is why a licensed loan company can easily thrive in this day and age of impulse buys and social media influencers. You like to think you’re being logical with your spending, but the reality is that most financial decisions are more about how we feel in the moment. After a hard week, many seek self-care by making a shopping list. Many comfort themselves with a fancy meal after a painful conversation. And when we don’t have most of the answers about life, impulsive purchases can make us feel in control.
Unfortunately, emotion-driven expenses seldom match up with long-term priorities. You can convince yourself it’s just one little expense, but over the long haul, you’ll realize that those little, spontaneous decisions add up and turn out to be bigger than you thought.
The key to avoiding this is to financially think and act with your future self in mind. That change can be monumental.
The Illusion of “Later”
We all have aspirations to buy a house, retire comfortably, and build generational wealth. But for most people, those dreams are just dreams. Why? Because they think they’ll handle it later. Once the bills are settled. Once the career is stable. Once life slows down. But the fact is, “later” is a moving target — and most people never really get there.
One of the most expensive behaviours that you can carry on with is procrastinating on what should be your financial priorities. Each month you don’t save can be a year. Each year you delay investing means a year without returns. The price of inaction is compounded just like interest is.
The time you must take charge of your finances is now — even if “now” seems messy or uncertain. You don’t need to know everything perfectly before you get started. Start where you are and with what you know, and iterate as you evolve. Your future self isn’t looking for perfection from you.
Lack of Financial Guidance
A lot of people are never taught how to manage money. Parents or schools seldom teach it, so unless you purposely educate yourself about it, you might feel like you are navigating money without a map. You might be saving every month, but you could be missing out on its value due to inflation or failure or refusal to invest it. Financial literacy is a vital life skill that can impact your security, your freedom, and your future well-being. That is why it is highly recommended that you find resources — be it books, courses, or even speaking with a financial planner. Knowing this helps you transition from being a passive responder to your financial situation to actively making informed decisions about your money.
Trying to Do Everything at Once
Because of hustle culture, many feel like they’re supposed to be able to do everything – saving, investing early, owning property, traveling, and improving their quality of life – all at once. However, balancing all that divides your focus and depletes your energy and financial resources.
When you try to do too much, you can only make slow progress on multiple fronts and ultimately feel like you’re failing on all of them. To find the right financial priorities, arrange your goals and endeavors according to importance and focus on the ones at the top. When doing so, think of your financial needs today and in the near and far future, as well as the ways you wish to improve and enjoy your life. Pay down high-interest debt, build a small emergency fund, start focusing on long-term investments, take out a home loan – it all depends on your financial and life situation.
Ultimately, wealth building and enjoying your money are about doing the right thing at the right time every time.
Conclusion
How do you want your life to be? How do you envision your finances to be? Once you answer these questions, you will be able to align your financial goals with your personal values and be able to save, invest, and spend wisely, successfully, and enjoyably. Remember, you don’t need to have the perfect plan to achieve financial independence. It just takes awareness of what truly matters to you and the willingness to go after your goals.