Financial fears and tortured 20s

I’m in my 50s now, and despite decades of professional work in coaching (1-2-1, teen, parent, family), and motivational speaking, one of the topics I avoid the most, and see people I interact with avoid as well, is finances.

Finances are terrifying at any age - but they’re especially terrifying in your 20s.

You’re just entering the financial landscape, untether from your family. You’re staring down the barrel at rent or mortgage payments, buying your own insurance, copious amounts of bills, building a credit score, investing, stock portfolios… I could keep going but my own blood pressure is rising!

Finances aren’t just scary because of the amount of things you have to keep track of - it’s also because of the amount of unknown, and the way we discuss it socially. Financial language isn’t always designed to be effective for those of us who aren’t in finance. It’s confusing, jargon-heavy, and tough to break down. We also don’t discuss finances socially - which makes it even harder to approach people and talk about!

So what the hell do you do with all of this?

Step one is confronting the elephant in the room. Sit down with your finances. Get intimate with them. Write up a budget. Look at your credit card bills. Or sign up for a credit card (AFTER doing some research!), and start improving your credit score.

For some of us, this may be enough - but for others, step one may be overwhelming in and of itself. If this is the boat you find yourself in, it may be time to reach out to a coach and spend some time discussing finances.

Coaching has been proven to increase goal attainment, meaning if you come into coaching with the goal of better financial management, and decreasing financial anxiety, you’re more likely to achieve that than you are on your own.

I’d like to acknowledge that paying for coaching may seem counterintuitive when thinking about reducing financial anxiety - but I’d also like to gently push on that assertion because part of understanding and working with financial anxiety is deciding what’s worth your money and what isn’t. And YOU are always worth your money and investment.

If you’re unsure about coaching for finances still, try a free consultation with me. No monetary commitment, and you get a peak into investing in yourself.

Don’t be afraid to invest in you. I wish I’d done it in my 20s - but now is the next best thing. And it can be for you too.