Myth 1) You have to know a lot in order to start investing *This is not financial advice. Educational purposes only.*
Let’s bust this financial myth first. You don’t need to become a financial expert to start investing in the market . You don’t need to pick individual stocks, and check their performance often.
Folks who do this become trapped in an emotional roller coaster, their sense of safety and confidence linked to the ups and downs of the economy. Taking a long-term approach, and investing in index funds or ETFs that hold many stocks at once (an example is an index fund that follows the S&P 500) is a great way to start investing in the stock market. You can do this on your own, without a financial planner or advisor.
Myth 2) You need to be good at math to manage your money well
The notion that we need to be good at math to be financially successful is a lie. The most important part of managing your money well, is being good at understanding and managing your emotions. Because money is deeply emotional. Recognizing this truth will plant the seeds of self-compassion and change.
Myth 3) Money buys happiness
Actually this one is true, some of the time. If you do not have enough money to comfortably afford your needs–food, medical care, housing, some rest–then money does buy happiness. The best things in life are not free when our financial needs haven’t been met. Studies show that our happiness significantly rises when we go from not comfortably affording our needs, to being able to. In order to make this change, we need to remove our financial blocks by understanding our money story and making peace with it.
However, after our needs are met financially, we tend to over estimate how much of a difference more money will make towards increasing our happiness. Lifestyle creep starts, and we get caught up in acquiring “more” rather than investigating what we truly need to find meaning and fulfillment in our lives. What were you curious about as a child? Can you revisit play? Can you spend more time in nature? Staying with your breath? Give yourself the opportunity to step away from the pursuit of more, and instead to explore what truly matters to you.
Wishing you healing and success on your financial wellness journey.
