Emotions & Finance

tl;dr - Go make a small financial mistake. Fear of making mistakes is a common emotion. It shows up in all areas of our life, but it's especially pernicious in the world of finance. The consequences of being afraid Time is money. And time is something we

Do you feel intimidated or out of your depth when you speak to your financial advisor? If yes, this post is for you. In my 93 conversations with ordinary people about emotions and finance, the theme of uncertainty and mistrust about financial advice (and financial advisors) has come up consistently.

I had a conversation with a yoga teacher named Dalia (not her real name). This note isn't really about her story--it's about what I learned about getting through to someone who is paralyzed by fear, shame, and overwhelm regarding money matters. tl;dr--when a person can

Meet Burt (names changed to protect the innocent) Burt is a software engineer, male, mid-30s, worked both in bigtech and startups. In his 20s he joined a Series A technology startup in a high cost-of-living (HCOL) area. Most of his compensation was in the form of stock options, but the

One thing I hear often when I talk to people who feel blocked in finances are negative self-beliefs. These usually sound like "I'm not good with money," "I'm not good at math," "I'm not good with numbers." In