Financial Fears and How to Avoid Them

American Investment Planners LLC

500 North Broadway, Suite 260, Jericho, NY 11753

(516) 932-5130 / (866) 932-5130

If you asked several people what their biggest fears are, some may respond to you with common answers such as heights, spiders, snakes and flying, but along with these phobias, another thing that a lot of people fear is money, and specifically, not having enough of it. 

In a study done by Northwestern Mutual this year, it was found that financial anxiety impacts the lives of many Americans each and every day. For example, they concluded that 70% of people say financial anxiety negatively impacts their happiness and mood, while 67% say it negatively impacts their health and 51% say it negatively impacts their social life. Additionally, 41% of people even go so far as to say that financial anxiety negatively impacts their career (more on the results of the study here).

Knowing this the next question becomes...what exactly are we fearing when it comes to money? Below, we dive into some of the top financial fears and share our advice for how you can avoid them.

Emergencies.
Unfortunately unplanned emergencies can become a big expense for a lot of people, but an easy way to alleviate some fear is by preparing for the unexpected. By this, we mean that you should have some type of savings account specifically dedicated to emergencies.

Insufficient retirement funds.
We understand that retirement can be scary, especially because income tends to change. However, you can easily prepare for this part of your life by working hard throughout your career to save! There are tons of retirement savings accounts out there, and our team can help you figure out which approach to saving would be most beneficial for you and your financial goals.

Poor credit.
Your credit score follows you throughout your whole life and impacts you in many ways - for example, it affects your ability to get a mortgage or buy a car. The good news, though, is that working on your credit is easy - a few strategies to raise your credit score include paying your bills on time every month and keeping your credit card balances low.

Becoming a victim of identity theft.
When someone steals your identity, it can certainly have a negative effect on your finances - especially if the thief is using your name to open up new credit cards and make large purchases. However, as long as you know how to protect yourself, you can reduce your risk of becoming a victim - here are some tips we shared recently on this topic.

Most importantly, we can't stress enough how important it is to work with a financial planner - working with a professional is one of the best ways to alleviate any financial fears you have!

If you and/or your family is in need of a financial planner, we'd love to be there for you - just give us a call at (516) 932-5130 or email info@americaninvestmentplanners.com to set up an appointment.