The perils of financial immaturity

The author discusses the importance of financial organization and maturity. They share their experience working with elderly widows who needed help understanding their finances after their husbands had passed away. Some clients struggled with financial organization and relied on the author for assistance. One client panicked when she received a letter from the tax authority demanding unpaid taxes, but it turned out to be a tax refund. The author emphasizes the need for a mature relationship with money and encourages readers to assess their emotional ability to handle finances. A mature relationship with money allows it to be used wisely for the benefit of others and personal growth. Hello, Jeremy Deitch here, and welcome to the Insights Post for 10th May 2023, The Perils of Financial Immaturity. As a financial planner, I loved working with elderly widows. I never explicitly marketed to this sector, but now and then, they would turn up at my door. They were great to work with and wanted to ensure they could support their children and grandchildren whilst being confident they could live life to the full. Sadly, their late husbands had usually been the ones who had looked after the household finances, so their first and most urgent need was to get real about their money and find out what they had and where it was. They felt it was vital that they become financially well organised, and in most cases, they accepted this as a priority and, with my help, made sure it happened. The Fear of Money In some cases, however, becoming financially well organised was a bridge too far. For example, money say petrified one client, she could not handle it and continued to rely on my help for the remainder of her life. Her poor financial organisation and her financial immaturity came home to me one February morning when I got a frantic call from my client. She was in a complete panic because she had just received a letter, this was a few years ago before HMRC went digital, from HMRC, the UK's tax authority, demanding over £1,000 in unpaid tax. I was a bit puzzled because only a few weeks ago I had helped her complete her tax return in time for the January 31st deadline and an underpayment was undoubtedly not in the equation. Nevertheless, I assured my client it was probably a mistake and that I would sort it out for her the following week when we were due to meet anyway. When we did meet, I took the letter from her and, unfolding the letter, found a cheque at the bottom for a tax refund. Is Your Money Your Servant or Your Master? Financial organisation and money maturity combine to ensure your money is your servant and not your master. Financial organisation is all about the practicalities of money and is reasonably straightforward. Financial maturity, however, is about dealing with your emotions around money and is a bit more complicated. My client's fear and poor understanding of money blinded her to the fact that the letter was a tax refund, not a demand. Take this simple money maturity test to assess your emotional ability to deal with money. How did you score? More importantly, how did you feel as you answered the questions? You will know where to concentrate your efforts to improve your relationship with money as much from the feelings you experienced as the actual score. A mature relationship with your money will ensure your money is your servant and not your master and can be used wisely for the benefit of others and your more profound spiritual life.