I have always been someone who compulsively worries about a whole host of things, with one of the things I worry the most about being finances. One of my biggest source of financial worry has always revolved around the issue of saving, whether for retirement or any other purpose. I constantly worry about whether we are putting enough aside, if it will last us as long as we will live, what we will do if unexpected medical expenses pile up, etc. I think this is a topic that is especially prone to worrying for younger people because there is so much speculation in the media that social security will have run dry by the time many of those of us in our 20s and 30s retire in 30 or so years. Same with the continued rise in healthcare costs-all the talking heads say that healthcare costs continue to rise year over year and that the average retiree will spend $250,000 in out of pocket medical expenses during the course of their retirement. This is completely independent of the retirement savings that will theoretically comprise the majority (if not all if Social Security goes broke) of your retirement income.
My specific worries about saving are not that I will not be able to achieve a specific goal but instead is more of a generalized anxiety that I will not, at some indeterminate point in the future, have set aside enough for whatever the source of worry that day is. For instance, we are in the process of moving and are going to rent for the first couple years in our new city. We currently own a home in our old city that we are in the process of renting out, but we wanted to rent in our new city before buying so that we could figure out what neighborhoods we like, etc. So our timeframe for buying a house again is probably two years in the future, as we figure that will be enough time to figure out exactly where we want to live, let us settle into our jobs and even take some time to save up more of a down payment, as housing is 40% more expensive here than in the much smaller city we just left behind. Similarly, I think both my wife and I have worried that we are going to have to put off having kids or to have her stay home with our kids like we have discussed and are hoping to do as a result of my having student loans because our living expenses went up when we moved. Probably the thing I worry about the most is that we will find ourselves eating dog food in retirement because we did not save enough while we were young.
The thing is, there has never been a particular milestone that I have had to put off yet because I/we had not saved enough. All of the things I worry about are these nebulous events in the distant or not so distant future that may or may not come to pass. My anxiety is more a generalized anxiety about money in general. I worry this way about work, about whether I am doing the right things with my life, if I am being a good person, etc. so it just may be a function of my particular personality, but I was curious as to whether others have had the same experience.
Do you experience generalized financial anxiety of the type I do? How do you cope with it? What are some of your biggest financial worries? Please share in the comments section below.
Also, another plug for my weekly newsletter to be started next week. To sign up either send me an email at insideconsumerfinance@gmail.com or use the button on the right side of the screen.
My specific worries about saving are not that I will not be able to achieve a specific goal but instead is more of a generalized anxiety that I will not, at some indeterminate point in the future, have set aside enough for whatever the source of worry that day is. For instance, we are in the process of moving and are going to rent for the first couple years in our new city. We currently own a home in our old city that we are in the process of renting out, but we wanted to rent in our new city before buying so that we could figure out what neighborhoods we like, etc. So our timeframe for buying a house again is probably two years in the future, as we figure that will be enough time to figure out exactly where we want to live, let us settle into our jobs and even take some time to save up more of a down payment, as housing is 40% more expensive here than in the much smaller city we just left behind. Similarly, I think both my wife and I have worried that we are going to have to put off having kids or to have her stay home with our kids like we have discussed and are hoping to do as a result of my having student loans because our living expenses went up when we moved. Probably the thing I worry about the most is that we will find ourselves eating dog food in retirement because we did not save enough while we were young.
The thing is, there has never been a particular milestone that I have had to put off yet because I/we had not saved enough. All of the things I worry about are these nebulous events in the distant or not so distant future that may or may not come to pass. My anxiety is more a generalized anxiety about money in general. I worry this way about work, about whether I am doing the right things with my life, if I am being a good person, etc. so it just may be a function of my particular personality, but I was curious as to whether others have had the same experience.
Do you experience generalized financial anxiety of the type I do? How do you cope with it? What are some of your biggest financial worries? Please share in the comments section below.
Also, another plug for my weekly newsletter to be started next week. To sign up either send me an email at insideconsumerfinance@gmail.com or use the button on the right side of the screen.
No comments:
Post a Comment