Carl Richards is a Certified Financial Planner™ and creator of the Sketch Guy column, appearing weekly in The New York Times since 2010. The following article is reproduced with permission from his weekly newsletter and his website can be found here.
Greetings, Carl here.
Talking about money is like grabbing an electric fence you didn’t know was electric.
In other words, shocking. And not very pleasant.
We’ve been taught, if we were taught anything about money, that it’s about spreadsheets and calculators. It should be rational and reasonable. But then we go to open the AmEx bill with our spouse or partner, and suddenly, we find ourselves in a fight.
If money is all about spreadsheets, how does greed fit in a spreadsheet? How about fear? How about the concern that you’re not going to be able to provide the life for your kids that you hoped?
We all know that no matter how worried, scared, or excited we’re feeling, 2+2 always equals 4. But when it comes to money, 2+2 equals all kinds of emotions—like fear, greed, insecurity, pride, and more.
The sooner we realize this is true, the sooner we can begin having realistic expectations around what it’s like to talk about money.
Look, I get it. Talking about money is hard.
But just because it’s hard doesn’t mean we should avoid it. In fact, as is often the case with difficult things, talking about money can actually be very fulfilling once you learn to do it correctly. The first step, though, is simply to acknowledge what the conversation is about.
Money ≠ Math.
Money = Feelings.
-Carl
P.S. As always, if you want to use this sketch, you can buy it here.
