Conquering Your Financial Fears: A #TomorrowTalk Recap
Tori Dunlap
We're sorry to say goodbye, but our last #TomorrowTalk (at least for the forseeable future) was held last Thursday. We loved having Amy from Life Zemplified guest-host to discuss conquering your financial fears in honor of Halloween. She's been a frequent #TomorrowTalk supporter, and we were thrilled to have her!
Our topic this month ended up unearthing some deeply-rooted financial fears, even from the financial experts who participated. Everything from not having enough in emergency savings – especially should a disaster like Hurricane Michael strike — to dying without a will (which we're trying to prevent here at Tomorrow!) came up, and we were honored that everything was willing to be so vulnerable.
Below we share some of our favorite findings from our participants — to see all of the discussion, click here! Although we're bummed it's the last, we're excited for all the new, innovative products we're creating, and we appreciate your support of Tomorrow and our team.
Q1. Do you worry a lot about money and your financial future? If so, how often? #TomorrowTalk
A1: I worry all the time even though I know we have plenty of savings in an emergency fund. I still worry something bad could happen! #TomorrowTalk
— Stephanie (@StephTheBlogger) October 19, 2018
A1: All the damn time. I worry there will never be enough and I'll spend the end of my life barely scraping by, miserable. #tomorrowtalk
— Bitches Get Riches (@BitchesGetRich) October 19, 2018
A1: Of course! All the time. So many unknowns in the future, plus I have a son who will be in college in less than three years (shudder) #tomorrowtalk
— Chief Mom Officer (@LizOfficer) October 19, 2018
Q2. What financial fear keeps you up at night? #TomorrowTalk
A2: right now, nothing. But anytime I invest in individual stocks, I'm constantly freaking out about their underperformance. So now I just avoid them and stick with indexing #TomorrowTalk
— Josh Overmyer (@Jovermyer1) October 19, 2018
A2: An economic collapse. The housing market going south again. My retirement accounts going to zero. Job loss. TOO MANY TO NAME. #tomorrowtalk
— Simplistic Steph (@Simplstic_Steph) October 19, 2018
Q1 & 2: I worry I’ll lose my 6-figure job and end up in low-paying jobs that don’t use my law degree. I worry pretty often about that. And never being financially free. I also worry about not having enough money in old age to have good care (health, assistance, etc)
— Champagne & Capital Gains (@champgains) October 19, 2018
Not having enough money in our emergency fund (even though we have enough to cover most emergencies).
— The 76K Project (@The76KProject) October 19, 2018
Q3. How can saving an emergency fund help alleviate some financial fear? #TomorrowTalk
Q3: I haven’t had to dip into my emergency fund, but I left s job and then my backup job cut hours leaving me on unemployment. The emergency fund has helped me to not panic and give me freedom to look for the “right” job (meaning, not 2 hours away) #tomorrowtalk
— ThatFrugalPharmacist (@FrugalPharm) October 19, 2018
An emergency fund is vital. My community is going through #HurricaneMichael & sadly many people live paycheck to paycheck. Their homes are destroyed. They can't afford their 2% hurricane deductibles. Their jobs were destroyed. Their kids can't go to school and they have no money.
— Lance @ MoneyManifesto.com (@Money_Manifesto) October 19, 2018
A3: That is a great question. I built up an emergency fund of $15k and it still doesn't feel like enough. I don't think I'll ever have enough to feel comfortable with finances. Money is scary. #tomorrowtalk
— Simplistic Steph (@Simplstic_Steph) October 19, 2018
I've never had an emergency fund. BUT as we transition to full retirement, we'll definitely have one. We were always able to cash flow problems. Not risking it without a steady (big) paycheck. #TomorrowTalk
— Make Smarter Decisions (@MSDLifeCoaching) October 19, 2018
Q4. Here at Tomorrow, we talk about things like creating a will or having a life insurance policy. How can having these safeguards in place help ease your mind? #TomorrowTalk
A4: I struggle with this topic because I don't have any dependents or a significant other. I don't have anyone depending on my income, and my investments could easily pay off the remaining mortgage balance. I don't know who I'm protecting #TomorrowTalk
— Josh Overmyer (@Jovermyer1) October 19, 2018
A4: so important. You never know what will happen. When I was 32 my husband almost died. We had two young kids. He went into the hospital healthy and ended up in the ICU on a ventilator for a week #tomorrowtalk
— Chief Mom Officer (@LizOfficer) October 19, 2018
A will gives me peace if mind that my family won’t be destroyed from fighting over assets #tomorrowtalk
— Stop Ironing Shirts (@StIroningShirts) October 19, 2018
A4. Knowing your family will have some financial security with life insurance definitely eases the mind, and having a will to ensure your wishes are carried out can provide a sense of peace. #TomorrowTalk
— Amy | LifeZemplified (@LifeZemplified) October 19, 2018
Q5: How does a positive mindset help you approach money without fear? #TomorrowTalk
A5: For me the positive mindset came after the fear was lowered. The important piece in reducing fear was finding work that would allow me to cover my student loans.
— Veronika | Debts To Riches (@DebtsToRiches) October 19, 2018
A5: for me, it's less about my "positive mindset" and more about the absence of money fears. Lots of mental capacity freed up by having my financial sh*t together #TomorrowTalk
— Josh Overmyer (@Jovermyer1) October 19, 2018
A5: I don't know that for me it's so much a positive mindset as much as a belief in myself that I have the ability to turn things around at any given moment #TomorrowTalk #realist
— Femme Frugality (@femmefrugality) October 19, 2018
Q6. What's one thing you can do today to help conquer your financial fears? #TomorrowTalk
A6. Sign-up with Tomorrow and get creating your will! #TomorrowTalk
— Amy | LifeZemplified (@LifeZemplified) October 19, 2018
A6: I remind myself of my humble beginnings of $38k in student loan debt and only making $13/hr. I tell myself if I survived that, I can survive anything! We all have gone through some tough times with money, and remembering how we overcame them helps fear! #tomorrowtalk
— Simplistic Steph (@Simplstic_Steph) October 19, 2018
We're about to wrap up our #TomorrowTalk! Do you have any additional thoughts or comments?
You don’t need to be afraid of money! It seems complicated and hard, but it doesn’t need to be. Just start where you are! #tomorrowtalk
— Chief Mom Officer (@LizOfficer) October 19, 2018
Wrap Up: Don’t hide from your financial fears! Educate yourself on money matters so you can sleep better at night. #TomorrowTalk
— Amy | LifeZemplified (@LifeZemplified) October 19, 2018
Find an accountabilibuddy! Someone who can cheer you on, cheer you up, and help you steer clear of most bad money choices. I love our PF Twitter group. You all rock!! #TomorrowTalk
— Josh Overmyer (@Jovermyer1) October 19, 2018
