Grownups behave like teenagers when doing financial planning. In a bad sense. But it is difficult to blame them.
After all, the situation is clear from any adult practical point of view.
Somebody tells you what you have to do now to be safer in the future.
But:
- There is no way they can know exactly what needs to be done
- You heard stories about people who did everything “right” and still failed
- You also know people who did almost nothing and somehow ended up fine
- So why bother?
The problem is that financial planning psychologically feels less like fixing a broken car and more like being told to start exercising today in order to avoid a disease you may never get.
In the beginning of life, this pressure exists naturally. You are forced to go to kindergarten, then school. Later, life pushes you further because you have to earn a living — your parents can no longer support the lifestyle you would prefer.
For a few more years, momentum still exists. You gain skills, experience, confidence, and naturally try to improve your situation, aggressively or passively.
But eventually the long-awaited stability arrives. You become a grownup yourself. Life starts coasting along. Vacations, weekends, routines, bills, habits: stable and rolling.
And suddenly some financial advisor appears and tells you that you need to go back to planning again. Back to discipline. Back to delayed gratification. Back to preparing for some uncertain future event.
No, you do not want to step into this river again!
So you avoid planning and become perfect material for the horror stories financial advisors love to tell — about lost hundreds of thousands caused by missed opportunities and years of passive drifting.