Thanks to my mom, I have a subscription to More magazine. There’s a wonderfully insightful article this month (Feb 2012). Titled “Declutter Your Finances and Save,” the author writes:”Financial clutter can reach far beyond not knowing where you’ve stashed important documents. Rather than a messy pile of papers, it’s a mental state that stems from the panic we all feel when the complexity of the modern financial world intersects with the unknown, i.e., with risk.”
So – it’s really not about the papers, is it?
It’s about what you are thinking and feeling when you don’t attack the papers which relate to your financial life.
It’s about the attitudes you grew up with, the messages you heard – spenders, savers, dreamers, risk takers or conservatives, budgeters, or not.
It’s about how you’re feeling with today’s finances… which relates to how you feel about your future, how you and the one you live manage your short term and long term finances.
It also can be about your confidence level or knowledge of your finances.
I’ve worked with – women mostly – who have shied away from organizing their financial documents and let the papers/online statements pile up. They’ll admit it’s because they really do not understand what the documents are telling them. This is another point the MORE magazine article author makes, that there is HAVING the papers, even organized ! – and there is the separate issue of UNDERSTANDING them.
Please make a point – no matter your age or stage of life – to organize AND understand your financials and the associated paper and online trails they have.
“Fear always springs from ignorance.” Ralph Waldo Emerson
Tags: files, finances, organize my papers
