November 21, 2016

Best Ways to Stop Financial Procrastination, Ep #23

Mike Eklund

Chad Smith

Financial procrastination can get the best of us all.

Non-urgent financial tasks love to find cracks in our to-do list, falling to the bottom fast. Mark Twain humorized this concept well with his quote, “Why do today what you can put off till tomorrow?”

Jason Zweig captured these problems in his book Your Money and Your Brain. He wrote “Unpleasant tasks often lead to pleasant results down the road. We often procrastinate the worst on things that are good for us [with] saving more in our 401(k)” being near the top. “So the problem is not that we don’t know what’s good for us. It’s just that tomorrow seems like a better time to do it than today.”

In this episode, we share some of the best reasons we’ve read, personal stories, and tips we’ve used to combat financial procrastination.

Strategies to Fight Financial Procrastination

Research on why we procrastinate financially
The implications & cost of continuing to procrastinate
Quick ways to combat putting off what you know you need to do today financially

Facts and Links Mentioned In the Show

People check email an average of 150 times a day. Peak amounts are 900 times a day. [Art of Charm Podcast with Greg McKeown]
More than 2/3 of adults age 55+ admit to procrastinating on retirement planning. [Financial Engines Study 2015]
This survey shows people say that 25 is the right age to start financial planning but in reality they started planning 10.6 years later. [Financial Engines Study 2015]
Top 5 Reasons We Procrastinate
- 50% blamed stress for their procrastinating
- 40% said they had higher priorities, even though they were interested in retirement planning
- 24% were worried about being taken advantage of
- 23% were not sure how to go about it
- 20% believed it was too difficult
How to Beat Procrastination by Dr. Travis Bradbury [LinkedIn Pulse]
Why Investors Keep Repeating Their Mistakes [ETF.com interview with Wait Buy Why Founder]

Stacking Benjamins Podcast

You can also check out Chad on the Stacking Benjamins Podcast on a special Halloween edition. He shared 5 horror stories we see regularly from when we first meet with people.