As a midlife woman, you can often find yourself at a crossroads where your beliefs about money, shaped by years of experiences, come to the forefront.
These beliefs impact your financial decisions, they can shape aspirations as well as influence your overall wellbeing.
Let’s take a look at these subtle threads that weave a complex tapestry of money beliefs during this transformative phase.
What are Money Beliefs?
Money beliefs are often rooted in childhood experiences and the values held and instilled by immediate family and those around you growing up. These can include how your parents and caregivers talked about money. Old chestnuts such as, “Money is the root of all evil.” “Do you think I’m made of money?” “We haven’t got a magic money tree in the garden.” And so the list goes on. Your young mind may have attached meaning to these sayings and behaviors, which could still be influencing your present financial attitudes and behaviors.
Societal and cultural norms would have also contributed significantly to your money beliefs. You may now find yourself trying to make sense of your expectations related to success, status and societal benchmarks. These often shape your perception of your own financial wellbeing. You may have grown up with cultural expectations of what you “should” have done by a certain age. And as we all know, comparing ourselves to others can lead down a bleak rabbit hole as it can bring up all sorts of self-worth issues. Especially if you feel you have not achieved the same level of success as others who you may regard as comparable to yourself.
Add to that a lifetime’s worth of advertising, an industry built on a foundation of encouraging, if not almost convincing you, that your life is not fulfilled unless you have a particular product in your life. This can plant all sorts of seeds of self-doubt and low self-worth. This all feeds into the gloomy space of not feeling “enough”. And then there are all the highlights of those fast-moving social media accounts and it would be easy to feel like you are missing out. But that’s not real life. It’s often just glossy, staged highlights posted for social validation.
Fear of Scarcity vs Abundance Mindset
Money beliefs can show up as either a fear of scarcity or an abundance mindset. Some midlife women may approach financial decisions from a place of fear, while others might embrace a more expansive mindset of abundance, influencing their choices and attitudes towards wealth.
Link Between Self-Worth and Financial Success
For many midlife women, there is an unspoken connection between self-worth and financial success. Unpacking this connection and understanding this link is crucial, as it can impact your career choices, investments and overall financial satisfaction and wellbeing. For example, you might be staying in a job longer than intended. Women are known to even stay in relationships longer because they have found themselves financially dependent on their partners.
A survey carried out by investment management company Fidelity International in 2022, found that more than one in 10 (11 per cent) of women surveyed felt they were doubtlful that they would ever achieve financial independence. Nearly two-fifths (38 per cent) of women did not consider themselves financially independent and felt they could not make decisions by themselves because of outstanding debts or dependency on a partner’s income.
Identifying and Challenging Limiting Beliefs
Midlife is the ideal time for self-reflection. With a few decades behind you, it’s a useful pitstop to take the time to reflect on your money beliefs and your relationship with money. You may feel some beliefs are now holding you back and would like to look into those further. Or you might feel like you are on track and feel satisfied with where you are. If you have children, it’s interesting to take time to consider what behaviour and beliefs you have modelled to them. Many of your beliefs are built on the unspoken. What you saw growing up and the meanings you attached to them. Two people can go through the same experience yet put a different meaning to it.
You write your own story in life and this applies to your money too. Your money story and your relationship to money is as unique as you are. The influence of others’ thinking and behavior will have fed into your narrative.
Midlife is a golden time to weave a new narrative — one that aligns with personal values, fosters financial wellbeing and contributes to a fulfilling and prosperous life. It’s also a golden time to course correct. It’s not too late to compassionately take a closer look at things and tweak and change where relevant!
Find out more about unlocking your money mindset at:
www.sarahmcgirr.com
