Written by:
Barbara Balfour
THE GLOBE & MAIL
March 6, 2023
📰 Read the FULL ARTICLE here.
Read an excerpt below.
“A client with a six-figure salary who has saved up a lot of money and has no debt can still live with heavy feelings of guilt and shame and behave as if they live in a state of financial scarcity,” says certified financial planner Cindy Marques, co-founder and chief executive officer of Money MakeCents Inc. in Toronto.
“A lot of this stems from how they grew up and their experiences with money around family and friends.”
If someone spends years in poverty but then becomes affluent later in life, they may still deeply believe that they don’t deserve to spend their money or live in fear that they will end up in poverty again, she adds.
The opposite is also true, says Ms. Marques, who also works as a financial education specialist for Open Access Ltd. She has observed clients with limited financial potential spending their money without guilt or restrictions – often to keep up appearances.
“Social media exacerbates that as it’s easy to curate an image of your lifestyle that doesn’t necessarily represent reality,” she says.
“Having conversations that get to the root of why clients engage in certain money behaviours is an important step to holistic planning.”
The key is to avoid passing judgment despite your own beliefs as an advisor, she says.