.You’re Thinking About “Financial Security” The Wrong Way

 You’re Thinking About “Financial Security” The Wrong Way

By Khe Hy the creator of RadReads.

“Nah, I’m going to wait a year.”

Every winter, my hedge fund manager friend stares at a new set of golf clubs, almost buys them, and then punts until the following year. Why? His three kids are self-sufficient adults, his fund’s doing well, and he’s not a big spender. But he’s got a nagging fear. A fear that one day he’ll be broke. And so, the golf clubs will have to wait. He’s waiting to reach an elusive goal: financial security.

Having spent 15 years on Wall Street, I’ve grown accustomed to these successful folks who are “bracing” for their worlds to come crashing down. They’re smart, humble, and often from modest roots.

They believe in “The Number,” a mythical amount in their bank account where they can stop worrying. But The Number never arrives.

Money Messes With Our Minds

Money is notorious for causing smart and rational people to make questionable decisions. Let’s start with the definition of financial security. We’d probably agree that it means the ability for you (and your family) to acquire shelter, food, clothing, and healthcare. Or more bluntly, to survive — no one wants to put themselves and loved ones in danger.

Think about the word survival. As I type it, my palms are getting sweaty and my heart rate is increasing. Survival triggers our threat-detection response,which has done wonders for us as a species from an evolutionary perspective, but may have outlived its usefulness in our modern society.

Think about your last major screw up at work. Did you think that you might get fired? Did you feel like your survival was at risk?

One of the benefits of modern society is that covering your basic needs is a pretty low bar. I’m going to go out on a limb and say that if push came to shove, many RadReaders’ survival would not be at risk.

I know what you’re thinking “Well, what if I got fired? I could end up broke and on the street.” That’s probably unlikely. Many of us could move into our parents’ places; or we could significantly downsize our homes/expenditures, and get a job that provided health insurance.

Many of those things sound unappealing. Moving in with mom and dad at 38 is not particularly crushing it. But it does meet the minimum threshold of our “ability to acquire shelter, food, clothing, and healthcare.”

Why’s this so confusing? Besides the fact that our threat-detection reflex impairs decision-making, we often confuse financial security and what I’ll call a life well lived.

To continue reading, please go to the original article at

https://radreads.co/youre-thinking-financial-security-wrong-way/