How to Deal with Financial Grief
A guide on being okay with your money dying.
Good morning everyone,
It is no surprise that our economy is headed towards a recession. As a result, the stock and crypto market is falling drastically; now in bear market territory. Gas prices are soaring to unseen levels, rampant inflation, and most prominent companies are now on a layoff kick/hiring freeze.
Many people tell you to buy when others are afraid, but what do you do if you have no more ammunition and simply can’t buy anymore?
Losing any asset can cause emotional grief you need to be prepared to deal with.
If you have ever taken a significant financial loss, then I’m sure that you have felt one of these emotions before:
Sadness
Anger
Guilt
Anxiety
Shock
Loneliness
The most interesting part about this list is that most people feel these intense emotions after losing a loved one. I’ve talked before about how money and emotions are related, but this is just another example.
Suppose you don’t realize that taking major financial losses is physiologically related to losing a loved one. In that case, you might fall even deeper into these emotions without even knowing why they are there in the first place.
There are so many reasons you might be upset about losing money; not being on track for retirement, saving for kids’ colleges, sacrificing your lifestyle, and even losing your house.
Whatever the reason, it’s perfectly okay not to be okay, and millions of people have been in your shoes before.
It’s one thing to tell someone about losing a loved one. But how do you tell someone in today’s society that you just lost a bunch of money? You don’t want to be embarrassed and be unfairly judged.
The feeling of embarrassment often stems from the loss of identity you can feel from losing your precious assets. So many people define themselves in the context of how much “stuff” they have. So when they lose it, they don’t even know who they are anymore.
Not to mention that you go to a wake and funeral when a person dies. Yet, when your retirement fund goes under, there’s no ritual or rite of passage to help you move on.
Learning and Acceptance.
The stoics have a phrase:
Amor Fati
A latin phrase loosely transalting to “love of fate” or “love of one’s fate”. It us used to describean attitude in which one sees everyting that happens in one’s life, including suffering and loss, as good. It is characterized by an acceptence of events or situations that occur in one’s life.
If you are currently in a situation of a major financial loss, then I know hearing these words probably means nothing to you.
But you have two options.
You can let this loss consume you for the rest of your life and take away from the moments you have left.
You can accept that your money is gone, pick up the pieces, learn from it, and become better for it.
Are the stoics right? Who knows, probably not. ( everyone’s assumptions are most likely wrong)
However, I have used their advice and teaching in my daily life and have noticed significant improvements in my mental health. Of course, you can take that at face value, but it doesn’t hurt to try.
You must know that whatever you have lost isn’t over for you. Maybe you made some poor financial decisions, but that’s in the past now. So take what happened and learn from it.
Friends and family are there for you as well, I know nobody wants to feel judged or embarrassed, but if they genuinely love and care about you, they will understand and accept you.
Finally, perspective is everything. It hurts now, but take a step back. You have conquered challenges in the past. Stop going over and over it in your head and stay in the moment. Diamonds can not be formed without a bit of pressure.
I hope you enjoyed today’s article about learning to deal with financial grief. It’s a tool that I believe everyone needs to have in their arsenal so that you can be prepared for anything.
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