Financial planning rarely fails because of complicated maths or lack of investment options. The real challenge sits between our ears, it’s human nature that derails even the best-laid plans.
And as someone who spends my days helping people build financial security, I can tell you this: the hardest part of financial planning isn’t designing a brilliant strategy. It’s getting people to actually follow through.
If you ask people why they’re not taking action on their finances, the excuses sound eerily similar:
“I’ll sort it out when things calm down.”
“I’m still researching my options.”
“I’ve got time. It’s not urgent yet.”
But life never really calms down. There’s always a project at work, a family event, a looming expense. And “not urgent” has a funny way of becoming very urgent overnight.
I’ve seen people delay life insurance because they’re healthy and busy, only to fall ill, making cover impossible to secure at any price. I’ve worked with clients in their fifties trying desperately to catch up on pension savings they should’ve started in their thirties. And I’ve met high earners who assumed their salary alone would guarantee financial security, only to discover that income can vanish shockingly fast when circumstances change.
Financial consequences rarely feel immediate. That’s what makes procrastination so dangerous.
Consider retirement savings. The difference between starting in your thirties versus your forties can be staggering. Someone investing £500 a month from age 30 could retire with twice as much as someone starting at 40, even if the second person tries to save more aggressively later on. Time, quite simply, is the most powerful multiplier in wealth building.
Or look at investing. A £100,000 portfolio growing at 6% annually becomes roughly £320,000 over 20 years. Wait five years to start, and you’ll end up with around £237,000 instead. That’s £83,000 lost, not because you picked the wrong fund, but because you hesitated.
These numbers aren’t theoretical. I’ve sat across the table from clients who’ve said, “I wish I’d done this ten years ago.” The regret is real, and the cost is often higher than people expect.
Some of the smartest people I know are the worst offenders when it comes to financial procrastination. Why? Because intelligence often fuels perfectionism. High achievers want the perfect plan, the perfect timing, the perfect conditions.
But perfect doesn’t exist. Markets shift. Tax rules change. Life throws curveballs. The cost of standing still is often far higher than the cost of taking imperfect action.
I’ve seen clients transform their financial path by simply automating £100 a month into an investment account. Was it their dream portfolio? No. But it broke the inertia. And inertia is the real enemy.
One of the biggest myths about financial planning is that waiting is harmless. People assume that putting things off is neutral. It’s not.
Every day you wait is a day your money could have been growing, or a day your family remains unprotected. Inaction has a cost, it just hides itself well.
A client of mine once insisted on waiting until the market “felt safer” before investing his cash. Over two years, his money sat in a current account earning nearly zero while inflation quietly eroded its value. Meanwhile, the markets rose more than 15%. He lost tens of thousands in potential gains, simply because he was paralysed by fear of making a mistake.
So how do you escape the quicksand of financial procrastination?
Financial security isn’t built on good intentions. It’s built on action, even if it’s imperfect or small at first.
So ask yourself: What’s one financial step you could take today? Maybe it’s calling your adviser. Maybe it’s opening that investment account. Maybe it’s getting your will drafted. The specific step doesn’t matter as much as the fact that you’re finally moving forward.
Because the hardest part of financial planning isn’t knowing what to do. It’s deciding to do it, today, not someday. And the sooner you start, the more options you’ll have. That’s the real secret to financial success.
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