Emotions and money seem like concepts that are worlds apart. However, Tricia Rothschild, President of Apex, shares how this is a false binary and that emotions impact the notion of money more than we are led to believe.
Money – and figuring out finances – is a mystery to many people. Over the years, the industry has overcomplicated what it means to be an investor. Tricia probes at this title of ‘investor’ and questions what it really means to be an investor. The concept of investing is incredibly intimidating for many, including co-host Dani, so the emphasis on emotions is key. Foregrounding these emotions can demystify the topic of money and make the idea of investment a lot less daunting. Tricia shares that people don’t wake up in the morning pondering about investments. Instead, they think about having to find work, wanting to change professions, or desiring to buy something. That is where the conversation around investing should begin. Where can people best put their money to achieve their goals?
When it comes to financial advice and robo-advisory, even the big names like Betterment and Wealthfront fall to the wayside amongst the general public. These days, it is about having faster and easier access to money and knowing that it is working for you. Tricia believes that the idea of money working for you is a great conversation starter for investments. While the main goal of investing is to turn a profit, a great way to begin investing is to invest in companies you support. For instance, environmental and social governance is becoming increasingly prioritised as people are more aware of the concerns surrounding these issues. For clients who are keen on supporting these goals, financial advisors (and Robo-advisors) should be showing them companies that work with the same priorities in mind. By investing in companies they relate to, people can truly think of themselves as owners of these companies by proxy. Hence, we live in a time where there is so much opportunity for people to be honest with their emotions and invest in what they believe in. And that is very powerful.
Tricia notes that confidence is thus an important factor when wanting to invest. Being confident in one’s ability to invest directly accounts for how secure one will feel. With how complicated the financial industry has made things, decisions involving what to do with money, unfortunately, cause anxiety for people of all income levels. Financial advisors have to do a much better job of expressing the emotions associated with investing and make the conversation a lot less daunting.
