The theme this week on the One Minute Retirement Tip podcast is: Are You A Money Hoarder? 

Today, I have a confession to make: I am a money hoarder. How do I know this? I hate spending money. I mean I really hate spending money. Even though I have always lived well within my means, I fret about spending every single dollar. It doesn’t matter if it’s a $30 toy for my son’s birthday, a nice meal out, or a new washer and dryer that I needed to buy after my other dryer stopped working this past summer...it causes stress to hit “buy now”. 

One of the signs of having money hoarding tendencies is anxiety when spending money. I’ve always been that way. When I was in college and working minimum wage jobs, I would save every last penny and take months to decide what I was going to purchase with my funds, preferring instead to stash my cash hoard in a box in my bedroom. 

Once I started working, I made tremendous sacrifices and trade offs in my 20s so I could max my 401k savings. I was acutely aware with my finance background that I needed to start saving early and often to have flexibility and freedom in retirement, and I gave up the flexibility and freedom in the present moment, by not eating out and barely traveling when I was younger. 

Looking back, especially now that I have 3 young children, I wish I would have been more balanced in my approach to saving earlier in life. It sure would have been nice to travel Europe or lay on a beach peacefully with a margarita, without asking my 7 year old for the 12th time to get over here so I can reapply sunscreen. And if you’ve ever tried to board an airplane with 3 young children in tow + a stroller, 2 car seats, and wondering if the airbnb is a death trap for an exploring infant, it may not sound like much of a vacation to you...trust me, it’s not. 

When looking at the signs that I might be a money hoarder, I definitely don't check all the boxes… Money hoarders often have difficulties organizing and keeping track of saved funds, constant indecision about money, deep suspicion of the motivations of others when it comes to money matters, and deep fears about losing hard-earned savings.

When I look at these other common characteristics of money hoarding, the only other tell-tale that applies to me is the deep fear of losing hard earned savings. The more I accumulate and save, the less likely that I’ll lose it all and have to start over. More money = security, but that’s not always healthy and there’s a fine line between saving and hoarding for security. 

So if any of this sounds like you, I encourage you to tune in each day this week. I still struggle with a tendency to hoard, so I’m talking to myself this week as much as I’m talking with you about how to overcome money hoarding tendencies. 

That’s it for today. Thanks for listening! My name is Ashley Micciche and this is the One Minute Retirement Tip. 

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Tags: retirement, investing, money, finance, financial planning, retirement planning, saving money, personal finance