Comparing finances to others can harm your financial security - Nadine Higgins

Focus on your own financial goals and values, rather than comparing yourself to others, writes Nadine Higgins. “How do I compare to your other clients?” and “I’m actually quite frugal, compared to my friends” – are two phrases I hear often in my work. The former comes from clients wanting reassurance they’re not “the worst” financial basket case you’ve ever seen, and I understand that.

It’s scary exposing your financial underbelly to a stranger, and it’s natural to want some reassurance as to whether you’re “normal” or not. But it’s the second statement – using others’ spending decisions to justify your own – that can be the most destructive. When you see how your friends or neighbours spend, we almost automatically make assumptions and draw conclusions.



“They must be rich”; “They must be sorted”; “If they can afford that, we could too”; “I spend less than them, so I’m doing well”..