Addicted to Money

Addicted to Money

Addiction is most often associated with drugs, medications, alcohol or betting. Yet, you might not realize that you can become dependent on cash just like on other substances. An addiction to money can get to the point you begin utilizing cash to manage your issues. You may even get a rush or high from spending or making money. An addiction to money can get out of hand and lead you on a spiral downward in which your financial security may evaporate.

A cash dependence is a type of addiction in which an individual takes part in a habitual conduct despite the fact that it brings about unfortunate results. It’s essential to comprehend that a cash habit and a spending addiction aren’t similar issues.

An individual with a cash addiction prioritizes saving money rather than important activities in life. Money can become their main love in life and activities such as personal relationships and health can go out the window. A person addicted to money is scared that they will never have enough money to live happily.

If you are addicted to money, you constantly think about money and the results of not having it. Your behavior will revolve around making money and hoarding it. You may also constantly think about how to acquire more money. A person addicted to money often compares their self-worth to the amount of money they have saved. If there is a lot of money in savings, their self-worth is high. A low amount of money in the bank and their self-worth is also low.

Money addiction can lead to risky behavior. Betting on sports, gambling at casinos, playing the stock market or investing money into longshots are all behaviors a person may engage in. The ultimate aim of a money addicted person is to make more money and save it for no particular reason.

Are you addicted to money?

Spending money and saving it are not the issue when it comes to money addiction. It is your actions and whether you use money as a crutch. An individual who feels guilty for spending money, but gets a high from saving it is likely addicted to cash. If you can afford to spend money, then there isn’t really a problem in dipping into your cash reserves from time to time.

A money addict is unlikely to have a healthy relationship with their finances. Money addicts may get high on seeing their bank accounts increase but have no purpose for saving money. Rather than saving money with no end goal in sight, you should understand how your finances can benefit you, your family, and others when put to use. Rather than save money constantly, consider your future goals in regards to your money and how it can work to make your life better.

Money addicts may be in denial about their addiction. They may be elusive about their earnings, savings, and debt. Money addicts believe that the more money they save, the happier they will be. This is not always the case and is often a problem. Happiness does not come with more money in savings accounts.

Is money addiction and building wealth the same?

You may wonder if money addiction and building wealth are the same thing. They are not. You can build wealth in multiple ways that do not include worrying over spending a dollar or two. Money addiction can see a person live incredibly frugal just to save a few dollars. While building wealth may make you feel good emotionally and mentally, a money addict gets a mental and physical high like a person who uses substances.¹https://greatergood.berkeley.edu/article/item/how_money_changes_the_way_you_think_and_feel

You may not spend money on yourself or loved ones if you are addicted to money despite being financially stable. This frugal behavior is created due to a fear of never having enough money. Money addiction creates isolation and depression in individuals. Being around family and friends may involve spending money. Due to this, a money addict will stop themselves from participating in activities and become reclusive. This reclusiveness will only increase and a deep depression will develop.

If money is being used as a resource to improve your life and your family’s life, then you are likely to have a positive relationship with money. If you continually save money and spend your time pinching pennies with no end goal, you may have a money addiction.

Is there help for money addiction?

Money addicts tend to have a short-term feeling of euphoria when saving money. The satisfaction of saving money doesn’t last long and they begin devising ways to make more money. If you want to get help with your money addiction, you must first understand that change is needed. Be honest with yourself that change must be made to make life better.

Luckily, you can get help for your money addiction. You should consider what money means to you? By answering this question, you may be able to create a healthier relationship with your finances. There are a variety of books on the market that can help you end your addiction to money.

One of the best ways to get help with money addiction is to create a plan that is set around your goals in life. You should create a plan considering money as a resource that allows you to achieve financial life goals in a healthy way. Along with making a plan, you can create an inventory for spending money. This will give you a picture of how much money you spend and save.

In addition, there are recovery programs that help individuals with addiction. Money addiction is very similar to other forms of addiction. The only difference is that instead of consuming harmful substances, you are hoarding cash and obsessed with the idea of money. Like any addiction, it is harmful to your life and those around you.²https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2677021/

You may have an unhealthy dependence on money. That doesn’t make you a bad person, but it can affect your life in multiple ways. If your addiction results in risky financial behaviors, it can make your money dependence even great.

About the Author:

Zanthe Jenkins is a finance veteran with over 25 years’ wealth management experience advising both family offices and institutions on their corporate finance requirements including capital raises (debt & equity), restructurings and M&A activities. He has significant experience in investment management and investment banking and spent nine years at UBS focused on convertible bond arbitrage and equity derivatives.

Prior to getting involved in Asset Management he expanded a small Spanish brokerage from a handful of staff in Barcelona to a diversified brokerage company with over 150 personnel spread across 9 countries, transacting deals from High Grade to High Yield Fixed Income and Loans; Structured Products through to exchanged traded equities.

After taking time to focus on family office activities in Asia, Zanthe Jenkins now leads an ambitious zero-leveraged fund providing exceptional growth and income to Sophisticated Investors.

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