How To Deal With Financial Anxiety in Election Years, According to Financial Therapist Aja Evans
Written by
Dawn Allcot
Edited by
Daria Uhlig
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It’s quite common for people to experience anxiety leading up to a presidential election. Will your favored candidate win? If not, how will it affect your life, your rights and your finances?
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“Election years are always pretty anxiety-provoking for people because it is change, potentially, and it’s a lot of fear of the unknown. People want to feel settled,” financial therapist Aja Evans told financial correspondent Farnoosh Torabi on a recent episode of Torabi’s podcast, “So Money.”
The two women discussed ways to manage and alleviate your financial stress during this election year.
Here are five tips to help you feel better about your financial future, regardless of who moves into the White House next January.
Control What You Can
There are aspects of the economy that no single person, including the president of the United States, directly controls. These include interest rates, inflation and the job market. Although the president can steer policy, the U.S. has a system of checks and balances. Plus, too many elements affect these aspects of the economy to put credit or blame on any one person, or even the government as a whole.
People who don’t work in politics have even less control over policies. While you might be concerned about student loan debt, the high cost of childcare and the housing market, it can help to focus on financial factors within your realm of control.
“You can control how you vote. You can control your lifestyle. You can control how you decide to make certain choices in your everyday living that will impact the world that you want to be seeing,” Evans said.
Have a Plan for a Worst-Case Scenario
Evans said she might ask clients, “Hey, what is the worst-case scenario? Like, walk me through what the catastrophe would be.”
While in most cases, that catastrophe won’t happen, role-playing what it might look like to handle the worst case helps Evans’s clients develop a plan to deal with it.
Stop the Scroll
Scrolling on social media can lead to overspending, Evans asserted. “A lot of people are spending money clicking the links and affiliate links … I’m here for it for all our influencers, but I want to make sure that my people aren’t doing that kind of overspending without realizing they’re trying to cope with their anxiety.”
Evans recommended taking a social media break, or at least setting an alarm to cap the time you spend on your phone.
Stay Connected
As you unplug from social media, make an effort to reach out to people in your real-life social circle and community, Evans suggested.
“I really can’t stress being in community enough … [E]specially during these times, especially when you’re feeling really lonely, it’s going to be really important to connect with people that you love and who love you,” she said.
Set Financial Boundaries Within Your Multigenerational Household
Evans and Torabi also discussed the unique challenges of living with multiple generations under one roof. Evans emphasized setting clear expectations and boundaries with family members regarding financial contributions. “Understanding what role does everybody play in the family’s goal? I think that’s going to be really important. It also can manage expectations.”
Communicate With Loved Ones
Making a financial plan with family and setting goals requires solid communication.
“It really is about having those conversations with your partner,” Evans said. “The same way that we want to give our families grace and we want our families to give us grace, we also need to give our partner grace and ask for it in return … A lot of times, we are dealing with a lot of money baggage and money stuff that we don’t realize is showing up in our financial behavior.”
Make Sure Your Spending Aligns with Your Values
One way to create a greater sense of financial security, even in uncertain times, is to be sure your spending aligns with your goals and values. This could mean scaling back on retirement contributions in order to pay down debt. Or taking a short trip to help alleviate the pressure of everyday life. Or postponing a pricey vacation to put more money into savings.
Evans advised that family members, especially couples, should have a conversation to determine what’s best for their situation.
“What do we need to do to feel comfortable and stable? That’s going to be really helpful,” she concluded.
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