A CNBC report from 2018 indicated that the average American owes $6,375 in credit card debt while the average American household owes $16,883. Are you losing control of paying your bills? Do you have way too much credit card debt? If so, then you may be like many other people who are experiencing the stress caused by overspending. The fact is, most people do not have the skills to make a budget, or if they do, they do not stick to that budget.
Join us on January 26 to receive money management tips and begin your path towards a debt-free life.
We here at Specialized Therapy Associates (STA) thought we could offer help to those in need of better money management in the form of a FREE finance workshop. Dr. Gourdine will bring in a licensed stockbroker and
Edward Jones financial advisor, Richard Tandy, who has years of experience helping people better manage their finances. He will be joined by STA’s own Dr. Richard Drew, Ph.D., a licensed psychologist, who will help you understand the emotional factors that may impair your money management skills and increase your stress.
Financial problems may be caused by a lack of financial savvy. While growing up, not many people were taught how to spend and save money wisely. In fact, very few people today have properly planned for
retirement. According to a J.P. Morgan survey, 74 percent of Americans are behind on their retirement planning.
There are a lot of details to wise money management and it often takes a professional to know the ins and outs. At the same time, there are several businesses whose focus is to take your money from you. Credit card companies offer low or no interest loans up front that later blossom into severe drains on your bankbook. The advertising industry is designed to create desires to buy things that you may not need or may not need now. We’re bombarded by advertising messages every day that are designed to appeal to our emotional needs and fears.
In addition to the external forces trying to get us to spend more than we have, there are also internal forces. Buying things satisfies a number of our psychological needs. Who doesn’t love the special
attention we get from a friendly salesperson? Who doesn’t like the feeling that comes with a new purchase when we believe that we’re better off with it? With all of these external and internal pressures on us, is it any wonder that too many people are in debt? Once in debt, we often become stressed by it. In a 2018 Ramsey Solutions survey, 47 percent of respondents with consumer debt said their level of debt caused them to experience stress and anxiety in their lives.
Are you someone stressed and anxious about money? Getting the right information is the first step toward better money management. Join us Saturday, January 26 in Paramus for our first ever Financial Savings Workshop. Register here.
Richard Tandy will tell you what you need to know to make things better for yourself financially. Feel free to ask him questions and get the answers to better understand how to manage your money and get out of your debt. Richard Drew, Ph.D., will offer that something extra beyond the knowledge needed to make wise financial decisions, including those factors that keep people stuck in credit card debt. Many times in life we know what to do but don’t make the right decision anyway. In the workshop, Dr. Drew will describe an over-spenders counseling group that will begin meeting early in February and will meet on a weekly basis. The group will be intended to help people explore the emotional issues at stake in the maintenance of their excessive spending. It will be open to adults with a self-identified overspending problem. The group will focus on identifying behaviors that will be more successful in meeting the emotional needs of those in the group. We all want happiness and should be able to find some without having to buy things we think will get it for us.
