OVERCOMING RELUCTANCE - SOME TIPS

The AXA survey really highlighted how reluctant people are to go for financial advice. One in seven people said they'd rather go to the dentist than to a financial advisor. The tips we devised to make it easier for the most-reluctant are:

· Take the first step

Visualise your goal. Have a clear sense of where you want to be. Break down how you are going to get there into small steps. Then take one small step towards your goal today.

· Make it known

Own up to a fear or problem and share it with someone you trust. Enlist the help of a supportive buddy. Once you’ve put it out into the world there’s more chance of a solution.

· Get outside yourself

If you’re trapped by inertia and indecision, ask yourself ‘What would X do?’ Think of someone who you believe has it right financially - then put it into action.

· The law of opposites

You can trick your brain by behaving in the opposite way to how you feel. So acting as if you are the person you want to be will conquer some of the barriers you’ve been putting up.

· Reframe

Putting a different spin on problems can lead to a fresh approach. If the idea of a pension bores you, for example, reframing it as a gift to your future self could shift your mindset.

Almost two thirds of the people surveyed said they would seek help - if they could find someone they trusted.

Simonne has helped hundreds of people sort out their finances, so if you're one of the reluctant ones she may be able to help you -have a look at Wise Monkey Financial Coaching.

Or go to www.savvywoman.co.uk. This great site, run by top personal finance journalist Sarah Pennells, has a panel of experts on hand to answer your financial questions.

What's stopping you?

I have written a report on the psychological barriers to financial management for AXA, based on a yougov survey.

The three main 'blockers' that people have come under the headings:

• inertia (doing nothing because of fear, indecision or the status quo bias
• ignorance (thinking things are better than they are or being baffled by jargon)
• immediate gratification (wanting rewards now instead of being able to postpone them)

If you want to read the report, with some fascinating stats too (one in ten men would rather have a minor operation than see a financial advisor) it's downloadable from our Sheconomics site.

The buzz at Birmingham

What an amazing time I had today at the Women on their Way to Wealth conference. I had such a positive response to my keynote talk from so many women and the sheer energy in the room today was palpable. I'm sure anyone looking down from outer space would have seen Birmingham glowing!

The combined wisdom, humour, creativity and vision of 150 go-getting women is a powerful force indeed. Thanks so much to Jo and Lisa at Women on their Way for putting on a really inspiring and uplifting event.

Wise words from Johanna Waagfjord, one of Iceland's top businesswomen, were "Just say Yes", reinforcing Jo's message that women are prone to overthinking and need to just take the plunge now and again.

Talking of 'plunge' I am still smiling at Jo's slip when she mentioned that she was 'hugely breast'. She meant blessed but hey, we all know about post-natal hormones and she's a wonder.

At book-signing a few different inscriptions were requested but the best one was from one woman to her friend - "JFDI" (Just f*cking do it)!

And thanks to Deb Davies for telling all mothers to say "You're on MY bus". The perfect mantra for all mums whose kids give them the run-around.

My Budget Day - AXA's inspired idea

I love Axa's idea of My Budget Day, this week.

If only more of us just put aside a bit of time for financial planning, we could be a load better off.

Another brilliant idea they have is to rename pensions! If the very word 'pension' strikes fear to your soul can you come up with something better?

In Sheconomics we reckon on reframing your pension as 'a gift to your future self', but renaming is also an effective way into tricking your brain into associating it more with pleasure than pain -

what would the word be though?

To enter go to Axa's site - you could win a cash prize.

Simonne asks: How green is your money?

This week (8-14 November) is National Ethical Investment Week (NEIW). The idea is to raise awareness of green and ethical options for investing money and inspire us to invest in a way that will have a positive impact on society and the environment.

As a nation, we may have got into a good habit of recycling, buying fair trade products and preserving energy, but few of us are choosing to invest ethically. Half of people with savings and investments would like to make money and make a difference, yet only 8% of investors have an ethical investment or savings account (source YouGov).

To find out more about ethical choices take a look at YourEthicalMoney. This site provides independent information on what banks do with your money, allows you to easily compare green and ethical investments and helps you find an ethical financial adviser. There’s also a link to this site on the Resources page of our Sheconomics site.

Simonne

Simonne's tip for tracking your spending

Here’s an easy way of staying in control of your money while you’re on the move.
There’s a great tool you can download on your iPhone for free - called ExpenseIT.
It allows you to keep track of spending against budgets you set for everything from food to frivolity.

We’ve had great feedback on it so far, but have a play with and let us know what you think... Simonne.

Your financial fitness regime from Simonne

I’ve just started getting into a habit of jogging most days (well – it’s only a tad faster than walking, but it’s a start!).

I’m noticing how it’s getting easier by the day and that, just by maintaining it, I’m able to stick to a level of fitness which is pretty much what I hoped I’d achieve.

It got me thinking about the similarities with getting into good money habits.

It’s just as hard getting started (all too easy to find excuses), and then keeping things up can be challenging.

But once you’ve found the right financial fitness regime I’m sure you’ll share the experience of finding it easier to maintain by the day and never having to experience the pain of getting started.

And it doesn’t have to be perfect to make it worthwhile.

So if money management is something you’re putting off, what can you do today to get started?

Stop feeding the bin!

Here’s a quick question. How much food do you think we Brits chuck away every day?

a) Half a million tonnes

b) 1.6 million tonnes

c) 6.7 million tonnes

The shocking answer is c! And it costs the average family £420 a year. It’s like scraping eight slimy, putrifying, past-their-sell-by-date pounds into the bin every week. I blame supermarkets, who encourage people to overbuy with their constant BuyOneGetOneFree (BOGOF) offers.

And, up until now, delivered groceries have been a problem because you couldn’t be sure the produce was fresh enough to last.

But I love the fact that Ocado are tackling this. They show the use-by date on all the fresh stuff on their website. It’s also printed on your receipt so you stick it on your fridge as a guilty reminder of what to use up. Brilliant.

It pays to start early

A big bash was held in London this week to celebrate top female fund managers. Its star was 58-year old American, Mina Gerowin, who (managing a £2 billion fund) posted positive results last year whilst many of her male counterparts racked up losses.

As delighted as I was to hear about these alpha females giving the men a run for their hedge-fund money, I was mindful of a report earlier this year showing that most women in the city still receive significantly lower salaries and smaller bonuses than men.

So how did Gerowin rise above this?

Apparently her interest in investing came when she joined her New York school’s investment club as a nine year old.

I think UK schools missed a trick there; 50 years ago the only after-school activity our schools offered was detention.

There's more on offer nowadays but I suspect not many nine-year olds are investing. Given the demise of the state pension it wouldn't be a bad idea though.

I can see Mums sending kids off to school with their dinner money in one pocket and their pension money in another before too long...

Reminder from Simonne....

Did you know that the rules for ISAs (Individual Savings Accounts) are changing tomorrow for anyone over the age of 50 (and from April 2010 for all other adults)? That means you can now pay up to £10,200 each tax year (6th April one year to 5 April the next), £5,100 of which can be in the form of cash (bank/building society accounts earning tax-free interest). If you want to compare different cash ISAs, try http://www.moneysupermarket.com/savings.