When you hear the term “financial trauma,” you might immediately think of personal experiences like job loss or bankruptcy. But the roots of financial trauma often run much deeper, embedded in the cultural and societal structures that shape our lives.…

Like a river carving its path through stone, our earliest experiences with money shape lasting patterns. These childhood encounters create deep channels that often guide our financial decisions decades later. The way we saw money flow through our family home…

Money sweeps through our lives like ocean waves, sometimes gently sustaining, sometimes overwhelming. Our response to its ebb and flow is shaped by our most profound experiences—those that shook our sense of identity, safety, or security. The way we handle…

To understand financial trauma, we must first understand trauma itself. While many definitions exist—from clinical to casual—I’ve chosen this inclusive definition from SAMHSA as our foundation: Trauma results from an event, series of events, or a set of circumstances an…

Financial decisions touch every aspect of our lives, yet traditional advice often overlooks a critical truth: our relationship with money runs deeper than spreadsheets and budgets. Through my work and research, I’ve discovered how financial stress and trauma lie at…

As we wrap up our exploration of cognitive biases in personal finance, let’s bring together the key insights and practical wisdom from each article. This series has revealed how our minds process financial information and make decisions, often in ways…