The fear is real... the worry of having not enough money is causing me sleepless nights sometimes. Is this normal I ask myself? I have savings, I have a stable job and earn a decent fixed monthly salary. I have enough to live my life and still having savings every month. But there is one thing I am constantly worried about, and that is having not enough for retirement.
No matter how much I budget and plan and forecast, there is still a lingering worry in me even though I try to assure myself as much as possible that its all ok. There is one reason I identified, the reason is the future is so unpredictable that there is no way to actually predict what will happen. Even if I plan all the way, the outcome may still be not what I want it to be.
Life throws in all kinds of nonsense at you along the way. I'm lucky not to have met too much nonsense thus far but I've seen nonsense being thrown at people and depletes all their savings instantly due to high medical bills and long term healthcare cost.
There are many Singaporeans who do not have to worry about money. We can see it on social media channels Youtube, Facebook, Instagram, Tiktok. Many people have the means to renovate their house nicely, buy a car, buy a luxurious condo, stay in 5 star hotels and eat good food all day. Some are spending beyond their means, some do not plan for the future but there are some who really have too much money to spend because they earn extremely a lot too.
For me, spending money was a taboo all my life. Yes its hard to spend money because we always didn't have much anyway. When its my turn to spend money, I buy nice furniture for my house, eat good food, spend on luxurious staycations because I can afford it but guilt sets in. Its a funny feeling of enjoying but at the same time fear.
Psychologically, I would think I need a breakthrough. Its like when you first started investing and you are brought on an emotional ride of thrill when the market goes up and fear when market goes down. Its not easy to overcome but as years goes by, you get better at it.
I'm not sure if anyone has the same thoughts and experience as me but if you do, I would encourage you to keep going when it gets tough. The light is always at the end of the tunnel. Worry is a normal process and it should spur us to achieve more in life.
