I’m 33 With $2.5 Million Invested and Struggle To Spend My Money. How Do I Strike a Balance?

When I was in my early 30s, I was balancing work and parenthood — and spending a giant chunk of my income on daycare so I could hold down a job and earn money. I did my best to save and had a respectable sum socked away at the time. But the author of this Reddit post puts those efforts to shame.

At just 33 years old, they have an astounding $2.5 million in investments, plus home equity. And they’re wondering if they should spend some of their money during their earlier years to enhance their quality of life versus wait for delayed gratification.

Key Points from 24/7 Wall St.

• If you’re a super saver, learning how to spend money means changing your mindset.
• You may want to speak to a therapist if you have true anxiety about money.
• Consider working with a financial advisor if you need reassurance that you’re on the right track.

The reality is that I can relate quite a bit to the post, despite perhaps not having as much wealth at age 33. For a long time, I struggled to spend money and worried about not having enough in the future. But there are some steps I’ve taken to ease those fears and get more comfortable with the idea of spending some of my hard-earned income.

It’s all about balance

People who end up with large chunks of money socked away at a young age tend to be very diligent savers, and they tend to be people who live well below their means. As someone who upholds both habits, I can tell you that it took some time for me to get comfortable with the idea of spending money.

So here’s what I’d tell the Reddit poster above, or anyone else in a similar boat. You need to strike a balance between saving for the future and enjoying the present. So what I did was sit down with a financial advisor, figure out how much I should be saving for retirement each year to meet my personal goals, and put that amount on autopilot.

To this day, I send money automatically into different savings and investment accounts before I spend a dime of it. But from there, I give myself the option to spend somewhat freely once my savings goals are met and my essential bills are paid.

Get the help you need to feel more comfortable spending

You don’t want to get to the end of your life feeling regretful about all of the opportunities you missed out on because you refused to let yourself spend some of your money. So if you need help getting more comfortable with the idea, seek it out.

In addition to a financial advisor, it may not be a bad idea to talk to a therapist if the idea of spending money causes you anxiety. Maybe you grew up in a cash-strapped household and there’s leftover trauma from that experience. There’s nothing wrong with getting help to address the emotional side of spending if you feel you need it.

Finally, do remind yourself that if you’re only in your early 30s, you conceivably have many more working years ahead of you to earn money and save money. And if you keep a large chunk of your money invested for the next few decades, you might triple it or more without having to lift a finger. So that, too, should help you get on board with the idea of spending on things that make your life better.