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How Your Childhood Money Habits Could Be Sabotaging Your Family’s Future — And How to Fix It

Let’s transform financial health and well-being.

Timothy Harrington
3 min readDec 28, 2024
Photo by Melissa Askew on Unsplash

The money habits we form in childhood often echo throughout our lives, influencing how we think about spending, saving, and financial security. Integrating these insights with the Family WELLTH Management framework provides families with a transformative approach to achieving both financial and emotional well-being.

How Childhood Shapes Money Behaviors

According to financial psychotherapist Vicky Reynal, our relationship with money is deeply rooted in early experiences. These patterns, often shaped by environments of scarcity or abundance, manifest in adulthood as:

  • Scarcity Mindset: Anxiety about spending and a fixation on saving, even when financial security is achieved.
  • Overcompensation: Overspending to fulfill childhood longings or provide what was lacking during youth.
  • Self-Sabotage: Financial habits tied to unresolved emotional needs, such as seeking validation or maintaining connections.

For instance, a child who grew up in financial instability may develop a compulsive need to hoard wealth or, conversely, spend excessively to…

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Timothy Harrington
Timothy Harrington

Written by Timothy Harrington

Champion of Family and Community Powered Change Related to Addiction, Mental and Emotional Health Challenges

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