Your financial plan offers you freedom, peace of mind, and security.
Yet, the cluster of data, numbers, and complicated abstract financial concepts can be alienating at times.
When a disconnect forms between you and your plan, your objectives are at risk:
- Your discipline might falter, meaning you stop keeping up with regular contributions, impacting how much wealth you can build.
- Without regular check-ins, your plan might become outdated and misaligned with your current expectations for the future.
It’s important that your financial plan stays in shape. This is where behavioural techniques, like “zoomorphism”, can help.
Zoomorphism gives animal attributes to inanimate objects
According to Collins Dictionary, zoomorphism is the concept of giving animal features, behaviours, or mental states to humans, gods, or inanimate objects.
Below are some real-world examples of zoomorphism:
- In literature or poetry, a writer might describe a car engine “growling.”
- In art, zoomorphism appears through the animal shapes used in paintings, ornaments, or sculptures.
- Religious deities, like those in the Egyptian pantheon, are zoomorphised, featuring animal heads or bodies.
Throughout history, zoomorphism has been used to help bridge the gap between human understanding and abstract concepts.
The same can happen with your financial plan.
Treating your plan like a pet can help you take better care of it
As a set of financial figures on a page, it can be difficult to relate to your plan.
However, if you start treating it like a living, breathing thing, you can build a stronger, more resilient, and caring relationship.
One way to achieve this is to give your plan the same characteristics as your family pet.
According to Psychology Today, there are many psychological benefits to pet ownership, including:
- Increased serotonin and dopamine
- Reduced cortisol levels (the stress hormone)
- A sense of purpose, self-confidence, and self-esteem
- Structure and routine from regular care.
On paper, your financial plan should provide you with the same benefits: structure from organising your wealth; lowered stress through financial freedom; and increased happiness by giving you the means to achieve your goals.
The only difference is that your plan is intangible, and the benefits are predominantly long-term.
But by zoomorphising your plan, you could enjoy some of the same psychological benefits in the present, while also encouraging good financial planning practices.
Four mindset swaps to help you zoomorphise your plan
- You’re not accumulating wealth; you’re feeding your plan
Your financial plan is powered by consistency. Without regular contributions to your portfolio, pension, and ISAs, the wealth you accumulate can stagnate, impacting how quickly you reach your objectives.
To help you stay consistent, think of your contributions as food for your growing plan. By regularly feeding it, you are ensuring that it has enough energy to thrive, stay healthy, and keep active.
This can help you achieve a sense of satisfaction from both sticking to a routine and keeping your plan well-fed.
- Groom your taxes
Tax efficiency is one of the more complicated areas of financial planning.
We touched upon this in our previous article: Two handy tax wrappers that could earn you thousands in the future.
Careful tax planning can be essential in helping you achieve efficient long-term growth, which in turn helps you work towards your objectives. Yet, it involves navigating complex Annual Allowance rules and high-level financial jargon; this difficulty can make you feel less inclined to stay on top of tax planning.
Rather than feeling overwhelmed by the prospect of tax planning, you can think of it as grooming your plan.
Instead of “utilising allowances and reliefs”, you’re keeping your plan neat and tidy, trimming overgrown areas.
Likewise, keeping your plan clean and fresh means that poor hygiene won’t cause problems later (for example, missed tax planning opportunities that delay how quickly you reach your retirement goals).
- Spending vs spending time with your plan
It can be just as important to save your money as to spend it. But when so many of your goals are future-focused, it’s easy to develop an oversaving habit.
Breaking this habit can be difficult. One way is to view spending money as spending time with your plan.
Playing, brushing, walking, and stroking your pet are all vital for providing emotional fulfilment for both you and them.
Instead of just spending your money, you could view it as integral to both your wellbeing and your plan’s wellbeing. This can encourage a healthy spending habit, meaning you receive more emotional benefits from your wealth in the present.
- Take it to the vet (or review your plan with your Milsted Langdon financial planner)
Just as a pet can suffer from fleas, bee stings, or allergies, your plan will encounter various problems throughout your life.
Professional advice can help you find solutions to these problems more quickly, and preventative measures can protect you from future issues.
If your plan is due for a check-up, set one up with your Milsted Langdon financial planner today.
Please get in touch or email us at advice@mlifa.co.uk for more information.
Please note
This article is for general information only and does not constitute advice. The information is aimed at individuals only.
All information is correct at the time of writing and is subject to change in the future.
A pension is a long-term investment not normally accessible until 55 (57 from April 2028). The fund value may fluctuate and can go down, which would have an impact on the level of pension benefits available.
The tax implications of pension withdrawals will be based on your individual circumstances. Thresholds, percentage rates, and tax legislation may change in subsequent Finance Acts.
The value of your investments (and any income from them) can go down as well as up and you may not get back the full amount you invested. Past performance is not a reliable indicator of future performance.
Investments should be considered over the longer term and should fit in with your overall attitude to risk and financial circumstances.
The Financial Conduct Authority does not regulate tax planning.