What is neurodiversity?
Neurodiversity is about the different ways the brain works and interprets information.
Most people are considered neurotypical but it is estimated that around 15% of people in the UK are neurodivergent, meaning that the brain functions, learns and processes information differently to the way society expects.
Neurodiversity covers such conditions as:
- Autism Spectrum Disorder
- Dyslexia
- Dyspraxia
- Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder
Financial wellbeing
Financial wellbeing is mainly about:
- Having control of your day-to-day and month-to-month finances
- Being able to absorb financial shocks
- Taking your financial goals into account when making decisions to ensure you're on track to meet them
- Having the financial freedom to make choices that allow you to enjoy your life
Improving your financial wellbeing can be a challenge even for neurotypical people, but if you are neurodivergent, you can be vulnerable to over-relying on poor information received from well-meaning friends and family. You could also be at greater risk from fraud.
So how do you start developing your financial wellbeing?
Executive function
We all have ‘executive function’ when it comes to our brains. This is how the brain organises you through working memory, flexible thinking, and self-control to learn, work and manage daily life.
But when you are neurodivergent, this executive function may be awry. Some conditions may lend themselves to forgetfulness, while others lead to being easily distracted or difficulties in managing your time.
So, if your executive function works differently, achieving your financial and life goals may be harder.
Planning
To help with this, it is good to break down financial planning into manageable steps. These steps should all feed into each other but also exist separately in their own ecosystem for ease of use and understanding:
- Goals
- Day-to-day spending
- Budget
As with all finances, planning is the key to success. Work out what you want to achieve. For example, is it to attend an event or some goods you’re looking to buy. Writing this down will also help you focus on what you want to achieve.
Goals
What are your goals? Are they short, medium, or long-term? Setting out the timescale can help you plan accordingly, and this also allows you to regularly review these goals and see how close you are to achieving them.
Day-to-day spending
Being neurodivergent can be distracting. You may find yourself regularly losing focus on your finances. Start to work out your day-to-day finances. How much you are spending? How’s your bank balance? Working out your needs versus your wants allows you to understand your money habits and, by writing these down, allows you to re-focus your mind on your money.
Budget
Once you understand your money, you can start setting out your budget. These include your incomings, your outgoings, what you consider necessary and what you would regard as luxuries. You can use a budget calculator to calculate your monthly spending and work out an achievable budget. This budget, hopefully, will include capacity for savings and investments as well as simply paying bills.
Getting started
So, you have worked out what you need to do, but how can you start what seem like daunting tasks?
Notebook
Note down spending and regularly update your plans in a notebook. Physically writing an entry can focus the mind, while repetition can bring comfort and familiarity to what could be a challenging task.
Phone apps
There are apps for everything, including ones for banking and budgeting. Use a budgeting tool to plan your spending or explore using a top-up savings app that takes your change and builds up a savings pot.
Start small
If you start with small but regular payments into a savings account or app, you will soon see how this builds up. Use this when it comes to paying down debt as well. You can also build a virtual piggy bank with an app or else with coins lying about the house.
Check your spending
Part of the process of planning is examining your day-to-day spending. If you have written it down in a notebook or budget planner, you have a quick way of keeping an eye on your spending. Even if you haven’t, regularly checking in on your spending will help stop unnecessary expenditure.
Direct debits
Having to regularly pay bills can be exhausting depending on your neurotype. Setting up direct debits will help ease the mental stress and energy spent on these tasks.
For the future
Finance is not simply about today but also about the future. Although many neurodivergent people struggle with the concept of future planning, it is good for your financial wellbeing to do so.
Emergency fund
Although you may not consider it, you should prepare for eventualities. One way is to build up an emergency fund just in case you need the money in the future, such as if you become unemployed or through illness.
Pay off debt
Debt is usually at a higher rate of interest than saving, so it makes sense to pay off debt where you have it.
Build credit
Credit is part of modern life, so it could pay to build up your credit. Explore using a store card or make small purchases on a credit card to build up your credit. Make sure you set up a direct debit so that it is paid off each month.
Financial advice
If you can, seek out professional financial advice. There are advisers out there that specialise in helping the neurodiverse and understanding your unique challenges.
Investing and retirement
If you’re in work, you should be enrolled into a pension scheme. Talk with your benefits provider about putting extra into your pension either voluntarily or through a salary sacrifice scheme, if available.
If you have some spare capital, you could consider investing. Most investment-related platforms offer a ‘passive’ investing option, which means they can make the decisions for you based on your desired outcome.
