Do You Have a 'Mo Money, Mo Problems' Issue? A Financial Planner Has Some Thoughts

When you're a high earner, the skills that got you to the top of your profession aren't necessarily the same ones you need to build wealth. Here's what I often see successful professionals struggle with money management. When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission. Here’s how it works. Profit and prosper with the best of Kiplinger's advice on investing, taxes, retirement, personal finance and much more. Delivered daily. Enter your email in the box and click Sign Me Up.You are now subscribedYour newsletter sign-up was successfulWant to add more newsletters?Delivered dailyKiplinger TodayProfit and prosper with the best of Kiplinger's advice on investing, taxes, retirement, personal finance and much more delivered daily. 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There's a belief many high-earning professionals hold, often without consciously realizing it: Being exceptional in your work life means you're equally equipped to manage the powerful cash flow a successful career can generate.If you've built a thriving medical practice, made partner at a law firm or climbed to a senior executive role in tech, you've demonstrated discipline, intelligence and an extraordinary capacity to solve complex problems.You need those skills to manage money well, too. But there's a difference between the ability to earn (a lot of) money and the ability to turn a high income into actual, lasting wealth.Become a smarter, better informed investor. Subscribe from just $107.88 $24.99, plus get up to 4 Special IssuesProfit and prosper with the best of expert advice on investing, taxes, retirement, personal finance and more - straight to your e-mail.Profit and prosper with the best of expert advice - straight to your e-mail.I've seen it time and time again. The problem isn't intelligence or work ethic. It's the mistaken belief that the skills required to earn money are the same skills required to build wealth. They're not, and if you fail to recognize this, you could find that more money truly does create more problems.Earning hundreds of thousands of dollars a year means you've mastered your profession. But professional success in one domain doesn't transfer automatically to another.To optimize cash flow, plan proactively for taxes across complex earning years, or make smart decisions about investment allocation, you don't just need technical knowledge or expertise. Those are table stakes, but far from the only required resources.About Adviser IntelThe author of this article is a participant in Kiplinger's Adviser Intel program, a curated network of trusted financial professionals who share expert insights on wealth building and preservation. Contributors, including fiduciary financial planners, wealth managers, CEOs and attorneys, provide actionable advice about retirement planning, estate planning, tax strategies and more. Experts are invited to contribute and do not pay to be included, so you can trust their advice is honest and valuable.In my experience working with high earners, the worst financial mistakes I've seen rarely come from bad investments or bad luck with market timing. They come from something far more preventable: Procrastination, distraction and a lack of structured financial thinking.People who earn a lot of money likely suffer even more than average earners from burnout, decision fatigue and analysis paralysis. You need time, attention and energy to devote to managing your money, but that's precisely what high earners tend to lack.It's a great setup for making unforced errors such as:These aren't failures of intelligence. They're failures of bandwidth and systems.More income sounds like it should be straightforwardly good news. But it also introduces a particular kind of complexity that catches many people off guard, especially when income is rising quickly, arrives on a variable schedule or far outpaces what you actually spend.You suddenly have a lot of options for your money. With so many choices and no clear framework to evaluate them, it's easier to do nothing than to risk doing the wrong thing.Months become years, and the gap between where you are and where you could be gradually widens. You know that, on paper, you're "financially successful," but you don't know what "enough" would look like. In the meantime, it still feels like you're living paycheck to paycheck because you no longer have any idea where each dollar goes.If your only financial goal is simply "more," you will never have enough. The goalpost will always be moving, always slightly in front of wherever you are today, regardless of how far you've come since you started.Yet, for many people, their goals begin and end with: I want a bigger balance sheet, higher returns in my investment portfolio, or more commas and zeroes in my net worth.There's nothing inherently wrong with this, as more assets do usually translate into more freedom and flexibility. The trouble comes when you fail to define where the finish line is. Only then do you know when you can actually start experiencing that freedom you said you wanted.Looking for expert tips to grow and preserve your wealth? Sign up for Adviser Intel, our free, twice-weekly newsletter.So you need to know what you want… but also why you think you want that outcome. Only then can you really dig into the how with the strategies that ensure you have the funds to make your end goal a reality — while still enjoying the journey along the way.Once you understand what you're actually trying to get out of your money, you need a way to keep yourself on track for the long term. Any major financial goal is going to take years, even decades to achieve. Again, the worst mistakes usually aren't due to some catastrophically bad investment or missing out on an incredibly good opportunity.What usually separates financially successful people from everyone else is their commitment to doing the little things right, day in and day out, for far, far longer than anyone else has the patience or discipline to stick with.While that takes some degree of willpower, it's more about the systems and frameworks you have in place to lean on. No one is superhuman, and we all have finite reserves of time and energy to devote to any one endeavor, financial planning included.With that in mind, look for strategies and processes that will:A high income doesn't automatically translate into financial success or freedom. Once you earn the money, you need to have the right systems in place to manage it and enable you to enjoy your life now, while building wealth for a good life well into the future, too.Eric Roberge, CFP®, is the founder of Beyond Your Hammock, a Boston financial planning firm that provides wealth management strategies to couples and young families. To jumpstart your financial planning journey, request a complimentary consultation with BYH here.This article was written by and presents the views of our contributing adviser, not the Kiplinger editorial staff. You can check adviser records with the SEC or with FINRA.Profit and prosper with the best of Kiplinger's advice on investing, taxes, retirement, personal finance and much more. Delivered daily. Enter your email in the box and click Sign Me Up.Eric Roberge, CFP®, is the founder of Beyond Your Hammock, a financial planning firm working in Boston, Massachusetts and virtually across the country. BYH specializes in helping professionals in their 30s and 40s use their money as a tool to enjoy life today while planning responsibly for tomorrow. Eric has been named one of Investopedia's Top 100 most influential financial advisers since 2017 and is a member of Investment News' 40 Under 40 class of 2016 and Think Advisor's Luminaries class of 2021.