Why you don’t feel ready to invest (and how to start anyway) / 67

When we sent out a listener survey last fall, one topic seemed to be on everyone’s minds: investing. So many of you told us you don’t feel ready to invest yet.

We relate to this deeply. Even after years of writing about investing professionally, talking to experts, and researching the topic, we still felt that hesitation ourselves. We kept setting what we jokingly call “procrastination goals” — telling ourselves we’d start investing after we saved a little more, paid off one more thing, or learned just a little bit more.

In this episode, we unpack what people often mean when they say “I’m not ready to invest yet.” We walk through the hidden beliefs that keep many of us stuck in that in-between phase — and the signs you might actually be more ready to invest than you think. Finally, we talk about how to overcome the “I’m just not ready” hurdle once and for all. 

If investing has been floating around in the back of your brain for months (or years), this conversation is for you.

✨ Episode Timestamps ✨

• [00:00] The surprisingly common feeling of “I’m not ready to invest” — even among people who know a lot about money
• [03:00] “I don’t have enough money to invest” — when competing financial goals make everything feel tight
• [04:00] When inconsistent income makes investing feel impossible (even though it doesn’t have to be)
• [06:00] When traditional finance advice feels like it wasn’t made for people like you
• [08:00] Why investing feels scary — especially if your first exposure was 2008 crash stories or crypto chaos
• [10:00] The “I need to learn more first” trap (aka procrastinating perfectionism)
• [13:00] The sneaky procrastination mindset: “I still have plenty of time”
• [15:00] Signs you might actually be ready to invest: curiosity, extra money sometimes, and no high-interest debt
• [17:30] The biggest signal of readiness: wanting more freedom in your future
• [18:00] The one thing that actually makes people feel ready to invest — and our live workshop for getting started

✨ Resources ✨

• Book: The Perfectionist’s Guide to Losing Control by Katherine Morgan Schafler

Transcript

SPEAKER_00 0:00

Hey girlies, when we sent out our survey last fall, one of the most requested topics by far was investing. And yet, so many of you admitted that you don't feel ready to invest.

SPEAKER_01 0:10

I related to this so much because I feel like this was me for years. Emily and I had already been writing for financial services companies. I had talked to experts. I had written a bunch on this topic and knew that I technically was ready to invest, but just did not feel ready at all in my bones. I developed what Emily lovingly calls procrastination goals, where I kept finding reasons to push it off a little bit more. I was like, maybe my emergency fund needs to be bigger. I should pay off my car loan first, which only had a 2.99% interest rate. It was so low. So I set all of these other goals for myself and told myself that once I finished these, maybe I would finally feel ready. And I finished those goals, still didn't feel ready. And so today we want to unpack that sentence of I'm just not ready to invest yet and talk about what it actually means.

SPEAKER_00 1:01

Because if we as two women who spend our days researching, investing, and writing about this topic for a living still feel that same hesitation, then we know that you probably do too. So if you're stuck in that in-between space, this episode is for you. And as a reminder, this episode is brought to you by us. We have no sponsors. So if you want to support the Finance Girlies and earn our undying love and eternal appreciation, you can become an insider. For just$5 a month, or basically$1.25 a week, you'll help us keep the podcast ad free. And you'll get one insiders only episode every month. We'll put a link to become an insider in the show notes. Are you drowning in money questions but too embarrassed to ask? Tired of scrolling endlessly through conflicting financial advice that leaves you more confused than when you started? Welcome to the Finance Girlies Podcast, your cozy corner for all things finance. I'm your host, Emily.

SPEAKER_01 2:05

And I'm your host, Kathy. We're both finance writers for brands like Forbes Advisor, USA Today Blueprint, and Yahoo Finance. Throughout our careers and personal lives, we have come to one realization. When we keep our money worries to ourselves, we end up feeling alone. That's why each episode we tackle those burning questions you've been afraid to ask with no judgment, no jargon, just real talk about real money. Ready to finally get answers? Let's dive in. So as Emily and I were planning out this episode, we came to the realization that there are so many versions of why we typically don't feel ready to invest yet. And so we wanted to unpack all of the kind of underlying beliefs or hesitations that might be going on when we feel in our body is like we're not ready to invest. So the first one is kind of obvious, but it's that maybe you don't feel like you have enough money yet to invest.

SPEAKER_00 3:01

For me, the biggest way this has shown up in my life and continues to show up is feeling like I have competing financial goals that maybe some feel more immediate than others. So for example, maybe you want to buy a house in the next few years, or you're saving up for a wedding or a new car, and you feel like you need to put a good chunk of your money toward those things because they're big purchases. Um, and you feel like that's kind of taking away from money that you would otherwise invest, and you only have so much to work with. So those competing priorities just make you feel like you don't have enough money to invest.

SPEAKER_01 3:39

In that same vein, I think if you feel like you're in a season of life where you couldn't consistently invest the same amount of money every single month, then you also might think that you're not ready. And this actually showed up for me in 2025 because that was the first year up until that point, I had been investing the same amount of money into my retirement account every single month, like clockwork. I had it automatically set up. It was great. And then I got divorced last year, my financial situation changed, my income changed a little bit, and I got to the point where I was like, if I can't consistently invest the same amount of money into my retirement account every month, is it still worth it for me to be investing at all? And of course the answer is yes. I've just had to adjust how I do it and only do it when I do feel like I have the extra income one month. But you might feel that if you can't keep that consistency right from the get-go, that you're not ready.

SPEAKER_00 4:33

Yeah. And that's tricky because you do hear the advice so often to like set up automatic paycheck deductions or set up automatic savings or set up automatic IRA contributions. And that is great advice. But if you feel like you can't do that, there are other ways you can approach investing and still make progress when you're able. Another situation we want to touch on that falls under this, I don't have enough money to invest category is you feel like you need every single dollar that you earn to get by each month. And on one hand, this could be 100% true. Things are really expensive these days, housing and food and transportation. And if that is the case for you, then maybe you aren't actually ready to invest. But we do think a lot of people who maybe feel like they don't earn enough money to invest or they feel like every dollar they're earning is going toward existing expenses, there might actually be a little bit more flexibility in your budget than you think. And that fear of not feeling ready might, like you might be holding on to that as an excuse a little longer than you need to, like past the point where it's true.

SPEAKER_01 5:45

Like we have kind of talked about money beliefs too, and how like you can hold on to these deep-seated things long past the point of them being true anymore. And if maybe you were in a period where you really didn't have enough money to invest, you may have thought to yourself in that period that once I actually do feel ready to invest, I will feel this like light bulb switch off within my body and I'll be like, okay, now I definitely have enough money to do this. But a lot of times in reality, it doesn't work that way. And our bodies still kind of hang on to that feeling of, but wait, is there something else I should be doing first? And so it kind of takes you thinking outside of yourself a little bit to be like, no, really, like what is my financial situation telling me to be true about this?

SPEAKER_00 6:28

Okay. Number two, the second reason that you might feel like you're not ready to invest is that you don't feel like traditional finance advice was made for you. And this is kind of the whole reason we started our podcast, because we feel this hesitation deeply and we know that traditional finance advice wasn't made for everyone. But it's understandable if you don't have the patience for waiting through traditional financial advice and information because it doesn't reflect your real life.

SPEAKER_01 7:01

Like if you have met me and Emily before in real life, you know that we don't fit the mold of how you expect people in the personal finance space to be. So if you also kind of identify with us and you're like, I'm more sparkly and vivacious, I don't want to dig through finance bro content to figure out how to invest. Like it feels stale and it doesn't feel like a true reflection of who I am, then that's very valid. And you might be like, I don't actually have the urgency to push through all of that stuff and to try to find some advice that feels like it's made for me. I'll just wait it out a little bit longer. And so that could also keep you thinking, maybe I'm not ready to invest yet.

SPEAKER_00 7:42

Yeah, and even take you that a step further, like not feeling like the advice was meant for you is one thing, but then being like annoyed by a certain approach or a certain personality trying to give you advice on how to invest that can really turn you off to the whole thing. So once again, that's totally understandable.

SPEAKER_01 8:06

And then another big thing that might be under that underlying belief that you're not ready is just that you think investing is risky. And that could be for several reasons. Maybe you think that investing is all day trading in cryptocurrency, or you grew up in the 2008s, 2009s hearing about people who quote unquote lost everything in the stock market when it quote unquote crashed. I heard that story so many times, I was like terrified as a kid. I was like, the stock market is definitely a scary place, it's not for me. So that could also be playing into it.

SPEAKER_00 8:38

I like if you turn on the TV for like two seconds these days, you'll probably see commercials for what is it called? Kelchi, which is a prediction market app. So like that whole industry is taking off. And I don't know, do people think that's investing? Maybe. Gross, probably. Yeah, I've kind of like ignored any, I don't know, anything like that that like comes across my awareness, but I can definitely see that like misleading people big time.

SPEAKER_01 9:09

Oh, for sure. Even if you know enough about investing to know like this Kelshi thing isn't actually investing, that's more day trading. Like, I know that there are safer ways to do this, you may not trust yourself enough to not mess it up. Like, that is something that I related to. I I had all of this head knowledge and I was still like, but yeah, could I actually do this and not make a gigantic life-altering mistake? I don't know. So even if you have all of this data that shows it's not risky if you do it in a certain way, like you can still convince yourself that maybe I'm the exception though.

SPEAKER_00 9:41

Another reason you might feel like you're not ready to invest is that in this one, I feel like it's so big for the two of us. You feel like you need to learn more first. So preach. If you yeah, yeah, yeah. So maybe you think about the fact that like there are people who make tons of money investing other people's money. So why should you be qualified to do it? Like, if this is somebody's career, who do I think I am to invest my money? You know, that is a valid thought. It's not we are here to argue that that should not stop you, but it makes sense if you've had those thoughts.

SPEAKER_01 10:20

So, a good example of this, Emily and I have both read The Perfectionist Guide to Losing Control. And in this book, you take a quiz to figure out what type of perfectionist you are because there are multiple types. Emily got mixed results. She's kind of a mix of a bunch of popular ones, but I was by far and away a procrastinating perfectionist. And key signs of this is that you want to consume as much information as possible on a subject before you take action on it. And you always feel like there's more information that you can learn that will benefit you in some way once you get started. And so that's how I was with investing. You may relate to that too. At the end of the day, there's like always stuff to learn, but then you reach this kind of tipping point where you're like, okay, at what point am I just continuing to learn because I'm afraid of taking action? Or like we said in the beginning, are you creating all of these what did you call procrastination goals, procrastination goals to keep yourself from having to do the to do the thing, essentially?

SPEAKER_00 11:18

Yeah. And the finance industry, the advising industry, the investment management industry, I I don't want to like make generalizations, but like they want this to seem hard because that is how they make money. Like if you think that you aren't qualified, you need to like know a bunch of information before you can invest, then you're more likely to pay somebody else to do it for you.

SPEAKER_01 11:44

So true.

SPEAKER_00 11:46

So the yeah, that is like if you feel this way, it's there's a reason for that.

SPEAKER_01 11:51

Yeah. I also think that I personally never feel more dumb than when I'm listening to the news or something, and the person is like, the Dow Jones is up X percent, and this company's stock is down X percent, and here's what all of this means, and like here's why you should be scared. I'm like, I don't even comprehend the words coming out of your mouth. Like, I hear them, and also what am I, what does this mean? It's like the Jennifer Lawrence hot. Let's even like, what does it mean? What does it mean? I'm like, I don't know. I don't know what you're saying. Um, and so because a lot of times when you passively hear things about the stock market, that is what's going through your head, like that is what you're exposed to. You can immediately be like, oh wait, no. I have so much left to learn before I can actually go and do this thing clearly, because I can't even comprehend what's going on here.

SPEAKER_00 12:40

Right. And be and beyond like just the words people are saying, they're like flashing images of graphs, you know, like green or red lines on the screen, and you're like, What? But the secret is it doesn't matter. You don't have to know any of that to invest, but they do a really good job of making you think that you do. So yeah.

SPEAKER_01 12:59

It's a scare tactic. Okay. Another reason why you might not feel ready to invest is that you simply feel like you have more time to figure things out. Retirement probably feels very far away. It also might feel abstract, like even when you hear people say, you need to start investing ASAP, and you know that, and you're like, okay, I get that this is important, but also why? Like I can't, I don't tangibly understand on like a deep-seated personal level why I need to get started right now, therefore the urgency isn't there.

SPEAKER_00 13:30

Yeah, or also you're like, what's the difference between today and tomorrow? Does it, you know, or next week. Does it really make a difference?

SPEAKER_01 13:37

Yeah, so true. So true. Also, I think to that point, like we all just have so many more pressing things going on in our day-to-day life. And it's like, are you really going to push through all of the discomfort, fear, and uncertainty that it takes to start investing when there are a million other things on your to-do list that you feel like immediate stress about? No, like you're more inclined to just keep kind of pushing it away.

SPEAKER_00 14:03

Yeah, this to me falls into the category of, I don't know if you relate to this, but like there are certain things that are on my to-do list with no hard deadline. And they're the things I tend to push off. If I say I want to do it today, like I'm gonna work during the workday, then I'm gonna like maybe go skiing, and then I'm gonna make dinner, and then I'm gonna clean up. And it's like, okay, after dinner, like that's the time where I'll tackle this thing. And then it's that point in the day where it's like, I don't have enough energy to push through the friction of starting. So it just gets pushed to the next day and the next day, and that just like happens day after day. And this is would definitely be if I was starting from scratch, one of those things that yeah, it just feels like it's not urgent enough to like schedule into your day.

SPEAKER_01 14:53

Yeah. I will tell you the most ambitious version of myself that exists is like 10 p.m. Cassie as she's getting to bed and reflecting on everything that she's gonna do the next day. I'm like, I'm gonna do all of these things that I have to do, and then I'm gonna get through all of these things that I've been pushing off for weeks or months or whatever. And a lot of times I struggle just to get through what I need to do, and then I go to bed being like, you're gonna sleep so good tonight, and you're gonna wake up feeling so refreshed, and tomorrow will be the day. And that's that's just a cycle that repeats itself indefinitely. Yes.

SPEAKER_00 15:29

Yeah, for me, it's like when I first wake up, I'm so optimistic. And then three o'clock hits usually, and I'm like, I think I'm done.

unknown 15:37

I'm done.

SPEAKER_01 15:38

Yeah. And we'll try again tomorrow.

SPEAKER_00 15:40

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 15:41

Okay, so we've talked a lot about what it could mean for you if your belief is I don't feel ready to invest, how that can show up in many different ways and take many different forms. But now we want to kind of segue into some signs that you might actually be ready to invest, even if you don't feel it in your body. And so I would say the first sign that you could be ready is just that you're curious. If the idea of investing piques your interest enough for it to kind of flutter in and out of your brain on occasion, maybe you've even Googled some things or attempted to read some books about investing, that could be a sign that you are more ready than you feel.

SPEAKER_00 16:17

Yeah, or if you're listening to this podcast right now, you're probably ready. Um, another sign you might be ready to invest is if you aren't spending every dollar you earn every month. So maybe you have some extra money you're putting into savings, but you don't really have a goal for that money, or you just feel like, well, it's here, I might as well spend it, kind of thing. Even if it's not the same amount every month, and even if maybe some months you don't actually have any extra, if there are times throughout the year when you have extra money, you might be ready to start investing.

SPEAKER_01 16:50

Also, in that same vein, if you do not have any high interest debt that you are accruing or that you're still trying to pay off, and then you're probably ready. So, in other words, if you do have high interest debt, which is usually anything with an interest rate of 8% or higher, it might be better to focus on paying that down and off first before you invest. Because a lot of times, even with average stock market returns, like you're gonna be off better financially if you pay off your high interest debt first.

SPEAKER_00 17:20

But if you don't have any high interest debt, it can also be a sign that you're a little bit ready. Mm-hmm. And then last, our last reason that you might be ready is you know you don't want to have to work for money your entire life. So you know that you want some degree of freedom in your future, even if it's not a traditional retirement. Maybe you want the freedom to change careers or I don't know, volunteer. When you stop working, travel, anything, if you want some degree of freedom and not have to be tied down to your job for the rest of your life, then you might be ready to start investing.

SPEAKER_01 18:00

That's what I want. Love my job, also happy to not need it. So Emily and I now are going to share the one thing that we have found that will actually take you from I don't feel ready to invest to I do feel ready to invest. And this is based on both our professional and personal experience. And that thing is you just have to start. Like those feelings of not feeling ready do not go away until you do the thing.

SPEAKER_00 18:29

Yes. So I think that the difference between someone who doesn't invest and someone who does, regardless of feelings, is that the person who does invest is willing to be uncomfortable and to do it imperfectly, knowing that they can change course and that whatever decisions they make, they know that they're not irreversible.

SPEAKER_01 18:49

Yeah, I think whenever you think of investing, there's this permanence where you're like, every choice that I make is gonna be set in stone and life-altering if I get it wrong. And I'm someone who deeply, deeply identifies as a perfectionist, always have my whole life to the point where it does cause me a lot of paralysis sometimes. And then I have to be like, no, you can do this thing imperfectly. Like you kind of you you can't steer the car until you get moving, you know. Like once you get moving with investing, that's when you're able to kind of like course correct and do the thing. But that is such a good reminder just to know that this thing just needs to start and it can start small and it can start however way it feels comfortable, and we will adapt and we will get there and it will be good.

SPEAKER_00 19:35

Yeah. So if you're listening to this and you're like, okay, those reasons resonate with me, but I think I am ready to start investing. I know I'll have to be uncomfortable, and I want just like a little bit of hand holding to help me get started. We have exactly the thing for you.

SPEAKER_01 19:53

Yeah, so we are going to be hosting a live workshop called Investing Before You're Ready. This will be a 60-minute workshop designed for all of the girlies who know that investing matters, but keep waiting to feel more confident, more informed, or more qualified first. Emily and I are not financial advisors, so we're not going to like throw a bunch of jargon at you or pretend that this is super complicated and try to get you to do something else. Like we're we're just gonna walk you through how to start investing in the most like basic, calm, and clear way and help you show yourself that you might actually be more prepared than you think and that it's actually simpler than you think, and that you don't need to feel 100% ready first before you get started.

SPEAKER_00 20:39

Yeah. So if investing has been bloating around in your brain for months or even years, this is your nudge that you are probably ready. So if you're interested in the workshop investing before you're ready, you can sign up at thefinance girlies.com slash invest. If you're on our email list, you will also be hearing about it there.

SPEAKER_01 21:00

And I just want to say that if you have made it this far and you're still listening to this, like truly you are our people, and we are glad to have you here in this space and as a part of this community. So thank you for giving us your time and and your earspace today.

SPEAKER_00 21:16

Love ya. Bye. That's a wrap on another episode of the Finance Girlies Podcast. Nothing in this episode is meant to be taken as financial advice.

SPEAKER_01 21:27

Please do your own research and talk to a professional if you need advice. As always, if you enjoyed this episode, don't forget to subscribe, rate, and review. Love ya, bye.