7 Limiting Beliefs About Money That are Preventing You From Building Wealth

Everyone struggles with limiting beliefs at some point in their life. Whether it’s fitness, relationships, or money, our mindset can hold us back a lot!

Limiting beliefs about money can be especially tough, because money touches every area of our lives.

And it’s often taboo to talk about your finances with others, so too many people keep their beliefs and opinions about it to themselves. 

Limiting money beliefs can be detrimental to our wealth-building journey.

Think about it: if you believe these negative things about money or that you’ll never be good with it, you likely won’t ever build any substantial wealth.

Like Henry Ford said, “Whether you think you can or think you can’t, you’re right.”

So what exactly are limiting beliefs about money? And what can you do about those limiting beliefs to improve your money mindset?

If you’re wondering if any of your beliefs about money are toxic, keep reading for 7 limiting money beliefs that might be holding you back from building wealth.

What is a Limiting Money Belief?

A limiting belief about money is a thought or belief that holds you back in some way, particularly in the realm of money and success. 

It’s important to address these thoughts and beliefs and examine if they’re really true or not. Just because someone says “I’m not a math person,” doesn’t mean that they can’t become a math person.

If you believe that you’re not a math person, chances are, you probably won’t do anything in order to become good at math. 

You’ve just accepted the fact that you won’t ever be good at math, so you limit yourself with career options, courses, etc because you don’t believe you can do it.

However, there are plenty of people who might have been told this or believed it about themselves at some point, and then proved themselves wrong by studying hard, asking for help, and becoming good at math.

And the same thing goes with our finances. Whether you recognize it or not, we all have opinions, thoughts, and feelings around money.

Hopefully, our thoughts and feelings around money are positive and encouraging. If you believe that you can get out of debt, save money for the things you want in life, and retire a millionaire, you are way more likely to actually achieve those goals!

If your money mindset isn’t quite to that level yet, check out these 7 limiting beliefs about money. You might be internalizing these thoughts without actually realizing it!

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7 Limiting Beliefs About Money That are Preventing You From Building Wealth

The first step to working on your money mindset is to realize these limiting beliefs about money so you can catch yourself when you think them!

#1: I Can’t Afford That

I know I’m guilty of automatically thinking that I can’t afford something as an almost habit reaction to the prices of things.

Luxury hotel room? Can’t afford it.

Flying first class? Can’t afford it.

Dream home on 20 acres? Can’t afford it.

The problem with this thinking is that you operate out of a scarcity money mindset. Operating out of a scarcity mindset will hold you back financially.

And chances are, you probably can afford most of the things you really want (okay, maybe there are some things we truly can’t afford, like yachts and private jets, but I truly believe those super-luxury things don’t add to our happiness anyway).

It just might require time to save, earning more money, or giving up certain things to get it.

These things that we really want, we can make room for. And the things we say that we can’t afford and don’t really care about, is simply a decision to not spend on that thing.

It’s a matter of choice.

I know that my husband and I can afford our dream home one day! I also know that we could prioritize travel savings if we really valued flying first class and luxury accommodations.

But we don’t care that much about luxury travel, so we choose to fly economy and save money for our dream home, budget-friendly travel, and early retirement instead.

We are choosing to save/spend on some things in lieu of others.

If there is something you really want to achieve in life, figure out what needs to change in order to make it happen, instead of settling for “I can’t afford that.”

How to reframe this limiting money belief: I am choosing to not spend on this, so that I can spend on that.

#2: Being Good With Money Means I Can’t Spend on Wants

Another huge limiting belief about money is that you’re only good with it if you’re super cheap and save every penny.

This is so false! What’s the point of life if you never make room in the budget for things that bring you joy?

Being “good with money” does not mean that you never spend money on things you want. So don’t feel bad for getting that iced coffee on the way to work or buying that nice pair of leggings.

In fact, I would say that someone who never spends on themselves is not good with money!

They just have a different problem: not knowing what makes them happy and how to spend intentionally.

Because a good financial plan includes spending and saving. You want to do both to live a full, balanced life.

The key here is to spend on things that you actually value. If you don’t care that much about designer bags, don’t spend money on designer bags!

But don’t hold back on things you truly love in the name of being “good with money.”

You can buy your coffee and pay off your student loans.

You can go out for drinks once a week and buy index funds in your Roth IRA.

How to reframe this limiting money belief: It is possible to build a spending plan that allows me to save money for my future while spending on things I value now.

#3: I’ll Save for Retirement When I Make More Money

You need two things to build wealth: time and money.

What if I told you the most important aspect wasn’t how much money you save, but how long your money is growing?

Someone saving $350/month starting at age 25 can accumulate $1 million by age 65!

If that same person waited 10 years and started saving the same $350? They’d only have $492,000- less than half the amount if they had started 10 years earlier!

I get that in your 20s, you probably don’t have a lot of money to invest. But what you do have is TIME!

Starting the habit of saving even a tiny amount for retirement as soon as you can will have a huge impact on your total long-term wealth.

This number dictates how long you’ll have to work, your lifestyle in retirement, and the options you’ll have in the future, so it’s pretty dang important!

So please don’t put off saving for retirement. If all you can do right now is put $50 a month into your Roth IRA, that is still worth it!

How to reframe this limiting money belief: I know I’m not saving as much for retirement as I’d like right now, but I can afford to contribute X amount to my 401k and have a plan to increase those contributions as I pay off debt and earn more.

Related: How Compound Interest Completely Changed How I Think About Money

#4: I’ll Start Budgeting Next Month

Similar to the last point, waiting to get better with your finances only ensures that you’ll be further behind in the future.

We’ve all been there, I get it. I know how hard it is to change habits and start something new.

But continuing to wait for the perfect time to start something will always ensure that you never will. There is never a perfect time for anything!

So start small. Today. Print off your bank statements from the last 3 months and go through your spending. 

Get a feel for how much you spend compared to your income. How much can you realistically save each month?

I wrote a whole blog post breaking down exactly how I make a budget with only 15 minutes per week.

I also have a Google Sheets/Excel budgeting template that has 90% of the work done for you.

Your budget doesn’t have to be perfect to work. 

Don’t let this limiting money belief keep you procrastinating any longer!

How to reframe this limiting money belief: There is no perfect time to start budgeting, so I’m going to start tracking my spending now.

#5: I’m Just Bad With Money

This is probably the worst limiting belief about money that I’ve heard.

It’s not like some people are born being “good with money” and others are “bad with money.”

Being bad with money is NOT a personality trait. It is a skill that can be learned and refined over time!

If you find yourself justifying your reckless spending habits, just because you’re “bad with money,” you’re in for a rude awakening in the future.

Just like the math example, if you believe that you’re bad with money, your chances of always being bad with money are pretty high.

Start implementing small, positive changes and believe that you can become good with money. Because you can!

Just because you have made mistakes in the past, doesn’t mean you can’t change for the better. I know so many people whose financial journeys got kickstarted because they made so many money mistakes! It was the breaking point that caused them to change.

Do you really want to be in the same place financially in 10 years and then realize it was yourself holding you back the whole time? I didn’t think so.

How to reframe this limiting money belief: I am not bad with money, I am learning and improving with my finances.

Related: The Top 5 Worst Money Mistakes to Avoid in Your 20’s

#6: Money is Evil

To be clear, the Bible says that the LOVE of money is evil, not that money itself is evil. 

Yes, there can be a fine line between wanting to build wealth, earn more, etc and being outright obsessed with money. But wanting more of it may not be a bad thing!

It’s important to assess the intent behind your desire of wanting more money. Is your intent good or bad?

If you truly believe that having a lot of money is evil, you’ll hold yourself back from building wealth at all! You’ll avoid promotions and opportunities to earn more because you’ll believe you’re an evil person if you suddenly cross a certain salary threshold.

Wanting more money so that you can build a secure financial foundation, improve your quality of life, and help others is NOT a bad thing.

Some of the wealthiest people I know in real life are also the most generous, and I aspire to be like them one day!

After all, money is just a tool. Which makes it neutral- neither good nor bad. You can do good things with money or bad things with money.

But how many broke people do you know that donate monthly to charity? Or pick up the tab when out with friends? Probably not very many.

How to reframe this limiting money belief: Money itself is not evil and it’s not bad to want to earn more so I can achieve financial freedom and help others.

#7: Investing is Only for Rich People

And finally, the last limiting belief about money on this list is that investing is only for rich people. This is completely untrue!

Investing isn’t just for rich people, it’s how people get rich! 

Ramsey Solutions did a study on self-made millionaires, and they found that the vast majority of them became millionaires by investing in their good ole’ 401k’s and IRAs.

They did NOT inherit their wealth, win the lottery, or wait until they were already rich to start investing (because it’s really hard to get rich without investing at all!).

And investing your money now has never been cheaper or easier. 

Payroll contributions to your 401k automatically get deducted from your paycheck and invested on your behalf.

You can set up automatic contributions to your Roth IRA on payday.

Guys, you can literally roll over in bed, pick up your phone, and buy commission-free index funds in your Roth IRA or taxable brokerage account in about 30 seconds. 

Gone are the days of calling your stock broker, paying front-end load fees, and needing to meet minimum investment thresholds just to purchase a share of the S&P 500. 

Back in those days, investing for us normal folk was pretty preventative, for the above reasons.

But now, technology has come so far allowing anyone, anywhere, at any time to build wealth. Isn’t that amazing?

If you want to learn more about investing, I highly recommend Personal Finance Club’s Index Fund Investing course. I have personally bought and taken this course, and I follow all of the strategies he teaches.

It’s very comprehensive and great for beginners looking to get started investing for retirement and other long-term goals!

How to reframe this limiting money belief: Almost all self-made millionaires became millionaires by consistently investing into the stock market over time, and I can too!

How to Overcome Limiting Beliefs About Money

I hope this article dispelling these 7 liming beliefs about money encourages you to work on your money mindset and make positive, sustainable changes with your finances. 

It’s good to be aware of these limiting thoughts, so when they pop up in your mind, you can challenge them!

Once you start believing that you can build wealth and that you’re not evil for wanting to do so, you can start working toward that goal.

You’ll go from a limiting money mindset to an abundance money mindset. If you believe you can earn more, be disciplined, and build wealth, you are so much more likely to actually do it!

And remember that where you start is not where you have to finish. 3 years ago, I was $56,000 in student loan debt, had no assets besides a couple grand in cash, and a 15-year-old car.

If I can do it, you can too!

Start making small, positive changes with your finances and watch how your money mindset improves!

You just need to believe in yourself. And ditch these limiting money beliefs!

-Megan

This post was all about how limiting beliefs about money hold you back from building wealth.