The Money Beliefs Keeping You Poor, and How to Drop Them

Most money problems start as beliefs before they show up in your bank account. You pick them up early, from family, from the people you came up with, from your first unit. Nobody writes them down, but they make decisions for you every payday.

Researchers have a name for these: money scripts. In a 2011 study, financial psychologists Brad Klontz and Ted Klontz and their colleagues surveyed 422 people and sorted common money beliefs into four types:

• Money avoidance: money is bad, or you don't deserve it.
• Money worship: more money would fix everything.
• Money status: what you own is who you are.
• Money vigilance: careful, private, and watchful with money.

People who held the first three tended to have lower income and lower net worth. The study can't say which came first, the belief or the smaller bank account. But the link was there, and vigilance, the careful one, went with not carrying credit card debt month to month.

Here are seven beliefs that show up a lot in military families, and what to do about each.

1. "Wanting more money is greedy."

This is money avoidance in its plainest form. Two statements from the study's list: "Rich people are greedy" and "Good people should not care about money."

Money is neutral. What you do with it is where right and wrong come in. A paid-off truck, an emergency fund, college for your kids, helping your parents: none of that is greed. It's taking care of people.

Do this: write down three things more money would let you do for the people you care about. Read the list the next time wanting more feels wrong.

2. "I only have one option for income."

One paycheck is fragile. A deployment, a PCS, a medical board, or a civilian layoff can change it fast. You don't have to replace it, just add to it.

If you're in the Guard or Reserve with a civilian job, you already have two incomes: drill pay and your paycheck. That's proof it can be done. The next step is a third, small one built on something you already know how to do.

Do this: pick one skill someone would pay you for. Check your branch's rules on off-duty work with your chain of command before you start. For ideas, see Side Hustles Worth Considering as a Veteran or Military Spouse.

3. "Investing is too risky for someone like me."

Cash has its own risk. At 2% inflation a year, the Federal Reserve's own target, money sitting still loses about 18% of its buying power in 10 years. It feels safe because the number doesn't go down. What it buys does.

Service members also have one of the best starter accounts there is. Under the Blended Retirement System, you get 1% of your base pay in the TSP automatically, and up to 4% more in matching when you put in 5%. Not putting in 5% leaves part of your pay on the table.

Do this: set your TSP contribution to at least 5%, or start a small automatic amount into a broad index fund. Stocks for Beginners covers the basics.

4. "I need to keep up with what everyone else is buying."

This is the money status script. One of the study's statements: "I will not buy something unless it is new (e.g., car, house)." Another: "Your self-worth equals your net worth."

In the military it often looks like the new truck at your first duty station, or the upgrade after a deployment because everyone else in the unit got one. Comparison spending costs a lot and leaves nothing behind.

Do this: before any big purchase, wait 48 hours and ask who you're really buying it for. If the honest answer is "people at work," walk away.

5. "I don't deserve to be wealthy."

It's in the study almost word for word: "I do not deserve money." People rarely say it out loud. It shows up in choices instead: blowing a bonus as soon as it hits, lending money you can't afford to lose, never asking for the promotion or the raise.

Do this: if you see that pattern in yourself, name it. Then make the next good decision automatic so the belief doesn't get a vote. Automate the Money You Don't Trust Yourself to Move shows how.

6. "I'll start investing once I make more."

This one is money worship turned into a waiting game: "Things would get better if I had more money." So you wait for the next promotion, the next contract, the next job.

The math says start now. Assume a 7% average yearly return (not a guarantee):

• Start now: $100 a month for 30 years grows to about $122,000. You put in $36,000.
• Wait 10 years, then double it: $200 a month for 20 years grows to about $104,000. You put in $48,000.

The person who started small and early ends up about $18,000 ahead while putting in $12,000 less. At the start, the habit matters more than the amount.

Do this: start with what you have this payday, even $25.

7. "Nobody taught me this, so it's not on me."

It's true nobody taught you. Most people never learned this at home. It's also true you can learn it, at any age, and the military already offers more help than most people use.

Federal law (10 U.S.C. 992) requires the services to give you financial training at set points: basic training, your first duty station, when your TSP vests, when you get married or have your first child, before and after a deployment, and when you separate or move to the Reserve. On top of that, Military OneSource offers free financial counseling by phone at 800-342-9647, any time, day or night. That includes Guard and Reserve members, spouses, and survivors.

Do this: book one free session with a financial counselor this month, and pick one book from 8 Books Worth Actually Reading About Money to start this week.

How to change a belief

Reading a list doesn't change a belief. Doing something that proves the belief wrong does. Three steps:

1. Catch it. Next time you make a money decision, ask what you were telling yourself right before.
2. Check it. Is it true, or just familiar? Where did you first hear it?
3. Act against it once. One small move the belief says you can't make: $25 invested, one 48-hour wait, one session with a counselor.

The Guard changed my discipline, and it changed the way I think about money. It didn't happen from one big decision. It happened from small ones, repeated until the old beliefs stopped running the show.

Pick the one belief on this list that's running your decisions. Naming it is where it starts.

Sources: Klontz et al., "Money Beliefs and Financial Behaviors: Development of the Klontz Money Script Inventory," Journal of Financial Therapy, 2011; 10 U.S.C. 992; Military OneSource, Financial Counseling; checked September 2026. Growth figures are illustrations, not predictions.

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Disclaimer: I am not a financial advisor. The information provided here is for educational purposes only and should be verified independently. See the full Disclaimer.