I finally understand why people don't open financial statements and it has nothing to do with the market.

I had a long chat with a friend yesterday and since then I’ve been thinking about how much she’s has evolved.

We met shortly after she finished college. She always been good at saving and even then she had quite a chunk of cash saved. Beyond that, she paid little attention to her finances.

I’ve spent much of the past ten years, convincing her to get organized, set goals and get a handle on her investments. Yesterday was one of my proudest moments not just as her friend but as her financial mentor.

She told me how she had found a “real” accountant and explained that she would be taking advantage of the tax credit for first time homebuyers, even pointing out that last year’s credit was different from this year’s credit. And I practically feel off my chair when she told me that she had been encouraging her younger co-workers to start saving, exclaiming, “They’re crazy if they don’t save now. They’re twenty-somethings living at home with their parents.” I felt like a proud mother.

We talked about how far she’d come and how she used to have months worth of unopened financial statements piled on her desk. And after fifteen years in the financial services industry, I learned something new yesterday when she said to me, “Those papers made me feel stupid.” This is a solidly middle-class woman with two college degrees and she felt stupid because her financial statements were difficult to understand. As someone that has always been into this stuff, I had dismissed what I’m now calling “pile phobia” as procrastination and yesterday I got it. Other people avoid financial statements for the same reason I avoid puzzles. I’m horrible at them and they make me feel stupid. Thank God, there’s nobody sending me three to four puzzles to get through every month. I wouldn’t open my mail either.

Personal Financial Management isn’t generally part of the curriculum for students that are college bound. Once we’re in college, many of us study Economics but there is little if any reference to personal finance. If we’re lucky, we have a good advisor or a friend or parent that teach us. If not, we do the best we can or leave it to someone else hoping that they are competent and have our best interest at heart.

My friend recognized her phobia (long before I did) and faced it. She sought my advice and took it. She was patient and listened even when I criticized. Now she opens her mail, asks questions when she doesn’t understand and feels empowered enough to share what she’s learned.

Kudos to her! Hopefully, she’ll be able to say the same about those “twenty-somethings” one day.