Is My Financial Anxiety Real or Am I Just Spiraling?

Your numbers can be solid and your heart can still feel shaky. You can have savings, you can have income, even have a plan and still wake up at 2am wondering if you just made the biggest mistake of your life.So how do you tell the difference between real financial danger and anxiety? That's spiraling. That's what we're going to sort out today. Hello and welcome to Financially Confident Christian.Today we're going to talk about financial anxiety when the numbers actually look fine. If you've ever asked yourself, did I just make a terrible mistake, this one's for you.And if you've got a question for this show, you can send me that question and I'll answer it here on the show. Just go to financiallyconfidentchristian.com/question Again, that's Financially Confident Christian. Well, let's get into today's listener question.Listener wrote this. Hi Ralph, I'm wondering if my financial anxiety is justified or if I'm just spiraling.My husband and I are in our mid-30s and we bought a house six months ago for $300,000. Our household income is around 110,000 a year. Now, when we bought it, we put 10% down, so we owe $270,000 on the mortgage. Here's the catch.My husband works for a credit union and got a special employee rate of 2%, by the way. That's a great deal. If he leaves his job, the rate jumps to 6.6% and our monthly payment goes from 1,500 to 2,000.Now, he likes his job and he isn't planning to leave. And we're already paying extra towards principal each month, so we'd handle the increase if it happened. We have 90,000 in savings.We're saving 2400amonth, and we have no other debt. The numbers look fine, but Ralph, I'm having panic attacks every week about everything that could break and go wrong with this house.I don't even know if this is real anxiety or if I made a terrible decision. Can you help me figure out which one it is? Thank you. There's a lot there.And it's interesting you mentioned credit unions because when I was a credit union executive, I had a very similar deal. Great deal. But here's the thing I want to tell you right now. Your numbers are solid, but your mind isn't. That's what you're really suffering with.You're struggling with things in your own mind. You've got to have a shift from fixing to math. Your math is fine. Trust me on this.I do this for a living, but you got to shift that to calming fear with truth and with preparation. Now, all those things say you're like, ralph, that's great, but I need some help. We're going to do it right now.You got to start by looking at the math without emotion. Imagine you have a $300,000 home. You put 10% down, which means you finance 270.Your household income is 110,000, and you're setting yourself up for success. You've got 90,000 in savings. You're adding to it $2,400 a month. You got no other debt, and you've already done the math.If the rate goes up, your payment goes up by $500. That might not be comfortable, but it's not catastrophic. So if I looked at your stuff on paper, you are super stable.You just need truth and you need a plan. Don't shame yourself in this. Your numbers are strong.But let's get right to the fear, because I think to get past this, you got to name that fear and then check it against the real risk. I don't think this is really about the roof leaking or H vac repair. If I had to be honest with you, I think it's about responsibility and exposure.At one point, I'm assuming, like most of us, you were renting. Renting is pretty easy. The landlord has all the risk. If something breaks, you pick up the phone and say, hey, Mr. Landlord, this is broken.Now you own it. You got all the risk. That's an emotional shift that can feel huge even on healthy numbers. And listen, friend, your numbers are super healthy.But let's get into the real risk check. You mentioned you got this 2% rate tied to employment, and you've already said, if my husband leaves this, the payment goes up.But then at the other time, you told me he likes his job, he's not planning to leave. I wouldn't overthink that. You've got great amount of savings.Hey, even if you had to absorb $500 a month with a $90,000 reserve already, that's fantastic. If the worst case happened, your husband left his job, you adjust, nothing's going to collapse. But that's not what your anxiety says.Your anxiety is saying that everything's going to fall apart. But when you put the numbers to the paper, that reality says you just pivot.But if you don't name that feeling, it will name your next decision for you. So let's talk about preparation. Because it's one thing to say, Ralph, I'm in good shape. But how do you prepare for this?I want to encourage you to prepare instead of panic. Turn that fear you have into structure. I want you to label a few things. I would consider labeling about 20 to 30,000 of that $90,000.And as your home reserve, just carve it out, put it in a separate account market. Because what that does is it gives your brain a boundary. You know, right away, I've got 30 grand in that home reserve.If the H Vac blows up, if the roof starts to leak, if that happens, I'm good to go. The next thing I'm going to encourage you to do is start a monthly maintenance sinking fund.You're probably Ralph, what is a maintenance sinking fund? Put $300 a month away from for repairs and maintenance. If you're a homeowner, guess what's going to happen?You're going to have repairs and maintenance. So start budgeting for that. But when you prepare for that, it lowers that emotional volume.If you've got that bucket of money sitting out there that you've been putting into, and when something happens, you can just pick up the phone and say, hey, Mr. Electrician, we got to have this fixed. You already know where the money's coming from. You've got a system that's built and.And it's going to work when your willpower won't that one why step this week beats another week of avoidance and anxiety. But let's dig a little deeper into that financial anxiety. Maybe it's a little deeper than that. Those weekly panic attacks matter.They're affecting your life. They're affecting you. Like I said, you've got solid numbers.But you're still telling me you've got overwhelming fear, and that may not be about the mortgage at all. And honestly. Listen, I'm not a counselor. I'm not going to give you psychological advice, but there's no shame in talking to somebody about this.Maybe you need some time to help your nervous system catch up with the reality of what's going on. I don't know where you came from. We talked about this on yesterday's show.A lot of people bring baggage with them because of what they went through in childhood. Maybe your parents didn't make good financial decisions. Maybe.Maybe you came from a place where there was a struggle and now you're like, oh, man, we're really doing well, and I'm just afraid something's going to happen. This isn't about a bad financial decision. It's about understanding responsibility and having sound judgment.And maybe it's time to talk to somebody about that. As I said yesterday, money is emotional before it's mathematical, it just is. But let's go a little deeper now. Fear loves that what if scenario.We all play through these in our own heads, right? What if something breaks? What if my husband loses his job? What if that rate jumps? Those are real things that you should be concerned about.But trust doesn't mean pretending those risks don't exist. And as Christians, we got to have trust. We got to have trust that God's watching out for us. Trust means you prepare wisely.But then you refuse to let imaginary disasters control. Today, you've prepared well. Now the work may be learning how to rest in preparation, how to really engage in that preparation. You've always done.You didn't ruin your future by buying a house. You stepped to an adulthood with wisdom. And listen, friend, you're really in good shape. So here's your win for today.I want you to write down three objective facts about your financial stability. Keep them somewhere visible. Hey, we've got this much in savings. We're putting this much in every time. My husband's got a great job.And when you start to feel that anxiety rising, it might seem a little silly, but go read those things out loud because as you do that, you're going to train your mind with the truth of the situation. That self talk that's going off in your head. You'll have facts. You can go look at the piece of paper and say, I have this, I have this, I have this.I'm in really good shape. That's what my encouragement is for everybody today. If you're facing any kind of financial anxiety, write down the truth of the situation.Let's get right to our Bible verse today. It comes to us from 2nd Timothy, chapter 1, verse 7. It said, For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power, love, and a sound mind.I love this verse, a sound mind. What is he talking about there? Looking at real numbers. Don't let those imagined disasters write the story of your life.How about we pray together right now? Heavenly Father, we are so grateful for what you've given us. And you see this listener's heart, Lord.You see the panic that rises even when the numbers say she's stable. And we just want to thank you right now for the income you've given them, Lord.We want to thank you for the savings and and the discipline they've shown in doing the right decisions, Lord. And help her to separate truth from that fear that she fearing right now.Calm her body, Lord, from that anxiety, not just her thoughts, but guard her marriage from stress and give her rest at night, Lord, knowing that she can count on you. And remind all of us that our ultimate security is not an interest rate, Lord, it's in you. And we ask this in Jesus name. Amen, friend.If today's episode helped you, I want to encourage you to share it with someone who needs it. There are so many people who are dealing with financial anxiety and they're worried about what's going to happen.If we've got a Christ that doesn't worry about the ifs, he's right there with us the whole time. So share this episode with somebody who needs to hear that. And if you've got a question for the show, I'm all about answering questions.You can go to financiallyconfidentchristian.com/question We'll put a link to that in the show notes. But again, that's financiallyconfidentchristian.com/questionSend me some good questions and we'll answer them right here on the show. Because in the end, a strong financial plan and a peaceful heart are actually both possible. You can have both things.So thank you so much for joining me today. I want to encourage you to stay financially savvy. May God bless you and you have a great day today.