🧠When Your Brain Loves the Hunt: ADHD & Money (Collab with Everyone's Talkin' Money)

How does your ADHD impact your financial life? In this collaboration with Everyone's Talkin' Money podcast, financial therapist Rachel Duncan sits down with Shari Rash, financial advisor and podcast host, to explore the unique challenges and surprising strengths that come with ADHD when managing money. Shari shares her personal experience as someone diagnosed with ADHD as an adult and how she's created systems that work with her brain, not against it.

 

💬 "I do this thing if I go to the store—I'll put the necessary stuff in one bag and then the extra stuff that I got on a whim in another bag. When I get home, I'm bringing the necessary bag into the house right away, and the other bag I'm keeping in my trunk. Depending on how long I keep it there tells me how much I really wanted it." - Shari Rash

 

Guest info:

Shari Rash is the co-host of Everyone's Talkin' Money podcast and a fiduciary financial planner at GWA Wealth who believes in holistic financial planning.

 

⏰ EPISODE BREAKDOWN

Understanding ADHD and Dopamine [00:04:00 - 00:09:00] Rachel explains how dopamine affects reward-seeking behavior and how this can manifest in impulse shopping and the "thrill of the hunt" when researching purchases.

 

Time Blindness and ADHD Tax [00:11:00 - 00:17:00] Discussion of how ADHD-related time perception issues can lead to financial penalties and the importance of using calendars and reminders as management tools.

 

Hyperfocus and Executive Function [00:17:00 - 00:24:00] Exploration of how hyperfocus can be both a strength and challenge when it comes to managing finances, and the importance of automation to overcome executive function difficulties.

 

The Importance of Support Systems [00:24:00 - 00:29:00] Why trying to manage money alone with ADHD can be overwhelming and the value of finding appropriate support systems.

 

Making Money Management Boring (In a Good Way) [00:33:00 - 00:39:00] Discussion about how finding your "sparkle" elsewhere and making money management intentionally boring can be a strategy for success.

 

📋 ADHD Facets: Challenges and Strengths with Money

Dopamine Processing

1. Challenges: Impulse spending, reward-seeking behavior, difficulty starting tasks that aren't immediately rewarding

2. Strengths: Excellent researchers when interested, ability to "deep dive" into financial topics, enthusiasm and creativity when engaged

 

Time Blindness

1. Challenges: Missing deadlines, late fees (the "ADHD tax"), difficulty planning for future financial goals

2. Strengths: Present-focused awareness, ability to be fully immersed in the moment, potential for creative solutions under pressure

 

Executive Function

1. Challenges: Difficulty managing multiple financial tasks, forgetting bills, struggling with complex financial systems

2. Strengths: Ability to simplify overly complex systems, finding unconventional solutions to problems

 

Hyperfocus

1. Challenges: Getting so absorbed in one financial aspect that others are neglected, difficulty switching tasks

2. Strengths: Incredible productivity and attention to detail when interested, ability to master complex financial concepts quickly

 

All-or-Nothing Thinking

1. Challenges: Setting unrealistic financial goals, giving up if perfect compliance isn't possible

2. Strengths: Ambitious goal-setting, thinking outside conventional financial wisdom

 

🛠️ Shari's Life Hacks for ADHD and Money

1. Time Blocking on Calendar: Schedule specific times for financial tasks, breaking them into realistic chunks to avoid overestimating what can be accomplished, and creatively celebrate completion.

2. Just Say No to Store Credit Cards: Create a firm personal rule to decline all store credit card offers regardless of the one-time discount, avoiding complexity and potential forgotten payments.

3. Simplify Banking: Keep accounts consolidated rather than creating multiple accounts that increase complexity. Focus