Paul Ferraresi

When it comes to your personal finances, which are you more like, the Alfred E. Neuman (What, me worry?) type, or the neurotic Scrooge McDuck? Take this quiz to find out whether you are worrying too much, too little, or just the right amount. Circle the answer that corresponds with your feeling.

1. I check my stocks and mutual funds in the financial pages…

a. every day – 20
b. every week – 10
c. only once a year or so – 5

2. I will be able to afford a comfortable retirement because…

a. I am saving to the max right now – 10
b. I am counting on a relative to leave me a pile – 5
c. Fat chance! I am going to end up working until I drop – 20

3. When I get my bank statement…

a. I throw it in the wastebasket – 5
b. I go crazy if it does not match my checkbook balance – 20
c. I give it a once-over to make sure I know roughly how
much is in my account – 10

4. If I am laid off…

a. I’ll get through the following three months on the money
in my emergency fund – 10
b. I bet I will find another, similar job quite fast – 5
c. I will be a wreck – 20

5. I clip cents-off newspaper coupons…

a. every day – 20
b. only when I see one for a product I like – 10
c. never – 5

6. If I buy something I have to stretch to pay for…

a. I cannot sleep for weeks thinking I overpaid – 20
b. I am pleased that I got my money’s worth – 10
c. I just put it on plastic and forget about it – 5

7. When I get cash from a cash machine…

a. I do not bother to get a record slip – 5
b. I always enter the withdrawal in my checkbook – 10
c. I always get a queasy feeling that I’m taking out
money too often, even when I am not – 20

HOW TO SCORE YOURSELF

Add up the numbers to the right of the response you made to each question. If you did not answer an item, give yourself a “10.” The total score will be a good indicator of your “Worry Index.”

1. If your score is 35 to 45, get real! You need to worry a little more. You may not be accomplishing what you could achieve – perhaps due to inattention being paid to your financial matters.

2. If your score is 50 to 70, you have a fine grasp of your personal financial situation. You are taking an interest as well as taking many of the steps that will assure success.

3. If your score is 75 or above, get a life! You are worrying way too much. Perhaps you should delegate more of these responsibilities to professionals – and let them worry for you! You need to have a financial plan and let it work for you.

AVOID THE PARALYSIS OF WORRY

Some persons acquire a sense of helplessness about their financial circumstances. Perhaps it is worry about debt, concern over ever-rising inflation, career limitations and hazards, family health matters, or maybe prior financial problems. It may be simply a lack of comprehension about financial and tax issues that grow more complex each year.

Worry will not help conquer these issues. The guidance of a financial professional, steady attention to a financial plan and a slow diet of financial reading will produce the desired results. Plus time, of course…