February 10, 2026 — 1:00pm
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Through my education and coaching work, I’ve had the opportunity to work with a really diverse range of people, some who are financially struggling, but many who are already financially comfortable, from doctors and lawyers to senior professionals and business owners.
Despite having a good income, many of them carry a nagging feeling of financial uncertainty and stress. They know they “should” be doing well, but somehow they can’t seem to get ahead.
A six-figure salary won’t mean much if your fundamentals are still broken.Simon Letch
Contrary to popular opinion, earning a high income won’t create financial success (many high-income earners live pay to pay), unless you know how to convert money into wealth.
Today, I’m sharing some of the challenges that hold high-income earners back from creating the level of financial success that their income makes possible.
The inertia that comes with comfort
It is not unusual for me to see clients who are financially struggling create bigger and more rapid changes in their financial life than some who are financially comfortable.
When I started working in this space, this surprised me. I knew that with a few small changes, people could make a $50,000 and even $100,000 impact to their financial future. It seemed bizarre to me that someone who was in a position to make these changes with ease would be less inclined to do so than those who were struggling to get by.
When you arrive at a place where you’re financially comfortable, you unlock the opportunity to grow.
But there is an urgency that comes with struggle and pain that is a powerful driver of action. This is a key missing ingredient for so many people who are financially comfortable.
They do not have a strong enough drive to take action. They see their finances as just another administrative chore that they keep telling themselves they’ll get around to some time in the future.
How do you overcome this inertia? When you no longer have pain and struggle driving your action, you have to switch gears and learn how to be motivated by desire.
You have dreams you’ve probably talked yourself out of: Buying a dream home; Quitting your job to go travelling for a year; Retiring early; Sending your kids to private school.
What if those dreams weren’t impossible? What if you could get there with a lot less work than you think?
When you arrive at a place where you’re financially comfortable, you unlock the opportunity to grow not because you have to, but because you want to.
Why would you want to keep growing when you don’t have to any more? Because the goal of life isn’t just comfort, it’s aliveness. Comfort is nice. But that feeling of exhilaration you get when you create a version of your life that you barely thought was possible? That’s priceless.
Trying to pay away the problemEditor’s pick
When you have money, it’s easier to just pay someone to figure it out for you. Dropping a few thousand dollars on a financial planner, buyer’s agent or investment adviser is not a huge deal.
But working with financial professionals is not a substitute for developing your own financial capability. Unlike outsourcing other tasks – housekeeping, lawn-mowing, meal-prepping etc – there is a lot more on the line when you’re outsourcing your finances.
Ideally, you should always be in the driver’s seat of your own financial life. That doesn’t mean you shouldn’t engage professionals – it just means their role should be to advise you, not to call the shots for you.
The stronger your foundational understanding of your own finances, the more you can actively participate in the decision-making process. This will not only produce better outcomes long-term, but also significantly reduces the risks of engaging financial professionals.
This is another way in which I find that people with less disposable income can end up better off long-term. They don’t have the luxury of dropping $5000 to $10,000 to outsource their financial decisions, so they have to find the time to figure things out the hard way: by themselves. In the process they build their financial capability and confidence, which becomes a lifelong asset.
Meanwhile, I’ve seen high-income earners sink tens of thousands of dollars bouncing from one financial professional to another, hoping that “this one will work out”.
In short, just because you can afford to outsource your financial decisions doesn’t mean you’re ready to, or that that’s the optimal place for you to start.
It pays (literally) to learn how to do some of the basics yourself first, so you are better equipped to handle a relationship with a professional long-term. It’s not hard, but it does take a bit of time and a bit of work.
Earning a high income only gives you the potential for financial success. Whether you can actualise that potential depends on how well you can convert those earnings (money) into assets (wealth) through saving and investing.
Paridhi Jain is founder of SkilledSmart, which helps adults learn to manage, save and invest money through financial education courses and classes.
Advice given in this article is general in nature and not intended to influence readers’ decisions about investing or financial products. They should always seek their own professional advice that takes into account their own personal circumstances before making any financial decisions.
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Paridhi Jain is the founder of financial education platform, SkilledSmart, which has helped hundreds of adults become financially confident by teaching them practical strategies to manage, save and invest their money.From our partners