August 2026
Featuring
Chris Galeski, Director of Growth & Advice and Partner, Morton Wealth
Kristin Dillon, Modearn® Advisor, Morton Wealth
If you have ever felt embarrassed about how much you have saved, avoided opening a credit card statement, or justified a purchase to your financial advisor before they even asked, you have experienced money guilt or financial shame. Most people have. What most people do not know is that these two feelings are actually different, that one of them is more useful than the other, and that both of them are far more common in financial planning conversations than anyone talks about openly.
In this episode of Financial Commute, Chris Galeski and Modearn® Advisor Kristin Dillon break down the difference between guilt and shame around money, why shame in particular tends to keep people stuck, and what the practical path forward looks like regardless of where you are starting from.
0:00 – Intro: money guilt is real, and you're not alone
0:48 – Welcome and today's topic: why money guilt keeps showing up in client conversations
1:39 – Guilt vs. shame: what's the difference and why it matters
3:05 – Chris's personal story: $3,000 in credit card debt and the shame spiral
4:27 – "I'm just bad with money": the trigger phrase advisors listen for
5:11 – How ignoring your credit card statement makes it worse, not better
6:32 – No judgment here: what it actually means to work with an advisor on this
7:34 – It's not just young clients: older clients who won't let themselves spend
8:12 – Scarcity vs. abundance: when good saving habits become a fear of spending
9:05 – The envelope budgeting story and why cashless spending makes guilt worse
11:04 – You don't need to save $500 a month. Start with $50
12:43 – Chris's vacation account: how separate buckets removed the guilt of spending
14:38 – Don't should all over yourself: comparing your timeline to someone else's
17:08 – Practical steps: budget, pay yourself first, build an emergency fund
19:01 – Advisors as accountability partners, not just investment managers
What is money guilt?
Money guilt is the uncomfortable feeling that comes after a financial behavior you regret or second-guess. Buying something expensive, taking a vacation when you feel behind on savings, spending in a way that feels misaligned with your goals. It is tied to a specific action rather than your identity as a person, which means it can actually be a productive emotion. Guilt can motivate you to make a different choice next time. It becomes a problem when it paralyzes rather than redirects.
What is the difference between money guilt and financial shame?
Guilt is about what you did. Shame is about who you are. Kristin explains it this way: guilt says I bought something I probably should not have, and it can be a catalyst for change. Shame says I am bad with money, I do not deserve to have it, I will never figure this out. Shame tends to lead to avoidance, hiding from statements and balances, not talking about it, not seeking help. That avoidance is what allows financial problems to compound quietly over time.
Is it normal to feel guilty about spending money?
Yes, and both Chris and Kristin share their own experiences with it in this episode. Chris describes feeling guilty on vacation because the money felt like it was being taken from his future self. Kristin describes clients who feel shame so acutely they will not open their credit card statements. These feelings are common across all income levels, all ages, and all financial situations. Acknowledging them is the first step toward making them less powerful.
How do I stop feeling guilty about spending money?
One of the most practical tools Chris and Kristin discuss is purpose-labeled accounts. When all your money lives in one place, spending any of it can feel like a trade-off against every other goal. When you have a dedicated vacation account that you fund specifically for that purpose, spending from it carries a completely different emotional weight. The money going in becomes something to look forward to. The money going out is exactly what it was saved for. This small structural change removes a specific and very common source of money guilt.
What should I do if I feel behind on saving?
Start with whatever you can, not with whatever the chart says you should. Chris and Kristin both push back hard on the shame that comes from reading a retirement savings benchmark and concluding that if you cannot hit the target, there is no point. If the goal is $500 a month and you can only do $25 or $50, that still moves you forward. That still builds the behavior. And behavior, once built, tends to grow. The worst response to feeling behind is to do nothing, which is exactly what shame tends to produce.
Does money shame only affect people who are struggling financially?
No. Kristin describes clients at the opposite end of the spectrum: people who have accumulated real wealth over decades of disciplined saving, but who feel so guilty about spending it that they will not take a vacation or make a purchase they can clearly afford. The scarcity mindset that served them during the accumulation phase can become a source of genuine diminishment during the spending phase. Chris's line for these clients: if you do not fly first class, your kids will.
Money guilt and financial shame are not niche problems. They show up in conversations with clients at every income level, every age, and every stage of financial life. What makes them worth addressing directly is that they tend to produce the same response regardless of the underlying cause: avoidance. And avoidance is the one thing that guarantees the situation does not improve.
At Morton Wealth, these conversations are part of what financial planning actually looks like. The numbers matter, but the feelings around the numbers matter too. If guilt or shame around money has been keeping you from making progress or from enjoying what you have built, that is exactly the kind of conversation we are here to have.
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