(This is the last blog of three about biases and how they impact our financial planning, all published this month.)

If you’ve ever walked away from a brilliant webinar or insightful podcast thinking, “Yes! I’m going to make a change,” and then done… nothing, welcome to the club!

Change is hard. Not because we’re lazy, but because our brains are wired for survival, not clarity. In this final blog of our series on cognitive bias, we look at the subtler biases that shape our sense of normal, our timeline for success, and even our self-worth. These aren’t always loud, but they’re powerful.

Let’s dig into a few that may be influencing you more than you think.

Constancy / baseline bias

We tend to normalise whatever we experience repeatedly, even if it’s stressful or unhealthy. If your household never talked about money growing up, silence might feel “normal.” If debt was always present, financial pressure might feel “expected.”

This becomes your emotional baseline. It takes real work (and often some outside perspective) to reset that baseline and build a new normal. One rooted in calm, clarity, and sustainable choices.

Consciousness (readiness) bias

Some things can’t be seen from where we are.

This isn’t about intelligence; it’s about perspective. We may simply not be ready to take in certain truths until something shifts. A relationship deepens. A crisis hits. Or we hear a story that unlocks something. (choice or trauma)

This is why compassionate financial advice matters. It’s not about shaming someone for what they haven’t done. It’s about walking with them until they’re ready to see something differently — and act on it.

Cleverness bias

Sometimes, we’re so determined not to be fooled that we become cynical. Especially if we’ve been burnt before by a dodgy financial product, a business partner, or even a parent who mismanaged money.

We distrust everything that sounds good, write off new ideas as too naïve, or reject help as unnecessary. But suspicion is not the same as wisdom. Building trust again, with yourself, and with your financial team, is part of healing.

Cash bias

It’s hard to question the system that pays you. If your job, career, or business relies on a certain status quo, like high stress, unhealthy margins, or keeping up appearances, it can be incredibly hard to challenge it.

But avoiding the question doesn’t mean the cost isn’t real. Separating the values of who pays you from what you truly believe or want is helpful in removing cash bias.

Conspiracy bias

When we feel threatened or ashamed, we tend to invent explanations that make us feel better, even if they’re not true! “The system is rigged.” “There’s no point trying.” “People like me don’t get ahead.”

Sometimes, these feelings are rooted in very real experiences of injustice. But the danger is when they freeze us. When they become a story we repeat instead of a prompt to reflect, reframe, and respond.

Bias is human. But awareness is powerful in that it enables us to see differently and choose differently. And financial planning, when done well, is not just a numbers game; it’s a chance to reflect, recalibrate, and reset the trajectory of your life.

Hopefully these three blogs will be an invitation to self-reflect, not to become self-critical. An invitation to pause. To ask, “What’s shaping me?” And then, with support, to shape something better.