All Your Financial Worries, Solved -- slaying your financial demons

If you are the kind of guy who stresses out about money, then this economy amounts to a big financial migraine. Money is the number one source of stress for men, outstripping health, relationships, and terrorism, according to a Harris poll conducted earlier this year for the American Psychological Association. No surprise, given that your portfolio is shrinking every month, inflation is vacuuming the dollars out of your wallet, and the ugliest housing market in a generation is eroding your home equity. No wonder the needle on your tension meter is pointing to full count, two outs, in the bottom of the ninth. But stress prevents you from playing your A-game. After all, when you feel stressed, you can't hit that 3-2 pitch, you can't seduce a woman, and you'll have trouble solving the problems that are causing your anxiety in the first place. Most financial worries actually have straightforward solutions. Not to say they are easy to fix—they aren't. But once you see the path clearly, once you realize there is a solution, the tension melts away. And that frees you up to attack the problem with all you've got.