Dyslexia and executive function: why you avoid financial admin like bills and mortgage paperwork, and how to get a second reader for the reading you have always done alone.

At work, someone checks the figures before anything goes out.

At home, the mortgage renewal pack sits on the table.

Is it the 4th or the 14th? Nobody is there to ask.

Why listen: you will understand why that paperwork keeps going back in the envelope, and leave with one free way to check your reading at home.

Esther Bangura, financial coach for neurodivergent adults, explains why dyslexic adults so often put off financial admin, from bills to mortgage renewals, and why it has far more to do with reading and executive function than with laziness. Many dyslexic professionals have built reliable reading support at work: a colleague who checks, software that reads back, formal adjustments. At home, financial paperwork is often the highest stakes reading they ever do, and nobody checks it. Esther shares what research says about dyslexia and reading numbers, how working memory comes into it, and how the same avoidance looks different with ADHD, autism, dyspraxia and dyscalculia. In her survey of 279 neurodivergent adults in the UK, 76 per cent said they procrastinate on financial admin.

Highlights

• Why avoiding financial admin with dyslexia is often a reasonable response to reading alone, rather than laziness.
• What research says about dyslexia and reading numbers, and how executive function and working memory make dense paperwork harder.
• How to use the read aloud tool already on your phone as a second reader, and what to do when the jargon still does not make sense.

Work with me

One client came to me wanting to get her financial house in order. In her first session we went through her financial documents together, and she went on to chase lost pension investments, get refunds back and set up a weekly money day she now enjoys. In my ninety minute one to one coaching session I am your second reader: we take the thing you have been circling and get it done together, so you leave with it finished rather than planned.

https://estherbangura.com/coaching

Links and resources

PocketSmith, the budgeting app I use myself and with my clients. Get 50% off the PocketSmith Foundation Monthly plan for the first two months: https://my.pocketsmith.com/redeem?tap_a=77627-d2024d&ref=mzjlndb&code=50OFFPREMIUM-F4RG

This is an affiliate link. If you sign up through it I may earn a small commission, at no extra cost to you. I only recommend tools I use myself and with my clients.

The ND Money Insider, my weekly newsletter https://estherbangura.com/newsletter

The Neurodivergence and Money Report, the full findings from my research with 279 neurodivergent adults in the UK https://estherbangura.com/nd-money-report

Questions, feedback or reviews https://estherbangura.com/ask

Related episodes

79 | Struggling to Face Your Debt Letters? How to Get Debt-Free as a Dyslexic Adult

64 | Dyslexia and Mortgages: Navigating Complex Financial Systems with Rosemary Ndekwu

51 | Dyslexia Money Management: Three Dyslexia-Friendly Money Solutions

Dyscalculia and savings: how to save for a holiday, a car or an emergency fund when the number never lands, by counting nights, rides and weeks instead of pounds or dollars.

You open your savings pot. You see the target. And you feel nothing at all.

It could be a lot or a little. You honestly cannot tell. So you close the app and promise yourself you will deal with it next month.

You will learn one simple way to save that takes the heaviness out of the numbers.

In this episode, Esther Bangura, financial coach for neurodivergent adults, explains why savings goals so often fall apart for dyscalculic brains, and why it is not a lack of discipline. In her survey of 279 neurodivergent adults, about 73 per cent said shame affects how they manage money, and for many people with dyscalculia, often alongside dyslexia and ADHD, that shame began in a maths lesson long before the first bank account. She shares why planning ahead, tracking across accounts and financial apps can feel so overwhelming, then walks through a practical savings method: name the goal by the thing, give it a picture, and count nights, rides or weeks instead of pounds or dollars, with worked examples for a holiday, a car and an emergency fund.

Highlights

• Why a savings target written as a number never feels like progress for many dyscalculic brains, and where the shame really starts.
• The count the thing method: naming your savings pot, adding a photo, and counting down nights or rides instead of money.
• Why an emergency fund is the hardest goal to picture, and how counting weeks of breathing room makes it real.

Work with me

If you keep pushing your savings goal to next year and quietly wondering what is wrong with you, nothing is. You were never given a way to save that makes sense to your brain.

Ninety minute one to one coaching session. We work out the number underneath your nights, rides or weeks together and set up your first transfer while we are in the session, so you leave with your savings started rather than planned. estherbangura.com/coaching

Links and resources

PocketSmith The budgeting app I use myself and with my clients. 50% off the Foundation Monthly plan for the first two months. https://my.pocketsmith.com/redeem?tap_a=77627-d2024d&ref=mzjlndb&code=50OFFPREMIUM-F4RG Affiliate link, at no extra cost to you.

The ND Money Insider, my weekly newsletter estherbangura.com/newsletter

The Neurodivergence and Money Report The full findings from my research with 279 neurodivergent adults in the UK. estherbangura.com/nd-money-report

Questions, feedback or reviews estherbangura.com/ask

Related episodes

89 | Debt Payoff Strategies for Dyscalculia: When Numbers Never Feel Real!

74 | Sick of Spreadsheets That Don't Work for Dyscalculia? Try Budgeting in Words Instead

70 | How To Build £1000 Savings With A Neurodivergent Brain Using 8 Steps

ADHD and budgeting: how to build a budget or spending plan that actually holds, starting with the expense list and the preparation most budgeting advice skips, for ADHD adults and for dyslexic, dyspraxic and autistic adults who recognise the same pattern.

You downloaded the spreadsheet. You signed up to the app. And then you sat there thinking, now what?

This episode walks you through the 5 stages Esther uses to build a budget with her coaching clients, from the first expense list to following the plan.

Esther Bangura, financial coach for neurodivergent adults, official PocketSmith coach and winner of the neurodivergent and money coaching Big Ideas award, explains why a budget and a spending plan are the same thing, and why ADHD budgeting so often falls apart: unrealistic numbers, expecting the tool to do the work, skipping the preparation, and building alone. She shares how she has used one simple budgeting system for years to build an emergency fund, save for her home and pay off debt, and why executive function makes the preparation stage the one most people skip. You will learn how to start an expense list, notice where your money really goes, build your plan around your real numbers, and make one decision at a time.

Highlights

• Why a budget and a spending plan are the same thing, and the 4 real reasons ADHD budgets fall apart

• The 2 decision blockers that leave you stuck, and why you do not need more discipline

• The 5 stages of building a budget: Prepare, Notice, Build, Decide, Follow, starting with your expense list

CTA — Take the Next Step

• Book a 90 minute one to one coaching session with Esther: estherbangura.com/coaching
• Get 50% off the PocketSmith Foundation Monthly plan for the first two months: https://my.pocketsmith.com/redeem?tap_a=77627-d2024d&ref=mzjlndb&code=50OFFPREMIUM-F4RG

This is an affiliate link, which means Esther may earn a commission at no extra cost to you. Esther is an official PocketSmith coach, listed in their coaching directory as a neurodivergent money coach.

• Read the ND Money Report: estherbangura.com/nd-money-report
• Questions, feedback and reviews: estherbangura.com/ask

Related episodes

83 | Neurodivergent Budgeting: The 7 Budgeting Categories I Use With Every Client

35 | Why Budgeting Feels Impossible for ADHD Brains and How to Fix It

47 | Executive Dysfunction + Automation | Tools That Do the Work for Your Brain

53 | What Is A ADHD, Neurodivergent & Money Coaching Session Really like