Why financial decisions can feel harder with ADHD
Math is just one factor in financial decision-making. Every financial tasks require you to comprehend data, consider alternatives, plan, and then apply this knowledge to your personal life.
For many adults with ADHD, this is where things start to feel heavier than they should.
A recent study looking at financial judgment in adults with ADHD found measurable differences compared to adults without ADHD (Koerts et al., 2021). With ADHD as the sole distinguishing feature, the findings provide light on why financial management (including bills, credit, savings, and long-term plans) can feel so complicated and daunting.
This article explains what the researchers tested, what they found, and what it actually means in everyday terms.
What is financial judgment?
Financial judgment is part of what researchers call financial capability. It includes four main abilities:
- understanding financial information
- appreciating how it applies to you
- reasoning through choices
- communicating decisions
- In simple terms, it is your ability to read financial information, work out what it means, decide what to do, and explain your reasoning.
This matters because these skills influence everyday tasks like:
- reading a bill correctly
- understanding how credit cards charge interest
- deciding whether to take on a loan
- weighing the risks of a mortgage decision
- Financial judgment is not about IQ. In the real world, it's about how to process and use information.
What researchers observed in adults with ADHD
The study compared adults with ADHD to adults without ADHD using specialised financial judgment tests (Koerts et al., 2021). These tests were designed specifically to measure financial competence, not general intelligence.
The main findings were:
- Adults with ADHD scored lower on financial judgment overall.
- The most consistent difficulty was understanding financial information.
- Adults with ADHD showed stronger “temporal discounting.”
Temporal discounting means preferring a smaller reward now over a larger reward later. For example, choosing £50 today instead of £100 in a year. This pattern has been observed in previous ADHD research and is often linked to impulsive financial decisions.
The most striking result was not about reasoning ability in general but about understanding.
Adults with ADHD had more difficulty interpreting financial information, both in practical tasks and in more abstract scenarios.
When financial information became harder to use
The researchers used two main types of assessment.
One focused on practical, everyday tasks. Participants were asked questions such as:
- How do you recognise a bill in the mail?
- Who is this bill from, and how much is due?
- What happens if there is not enough money in your account, but you have an overdraft?
- Would paying by credit card cost more, and why?
- These were daily-life money situations. Adults with ADHD performed significantly lower on these practical tasks.
The second assessment used hypothetical scenarios. For example, a couple is considering buying a new home before selling their current one. Participants were asked to explain the options and possible risks.
Again, adults with ADHD had more difficulty, particularly when asked to understand and apply information. (More here: What is the ADHD Tax?)
An interesting pattern emerged. When the financial situation related directly to their own life, adults with ADHD struggled more with appreciation and reasoning. But when discussing abstract or hypothetical scenarios about other people, differences were less clear.
This suggests that real-life financial decisions may create more cognitive load than theoretical discussions.
Cognitive load behind money problems
The study builds on earlier research showing that ADHD is associated with reduced working memory, slower information processing, difficulty sustaining attention, challenges with selective attention, and arithmetic difficulties in some individuals.
We need these skills to handle our money in everyday situations, like comparing interest rates when opening a savings account, monitoring when bills are due, and understanding the terms of stock or ISA contracts. We also need to be able to understand any complicated financial language.
If your working memory is overloaded, it becomes harder to follow what matters in a bill or loan agreement.
If your processing speed is slower, financial documents may feel exhausting rather than difficult in an intellectual sense.
This does not mean adults with ADHD lack intelligence. It means financial information can place higher demands on the cognitive systems that ADHD affects.
Limitation of the research study
The researchers explicitly state that these findings do not justify legal conclusions about financial incompetence. Financial capability is broader than financial judgment.
The tests used in the study also measure a specific construct. Standard neuropsychological tests cannot accurately measure financial judgment. That means you cannot assume someone’s money capability based on general cognitive tests alone.
The study also had limitations. Some participants without ADHD were students, which may affect their financial experience. Some participants with ADHD had additional conditions such as depression or substance dependence. Adults with ADHD were also assessed while off stimulant medication, and it is unclear how medication may influence results (Koerts et al., 2021).
The everyday impact of financial overload
The study helps explain why some adults with ADHD report misunderstanding bills, exceeding credit limits, struggling to save consistently, feeling overwhelmed by financial paperwork, and avoiding financial decisions altogether.
This matches wider reporting on the ‘ADHD tax’, including estimated extra costs linked to missed fees, admin friction, and impulse spending. (More here: The £1,600 a year ADHD cost: what drives it and what actually helps)
If understanding is the main source of friction, then the solution is not simply “be more disciplined.” The solution is to reduce processing load.
Financial systems that require constant tracking and complex comparisons are more likely to fail for someone whose executive function is already stretched.
Instead, support needs to focus on simplifying information and reducing the number of active financial variables at any one time.
This is where structure matters more than willpower.
Reducing financial cognitive load in practical ways
Research suggests that when understanding is the key difficulty, clarity and structure are protective.
Using automation wherever possible can remove reliance on memory. Setting up direct debits for essential bills means payments do not depend on remembering due dates.
Reducing the number of accounts can also help. Fewer moving parts means less information to track and fewer balances to monitor.
Visual summaries are often easier to process than dense spreadsheets. Simple dashboards reduce the need to jump between multiple tabs or documents.
Reviewing money in short, timed sessions can make the task more manageable. Ten focused minutes is often more effective than an hour of distracted effort.
Creating “friction” before large purchases can help counter temporal discounting. A cooling-off period, even 24 hours, can reduce impulsive decisions.
Some people also find that using an ADHD money management tool reduces the amount of information they have to hold in mind at once. Tools that prioritise simplicity and clear summaries may directly address the “understanding” gap identified in research.
A final reflection
This research does not say adults with ADHD cannot manage money.
It shows that specific parts of financial judgment, especially understanding practical financial information, may require more effort.
If money still feels hard after trying to simplify, it can help to get support. That might mean asking a trusted person to sit with you while you sort one task, working with a coach or adviser, or using an ADHD money management tool that reduces the amount you need to track.
If you want more support, you can explore other posts on neuromoney.io/blog on topics like bills, impulse spending, debt, and ADHD-friendly budgeting systems.
Note: This article is educational and is not personalised financial or medical advice.