In my first post on this subject, I introduced eight steps to financial independence and began working through them, explaining what they were and how some autistic people may experience difficulty with them. That first post covers: Developing the right mindset, Budgeting and tracking expenses, Saving, and Debt management.
In my second post, I covered the next two topics: Generating Income and Making Your Money Work for You (i.e., Investments). In this final post, I will cover Building Good Credit and How to Review and Adjust Your Plans for the Future. But first, I want to clarify a point raised by one of my readers.
Why Do I think Autistic People are "Bad with Money"?
It's a good question, especially since I'm writing a series aimed at helping people do better in this area. The answer is simple: I don't. I have met many autistic people who are absolute wizards with financials, particularly if they have finance as a special interest.
Unfortunately, not everyone is brilliant with money, and the statistics show that autistic people are often under-employed or under-paid.
What the Statistics Say
- In the UK, 30% of working-age autistic people are in employment, compared to 5 in 10 for all disabled people and 8 in 10 for non-disabled people. (Source: The Buckland Review of Autism Employment, published by the UK Government, DWP, February 2024).
- In the US, a 2017 study from Drexel University's National Autism Indicators Report found that young adults with autism had the lowest rate of employment compared to their peers with other types of disabilities. While 58% of autistic young adults never worked in their early 20s, over 90% of those with other disabilities did.
- In Australia, the employment rate for autistic people was 42% and the non-employment rate is more than twice the rate for people with other disabilities and almost six times the rate of people without a disability. (Source: Australian Bureau of Statistics, "Autism in Australia, 2022", published October 2024).
One of the key takeaways from this is that regardless of their innate skill with finance, autistic people often have to work much harder than most people just to make money.
Step 7: Building Good Credit
Getting a loan, particularly your first one, is a scary step. As discussed previously, it's not a recommended step for small, unnecessary purchases. There are times, however, such as when buying a house or a car, when a loan becomes the only viable option.
One of the biggest mistakes anyone can make in these circumstances is to assume that they can eventually save enough to buy what they want outright. For assets like a house, it is often far easier to save by paying off a loan (even with interest) than it is to save up the full purchase price beforehand. This is because assets like houses tend to increase in value over time, and you get the added benefit of being able to use the asset while you are paying it off.
With that established, the second important thing to understand is the importance of credit and a credit rating. As a general rule, banks will not lend money to people living beyond their means. This is for your safety as much as for theirs, and in most Western countries, it is backed by consumer safety laws.
That doesn't mean there are no avenues for loans if you have no money. For example, there are loan sharks. They are called sharks for a reason—they are dangerous, unregulated, and do nothing for your credit rating. You should never borrow from unregulated sources.
There are two key factors that influence your ability to borrow money: your equity, which is the amount of money you have tied up in assets (that the bank could sell if you can't repay the loan), and your past loan history, which shows the bank that you can pay off a loan.
If you don't borrow money for smaller things, or if you don't have a credit card, you will have no credit history. In that case, your ability to borrow will be solely based on equity, which means you may have to lean on an external guarantor, such as your parents. This can become a dangerous proposition because a failure to pay off your loan will directly affect their livelihood.
Navigating Credit with Autism
The biggest challenges that autistic people face in building and maintaining credit come down to executive function. You need to consistently pay the right amounts at the right time, for an extended period. To do this, you need to follow a careful budget that leaves enough money for unexpected expenses and ensure you have a reliable way to remind yourself when payments are due. You will also need an emergency fund that you can lean on if you find yourself suddenly without a job for a month.
Here are some ways to navigate these issues and build your credit responsibly:
- Start Small: A great way to start is with a secured credit card. With this type of card, you put down a deposit which becomes your credit limit, making it low-risk for both you and the lender. Starting with a secured card is a great way to begin bridging that "loan fear"—the strong aversion to debt that many autistic people have which prevents a credit history from being established.
- Automate: Once you have established a regular purchase on the card, such as a streaming service, rent, or internet bill, use your banking application to set up an automated payment for the full balance each month. This automation is the key to bypassing executive function challenges that might lead you to miss or delay payments.
- Focus on the Rules: Ignore the abstract concept of a "credit score" and just focus on "getting it right." Essentially, you need to follow two simple rules: "Pay your bills on time, every time," and "never spend more than you can pay off in full." This simplifies the process and removes any ambiguity.
- Use Reminders: There are lots of great applications that can help you remember things, but the most important of these is the calendar on your phone. Regardless of the apps you use, make sure you have an easy way to see what bills are incoming and how much they will cost. Be especially wary of any services that can increase automatically if you go over a limit; for example, an internet service that has higher prices for greater usage. If another provider offers a flat-fee alternative, it's generally a safer option. Many banking apps also offer dashboards that can make tracking payments more concrete and less overwhelming.
- Seek Professional Guidance: As always, engage a trusted financial advisor or visit your local bank to help you navigate the process. Be careful when choosing products and services, and make sure you check over the fine print. Be mindful of scams too, and if in doubt, talk to a professional before committing to anything.
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Step 8: Review and Adjust Your Plans
In a perfect world, we would be able to just set our budget and automation and then let our money accumulate, assuming our calculations were right.
Unfortunately, life is full of variables that require regular review and adjustment.
Inflation
While the cost of living is always rising, our wages often do not rise at the same rate. This means that over time, our expenditure may eventually overtake our income. This leaves us with two options: reduce our expenditure or get a raise.
Getting a raise is never as easy as it sounds, especially for autistic individuals who may struggle with personal confrontation and find it difficult to ask the boss for more. Getting a new job is also difficult, as the process of job-seeking is stressful and an autistic person may be reluctant to move from a place of safety. Unfortunately, sometimes, there is just no way to reduce your expenditure, and increasing your income is the only avenue available.
If you find yourself in this position, you may have to consider a second job or see if there are any benefits that you may be entitled to based on your diagnosis. The key is to detect that you are struggling before you start falling behind and to talk to someone trustworthy who understands finance before committing to anything. Sometimes, the simple solutions, such as a second job, are not the right ones; for example, a second job might attract a higher tax rate.
Situation Changes
Life is all about change, and while we've already stressed the importance of having an emergency fund, sometimes that just isn't enough to protect you from the impact of a major life change. For example, if you get injured and are unable to work, you might be out of work for more than a month.
Don't wait until you've been out of work for a couple of months to start reorganising your finances. Do it as soon as you know that your situation is changing.
Whenever possible, make sure you have appropriate insurance. This means insurance with a reputable company and with decent conditions. If your insurance is provided by your employer and you change companies, be sure to get it replaced as soon as possible. Medical debts can quickly get out of hand and can leave you with huge bills or unaddressed medical conditions.
If you work in a volatile industry, make sure that you are following the news and politics associated with your industry. Early detection of issues is key. Keep an updated resume and a live LinkedIn profile handy. Be on the lookout for popular and emerging skills for your area of work and try to become multi-skilled if possible.
If your workplace starts to become hostile or gives you warnings, ensure that you have adequate documentation on what is occurring and consider whether what they are saying is reasonable. Remember that it's often more important to keep your job than it is to win an argument. Sometimes that means putting in for a transfer to a team that you fit in with better and sometimes it means modifying your behavior or masking some of your natural autistic traits.
That's not to suggest that you should put up with unacceptable behavior. If something is dangerous or illegal, you should feel free to speak out. Just remember that workplaces and HR teams all serve themselves and that if getting rid of you is easier than fixing a problem, they will find a way to do it.
Tracking and Reacting (The Review Process)
The best way to stay on track is to check back in with your budget regularly—we recommend monthly. This allows you to see how you are tracking in reality compared to on paper. Your bank account statements should show savings increasing at the rate they are forecast in your budget—ideally higher, with interest.
For autistic individuals, the review process itself can be a challenge, as it requires interrupting routine and can feel like a daunting task. Here’s how to make it manageable:
- Schedule It: Put a recurring monthly appointment in your calendar for your budget review. This makes it a predictable part of your routine.
- Use a Checklist: Create a simple, step-by-step checklist to follow each month (e.g., 1. Download bank statement, 2. Categorize expenses, 3. Check savings balance, 4. Update budget sheet). This reduces the executive function load of getting started.
- Identify "Less Critical Costs": Your budget should have clearly marked expenses that you can quickly reduce if needed, such as streaming services or subscription boxes. If you find yourself in rising debt, react quickly and cut anything non-essential.
By making the review process a routine, predictable task, you can maintain control of your finances for the long term.
Moving Forward to Financial Independence
Over the course of this three-part series, we've walked through eight key steps to achieving financial independence. We began by building the crucial foundation—developing the right mindset, creating a budget, mastering saving, and managing debt. We then moved on to the stages of growth, focusing on how to generate income and make your money work harder for you through smart investments. Finally, we’ve covered the crucial steps for long-term stability, building good credit and learning how to review and adjust your plans for a changing world.
Autism is not a barrier—and unfortunately, it's not a super-power either. It's simply a set of key differences that make our individual strengths and weaknesses a little different. It's critical that you always keep the things you find difficult in mind and that you use your strengths to their best advantage. By creating a clear, predictable, and rule-based system that works for you, you can leverage your unique strengths to build a secure future. For many autistic individuals, taking control of your finances one step at a time can lead to the freedom and stability you need to live life on your own terms.
In a future post, I'll delve into the crucial topic of scams—how to spot them, what to do if you encounter one, and how to protect your finances from fraud.
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