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Individual Differences Research > Volume 24, Issue 1 (2026) > e24001

Financial Procrastination: Assessing Wealth Indecision and Avoidance with a Self-Report Scale

 Joseph R. Ferrari, Nameeta Garg, Sandeep Singh

Abstract

Identifying and understanding financial procrastination, chronic avoidance or delay in wealth management, might assist individuals and financial professionals develop strategies to promote better financial decision-making. We developed a self-report scale to measure financial procrastination with 753 adults (442 men, 311 women; M age = 44 years old) through convenient sampling from northern India. We randomly distributed participants into two sub-samples for exploratory factor analysis (EFA; n = 372) and confirmatory factor analysis (CFA; n = 381), to test reliability and convergent validity. EFA and CFA results revealed a two-factor structure of a short 9-item reliable financial procrastination scale, namely: 4 items on financial avoidance (avoidance behavior related to financial matters; alpha = 0.86), and 5 items on financial indecisiveness (irrational delays in making financial decisions; alpha = 0.84). Results demonstrated good reliability and validity. This new scale may contribute significantly to individual difference literature measuring financial procrastination.

RESEARCH ARTICLE

Published

January 14, 2026

Keywords 

Financial procrastination; Indecisiveness;

Avoidance;

India