Why financial complexity is killing your freedom

When was the last time you looked at your complete financial picture and felt a sense of clarity?

I'm not talking about checking your bank balance or glancing at your pension fund statement. I mean truly understanding the interconnected system of your finances: where every euro comes from and goes to, how your assets and liabilities relate to each other, and whether your financial decisions are expanding or limiting your future freedom.

For most people, that kind of clarity simply doesn't exist. For most of my life, it didn’t exist for me either. And it's not always because you and I are financially illiterate or lazy. It's because the system is engineered to keep us so confused that it seems we shouldn’t even bother.

Why is it so?

Mechanism of dependency

As an engineer, I'm trained to rely on my analytical skills and recognize the features that create a specific outcome and design ones that produce the desired outcome. When I look at the conventional financial landscape, I see a system meticulously designed for one purpose: to keep us dependent on institutions while extracting maximum value from our money. Most prominent characteristics of this system that are probably most influential on our financial decisions are fragmentation, obscurity and complexity.

Fragmentation

The average person has their financial services spread across multiple platforms. They have their current account at one bank — for income and current expenses. A savings account probably in the main bank, perhaps another one at another bank — for slightly better interest rate. If they are lucky, they have a pension — through their employer. Of course, unavoidable multiple credit cards from different institutions — even gas stations issue credit cards these days, so why the heck not. In many countries, it’s mandatory to have various insurance policies and often with different companies (pet, home, car, health, life). Add a mortgage to it — chances are it’s from the main bank, but interest rates are definitely worth considering in yet another bank. And then, if they really want to do it right, they will also have a brokerage account for personal investments on some platform too. Any of this sounds relatable?

While you shouldn’t expect that any institution takes responsibility for your overall financial health, this fragmentation makes it nearly impossible for you to see the big picture and make more responsible choices.

Obscurity

Financial products rarely display their full cost upfront. Investment funds hide fees in expense ratios and administrative costs, while credit cards bury their terms in 30-page agreements that few people read completely. Mortgages aren't any better, with their origination fees, points, and various other charges that obscure the true cost of borrowing. Even insurance policies participate in this game of obscurity through complex premium structures that change over time, making it difficult to compare true costs across providers. Not to mention fine print. Chances are you do not even qualify for insurance when you need it the most, regardless of how many years you have been paying for it.

Complexity

When I'm designing a mechanical system or structure, there is a principle: "The best solution is usually the simplest one that meets the requirements." Personally, I prefer symmetry as well and solution that is also beautiful. Yet in finance, complexity is sold as sophistication. We see this with "innovative" financial products that no one can explain, investment strategies with unnecessary layers of complexity, and tax "optimization" schemes that require professional assistance. This artificial complexity serves two purposes: it justifies higher fees and it makes you dependent on "experts" who often profit from your confusion.

What does this engineered complexity actually cost you?

The real cost of complexity

Far more than just money. I think that the most dangerous currency we pay these costs in is decision fatigue.

Every additional financial account, product, or decision point creates cognitive load. This mental fatigue leads to decision avoidance or poor choices. Studies and psychology show that when faced with too many options or complex decisions, people tend to stick with default options (which are rarely optimized for their benefit), procrastinate making decisions, and make decisions based on irrelevant factors. This is why many people never optimize their pension allocations, stay with overpriced insurance policies, or keep money in low-interest accounts while carrying high-interest debt.

The illusion that more complexity gives you more control is just that, illusion. Financial institutions offer dashboards with countless metrics, charts, and numbers, creating the impression that you're in control of a sophisticated system. But these interfaces often obscure the fundamental question: Is your money working for your freedom, or are you working for your money?

Does this mean that we are doomed or is there another way? 

Engineering a better approach

As I mentioned in my introduction, when I faced this frustration, I started doing what engineers do: build my own systematic solution. And the foundation of that solution was radical simplification. Here's what I'm learning: Financial clarity is the prerequisite for financial freedom. You cannot optimize what you cannot see clearly. You cannot make freedom-expanding decisions when you're drowning in complexity.

The first step I've found helpful in this Neatsheet approach is stripping away unnecessary complexity to create a clear view of your financial reality. This means:

1. Consolidation: Reduce the number of accounts and financial relationships you maintain with countless financial institutions. Complexity grows exponentially with each additional account somewhere far away from your main overview.

2. Visibility: Create a single, comprehensive view of your entire financial picture that shows clear relationships between different elements.

3. Purpose-driven structure: Organize your finances around your goals and values, not around financial products or institutions.

4. Friction reduction: Design systems that make positive financial moves easier than negative ones.

Your first shift

Financial complexity is annoying, indeed, but it's also a deliberate structure that limits your freedom by obscuring reality and making positive change difficult. Your first shift is to reject this unnecessary complexity. Start by mapping your complete financial ecosystem. List every account, every debt, every recurring payment or income source. Don't worry about organizing it yet — just get it all in one place. This simple act — bringing everything into the light — is radical. It's the first step toward designing a financial system that serves your freedom rather than someone else's profit.

In Part 2 of this manifesto, I'll share the mindset shift that transforms how you make financial decisions once you have this clarity. We'll move from simplifying your current reality to shifting how you evaluate every choice that affects your financial future.

Until then, remember: The system is designed to be complex. Your freedom begins by recognizing that and simplifying your relationship with that system.

Simplify. Shift. Grow.