Americans are plagued by financial anxiety

Via Marketwatch

Americans are stressed out.

People are plagued by financial anxiety, according to the results of an annual poll of 1,004 adults conducted by the American Psychiatric Association released Monday.

This year’s national anxiety score—derived by mean scores on a scale of zero to 100—is 51, a five-point jump since 2017. Two-thirds of respondents said they were extremely or somewhat anxious about paying their bills or expenses. Last year, 56% of people reported financial worries.

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But some people are more worried about finances as others. Women are more anxious than men, and also had a greater increase in anxiety than men this year compared to last year. More than half (57%) of women 18 to 49 years of age reported being more anxious this year, compared to 38% of men in that age group.

Nearly four in five Hispanic adults reported concerns about paying the bills, as did three-quarters of women and young adults (aged 18 to 34).

Only 19% of people reported being less anxious than they were a year ago, whereas 39% were more worried. “That increased stress and anxiety can significantly impact many aspects of people’s lives, including their mental health, and it can affect families,” APA president Anita Everett said in the report. Only anxieties about health and safety outranked financial anxiety.

A range of factors are contributing to Americans’ financial stress. Wages have been stagnant for many workers. Consumer debt hit a record high last fall, and some argue that high housing costs are an growing problem for many households. Americans currently shoulder more than $1.4 trillion in student debt.

There are a number of steps that experts recommend consumers take to assuage their financial worries, beyond just paying off their outstanding debt, such as re-evaluating the household budget and opening a higher interest savings account.

The vast majority of respondents believe a person’s mental health impacts their physical health (86%, up from 80% in 2017). Three-quarters of American say untreated mental illness has a significant impact on the U.S. economy.

But half of U.S. adults in the survey said there is less stigma against people with mental illness than 10 years ago.

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steve
steve

I’m a big fan of Mike Maloney. His “hidden secrets of money” video series on You Tube is superb in understanding the FED and our money system. This episode below gives a good blueprint of what to expect in the near future. Spoiler Alert-it ain’t pretty. Boomers taking mandatory withdrawals is at hand.
https://goldsilver.com/hidden-secrets/the-usas-day-of-reckoning-hidden-secrets-of-money-episode-7/?utm_campaign=20180508_Newsletter_HSOM_ep_7_and_Myths&utm_content=20180508_newsletter_hsom_ep_7_and_myths_newsletter&utm_medium=email&utm_source=zaius

bubbah
bubbah

I try to focus on one year at a time as much as possible to keep financial woes at bay. The further I attempt to imagine into the future the more anxious my thoughts would become. I am quite convinced that none of the SS/Medicare will be there for me when I’m old, its a system that is completely broken and will be nosediving by the mid 2020’s. I’m just young enough that any thoughts of old age for me are more like a dystopian book than anything resembling modern day.

Anonymous
Anonymous

Factor in that SS and Medicare recipients grow old and die and no longer receive benefits. The current expansion of the numbers older people retiring will reach a peak then start shrinking as younger generations keep growing in numbers.

Current and future SS and Medicare can be covered by a number of means, the real problem lies in repaying those government bonds the collected SS taxes have been converted in to that allowed that money to be used for other things. And if government bonds fail, America fails and nothing you’re making current plans around will mean much of anything anymore.

JR Wirth
JR Wirth

Save your little beans, make 50 cents on a CD at the bank…or roll dem’ bones in the stock market…

Remember when retirees weren’t 80% vested in the stock market? So last century.

CobolKid
CobolKid

It would be interesting to cross-reference those “anxious 2/3’s ” of respondents with their material possessions (perhaps still unowned); how many have in excess of 1 TV, pay more than $100 per month for cable, internet or cell services, etc. If we continue to consume without thoughtful regard to necessity, we will quickly find ourselves looking upwards from the bottom of a deep hole of depression.

SingleMalt
SingleMalt

“opening a higher interest savings account”

Link please. These things don’t exist. Either that, or the author’s definition of “higher” does not correspond to my definition.

Neuday
Neuday

Bullshit! Why, just last week I saw a local bank advertise a full 3.00% on a 5-year CD. That’s some serious dinero, so i bet the lines are long to get a piece of that action!

Rdawg
Rdawg

SingleMalt: the link is right there in the article. It’s. Right. There. Just click on it.

By the way, their definition of “higher interest” is apparently 1.5%.

wdg
wdg

“A range of factors are contributing to Americans’ financial stress. Wages have been stagnant for many workers. Consumer debt hit a record high last fall, and some argue that high housing costs are an growing problem for many households. Americans currently shoulder more than $1.4 trillion in student debt.”

The biggest factor of all is left out of this article. Massive money printing by the privately owned Federal Reserve has caused the debasement of the US dollar and an inflation rate that is 8-10%, not the 1-2% put out by the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS or BS for short). And this is happening at a time when salaries are flat to decreasing and banks are paying little or no interest on savings. Put another way, the average pension and income has decreased by up to 50% over the past five years which is astounding. BTW, the loot stolen from wages, pensions and savings has ended up in the pocket of the Deep State thieves and crooks.

Welcome To Chapwood Index – The Real Cost Of Living Increase Index
“As an example, the CPI rose 0.8 percent in 2014. But in Boston, the Chapwood Index shows that the real cost of living increase was 10.7 percent. This means that if you work in the Boston area and got a 0.8 percent raise in your salary, it wasn’t nearly enough to cover the increase in your day-to-day expenses.” http://www.chapwoodindex.com/

Alfred1860
Alfred1860

I just wrote a comment to Martin Armstrong through his blog about this very topic. I’ve been following him for a few years and am sold that his methods are accurate, but that doesn’t mean I have a sweet fucking clue as to how to implement them using my own money. I’m a highly intelligent person, but all that technical chart analysis is completely over my head and means nothing tome whatsoever.

I’m perfectly set (large rural property, huge garden, well, woodstove, smokehouse, cold cellar) if things go completely to shit and everything reverts to a 19th century standard of living, but if what’s coming down the pipe just means everyone’s going to get a lot poorer I’m as fucked as the next guy. It really sucks having such little control over my financial future.

wdg
wdg

Buy gold and silver which are dirt cheap now due to massive suppression of these precious metals in the rigged future’s market, and store them in a secure spot outside of all financial institutions. Your US dollars will look like the Argentinian peso before long so convert those dollars to something of intrinsic value such as gold that cannot be created by the trillions out of thin air. Owning a self-sustaining rural property that can be defended with guns is a very wise strategy to protect you and your family during the coming dark ages.

Peaknic
Peaknic

And all those folks who followed this advice for the past 5-7 years (like me) got screwed because all the price inflation was funneled into the equity markets and PMs have done nothing but eat up our purchasing power.

Alfred1860
Alfred1860

I fell for that one back in 2011 and the ~$3000 worth of silver I bought is now worth about $2000. I should have put that money into the stock marker or Bitcoin. I don’t plan on selling it, but I won’t be buying anymore.

Rdawg
Rdawg

PMs suck balls. Sideways or down since this whole shitshow started.

Like Alfred, I shoulda bought Bitcoin. I started watching it when it was double-digits, but was waaaay too smart to fall for it. Sat on my hands all the way up to $20,000.

Oops.

Iconoclast421
Iconoclast421

My indicator has produced the most bullish reading I have ever seen in 9 years of data, by a huge margin. It is suggesting new highs by July. And yet the indices just sort of mill about at this level week after week. Every new interim high is met with furious selling. (I’m not sure what the point is of selling on every new interim high, but apparently someone big is doing a hell of a lot of it…) You could say this is a source of anxiety. But I been here before, and the most anxiety I have gotten was from taking profits too soon.

Boat Guy
Boat Guy

Buy lead & brass and long term storage barter items . You can’t eat or wipe your ass with gold or silver .
When the EBT cards fail “THE SHIT WILL HIT THE FAN”
As for higher intrest bearing accounts , you gotta stop smoking that shit !
Debt keeps the bankster gangsters going and the IRS is the collection agency for delinquent student loans !
It’s a win win for 1% of the population and the politicians they own and a lose lose for everybody else !
It’s a big club and the majority of Americans are not in it , prepare to duck and cover it will probably get bloody . The signs of collapse are everywhere . Like an avalanche it starts as a few rocks or snowballs tumbling and then “POW , BOOM , ZING HOLY SHIT BATMAN ….

Crawfisher
Crawfisher

What pisses me off is many articles talking about 2% inflation and flat wage growth since the year 2000. That is from W to Obummer to DJT. What costs a $1000 in 2000 now costs $1,400 in 2017. Do the math, the average person in the USA is screwed by the Fed, politicians, and the banksters.
No wonder anxiety is increasing.
Please correct me if I am wrong, see below

Year 2% Inflation
2000 $1,000
2001 $1,020
2002 $1,040
2003 $1,061
2004 $1,082
2005 $1,104
2006 $1,126
2007 $1,149
2008 $1,172
2009 $1,195
2010 $1,219
2011 $1,243
2012 $1,268
2013 $1,294
2014 $1,319
2015 $1,346
2016 $1,373
2017 $1,400 40%

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