When it comes to worries that keep us up at night, a recent study found that 56% of adults in the U.S. lose sleep at least occasionally due to money. With money touching many of the things we do every day in some way or another, this may seem obvious, but looking at it more closely, it is the things we must spend money on every day that are causing the worry. The study, done by Bankrate.com, shows that nearly one third of American adults are losing sleep because of everyday expenses like buying groceries, or paying their rent.
Ted Rossman, an analyst for Bankrate says it's a troubling statistic. "It really flies in the face of a lot of what we hear about the economy which is that things are generally doing well," he says. "We’ve had ten years of economic growth, stocks are near record highs, unemployment is at a generational low, and yet we still have this third of people that are having trouble making ends meet."
After everyday expenses, the thing people worry about most financially is saving for retirement. About 24% of people lose sleep over it. This isn't an unusual worry, as people want to make sure they can live the life they want after they are done working. Rossman says it is a worry because it is such a big, lifelong pursuit for people.
Up next is healthcare and insurance bills. "We found that both in terms of healthcare costs and actually your physical health. In both cases, the number of people worried about it jumped by 9 percentage points over the past year," Rossman says. He recommends learning more about flexible spending accounts and health savings accounts to be better able to take advantage of them for these kinds of expenses.
Eighteen perfect of people lose sleep worrying about their credit card debt. Rossman says he thinks this should actually be more because 60% of people with credit cards are carrying debt. He says it is important to pay that down as quickly as possible. "Credit card rates are at record highs. The average is 17.76%. This is 3 even 4 times what we see on mortgages, auto loans, and student loans," according to Rossman. "I would suggest things like balance transfer credit cards. Opening a new account that has a 0% rate. These last as long as 21 months. That can be a great tailwind to get out of credit card debt."
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