Are Your Anxiety Levels On the Rise? Survey Says it’s Due to Money
They say “Never talk about religion and politics,” but finance isn’t included in that warning. It’s like money is SUCH a polarizing topic that you can’t even include it in a phrase about what topics not to bring up.
Case in point: even with the not-so-great working conditions most Americans face, work isn’t even the number-one stressor. Neither is relationships, although that could be its own separate blog series entirely. No, the number one stressor for Americans is actually finances. Almost HALF of the US (specifically 44%) will admit that finances are what they worry over the most. Keep in mind, this number only measures what people will admit to. 72% were found to have their money anxiety affect their job productivity. THAT’S A LOT OF PEOPLE.
It’s really not hard to understand why, however, given how our culture idolizes money and how it’s systemically kept out of the hands of everyone else.
The Background and One Side of the Issue
Confession: I actually don’t want to live in the city or suburbs where I am now. Nothing wrong with Boston; I’d feel this way in any city. I’m happy with my life, I’m making an impact, I’m making good progress on my goals. But if there was a way I could comfortably afford a house in the mountains and a couple of foster kids WITHOUT saving for it first, I’d be all over that.
This isn’t a complaint, it just shows how deeply economic variables determine a life’s trajectory. This has been the same throughout human history, where your class status overwhelmingly impacted your quality of life. Sure, there’s been some exceptional societies here and there where things are kinda different, but the most common denominator worldwide is that there are the rich and there are the not-rich.
This wouldn’t be such a bad thing in the United States if there wasn’t such a staggering gap between the two groups. I’m not about to hash out all the issues relating to the wealth gap in this post, but I will point out how our cultural beliefs have made this even worse. See, everyone wants to be rich, because being rich means you’re a valued person. That’s what everyone wants, whether they get it via the lottery with no work or my way with a lot more effort. And the richer you are, the more valuable you are.
Because of that, why should you stop at simply being rich when you could be richer? Why stop at being valuable when you can get even more valuable? If your position as a rich person is even a smidge insecure, why not make it a little more secure by padding your accounts with more and more? It’s an ever-shifting goal post of how much is enough.
The Other Side and Potential Solutions
Meanwhile, the rest of the country is watching as their hard-earned paychecks have less and less spending power. At first it was just the nicer things that became a stretch to reach. Then it was the things closer to home. Now it’s the essentials, like housing and groceries, that are a struggle to afford.
Both sides are anxious over monetary problems, despite those problems being wildly different. Both are, however, about not having enough to feel comfortable. And not having a good yardstick for knowing how to even measure what “enough” is keeps us on this cycle getting worse and worse.
So, what’s the solution to lessening these anxieties? How do we get to that utopian society where our biggest concerns are over how we leisurely spend our day? The answer is something on a systemic level, likely a mix of shifting governmental priorities and rewiring mindsets nationwide. But any change like that has to start on the individual level. If you can’t completely eradicate your financial anxiety, you can at least lessen them by knowing more about what you’re up against here.
Whether you’re rich and worried you don’t have enough – or definitely not rich, and definitely don’t have enough – there are ways to lessen the burden. Some it will involve changing your perspective and your daily habits, and yes, this will start off as a comfortable endeavor. But it’s an absolutely necessary endeavor if we’re going to dig ourselves out of this trench of fear.
And don’t worry, there’s resources like this blog that act as ropes and ladders to climb out of that trench. Start building your muscles and let’s conquer this mountain together.
Do you also see money as the number-one stressor in America? If you live in another country, does this still ring true?
I’d say it isn’t just the richer you are the more valuable you are. It’s also the more value you bring to others the more likely it is you will get rich. There is an income gap for sure because there is a huge gap in the value one group brings to the market place versus the other group. I think the best solution is to raise the value people bring to the market in order to raise their incomes. I think that’s what you are doing with your blog. As far as rich people who don’t think they have enough, that’s a real thing but it’s not my thing. Enough is enough.
That is an excellent point about bringing value to others, and that part of the solution is raising the skillsets people have to draw higher compensation packages. It goes back to the access some people have and others do not. Namely, the skills that make you rich might not be what’s taught to someone growing up. There’s always going to be people that will never take financial responsibility despite all the opportunity to do so. However, that number doesn’t include everyone worrying themselves sick about finances without understanding how to make it better.
You’ve also gotten me thinking about those with valuable skillsets, but who don’t know their own worth and are getting underpaid for them. We sadly don’t live in a meritocracy where your contributions result in the income your work deserves. If you know how much money you’d get at another company that helps you identify the appropriate salary, as does knowing how much your work positively impacts the company employing you. But if you don’t know either, you’re opening yourself up to potential bad times. That would make a good blog post to write about…