(TND) — A new Bankrate survey found that nearly half of Americans suffer negative impacts on their mental health from money-related issues.
Money causes them anxiety, stress, worry, loss of sleep or depression at least some of the time, Bankrate found.
And high prices are the main culprit.
“Even though something like saving for retirement is important, that's not people's biggest worry,” Bankrate Senior Industry Analyst Ted Rossman said Friday. “It tends to be much more immediate things. It's the ability to pay for day-to-day expenses like housing and food and gas.”
Americans overall are paying about 18% more than they were just a few years ago, according to the government’s consumer price index – a key measure of inflation.
May is Mental Health Awareness Month, so Bankrate examined the role of financial stress.
Matters of money negatively impacted mental health for 47% of Bankrate’s survey respondents.
Money issues took a toll on mental well-being for more people than current events or relationships, Bankrate found.
The top money concern was inflation, but majorities also blamed everyday expenses and a lack of emergency savings.
More women, 51%, than men, 42%, reported money-related mental health concerns.
And Gen Xers, those ages 44-59, were most likely to say money negatively affected their mental health.
“It goes to show how personal money is and how important money is,” Rossman said. “We know it's one of the leading sources of conflict in a relationship, for example.”
Bankrate did find some improvement in this year’s survey, as last year they found that 52% reported negative mental health impacts from money-related issues.
“I think the slight improvement probably has to do with inflation being a little bit better,” Rossman said.
While Americans are dealing with the cumulative impacts of higher prices over the last several years, the year-over-year increases have eased. And annual wage gains are now slightly outpacing inflation.
What can people do to ease their minds?
“The biggest step is to get a plan together,” Rossman said. “I think one of the biggest things that makes us feel worried about something is when we feel out of control. So, you can take some of the control back by putting that plan together, and the specific tactics are going to vary depending on the issue.”If credit card debt is causing you stress, you might get a 0% balance transfer card and pause your interest clock for up to 21 months, he said.
If it's feeling worried about savings or investments, maybe you can carve money from every paycheck and funnel it into a dedicated savings or investing account.
Maybe you could take on a side hustle, sell stuff you don't need or just cut your expenses.
Consider enlisting help either from a professional financial advisor or a nonprofit credit counseling agency, he said.
“A lot of personal finance is just making small decisions right over time,” Rossman said.
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