A new survey finds that 62% of Americans are losing sleep over at least one financial problem, and the most common worry? Retirement savings.
According to a new CreditCards.com report, people are generally worried about:
- The most common money fret is saving enough for retirement; two in five Americans say this keeps them up at night at least occasionally. People between the ages of 50 and 64 are the most concerned (50% said they fret about their retirement savings – or lack thereof – in the wee hours).
- The second-biggest concern is educational expenses. This time, it’s younger adults who are the most troubled. 50% of 18-29 year-olds are losing sleep worrying about how they’re going to pay for educational expenses (much higher than the 31% of the overall population who have this fear).
- 29% of Americans are losing sleep because of healthcare/insurance bills, 27% because of their ability to pay the monthly mortgage/rent and 21% because of credit card debt.
“The biggest change over the past eight years has been the steady increase in the number of people losing sleep over educational expenses,” said Matt Schulz, CreditCards.com’s senior industry analyst. “That’s the only one of the five categories that has gotten worse since the Great Recession. Unless something slows the rapid rise in college costs, this could soon be Americans’ biggest financial fear.”
People are sleeping better as age and household income increase:
- Less than half of those who are 65 and older are losing sleep over at least one of these financial topics (46%), versus 67% of people between the ages of 18 and 64.
- And whereas 69% of those with annual household income below $75,000 are losing sleep over at least one of these issues, that applies to just 51% of those with annual household income of $75,000 or more.
See Also:
- Can’t Sleep? 401(k)s Are to Blame
- (Yawn) Plan Better, Sleep Better: The Benefits of Financial Discipline
With more than 20 years serving financial markets, John Sullivan is the former editor-in-chief of Investment Advisor magazine and retirement editor of ThinkAdvisor.com. Sullivan is also the former editor of Boomer Market Advisor and Bank Advisor magazines, and has a background in the insurance and investment industries in addition to his journalism roots.
