Financial stress keeps us up at night

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This article was published 22/06/2021 (1726 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

If you thought personal health was the top source of stress for Canadians during the biggest public health crisis in a century, you thought wrong — it’s money.

More than half of all people in Prairie provinces have lost sleep over financial stress, according to a new FP Canada report shared exclusively with the Free Press ahead of a wide release this week.

That’s on par with figures across the country, as nearly two-in-five Canadians say money is their No. 1 source of stress in life during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Calculated with the help of Léger polling, the statistics for money as a stressor are higher than any other categories for Manitoba, Saskatchewan and Alberta, at 35 per cent; compared to personal health (29 per cent), work (28 per cent) and relationships (eight per cent).

“To some, it might be shocking that even with a global pandemic, money is still the root cause of so many people’s worries,” said certified financial planner Caval Olson-Lepage, in an interview Monday. “After all, those high infection rates everywhere around people have been affecting their lives in many other ways that aren’t related to their finances.

“But you have to understand how money is so closely tied to pretty much everything in our lives — from our jobs, to our day-to-day living, to how we operate and navigate things in this world as a person. It’s that type of emotional attachment which causes our stress in a multitude of ways.”

The data agrees: financial stress is not just an isolated number. Around 31 per cent of respondents said it’s also led to health-related issues for them — a significant increase from the 18 per cent who reported similar monetary issues last year.

On top of that, 15 per cent Canadians say it’s affected their marriage or caused relationship and family disputes. And 14 per cent suggested money problems created distractions at work, while seven per cent said it caused substance abuse or mental health challenges.

“Again, that’s something I’m not personally surprised about,” said Olson-Lepage. “I’ve found myself more than often talking to my clients about how I can help with their stress, so their mental health is better and so they can sleep at night. It’s only gotten worse during COVID.”

The top two concerns for money matters have to do with retirement (35 per cent) and bill payments or expenses (35 per cent), according to FP Canada.

That stress is only higher for women (at 54 per cent) than men (at 47 per cent). It’s also significantly worse for people that have children, as 65 per cent of Canadians with kids reported high levels of financial stress compared to the 47 per cent who don’t have kids at home.

Regionally, Atlantic Canadians (45 per cent) were the most likely to cite money as their main source of stress, while people in British Columbia were the least likely to do so (at 27 per cent). However, almost 40 per cent of British Columbians say financial stress has led directly to health issues — the highest rate across the country.

“It’s clear that when money isn’t being managed properly, it can impact every other aspect of our lives,” said Peter Ficek, a licensed planner at Calgary-based Terra Firma Financial. “These findings are illuminating how important it is for Canadians to keep their fiscal houses in order.”

Olson-Lepage agreed, citing figures that show four-in-10 Canadians believe they could ease their financial stress entirely if they saved more money or paid down their debt.

“I think the best thing anyone can do for themselves is turning to your financial institution and coming up with a plan,” she said. “You can clearly see the difference in people’s lives when they have someone and something there to sort of anchor them. It’s an important sense of security that’s much needed because we’re still going through this tough time, and the pandemic isn’t over yet.”

 

temur.durrani@freepress.mb.ca

Twitter: @temurdur