MONEY As a Universal Stressor: Typical Financial Problems of People Worldwide

4 min readAug 11, 2022

~Thursday, August 11, 2022 Blog Post~

I encountered this CNBC tweet early this morning, dated August 10, 2022. It featured a video titled, “Why Americans Are So Stressed About Money: Americans are more worried than ever about money and the economy.”

The tweet also included the caption: “Americans are more stressed about money than they’ve ever been, according to the American Psychological Association. Watch the full video here to learn why: https://cnb.cx/3lou3Bu."

I’m certainly interested in this social media post by CNBC as it is germane to today’s highly inflationary and recessionary times. It is also related and relevant to my blog’s theme of personal finance.

I agree with the following statements I gathered from the clip which finance and psychology experts relayed:

a. “Money is a universal stressor, regardless of your financial standing.”

b. “Inflation and the rising costs of everyday goods is what is driving their (the American consumers’) stress.”

c. “Money affects them negatively and the state of their mental health.”

d. “Money touches every part of our lives. It’s modern-day survival.”

With these truths about money, I have told myself that they are the reasons why I have always ensured that I save whatever amount of money I can save.

From the CNBC clip, I also obtained this graph titled, “Money issues impacting the mental health of Americans.”

I listed these common financial problems below. Additionally, I included some money-related images.

I think these pictures can enrich this money-related discussion, enabling my blog post’s readers to put the statements into the proper context.

8 MONEY ISSUES IMPACTING THE MENTAL HEALTH OF AMERICANS:

1. INSUFFICIENT SAVINGS

2. UNABLE TO AFFORD EVERYDAY EXPENSES

3. BEING IN DEBT

4. NOT ENOUGH DISCRETIONARY SPENDING MONEY

5. BEING UNPREPARED FOR RETIREMENT

6. PAYING FOR HOUSING

7. NOT HAVING A STABLE INCOME

8. INVESTMENTS

I want to emphasize that the typical financial problems mentioned above are universal.

Consumers from around the world struggle with them, and not just American consumers. Hence, I recommend obtaining sound financial literacy, especially at a very young age.

Furthermore, the time-honored financial habits of working hard, saving one’s hard-earned money, and investing it must be mastered and learned by heart by every consumer.