How financial stress impacts your health

But with money being the number one source of stress for women today, financial wellness is a necessity. 

Ellevest commissioned the Financial Wellness Survey 2021, a nationwide survey of more than 2,000 people across the US about how they’re thinking about financial wellness, money, investing, and the financial services industry. 

Most respondents in this survey reported that women felt overwhelmed by money, where men felt confident, and 46% of women say that their money anxiety has worsened since the pandemic began.

So why is that? It’s not because women are worse at investing, math or are risk averse. Sallie Krawcheck, the CEO and Co-Founder of Ellevest, believes that it is the messaging that we receive as women. There are patronizing ads that fuel the belief that women love to spend their money on shopping for clothes and accessories and are not good with money, where men are displayed as financially savvy.

The argument is that financial health should be included as one of the pillars of a healthy life. We have physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual health and financial health should be included as well.

From the survey, mental health ranked as the most important form of wellness, nearly half of women (49%) feel financial stress has taken a toll on their mental and emotional health, 46% of women say they’ve lost sleep over it, and 40% of women even believe it’s damaged their physical health.

How can we change attitudes and overall relationship with money?

Talk about it

Women are very good at sharing with each other about everything. But when it comes to money conversations, very few of those are happening. Sharing doesn’t need to be talking about the intimate details of our financial health; to begin with, you can talk about how you want to start saving money and investing.

Joining financial communities

Having a group where you can talk about the financial challenges that you are facing and sharing any successes you are having. Sharing is key to normalizing the conversation and breaking down taboos. It’s empowering for women to talk about money and having a community that accepts and encourages this conversation is key to removing the stigma associated with talking about money.

Encouraging women to take charge of their finances, get out of debt, live within their means, and learn how to invest their money will help reduce the financial stress.

The bottom line is that money will always be with us, and if you are not dealing with your stress around money, that stress can be debilitating to your health and cause health issues. Part of the solution to conquering financial stress is through taking control of your finances. Create a financial plan for yourself to get out of debt and start saving for your financial future. Taking action will help you feel in control and reduce the stress.

This article was written by Melissa Houston from Forbes and was legally licensed through the Industry Dive publisher network. Please direct all licensing questions to legal@industrydive.com.

If you need help getting started on creating a financial plan, start with watching our spending and savings video series on setting goals.