Class
Article
Faculty Mentor
Yoon Lee
Presentation Type
Poster Presentation
Abstract
Overall consumer debt reached $4.1 trillion in the U.S. (Federal Reserve Bank of New York, 2020). When individuals find themselves under challenging financial circumstances, they can become susceptible to emotional side effects and experience severe financial stress. It is, therefore, timely and important to examine to what extent certain financial stressors increase individuals’ financial stress levels. Using data from the 2018 National Financial Capability Study (NFCS), this study examined the relationship between financial stressors and financial stress and investigated factors associated with financial stress among adults in the U.S. In this study, financial stress level was measured by summing three variables: 1) thinking about my finances makes me feel anxious; 2) talking about my finances makes me feel stressed; and 3) worrying about running out of money in retirement. Financial stressors included five sources: 1) having too much debt, 2) receiving collector calls, 3) having unpaid medical bills, 4) experiencing income drop, and 5) the inability to pay bills. While focusing on the effect of financial stressors on levels of financial stress, we also included socioeconomic variables (e.g., race, age, gender, marital status, education, employment status, and income) in our empirical model. The OLS regression results indicate that all five financial stressors were statistically significant, suggesting that perceiving too much debt, receiving collector calls, having unpaid medical bills, experiencing income drop, and their inability to pay bills significantly increased their stress levels. The OLS results also showed that age, gender, employment status, and income were statistically significant in predicting the levels of financial stress. Understanding sociodemographic factors associated with financial stress could help financial practitioners and educators effectively guide and teach individuals with different socio-demographic backgrounds. These professionals could tailor their teaching and counseling programs to the benefit of those experiencing high levels of financial stressors and financial stress. Presentation Time: Wednesday, 3-4 p.m. Zoom link: https://usu-edu.zoom.us/j/82620839263?pwd=ei9iSlJHSkpGam96anBDeXozeGZidz09
Location
Logan, UT
Start Date
4-11-2021 12:00 AM
Included in
Factors Associated With Financial Stress in the U.S.
Logan, UT
Overall consumer debt reached $4.1 trillion in the U.S. (Federal Reserve Bank of New York, 2020). When individuals find themselves under challenging financial circumstances, they can become susceptible to emotional side effects and experience severe financial stress. It is, therefore, timely and important to examine to what extent certain financial stressors increase individuals’ financial stress levels. Using data from the 2018 National Financial Capability Study (NFCS), this study examined the relationship between financial stressors and financial stress and investigated factors associated with financial stress among adults in the U.S. In this study, financial stress level was measured by summing three variables: 1) thinking about my finances makes me feel anxious; 2) talking about my finances makes me feel stressed; and 3) worrying about running out of money in retirement. Financial stressors included five sources: 1) having too much debt, 2) receiving collector calls, 3) having unpaid medical bills, 4) experiencing income drop, and 5) the inability to pay bills. While focusing on the effect of financial stressors on levels of financial stress, we also included socioeconomic variables (e.g., race, age, gender, marital status, education, employment status, and income) in our empirical model. The OLS regression results indicate that all five financial stressors were statistically significant, suggesting that perceiving too much debt, receiving collector calls, having unpaid medical bills, experiencing income drop, and their inability to pay bills significantly increased their stress levels. The OLS results also showed that age, gender, employment status, and income were statistically significant in predicting the levels of financial stress. Understanding sociodemographic factors associated with financial stress could help financial practitioners and educators effectively guide and teach individuals with different socio-demographic backgrounds. These professionals could tailor their teaching and counseling programs to the benefit of those experiencing high levels of financial stressors and financial stress. Presentation Time: Wednesday, 3-4 p.m. Zoom link: https://usu-edu.zoom.us/j/82620839263?pwd=ei9iSlJHSkpGam96anBDeXozeGZidz09