For the sixth year in a row, money is considered the biggest source of stress among Canadians.
A survey released Thursday conducted by Leger, FP Canada’s 2023 Financial Stress Index shows 40 per cent of people surveyed say money is their main source of stress. This comes ahead of personal health, relationships, and work.
“When we look at the last 3-4 years and we’ve had a pandemic,” says Black Star Wealth Founder Wendy Brookhouse. “Now we’ve got inflation, now we’ve got rising interest rates. It’s kind of like this tsunami, trifecta, perfect storm of bad things.”
More than 2,000 Canadians were polled for the survey and 48 per cent say they have lost sleep over money. As well, 36 per cent have experienced mental health challenges related to financial stress.
Inflation, high grocery and gas prices are considered the key contributors of stress.
Limited financial knowledge may be worsening these struggles, Brookhouse said.
“When I have groups of people and I put them together, I’ll ask them were you taught about money in school,” says Brookhouse. “I’m telling you if they are from Canada, nobody puts their hand up.”
The survey also found 48 per cent of Canadians have less disposable income now than a year ago.
It found that 35 per cent are struggling to save enough for retirement, and 36 per cent are worried about saving for a major purchase.
While money management is a concern, some Canadians are simply earning less than they spend. Financial Planner John Maisey with Maisey Financial Services says education is key, especially if you are living paycheque to paycheque.
“Reach out to professionals,” says Maisey. “Look for a financial planner or advisor in your area that can help you and have a conversation to explain what money is. They will help you look at your current situation to develop a strategy.”
It is also important to be mindful of your spending according to experts.
“If you’re going through town in the morning and grab a coffee that’s great,” Maisey says. “But if you’re having two or three or four a day and not accounting for that, that's what's hurting your budget the most.”
“If you go and use the tap,” Brookhouse adds. “Studies have shown that within two to three minutes, you don’t know what you spent.”
“I can’t control a pandemic,” Brookhouse continues. “I can’t necessarily control inflation, I can't control interest rates. But what I can control, I can control my spending, I can control my savings.”
Some people in stressful financial situations don’t like to deal with their money problems. It’s important to understand why one may have a bad relationship with money.
“I have three questions I ask people,” says Brookhouse. “What is your first memory of money? Second question is what is something (your parents) did with money you’d like to copy, and something your parents did that you never want to do with money.”
“That starts to surface some of the unconscious beliefs you have around money,” continues Brookhouse. That may be causing you to self sabotage or maybe not getting the ideal result from a certain pattern you have that you aren’t even aware of.”
