Stressed and stretched: Americans battle financial anxiety

Americans are stressed about their financial situation. In a recent MarketWatch poll, 88% of those surveyed reported feeling financially stressed, and 65% said it was the biggest stressor in their lives — younger generations like millennials and Gen Z take the cake for most worried.

What makes Americans most stressed:

• Affording the price for essential goods — 57%.
• Lack of savings — 47%.
• Lack of income — 46%.
• Debt — 39%.
• State of the U.S. economy — 39%.
• Cost of housing — 36%.
• Rising interest rates — 33%.
• Doubt behind retirement — 27%.

In 2022, inflation reached its highest at 9.1%. The Federal Reserve strives to maintain a 2% inflation rate, a rate not seen since the late 1980s. Inflation represents the health of a country’s economy and affects how every American pays for supplies and goods.

“An overall rise in prices over time reduces the purchasing power of consumers because a fixed amount of money will afford progressively less consumption,” per Investopedia . “Consumers lose purchasing power regardless of whether the inflation rate is 2% or 4%. They simply lose it faster at a higher rate.”

American’s financial stress is a political issue

A recent WalletHub report found that when it comes to financial distress, red states tend to struggle more than blue states. As the country nears election month, inflation and the high cost of living have remained hot-button issues for the presidential candidates competing for the White House.

States with the most financial stress:

1. Michigan.
2. Texas.
3. Nevada.
4. Tennessee.
5. Nevada.

States with the least financial stress:

1. New Hampshire.
2. Iowa.
3. Connecticut.
4. Vermont.
5. Wisconsin.

Utah ranked 35th overall.

When recently asked how she plans to fix the problem of inflation, Vice President and presumptive Democratic presidential frontrunner Kamala Harris said, “Prices have gone up, and families and individuals are dealing with the realities of bread costs more, the gas costs more, and we have to understand what that means. That’s about the cost of living going up. That’s about having to stress and stretch limited resources. That’s about a source of stress for families that is not only economic but is on a daily level. Something that is a heavy weight to carry.”

“So it is something that we take very seriously,” Harris added. “Very seriously. And we know from the history of this issue in the United States that when you see the prices go up, it has a direct impact on the quality of life for all people in our country. So it’s a big issue, and we take it seriously, and it is a priority therefore.”

Her presidential competitor, former President and Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump, has said Americans are living in the worst state of inflation.

“What (President Joe) Biden has done to the economy is so horrible. And what he’s done to inflation and our country is just very destructive,” he said, according to Fox Business. “ I think in the history of our country, food prices are up 50%, sometimes more. You look at bacon, bacon has quadrupled. You can’t order bacon, you can’t order anything. We’re living horribly.”

Trump also blamed Biden’s energy policies as a leading reason for the high cost of living. “Drill, baby, drill — we’re going to bring down the cost of energy,” he said, so “kids can survive without their parents’ help.”