3 Reasons Americans Stress Over Money

America is one of the richest countries in the world. But why then do most Americans stress over money? The Americans have a decent to great quality of life. But still their wants are incessant. Does it sound absurd? It’s true. In America, there is an American dream. And somehow the American dream has gotten tied up with their unsatiated wants versus their genuine needs. So primarily it is these never ending desires that cause the stress in the lives of Americans. Therefore, in this post, let’s dive into the 3 reasons Americans stress over money.

“Stress is caused by being ‘here’ but wanting to be ‘there’.”

~ Eckhart Tolle

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GDP per capita PPP G20 Nations

Among the G20 nations, America is the third richest in terms of GDP per capita PPP. PPP stands for purchasing power parity, since the cost of living varies from country to country one way to compare the how much money people earn is to covert the GDP per capita to GDP per capita PPP. At $63,069 productivity or earnings per person, an average American earns well compared to the entire world. Then why do most Americans stress over money so much? Let’s deep dive to learn more about reasons most Americans stress over money.

American’s Top Sources of Stress

Money is the top source of stress for Americans. It’s money and money. And money also causes most problems in relationships and health. Does that surprise you?

How Many Americans Stress Over Money

Did you know over 60% of Americans stress over money? The stress over money and economy has been over the rise significantly since the pandemic. The aftermath of the pandemic is the current 40 year high inflation at 9%. As a result, the Fed to rake interest rates at an exorbitant pace. Moreso, economist believe this rapid interest rate hike may likely head the US economy towards a recession in a year. This further fuels the anxiety over the economy and likely job losses in the event of a recession exacerbating the stress over money. So how can Americans stop stressing over money? Let’s find out more about it in the post.

Which Age Group in America Stress Over Money Most

Data shows it is predominantly the younger population that stresses the most about money. The Gen Z adults, Millennials and Gen Xers stress the most on money, economy and housing. We can expect this since the Boomers and older adults are more financially secure given many of them are in the golden years.

Impact on Demography from Economic Stressors

Then what is the demographic impact because of the economic stressors? Which are the demographic groups that are most affected by these stressors? The economically weaker groups are most affected. With Latinos and Blacks being most affected.

3 Reasons Americans Stress Over Money

White Americans make up most of the 332 million people living in the United States, with 61.6% of the population in the 2020 United States Census. So poverty is not the primary reason for monetary stress since the whites are not the most economically weaker demographic group in the US. Then what are the reasons most Americans stress over money? The 3 top reasons most Americans stress over money are greed, materialism and economic inequality.

Greed

First is greed. It might not sound good, but it is true Americans are greedy. This could be a characterization of the American dream. In terms of money and fame, the US is a land of opportunities and gives ample scope for achieving success. The sky is only the limit. The society encourages people to work hard and make it big. It is the land of dreamers and achievers. This is all great. But it is also the land of insatiable greed. We may say that one criterion for achieving astounding success is not to be satisfied with what we have and to strive for better. While it is true but what is also true is that we need to understand the cycle of wants is never-ending. So we truly need to introspect what we need to lead a happy and fulfilling life versus what we want.

Materialism

This leads us to the second biggest reason, materialism. America is the land of materialism. The individualistic culture encourages people to own stuffs individually versus collectively. That’s the reason America has the number of cars in the world and negligible public transport. It also has a higher number of single-family houses compared to apartments. Most Americans derive a lot of happiness when they can purchase stuffs that have been yearning for to own. It can be a house, a car or a boat. Americans love to own things. It gives them an immense sense of achievement and pride owning stuffs.

Economic Inequality

Last is economic inequality. Not all Americans are rich. There is a stark economic inequality in America. This is primarily because of government policies, excessive capitalism, and corruption. While capitalism creates jobs, it is the government policies that ensure every segment of the society can cherish the fruits of economic success. The US ranks 27th in the corruption perception index, with a score of 67 compared to Denmark raking is a 1st slot with a score of 88. So why does the US rank lower in the corruption perception index compared to most of the European countries? This may lead us back to the first reason we discussed, that is greed for money.

How to Deal with Stress Over Money

What Americans have got today even if they think they don’t have enough and hanker for more is still exorbitantly higher than much of the lesser privileges people in this world have. Given the stark economic inequality in the US itself, even within America, not everyone is as fortunate as the average American. Then why do Americans stress so much over money? Can’t they feel grateful enough for what they have versus stress over what they don’t have? The world, in time, needs to become a more equal place between the haves and the have nots.

In the US, a household annual income of $75,000 is good enough to lead a happy and satisfied life. The marginal happiness over $75,000 household income is meager. So the question is how much worth it is to stress over money if you can make around $75,000 per year? Anthing over that amount primarily goes into investments and not living utility.

While we need to save money for our children’s education and retirement, but something to consider we actually achieve true fulfillment by pursuing the work that we really love, or by following our calling. Then, if we truly love doing something that we value, then will retirement be fulfilling enough? How much time can we really spending vacationing? Shall we not get bored and yearn to do something more meaning with your retired lives? Even if the work we do in retirement provides modest income? If so, then how much do we really need to hoard for retirement?

Further, an emotional topic for most, do we really need to buy a massive house or even a house? Even an apartment can provide the utility value, then is a house not more of an investment than an utility?

Conclusion on Reasons Americans Stress Over Money

In a nutshell, the purpose of lives cannot be to earn more and more money. Or own more and more stuffs. Rather, the purpose of our lives should be to find fulfillment in life. That is a achieve a sense of accomplishment and happiness. Towards realizing our full potential. And tread the journey towards self-actualization.

In conclusion, the 3 reasons most Americans stress over money are greed, materialism and economic inequality.

So do most Americans really need to stress over money, especially because of greed and materialism? Something worth thinking about.