Financial stress and the impact on mental health

January 8, 2020

Do you worry about paying bills, saving for the future and building up an emergency fund? It could be impacting your mental health.

The Government of Canada has released some stats (1) on financial stress and its impacts.

  • 48 % of Canadians are losing sleep because of financial worries
  • 44% of Canadians would have trouble meeting financial obligations if their pay was late

What causes financial stress? Managing household expenses, dealing with debt, living paycheque to paycheque, struggling to save for goals and dealing with unexpected expenses, among other things. People that we’ve talked to worry about how their family would survive if faced with a critical illness or disability, and either one or both income earners were unable to work.

There’s reason to worry. The stats are alarming (2) –

  • 49% of men and 45% of women are expected to develop cancer in their lifetimes
  • One in three stroke victims are under 65
  • One in two heart attach victims are under 65

Advances in medicine and technology mean that people are surviving these illnesses, which is great; there is a 63% chance of surviving at least five years after a cancer diagnosis and 90% of heart attack sufferers survive (3). But how do your bills get paid if you or your partner aren’t working during this treatment? This thought causes so many people stress and anxiety.

Today, the number of people experiencing anxiety, extreme stress or burnout is staggering, and increasing daily. With those numbers come a wide range of experts and industries touting “self-care” as a way of offering relief. Yoga, pampering, float tanks – the list goes on! And yes, these things can be incredibly beneficial in relieving stress symptoms and giving you a break from the demands on you and your time, but do they actually help to eliminate the source of stress?

Instead of only investing in short-term self-care options, what if you could invest in a product that would pay you a tax-free lump sum of cash that you can use to pay bills, arrange for in-home care, pay for child care or fund treatment options? You wouldn’t have to run up credit cards or lines of credit, refinance your mortgage or borrow from friends and family. Doesn’t that sound good? And what if you could get all those premiums paid back, if you have the good fortune of never having to make a claim? Sounds even better? Thought so. We should talk. Call our office to make an appointment, and let us show you the self-care product that can help relieve your financial stress.

  1. https://www.canada.ca/en/financial-consumer-agency/services/financial-wellness-work/stress-impacts.html
  2. https://www.pac.bluecross.ca/personal-health/critical-illness/critical-illness-details/
  3. https://pharmatax.ca/pharmacists-critical-illness-insurance/