Causes of Stress: Rating The Most Stressful Financial Events

The whole subject of finances is one of the most common causes of disagreement and discord in a family and I’m sure there has never been a home that hasn’t been touched by stress at some point or another due to money. It’s a tough subject where issues of power, control and ego are in effect and where the interplay between these elements end up fueling explosive and problematic conditions at times.

I thought about this a bit and came up with a list of what I think are the most common financial stressors to one’s life, wondering how well anyone can really prepare for such challenges if they ever arise. There’s this saying: “Even the best laid plans can be foiled.” By the unexpected that is. Still, we get ready and brace ourselves for what can possibly happen, and hope our financial house can withstand the storms of fate, time and life changes.

This list is not from a formal study but rather from my own research and observations, but I’ve discovered that a measuring scale for stress actually exists, and it’s called the Holmes-Rahe scale. So I went ahead and assigned points to these events based on the scale, and provided approximate points where events were not officially represented.

I’ve divided the list into two sections — one that describes typical, ordinary financial stressors which most people inevitably go through, while the other describes stressors due to less likely but impactful events which may or may not ever happen to you.

The Most Stressful Financial Events You Should Prepare For

Ordinary Life Changes That Affect Your Finances

Financial Events	Financial Crisis Units
Merging assets due to a marriage	50
Losing a job	47
Retiring	45
Getting “sandwiched” and caring for children and parents (or older family members)	40
Accommodating new children in the family	39
Changing careers or job responsibilities	32
Launching a business	32
Relocating	30
Spouse leaves work or returns to work	26
Lifestyle changes, deliberate or otherwise	25
Remodeling a house	25
Troubles at work	23
Buying a house	20
Claiming insurance for medical purposes	20

 

Extraordinary Life Changes That Affect Your Finances

Financial Events	Financial Crisis Units
Death and losing a breadwinner	100
Dividing assets during divorce	73
Going through probate	50
Enforcing a prenup when the other side isn’t interested	40
Becoming suddenly wealthy, when you need to please everyone	38
Going through bankruptcy or carrying a large debt	31
Going through foreclosure	30
Becoming a scam victim	30
Claiming insurance for disaster	30

 

Some surprising findings from trends based on the official list: changes in your marital status through marriage, divorce, separation or reconciliation; changes in your state of employment such as retirement and unemployment; and changing your financial status, end up rating higher in the stress scale than (or at least equal to) foreclosing your house, filing for bankruptcy or carrying a large debt! Well that was news to me. I can only guess why. Could it be because the highly stressful events involve and change your existing relationships more than the less stressful events do?

The scale can give you some idea of how stressed you are. However, if you really want further quantification of your scores, you can try out this actual Holmes Rahe test and see what your risk of serious illness happens to be!

I found these additional facts about stress fascinating.

Job-related stress is extremely common. According to the Jobs Rated Almanac, the five most stressful jobs are:

1. President of the United States

2. Firefighter

3. Senior corporate executive

4. Race car driver

5. Taxi driver

The five least stressful jobs, according to the Jobs Rated Almanac, are:

1. Medical records technician

2. Janitor

3. Forklift operator

4. Musical instrument repairer

5. Florist

Q: Are some people more vulnerable to stress than others?

A: Yes. Personality type plays a role in reaction to stress. For example, people who drive themselves hard and are impatient (sometimes called Type A personalities) may be more at risk for stress-related physical problems. Certain occupations, such as law enforcement or air traffic control, are clearly more stressful than others. In addition, people with a personal or family history of mental illness may be affected more by stress.

Let’s see, how many serious bloggers out there have “Type A” personalities? Now to learn more about this subject, do check out this great web site. It may just help you de-stress!

The best way to meet these stressful money situations head on is to prepare. Granted, it can be difficult to discuss some of these things and make mutual decisions with your partner, and sadly in many cases, it can be pretty much impossible to reach agreement over some issues. In fact, some events may be so unpalatable to imagine, that you may prefer to “not even go there” with your loved one.

Unpleasant or not, for many of the events outlined above, you can certainly work on plans to smoothen your transitions better. It is always our heartfelt hope that we can somehow stave off these occurrences and if not, wish that we can have the fortitude, maturity and resources to navigate through our situation.

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Categorized under: Banking & Money Management, Credit, Debt & Loans