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Poor health exacerbates financial stress for Americans, but it is more severe for those ages 50 to 64 than for those over 65, who tend to be on fixed incomes.
That’s according to recent findings from the University of Michigan’s National Poll on Healthy Aging, sponsored by the University of Michigan’s Institute for Health Policy and Innovation and supported by AARP and Michigan Medicine, the university’s academic medical center.
“What surprised us most about this poll is that the age groups most affected and stressed by pressures on their personal finances are not the same groups whose incomes are likely to be ‘fixed’ by their reliance on Social Security or retirement savings,” Dr. Helen Levy, a health economist and professor at the University of Michigan’s Institute for Social Research, said in a statement.
The researchers found that financial stress was widespread, even among self-described caregivers.
“Among those who reported being caregivers, 14% said they felt a lot of stress because of the financial burden of caregiving, and an additional 27% said they felt some stress because of these burdens,” the report said.
Reduce expenses
The data showed that people in their 50s and early 60s were more likely to say they had cut back on their spending than older Americans: 58% of younger respondents (ages 50 to 64) said they had cut back on their spending in the past year, compared with 45% of those 65 and older.
Inflation was the main factor prompting all respondents to cut spending, according to the survey, with 16% of all respondents saying they had struggled to pay medical bills in the past year or had postponed some care because of the cost.
“Though inflation is slowing, rising costs over the past few years are having a lasting impact on debt and savings,” said Indira Venkat, AARP’s senior vice president of research.
In addition to age and economic status, spending cuts were more likely among those with fair or poor physical health (69%) or mental health (76%), those with lower incomes (60%), and those who are black (58%) or Hispanic (60%).
