Financial Anxiety
At the NKU Center for Economic Education, Brooklyn Stephens, senior economics student and I are currently working on a project examining financial anxiety in the U.S. According to our research, 32% of people report feeling like their finances control their life, and 54% report that thinking about their finances makes them feel anxious.
The reality is that our finances impact our overall wellbeing. Living paycheck to paycheck creates a lot of stress. I know first hand how stressful it can be to not know how you will pay your bills at the end of the month. Life happens and the unexpected will happen.
There is one thing that I did that helped me break away from the month to month stress of paying bills and towards living a better life. My relationship with money is also better today.
If you want to help others feel less anxious about money, I share with you a couple of ways to help at the end of this email.
START AN EMERGENCY FUND
The one change that I highly recommend, is to start an emergency fund. In my recommendations of financial steps, developing an emergency fund is the second step after creating a budget and tracking your spending. To start towards your financial freedom you have to break away from the monthly cycle, or the rat race, and you need to develop an emergency cushion. Something that keeps you afloat when unexpected things happen. And we know unexpected things happen all the time, that's life.
Watch the video to learn more about starting an emergency fund, how much to set aside, and what type of account to save your money in.
Teacher Training Program
The Center for Economic Education has developed the Financial Empowerment for Commonwealth Employees in partnership with the Kentucky Financial Empowerment Commission. The program is delivered by Jennifer Inman, a high school educator from Boone County High School. Jennifer teaches high school financial literacy courses and has participated in the CEE’s summer teacher training program.
Reach out if you want to learn more about Financial Literacy Education for your employees or for students.