Speaker 1:
Hi this Amanda woods I'm the healthy

finances program specialist and today

we're going to be discussing the stigma

and stress associated with financial and

security and financial struggle

welcome to the healthy programs telecast

where we're going to discuss the impact

of stress on the various aspects of our

lives and today's telecast we'll delve

deeper into how financial stress can add

stress to our lives in a myriad of

different ways so today we have with us

Amanda woods the healthy finances

program specialists from OSU Extension

and we're so glad to have you on Amanda

can you please tell us a little bit

about yourself and your role in

extension sure so I'm the healthy

finances program specialist and so what

I do is support our educators statewide

when it comes to their financially

focused programming and so we offer

programming that spans the lifespan when

it comes to financial health and

wellness and so really trying to

increase financial literacy across the

state and empower people to make the

healthy best decisions for their

financial lives awesome thank you very

much so we'll be talking today about

financial stress yeah sure many of us

can absolutely relate to can you speak a

little bit about the financial struggles

that many Americans face today

absolutely so this is actually a topic

that's really close to my heart I feel

like so many Americans are struggling

financially month-to-month it varies the

kind of across you know all of our homes

some months were okay some ones were not

but studies have shown there was a

Federal Reserve study done pretty

recently that showed that roughly

roughly a little under 50 percent of

respondents would not have $500 four to

five hundred dollars to offer in the

case of a financial emergency and so

that's five hundred dollars in savings

that they would either have to borrow in

order to pay or you know ask for asked

for money from family or even sell stuff

so that's kind of telling to the fact

that many Americans are just unable to

save even five hundred dollars and so

why is that right a lot of a lot of

families are struggling financially and

there are a lot of reasons why but I

think the big thing to stay kind of

before I get into the why this is

happening is that this financial and

security faces many Americans so we kind

of think when financial struggle when

financial insecurity hits it's usually

lower income or people that we would

consider to maybe be living in a poverty

like situation but really financial

struggle impacts everybody so gainfully

employed

college graduates people who are getting

ready to entire retire so like this is

an issue that faces many Americans and

there's a lot of reasons why that is so

we have more volatile income that we

maybe have in the past so a lot of

people are kind of going into a more gig

kind of economy a lot of people are

doing ride-sharing jobs and so maybe

people's income varies month-to-month we

also have you know our expenses can go

up and down from month-to-month - which

can kind of make it hard to plan right

if something's always happening it

becomes then hard to save and so these

are kind of the issues that that people

are facing these financial struggles

across you know across all of Americans

these are things that kind of face us

and so a lot of families for

month-to-month are having to make the

decision of how are they going to put

food on the table how are they going to

put gas in their cars these are you know

many Americans that are being faced with

these decisions and this and the stress

every month absolutely and I mean that's

somewhat surprising to hear I feel like

that so many people can be facing this

struggle yeah so it's definitely

important to talk about and I can only

imagine the stress that can accompany a

tight financial situation can you speak

a little bit about the negative impact

of stress associated with such a

financial struggle as well as the

barrier that stigma around asking for

help might exist sure so this kind of

points to you just said I would be

surprised to hear that many Americans

struggle financially and the reason that

is is because many Americans won't talk

about the fact that they're struggling

financially so I'll talk a little bit

about that the stress first right so a

lot of Americans if you're struggling

financially there is that inherent

stress that says how am I gonna pay my

rent this month how am I gonna buy

groceries this month how am I gonna save

for retirement when I'm just struggling

to make ends meet month to month that in

and of itself is a really stressful

thing to experience especially when it's

constant right but then you've got the

stigma that's associated to financial

struggle which causes his own bit of

stress right so

not only on my stressed as to how I'm

gonna make ends meet how I'm gonna pay

my bills but I'm also stressed because

you know my friends and family they seem

to all be doing really well why am i

failing at this like why am i doing so

poorly when it comes to finances why if

I made the decisions to put me here so

it's basically like a two pronged like

stress attack right so I'm gonna call it

like a failure to writing that feeling

of defeat almost well we see you know we

see the people in our lives social media

certainly doesn't help when it comes to

this you're seeing everybody around you

doing so well perceived Pete to be doing

this as much as I on the surface perhaps

right on the surface and so when you see

these things you know your family and

your friends taking trips and buying

houses and buying cars and doing all of

these things you you perceived it too

you've done something wrong why have I

failed at this you know very you know

this thing that we're expected to all do

so well right um I work hard and I I do

what I'm supposed to do I should be also

kind of on top financially so there

there's a bit of a stigma when it comes

to being able to talk about that because

you know we're we don't want to be

perceived as having failed financially

totally and so why do you think the

stigma might exist so I mean I feel like

there are a few reasons why this exists

right so it's kind of drilled into us

from when we're young that if you work

hard and you make all the right

decisions and you do everything right

then you'll be doing well right like

Vasiliy yeah that's the American

definitely heard that work hard and

it'll pay off and tons of Americans work

hard and we still are struggling

financially and so because that we're

told that from such a young age we

perceived to ourselves to have done

something wrong no one wants to admit to

have messed up financially you know and

so I think that's probably one reason

that make sense yeah and so and also you

know keeping up with the people around

you keeping up with the Joneses as that

is that frees and this is where it comes

into play because like I said when we

see our friends and families or the

people around us even in our community

doing so well there's that that stigma

comes into play because we then are

perceiving ourselves to not be doing as

well we've we've messed up in some way

and that

is now causing us to also be struggling

financially which if we could get past

that stigma and talk about it the Jones

is the people around you your family and

friends are likely also struggling

financially

right so it's that it's that barrier to

us being able to talk about definitely

distress and I can imagine what that

internal struggle that that would then

lead to stress and putting a harder part

to like your mental and emotional health

can you speak a little bit about on how

you think financial instability or

insecurity can play a big role in being

detrimental on to your mental and

emotional health yeah absolutely so it

kind of goes back to the stressors that

I mentioned earlier right so that

constant fear of not being able to make

ends meet

it eats at you if you're constantly

thinking about it right so every time

you go to spend money even if it's on

you know it's not frivolous spending if

you're putting right you know food on

the table if you're buying gas you're

gonna be constantly stressed about the

money that you're spending it is all the

time on people's minds who are

struggling financially the Americans

like Psychiatric Association I believe

did a study recently Psychological

Association sorry did a study recently

that pointed to money being the number

one stress in their respondents lives so

the financial the financial issues that

we face on a daily basis or is the

number one stressor also that these

people were facing so just that fear

alone that stress can you know stress is

not great for the body we obviously know

that or and it's not great for us

mentally and emotionally if we're

constantly afraid of what the next day

is gonna hold what what is my mailbox

going to hold is there gonna be a new

bill um is something gonna go wrong is

my car gonna break down and how am I

gonna how am I going to you know address

that approach that

and so that that I think plays a

fugitive ly impacts our our physical and

emotional health that makes a lot of

sense that that type of stress being

related to money can bleed into

literally every aspect of one's life it

does and so do you think it will also

affect one's physical health and in what

ways yeah absolutely so a lot of people

when they're struggling financially are

having to make decisions that they

perceive are necessary so if I'm

struggling

I might not purchase a healthier food

options what I perceive is a cheaper

food option right so we stopped taking

care of ourselves physically because

we're focused on how are we gonna make

ends meet that becomes the priority and

then our health kind of takes a backseat

the same can be said for doctor's visits

or even filling prescriptions when your

funds are tight and these things cost

money decisions then have to be made so

for some people it could be a decision

like am I going to put food on the table

for my family this month or am I going

to fill a prescription or am I going to

go to the doctor because that can be a

big fear doctor's visits and for most

people will cost money the prescriptions

that you get these things all cost money

and when money is something that you

don't necessarily have something that's

already causing so much stress in your

life that can be a big issue and a big

barrier for some people to then go out

and do that as well and then just the

whole when you're dealing with stress

and whatever else that does you know to

your body into emotionally or it kind of

becomes a barrier to then you just

taking care of yourself in general right

so not going out and being active

I'm not eating right and taking care of

yourself because the stress can be

all-consuming for some people so it just

kind of becomes a priority and then the

rest of it you know just doesn't feel

like as much of a priority which you

know can eat away at our physical and

mental health and make everything else

that much harder no absolutely and we've

seen this a lot in public health as it

relates to nutrition or the obesity

epidemic that a lot of it does come back

to finances and do you feel like you're

able to go exercise or is there a safe

place if you can't afford a gym things

like that right yeah that access - right

exactly if you're you know perceiving

that you're not able to even put

groceries on the on the table then are

you gonna go and get it

gym membership or are you going to spend

the time or is that a priority so yeah

it can all it can all definitely kind of

boil back to just affecting our overall

health and wellness

absolutely and about having a family is

hard to you know if you're prioritizing

your kids or your spouse above yourself

whether it comes to health or whatever

just figuring out where to dole out that

money absolutely totally thank you for

talking about that and obviously we've

heard that you know there can be many

different aspects of how financial

stress can play a role in our lives so

what are some of the things that we can

do to help mitigate this stress sure so

I think one of the biggest things that

we can do about financial stress is

talking about it right it can help in a

lot of different ways so talking about

it first of all would help kind of

mitigate that stigma anyways mm-hmm so

if you hear me say man I'm having a

really tough couple of months

financially or I'm really struggling to

kind of make ends meet and here's why it

would make you more comfortable to then

say oh my gosh I need to understand me

too right and I've had a lot of those

situations recently where I've opened up

about financial struggles just with

moving and doing different things and

the person sitting across from me then

saying oh my gosh like I completely

understand that right so just being able

to connect with people and understanding

that you're not alone when you're

dealing with these financial issues

because I feel like financial struggles

are typically something that we tend to

take on by ourselves when that's first

of all not a great way to accomplish

these things and it just isn't great for

mental health either right no of course

not

when you're dealing with stress when

you're dealing with anything that's

affecting you emotionally and physically

it's best to be able to open that door

and be able to talk about it right

that's one thing opening up and totally

about it but also when you're able to

kind of overcome that stigma and you're

able to begin talking about the fact

that you're struggling you're then able

to reach out and access those resources

and supports that can help you overcome

the financial struggle there was a FINRA

financial capability study I believe


just kind of pointed to the overall

financial wellness of Americans and one

of the most telling points of that study

one of the things that hit me the

hardest was financial literacy oh yeah

and that study as well as a couple of a

couple of other study is kind of pointed

to the fact that a lot of Americans are

financially illiterate so sure we are

making decisions about our life and our

finances but we don't always know why

we're making those decisions or whether

it was the best decision and so

financial literacy being educated about

how to make the best financial choices

is really important to them so having

that that literacy having that education

will not only help you get out of the

financial hole that you might be in

there and kind of help you prevent that

in the future right so being able to get

past that stress and opening up and

getting you know breaking down that

stigma being able to talk about it then

opens you up to a whole world of

resources and support and education that

exists to kind of help you overcome

right so absolutely once you're able to

talk about it you're then able to help

yourself kind of out of it

definitely and I feel like talking about

it beforehand and creating prevention

strategies is better than the

alternative right letting things getting

so bad that then you're having to kind

of backtrack right exactly and I know

even for me just like little things that

I've tried to do now that I am you know

living on my own and whatever just

shopping ads at the grocery store rather

than buying just whatever I want to make

that week you know trying to find once

in season little things like that so I

can totally relate to that yes I

definitely don't know other big

financial decisions that I'm gonna have

to make investing whatever I really

don't know it much about that and I feel

like that's a lot for our generation am

i right in thinking that no it is so

that is honestly an area so I have the

same thought right a couple weeks ago

and so I did a poll with some friends I

sent out some some tax some Facebook

messages and I just asked a lot of

people that are kind of in our age group

yeah what's your knowledge of basically

your financial life so where do you

think that you are financially and how

are you preparing for a financial future

right basic question question that I

feel like we should all be addressing in

some way and I would say most of the

people who got back to me you know some

of them were like yeah I feel pretty

good I'm doing this and doing that

but most people were very honest by

saying I don't really know what my plan

for the future looks like and so that's

that's kind of a big thing but and not

to me is also a stressor to how do i

financially prepare for the future and I

imagine that's on a lot of people we're

gonna give a howl right right how do I

find that how do I find that information

how do I you know go about doing that

maybe I have guilt about having not

started planning you know and so those

are also things that I feel like talking

about yeah and understanding that all of

that information exists in the world for

you so these are things that you can

definitely help yourself overcome you

can start you know saving now for the

future like there are a ton of new

products which we can talk about later

that can kind of help even you know

younger people who might not have you

know retirement account through work

especially with you know different jobs

a lot of people are working maybe for

themselves a lot of people are doing you

know just different things so there's

still an opportunity for people to to

set themselves up financially for the

future that's wonderful to think about

and I know I wasn't really aware of what

resources existed not that I've ever

really asked the question before and how

I know that I should especially as I

start setting things up just recently

married all of that but so I found that

there were a lot of really cool

resources once I got hired by extension

yeah so could you talk to us a little

bit about what extension has to offer in

the way of financial wellness sure so we

actually do a lot and I'll speak to a

couple of different things when it comes

to an our approach to financial wellness

and so the big thing I think that we

love to do is prevention right so we

have financial literacy programming

starting as early as preschool Wow yeah

the Smart Start with money is a

preschool financial literacy program and

it just really starts kids thinking

about their financial future from that

age how to make those decisions I mean

obviously catered to the age group sure

we're not teaching preschoolers

investments but I don't know how to

balance a checkbook not a thing but yeah

so we're getting it in their mind that

their financial health is in their hands

right

I heard somebody and I couldn't probably

quote this statistic directly but we

start forming our opinion on money the

way that we are going to approach money

in our own lives as early as like six or

seven so when we're young we're watching

the people around us spend kind of

taking that on as well and I I mean

would spend a lot like I watched my

parents spend and you know coming right

out of college I wasn't financially in a

place where my parents were when I'm

watching them break exactly you had I

had a lot of that education from a

younger age I you know maybe some

financial stumbles that I took short

after graduation would have been

prevented because I would have had that

education right so having that

prevention in place really arming people

with knowledge when it comes to making

those financial decisions increasing

financial literacy in the state of Ohio

and really all over yeah that's kind of

you know a big thing that we aim to do

oh great yeah but we also offer

financial programming across the state

for maybe people who need a little bit

of help when it comes to money

management so for adults as well with

things like budgeting with things like

you know basic money management which

are which are honestly skills and tools

that can help us get out of those

finance a lot less right so maybe our

financial stress comes from the fact

that maybe we're in debt we've maybe

charged a little too much on credit

cards I I imagine this is a very common

stressful having that dad and so taking

advantage of these classes that we offer

this programming that's offered across

the state could really help people in

charge right taking control of their

financial lives so creating a budget

understanding how to best manage their

money understanding their credit score

and how that works because a lot of

people don't know their credit score or

how to access it which is honestly one

of the biggest topics that I think a lot

of our money management kind of because

it's good to know where you're starting

shortly people see a lot of commercials

about that too so it's probably a pretty

common topic I would think it is and I

think that's like the biggest square run

square one for anyone to start even if

you have no intention of accessing

extension programming understanding

where you are because I think when that

stress kicks in

and we we some might bury their heads a

little bit right you're struggling

financially things are spiraling I'd

rather not know like we've all had those

those you know months where we're like I

don't really want to check my bank I

don't know what's in there but for some

people this can go on for a while and so

understanding where you are financially

is a great starting point and extension

professionals can help you do that we

can give you the education and the tools

that you need to to see where you are

and then start working towards a more

you know stable financial future and so

we do that totally and you know also our

representative for America States

correct I am so I coordinator high in

the saves and so I'm a huge advocate for

saving even if it's just saving for

emergency savings my biggest push usual

saving hopefully saving some money for

the future we all know that's important

but being able to protect ourselves

against those financial disasters that

might come up you know every now and

then is is huge you know having a

savings account even if it's five

hundred dollars which is I recommend for

any emergency savings okay it's key and

so what we do through Ohio saves through

America saves all it is is social

marketing right so we want people to

understand the importance of saving we

want to give them the education to be

again to do that on themselves so one of

the biggest pushes for Ohio saves

through America saves is automatic

saving mmm that's a great idea you don't

even think about it don't have to think

about it and so that can look like a lot

of different things for people look I

have money so a lot of people will do it

through their paycheck right on so if

you're able to at the beginning of every

month every time we get paid a portion

of my my income just automatically drops

into savings I never see it it never

exists for me it's just automatically

being saved awesome which is helpful

because it's a lot harder when you're

making the decision every month to save

so we really just promote the idea of

automatic savings because it will help

it'll help you I think more than you

realize

down the road so that's a big one and

there's a lot of products that can kind

of help you know support that idea of

automatic savings oh yeah

I won't name any directly because you

know not here to promote but I use one

and every time I use my bank card to

shop it rounds up two dollars for me

okay and so at the end of the month

whatever money I've saved and that this

one's specifically nice because you can

also set rules and if you maybe shop at

fast-food or do something you weren't

planning on doing it'll also kick a

little extra over and so that money you

can access if you know your funds are

running low so it's it's not in a

savings product that is hard to access

which is great a lot of people need that

money to be a little fluid but at the

end of the month I just roll it over

into my normal savings account and

that's maybe a hundred bucks that I

hadn't planned on saving but did so

automatically that's awesome to think

about like two dollars here and there

can all of a sudden add up to a hundred

at the end of it it can just these

little things that you do nobody is

asking us to save like a thousand

dollars at a time right right little

things can make a big difference and I

think that's that maybe the fear that a

lot of people have when they're saying I

don't have the money to save or I can't

save yeah sure you might not have the

money to save a couple hundred dollars a

month that's most of us really exactly

but a lot of us can you know kick in a

couple bucks here and there and

especially when it's happening behind

the scenes it's happening automatic

right you're not making that decision

don't have to think about it you are

making the decision to buy the latte go

that's true so I feel like if you have

that money and what's another two bucks

that just goes into savings so the fees

are these are all things that can help

kind of reverse that situation right and

kind of why I point to these apps or

maybe these other you know

non-traditional financial products is

that there's probably a resource or a

tool for anyone that'll work for them to

help them save so especially thinking

about our generation of Millennials like

we just talked about that's something

that I think would be really appealing

to us I can absolutely really it's the

latte thing hmm I have since purchased

like an at-home coffee maker my own

coffee syrups and it's finite it does

save me a lot of funding yeah

and that way I think is a really

creative way to kind of turn around and

put people in control right I can still

enjoy my coffee yeah and I can still

make it the way I want it but I have to

go spend five bucks to do it but you

know you're saving that money in the

long run and I think that's you know it

goes back to that stress of being

financially out of control of our lives

so making those decisions saying instead

of stopping for a coffee every day or

every other day I'm gonna you know buy

this now that's gonna save me this and

it puts you in control yes

which i think is one of the biggest

things that we can do we really need to

advocate for our financial health by

making those decisions by actively

making those decisions that will put us

in a more secure future oh absolutely

and so thinking about kind of taking

control and learning more about our

financial situation can you speak a

little bit specifically about what

extension has to offer the community

members so resources that they can know

to go look for sure so a lot of times

when it comes to accessing extension

programming I would always encourage

people to just talk to their local

extension agent right extension educator

so contact your local office and they'll

tell you a little bit about what they

have to offer there our programming

really does kind of run the gamut when

it comes to financial wellness and a lot

of it is focused on this very basic

financial you know education and

wellness so we offer one of our biggest

programs is real money real world yeah

we offer and love those so you know

parents have your kids talk to their

teachers maybe if it's not in their

school these this program really does

it's interesting it puts students in

it's a simulation right so putting them

in the driver's seat when they're making

those financial decision and for a lot

of people it can be those financial

decisions that steer us in the wrong

direction or you know kind of get us

into that and doing these things know

they're buying a house they're buying a

car they are understanding that their

education and that their career choice

will impact their income so that's a

great I think preventative tool that we

offer

I love having been part of these

simulations a couple times and hearing

what the kids have to say yeah you know

like you said they're used to seeing how

their parents are spending and when

they're used to living a certain way but

once you're on your own that might not

be the right way

so hearing kids come and say oh I

definitely need to go to college because

I'd rather this income versus this

income those types of things like it's

really telling but it's cool that it

seems to be making an impact for them

yeah it's great and it's interesting

because it kind of reflects life right

yeah so a lot of the students will spend

spend spend

I want designer clothes I want the

top-of-the-line food choices I want all

these things and then there's this booth

called the financial advice that exists

for when they've run out of money which

many of them as you can attest to

volunteering will yep and so then it

kind of puts them in the situation of

looking at maybe what are some of the

financial decisions that I made what

could I do differently what you know how

can i reorganize my spending and so

that's what a lot of us are doing now in

life right the financial decisions did I

make what could I have done differently

or do differently moving forward so yeah

real money real world great product

great program for for students but we

have a couple of other programs money

101 is a great one I believe it has gone

through peer review and so it's ready

and available to be used so if it's

something that you have an interest in

call your extension educator ask them

about maybe if they're gonna be offering

that or if they could offer that but I

pretty sure it's for different program

for different you know dates for the

program okay that really it is meant to

put people in control of where they are

financially in order and overcome those

struggles so I'm just a couple of

options that we that we have but and you

also have some home buyer we do so we

think that's so layer yeah we work with

HUD where we have I believe it's twelve

different educators that are certified

to be HUD counselors or will be

certified to be HUD counselors and

they're offering one our first-time

homebuyer counseling through Oh fuh mmm

so it's a really great it's a really

great thing that we offer so yeah

contact your Extension Office yeah well

thank you Amanda so much for being here

today really appreciate having you and I

think starting to have this conversation

like you said will break down the

barriers and address the stigma that

surrounds financial stress if any of you

listeners want to reach out to us our

information will be in the credits and

please again contact your local

Extension Office if you'd like to get

connected with any of our resources

thank you for listening

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