Time to worry about debt?

Worry is a major part of many people’s lives and one new survey has sought to find out exactly how much – and what causes it.

The Everyman Campaign is concerned with testicular cancer but its study has found health problems are far from being the biggest worry for many people, as concerns about debt and other financial matters are the chief reason for stress among many, the Daily Mail reports.

It discovered the average Briton spends 36 minutes a day worrying – the equivalent of an entire nine days in a year or one and a half years in the typical lifetime.

And four out of ten regard debt as the biggest cause of anxiety, while the poll of 2,000 people aged between 18 and 65 also found the cost of living concerns many, as does paying bills, house prices and a lack of financial security.

Commenting on the situation, a spokesperson for the charity said: “Money is dominating most of people’s thoughts. It’s interesting to see that petrol prices take priority over people’s sex lives.”

The situation may be a clear indicator of the impact that problems such as credit card debt can have on many and for some with very severe problems, the problem may be worse due to the pursuit of creditors.

Individual voluntary arrangements can help end such a situation, with interest frozen, homes protected from repossession and a new schedule of reduced – and therefore more manageable payments – enabling those in deep debt to see light at the end of the tunnel.

Worries about finance include a recent decline in consumer confidence, which housing market research body Hometrack claimed last week was a consequence of government spending cuts.

By James Francis