Mortgage Insomnia—Homeowners Stressed With Payments

Financial hardships are keeping Americans tossing and turning at night, and mortgages are one the top concerns causing sleeplessness, according to a new CreditCards.com poll.

The national poll of 1,000 adults, commissioned by CreditCards.com, found that 62 percent of respondents still say they lose sleep to at least one financial worry, which is not as good as the 56 percent in 2007 pre-recession, but much better than the 69 percent reported in 2009.

The poll asked respondents about five specific financial issues: saving for retirement, paying for education, paying health care or insurance bills, paying the monthly rent or mortgage, and paying credit card debt. Of these issues, the average person said 2.3 of the above issues were combining to keep them awake

The report showed that 26 percent of Americans are losing sleep over their mortgage or monthly rent, up 6 percentage points from 2007.

CreditCards.com found that gender also plays a role in financial worries, and women tend to stress more and sleep less compared to men. According to the data, 68 percent of women are losing sleep over at least one financial problem, while 56 percent of men reported a loss of sleep over financial problems.

“There doesn’t seem to be much middle ground when it comes to Americans’ financial worries,” said Matt Schulz, CreditCards.com’s Senior Industry Analyst. “Many folks have none at all, but many of us are worried about several different problems all at once.”

Some improvement was noted among households making between $50,000 and $74,999 per year. This income bracket is 4 percentage points less likely to lose sleep over financial matters now than they were in 2015.

Last year, more Americans were sleeping better at night knowing that the economy is recovering. Those Americans that are losing sleep over financial stress is declining in the U.S., according to CreditCards.com.

The poll found that 62 percent of adult Americans are losing sleep over at least one financial problem. This is 7 percentage points lower than the amount in June 2009, the last time this poll was conducted, but higher than 56 percent in 2007.

One of the top insomnia-inducing issues that worries many Americans is how they will pay their mortgage and monthly rent bills, the poll determined. Twenty-seven percent indicated that home and rent payments block sleep at night.

“Many Americans are still struggling financially, even as the economy rebounds,” Schulz stated. “Twenty-seven percent of Americans are losing sleep over mortgage or rent payments—about the same number as in 2009, in the throes of the Great Recession when we last did the survey. And 1 in 3 Americans between the ages of 18 and 49 are losing sleep over paying their rent or mortgage.”