Older Australians who coped better mentally during the pandemic were smarter with their money

Embargoed until: Publicly released: 2023-06-09 04:00

Australia; SA

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Among older Australians, those who coped better mentally at the start of the COVID-19 pandemic were more likely to be making good financial choices, according to Australian research. The team interviewed 1500 Aussies aged 55 or older over the phone about their mental wellbeing and their financial behaviour. The researchers say more positive wellbeing and coping was associated with better financial behaviour, such as more careful planning of finances and timely credit card payments. While this study cannot prove their wellbeing caused their better financial choices, the researchers say this could mean supporting Aussies' psychological wellbeing in tough times could also help them make good choices with their money.

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Journal/
conference: PLOS ONE

Research:Paper

Organisation/s: University of South Australia

Funder: The authors received no specific funding for this work published in the PLOS ONE journal. The data used in this paper is collected as part of a larger project funded by the ECSTRA Foundation: https://www.ecstra.org.au/. The funding body did not play any role in the study design, analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of this manuscript.

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