The following text may have been generated by Optical Character Recognition, with varying degrees of accuracy. Reader beware!

P Financial stress is keeping Canadians awake at night a slightly less 14 per cent to their family. Liar, liar... The children of baby boomers lie about twice as much as the national average. That age group, compared to their parents has had a much more dif cult struggle getting nancially established after completing their education. Their parents' benchmark for nancial security is much higher than their own. Perhaps it is easier to hide their nancial disappointment with a lie than be discouraged by the cruel reality of the nancial struggles of their generation. We all know happiness in any relationship is enhanced with good communication. That is also true with nances. Couples sharing details of their personal nances argue signi cantly less than other couples. That is important to understand because 61 per cent of us are in a personal relationship with shared nances. However, four in 10 people in a relationship sharing their nances argue regularly about the matter. That is a lot of anguish caused by the almighty dollar. This research showing the stress of nances makes me wonder if those of us in the nancial services business should be more aware of the implication nance matters have on people's happiness. I know from past columns, my encouragement for readers was to improve their nances for practical purposes. The end-game was always about a speci c bene t, such as assisting children and grandchildren with their post-secondary education, maintaining a desired retirement lifestyle and paying off debt, avoiding the likelihood of being hurt by rising interest rates. Getting your nancial house in order may be better for your life. Reduce the worry and stress so you can give yourself the opportunity to enjoy life. Stress can cause health problems. We now see from the research how nancial stress can affect your close personal relationship. These negative effects can be magni ed because the research also revealed one-third of Canadians believe their friends are in better nancial shape than they are. 25 | Thursday, November 27, 2014 | OAKVILLE BEAVER | www.insideHALTON.com ersonal nances are the greatest cause of stress to Canadians. This information was released last week by the Financial Planning Standards Council in conjunction with the sixth annual Financial Planning Week. Affecting 42 per cent of us, money is the largest single cause of stress. Work-related matters were the second-largest stressor at 23 per cent, followed by personal health at 19 per cent and, nally, relationships at 17 per cent. In round numbers, close to half of all personal stress is nancial. Surprisingly, Canada is a relatively economically stable country. Given the economic activity and our standard of living, you would not have guessed nancial matters are our No. 1 worry. With feedback from 15,000 Canadians, the three-year study found 51 per cent of women lost sleep because of nancial stress and 30 per cent had anxiety. Men were less affected with these stressors, measuring at 40 and 17 per cent, respectively. While both men and women are affected by nancial stress, gender re ects a slight difference. It is a concern for us all. We can improve our lives if we pay greater attention to our personal nancial matters. One interesting aspect of the study is with Canadians who lie about their nances. Seventeen per cent lie to their friends and Dollars & Sense Peter Watson Guest Contributor Is the sense of failure magni ed because you think others are more successful? Most people want happiness. There is a popular expression that love makes the world go round. Now, we see the world will be a happier place if we get our personal nances into better shape. Reduce nancial stress and live a happier life. -- Submitted by Peter Watson, MBA, CFP , R.F .P ., CIM, FCSI., Certi ed Financial Planner *$ HEARING AID SPECIAL From 295 (Clients portion) *Some Conditions Apply · Whether in a group or by yourself we make hearing better for you! · Hear the joy of life again! Up to 3 Year Service Warranty 60 DAY GUARANTEE: FREE Hearing test · Ag Age 55+ www.hearingclinicgroup.com If after 60 days we have not provided you with the best hearing possible, we will give you your money back... Hopedale Hearing Clinic In Hopedale Mall, next to the CIBC 1515 Rebecca Street, Unit 38, Oakville 905-827-7333