People who lose a lot of money suddenly die soon

A new study found that when someone lost 75% or more of their assets, they had a 50% higher risk of premature death than those with stable assets.

In the new study published in JAMA magazine, researchers looked at how the problem of financial instability affects a person's health over time.

Lindsay Pool, professor of preventive medicine at Northwestern University's Feinberg School of Medicine, and colleagues observed more than 8,700 people, ages 51 to 61.

Picture 1 of People who lose a lot of money suddenly die soon
Losing property has an impact on a person's risk of premature death similar to having no assets at the beginning.(Photo: Bloomberg).

Researchers have considered experiencing "a negative asset shock" - which by their definition is losing 75% of total assets or more, including things like pensions, homes or businesses in 2-year period, how affect a person's death.

During their 20-year follow-up period, 25% of the participants in the study experienced "a negative asset shock" , and those at a much higher risk of death, from all causes.

"This is something that millions of people experience. It is not really a rare event," Professor Pool said.

The researchers also found that when they looked at a group of low-income adults, their risk of dying for 20 years was 67%.

Poverty is known to have an impact on one's health and death, but researchers were surprised to find that losing assets had an impact on a person's risk of premature death similar to no property right from the beginning.

The study did not consider how the loss of assets directly affected that person's health. However, "the hypothesis is that asset shock is a stressful event, and chronic stress over a long period of time can affect quite a lot of organ systems , " Professor Pool suggested ant.

The findings are important for many Americans because they may experience a financial crisis, and the study highlights the link between health and financial instability.

"People don't want to lose their jobs. Finding a way to intervene is not their task, but the policy makers' mission, " Professor Pool concluded.