Ever felt overwhelmed or stressed about finances? You are not alone! 82% of emerging adults (aged 18-25) report feeling stressed about finances.1 At the same time, many individuals believe they need to save a certain amount of money or achieve certain financial goals before getting married. Researchers call this belief a “financial barrier belief.” This may look like a goal to save 10k or to be debt free before marriage. 91% of emerging adults believe financial independence before marriage is essential.1

Have you ever noticed how two families with similar incomes can feel completely different about their financial situation? Research suggests that it is not always actual income that shapes family life. Sometimes, what matters most is how parents perceive their financial situation. A recent study by Van Petegem and colleagues explored how parents’ perceptions of economic inequality and financial scarcity relate to their involvement in their children’s schooling.¹

What if one of the best ways to teach young people about money is simply to let them use it? When we think about financial education, we often picture budgeting worksheets, classroom lessons, or conversations about saving and spending. But learning about money is a lot like learning to drive. Reading the manual helps, but eventually you need to get behind the wheel. A recent study examined what happened when teenagers received $50 per week in unconditional cash for 10 months. Researchers found that having money to manage gave young people opportunities to practice financial decision-making, reflect on their goals, support their families, and learn lessons that traditional financial education alone may not provide.¹

Have you ever wondered why some families seem happy and connected regardless of their income, while others struggle despite having plenty of financial resources? Some people assume that more money automatically leads to happier families, but reality is more complicated than that. While financial stability can certainly reduce stress and provide opportunities, researchers have found that money alone does not determine family well-being. Instead, what parents do with the resources they have and how they interact with their children may matter just as much, if not more.

Ever notice how some couples seem ready to get married long before they actually do? They may be deeply committed, have dated for years, and talk openly about their future together. Yet they continue waiting. Why?

How do you define cheating in romantic relationships? Cheating is not always easy to define because it includes both observable behaviors and subjective interpretations. Constructs are ideas or theories that help us measure abstract experiences like trust, jealousy, or honesty. So, scientists developed the concept of cheating to help us better measure, predict, and understand its effects across many aspects of life, including romantic relationships. You probably have heard of some defined behaviors that go with cheating and are metrics to validate cheating accusations in relationships or school. But how does one define financial cheating? In this article, I’ll build foundational principles around financial cheating concepts and examine how academics create scales to measure these subjective, abstract aspects of being human.

When I first heard the term “gig worker,” like many curious people with a question, I immediately googled it. The Merriam-Webster dictionary defines a gig worker as “a person who works temporary jobs typically in the service sector as an independent contractor or freelancer.”1 There is significant hype surrounding the idea of becoming one’s own boss. After all, who doesn’t want that level of autonomy? Working from wherever you choose and during the hours you choose sounds like the perfect dream. However, while some choose this path for its flexibility, many others end up doing gig work out of necessity because they are unable to find more stable, traditional employment. I remember noticing this trend accelerating during and after the COVID-19 pandemic, but as infrastructure and technology have continued to evolve, they have fundamentally transformed work environments. This includes pre-COVID shifts toward gig work and be-your-own-boss careers. The Federal Reserve periodically surveys U.S. adults to assess working and economic conditions, and its recent data show a generally increasing portion of the workforce engaging in the gig economy or freelance work, often to supplement their income.2 While the autonomy to choose your own jobs sounds like a dream for some, for others, it can be the result of a difficult circumstance. Either way, in this article, we will explore how the flexibility and freedom gig work provides in some aspects often comes at a steep psychological price.

For many married or cohabiting couples, deciding whether to maintain separate bank accounts or establish a joint account is both a practical and relationally consequential choice! This decision is not only about money management but also reflects trust, commitment, and cooperation within the relationship. Drs. Fenaba Addo and Sharon Sassler[1] examined how financial arrangements are tied to relationship quality in over 500 low-income married and cohabiting couples.

Some might wonder why older adults are getting phone calls from non-caller ID’s or so-called family members asking for extra money or financial assistance. Older adults (ages 65 and above) are more susceptible than other ages to one of the most invasive crimes in the US: Financial fraud.1 Because this crime is so common among older adults, the specific name for financial fraud against the elderly is “Elder Fraud.”1 Each year, millions of older Americans find themselves as victims to Elder Fraud. Some financial fraud tactics include deceptive tech support, relative schemes, government impersonation scams, fake sweepstakes, and more.

What if your last argument with your partner about money wasn’t really about money at all? Often, disagreements regarding spending and saving expose how partners tie their identity, self-esteem, and sense of success to financial decisions. A recent study by Dr. Deborah Ward and colleagues examined how basing your self-esteem on financial success, a concept called Financially Contingent Self-Worth, shapes the way people experience financial conflicts in their relationships. The study also looked at how this mindset influences feelings of partner support and overall relationship satisfaction. When self-esteem is closely tied to money, even small disagreements about finances can feel personal, tense, and difficult to resolve.