Secret Shame Erodes Quality of Life: America's Health Crisis Starts with Financial Woes

SAN FRANCISCO, Oct. 11, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- LendingClub Corporation (NYSE: LC), America's largest online lending marketplace connecting borrowers and investors, today released initial findings from its inaugural 2018 Financial Health Survey. The study, conducted online by The Harris Poll on behalf of LendingClub, shows connections between Americans' financial health and overall well-being and concluded that the two are inextricably linked.

The key takeaway: Bad financial health negatively impacts the body and the mind. And people are isolating themselves due to debt.

"In today's connected world, people talk publicly about a variety of topics that used to be private – from sexual orientation to political affiliation – but money remains the last taboo," said Steve Allocca, President of LendingClub. "This silence compounds the issues and poor financial health negatively impacts other key areas in people's lives, causing many to feel shame or isolation. We need to remove the stigma and start engaging in conversations more openly on financial health."

The LendingClub study found that Americans are nearly twice as likely to share marital/relationship issues (44%) than credit card debt (23%) with others. That is alarming when 60% of Americans with credit cards have some degree of revolving credit card debt and of those people more than a third are less likely today to discuss their debt with people they know compared to a few years ago.

Bad Wealth Begets Bad Health
More Americans rate their financial well-being worse than their mental and physical health, personal and professional productivity, and personal and professional relationships.

Americans reporting poor financial health are:

• Significantly less likely to practice certain healthy physical habits (41% are not diligent about getting routine check-ups and 40% do not get regular exercise, compared to those with good financial health 20% and 14%, respectively)
• More likely to have skipped preventative health measures in the past 12 months due to cost (38% vs. 17%)
• More likely to suffer from chronic pain (46% vs. 32%)
• More likely to have a negative outlook on their life (37% are not optimistic about life in general vs. 11%)
• More likely to have experienced a negative event like divorce, a lost job, or significant medical bills (67% vs. 38%)

Of those Americans, one-fifth are unmotivated to improve.

What Nest Egg? Americans Aren't Saving
More than half of Americans (56 percent) may be avoiding learning about finances as they say talking or thinking about it drains them mentally.

Worse, two-thirds have no consistent savings plan or don't save at all. This is likely leading many to be unprepared to handle an unexpected expense or significant life event.

With a little over seven out of ten Americans barely staying afloat, spending around or above their household income on average over the past 12 months, this financial health epidemic is a real societal problem. In order to help Americans break the taboo surrounding debt and financial health, LendingClub has developed a website with resources and stories from its customers' financial health journeys to help people get control of their debt and find a path to savings.

Methodology
This survey was conducted online within the United States by The Harris Poll on behalf of LendingClub from August 9-20, 2018 among 5,006 adults ages 18 and older. The raw data has been weighted by several demographic variables where necessary to reflect the composition of the general adult population. This online survey is not based on a probability sample and therefore no estimate of theoretical sampling error can be calculated. Complete findings of the survey are available upon request.

About LendingClub
LendingClub was founded to transform the banking system to make credit more affordable and investing more rewarding. Today, LendingClub's online credit marketplace connects borrowers and investors to deliver more efficient and affordable access to credit. Through its technology platform, LendingClub is able to create cost efficiencies and passes those savings onto borrowers in the form of lower rates and to investors in the form of risk-adjusted returns. LendingClub is based in San Francisco, California. Currently, residents of the following states may invest in LendingClub notes: AL, AR, AZ, CA, CO, CT, DC, DE, FL, GA, HI, IA, ID, IL, IN, KS, KY, LA, MA, ME, MD, MI, MN, MO, MS, MT, ND, NE, NH, NJ, NV, NY, OK, OR, RI, SC, SD, TN, TX, UT, VA, VT, WA, WI, WV, or WY. All loans are made by federally regulated issuing bank partners. More information is available at https://www.lendingclub.com.

About The Harris Poll®
The Harris Poll is one of the longest running surveys in the U.S. tracking public opinion, motivations and social sentiment since 1963 that is now part of Harris Insights & Analytics, a global consulting and market research firm that delivers social intelligence for transformational times. We work with clients in three primary areas; building twenty-first-century corporate reputation, crafting brand strategy and performance tracking, and earning organic media through public relations research. Our mission is to provide insights and advisory to help leaders make the best decisions possible.  To learn more, please visit www.theharrispoll.com 

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SOURCE LendingClub

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