ALMOST half of adults put off making important financial decisions due to being overloaded with 'life admin'.
A study of 2,000 adults found 43% feel swamped by the choices they have to make about money.
As a result, 53% have avoided making certain decisions altogether as they couldn’t face it.
But this head-in-the-sand approach left 54% feeling stressed, 40% felt nervous and 32% felt upset.
The research was commissioned by comparethemarket to launch its money management tool – the Good Things Hub.
Financial guru Emmanuel Asuquo said: “It can be easy to find yourself burying your head in the sand when it comes to money, particularly if you’re feeling worried about it.
"But hiding from problems doesn’t make them go away and, in most cases, it can make them much worse.
“Although it’s easy to feel anxious about your finances, it’s important to try and stay on top of money management and find some support.
"Helpful tools such as the Good Things Hub on comparethemarket.com are a great place to start."
The study also revealed differences in demographics, with 85% of 18-year-olds feeling overwhelmed by financial decisions.
But this drops over the decades, with 72% of those in their 20s feeling the same, compared to 59% of those in their 30s and 42% in their forties.
Only 31% of 50–59-year-olds feel overwhelmed by their finances, along with just one in four over 60s.
The study found monthly outgoings peak in your 30s at an average of £1,173, with 46% of that going on eating out, while putting money aside for their children’s future (33%) and investing money (30%) also take their chunk.
When adults get to their sixties the average outgoings are almost halved at £685, with 54% admitting they don’t feel very stressed by the financial decisions on their plate.
For the over fifties, money is spent on matters relating to leisure and the future, including putting savings aside (67%), deciding how much to keep as disposable income (55%) and saving for a holiday (52%).
However, it’s in their forties when adults have the most outgoings – an average of ten a month, according to the study carried out via OnePoll.
Ursula Gibbs at comparethemarket.com said: “As we get older, there are more decisions to make about managing money and this tends to peak in our 40s.
“Therefore, as our lives get more complicated, typically with the introduction of children and mortgages, so can our finances, which many admit to finding overwhelming.
“For today’s young adults, entering the world of money management could feel overwhelming.
"Comparethemarket.com is now offering the nation more ways to manage their money than ever before helping to support everyone with their financial decision making.”
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