Dec. 12, 2008

Forbes

You Call This Christmas?

For the first time in 25 years, personal finance is the No. 1 cause of concern and strife among Americans, according to a firm that operates employee assistance services worldwide.

Before the recession started wiping out people’s savings, most workers worried more about things like awful relatives, health and on-the-job conflict. ComPsych, the world’s largest provider of employee assistance programs, says that all that changed quickly in September, when mounting problems with debt leapt to the forefront. Thus holiday stress has been reaching new heights.

“We see things getting far worse,” says Rich Chaifetz, the Chicago-based company’s chief executive. His firm takes counseling calls from employees at 11,000 businesses with a total of 27 million individuals worldwide.