Survey: Nearly 2 in 3 Americans losing sleep due to finances

Millions of Americans suffer from insomnia, often chronic or acute. What's causing the loss of sleep? For a sizeable majority, it turns out, concerns about finances are a major culprit.

According to a new report from CreditCards.com, more than 6 in 10 Americans (62 percent) cite financial issues as the reason. That's down from 69 percent in 2009 but up from 56 percent in 2007.

The survey of 1,000 U.S. adults, conducted by Princeton Survey Research Associates International on behalf of CreditCards.com, pinpoints the following financial worries for sleeplessness:

• Saving enough for retirement. Two in five Americans say this keeps them up at night at least occasionally. People between the ages of 50 and 64 are the most concerned (50 percent note they fret about their retirement savings — or lack thereof — in the wee hours).

• Funding educational expenses. Half (50 percent) of 18-29 year-olds are losing sleep over how to pay for educational expenses (much higher than the 31 percent of the general population who have this fear).

• Paying for health care and insurance bills. Nearly 1 in 3 (29 percent) of Americans are losing sleep over health care and insurance costs. Another 27 percent attribute sleep loss over how to pay for the monthly mortgage or rent, and 21 percent cite credit card debt.

"The biggest change over the past eight years has been the steady increase in the number of people losing sleep over educational expenses," says Matt Schulz, CreditCards.com's senior industry analyst. "That's the only one of the five categories that has gotten worse since the Great Recession. Unless something slows the rapid rise in college costs, this could soon be Americans' biggest financial fear."