You've Got a Big Decision to Make—Time to Open that Bottle and Decide

On the scientific benefits of sipping some wine while making big decisions

You have a major financial decision to make. It will impact your quality of life for the next several years. There is risk involved, in addition to the potential for reward. What wine do you open?

And is it a good idea to use alcohol when making a financial decision?

A recent survey of 3,000 Americans conducted by CardRates discovered that 21% of those responding admitted to turning to alcohol to help them make this important decision. (This is the number that ADMITTED they used this strategy). What wasn’t asked, or at least reported by CardRate, was how much alcohol was used in approaching financial decisions. Nonetheless, this is the first investigation I’ve ever seen into how alcohol is used to help make decisions. And what it reveals is pretty interesting.

Most—fully 51% of respondents—said their reason for drinking when making a big financial decision is to relieve stress.

Now, there is no doubt that making financial decisions is stressful. In fact, the American Psychological Association (APA) reports that 72% of Americans report money being a source of stress in their lives.

Furthermore, according to the APA, “there is a strong link between stress and physical health. Stress can lead to chronic muscle tension, long-term heart problems and stomach pains, among other adverse health conditions.”

This all begs the question, can reaching for wine when in the midst of making a big financial decision actually help relieve the stress that comes with that decision?

A study from 1999, conveniently entitled “Does Drinking Reduce Stress” concluded the following:

“Studies of the relationship between alcohol and stress suggest that drinking can reduce stress in certain people and under certain circumstances. Studies conducted over the past two decades have identified several factors that render certain people particularly susceptible to alcohol’s ‘Stress Response Dampening’ effects.”

Then there is Dr. Ahmed Tawakol, who conducted a study to try to determine how moderate alcohol consumption’s protective effect on cardiovascular health might be connected to alcohol’s impact on the brain. In explaining his study and results to CNN, Dr. Tawakol noted the following:

“After you have a little alcohol, before you feel buzzed, you feel relaxed. If you think of short-term alcohol, the first effect that people get … is a little bit of a de-stressing response.”

Dr. Tawakol went on to explain that his study of hundreds of people demonstrated that light and moderate drinkers had reduced stress responses in their amygdala, which is the part of the brain that processes fear and threats.

In trying to determine what science had to say about drinking relieving stress I found countless warnings that drinking to relieve stress could lead to problems. However, a huge number of those warners also came with statements like this:

“There is some truth to the idea that alcohol can reduce stress. Alcohol is a sedative and a depressant that dampens the response of the central nervous system to stressful situations. Initially, drinking alcohol can reduce fears, help you feel less shy, and give you a boost in mood”

This comports with what humans have believed and experienced for centuries, if not millennia, about the calming impact of alcohol. In this context, I have to ask if those 21% of folks who reach for alcohol when making a big and important financial decision aren’t doing the right thing for themselves. I am forced to embrace the idea that drinking moderate amounts of alcohol when contemplating important moments and decisions isn’t such a bad idea and in fact might even be a beneficial thing to do.

According to the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism, 10% of Americans 18 or older suffer from Alcohol Use Disorder. The other 90% do not. This 90% of the population is understood to generally use alcohol responsibly.

The counter to the idea that sitting back with a glass of Zinfandel as you contemplate the pros and cons of taking out that home equity loan comes of course from the World Health Organization in their recent declaration that “No level of alcohol consumption is safe for your health.” To put this in Prohibitionist language: that glass of Zinfandel you sip on as you decide whether to take the loan may harm you more than the stress the payments on the loan have on your life and finances.

But as the great David Morrison points out, “This conclusion is arrant nonsense.”

This all leads me to believe that given my appropriate relationship with alcohol, and given that I probably have some stress-inducing decisions on financial issues upcoming, it is probably a good idea for me to reach into my cellar and pull out that Russian River Valley Zinfandel in preparation.

Would you pull out a bottle and pour yourself one?