A new study has found that when people lose 75% or more of their wealth, they are 50% more likely to die early than people whose wealth remains steady.

According to Time, the study was published Tuesday in the journal JAMA, and researchers examined how losing financial stability impacts a person’s health over time.

The study looked at more than 8,700 people, ages 51-61, who were participating in a national study.

The researchers looked at how experiencing a “negative wealth shock”—defined as losing 75% or more of their total asset value, including things like a pension, home or business, over two years—affected a person’s mortality over a twenty year period.

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Results showed that  25% of people experienced a negative wealth shock; those men and women were at a much higher risk for death from all causes.

The researchers also found that when they looked at a group of low-income adults, their risk of death over 20 years was 67%.

The study did not look at how the loss of wealth directly impacted people’s health. However, “the hypothesis is that wealth shock is a stressful event, and chronic stress over the long-term can affect pretty much every organ system.

The findings have serious implications for people who may undergo a financial crisis, and the research underscores the link between health and financial instability.

Source:TIME