The rich have it easy - as if we didn't know

 "Its tough at the top." How often have we heard that? Harvard researchers however find leaders in business, politics and the military report lower anxiety levels than others. Compared with people of similar age, gender and ethnicity who haven't made it up the ladder, those who sit atop the nation's political, military, and business organizations are less stressed and anxious. And their levels of cortisol, a hormone that circulates at high levels in the chronically stressed.

Compared with workers who toil in lower echelons of the American economy, the leaders studied by a group of Harvard University researchers enjoyed control over their schedules, their daily living circumstances, their financial security, their enterprises and their lives.

"Leaders possess a particular psychological resource — a sense of control — that may buffer against stress," the research team reported.

"It's clear that having a sense of control is protective against stress," said Nichole Lighthall, who researches stress and its effects at Duke University. "People in a company at all levels may be affected by the market and its unpredictability," she said. But while rank-and-file employees may worry about being laid off, chief executives can pretty much rest assured that "they'll keep their position in society, their superiority, their lifestyle and their income" even if the organization over which they preside suffers" she said.

Worrying about being laid off, not finding a job, losing your home, and not being able to buy food for your kids — that's a lot more stressful. Lack of money make their lives tough.