Monday, October 2, 2017
5 Ways Your Health Affects Your Finances
The world of personal finance and personal health are intrinsically connected. It is no mistake that wealthier people tend to be healthier people. It is also no mistake that the less healthy you are, the worse your finances tend to be. In many of my posts, I speak to the importance of being prepared for the worst when it comes to your financial health. The right combination of savings and insurance can allow your goals and dreams to continue even if you become ill. What if you are damaging your financial health by neglecting your physical health? I’ve often spoken to how bad financial health can lead to bad physical health. In this post, I will show you 5 ways bad overall health affects your financial health. You may not realize how many things you do every day are hurting your wallet.
Sleep
We all know how important sleep is. Getting a good night’s rest allows you to be ready to tackle the next day’s challenges. Not getting enough sleep leads to decreased productivity and alertness. This can lead to poorer performance on the job which affects your chances of moving up. Sleep deprivation can also lead to increased chances of getting sick which will cause you to miss work. That will also hurt your chances at the next big promotion. Lack of sleep can also lead to poor decision-making which can have damaging financial consequences. Poor decision making can cause impulse buying which definitely affects your bottom-line. This one has always been a challenge for me. I have always struggled with getting the “proper” amount of sleep. Top performers in business and athletics always understand the importance of sleep. Being awake 24 hours is said to be the equivalent of having a blood-alcohol content of .1% over the legal limit. That’s scary!
Solution: Make getting regular sleep a priority. Get black-out curtains, put away the electronics, and commit to going to bed earlier. All of which will lead to your sleep life being better and your finances as well.
Stress
We have all heard about the link between stress and your health. It has been said to lead to heart issues, kidney damage, and depression. Do we truly understand the way stress affects our finances? Stress leave is becoming more and more common in the workplace. It is estimated that Canada is losing 33 billion per year in lost productivity. Many more billions are being spent on the subsequent Health Care needed to treat these patients. It is also said to be the fastest growing category of disability claims in Canada. Being on disability is very damaging to one’s bottom line as most claims only pay 60-80% of one’s income. Much like lack of sleep, being stressed out at work can cause you to not be productive and often leaves you in a foul mood. This will kill that chance at a promotion as well. That will definitely hurt your wallet.
Solution: We all have stressors in our life. Some are avoidable like bad friends, family, and activities. Others like children, co-workers or work are unavoidable. Make an effort to find the stressors in your life and either eliminate them or lessen their impact. Things like exercise, yoga, meditation, and relaxation can help reduce stress. Making sure your finances are in order helps a lot as well. Being stressed out hurts your finances and having bad finances stresses you out. Sounds terrible, so break that cycle.
Maclean’s Ken Macqueen – Canadians and Stress
Nutrition
Having a bad diet causes bad health as most people know. Bad nutrition causes weight gain, elevated blood pressure, heart problems, and diabetes. There is also a correlation between good eating habits and good financial habits. For one, eating at restaurants is generally less healthy for you and also costs more than eating at home. It is about twice as expensive to eat out rather than cooking your own food so that will definitely hurt your wallet. Poor eating habits have also been linked to having reduced cognitive ability which affects your day to day performance. Much simpler is the fact that making an effort to be healthy physically is similar to making an effort to be healthy financially. If you don’t have the discipline to eat right then you probably don’t have the discipline to avoid impulse buys or balance your checkbook.
Solution: Making a serious effort to eat nutritious food most of the time. This will help you be healthier, live longer and save money in the process. You will be more productive and your bank account will be fuller.
Depression
Much like stress, depression can lead to very poor performance. Similar to stress, depression can lead to overspending as well. Impulse buying and bad decision making have been linked to depression. A UK study from the University of Bristol has stated that people over 50 with debt, have been 8 times more likely to report depression compared to those living comfortably. I know from personal experience that when I was in massive debt, I often felt depressed and made even worse decisions with my finances. Sadly, much of our young people are starting out their lives in massive debt and are beginning their work lives in a giant hole. This is causing them increased anxiety and depression. Luckily, there is a movement occurring that aims to provide support for those with mental health issues. Sadly, the stigma hasn’t been completely lifted.
Solution: If you are feeling depressed you must seek out the help you need and deserve. The cycle of depression doesn’t get better with ignoring the problem. Also, take the steps to make sure you aren’t adding to your own problems by neglecting your financial health. Doing so will only compound the situation
Illness/Injury
If you are living a reckless life you are more apt to get sick or injured. As mentioned in the previous points, being away from work can cause undue financial hardship due to lack of money. Many people do not have a disability plan at work and rely on government assistance to fill in the gaps. Sadly our government does not provide you with much in the way of funds if you are off work. Employment Insurance only provides you with a maximum of around half your income (55%) and you must wait to receive these benefits. They also expire after a maximum 45 weeks if you are eligible. Employer-sponsored disability programs aren’t much better. I have had clients have to fight tooth and nail to receive their benefits and still only got a portion of what their plan had promised. Your best ability is availability.
Solution: Take it easy when it comes to your personal life. Participating in reckless activities can lead to illness and injury and that can keep you home from work. Being home from work means you aren’t advancing in your career which means you aren’t keeping up with inflation. Regular raises are necessary to keep your purchasing power so strive to get them.
Employment Insurance Overview – Government of Canada Website
In many of my posts, I reference exercise when it comes to taking care of your personal finance. The two topics are similar in the sense that they require discipline and most importantly, dedication. Planning to be healthy is very similar to planning to be wealthy. You have to be strong, smart and have incredible forethought. To be healthy is to be successful in life at the utmost level. Financial Health is the second level of that success.
Thanks for reading my post today on Healthy and Wealthy living. Check out tomorrows post when I discuss tips to having good financial health. If you have any questions regarding financial health please do not hesitate to contact me at joe@budgetboss.ca. Have a great day friends!
“Health is the greatest gift, contentment the greatest wealth, faithfulness the best relationship.” – Buddha
Email – joe@budgetboss.ca
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