Financial Health as a Part of Wellness

By Carol James

What is financial wellness, other than the absence of stress related to money? How is it connected with the overall wellness? How to check whether you have achieved it? It will be better to cover the whole subject than give you a brief financial wellness definition.

A survey conducted by Everyday Health shows that money is the key reason of stress both among men and women. If a person manages this kind of stress, it can have considerable benefits to its health.

Many U.S. problems realize that health and personal finances are closely linked.

National Business Group on Health (NBGH) shows that nowadays, 9 of 10 companies offer their employees financial wellness program. Other 10% think about implementing them. Employers are sure that such programs can boost employees’ health, engagement, and productivity.

Why Financial Health Is Top of Mind Nowadays

Claire Wasserman is a founder of a career-advanced program called Ladies Get Paid. She has been to over 19 cities across the United States and had discussions with over 5,000 women.

Claire says: “All these women understand that money can be the basis for their ability to risk. Whether it’s quitting a job or breaking up, it’s good to have their personal finances in order.”

Money can let you have more freedom on your career path. The main question that appears is “How to make money doing what I like?”. Nowadays we can observe a shift that inspires women to look for ways to earn money and enjoy it.

How you borrow money can also affect your financial wellness. Money people are sure that loans have a negative impact on the financial situation. Yet, if you know the reliable lenders, it can play into your hands.

More and more people associate themselves with full-picture wellness. That’s why financial confidence becomes a considerable part of a good life. People want to be mentally, emotionally and physically well and finances fit into this picture. People want to be prepared for rising living costs, student loan debt, and other unpleasant things.

Such knowledge gives confidence. Financially confident people demonstrate higher levels of emotional wellness. When we feel secure financially, we can fully concentrate on occupational wellness. When you don’t panic about bills, you can focus on climbing up a career ladder.

Now that we answered the question “What is financial wellness?”, let’s look for the ways to reach it.

The Road to Financial Wellness

Don’t think you are the only one in the process of learning how to manage money in a better way. There is plenty of different resources, programs, and workshops that are able to teach you how to manage personal finances more efficiently. Everyone has a different financial situation, so only you can choose an appropriate mix of resources that can guide you toward success. The most important thing to remember is that financial wellness does not appear at an instant. To build your financial wellness, you should seek related resources and discover more about money-managing strategies.

Here are some helpful financial wellness tips:

1. Create a Financial Calendar. If you don’t remember paying quarterly taxes or pull a credit report periodically, consider setting an appointment reminder for these important financial tasks the same way you plan a visit to a doctor. A financial calendar can be a perfect place to begin.
2. Check Your Interest Rate. Wonder which loans should be paid off first? The ones who have the highest interest rate. Which savings account to open? The one which has the best interest rate. Paying attention to interest rates will let you understand which savings, commitments, and debts you should put the focus on.
3. Track Your Net Worth. Net worth is the difference between your debt and assets. This number can tell you what your financial position is. Tracking it can help you apprise of the progress you make when reaching your financial goals or indicate that you are backsliding.
4. Consider an All-Cash Diet. If you are overspending quite often, this method will help you. This diet implements using exclusively cash to handle your everyday expenses. For instance, you should pay for groceries, gasoline and so on exclusively by physical currency.

   Fixed expenses, such as housing costs, utility bills, and debt payments shouldn’t be paid in cash. Those can be handled electronically, with a debit card or direct debits. An all-cash diet avoids using a credit card. It will help you lower your total debt load. It has helped many people increase the level of financial wellness, and you can be the next one.

5. Take a Money Minute Every Day. Spending one minute a day checking on your financial transactions can help you identify your financial problems immediately and track your goal progress. It will help you save considerably for the rest of the day.
6. Allocate About 20% of Youtr Finances Toward Financial Priorities. When we talk about priorities, we mean repaying debt, building up emergency savings, and creating a retirement nest egg. Though it seems like a huge percentage, it is worth it.

How Much is Enough?

To lower the fear factor, remember that you do not have to be rich to achieve financial well-being.

The recent research on financial well-being shows that more money has a limited effect on happiness. After having satisfied all our needs, we can easily get used to what accelerated wealth can bring us. Such new financial status starts to seem ordinary.

It is also essential to build financial resilience. Nowadays more and more employers help their employees find ways how to build emergency savings, seek reasonable mortgages and deal with student debt.

To progress toward financial well-being, you should just set personal goals. Goals communicate the belief that we are capable of overcoming obstacles. When we commit to such a belief, we show faith in ourselves.

Remember that such moves will not transform your financial situation overnight. But when you commit to healthy financial changes, you will start feeling much better before you know it.