Is Health the Key to Wealth?

It’s probably not a surprise to you that rich people get sick less often than poor people. Now, is it because they are wealthy which is why they are healthy? Or are they wealthy because they are healthy?

 

The relationship between health and wealth is a great one. What will blog post will do is examine the relationship in detail. Why is this so? How can a person gain both attributes if they currently have neither.

 

How Health Affects Wealth

 

A healthy diet keeps a person from getting sick as often. A healthy diet will also keep a person’s energy levels consistent. This increases stamina. A diet of fizzy drinks and biscuits leads to inconvenient blood sugar spikes. These spikes make you feel buzzed and it makes it harder to concentrate. By eating a good diet, your body will be working with good fuel. When a virus threatens, your body will have the resources to fight back.

 

I eat a very good diet myself. I very, very rarely eat sweets. I eat veggies, lean protein and healthy fats throughout the day. I also don’t get sick very often. It’s not uncommon for everyone around me to be sick but I’m not. The only differentiating factor between everyone else and myself comes down to diet. I believe my healthy diet is what keeps me out of the doctor’s office. And this diet isn’t expensive. In fact, I only use a $75 per month grocery budget.

 

Getting sick takes time. Some people get sick every month it seems. If you get sick every month for a decade, that’s 120 unproductive days – gone. If you are able to make $200 per day, that’s $24,000 each day – vanished. And yes, you may be on a salary. So daily income may not matter so much. But you will still burn through sick days. At some companies, these can be turned in for pay at the end of a year. Or you could use them to have fun instead of being sick. Being sick is plain old inconvenient.

 

Eating healthy also means you will look good. Instead of rolls of fat, you’ll be lean muscle. That’s attractive. Everyone knows that’s attractive – including yourself. This will boost your self-esteem. We all know how hard it is to work when we’re depressed. Thus, eating healthy and thus looking good will improve your move. That makes it easier to go out and get what you want in life.

 

People also like to work with more attractive people. This is especially true in the entertainment industry. Is it fair? Absolutely not. But people seem to gravitate towards beautiful people. By keeping a healthy diet, you and I can at least have a fighting chance of getting noticed by influential people.

 

How Wealth Affects Health

 

I wouldn’t consider myself wealthy at all. One day though. But I can see how the wealthy people are able to take care of themselves. They do a lot. First, they buy expensive groceries will health benefits. Though grocery shopping with a healthy mindset doesn’t have to be expensive, it is easier if you lay out a lot of cash.

 

When a wealthy person needs to eat, they typically don’t reach for what’s cheapest. This makes eating healthy a bit easier. Instead of stopping for McDonald’s, they might stop and get a well-prepared sit down meal. After all, they’ve made their money. They don’t have to be in a major hurry.

 

Having a certain level of health also means hiring the best medical professionals is a non-issue. This includes trainers to help they get both healthy and strong. This would be very nice. Instead of sorting trainers, orthodontists, etc. by price, they could simply look at who is best.

 

Now, sometimes wealthy people get things out of perspective. Instead of enjoying their wealth, their work incredibly hard to acquire more and more. Which really, they could sit back and enjoy a lower stress lifestyle. Stress is the silent killer in our society.

 

Note that once a person becomes financially independent, they don’t need to work another day in their life. How much money do you need to become financially independent? To get there, the math is pretty simple. Many people overthink things. How much are your bills each month? Okay, so to reach financial independence, all you need is enough passive income to cover your bills consistently. If you use the stock market, the safe withdrawal rate is 4%. That means you can shave off 4% each year and not reduce the overall value of your assets (stocks). So if you only have, say, $20,000 (13,942.82 GBP) in bills each month, you only need an investment portfolio of about $520,000 (362,457.76 GBP) to cover your bills. That doesn’t seem too far out of reach does it? Those numbers are sure a lot nicer than what you read about it the news. Sometimes the key to wealth isn’t about making a ton of money, it’s about living on less.

 

What if you have neither?

 

If you’re unhealthy and unwealthy, that’s okay. The beautiful thing about the relationship between the two, is they work in conjunction with each other. Each day, you can choose to get a little healthier and a little wealthier. Little by little, you will reach your target numbers. What’s important for you to do now is to set your target numbers. What’s your ideal weight? What’s your ideal net worth? Set goals. Work to reach them. Remember that health and wealth are symbiotic. And with both, you have a much greater chance of achieving the ultimate prize… happiness.

 

Bio:

Will Lipovsky is a personal finance freelance writer and internet marketer. His most embarrassing moment has been saying to a Microsoft executive, “I’ll just Google it.” You can get in touch with Will at FirstQuarterFinance.com.