The Concept of Financial Wellness

Updated September 2021

Are you financially healthy?

When you hear the word “healthy,” physical health typically comes to mind. Are you eating right? Exercising? Taking care of your body?  There are numbers that help us evaluate our physical health, such as blood pressure and BMI. We can look at these metrics with confidence when declaring the state of an individual’s health.

We are also becoming more aware of the importance of mental health.  We cannot rely on the objectivity of numbers to measure mental health, but just because we can’t quantify it doesn’t mean that it is insignificant.  It is very clear that our mental health affects us daily, and it is often inextricably linked to our physical health. We all strive to be healthier in mind and body, despite our modern world full of obligations and distractions.  It may be difficult, but it is still a worthy goal nonetheless.

Now let’s look at financial health.  In this case, there are plenty of numbers to crunch and analyze.  How much debt to do you have?  What do you have saved in your retirement accounts?  What is your insurance coverage? It’s easy to think that knowing these numbers would be sufficient enough to grade your financial health. However, personal finance can be tricky because numbers can only tell us so much.  It is “personal” after all, and only YOU can determine whether or not you are satisfied with your financial health.

So how about this concept of financial wellness?  To me, financial wellness means that not only are you fully aware of your financial health, but you are also aware that your financial health plays a very integral role in your physical, mental, and emotional health.  Just as we see our sick patients with multiple clinical signs, we understand that these clinical signs are not in isolation. They affect the patient as a WHOLE, a living, breathing entity and is the sum of all its parts.  We need to look at the big picture and treat accordingly.

It is my strong belief that improving financial wellness will positively affect other areas of your life.  This is why we can’t let our finances fall to the back burner. It’s time to accept the fact that our financial health is a priority that can’t be distilled down to numbers and spreadsheets. It’s about how we can use money as a tool, a resource, to living more joyful, purposeful, and richer lives.