Creating a safety net for your investments, building defences for your most valuable possessions and ensuring that you can always pay the bills. These are some of the foundational steps you can take to avoid future finance-related health issues. In this article, you will find information and tips on how to minimise the chances of encountering financial shocks that may put your health at risk.
Can Financial Stress Really Cause Health Issues?
Before you start taking concrete steps to protect your finances, it’s worth investigating the real-life risks that you face. Is it really possible for financial setbacks to cause physical ailments or is this just a figment of the collec
- Cardiovascular Diseases – Financial risk is an acknowledged (non-traditional) risk factor for cardiovascular diseases such as coronary heart disease and coronary artery disease according to several studies.
- Psychological Distress – There have also been medical studies in the USA that suggest a strong correlation between financial worries and psychological distress.
- Psychiatric Disorders and Hypertension – A group of University of Alabama researchers found a positive link between debt/bankruptcy and the occurrence of psychiatric disorders and high blood pressure.
Many more studies have provided convincing evidence of the correlation between financial stress and negative mental & physical health outcomes.
What Can You Do About It?
The easiest way to avoid future finance-related health issues is to build defences and safety nets, which is where we came in. But what specific steps can you take to protect your investments, valuable possessions and ability to pay the bills on time?
- Your Income and Home – Many Insurers provide tailored income protection and home & contents coverage on request, which means you can build defences for your income and home with a minimum of effort.
- Your Investments – There are several ways in which you might go about protecting your investments, such as hiring a professional advisor, spending time educating yourself on the ins and outs of global financial markets and building a broad, well-diversified portfolio.
- Your Most Valuable Possessions – The best way to protect your physical belongings will depend on their nature. High-quality instruments and antique paintings, for example, may require a two-pronged approach that combines a solid insurance policy with a hermetically sealed, climate-controlled display or storage cabinet.
Taking these positive steps to protect the most valuable things in your life could help you avoid unnecessary stress in later life.
By securing your home, your prized possessions and your income, you will remove the most common causes of major financial shocks in the general population.
Becoming More Resilient to Shock and Stress
In addition to taking defensive steps to secure your most valuable assets, you may wish to consider working on your health directly to become more naturally resilient to future shock and stress.
- Nutrition – By ensuring that only good things go into your body, it will be much easier for you to maintain a healthy weight. This is crucial to better health in later life.
- Exercise – Regular aerobic exercise and resistance training are said to help minimise the chances of cardiovascular diseases and osteoporosis in later life.
It’s also important to maintain a positive attitude if you want to enjoy positive health outcomes in later life.
Looking to the Future With Hope and Confidence
Having taken the necessary steps to minimise finance-related health issues and increased your resilience to shock and stress by introducing a healthy diet and exercise programme, you can plan your future with confidence and pursue your dreams with hope and positive expectations. Just the simple act of investing time and energy into your future can help generate more positive outcomes in all areas of your life.
