It’s common to find that your lifestyle goals intersect with your financial goals. Indeed, your lifestyle choices often influence how much money you’re able to save over time.
Staying healthy is a lifestyle choice that can lead to lots of savings. Some of the biggest expenses you’re likely to ever face have to do with your health. From paying health insurance premiums to all of the other costs of health care, rising costs are going to affect you and your family.
Business Insider recently predicted that, by the year 2030, health care costs will exceed the average household income. The same study found that even if the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act works like it’s supposed to, this date would be pushed back by only seven years. Not exactly comforting.
Many families already spend a large chunk of their incomes on health care. One of the best ways to reduce your health care costs is to live a healthier life. Here are some of the ways that healthier living can save you money:
Lower Insurance Costs
Insurance premiums will go up every year, no matter how healthy you are. They will, however, rise at a slower pace if you don’t have as many doctor visits or long-term health conditions. Get healthy and you’ll have fewer complaints that need professional attention, thus reducing your need for costly visits to the doctor.
Less Chance of a Chronic Condition
Many chronic conditions, as well as pricey conditions, are related to poor health habits. The complications that can come with obesity, as well as heart disease, Type II diabetes, and other ailments can be attributed to poor health habits.
Find a way to exercise that’s within your budget. This, when paired with good nutrition, can go a long way toward helping you avoid these conditions. Good health can even reduce your chances of getting cancer. While there is no guarantee that good health habits will completely protect you from these conditions, you decrease your chances of contracting these problems when you live a healthier lifestyle.
Fewer Missed Days of Work
Eating healthy foods and working out can help you avoid more mundane sicknesses as well. In general, you’re sick less often, and for fewer days at a time, when you’re following good health habits. This can mean fewer doctor visits, of course, but it can also mean that you avoid missing work.
If you’re salaried and have paid sick days, this isn’t as big of a deal. But if you’re paid hourly, missing work because of illness won’t only mean higher insurance premiums and other costs, but it can also mean that you miss out on valuable income. This can be very costly if you’re already struggling to make ends meet.
Bottom Line
Taking care of your health can be one of the best ways to save money in the coming year. It can also help you in the future. Better health now usually means better health later, and that means you’ll be able to stretch your retirement dollars further, have lower medical costs, and enjoy a better quality of life over all — no matter your age.
How are YOU going to get healthier next year?
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I think you are making a great point here. I recently have started shopping at the farmers market instead of the grocery store. i get great meats and vegetables, even in the off season. Its much healthier as well without the hormones and chemicals.