FITNESS & FINANCE
These are my favorite topics. My all time favorite things to talk about are fitness and finance. They don’t often go together but when you’re talking long-term living and living your life to its fullest, they absolutely do.
Let’s talk about how they go together. Why is your health important to your finances? First things first, insurance. When you retire early you will now be responsible for your own healthcare. What will that look like? I’m not sure but the last thing you want is to be responsible for significant medical expenses including prescriptions. How can you combat this? Or at least plan for this in the future?
Your financial solution: put money into an HSA now.
Your fitness solution: workout 3-5 times a week.
Let’s break this down. What is an HSA? A Health Savings Account. These are often offered by your employer with lower deductible plans. I’ll be honest, for several years I avoided these plans thinking I needed that money, why would I contribute to something? Here are all of the reasons I was wrong:
- Tax benefits.
- You don’t have to use the money right now or you can use the money right now. If you have a medical expense, use what is in there if you need to.
- Employers often contribute to these. For example, you may have a $1,500 deductible and your employer will contribute $1,200 throughout the year, therefore paying for almost all of your deductible.
- What you don’t use, you can invest, and this money will continue to grow.
- The year you saved the money does not mean anything when you use the money. If you saved the money in 2023 and have a medical bill that needs to be paid in 2027, you can do that.
- It’s free money.
There are so many good things about Health Savings Accounts. When your open enrollment comes around again, don’t brush off that lower deductible plan just because it doesn’t have a copay or doesn’t meet your middle of the road standards. Really look at what your employer is offering and consider this an option.
Your fitness solution is to work out 3-5 times a week. I don’t mean go for a walk, I mean workout. You are now trying to save yourself. Imagine, you are financially free and you have kids and grandkids. The last thing you want to say is “I can’t make it because I don’t feel up to it.” NO! We are better than this. But how do you even start? Just like everything else, little steps.
If you currently don’t workout at all, you need to find something. Find something that you enjoy. If you despise running, don’t make this running. I know plenty of people who don’t like running and choose other sports. Try mountain biking or swimming. Trying something new is half the fun. You don’t concentrate so much on the pain and the exertion but more the excitement of the new activity. Start with 20 minutes a session. And work your way up to an hour. Yes, an hour. You need to get your heart rate pumping.
As we age, the importance of weight lifting comes into play. It is critical to keep our muscles and limbs strong so we can continue to move around and diminish our risk of breaking something. If you can, make a session or two a week solely focused on weight lifting. You will be amazed how quickly your body responds to weights and how feeling stronger can automatically motivate you.
Finally, I will leave you with this thought. How many of you know someone that retired and as soon as they retired, seemed older? What I mean by that is they didn’t think as quickly and would tell you the same stories over and over again? That’s because they weren’t getting up and doing their routine. They no longer had that motivation to do something everyday. If you start your fitness routine now, when you do finally retire, think of how easy it will be to continue on that routine and continue your health journey. Not only sharpening your physical fitness but your mental fitness as well.
