Benjamin Franklin’s famous proverb, “An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure”, has broad application for your health and wealth. It’s far easier to prevent problems rather than fix them once they’ve surfaced.
Sickness, both physical and financial, is decidedly more expensive than fostering good health. Taking care of minor problems before they become major ones is mostly a function of developing good habits.
With few exceptions, most people who seek our financial planning help have acute financial problems that need to be solved alongside longer-term financial issues. Usually, the immediate problems have to be addressed before meaningful progress can be made on long-term concerns. Unresolved problems can soak up a lot of your emotional energy.
It’s important to recognize that most financial problems did not appear overnight, and likely won’t be solved overnight. You can’t just take a ‘financial pill’ and make the problems disappear.
Health and wealth are closely linked. How you choose to address, or ignore, ‘financial or physical pain’ largely determines your overall happiness. Doing nothing usually won’t solve your health or wealth dilemmas.
Of course, being proactive with health and wealth doesn’t mean you totally control the outcomes. I had knee surgery a few years ago and the doctor said, “there are ranges of possible outcomes somewhat dependent on how well you follow-through with physical therapy.” He was basically saying that I had as much to do with the ultimate outcome as him. If you maintain discipline with your health and wealth, you’re putting the odds in your favor.
Inertia is a powerful emotional force, and the status quo can be difficult to dislodge. It’s important to make well informed health and wealth decisions. It’s even more crucial that you take action steps on these decisions once they’re made.
Life usually takes you along a path that includes many twists and turns. Decisions that you make today, both good and bad, can have compounding effects many years into the future.
It’s crucial to recognize that no one can force you to act affirmatively on your decisions. You’re fully in charge. Good intentions don’t really count in this context.
A prominent estate tax lawyer told me his filing cabinets are full of wills that clients have never executed. The clients met with him, received draft estate documents, and then didn’t follow through with executing these documents. Again, intending to sign your wills doesn’t count. Preventing a big headache for your heirs is relatively easy but can’t be remedied after you’re dead and gone.
Here’s a suggestion. Think about health and wealth as surviving and thriving. The primary objective for your health is to be able to enjoy the life you want to live. The overall objective for your wealth is to have the financial resources to support that life.
Related: Everything You Want Costs Something