Your Wealth is Connected to Your Health

“Your health may determine your wealth.” These words appear in Who’s Afraid to Be a Millionaire? a book written by financial journalist Kelvin Boston and published in 2010. Boston, who is also the host of the PBS series MoneyWise, wrote about relationships between emotional attitudes, physical health, and financial success.

Investing and earning a living are examples of physical capital. Long-life expectancies give healthy individuals a chance to grow their investments over time. “Longevity nurtures prosperity,” explains Boston, who notes that good health gives you more time for compound interest to build wealth. On the other hand, people with poor health often suffer from the costs associated with disability, illness, and death, including high medical expenses, lost earnings and decreased productivity.

To be fair, this shouldn’t be all that surprising. Research shows that those who are “unable to afford to live in healthier, more desirable areas often struggle with challenges related to a variety of community-level health-related factors,” such as limited access to healthy food, green space, recreational programs, and facilities for regular exercise and active living. Additionally, there is inadequate housing, transportation, employment, and insurance.

As a result, these economic factors can lead to hypertension, diabetes, and obesity. All of which can also impact one’s mental health. No wonder, a study published in the Journals of Gerontology found that wealthy people in both the U.S. and England live nine years longer than those who struggle financially.

While there are factors, such as your soci-economic condition, that can’t be easily resolved, the best two best ways to improve your health is to destress and get plenty of sleep. When we do these, we can increase your wealth.

Destress.

Stress weakens the immune system, like making you more vulnerable to viruses like the common cold. As a result, you can become disengaged or absent from work. When not addressed, there are also long-term effects such as high blood pressure, heart disease, eating disorders, insomnia, and mental conditions like irritability, depression, and anxiety.

To alleviate stress, try the following;

• Engaging in physical activity to release the feel-good hormone dopamine

• Relaxation activities, like breathing exercises, meditation, or journaling

• Eating a balanced diet and avoiding excess sugar

• Avoiding alcohol, tobacco, or drugs

• Seeking professional help like a therapist or financial advisor if you’re experiencing financial stress

Get a good night’s rest.

Despite the fact that healthcare professionals recommend seven to nine hours of sleep each night, most of us are unable to get to bed at a reasonable time. This is because of our busy schedules. Due to long commutes, we need to rise before the sun comes up, and a constant connection to our smartphones leaves us staring at bright screens for hours before bedtime.

It is impossible to resist checking a buzzing phone, even when we know we need beauty sleep. Research shows, however, that insufficient sleep can reduce focus and increase impulsive behavior. You can improve your sleep by turning off your phone, putting blackout curtains over the windows, and limiting naps to around 10-minutes.