Can Investing In Your Health Now Actually Save You Money Down The Road?
Here’s the thing about being healthy—it isn’t always the cheapest option. Choosing to cook a nutritious dinner for yourself will usually cost more than a drive-through burger. And paying for a gym membership will cost more than, well, not paying for a gym membership.
But what you may not realize is that spending cash now to be healthy can end up saving you a lot of money down the road. Keep reading to see why investing in yourself is a smart idea for your financial future.
The price of health
There are definitely low-cost ways to be healthy, but most people spend a certain amount of money on taking care of their minds and bodies. Here are a few of the big expenses:
Joining a gym
Memberships can really run the gamut. You can shell out $10 each month for a basics-only workout space or up to almost $200 for a luxurious locale. The average monthly fee tends to be closer to $50 or $60, which, as long as you use it, is worth it.
Working out regularly is linked to lower risk for high cholesterol, cardiovascular disease, type 2 diabetes, and many other chronic diseases. It can also help keep the number on your scale from creeping up.
Buying healthy food
Sure, there’re inexpensive fruits and veggies that are good for you (think: brown rice and bananas), but it does tend to cost a little more to eat healthy food—about $45 more a month on average. Not sure it’s worth it to fill your cart with whole grains, fresh produce, and high-quality proteins? It is. Just like regularly working out, eating a healthy diet rich in produce can decrease your risk for heart disease, obesity, type 2 diabetes, and even some cancers.
Seeing a therapist
Does everyone need to do this? No. But if you have chronic stress or anxiety, talking to someone might be a good idea. It isn’t necessarily cheap, though. An hour with a therapist can sometimes cost $100 or more per hour, according to the Anxiety and Depression Association of America. But it can help ease your mind, which in turn, can improve your overall health. Feeling stressed out all the time is linked to weight gain, menstrual cycle problems, and even heart attacks!
Getting health insurance
Employer-sponsored plans, which more than half of Americans have, cost an average of about $119 a month. Individual plans, which are for people who buy insurance on their own, are costlier and average around $440. (They may be less if you get an income-based subsidy through the government).
That’s definitely not pennies, but it’s still a smart investment. People with health insurance are more likely to get preventive care, and if you always do things like getting recommended vaccines and screenings, you’ll catch any issues (especially ones that don’t have symptoms, like high blood pressure) before they become major—and majorly expensive to treat.
Reaping the financial rewards
Is there a direct connection between spending a dollar on an apple and saving a dollar down the road? No. But put all the above habits together and you’ve got the odds stacked in your favor for avoiding some pretty pricey chronic conditions. For example, treating type 2 diabetes can cost you up to $125,000 over your lifetime, and people with cardiovascular disease receive about $19,000 worth of medical care each year.
On top of saving money by avoiding chronic health issues, being a healthy weight (as opposed to overweight or obese) is also good for your financial well-being. Being overweight (which is defined as having a BMI of 25.0 to <30) will cost you $524 a year, mostly due to higher medical costs. And being obese (which is defined as having a BMI of 30.0 or higher)? That will run you $4,879. Why so much higher? You can thank lost wages for that. (It can be hard to show up at work every day when you’re dealing with health problems.)
All of this together might explain why people in poor health tend to accumulate a lot less wealth over their lifetime than people who are healthy.
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