I’m an investment advisor — actually a financial planner — and I want to talk to you about your most important investment: your health.
The majority of my clients have one question in mind when they first sit down with me: How am I looking with respect to retirement?
Of course they want a financial answer. After they give me enough information I can give them an answer. But it’s not just information about their 401(k) and their brokerage accounts.
You’d be surprised how much of the information they give me is related to health. I need to know. Your health care costs are one of the biggest unknowns for your retirement expenses.
How healthy are you? How active are you? How much do you weigh? What are your medical bills like? What were last year’s medical bills? What medications are you on? What Long Term Care Insurance does your employer offer?
I don’t ask them how much they weigh, but I know their Long Term Care Insurance is going to need that, so I definitely make a note of how insurable they are, weight wise.
It’s a fact. You can be set financially but have a miserable retirement if you don’t take care of your body.
There are no shortcuts.
To lose weight, go hungry for a bit. Listen to your body. You can feel when your blood is grabbing energy stores from your fat instead of from your food. You can’t feel it? Listen closer.
Feeling low? That might be your sugar addiction. Don’t feed it. Enjoy your blood looking for energy somewhere besides a snickers bar or coffee syrup.
Eat things that scrub the fat out of you. Oatmeal. Whole grains. Vegetables.
Stay active. Move around on your job as much as possible. Don’t be a slug behind a desk all day. Every time you get on the phone, stand up (it will give your phone voice more energy too!).
Burn more, eat less.
Stay active. Paint your ceilings. Tend a garden. Mow your own lawn. Help an elderly neighbor’s with theirs. Go to the gym if you have to. Burn calories! Hike on the weekend. Chase your dog. Play frisbee. Stand up!
Sleep longer. It’s related.
No, I don’t have any scientific research for this. Do you really need any? Your creator designed a beautiful thing: you. Obesity is mostly a modern invention and you can reject it if you reject the modern gluttony of stress, entertainment, portions, and food choices.
Enjoy your body. Do some yoga in private. Follow along with the beginner path from a Yoga TV show. Listen to what your body tells you about its weak spots, and improve those spots don’t break them.
Don’t punish yourself with a fitness routine or yoga that injures you. A successful workout is one that allows you to workout again tomorrow. Do something you enjoy.
Laugh. Laugh at anything. It heals you.
Give it a lifetime, and your body will be ready for you and you’ll have a happier retirement.
