Rupa Pereira
When was the last time you got your 10,000 steps in? On a recent trip to my birth-city Mumbai in November 2024, I was starkly reminded by the simple truth that staying fit and healthy allows for an enjoyable travel experience. Since my parents in Mumbai don’t own a vehicle, I decided to get around using public transport and resorted to using buses, trains, the metro and an occasional 3-wheeler, a lifestyle that was part of my growing years three decades ago. I had to ditch the comfort and convenience of having a vehicle at my disposal akin to my current US lifestyle. Surprisingly, when I got back to sedentary living in the US, I actually missed the hustle bustle, getting my steps in, climbing up/down a bridge and embarking/disembarking from a bus/train. I discovered how it made me feel years younger, lighter and agile and shall I say, more alive? As the adage goes, “Health is Wealth.â€
Enough has been written about new year resolutions to exercise more, eat healthy and also make smart financial moves. But what if smart financial moves are correlated with health goals?
Poetically speaking, health is wealth, and it is the kind of wealth that doesn’t sparkle in bank vaults or parade itself on stock tickers. It is quiet and unassuming, like the first drizzle of a monsoon, soaking the earth and coaxing green shoots into reluctant life. It isn’t flashy, but it has the power to alter the landscape of everything—your body, your mind, your spirit.
It’s something I discovered on my train journey aboard Vande Bharat from Mangalore, Karnataka to coastal Kerala. Picture lush green fields, swaying coconut palm trees, sheltering mangroves, and gliding houseboats. Close your eyes and visualize the Kerala backwaters, where water whispers secrets to the breeze and time lingers, unrushed, serene, where fisherman cast their nets and bide their time in anticipation of a huge bounty. Those fisherman – hale, hearty and healthy enough to be toiling in the seas – rough or calm. That’s true happiness. True wealth.
Contrast that to the world we live in, which demands speed, worships excess, and measures worth in increments of currency. But all the while we’re chasing these moving goalposts, our bodies fight back, in the language of pain, fatigue, or disease. Health isn’t a commodity; it’s an ecosystem and precious. Wealth in its truest sense doesn’t lie in what you accumulate, but in what you have the freedom to be. Healthy.
It is the quiet foundation on which everything else rests. Without it, no house of ambition can stand, no dream can unfold its wings. It is the river that carries the boat, the air that fuels the fire.
As Mark Twain would say, “Money can buy you a golden bed, but it won’t buy you sweet sleep. It can get you the finest foods, but it won’t repair a busted stomach. And if you lose your health in pursuit of fortune, you’ll spend every last dime trying to buy back the one treasure you let slip through your fingers. If wealth is the steamboat, then health is the river. Without it, you’re stuck in the mud, no matter how fine your vessel may be.â€
In our prosaic, mundane existence, here are a few reasons to steer you towards the health river:
1. Enjoy career longevity: Good health enables individuals to work longer, especially in sectors where retirement is optional, thus allowing for higher net-worth over one’s lifespan.
2. Pursue entrepreneurial hustles: Health provides the energy and ability to pursue wealth-generating opportunities (businesses, investments, or side projects).
3. Avoid foolish financial moves: Stress and fatigue lead to impulsive purchases or poor investment choices, losing $10,000 in avoidable debt, whereas regular exercise and mindfulness improve focus and decision-making, saving the $10,000 and compounding it through smart investments.
4. Pay lower premiums: Healthier folks pay less for life, health, and disability insurance leaving more money for savings or investments.
5. Incur lower aging costs: Long term care costs are spiraling out of control in the US and insurance doesn’t cover it 100%. Healthy aging reduces the risk of requiring long-term care and assisted living.
Realistically, what can be done to accumulate healthy “Wealth?†I’m sharing a few tips that you may be already familiar with but worth repeating:
• Schedule annual wellness checkups – medical, dental, vision. An ounce of prevention costs much less than a pound of cure. Unhealthy habits or chronic illnesses can financially burden families with caregiving or medical costs.
• Make healthy choices, stay hydrated and avoid harmful habits – excessive screen time, insufficient sleep or not taking time to rest – that can be productivity drainers over time.
• Engage in physical activity that incorporates stretching, mobility and strength.
• Do not ignore mental and emotional well-being as they’re equally important alongside physical health in wealth creation, preservation and financial success.
Financially speaking, good health supports financial wealth by reducing expenses, increasing earning potential, and ensuring a longer, more productive life. Whether it’s preventing chronic illnesses, saving on insurance, or maintaining the stamina to seize financial opportunities, the return on investing in health proves that health truly is wealth.
Rupa Pereira is a CFP, EA, CSLP and an Advice-Only planner and tax professional specializing in cross-border planning and education planning. Contact: [email protected].
