Your health is your wealth.
We all know this famed expression, but have you ever stopped to think about what it really means to you? Protecting your health as well as your wealth?
When you have a healthy body and especially a healthy mind, you can make better decisions for yourself and for your finances.
Managing Mental and Financial Stress
In this post-pandemic world, many people struggle with managing their financial stress due to the fear of losing their jobs, pay cuts and utility prices continually rising. What they don’t realize is that the more they experience this stress and leave it unchecked, the more long-lasting damage it can do to their minds and bodies.
Have you ever stopped to consider that a person’s level of tolerance for financial risk can differ significantly to their tolerance for emotional risk? Someone who is spontaneous and wears their heart on their sleeve in their personal life, may be a cautious spender who believes in saving for a rainy day, and vice versa. Emotional stress and self-care have become topics we’re all familiar with, but what about financial stress? One thing’s for sure, it certainly goes beyond being a bit short of cash. For some people, especially those who are risk averse or prone to anxiety, there is a lingering fear that a new variant of the virus will arise, one that’s resistant to vaccines, or maybe it will be something entirely different, a new health crisis altogether. Think about how exhausting it is to have this sense of impending doom in the back of your mind, no matter what you’re doing.
So, if you’re struggling with this way of thinking, you might be wondering “What can I do?”. The first step is realizing that your mindset doesn’t serve you and it’s only holding you back from your true potential. Think about it this way: how much time and energy you put into stressing about the possibility of losing your workplace or the possibility of having an injury or illness that you can’t afford right now is time and energy wasted on hypotheticals, when you could invest that same time and energy into learning new ways to improve your financial situation.
When we talk about financial stress, we’re referring to this ever-present anxiety surrounding your financial situation. We want to give you some practical tips for dealing with it, now and in future, and stopping financial stress from taking hold of your life as soon as possible. We want you to be mentally, physically and fiscally prepared for what lies ahead. In our eyes, financial planning should be as routine as career planning. We’ve outlined the following steps for you to get started:
- Spend thoughtfully by evaluating your wants vs needs, in crisis mode these non-essential wants are the first expenses you can cut back on, freeing up excess income
- Work out what your goals are and make a plan to reach them, if disaster should strike, these plans can be temporarily put on hold, and money usually allocated for these plans can be redistributed to dealing with the unexpected
- Set up an emergency fund, ideally 3–6 months worth of salary, in case of unexpected job loss, serious illness or injury
- Don’t forget to breathe, meditating or taking your body to a resting state before you act will allow you to make authentic decisions in line with your true intentions and long term plans
A combination of forward planning and discipline, having these plans in place will massively reduce your anxiety and financial stress. Having a clear plan and a clear mind will both counteract these what if scenarios and prevent you from making rushed decisions.
Look into how you can make a passive income
Most people who are well off did not achieve that from their 9-to-5 jobs. Yes, you can have a big salary to cover your costs of living, but being truly financially independent means having not only your current needs, but your future needs and wants met as well. In order to achieve this, try to decide which type of investments work for you. They can be small at first, only what you can afford.
That’s why a good strategy is to save a part of your money for needs and another part for investments. Don’t sit on all of your savings because, guess what? They won’t multiply by themselves. However, if you store your savings into the right investment, that’s exactly what they will do: keep growing without any effort on your part.. With all that freedom of creating a passive income, your worries will be put at ease and what will be left will be your true self, unhindered by your anxiety for the future.
So read more about how you can create a passive income on our IXFI blog on Medium. Don’t let stress get the best of you and learn how you can smartvest in order to achieve the financial future you have always dreamed of.
Disclaimer: The content of this article is not investment advice and does not constitute an offer or solicitation to offer or recommendation of any investment product. It is for general purposes only and does not take into account your individual needs, investment objectives and specific financial and fiscal circumstances.
Although the material contained in this article was prepared based on information from public and private sources that IXFI believes to be reliable, no representation, warranty or undertaking, stated or implied, is given as to the accuracy of the information contained herein, and IXFI expressly disclaims any liability for the accuracy and completeness of the information contained in this article.
Investment involves risk; any ideas or strategies discussed herein should therefore not be undertaken by any individual without prior consultation with a financial professional for the purpose of assessing whether the ideas or strategies that are discussed are suitable to you based on your own personal financial and fiscal objectives, needs and risk tolerance. IXFI expressly disclaims any liability or loss incurred by any person who acts on the information, ideas or strategies discussed herein.
