Are You Financially Healthy? Do You Measure Up? Part Two

Our original article introduced the concept of Financial Health. We referred our readers to the illustration of the medical profession's use of "physical health attributes" to determine a person's current state of health. Financial health also manifests in financial health atributes. The Second Article featured six attributes of financial health mirrored by an individual or couple that is financially healthy, or at least headed in that direction. This Part Two adds six more important attributes of Financial Health. How do you measure up?

span style="font-weight: bold;">Attribute # 7: The Ability to meet emergencies of a financial nature without borrowing funds. Most financial emergencies are of a short term nature. A financially healthy family can pay six months of their outgo from readily available assets.

Attribute # 8: The Ability to self insure where possible, thereby reducing costs for protection. Everyone has risk. Everyone requires some purchased shared risk. We need it for our homes, our autos, our health, and even our toys. Whenever possible, a financially healthy person absorbs first dollar risk, and
thereby lowers their cost for their necessitated shared risk.

Attribute # 9: The Ability to withstand a financial hurricane without the Financial House collapsing. Job displacement, job elimination, or job downsizing should be an expected and anticipated event, rather than an immobilizing event. Any family can experience an automobile accident, a natural disaster, or a major health crisis. A Financially healthy family will be impacted by such events, but not undone by them.

Attribute # 10: The Ability to live a full life including vacations, recreation and family activities. If it is true that life is what is happening to us while we are making other plans, then we need to be careful to live in the moment while mindful of the future. A financially healthy person achieves the balance of experiencing the current opportunities while preparing for the future. We have long believed that every family should take a once in a lifetime trip every four years! Why? Because this life experience is the real thing, not a dress rehearsal for the real thing. Vacations, recreation, and time off are critical to a financially healthy lifestyle. It is not all about the present, and it is certainly not all about the future. It is a balance.

Attribute # 11: The Ability to pass accumulated assets efficiently, wisely and privately to heirs. There is no area of a person's life where it is easier to maximize wise stewardship than preparing for incapacitation or death. Left undone, the family is penalized forever. Being well prepared costs less than a riding lawnmower, and yet will provide wise legacies to protect your family and perpetuate your values for two generations.

Attribute # 12: The Ability to perpetuate those values dear to the family, from generation to generation. Every person develops interests and convictions about what is important in life, and in their community. The financially healthy always take the additional step of actually perpetuating these values for those of future generations. Every person reading this is the beneficiary of the generous gifts of others. These gifts may have been given to libraries, universities and colleges, or even local schools. Your favorite teacher no doubt was the beneficiary of a tuition grant established to perpetuate the value of public or private education. A financially healthy person will have identified and provided for the perpetuation of their values.

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In Summary: Optimum Financial Health is possible! It is possible for every person. It is never achieved by accident, and if obtained, is never maintained by accident. Have you noticed that nearly every attribute of Financial Health is a reflection of a "Character" type of decision first, that manifests as an expression of financial health? The good news, and it is good news for every person, financial health is definable and achieveable.

Next Article: Attributes of Financial Disease. You cannot fix what you do not understand!

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