Balancing financial security and physical health isn’t always easy. Over the past 20 years, we’ve seen how the stresses of financial instability can wreak havoc on you and your family’s well-being. We want to ensure your future self is healthy in all respects.
Here are three quick tips on how to manage and avoid financial stress.
Balancing Health and Financial Stress
If you worry about financial health, you’re not alone. Data from the American Psychological Association shows that money ranks number one in causes for stress. Results revealed that, “Regardless of our economic climate, money and finances have remained the top stressor since our survey began in 2007.”*
Financial stress can become toxic and it’s important that you find the right balance to live a healthy life. So how can we cope with financial stress? Finding the right management skills are essential to feeling in control of your life and building a more secure future.
Tip #1: Small Wins Make Big Gains Towards Financial Health
Activating the right investment strategy is a key tool for stress management. Start with where you are and then make manageable goals towards where you want to be. It’s important you know your challenges and what you’re up against. You don’t want to be overwhelmed, so start with what you feel you can take on first.
Tip #2: Find Your Balance
Our Investment Committee has created a philosophy we call the “Three-Legged Stool.” This is a three-prong approach to your investment portfolio that can set you up for retirement success:
- Income to meet monthly necessities: After retirement, income is still an important piece of the puzzle. How are you going to access it? The key here is having a diversified income structure that never requires you to put all your eggs in one basket. You want to ensure your income is reasonable & reliable; or rather that it will last you all the way through retirement, and is predictably consistent. These two qualities are important, but difficult to achieve without informed guidance & account protection.
- Growth to protect income: Over the course of your retirement, it’s likely your expenses will increase. It’s even more predictable that inflation will impact the value of your hard-earned money. Simply put, your money will likely have less buying power in 5 years than it does today; therefore, continuous investing in growth strategies will help keep you from eating into your funds each month at a rate faster than you’re able to replenish them.
- Protection to support growth: There’s more than one layer of protection we recommend when securing a fulfilling retirement. While there’s a long list of predictable barriers we can help you prepare for, a market correction often hits when we least expect it. If this is a new reality for you, you’re not alone. We specialize in curating growth protection strategies that are uniquely fit to our clients’ goals & make sure they’re equipped before the storm hits.
Tip #3: Supporting a Healthy Cash Flow
To maintain a healthy cash flow is to understand the cycles of money. Did you know 54 million people in America pay for a gym membership, yet 67% of them never use it?** A lot of us have the tendency to put out more than what we get back, and that needs monitoring. A part of having a healthy cash flow is to make the most out of your income and being wise about your spending.
Standard Financial Rules:
- Never spend more than what you have coming in.
- Don’t withdraw more than what you need.
Balance is the name of the game. Spend according to the budget you’ve set up. This doesn’t mean it’ll be easy, but remind yourself of your financial goals and where you want to be. Make sure that you have the ability to re-invest in a tax-smart way and create investment strategies that provide protection and growth.
If your income needs change, which often happens unexpectedly in retirement, you’ll need a financial support system to ensure your investment strategy is evolving with you.
The Final Piece to the Puzzle
The lack of money is a common source for stress among most Americans. In order to combat that, you must set up financial stress management tools. If you don’t know how to do this alone, find a supportive, well-informed financial team to help you with your goals.
At Ty J. Young Wealth Management, we’ve done this with over 5,000 clients to make this piece of the retirement puzzle much easier. Are you interested in a holistic investment strategy that provides peace of mind and better financial health?