Invest in your health for 2008!

My investment strategy for 2008 is to invest in health.

Health is truly wealth!
Your health is arguably one of the most important assets that you have before you reach financial freedom. You need to work at your business, employment and even investments for your retirement funds to grow and grow through savings and investment income ploughed back into this nest egg. To work, you need to be healthy enough to do so. Even if you have achieved financial freedom without needing to work or run a business, you still need health to enjoy the time that you now have without needed to be somewhere doing something 9 to 5 or 24 by 7.

Without health, you have nothing! It's that simple.

I realise that all my investment returns become meaningless if I am not able to enjoy its fruits. You read of reports of SAF NSmen or even regulars collapsing after exercise in their 40s and some in their 20s. What is money and income if you are dead?

Investing in health promotes financial freedom
One of the benefits of investing in your health is that it contributes to you achieving your goals towards financial freedom as well. With good health, you see the doctor less and have to spend less on medical bills. Exercising is a low cost type of exercise given the many public parks and sports facilities available throughout Singapore.

Non-smokers pay less for their insurance premiums for life as well as medical insurance. When you are fit and healthy, you have more energy, more zest for life and tend to have a positive mindset and are able to focus on tasks better.

How to invest in health

1) Exercise regularly
Build exercise into your weekly routine. Go jog, swim, bike, brisk walk, play tennis, soccer, basketball etc. You get the picture. Get active and do it regularly three times a week or more for 30 mins or more. Exercise can be fun and can be a good hobby as you can enjoy exercise and its benefits while saving money and building up your health!

2) Eat moderately
Build fibre into your diet. Eat 2 servings of fruits and 2 servings of vegetables daily. Eat at least 3 meals a day and try not to skip meals. Avoid supper and meals after 9pm. Incidentally, from a budget perspective, vegetables and tofu cost less than meat and seafood. So eat a balance diet and choose more vegetables and less meat (and more vegetable protein - tofu, legumes) if you can.

3) Manage stress
Build stress management into your life. The closer I move towards my goal of financial freedom, the less stress I feel from work because my net worth grows with each month and year. When you have no debt and am on your way to building your retirement nest egg outside of the CPF, you feel more in control of your financial destiny and this sense of accomplishment also makes you feel that you have more control over your life - a key part of managing your stress from work and dependency on paycheck and bosses moods.

All our efforts in our journey towards financial freedom will come to naught if we neglect our health. You want to be able to enjoy breaking out of the rat-race and the time-money trade-off trap. Once you have reached your goal of financial freedom in good health, you can enjoy that accomplishment even more with longevity and a superb quality of life.

Be WELL and prosper!