Financial Wellness Through Weight Loss

Financial wellness is a lot like weight loss. How exactly does weight loss mesh with financial wellness? Here are some weight loss tips retrieved from the article that apply to financial wellness:

1. There really, truly is no one best diet — Scientific studies have found that all of the various diet plans have about the same modest long term results. What matters is finding one you can actually stick to. The same is true of money management systems and asset allocation strategies.
2. People who lose weight are good at tracking what they eat and how much they weigh — They tend to count calories and weigh themselves at least once a week. In the same way, you need to track or otherwise limit spending, continually re-balance your investments, and periodically run a retirement calculator to make sure you’re still on track.
3. People who lose weight identify their barriers and motivations — Like with diet and exercise, we usually know what to do with our finances. The hard part is actually doing it. Start with knowing the “why” that motivates you. Then look for the barriers that are standing in your way of taking action.
4. Diets often fail because of unreasonable expectations — People tend to overestimate what they can achieve in the short run and underestimate what they can achieve in the long run. Don’t try to save too much too fast. Instead, set big long term financial goals that motivate you and then see how much you need to save to achieve them.
5. Forget about “the last 10 pounds” — If they’re that hard to lose, people generally gain them back. Most of the health benefits came from the other lost pounds anyway. Likewise, trying too hard to save more can backfire if it starts to feel like too much deprivation. Allow yourself to splurge now and then too.

The bottom line is that weight loss and financial wellness are both about making small changes over a long period of time. Instead of looking for the quick fix, find an approach that you can stick with and make the change.

This post was derived from the Financial Finesse Blog, (http://www.financialfinesse.com/2016/04/28/how-financial-wellness-is-like-weight-loss/) click here to read the original, full, post to learn about other weight loss tips that can improve your financial wellness.