Matt's Money: There’s more to planning than just money

People come to me about their money. They want to know the best ways to save, invest, plan, and accumulate enough assets to be able to retire.

What I’ve learned over the past 38 years of being a financial advisor is what good is money if you can’t enjoy it because you aren’t healthy?

If you’re paying more attention to your money than what you eat or your exercise program or your overall health, you’re making a big mistake.

Try spending as much time planning for good health as you do for your money. Start with these:

Get informed

Stay up-to-date on healthcare news, particularly with regard to issues that have affected you or those related to you. Ask your doctor to help you identify areas of particular concern.

What Are You Eating?

While exercise is important, 80 percent of our health is based on what we eat. Only 20 percent is based our exercise regimen.

Forget all the “diets” – Keto, Paleo, vegan, low-carb – they are short-term fixes to a long-term need.

Eating healthy boils down limiting fats, limiting sugars, and making whole grains, fruits, and vegetables approximately 75 percent of your caloric intake.

In other words, if you take in 2,500 calories per day, 1,875 of those calories should come from whole grains, fruits, and vegetables.

I’m not saying you can’t eat meat -- it’s all about portion and allocation per day.

Exercise

This needs no explanation. Let’s go, get moving! Do something.

Relax

This is my biggest downfall. We’ve all heard how stress is detrimental to your health.

Maintain healthy friendships.

Eliminate unhealthy relationships.

Research shows staying socially active with healthy, non-toxic relationships can alleviate stress and reduce the risk of depression.

Learn your numbers

Know your blood pressure, cholesterol, and body mass index (BMI).

Your blood sugar level indicates your risk for diabetes. Your doctor can perform simple tests to help you identify these numbers and recognize any vulnerability you may have.

Go to the Doctor

Preventing a disease or illness can be much less expensive (and painful) than treating one.

We all know people that could have avoided an ailment by simply going to the doctor. Annual physicals are an absolute minimum.

Make sure you do those preventative procedures – colonoscopies, breast exams, prostate exams – that may be inconvenient (and uncomfortable), but they may save your life.

Again, what good is having money if you can’t enjoy it because of poor health? Start now.

Securities offered through Royal Alliance Associates, Inc. Member FINRA, SIPC. Advisory services offered through Matt Montgomery, a Registered Investment Advisor not affiliated with Royal Alliance Associates, Inc., 1504 East Rusk, Jacksonville, Texas, 903-586-3494, * An Index is a portfolio of specific securities (common examples are S&P, DJIA, NASDAQ), the performance of which is used as a benchmark in judging the relative performance of certain asset classes. Indexes are unmanaged portfolios and investors cannot invest directly in an index. Past performance is not indicative of future results.