Your healthspan may be the most important asset in your financial plan, yet it's often the one we invest in the least.
It’s completely natural to obsess over the numbers on our investment statements. We track the growth, review our asset allocation and carefully project how long our capital will last. This is good practice and solid foundational planning, but it’s not the whole story.
What if, in all our careful calculations, we’re overlooking the most critical asset of all?
Carrying on from our recent Insights pieces, based on John Coleman’s 'Good Money', we’re reminded that financial stability is just a foundation. The goal is human flourishing, the focus of the Human Flourishing Program at Harvard University.
The second domain of this flourishing framework is mental and physical health. It serves as a gentle reminder that a well-funded retirement account is only as valuable as our physical capacity to enjoy it.
Thanks to modern medicine, our generation is living longer than ever before.
From a financial planning perspective, this means our money needs to stretch further. But there’s often a blind spot in how we think about these extra decades. We tend to focus entirely on our 'lifespan' (how long we’ll live), while completely neglecting our 'healthspan'.
Healthspan refers to the number of years we remain active, independent and free from chronic diseases.
We often spend our peak earning years sacrificing our physical well-being to build our wealth. We tell ourselves that we’ll finally focus on our health, get outdoors and reduce our stress levels when we eventually retire.
But our bodies don't wait for our bank accounts.
Physical capital doesn’t automatically compound over time – it naturally depreciates. If we wait until retirement to start investing in our vitality (physical and mental), we might find that the damage is already done.
It’s incredibly helpful to reframe how we view our daily habits.
Stretching for a few minutes, drinking fewer stimulants and eating a nutritious diet aren’t just lifestyle choices. They’re literal, daily deposits into our physical capital. Just like the money in our portfolios, these small deposits compound powerfully over decades.
They build a robust physiological foundation that delays illness and preserves our mobility.
From a purely economic standpoint, investing in our healthspan is one of the most effective wealth-protection strategies we can implement. In our later years, chronic healthcare can easily become our single largest expense.
By staying active and healthy today, we help protect our future capital from being entirely consumed by medical costs tomorrow.
More importantly, true wealth is having the freedom to live with purpose alongside the people we love. By treating our physical and mental well-being with the same care as our investments, we ensure we have the vitality to live the life we’re saving for.
Have you read 'Why good health is a financial strategy' yet?