FINANCIAL WELLNESS

Submitted by: Heather Powers

Submitted: 2/21/24

Financial wellness is a measurement of how well a person manages their financial life. Financial wellness is not only about money and being financially healthy is an important part of your overall wellbeing. There are many elements to your financial resources including the amount of savings, how much you have saved for retirement, your debt-to-income ratio, your ability to earn money and how much of your income you spend. These combined determine your financial health, the condition of which directly affects every area of your overall well-being. The best place to start is to look at these four areas: what you own, what you owe, what you earn and what you spend. From there you can create your goals and a plan to reach them.

Financial health can improve one’s life and prevent hardships. Financial health means you have the ability to reach your goals, take advantage of opportunities and gives you the flexibility to follow your dreams. The main way to achieve financial health is through financial literacy. Being financial literate means you understand the importance of saving to reach short- and long-term goals. It means you understand the difference between good and bad debt and can avoid high interest loans and credit cards. It also means that no matter your age, stage of life or income, you know how to live within your means, stick to a budget, and spend responsibly. Healthy attitudes and confidence around money enable you to learn more complex concepts such as investing.

If you don’t understand how to manage your money, you are at risk of overspending, going into debt and not saving enough for your future. Everyone can relate to financial stress; everyone at some point in their lives has felt financial stress. Debt and/or a lack of savings can cause hardship in a person’s life. And it doesn’t just cause daily stress. Financial issues can lead to divorce, poor health, depression, and bankruptcy.

One important goal should be to increase your financial literacy. There are many ways to accomplish this. The following link https://mascomabank.banzai.org/wellness  is one example of a great place to visit it has many topics and resources to help learn more about financial wellness and managing your money.

The great news is that financial literacy and health can be achieved at any age and will hopefully lead you to a more financially healthy life.

The great news is that financial literacy and health can be achieved at any age and will hopefully lead you to a more financially healthy life.   

Every Wednesday, CommunityCare of Lyme lifts up a wellness topic, embracing the widest possible definition of individual and community well-being. We include local and national resources, individual and group programs and practices, and personal stories, videos, or songs that have something to teach us all. We are always seeking guest contributors! 

If you have a wellness-themed topic you would like to share or learn more about, please reach out to shelby@cclyme.org

Shelby Wood
Manager of Volunteer Participation
CommunityCare of Lyme
Shelby@cclyme.org
802-468-7776 (cell)
603-795-0603 (CCL office and help line)