The Costco Connection

spending, and not just in the last year of life.

Bottom line: Wealth without health is not going to last; your physical problems will wreak havoc on your bank account. Health without wealth? Maybe while you’re young. But as you age, you need more in the way of resources to keep you in the pink.

Working together, we—a personal finance expert and an M.D. specializing in wellness and aging—have found several areas where the two intersect. With just a little time, effort and energy, you can use the information to live longer, without running out of money or breaking a hip. Here are a few recommendations.

Assess. It’s impossible to get where you’re going if you don’t know where you are to begin with. For

Balance FOR life
Where health and wealth merge

example, when it comes to your health you need to regularly measure your blood pressure, your fitness (can you do the appropriate number of situps and pushups for your age, for instance) and your waist (it should consistently measure less than half your height in inches).

Financially, you should take an annual tally of what you earn, what you own and what you owe. The first two numbers should be heading up consistently; the third ( particularly when it comes to credit card debt) should be heading down.

Slash stress. Stress—the intersection point between the central nervous system and emotional faculties—is the biggest cause of aging more rapidly. And the biggest source of stress is money. Unlike short-term stresses, you can’t deep-breathe financial or health-related issues away. Whether you’ve got too much credit card debt or your low-density lipoprotein cholesterol is too high, you need to make a plan to tackle the underlying problem, then work on it one step at a time.

Build strong teams. Many of us were raised not to share details of our health or our financial lives. But that doesn’t mean you should go it alone. Having the proper team around you (including a doctor and a helpful pharmacist, a financial adviser when you need one, accountability buddies for health and finance—see the sidebar—and other professionals) is key to helping you achieve optimum levels of health and wealth.

You can be AgeProof no matter where you are now; you can make up for lost time in your money and health choices. So start today. That first step is the toughest. Once you begin, it becomes easier. C

BY JEAN CHATZKY AND DR. MICHAEL F. ROIZEN

COSTCO MEMBERS Dr. Michael F. Roizen and Today show financial expert Jean Chatzky have identified a vital connection between healthy bodies and financial strength, resulting in AgeProof: Living Longer Without Running Out of Money or Breaking a Hip (Grand Central Life & Style, ;;;;; not available at Costco). Here are a few of their tips.—T. Foster Jones

The good news: You’re probably going to live a lot longer than you ever expected. In the past three decades, life expectancy for U.S. men has jumped from age ;; to ;; and for U.S. women from ;; to ;;. And the longer you live, the longer you’re going to live. Today, the average ;;-year-old man or woman will live to age ;;. And half of those ;;-year-olds will surpass even that.

The bad news: You’re probably not prepared for that to happen. Most people haven’t saved nearly enough to maintain their current standard of living in retirement. And without enough money, staying healthy is also a challenge.

It’s not just a matter of spending more each year on co-pays, premiums and prescriptions. Living longer also means spending more to care for the chronic diseases that account for ;; percent of all health care

SPECIAL SECTION FOR YOUR HEALTH

© TOM SAGA /
SHUTTERSTOCK
A
RI
MI
C
H
AEL
S
ON
CO
UR
TES Y
DR
.
MICH
AEL
F.
ROIZ
EN
HERE ARE three habits you should start now
to get on a healthier path.

AUTOMATE

You can make better decisions by taking the human element out of the loop.

Your savings: Set up electronic transfers into emergency savings accounts, retirement accounts or both every time you get paid.

Your breakfast and lunch choices:

Pick two or three healthful things that you know you like to eat, keep them on hand and reach for one of those lunch choices every day.

SUBSTITUTE

It’s tough to break a bad habit but easier to swap in a better one. And your brain wants you to.

A better spending choice: Instead of that $5 morning concoction, make coffee at home and pocket an extra $1,300 a year, or swap it for a $2 cuppa joe and save $700.

A better health habit: Instead of following dinner with a bowl of ice cream or a handful of cookies, opt for a bowl of berries or a couple of clementines. COLLABORATE