Our health really is key to life. You can have more money than you can spend, but you won't really enjoy it if your health is bad. Health and finances both require discipline (learning to say "no" sometimes), maintenance, expert advice, and thinking about the long term rather than just doing what feels good today.
This doesn't mean you can never eat a donut!
But there is a connection between health and finances. The relationship may not be apparent when we are young, but as we age, the relationship becomes more pronounced.
One aspect we may not often think of is the connection between energy levels and income potential. Jobs are demanding, mentally and physically. If poor health is a distraction or actually hinders our job performance due to low energy levels, then there could be a link between physical health and how we do on the job.
Insurance premiums can also be lower, depending on your situation. There is a reason for the discounts insurers offer for practicing good health habits.
As we age, some health issues develop or become more pronounced. Good habits can prevent or slow certain health issues, but not always. You can be a marathon runner and eat only vegetables and still develop a terminal disease. But stastically speaking, we are better off with good health. Especially during retirement years there could be marked differences in healthcare costs between those who followed good health habits for decades and those who did not.
This discussion may seem obvious, but we sometimes forget that these two areas of life are connected more than we may think. We should not neglect the one to focus solely on the other.
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