Page 78 - Book5E
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Protect Your Health
keep in mind is that the body you have today is the same body you’ll have when you retire. Even if medical and health care costs aren’t a concern for you now, they will be your responsibility eventually, and it’s far better to stay healthy than it is to try to get healthy when there’s no more employer-paid health care to cover your medical costs.
Paying a Premium Price
Premiums paid for health care insurance, as well as life, disability, and catastrophic illness insurance, normally take into account your medical history. An even bigger concern if your health history is sufficiently poor, you may be denied coverage at any price, thereby setting the stage for you to potentially lose everything you have if your health fails or you’re injured in an accident. And even auto insurance premiums, which take into account your driving record, including speeding tickets, accidents, and DUIs, are ultimately influenced by health-related issues such as your stress level, mental health, eyesight, physical and mental agility, and use of drugs and alcohol.
Vice Squad
Smoking can be considered the perfect storm of financial mismanage- ment. Not only do you have the cost of the cigarettes themselves, but you have significantly increased insurance and health care costs if you smoke, not to mention a documented increase in lost wages among smokers due to smoker-related illnesses. Where else can you get that kind of a triple-negative rate of return on an investment?
Do It Yourself
There’s also a direct correlation between physical health/fitness and the amount spent paying others to do things for you. As