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Americans’ poor diets result in $50 billion in additional health care costs each year. According to the World Health Organization, “[t]he economic burden of physical inactivity is significant and the cost of treating new cases of preventable non-communicable diseases (NCDs) will reach nearly US$ 300 billion by 2030, around US$ 27 billion annually.” Habits like smoking can compound poor diets and exercise habits: Cigarette smoking cost the United States more than $600 billion in 2018, including upwards of $240 billion in healthcare costs. The cost of excessive alcohol use in the United States comes in at nearly $250 billion annually, and insufficient sleep costs the country more than $400 billion annually.
We just found well over $1 trillion lost due to poor health. Some of this loss stems from the inequities that exist in health care quality while other health costs are completely preventable.
A few years ago, we experienced the death of a family member with some preexisting conditions. While it seemed that he passed shockingly early, there were signs in hindsight. One was a $15k dental bill, a bill that caused both financial and health stress. Another was a doctor’s note lamenting that some patients choose not to adjust diet or exercise despite diagnoses and thus are “willing to live with” various treatable conditions, a fact that was generally the case in this situation. He probably thought he could wait a little longer before implementing big lifestyle changes, but his heart had other ideas.
Do Not Delay Healthy
Particularly if you are young, athletic, or generally healthy in most categories, it is easy to put off prioritizing overall health. I see this even more among folks who ambitiously plan to retire early: If you are retiring at 35, it is easy to say that you will exercise once you do not have to go to work anymore.
But the problem is you will not. If you do not exercise when you work, you will not exercise in retirement. If you smoke to cope with work, you will probably keep smoking when you retire. If you are drinking excessively to survive a certain stage of life, you are unlikely to suddenly stop when that stage of life ends: You will find a new reason. So do not put off healthy choices!
By suggesting you do not put off making important changes for your personal health, I do not mean overhauling your lifestyle. Big lifestyle overhauls tend to not stick, but incremental changes do. Creating habits involves making tiny changes that compound, both in positive and negative ways. If you let yourself put off some health priorities, that behavior will only compound over time. Conversely, if you start going on a morning walk, that morning walk may turn into a morning run, eventually inspire a healthy breakfast and sleep routine, and more. (If you want to get started on the tiny habits that result in big changes over time, read Atomic Habits by James Clear to learn how to make those first steps easier.) Incremental changes feel slow, but when you look back at a decade of incremental changes, you will be positively amazed at how far your health can come through good habits.
Why Health Matters, Individually
Most health issues are more prevalent in low-income households, which is both an unfortunate critique about the effects of economic inequities and a reminder to not forget to prioritize your health as you improve your wealth. Particularly if you were born with less socioeconomic advantages than you have now, adjusting to having enough time and money to make your health a priority rather than just working to survive can take a real mindset shift and will not happen overnight.
But among those with enough wealth to reasonably prioritize health, those with poor health habits spend more money on preventable health-related issues than those who practice healthy lifestyles. Even worse than money, many pay for poor health habits with years of their lives. For those with enough wealth to focus on health, these decisions often come down to time: Not enough time to sleep or attend regular checkups for preventative care that is proven to prevent so many terrible health issues. Given that many of us on journeys to create wealth are looking to buy back more free time or even entire years of life in early retirement, it seems counterintuitive to then waste years of life by meeting an early demise or experiencing diminished capacity due to poor health habits.
More Healthy Habits are Better
Particularly among folks practicing some health habits, it can become easy to think we are doing enough to offset our poorer habits. As a rugby player, I know a lot of terrific athletes who are sleep deprived, practicing poorer-than-ideal nutrition, or taped together rather than addressing medical issues. They are also typically in better-than-average health, but it is not necessarily optimal. These deficiencies also become clearer when someone becomes injured and has a longer recovery timeline than someone with longstanding positive health habits. That longer recovery time can often come with more medical bills, making the habits poor for both the wallet and the body.
Your health habits will never be perfect. We are all a work in progress in every aspect of life. But if you are in a position to read articles about maximizing contributions to your 401(k), you are in a position to prioritize your health habits. Your great diet does not mean you should forgo sleep. Your sleep schedule does not mean you can forget about exercise. But also do not expect to overhaul your habits instantly. Pinpoint where your health habits could use some work, and improve your health habits by 1% today.
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