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| Fueling Your Fire - August 14, 2007 |
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| Three Questions |
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| 1. |
Do you know how much money is in your checking account right now? If not, when is the next time you'll check your balance--in a week? A month? A year? Five years? |
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| 2. |
Would you buy a new car without first researching what you wanted? Figuring out what option would give you the best combination of performance, room, functionality, and still fit your budget? And would you question the sales person if he told you that you might want to buy both the compact car and SUV, "just to cover your bases"? |
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| 3. |
If you were given a million dollars at birth to cover all your expenses in your lifetime, would you just cross your fingers and hope it would last until your final breath? |
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| If I Were a Gambler, I'd bet... |
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Most likely you have at least a rough idea of how much money is in your checking account right now, and you probably won't be waiting until the year 2012 to check it next. |
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You wouldn't show up to buy a car without knowing what you wanted, why you wanted it, and what you could afford. ... and you wouldn't walk off the lot having taken the sales person's suggestion by purchasing both a compact and and SUV (you know, just in case you need the extra room sometime next summer). |
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If you were given a chunk of change to cover all of your lifetime expenses, the strategist and optimizer in you would certainly not ignore the potential power in that million dollars. You would find a way to make that original capital work for you--you'd find the highest return investments, you'd make it a priority to contribute more money to your lifetime "expenses account," and you'd rest assured knowing that you'd been proactive in building that asset. |
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| Why do we treat our health differently than any other asset? |
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| Re-engaging In Your Health |
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Our collective level of disengagement may stem in part from the best of intentioned systems: employer-sponsored health care. Health insurance hasn't always been a part of an "employment compensation package"-- it was born out of a World War II wage-freeze. Employers began looking for "fringe" benefits to attract employees, and health care eventually become a national benefit of employment. While this system originally increased the numbers of people who had access to health care coverage, for many of us it has also functioned in loco parentis, training us to defer to those in the system "who know more than we do," perpetuating an alarming lack of engagement in our own health and health care consumption.
But health care changes are brewing, and with the advent of more economics-based models, such as consumer-driven health plans, we have the opportunity and the impetus to become re-engaged and to begin treating our health as the asset it is. Sure, it can be a little intimidating (it's like learning to play a new sport or navigating a new city--it's challenging, but once you have the basics, you'll love the feeling of empowerment and wonder why you ever thought managing your own health would be hard). |
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| Three Steps to Increasing Health Capital |
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| What do you need to know before you can treat your health like an asset? |
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| 1. |
Know Your "Bank Balance"
Just like not knowing the balance in your checking account, if you don't know your cholesterol, fasting glucose, blood pressure, BMI, weight, and lifestyle/genetic risk factors, you can't know when there has been a change that should concern you. Don't wait until you're overdrawn to find out what your balance is. |
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Get Informed and Ask Questions
Before you visit with a health care professional, know what you want to get out of your appointment. Do your own research and have an idea of what you think will work for you and what won't. Your health care provider is your partner in building/maintaining your health and will most likely appreciate your level of engagement. One thorough and reliable resource for health information on the Web: www.mayoclinic.com. |
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Build Your Capital
Treat your health like the asset it is. Commit to taking daily actions that build this form of capital. The little actions (parking farther from the store entrance) and big actions (ready to quit smoking?) all matter--the power of compounding doesn't just apply to your IRA. |
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| A "Change Your Life" Kind of Story |
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| A "Change Your Life" Kind of Story And if that doesn't get a fire lit under you, read the following story (see the story: "Battling Cancer: A Remarkable Story of Struggle and Survival") of Dr. Joe Quatrochi, one of Kinetic Enterprise's trusted Board of Advisors. It's a story that could change your life. (And for those who are a bit more auditory, there is a 37 minute pod cast of the interview). |
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| Here's to Our Collective Re-engagement! |
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