MONDAY, Oct. 2, 2023 (HealthDay News) — Planning for your long-term financial future not only makes financial sense — it could also save your life.

People in the United States and the United Kingdom have a higher risk of premature death if they do not do long-term financial planning, according to a report published online September 27 in PLOS One. In fact, researchers found that the shorter a person’s financial planning horizon, the greater their risk of mortality. “The people who live the longest are those who see the future,” said lead researcher Joe Gladstone, assistant professor of marketing at the University of Colorado Boulder, at a question-and-answer session at the university. “It’s scary how many people live week to month, paycheck to paycheck,” Gladstone added. “Most people have less than a month’s financial insight.” The study also revealed that long-term financial planning is more important for the health of those with fewer resources. Improvements in financial planning were significantly associated with better health among households with less than one month’s income. The results show that planning provides health benefits to the economically disadvantaged compared to the advantaged, because those with greater wealth and income have a financial cushion against income or expenditure shocks, thereby protecting them from adverse experiences .financial difficulties,” the authors explain in their article. “These results are consistent with the idea that forward planning is an important resource for those with few financial problems, perhaps because they lack a cushion to weather shocks,” the researchers conclude. For this study, the researchers accessed two large data sets, one in the United States and one in the United Kingdom. The US data followed nearly 11,500 people over a 22-year period from 1992 to 2014, while the UK data covered about 11,300 people over a decade from 2002 to 2012. They had about a 20% higher risk of premature death than those with long-term financial planning. long. The results were even more surprising in the UK, where short-term financial planning was associated with an almost 50% higher relative risk of premature death compared with long-term planning. “I think this really shows the importance of what we say: your health is your wealth and your wealth is your health,” said Genevieve Waterman, director of economic and financial security for the National Council on Aging. Stress caused by financial uncertainty is likely a the main cause behind this increased risk of premature death, said David John, senior policy advisor at the AARP Public Policy Institute. that stress is bad for your health and stress can kill, and having a long-term financial plan is one way for people to reduce that stress,” said John. “When you ask people what the biggest stressors in life are, and AARP researched some of them, the one that always comes up is having enough money for retirement or having enough money to pay my bills,” John added. “It makes sense that having long-term financial planning as part of your life will reduce risk.” Researchers also postulate that people who have long-term plans are also able to get preventative care that can help avoid health problems. John notes that this is an observational study that cannot rule out other factors that may influence the relationship between health and financial planning. For example, people who actively plan their finances may also live healthier lifestyles, John says. “Let’s say A is the same as B, A is long-term financial planning and B is reducing the risk of death,” said John. “What you can say is that if you have a set of mental or physical characteristics that naturally lead you to do long-term financial planning, there will likely be a reduced risk of death at that point.” Unfortunately, the low- and middle-income communities who would benefit most from financial planning are the groups least likely to be able to access it, Waterman said. “I would like to see more opportunities to provide universal access to financial planning and wealth management in general. “, and also provide universal financial literacy to understand the basics of finance,” he said. John recommends that people trying to reduce their financial stress start by writing down their purchases and expenses for several months, from large bills to daily burnouts. .at the coffee shop. “Once you do that, it gives you an idea of ​​what the money you’re spending is really about and whether it’s actually meeting your wants or needs,” he says. “In my case, for example, I was a little surprised that I was spending so much money on little things throughout the day that I didn’t really need.” People should also include health care in their financial planning, Waterman said. “ What I see “It’s just that seniors tend to have more money for deductibles, co-pays, and prescriptions, and those funds aren’t really included in their overall budget,” he said. on financial planning for seniors SOURCES: Genevieve Waterman, DSW, director, economic and financial security, National Council on Aging, Arlington, Va.; David John, MBA, senior policy advisor, AARP Public Policy Institute; PLOS One, September 27, 2023, online.