Being financially fit is critical if you want to be #LifeReady

Whether you have a little or a lot of money, living within your means gives you security and peace of mind.

For most of us, buying the things we want as soon as we want them brings short-term satisfaction, but living above our means puts a lot of strain on our lives. When you’re buried under debt, you’re carrying a load that relentlessly weighs on you both physically and psychologically.

Financial stability is a cornerstone of any happy life - but that begs the question... are you Life Ready ?

[caption id="attachment_20441" align="alignright" width="330"] The Whole Life Fitness Manifesto : House of 5 F's[/caption]

I compare my life to a house - there's a foundation, 4 walls and a roof. The foundation upon which I've built my L ife House is "Health" - most agree with me that without it, no matter what life I make for myself, there's always the chance that walls could come tumbling down the day my health takes a turn for the worse. The four walls are "Family", "Fitness", "Faith" and "Finances", with an overarching roof of "Fun". ( and yes, I love alliterations )

To lead a life of awesomeness, one must always be tending to their Life House daily.

Creaky boards mended, kitchens upgraded to meet the needs of growing families, squeaky doors oiled, chimneys swept and furnaces cleaned are just a few examples of our constant flow as both the maintenance crew and general contractor of our lives. We tend to the walls' integrity to make sure structurally they are at their best, keeping us safe and well. Our foundation is checked often to make sure our home is stable against the elements and, of course, the roof is checked often for leaks... you see where I'm going with this? 

But one wall in particular seems to be in constant disarray for most people - the  Finances. According to Manulife only " 28% of Canadians feel financially ready ", meanwhile Canadian household debt levels have reached record highs. So why aren't more of us talking about it?

The Problem with Money is that No One is Talking About Money

Finances and Money are typically  not talked about at the dinner table  ( at least in my household growing up ). Due to this unfortunate dinner table omission, we tend to find conversations about money are largely reactionary and highly stressful. We talk about the need for money only when we need to buy things or experiences, and the stress is heightened as we realize that to have the experiences and stuff we will need to leverage a bit of our future to pay for it in the present -- the conversation gravitates to our lack of money and ultimately that we owe so much of it.

We rarely talk about savings or our future lifestyles, and what we think we'll need to lead a life by our own design. The conversation needs to become proactive -- but for this to happen, a willingness to open up and bare one's dollars and cents (to a financial professional) needs to happen - and I agree, it's easier to write about this in concept than to actually do it.

First step, know where you sit financially

A few days ago I took the Manulife #LifeReady Quiz to see where I sit financially speaking. It took all of 2 minutes to complete and gave me back a snapshot of where I'm at right now. Funny thing to note, my wife Christie also did the quiz and her results came back different from my own. Clearly this shines a spotlight on the fact that we need to discuss our views on money more as well as re-visit our plan for our financial fitness.

I then posted a question to some of my Facebook friends, asking if they feel " financially ready for life? ". (I've posted the commentary below)

https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=10156298695180454

What I found most interesting is that many opened up once they took the quiz. I received a few private messages from friends sharing personal struggles or triumphs as it comes to their "financial fitness", however they feel it's come at a cost. One person in particular shared with me that they feel their personal health has declined based on being so financially driven. The tunnel vision focus on only the financial health ultimately detracted her attention and focus from other areas in life, like 'Family, Fitness, Faith and Fun'. No one area outweighs the other in importance, but rather, they need one another to create a solid lifestyle of awesomeness.

How can anyone relax and be happy when one (or more!) of the walls of their house is crumbling?

It’s impossible! Paying attention to your finances, and being realistic about what you really need to spend money on are two ways to be financially fit. Ask yourself how you want to live when you reach retirement. Would you like to travel around the world? Spend the summers golfing in Australia and the winters skiing in the Swiss Alps?

[caption id="attachment_20452" align="aligncenter" width="660"] I'm all about leading a life of YES! But, I also accept that finances are key to get me there.[/caption]

The range of options available to you will vary based on your financial health in your golden years, but the more financially fit you are now, the more golden those years will be. Speaking from personal experience, it wasn’t until I committed to a “forced savings” model that I started amassing funds. I set up a savings account with automatic monthly transfers, and in 12 years, I was amazed at how much I had put aside.

Of course, I believe that consulting with a financial planner is the best way to go, as I’m a big believer in working with industry experts for help in improving the areas of my life where I know I need help. It’s beyond my area of expertise, or the scope of this blog post, to offer anyone financial advice. But, as a personal lifestyle mentor, I do ask my clients how they think of their future. That’s because you want to increase your ability to live a life full of 'YES!' opportunities .

[tweet_box inject="#LifeReady" design="box_12"]"The real measure of your wealth is how much you’d be worth if you lost all your money"[/tweet_box]

So now what?

Take the #LifeReady quiz , join us for Wednesday night's Twitter Chat and get the conversation going... your financial fitness routine will be one small part in building the rock-solid house of awesome that is your life.

[button color="red" size="big" link="http://daim.co/fitfinancially" icon="" target="true"]Take the #LifeReady Quiz[/button]

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This post is sponsored by 360ACCESS on behalf of Manulife Financial. The opinions are my own...

And to be absolutely clear, this is my disclaimer: “Just so you know, I have been compensated to share my ideas on this topic. Sometimes it is in the form of products, or services or even money… But here’s the thing; I won’t  share anything with you that I don’t fully support. It doesn't matter what it is, or how much they are willing to give me, if I don’t believe in it, It won’t be on my site. Seriously. You’ll just have to trust me on this.”   ~ Moose

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