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In the medical community, it’s often said that physicians and other health care providers have the most difficulty with patients who come into their offices having already diagnosed themselves. After reading a new poll from Principal Financial, I now fully understand why.
According to PF’s Well-Being Index, American workers are significantly more likely to rate themselves as physically healthy (53%) than financially healthy (31%).
Now I know average American wealth has taken quite a hit in the last few years http://www.washingtonpost.com/business/economy/fed-americans-wealth-dropped-40-percent/2012/06/11/gJQAlIsCVV_story.html, and folks’ bank accounts aren’t as fat as they used to be. But you know what is fatter than it used to be? Us.
These folks have seen national obesity statistics, right?
In addition to this self-diagnosis gone horribly wrong, there’s a deluded 1% of respondents who say remaining physically healthy is not at all important for avoiding future major health expenditures.
Oh dear.
The survey also shows Americans evaluating the health of their personal finances with much greater rigor than their physical health. Many workers, Principal finds, have given themselves a financial check-up in various ways:
* Monitoring spending levels (48%).
* Creating a budget (28%).
* Re-evaluating their investments (26%).
* Reviewing their insurance policies (18%).
* Creating a financial strategy (17%).
In addition, two-thirds of workers (66%) have an emergency fund they can access in the event of a job loss or other unanticipated major expense, up from 61% in the fourth quarter of 2009.
Imagine how verrrry different those percentages would be if you replaced “monitoring spending levels” with “monitoring calorie intake,” “creating a budget” with “creating a meal plan,” and “creating a financial strategy with “creating an exercise program.”
I rest my case.
But perhaps you disagree. Do you think Americans are right in believing they are healthier physically than financially? Share your thoughts in the comments.
In the medical community, it’s often said that physicians and other health care providers have the most difficulty with patients who come into their offices having already diagnosed themselves. After reading a new poll from Principal Financial, I now fully understand why.
According to PF’s Well-Being Index, American workers are significantly more likely to rate themselves as physically healthy (53%) than financially healthy (31%).
Now I know average wealth has taken quite a hit in the last few years, and Americans’ bank accounts aren’t as fat as they used to be. But you know what are fatter than they used to be? Americans.
These folks have seen national obesity statistics, right?
In addition to this self-diagnosis gone horribly wrong, there’s a deluded 1% of respondents who say remaining physically healthy is not at all important for avoiding future major health expenditures.
Oh dear.
The survey also shows Americans evaluating the health of their personal finances with much greater rigor than their physical health. Many workers, Principal finds, have given themselves a financial check-up in various ways:
* Monitoring spending levels (48%).
* Creating a budget (28%).
* Re-evaluating their investments (26%).
* Reviewing their insurance policies (18%).
* Creating a financial strategy (17%).
In addition, two-thirds of workers (66%) have an emergency fund they can access in the event of a job loss or other unanticipated major expense, up from 61% in the fourth quarter of 2009.
Imagine how verrrry different those percentages would be if you replaced “monitoring spending levels” with “monitoring calorie intake,” “creating a budget” with “creating a meal plan,” and “creating a financial strategy with “creating an exercise program.”
I rest my case.
But perhaps you disagree. Do you think Americans are right in believing they are healthier physically than financially? Share your thoughts in the comments.
