The two: wellness and wellbeing go hand in hand. If your wellness, i.e. your budget, spending habits, and financial goals are clear, you’ll have greater financial wellbeing and less stress.
This all plays into our physical health as well, says Sorted.org.nz personal finance lead Tom Hartmann. “There are actually a lot of connections between [finances] and our physical health.” Stress often leads to illness and a shortened lifespan in many cases.
It doesn’t help that many New Zealanders are drowning in debt currently. Financial mentors at budgeting services report that requests for help have jumped 40 per cent in the past year.
When people are struggling, they make bad decisions, Shirley McCombe of the Tauranga Budget Advisory Service says. “They don’t make bad decisions because they are not smart, or not educated. They are in that space of being completely consumed,” she said at the Te Ara Ahunga Ora Retirement Commission conference.
Most people know intuitively if they’re financially well or not. It doesn’t mean wealthy. Just managing their money well and feeling in control.
We can take our pulse and take our temperature to check our physical wellness. Financial wellness and wellbeing can also be measured. The ASB has a handy tool on its website here, and there are many more such tools on the Internet. They can give a real insight into just how financially healthy we actually are.
There are a lot of emotions around money. For example, people who suffer from what Hartmann calls the Ostrich Effect aren’t going to enjoy the full extent of financial wellness and wellbeing. “It’s people who don’t want to look at their credit card balance, or their savings balance, and they do this to avoid negative information.
“People pay less attention to their finances when they go into overdraft, or when they borrow money. They end up not checking bank accounts, statements, and avoiding things like debt collection calls, or calls with the power company, etcetera. When we’re ignoring it, and things are not going well, unfortunately, this affects our physical health.”
It’s clear from Sorted surveys that many Kiwis struggle with their financial health. “From our surveys, for example, we can see that 23 per cent of people are reporting that they lose sleep because of concerns about money and personal finances,” said Hartmann. “They start to make unhealthy eating choices, too, which is 24 per cent. Then 13 per cent end up skipping exercise, which they might have done.”
Of the people interviewed by Sorted 7 per cent sought help with stress related to financial situations. That help can be counselling or psychotherapy if financial health is being affected by emotions and wider problems. It could be through an enlightened workplace Or they may go down the financial mentoring route by contacting the free MoneyTalks.org.nz helpline as a first port of call.
Finding a community of like-minded people who want to learn and improve their financial situation can help, says Hartmann. That could be on social media, or through community organisations such as the Salvation Army, Christians Against Poverty or micro lenders. “Working with others who are trying to get their relationship with money into a better place can help because there’s a collective focus on it,” says Hartmann. “People can support each other as they find solutions.”
Finally, if you don’t know where to start, writing the problem down helps. Follow that up with To Do lists and ticking off one item at a time. It’s possible to download financial worksheets, which can be of great help. The Ministry of Social Development has a financial plan of action booklet here.
Lisa Dudson’s book Good with Money has some useful worksheets and checklists.
