The term “financial wellness” has increased in popularity over the past five years. But what exactly does it mean and how can it help us with our money?
For many financial experts, it’s synonymous with having a healthier relationship with our personal finances.
“People are talking about wellness and self-care in ways they haven’t before, and that has expanded into the finance space,” says Audrey Emerson, a certified financial planner and founder of Cents of Joy, a planning firm in Bellingham, Washington.
That’s a good thing, she says, because it opens up conversations that include the emotional aspects of money, which can play a big role in how we handle our finances.
“You can’t change your relationship with money if we don’t talk about how you feel about it,” Emerson says.
And it really can affect our health. “If a person is financially stressed, it can affect them physically,” says Shar-Né Warren, a CFP and founder of Financial Excavation, a firm in the Dallas area.
“On the other side, if someone is feeling financially confident, they feel empowered, peaceful, and joyful in other areas of their life,” she adds.
Here are some strategies for boosting your own financial wellness levels:
Monitor and adjust cash flow
The first rule of financial wellness is awareness.
Understand where your money is going and how your spending aligns with your current priorities, says Josh Radman, a CFP based in Denver and founder of Presidio Advisors.
“Many of my clients have cash-flow related stress,” he says, partly because they are juggling significant child care costs on top of a mortgage. To help, he sometimes encourages them to temporarily stop contributing to retirement accounts in order to get through that high-cost season of life.
Prioritizing these kinds of costs at the moment can create guilt and worry about the future, Radman says.
But, giving them “permission” to pause longer-term savings — because it’s what’s right for now — alleviates that psychological burden. And he helps them create a plan for returning to longer-term savings when they are ready.
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Spend with intention
Reflecting on what spending brings you joy and what doesn’t can also bring financial wellness, Warren says. “It’s about knowing money is going in a direction you value,” she says.
When she was in her mid-twenties, she realized she was spending a lot on restaurant meals that weren’t that meaningful to her. “What upset me was that I ate at places that weren’t memorable,” she says, but the cost was high.
Once she realized, she cut back and saved splurging for more memorable culinary experiences, and longer-term financial goals like living abroad.
Mindfulness can also help, says Matt Sheers, a CFP and certified health and wellness coach and founder of Sheer Empowerment Financial in Plymouth, New Hampshire.
Using meditation or other techniques that put you in the present moment (without judgment), can make it easier to stay aware of spending habits and ensure they reflect our priorities, he says.
“It can give you a little more presence of mind to pause and possibly make a different decision,” he adds.
Coordinate with loved ones
Sharing finances with someone else?
Schedule a money date with a partner to review spending and talk about financial priorities in a harmonious way, Emerson suggests.
“It helps carve out intentional space for spouses or partners to talk about money at a time when it’s not already emotional,” she says.
If you wait to talk about money until there’s a problem, then it can be more heated.
Similarly, Emerson suggests drafting a shared statement about financial goals, values and what matters most. “What do we want money to accomplish? Usually it’s for money to be a tool to have more freedom and flexibility,” she says.
Spelling out that “financial purpose” can create clarity around upcoming financial decisions, she adds.
Cultivate gratitude and positivity
We often focus on what’s lacking in our lives instead of what’s going right, says Sheers. To counter that tendency, he suggests starting a gratitude practice, where you reflect on what you are grateful for instead.
“It can mean reflecting on what’s going well, which brings more positive energy,” Sheers says. He likes to list five things that went well at the end of each day as his simple practice.
On the same note, Warren says to cut out the negative self-talk. “It’s not helpful to constantly criticize yourself,” she says. “You might not have done everything right, but none of us have.”
Make a list of what you’ve done right, she says. And keep it running, because your financial wellness journey starts now.
