Believe it or not, staying healthy just might make you wealthy. With small lifestyle changes and healthy choices, you may reduce your annual healthcare costs and increase your income. These lifestyle changes can be as simple as limiting your salt intake or taking your prescribed medication regularly.
By adopting healthy habits you can mitigate future healthcare costs. Data from HealthyCapital reveals that by simply making a few minor changes to daily routines, and reducing the risk factors leading to chronic disease, individuals could potentially add years to their lives and save thousands of dollars in lifetime medical expenses.
For example:
Alisha is the average managed patient and Jasmine is the well managed patient.
Alisha has blood pressure of 150/95, sometimes forgets medications, sometimes doesn’t follow her suggested diet and she is an occasional smoker and drinker.
Jasmine takes prescribed medication, exercises 30 minutes per day/5 days per week, she has moderate alcohol intake, chooses healthy fats, limits dietary salt and quit her smoking habit.
Alisha and Jasmine are both 45 years old and both sought medical treatment for high blood pressure. Alisha doesn’t follow the lifestyle changes her doctor suggested, whereas Jasmine diligently follows her doctor’s recommendations. With Jasmine’s small changes she saves more than $1,000 in out-of-pocket healthcare costs. Additionally, Jasmine’s combined pre-retirement and in-retirement savings will be $89,456 more than Alisha, as shown in the table below.
Annual Out-of-Pocket Healthcare Costs:
| Alisha | Jasmine | Jasmine’s Savings in Health Expenditures | |
| Age 45 | $2,477 | $1,286 | $1,192 |
| Age 64 | $13,936 | $7,343 | $6,592 |
| Total Pre-Retirement | $138,288 | $72,591 | $65,697 |
| Total In Retirement | $51,790 | $28,031 | $23,759 |
| Grand Total | $190,078 | $100,622 | $89,456 |