People who have a Health Savings Account benefit from lower
premiums and reduced income taxes. But the biggest
long-term benefit for many will be the hundreds of
thousands of dollars they will have in their Health Savings
Accounts as they enter their retirement years. Of course,
the only way to build up a significant amount in your HSA
is to fund it every year, get a good return on your money,
and avoid making withdrawals. And the easiest way to avoid
withdrawals is to stay in good health.
People have much more control over their health than most
of them realize. If you want to take more personal
responsibility for your health, forget your New Year's
"Resolutions" (if you're like most, you probably already
have!), and make some real goals to improve your health and
prevent future degeneration.
You Have the Power
The first step in the journey towards optimum health is to
realize that you, indeed, do have the power to influence
your health as you age. While the genes you inherited from
your parents do affect your risks, for most diseases this
influence is tiny compared to the role your lifestyle plays.
Here's the way it plays out for the average American: by
the time they are in their 30's or 40's, most are on at
least one regular prescription drug - typically cholesterol
medication, blood pressure medication, and/or Viagra. By
their 60's, most people are basically falling apart, on 2
or 3 medications, and suffering from arthritis pain,
obesity, depression, insulin resistance, and a host of
other complaints. Within 10 years, many are dropping like
flies.
But of course it doesn't have to be this way.
Imagine the Future
How do you imagine your life playing out? Pour yourself a
beer (do it now, before we get to the part where we
actually write out lifestyle goals), kick back, relax, and
dream. Imagine that you're 70 years old. Are you still in
vibrant health, playing tennis, running on the beach? Or
are you old and fat, with just enough energy to get off the
couch and make it to the refrigerator and back during the
Wheel of Fortune commercial?
Then imagine checking your Health Savings Account balance.
Does it have $350,000 in it, or $350? If you're not in the
best health, chances are your HSA won't be either.
If that's too far in the future, just imagine January 2009,
and where you'd like to be. It's mostly your choice.
How Are You Going To Get There?
Once you've imagined the perfect future, its time to get
serious about getting there. And the key here is to focus
on lifestyle habits, not end results.
Diet
Nothing is more important to your long-term health than
eating a healthy diet. So your focus, as much as possible,
should be the quality of your diet.
Base your diet on real, whole, unprocessed foods. Fruits,
vegetables, fish, lean meat, nuts. Until 10,000 years ago,
humans did not have access to bread and potatoes, and it is
only in the past 100 years that we've begun eating high
quantities of sugar, corn syrup, white flour, and other
modern foods.
If losing weight is one of your objectives, going on a diet
is NOT the answer. Chances are you've tried that before,
and you know it doesn't work. But what does work is
permanently changing your eating habits, and where most
people get stuck is they start out with a feeling of
denial. Whether its wings and beer, or Twinkies and root
beer, whatever you eat that's gotten you to this point is
probably what you feel like you "deserve" to eat, and you
may feel that its not "fair" that you won't get to eat this
way anymore.
Get over it. The fact is that no one eats that way without
consequences. Instead, choose to eat good food. Not
temporarily, or just until you lose the weight. Don't tell
anyone that you are "on a diet". Tell them that this is the
way you eat, period.
Exercise
We are built to move, and anyone can improve their body's
functioning by moving more. The basics: muscle strength,
cardiovascular fitness, and flexibility.
Here's what your prescription should be:
1. Lift weights 3 times per week. Join a gym, or simply buy
some 20 and 30 lb dumbbells. Each week make sure you work
out your arms and shoulders, chest and back, and legs.
2. Do something aerobic 3 times per week, for 20 minutes or
more. Don't just go for a stroll, but actually do something
that makes you breathe hard - whether it's jogging,
rollerblading, basketball, or whatever.
3. Stretch every night. 5 minutes or less ought to do it.
The Power of Written Goals
So at this point you should have two ideas in your head.
One is a picture of you at some point in the future. How
you look, how you feel, and how you function. The other is
the permanent lifestyle changes you plan to implement to
get you there.
Now is the time to put it on paper. This is a powerful
exercise that will make your thoughts more "real," and more
likely to come to fruition.
First, write out a detailed description of your future,
exactly as you would like it to be.
Then write out your lifestyle habits in positive wording.
What kind of food are you going to eat? What kind of food
are you going to have around the house? Where and when will
you eat out, and what kind of food will you order?
Remember, it is very difficult to make changes if you have
feelings of denial. Fighting hunger is virtually
impossible. Instead of focusing on what you won't eat,
focus on what you will eat, and on the end result. And if
you want to splurge on some Ben and Jerry's occasionally,
go ahead.
How Much Will You Have In Your HSA When You Retire?
In 2008 the maximum annual HSA contribution is $5800 for
families. If a family makes the maximum contribution each
year, gets an 8% return on their money, and has $500/year
in medical expenses, they'll have $261,885 in their HSA
after 20 years. If they have $3000/year in medical
expenses, they'll only have $138,354 after 20 years.
Stay healthy, get wealthy. They certainly go together. And
with looming Medicare insolvency, you will certainly want
to have as much of your own money available to pay future
medical expenses when they do happen.
At one time it wasn't uncommon for me to have wings and
fries for dinner, washed down by a few beers. At other
times it was beer for dinner, supplemented by a few wings.
Amazingly, the human body is able to take these raw
ingredients, and produce eyes, lungs, heart, and everything
else that keeps us going. But if we were able to look more
closely, we'd see poor ingredients produce a poorly
functioning body.
If optimum health hasn't been a focus in your past, make
2008 a year of change. You'll be glad you did.
----------------------------------------------------
By Wiley Long - President, HSA for America (
http://www.health--savings--accounts.com ) - The nation's
leading independent health insurance firm specializing in
individual and family coverage that work with Health
Savings Accounts.
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