Another Benefit of Health: Wealth

Cursory estimates show how quickly a few health measures pay off, says Time Magazine. [link]

Lose weight:

• The average annual out-of-pocket cost for diabetics is $454, but these costs skyrocket to $12,000 or more for the one in two diabetics who do not carefully tend to their illness.
• Bottom line: shed some pounds, avoid these diseases and invest the related windfall from, say, age 40 to 65 – and you could pad your nest egg by up to $700,000.

Stop smoking:

• Not buying cigarettes alone can add up to more than $100,000 if you stop at age 40 and invest the difference conservatively until age 65.
• The potential savings from medical treatments could add tens of thousands more to your nest egg.

Get moving:

• Exercise and diet are keys to avoiding high blood pressure and heart disease, which together have annual costs to the individual of $606.
• Investing that sum for 25 years may provide more than $35,000.

Savings are not guaranteed, and living healthily usually means living longer, which means more opportunities to incur medical costs.  Still, the most important steps to retirement security may have more to do with what you give up than what you put away.

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