Women's health and wealth: How healthy living can enhance your wealth planning

A yearly assessment of your health is a good start. If you don’t have good health, you can’t accomplish anything. I think for women, in particular, it’s wise to consider optimizing their health with the habits outlined by the American Health Association Opens in a new window.. This includes making sure you know about your blood pressure and weight, not smoking, exercising, switching to a Mediterranean diet and making sure your lipids are okay. In terms of alcohol, try consuming very little. You should really aim to optimize your cardiovascular health because cardiovascular disease is a major issue for mature women.

I think you should also remember to structure in time for yourself. Be mindful of your mental health, be in tune with what’s going on from day to day. Set aside a certain amount of time for exercise. Try going for regular walks if you can.

Well, I think the first thing is really to take stock, and to look at yourself to try to optimize all your day-to-day habits. Try to increase the amount of exercise you get each week. Also, look at your genetic history and seek out a good family doctor. If you’re smoking, stop. Cut back on alcohol which can contribute to breast cancer. If you have more than two alcoholic drinks per day, the risk is significantly higher.

I’m really glad you asked me that question. First of all, educate the people that live with you. In terms of getting other people to support you, we have a new organization called the Menopause Foundation of Canada which is interested in advocacy work. We’re in the process of building an exemplary Menopause Centre at Mount Sinai Hospital Opens in a new window..  

I think you should be really in touch with yourself in terms of, is this the best way you can live? And I think financial planning is part of that. Sometimes we have to sit back and look at what we’re doing to optimize that aspect of our lives as well.

The information provided in this article is based on the Breaking down silos around women’s health and wealth webinar Opens in a new window..