Investing in Yourself

There was a time when I considered my self a real estate investor. It was the early 2000's, the housing boom was in full swing and I researched for weeks before purchasing a golf course property on the Crystal Coast of North Carolina in a town called South Port. I paid $60,000 and sold it a year later for over $125,000. Dawn was hesitant but with my windfall I was sure I was a true mogul. We reinvested the earning in two other properties that were sure wins(notice how it's "we" now) and we still own those properties today. They are worth a combined $140,000 less than what we paid for them. I learned two things form the experience. Dawn is always right and I know very little about investing in realestate.











Investing in yourself, however, is something we are both confident that we know a lot about and want to spend some time talking about today. 

There are many ways you can invest your money and often times when we think about investing for the future our focus is mainly on how to make that money provide some kind of return on investment. With money it is easy to see the return on investment. Your savings is either growing or shrinking. 

What we want you to think about today is the return on investing in your health. This type of investment is much harder to see and appreciate because, often times, the larger benefits of this investment are not seen until years down the road. Consider the findings of a long term study by the Cooper Institute of almost 20,000 individuals with a median age of 49 years old. Fitness levels were measured using a treadmill test. When the participants reached 65 the researchers tracked their health using medicare forms. Those who were more fit at mid life were less likely, over the course of the 26 year study to have died of coronary artery disease, heart failure, alzheimer's, diabetes, and other chronic conditions. More importantly, in the last five years of their lives, those who were more fit at midlife spent 50% less time with four or more chronic diseases than the less fit group and 34% more time with one or no chronic diseases. 

We have seen this play out in those closest to us in scary and saddening ways. With a quality of life that is less than ideal. However, we have also seen the opposite. With clients who are vibrantly enjoying their retirement years. Which one do you want to be?

At the start of the New Year and the beginning of tax season, as you are looking over your finances, take a moment to think about how much you are investing in you and your health. It will pay great rewards down the road.

If you are ready to invest in yourself, we are looking to expand our community of health and fitness and would love for you to give our services a try. We have a supportive community of people who will help and encourage you to reach your goals. If taking a class seems a bit intimidating we offer one on one training as well. 

---