By Philip Bachman
Are people who tend to plan more likely to have good health and good wealth than people who are not good planners?
An interesting scholarly paper was published in the March 2016 Journal of Financial Planning, in which researchers studied the relationship between self-reported planning behavior and the frequency of performance of positive health and financial management practices.
“A person’s propensity to plan is a trait that has been linked with successful financial and health outcomes,” the authors write. The study concluded that desirable health behavior and financial behavior are moderately associated. The article explains that people with good health habits often have good financial habits because of personality traits supportive of planning.
This notion highlights a relationship that perhaps we take for granted: the way individuals approach maintaining a healthy physical lifestyle and maintaining financial well-being stems from their behavior. One’s attitude towards goal setting and delayed gratification influences choices made in both aspects of life. In short, good planning habits are beneficial in more ways than one.
The Journal of Financial Planning is an industry magazine published by the Financial Planning Association. The article was contributed by Barbara O’Neill, Ph.D., Jing Jian Xiao, Ph.D., and Karen M. Ensle, Ed.D.
