Barbara O’Neill, Ph.D., CFP®
Extension Specialist in Financial Resource Management
Rutgers Cooperative Extension
The Cooperative Extension System hosted a Small Steps to Health and Wealth™ Twitter chat in 2014 focused on tips for improving health and personal finances. Read an archive of the chat. The chat had a series of questions for participants to respond to in short tweets of 140 characters or less. Below is a summary of some of the key ideas and behavior change strategies that were provided during the Twitter chat discussion:
- Health and wealth are connected. When people have control of their personal finances, they experience less stress (and vice versa). Both health and finances have long-term effects on a person’s life.
- Health maintenance requires organization and discipline just as paying bills, managing debt, and saving.
- Financial distress has been linked in research to physical stress symptoms and decreased job productivity and a 2005 Harvard study estimated that more than 45% of bankruptcies were related to medical issues.
- Things that people can do every day to improve their health include: packing a lunch instead of eating out (to control portion sizes and sauces as well as to save money); drinking more water; taking a walk (indoors or outdoors) with coworkers during lunch break; and doing specific exercises if you work at a desk (see http://www.webmd.com/fitness-exercise/features/exercise-at-your-desk for some examples). Other ideas shared were literally taking small steps by using stairs, instead of an elevator, whenever you can and reading daily inspirational quotes for good mental health.
- Things that people can do every day to improve their personal finances include: save receipts for tax deductions and warranties on major purchases; check bank accounts online between statements; track spending in a notebook or with phone apps; and set up phone alerts to remember to pay bills on time. Other ideas shared were writing down expenses; saving a dollar a day plus spare change to accumulate about $50 per month; buying one less soda, coffee, latte, snack, or lottery ticket; using cash instead of debit/credit cards to control spending; and learning new information about personal finance topics.
- Twitter chat users recommended the following personal finance information resources:
- Financial literacy was defined by one chat participant as “keeping yourself smart and wise about financial decisions.” Another definition, from the Jump$tart Coalition for Personal Financial Literacy, is “the ability to use knowledge and skills to manage one’s financial resources effectively.”
- Tips for achieving better health and greater wealth included “save, save, save”; make retirement plans; always have an emergency fund; adopt healthier habits now to save a lot of money later; and don’t sacrifice health for wealth.
The #SSHWchat Twitter chat was part of Small Steps to Health and Wealth™ (SSHW) a national Cooperative Extension program developed to motivate Americans to take action to simultaneously improve their health and personal finances. SSHW was built around a framework of 25 research-based behavior change strategies.
Barbara O'Neill, Ph.D., Mtaalamu wa Upanishaji wa CFP katika Usimamizi wa Rasilimali za Fedha, Rutgers Cooperative Extension, aliandaa mazungumzo ya Twitter ya Hatua Ndogo kwa Afya na Utajiri mnamo 2014 na kuzingatia vidokezo vya kuboresha afya na fedha za kibinafsi. Soma kumbukumbu ya mazungumzo. Mkutano huo ulijumuisha maswali ambayo washiriki walipaswa kujibu katika tweets fupi za herufi 140 au chini. Hapa chini ni muhtasari wa baadhi ya mawazo muhimu na mikakati ya mabadiliko ya tabia ambayo yalitolewa wakati wa majadiliano ya mazungumzo ya Twitter: Afya na utajiri zimeunganishwa. Watu wanapodhibiti fedha zao za kibinafsi, wanapata mkazo mdogo (na kinyume chake). Afya na fedha zina athari za muda mrefu kwenye maisha ya mtu. - Kudumisha afya huhitaji utaratibu na nidhamu kama vile kulipa bili, kusimamia madeni, na kuhifadhi pesa. Utafiti wa Harvard unaonyesha kuwa matatizo ya kifedha yanahusiana na dalili za mkazo wa kimwili na kupungua kwa uzalishaji wa kazi, na utafiti wa Harvard wa 2005 ulikadiria kuwa zaidi ya 45% ya kufilisika kwa kampuni zinazohusika na matatizo ya matibabu. "Kama vile, unaweza kufanya mazoezi ya mazoezi ya mwili kwa kutumia ""mchezo wa mchana"" (kuchukua chakula cha mchana badala ya kula nje, kudhibiti ukubwa wa vipimo na mchuzi, na kuokoa pesa), kunywa maji zaidi, kutembea (ndani au nje) na wafanyakazi wenzako wakati wa mapumziko ya chakula cha mchana, na kufanya mazoezi maalum ikiwa unafanya kazi kwenye dawati (tazama http: www.webmd.com)." "Wazo lingine lililoshirikiwa lilikuwa ""kuchukua hatua ndogo kwa kutumia ngazi badala ya lifti wakati wowote unavyoweza"" na kusoma nukuu za kila siku za msukumo kwa afya nzuri ya akili." Vitu ambavyo watu wanaweza kufanya kila siku kuboresha fedha zao za kibinafsi ni pamoja na: kuhifadhi risiti kwa ajili ya punguzo la kodi na dhamana juu ya ununuzi mkubwa; kuangalia akaunti za benki mtandaoni kati ya taarifa; kufuatilia matumizi katika kitabu cha kumbukumbu au na programu za simu; na kuanzisha tahadhari za simu kukumbuka kulipa bili kwa wakati. "Wengine walichanganya mawazo kama vile ""kuandika chini gharama,"" ""kuokoa dola moja kwa siku pamoja na fedha za ziada ili kukusanya karibu $ 50 kwa mwezi,"" ""kununua soda moja, kahawa, latte, vitafunio, au tiketi ya bahati nasibu,"" ""kutumia pesa taslimu badala ya kadi za mkopo au za mkopo kudhibiti matumizi,"" na ""kujifunza habari mpya kuhusu mada za fedha za kibinafsi.""" "Mwanzoni mwa wiki hii, Twitter ilitoa ushauri wa ""Ujuzi wa kifedha"" kwa watumiaji wa Twitter, ambao ni ""uwezo wa kutumia maarifa na ustadi wa kusimamia rasilimali za kifedha kwa ufanisi"" na ""Ujuzi wa kifedha"" kwa watumiaji wa Twitter, ambao ni ""uwezo wa kutumia maarifa na ujuzi wa kusimamia rasilimali za kifedha kwa ufanisi"" na ""Ujuzi wa kifedha"" na ""Ujuzi wa kifedha"" kwa watumiaji wa Twitter." #SHWChat ni sehemu ya mpango wa kitaifa wa hatua ndogo kwa afya na utajiri (SSHW) ulioundwa ili kuhamasisha Wamarekani kuchukua hatua za kuboresha afya na fedha zao za kibinafsi. SSHW ni mfumo wa utafiti wa 25 wa mabadiliko ya tabia.