Pay Day Hawaii

No matter where any of us are in life, or what our income is, we each deserve to have financial health and the benefits that come from it. But what exactly does the term “financial health” mean?

Personal financial health—just like a company’s financial health—has certain markers. Meeting those markers enables one to keep functioning, growing, and achieving success. Simply put, financial health means you can sleep easier at night, and look forward to tomorrow.

What are the ingredients in the recipe for financial health, the markers or elements that we just spoke of?

Here are the 11 key elements of financial health:

1. You are able to borrow.
2. Your overall credit scores are good.
3. You make payments on time.
4. Your debt fits into your budget.
5. You have emergency savings.
6. You are saving for your other goals, short and long-term.
7. You have a budget for income and expenses.
8. Your taxes are filed and up-to-date.
9. You are receiving all the benefits and entitlements for which you are eligible.
10. You have a Will, a Power of Attorney, and an Advance Health Care Directive.
11. You know where you can go for financial information and help.

Not all of us can check off each of these elements as done and in good condition.

If you can, congratulations! You are in good financial shape, no matter what your income is.

If you are not able to count all these elements as true for you, start working on them gradually, and eventually you’ll get your financial house in order.

Don’t let the length of the list overwhelm you. Start with one element you think you can work on, and tackle it. Even doing just one at a time will make a big difference to your financial health. And then you’ll have the confidence you need to tackle the next on the list.

In our next few blog posts we’ll go into more detail on each of the financial health elements: what the elements actually mean, what the numbers are, and how to accomplish them.

Remember, this is not just an exercise in self-punishment! It’s about finding out how to get what you want out of life. With a little work, a year from now you could be happier and better off.

Questions? Just stop by any PayDayHawaii location for more information on any of these topics.

You can also now follow us on Twitter at @PayDayHawaii.