What Good is Wealth Without Health??

What Good is Wealth Without Health?

A wealthy person has said and maintains, “There are more important things than money, but everything that is important in life seems to be affected by money.”

New Spin on Introduction – If ya don’t have money, sometimes you can’t afford good health. Recently an employee was showing obvious signs of distress (breathing, extremely high blood pressure, etc.) and looked very sick. I believe she ended up being carted away by the ambulance. She couldn’t afford the co-pay for medications and therefore couldn’t buy the drugs necessary to maintain her health.

Correction - Last month I wrote that required expenses increased significantly in just one year to $320/month. Based on my conversations with several people, I need to restate that number to $440. Sorry, but that’s just the way it is. Dr. Phil might say, that's just “gotta” be that way.

Wealth Tip - A friend that is employed by a large successful retirement fund managing accounts says, people should not spend/invest money into a retirement fund until they have ELIMINATED ALL OF THEIR DEBT. My friend emphasized ALL and said firmly, “that includes your home.” But explained that what ever I do, I should always run the numbers. That is, using a compound interest chart, plug in what you put in the fund while trying to also pay for and pay down debt, compared to what you could pay in without all that debt in a shorter period of time.

The answer is in your hands 26 times a year - Last month I wrote that since we just gotta make more money, and another job or two is not answer. I suggested that the answer might just be in your hands 26 times a year. A few readers were anxious to know what the answer might be. One guessed “Pepsi.” I’m thinking he’s a Pepsi drinker. The answer iisssss - your paycheck. Yes – your pay check.

Anyone that is an employee and that has taxes taken out of their pay checks can reduce their tax liability (the amount of taxes owed) by subtracting business expenses. After establishing certain real expenses, change the “number of exemptions” on your W-4 in the payroll department of your employer. Employees can claim nearly the same business expenses as big corporations. However this assumes that you have your own businesses, and that you work at that business. You might even make more money.

So between the increased number of (business) exemptions on your W-4, regardless of whether you make a little extra money from that small business, you have eliminated the gap between the increased cost of living $440 and what you might otherwise make through your employer.

Warning – Many employees already use increases of exemptions on their W-4’s throughout the year to receive more money on their paychecks. They don’t have a business but they do have a home and mortgage interest paid. They use this extra money on their paychecks to “get caught up on monthly bills like gas and water,” or they pay for vacations, etc., rather than to reduce overall long term debt and to create wealth.