Living Fully: Health as Your Retirement Priority

What if you could safeguard your golden years with the same meticulous care you give to your financial portfolio? Join me, Cat Corchado, as I challenge the all-too-common oversight of neglecting health when planning for retirement. Through the lens of personal experiences and compelling stories, I explore how many retirees, despite having solid financial savings, find themselves burdened by unforeseen health issues. This episode is a wake-up call to reframe our retirement goals, emphasizing the importance of investing in our health to truly enjoy the fruits of our labor.

Explore how the hidden costs of health neglect can lead to emotional and financial upheaval in retirement. With real-life anecdotes and practical advice, I encourage you to take proactive steps towards a healthier lifestyle now. Together, we unravel the delicate balance between financial security and physical well-being, urging you to prioritize your health as much as your wealth. Let’s redefine what it means to be prepared for retirement, ensuring you can live life to the fullest—traveling, exploring, and savoring every moment.

Transcript

Speaker 1: 0:01

Welcome to Sisters in Service podcast. Most of you know me as a strong advocate for women veterans in being recognized not only as veterans but also as women who are changing the world through our passion of serving even after service. This podcast is my passion by telling all the stories of military brats, military spouses, active duty and veterans, not to forget the veteran service organizations that help us along our transition journey. I want to thank you in advance for listening. I hope that you will join me. Every week, a new podcast and episode comes out every Tuesday, so I hope that you will join and I hope that you enjoy. This podcast is brought to you by Small Space Pilates. Are you ready to get fit and fabulous from the comfort of your own home? Look no further than Small Space Pilates. With live online Pilates and strength training classes, a video library and a no perfection allowed policy, you can achieve your fitness goals without ever leaving your house. Click on the link for your complimentary week and start your journey to feeling fabulous today. Hi everyone, this is the freaking fabulous Kat Corchado with another episode of Sisters in Service under why Not? Wellness.

Speaker 1: 1:32

Today's episode is going to be health in retirement. Now, if you're not in retirement. Right now, you're probably thinking why should I pay attention to this? But you should. So what I want to talk about is how retirees find themselves with insufficient health benefits but have sufficient financial savings, but because they have uncompromised health, they're using all of this money towards all the things that are happening with their body and their health. So how did I come about this? I'd like to say this is my own idea, but it's not so. Because I'm in the retirement realm, I started reading all of these stories about people who have done all the right things financially they maxed out their 401k, they had a CD, they invested in stocks and bonds and all the things right. You know what they didn't invest in Themselves, their health, their body and that's what I want to talk about a little bit is to explain and to explore why maintaining health is as crucial, if not more so, than saving money for retirement. Because what I like to say all the time is if your body gives out, where are you going to live? If you have an answer for that question, I'd love to know what it is, but it kind of stops you in a second and you say, wow, I've never thought about it like that before.

Speaker 1: 3:06

So the hidden cost of neglecting health. Health is something that we I hope for those of you that are listening that it's something that you want to maintain your health. You want to be healthier as you get older. And a lot of people, they work, they work, they work, they're doing the thing, they're saving their money, and that's wonderful. But you have got to invest in your own health. So what's the cost of it? So what's the cost of it?

Speaker 1: 3:46

Imagine saving a lot of money. I don't know what that is. Let's say it's, I don't know, maybe close to a million dollars. Nice, round number, right. And you save, you've done all the things. Because you want to go play, you want to, you know, think about what you want to do in traveling. When you want to go play, you want to know, think about what you want to do in traveling when you, when you retire, you want to travel, you want to go place, you want to do things. But how are you going to do all of these things If you can't walk?

Speaker 1: 4:15

You can't stand for long, you have a bad back, your health isn't what it should be. So you can't really be on a plane, maybe you can't be around people, but what we do so much is we focus solely on the financial aspects but neglect our health. So as retirement begins, unexpected health issues arise, leading to emotional strain. Health issues arise linked to emotional strain, but also financial strain. So what's the cost of keeping up your health versus here? Money's important you got to have that, but so is health. So I'm going to put this up here. That, but so is health. So I'm going to put this up here only because you have to have your health in order to do anything.

Speaker 1: 5:13

I see so many people that have they're retired, and not all of them Don't get me wrong, they're not. It's not all of them. They tell me all the things they're going to do and then it comes time to do it and they can't. How much time does it take every day to do something for your own health, whether it's mental, whether it's physical? You might think it takes a lot of time. I say it takes 11 minutes to start the 11 minute workout. It should be front of mind. Who is going to take over your business if you're not there? Who's going to maintain your business if you can't? Who's going to watch after your dog if you can't? I'm a dog owner, or your pet whatever pet that is who's going to help with your kids if you are unable to?

Speaker 1: 6:17

These are questions to ask, but we don't think down the road. We think down the road for money. We don't think down the road for health. So here's what I want you to do. We don't think down the road for health. So here's what I want you to do. I want you to think. Maybe it's you, maybe it's not.

Speaker 1: 6:37

Think of someone that you know is in not good health. I have one for you. One of my siblings is overweight by a lot, and I think about him all the time. He does not work out. He doesn't do anything positive for himself. Think about this person 10 years from now. If they stay on the same road that they're on now, where do you see them? Are they still here? Maybe their health declined in such a way that it was impossible to help them?

Speaker 1: 7:16

Investing in your health through regular exercise, a balanced diet and regular medical checkups can help with all of these risks. Now I know what you're going to say. Well, this fill in the blank runs in our family. Okay, I have all of those too. I just don't expect to get it, and you know how. I don't expect to get it by keeping my body healthy.

Speaker 1: 7:42

Now, I'm not saying some of these things weren't, I don't know, were or were not preventable, I don't know that. But when you're spending all of your hard earned money on medical, on doctors, on surgeries, on all of that stuff, you're not enjoying life. I don't think anybody depicted this for themselves. Okay, that's what I'm saying. No one said, well, I'm going to get all this money and then I'm just going to spend all this time fixing my body with the money that I saved. I don't think anyone's ever said that. So let's talk about quality of life. Is there a quality of life in retirement if you can't move, if you can't fend for yourself, if you can't take care of yourself? No, so here's a picture of two retirees one who has saved enough money but is limited by health issues, and another who has balanced health and savings and can now enjoy an active, fulfilled retirement. Now, I'm not saying I don't hurt, I'm 67, y'all.

Speaker 1: 9:01

When I get up out of the chair sometimes it's not pretty. But then I think what if I had never worked out in my life? What would my life be like right now? You have to picture yourself 5, 10, 15, 20 years down the road. What do you look like? And I'm not talking about exterior or a tiny waist, and I'm not talking about that. Are you upright? Can you get on the floor with your grandkids and now get up? Can you get up out of a chair without pushing yourself up? Can you walk for an extended amount of time? A mile, maybe two? If you can't answer those questions with a yes, then you need, please, for my sake not for my sake, for your sake start moving. There are lots of ways that you can do this, and always check with your doctor to make sure that this is appropriate for you.

Speaker 1: 10:06

Being on a medication shouldn't be a lifetime sentence. It should be okay, I'll take this for now, but what do I need to do and this is talking to the doctor to get off these meds? That's the question you should be asking. Not okay, I'll take this for forever and a day. Not okay, I'll take this for forever and a day, because they will. They will refill every day.

Speaker 1: 10:36

But think about the mental aspect of not being able to move. What does that feel like? What about the stress, the anxiety, the depression that can affect you? Stress is hard on the body, it's hard on your mental capacity. If you can't get out, you don't have any connections, you can't be social because people have to come to you and that's not always convenient. People have to come to you and that's not always convenient. So think about ways that you can start moving. Maybe it's something as simple as stretching, maybe it's taking a walk. I'm not saying for fitness, just walk, get outside in the elements. Okay, I know it's wintertime, I get it, but find some place that you can walk and then continue that, because that's going to lead to other things. Maybe you join a group at a fitness club and all of a sudden you're making friends. That's what keeps you alive, that's what keeps you coming back. Are those connections? So seeking those activities that help you, the social groups, the volunteer opportunities, making those connections?

Speaker 1: 11:58

So we've talked about importance of balancing financial planning with balancing your health care, and in my book, health care is here, financial is here. If I told you that putting this above this would save you thousands of dollars in your retirement, does that make a difference for you? I'm just asking the question. So your retirement savings can buy you comfort, but your health buys you time. So I hear this all the time. People say well, you know, eating good or eating healthy and working out, that all costs money. Yeah, it does. You know what else costs money? Doctors, medications, operations, surgeries those cost a lot of money. Which one? So I hope this made some sense to you. I hope this got you to thinking how can I start, and I also want you to think about you know, if you're not sure how to start, let's have a conversation, just a conversation finding out where you are, finding out where you can go. Can I help you? Maybe Can I not. Maybe Maybe I'm not your flavor, and that's okay too, but I can still help you to start moving.

Speaker 1: 13:34

I believe everyone has the right to feel good in their body. What I also know is that people are hurting in their body and they become so accustomed to that as being normal they forgot what it actually feels like to feel good. So with that I'm going to end this episode. If you are someone who would like to have a conversation, let's talk. Kat at SmallSpacePilatescom. If you're someone that is looking to find a place where you belong, a community where you can be in the comfort of your home, in your own jammies, if you want to. That's what Small Space Pilates is about. We do weight training, we do stretching, we do Pilates, and I give away a free week. So if you're interested, let me know. So until then, take care of yourself as much as you can. Please take care of yourself. This is Kat Corchata, your movement specialist. Until next time, thank you.