Canadian Personal Finance Blog

What does body mass have to do with Financial Planning? First, the actual data I am about to talk about, Stats Canada study of Body Mass Index sites the following:

Between 1981 and 1996, the prevalence of combined obese and overweight people in Canada rose from 48% to 57% among men and from 30% to 35% among women. Rates rose in all provinces.

57% overweight or obese men in Canada? This is from 10 years ago as well, and as a country I don’t think we all got on a collective treadmill or started exercising, did we? What would a large portion of the population being overweight do to the economy?

• Health care costs will increase just from cardio vascular issues and such.
• Work related time off will increase (decreased productivity)

These are not trivial issues and they are going to get worse, before they get better.

Oh and if you are asking who is the corpulent chap who’s hairy back you are looking at? That’s me 4 years ago before I lost about 80 lbs. Why did I lose the weight? Look at that picture and ask me that question again. Curious as to what obese might mean?

An adult male who is 1.8 metres tall (five-foot-10) and weighs 95 kg (210 pounds) would have a BMI of 30 and be considered obese.

I weighed 285 lbs. and I am 6′3″, so I wasn’t overweight I was OBESE, by this definition.

Help the Economy, find your body mass, and see your doctor if you are overweight. It’s important, if not for you, for your family.

Yup, I am really talking about that, as Cancer’s ability to kill Canadians is rising, and Canadians are taking care of Cardiovascular issues more. Six out of every 10 deaths in Canada are caused by these two issues. Cancer is becoming more of a killer, is the bottom line for now.

So what the heck does this morbid topic have to do with Financial Planning issues? Maybe I’m just feeling morbid? No, but, if you look at this data, maybe you need to ask yourself the following important financial questions:

• Do I have enough life insurance so that my family can survive my death? Same question for your spouse too?
• Can my family survive financially a prolonged illness (as Cancer is capable of being)? Do I have any disability insurance?
• Do I have a will?
• Do I have enough health insurance to deal with a catastrophic illness?

If you are young and single, no it doesn’t matter that much, but if you are young and just married and planning on having kids, NOW, is the time to do this kind of stuff in place. No I am not selling insurance (and I am not advocating whole life insurance at all), but I am saying, go find out about what you need to deal with these concerning numbers about Cancer.

Hope for the best, and plan for the worst! (a wise saying). –c8j