How Was the Return on Your Health Investment Last Year?
Well, Happy New Year and Happy New You!
If you’re like most people I know, you made an investment of time and money in your health last year.
So, was it worth it? Probably. Hopefully?
ANY investment you made last year in your health, no matter how small, was worth it because the truth is, many people don’t invest in their health AT ALL. They’ve fallen prey to the misguided notions that “if you feel good, you’re healthy” and “when you don’t feel good the medical system will fix that”.
Oh, boy is there a lot to unpackage there.
First, the investment part. If you had invested $100 per month for the past twelve months at 5% interest, you would have $1260 now.
“Ooooh, $60”, you might think. “Big deal”.
But repeated over, say 40 years, you would have invested $59,160 but you would have $157,207.72.
Again, that might not seem like much in today’s economy, but I looked on Realtor.ca and found a one bedroom, one bathroom condo on the East side of Calgary for $145,000.
That slow steady discipline of investing to amass $157,000 could allow a person to be mortgage-free with a roof over their head. So, what seems insignificant on face value can actually life changing.
Now, over those 40 years, do you think investing $100 each month would have been easy? Do you think there might have been times when a person was tempted to not deposit that $100? If we account for inflation, forty years ago, $100 per month FELT the way $262 feels today. It would have been much harder to sock away that money 40 years ago.
BUT was it worth it? Yes. It was life changing.
But as with your financial investments, we all want to maximize the RETURN we receive for our investment.
As a general rule regarding health investment, however, investing proactively in things that help you now AND for the rest of your life is better than actions that only help you now.
Chiropractic is the largest non-drug healing profession in the world, and it has grown tremendously in the past forty years in particular because of how it helps you now and in the future. Many people turn to chiropractic for the first time when they grow tired of “taking another pill to mask the symptom”.
Speaking with many people every week, I’ve noticed an uptick in dissatisfaction with the current state of our health care system.
Many people are actively looking for a better return on their health investment. And for good reason. There are a number of frustrating trends and metrics with our current health care system.
1. We don’t have FREE health care as so many people like to say we have. You pay for the health care system with your taxes. Forty years ago, 30% of your federal taxes (see Line 420 on your tax return) went to funding the health care system. Now, it’s close to 42% of your federal taxes. THAT is your health insurance premium. You PAY for those hospitals and doctors and nurses and equipment when you pay your federal taxes.
2. Did health care get 50% better over the past forty years? Because if it did, I’d be happy to pay 50% more. But it didn’t. Just recently it was announced:
a. The wait times to see a specialist has never been longer. On average, a Canadian waits 27 weeks from referral to treatment with a specialist. The shortest wait is in Ontario at 22 weeks, while the longest is New Brunswick at 54 weeks. That’s over a year!
b. 5.4 million Canadians over 18 years old do not have a medical doctor.
c. The federal government expects Canada to be 20,000 doctors short of their need in the year 2031.
3. Canada’s health care system leads the world in one metric: we helped more people per capita die than any other country in the world. Canada’s Medical Assistance in Dying program (or MAID) is the 6th leading cause of death currently in Canada. That’s concerning to say the least.
4. We are one of the most drugged countries on earth. Canada is the 37th most populous country but is 8th in pharmaceutical use. One in ten Canadians is on antidepressants. One in five Canadians treats chronic pain with medications. All of these numbers are trending UP.
If you saw statistics like this suggesting the farming industry was not providing what you were looking for, you’d probably start growing some of your own food, wouldn’t you?
Here’s why I’d love for you to come into our office for a conversation about your health and possibly an exam. Your body knows how to heal itself. To do that, your brain has to be able to send message through your spine to all the parts of your body. When your spine is misaligned or degenerating that makes it harder for your body to run correctly and heal properly. Chiropractic adjustments realign the spine and restores good movement, muscle tone and so much more.
To see some of the benefits of chiropractic care, read some of the more than 100 five-star reviews of our office Live Life Well Chiropractic on Google.
A different path can lead to better returns on investment and this year could be your healthiest so far.
As always, with love,
Dr. Colin