Healthspan vs. Lifespan: Why Financial Planning Is About More Than Living Longer

Have you ever heard the term “healthspan”?

Have you heard the term healthspan in contrast to lifespan?

At a 2022 “Invest in Women” conference, I listened to a great speaker explain the differences between healthspan and lifespan. Her definition of healthspan are the years in which our bodies, minds, and spirits feel good. This is as opposed to lifespan, which is the number of years lived.

Unfortunately, we almost all have different healthspan and lifespan expectations. As much as we would all love to feel our best well into our 90s, living a full life surrounded by friends and family, that doesn’t happen for most of us. Most of us will have either our bodies or our minds (we all hope not both) decline to the point that we alter our daily goals. Everyone hopes to extend their healthspan for as long as possible.

So how might we extend our health span?

This same speaker also talked about the interconnectedness of our finances, family, faith, and fitness and how these four pillars can impact our healthspan. Intentional work on each of these pillars, and an understanding of their interconnectedness rather than working on each pillar in a vacuum is powerful.

On the finance side, this is where we want to partner with you to create a plan tailored to your needs. For example, the plan may include goals intentionally aimed at your healthy years and goals that address the latter years of your lifespan. We aim to create a financial plan that provides peace of mind that you can work towards a longer healthspan when coupled with family, faith, and fitness.

For some people, intentional planning around charitable giving connects finance and faith. Fitness and finance intersect when we talk about proactive health care and ensuring adequate medical coverage.

There are areas of each of these pillars that can vastly improve our healthspan, some of which we have control over and some of which we know we have no control. If we’ve been partnered long enough, you have heard us say, “control what we can control” many times.

And while you will never hear me claim to be an expert on any of the other pillars of healthspan, it brings me joy to hear about your goals and journey toward achieving goals around family, faith, and fitness. I am enjoying some wonderful years filled with a family I adore, friends who walk through life with me, and a rewarding career. Each year, I see the advantages of slowly working on these four pillars.

So let our team know how we can help you tackle the finance pillar of your healthspan. We are here to help.

Amanda Howerton, CFP® CDFA® is a Senior Advisor with Rather & Kittrell.