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Financial health as a measurable social determinant of health

Emily brown weida.

1 Department of Health Management and Policy, Dornsife School of Public Health, Drexel University, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States of America

Pam Phojanakong

Falguni patel.

2 Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States of America

Mariana Chilton

Associated data.

All relevant data are within the paper and supporting information files

Financial health, understood as one’s ability to manage expenses, prepare for and recover from financial shocks, have minimal debt, and ability to build wealth, underlies all facets of daily living such as securing food and paying for housing, yet there is inconsistency in measurement and definition of this critical concept. Most social determinants research and interventions focus on siloed solutions (housing, food, utilities) rather than on a root solution such as financial health. In light of the paucity of public health research on financial health, particularly among low-income populations, this study seeks to: 1) introduce the construct of financial health into the domain of public health as a useful root term that underlies other individual measures of economic hardship and 2) demonstrate through outcomes on financial, physical and mental health among low-income caregivers of young children that the construct of financial health belongs in the canon of social determinants of health.

Materials and methods

In order to extract features of financial health relevant to overall well-being, principal components analysis were used to assess survey data on banking and personal finances among caregivers of young children who participate in public assistance. Then, a series of logistic regressions were utilized to examine the relationship between components of financial health, depression and self-rated health.

Components aligned with other measures of financial health in the literature, and there were strong associations between financial health and health outcomes.

Practice implications

Financial health can be conceived of and measured as a key social determinant of health.

Introduction

Exposure to prolonged economic hardship has detrimental impacts on individual health and well-being [ 1 – 8 ]. Despite the widespread acceptance of economic hardship as a social determinant of health, the way it has been measured is restricted to income in relation to the federal poverty line (FPL) or to issues related to housing insecurity, food insecurity, healthcare tradeoffs, and other measures related to tangible basic needs [ 2 , 9 – 12 ]. Comprehensive solutions, such as efforts to improve financial capability (known as a combination of self-efficacy, skill, attitude, and knowledge needed to make financial decisions) [ 13 ], build assets to protect from financial shocks, and reduce income volatility are missing from public health research [ 14 – 17 ]. As well, interventions tend to be “siloed.” That is, they address access to safe and affordable housing, medical care, and food in distinct interventions without addressing financial health, or the longer-term and underlying issues of having enough money, income, or financial capability [ 3 , 18 , 19 ]. Financial health is a comprehensive assessment of finances that includes the ability to support meeting basic needs, which also encompasses opportunities to save and build wealth. Building on research on associations between income and physical health [ 8 , 20 , 21 ], this work demonstrates that financial health is an important, independent social determinant of health that can be defined, measured, and influenced to improve health and wellbeing.

Financial health in the literature

Although the concept of financial health (or financial well-being) has been discussed for several decades, most literature on the subject lies outside the public health domain, and definitions (if present) vary from source to source. Often, if a definition is provided, such as in gray literature, details on the measurement or operationalization of this concept are scarce, or the measurement is relating to a narrow aspect of a family’s financial situation such as income level or employment. Despite this, some recent studies have tied specific measures of financial health with health outcomes [ 6 – 8 , 19 , 21 ]. For example, several researchers found associations between financial distress or well-being and perceived health [ 22 – 24 ] and mental health outcomes [ 25 ]. Additionally, several studies have examined links between health and financial literacy [ 26 ], as well as financial stress and mental and physical health outcomes. However, the majority of these studies lie outside of public health journals, and definitions or measurements of ‘financial health’ [ 27 – 29 ], ‘financial well-being’ [ 25 , 30 , 31 ], ‘financial well-ness’ [ 32 ], or ‘financial fitness’ [ 33 ] are inconsistent across studies. This poses challenges, such that the domains where most of the financial health studies are located (i.e. consumer finance) often do not target interventions for lower-income populations or under/un-banked populations. Moreover, they do not create opportunities for interdisciplinary interventions aimed at improving physical and mental health.

Experiences of economic hardship such as housing and food insecurity are symptoms of a deeper hardship in financial health. Fig 1 depicts how the authors conceptualize how financial health is related to other forms of economic insecurity (housing insecurity, food insecurity, energy insecurity) such that it is a root cause of these other insecurities. Efforts to create meaningful opportunities to increase wealth in order to improve food security, housing security, and other economic hardships have been limited by the lack of consistent, validated measures and definitions of individual financial health [ 31 , 34 – 37 ].

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For instance, Netemeyer et al. [ 38 ] identified two dimensions of financial “wellbeing” (characterizing the dynamic relationship between finances and well-being): behaviors like managing the day-to-day and planning, and perceptions such as “a state of being wherein you have control over day-to-day, month-to-month finances […] have the financial freedom to make the choices that allow one to enjoy life.” The Center for Financial Services Innovation (CFSI) established a definition and measure of financial health based on a mixed-methods study examining financial habits (cash flow, spending, income volatility, savings, investments, etc.) among moderate-income families [ 39 ], stating financial health consists of effective management of day-to-day financial decisions; resilience in facing “ups and downs”; and ability to seize opportunities for financial security and mobility” [ 40 ].

In light of the paucity of public health research on financial health, particularly among low-income populations, this study seeks to: 1) introduce a construct of financial health into the domain of public health defined by more than just individual measures of economic hardship, and 2) demonstrate via models on financial, physical and mental health among low-income caregivers of young children that the construct of financial health belongs in the canon of social determinants of health.

Study sample

The Building Wealth and Health Network (The Network) began as a randomized controlled trial in 2014 (N = 103), operating out of Drexel University in Philadelphia, PA. The Network continued as a single arm intervention study (Phase II; N = 373); a trauma-informed peer support financial empowerment program to address depression and economic hardship through building social capital and financial capability among caregivers of children aged 6 years or younger. All participants in The Network were referred to as “members” to reflect the peer format nature of the program to foster social capital, connection and belonging. Network members attended 16 Financial SELF Empowerment Group sessions on financial topics including building and fixing credit, reducing debt, and encouraging entrepreneurship, while also creating a culture of healing through peer support around issues of safety, emotional management, loss and letting go, and developing a sense future. Members received support in opening a savings account with a partner credit union. Members responded to surveys at baseline, and every three months for a year about economic securities, employment, finances, entrepreneurship, depression, and child health. All members provided written informed consent. Full methods and outcomes [ 41 – 44 ] of the Network can be found elsewhere [ 45 ]. The Drexel Institutional Review Board approved this study.

Economic hardship and financial measures

As mentioned above, the Center for Financial Services Innovation (CFSI) developed a definition and measure for financial health for consumer finance in 2016. The CFSI identifies four components of financial heath that mirror daily financial activities: spend , save , borrow and plan . Indicators include paying bills on time and in full ( spend ), having sufficient long-term savings ( save ), having a prime credit score ( borrow ) and planning ahead for expenses ( plan ). CSFI components draw from banking and finance industry standards (e.g.: having a debt-to-income ratio below 36%, or a particular credit score) [ 40 ]. Given its comprehensive scope, the parameterization of financial health was guided by the CFSI. Finance-related questions were selected from The Network’s survey that matched face validity with the CFSI’s categories of spend , save , borrow , and plan , as well as their suggested survey questions [ 40 ]. This analysis focused on ability to pay bills ( spend ), having checking and savings accounts ( save ), borrowing money ( borrow ), and financial planning behaviors ( plan ) ( Table 1 ). Two spending questions (e.g. “Over the past month, would you say your family's spending on living expenses was less than its total income?”, “Over the last 2 months, have you paid a late fee on a loan or bill?”) are from the Financial Behavior, Knowledge and Self-Efficacy Scale [ 46 ], which assesses respondents’ financial behaviors, knowledge and feelings of efficacy around financial decision-making, while the other two spending questions (e.g. “In the last three months, has the utility company shut off your utilities for not paying bills?” “In the last 3 months were there any days that the home was not heated or cooled because you couldn't pay the bills?”) are taken from a validated energy insecurity screener, but used in this analysis as indicators for inability to pay bills [ 47 ]. These spending questions were chosen as they aligned with the CFSI’s spending indicators (pay bills on time and in full, and spend less than you earn) as well as their suggested survey questions [ 40 ]. Questions relating to savings and checking accounts (e.g. “Do you have a savings account” and “Do you have a checking account”) were chosen as they aligned with savings [ 40 ]. Borrowing questions (e.g. “Do you owe anyone money?” and “In the last three months I repaid the money I owed on time”) aligned with CFSI’s borrow components and come from previous work [ 48 ] and Danes [ 46 ], respectively. The financial planning questions (e.g. “Do you currently have at least one financial goal?”, “Do you currently have a personal budget, spending plan, or financial plan?”, “Do you currently have an automatic deposit or electronic transfer set up to put money away for a future use?”) are from the Financial Behavior, Knowledge and Self-Efficacy Scale [ 46 ]. These questions were chosen as they matched face validity with the CFSI “planning” questions [ 40 ]. Affirmative answers scored one point, negative answers scored zero (e.g.: for “Do you have a savings account?,” a yes was scored 1, a no was scored 0). Some questions were scored in reverse in order to align behaviors across categories (e.g.: for the borrow question, “Within the last 3 months, I paid the money I owed on time” a yes was scored 0, a no was scored 1).

Energy insecurity was assessed by a validated scale [ 47 ] asking respondents to answer whether in the last 3 months: the gas/electric company sent a letter threatening to shut off service whether energy service was not delivered, the home was not heated/cooled, and whether the cooking stove was used to heat the home because the family could not pay heating bills. Housing insecurity was assessed with a validated scale [ 9 , 49 , 50 ] that measures access to adequate and stable housing, where housing insecurity is indicated by affirmative response to at least two of the following: overcrowding (more than two people per bedroom) or multiple moves (two or more moves in the previous year). Household food insecurity (HFI) within the last 30 days was assessed using the validated 18-item Household Food Security Survey Module [ 51 ].

Health and depression measures

Self-rated physical health was assessed with a question adapted from The National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey [ 52 ], where health is self-rated as “excellent,” “good,” “fair,” or “poor,” then categorized into excellent/good and fair/poor. Self-reported depressive symptoms were assessed using the Center for Epidemiological Studies-Depression Revised 10 (CES-D- 10) [ 53 ], a ten-item screening tool validated to assess risk for clinical depression with good sensitivity, specificity and high internal consistency [ 53 ]. The CES-D-10 measures depressive symptoms over the previous week: 0 = rarely or none of the time (<1 day), 1 = some or a little of the time (1–2 days), 2 = occasionally or a moderate amount of the time (3–4 days), and 3 = most or all of the time (5–7 days). The range of the 10-item scale is 0 to 30 and the recommended cutoff score of ≥10 was used to indicate presence of depressive symptoms.

Statistical analysis

For this analysis, the full Phase II baseline sample (N = 373) consisting of participants recruited between 2015–2017 was used. Members that responded to the finance-related questions described above, economic hardship (food insecurity, energy insecurity and housing insecurity), as well as metrics on self-rated health and depressive symptoms, were included in the analysis. To aggregate over the range of the original 10 survey variables comprised of economic hardship and financial questions (discussed above, see Table 2 ), principal components analysis (PCA) was used to reduce the variables into a smaller number of “dimensions” [ 54 ]. This approach was utilized because it captures the most variance in the data as examining each variable individually may not be sufficient to differentiate financial health levels. Additionally, simply adding up the responses to each question assumes that all responses should be weighted equally when they may have differential impacts on financial health. To avoid collinearity due to the interrelated nature of energy security, housing security and food security, only questions relating to energy security were used for the PCA. Variables were considered meaningful if the absolute value of factor loadings were greater than 0.35 and components were only considered if their eigenvalues were >1.00 [ 55 ].

*A score of >10 indicates depression.

To test associations between financial health components from the PCA and self-rated health and depression, separate multivariate logistic regressions were run modelling the odds of poor-fair vs. good-excellent self-rated physical health and depression (yes/no) with each of the financial health components, adjusting for marital status, age, race/ethnicity, education, employment and other established and related social determinants of health: food, housing and energy insecurity. Results were considered significant at α = 0.05. Tests were run in SAS 9.4 and R.

Demographic information is provided in Table 2 . Over 90 percent of respondents were Black/African American women and participating in some form of public assistance such as The Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) program or The Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP). Less than a third of respondents (26.7%) had a savings account at baseline and fewer than half (36.9%) had a checking account. Notably, more than half of the respondents were food insecure and over a third were severely housing insecure.

The four financial health components—“can’t pay bills” ( spend ), “having assets” ( save ), “owing money” ( borrow ), and “planning” ( plan ), identified from The Network survey using the CSFI framework are presented in Table 3 . Their associated eigenvalues are 1.28 ( spend ), 1.97 ( save ), 1.36 ( borrow ), 1.25 ( plan ), accounting for 29%, 20%, 19%, and 18% of variance in the original data, respectively, or 86% of the variance in the original data combined. Individual survey items and their loading factor values are listed in Table 3 . The higher the factor loading of a given financial item, the greater the contribution of that item to the component. The spend component was characterized by experiencing a utility shutoff (factor loading = 0.651) and having no heat in the home (factor loading = 0.598). The save component was characterized by having a checking account (factor loading = 0.411), savings account (factor loading = 0.424), and an automatic deposit set up (factor loading = 0.378). The borrow component was characterized by having paid a late fee on a bill (factor loading = 0.569) and owing money (factor loading = 0.568). The plan component contained at least one financial goal (factor loading = 0.667) and a personal budget (factor loading = 0.551). No survey items overlapped between components ( Table 3 ).

* Indicates variable with an absolute value factor loading greater than 0.35. Variables with factor loading >0.35 were included in final construction of financial health domains.

Table 4 shows results from the logistic regression models examining the association between having significant depressive symptoms with each of the aforementioned financial health components, as well as the association between fair/poor physical health and each of the financial health components. All displayed odds ratios are adjusted for demographic variables and food, housing and energy insecurity. A higher score in owing money ( borrow) was associated with greater odds of depression (AOR = 2.16, 95% CI: 0.21–0.83) and fair/poor health (AOR = 1.83, 95% CI:1.05–3.20), whereas a higher score in financial planning ( plan) was associated with lower odds of both depression and fair/poor health (AOR = 0.42, 95% CI:0.21–0.83 and AOR = 0.46, 95% CI:0.24–0.87). There were no significant associations found with either the spend or save domains. None of the covariates were themselves associated with either having significant depressive symptoms or fair/poor physical health (results not shown).

* Results are presented as adjusted odds ratios (AOR) with 95% confidence intervals in parentheses. Bolded results are statistically significant (p<0.05).

a. AOR represents the odds of depression associated with a unit increase in scores for each financial health domain (spend, save, borrow, or plan), adjusting for included age, race/ethnicity, educational attainment, employment, marital status, food insecurity, energy insecurity and housing insecurity.

b. AOR represents the odds of fair/poor physical health (vs. good/excellent health) associated with a unit increase in scores for each financial health domain (spend, save, borrow, or plan), adjusting for included age, race/ethnicity, educational attainment, employment, marital status, food insecurity, energy insecurity and housing insecurity.

Internal validity

The financial health components demonstrated both discriminant and convergent validity when compared to individual measures of economic hardship (See Table 5 ). The save component was negatively correlated with household food insecurity (r = -0.124, p = 0.04) and positively correlated with wages (r = 0.423, p = 0.003). Conversely, the borrow component was positively correlated with food (r = 0.245, p<0.0001) and energy insecurity (r = 0.167, p = 0.007). The spend component was similarly correlated with energy insecurity (r = 0.311, p<0.0001). Financial health overall was negatively correlated with energy insecurity (r = -0.166, p = 0.007).

*Bolded values are significant at p<0.05.

Findings demonstrated that financial health is distinct from other measures of economic security, such that behavior and planning indicate more of a family’s ability to be financially ‘healthy’ and have better physical and mental health outcomes than other individual measures of income poverty such as housing/food insecurity or income level. Results also show that domains of financial health can be defined and measured, and that they are associated with both physical and mental health. Components measured in The Network aligned closely and intuitively with a validated and established measure of financial health from the literature; these findings corroborate that there are four domains to financial health: spend , save , borrow and plan . Moreover, the borrow and plan components were associated with self-rated health and depressive symptoms, independent of food, housing, and energy security, providing further evidence that financial health may be a standalone social determinant of health.

With the PCA, questions aligned as expected, and closely mirrored indicators from CSFI. However, the question of “would you say your family’s spending on living expenses was less than its total income” closely aligned with a CFSI spending indicator but not with other questions within the PCA. Associations between the financial health measure and the domains of health were mostly as anticipated. Overall, two of the domains ( borrow , and plan ) were associated with both meeting the cut off for depression (CES-D score >10) and self-rated physical health. This association with poor physical health is consistent with other research [ 56 , 57 ]. Additionally, results from the Spearman correlations provide evidence of construct validity, distinguishing this overall financial health construct as separate from other forms of economic hardship, including housing and food insecurity.

This study has some limitations. First, causal interpretations cannot be drawn as this study is observational. Second, this study relies on self-reported information for depression and health rather than a clinical diagnosis. However, both scales have shown reliability in multiple settings and study populations. Respondents also may have underreported on socially undesirable financial questions such as paying a late fee, though this is unlikely as members were enrolling into a financial self-empowerment program. Additionally, the financial questions, structured as yes/no, may not be sufficiently precise to characterize financial health. For example, simply answering yes to “have you paid a late fee on a bill or a loan?” does not distinguish between missing one bill, paying just one late fee, and being behind on multiple bills. Also, results of the PCA are influenced by variables that possess higher degrees of both variance and associated covariance. That is, variables with large variances have important structure, while those with lower variances represent noise, a strong and sometimes incorrect assumption especially in data derived from a homogenous sample. Lastly, while using a non-parametric method like PCA is advantageous in that the output is unique and independent of the user, the fact that PCA is “agnostic to the source of the data” is also a limitation as it does not take a-priori knowledge into account as do parametric methods [ 58 ].

Despite these limitations, this study is the first to connect components of financial health drawn from an industry-backed tool to salient public health outcomes. For example, Netemeyer, et al’s [ 38 ] work on financial well-being was published within a consumer research journal, yet they did not address how these perceptions are associated with specific health outcomes. Similarly, ProsperityNow, an organization devoted to advancing asset building, recently established a Financial Well-being Scale [ 59 ], yet the population which informed their scale were middle-to-high income.

While not generalizable to the general banking population, this study adds to the evidence base by using data derived from a historically underrepresented population: African-American caretakers participating in public assistance who would otherwise be missed in most conventional finance studies. Additionally, existing conceptualizations of financial health tend to focus on short-term risks and exposure to financial shocks, emphasizing savings and assets. However, most households with few or no assets are vulnerable to economic shocks [ 60 ], so considering assets alone is incomplete, and people with low incomes may rely on the alternative financial industry rather than bank accounts and partake in an informal economy where conventional forms of assets cannot be measured [ 45 , 60 , 61 ]. Moreover, financial studies typically rely on benchmarks unattainable for many low-income individuals, especially those that supplement income with public assistance supports such as TANF, SNAP, or the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC). This study, as one of the first to assess financial health among low-income caregivers, provides a foundation for future research that can enable public health practitioners and researchers to further understand the relationship between financial health and physical health among caregivers of young children. Additionally, as social service providers can measure patient and client financial health, they can more appropriately provide resources and solutions to help low-income families improve their overall health. Providing early interventions to help caregivers of young children to improve financial health can benefit children with lifelong health and wellbeing.

The American Psychological Association considers financial stress to be one of the top stressors in America [ 62 ], with severe stresses considered an adversity akin to adverse childhood experiences (ACEs), which include abuse, neglect, and household dysfunction [ 63 ]. Financial stress and economic hardships have been linked with increased physical pain, lowered pain tolerance, and risk of coronary heart disease [ 64 ]. Despite this evidence, comprehensive efforts to consider financial health as a mode of fostering financial capability and asset building that: 1) protect from the very financial shocks that can lead to or exacerbate economic hardship; and 2) address the harmful effects of the disparities in income and wealth [ 65 – 67 ], are missing from the public health landscape [ 14 – 17 ].

In order to better understand financial health and its implications for public health, consistent definition and measurement are necessary. Integrating financial health into the overall understanding of health determinants will help guide more effective and far-reaching interventions by providing a framework for solutions that do not rely on isolated approaches to food, housing, energy or other economic insecurities, but rather can address all of these issues by seeking to improve financial health in its four domains of spend , save , borrow and plan . Moreover, to reduce health disparities and address root causes of poor health, the public health community should generate opportunities for families who are financially and socially marginalized to build their wealth. This work sets the foundation for future researchers to investigate and agree upon a consistent measure and definition of financial health, which may help to generate interventions that build people’s capacities to improve their financial situation and may help inform policies that can increase or eliminate asset limits, promoting savings, and ultimately promote wellbeing.

Supporting information

Funding statement.

This work received funding from the following sources of financial support: Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, W.K. Kellogg Foundation, PEW Charitable Trusts, Annie E. Casey Foundation, First Hospital Foundation, Claneil Foundation, Inc. The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript.

Data Availability

  • PLoS One. 2020; 15(5): e0233359.

Decision Letter 0

14 Jan 2020

PONE-D-19-31725

Financial Health as a Measurable Social Determinant of Health

Dear Mrs. Weida,

Thank you for submitting your manuscript to PLOS ONE. After careful consideration, we feel that it has merit but does not fully meet PLOS ONE’s publication criteria as it currently stands. Therefore, we invite you to submit a revised version of the manuscript that addresses the points raised during the review process.

The paper has a great deal of promise, but it needs some revisions. First, there is a lack of supporting literature in the introduction. Please add more information about the history of finance as a component of overall health. If it is postulated to be an interdisciplinary perspective on health, this needs to be more clearly stated. The analyses should be more sophisticated given the robustness of the data. Please note the suggestions made by the reviewers (below). 

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Reviewers' comments:

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Reviewer #1: Reviewer’s Comments for “Financial Health as a Measurable Social Determinant of Health”

It was a pleasure to read this manuscript in that the topic of this study is timely important and worth to be explored beyond the discipline. Nevertheless, I would bring up some questions and concerns that may help the manuscript strengthened.

1. This study is not to examine the relationship between “financial health” and “health” because financial health variables are not used as predictors or determinants of health. Thus, the title may mislead readers. The authors should conduct further analyses to use this title.

2. “Objectives” does not get the gist. Is the purpose of this study to develop the new measurement of financial health? Or to suggest a root solution for improving financial health?

3. Again, this study does not reflect the “social determinant of health.” Be careful to include it.

4. I can see the concept, “financial capability” throughout the manuscript. What is the difference between financial health and financial capability? They sound similar.

5. P3 Line 69: class � does it mean social class?

Parent Study and Study Sample

6. Please provide a bit more explanation about the Building Wealth and Health Network program. Readers have less information on what this program is (e.g., what organization develops the program, where or in what area/region it is run, how many people have participated in this program).

7. It would be better to use the term “participants” instead of “members” of the program.

8. As authors are stating about the “study sample,” elucidate the total sample used in this study.

9. P5 Line 103: <6yrs � please spell out and write in a full sentence.

Economic Hardship and Financial Measures

10. There is an unmatched question:

� P6 Line135: In the last three months I repaid the money I owned on time

� Table 1. (Borrow x The Network Survey Questions): Within the last six months, I repaid the money I owned on time

11. Please say more about how you code variables that align with the four categories. What answers are considered as affirmative or negative? Which variables were reversely coded? Does a higher/lower score in each category (i.e., spend, save, borrow, plan) represent a higher level of financial health?

12. Where does the Financial Behavior, Knowledge, and Self-Efficacy Scale come from? This a new term/concept that you need to explain.

Statistical Analysis

13. P8 Line 158: Are economic hardship, food insecurity, energy insecurity, and housing insecurity all different concepts?

14. P8 Line 169: Why do authors use .35 as the cutoff value for factor loadings? If there is a reference, please cite it.

15. The sample size of this study is 373, which may fulfill the normality assumption. Please add more explanation of why authors used a nonparametric test (i.e., Mann-Whitney U Test) instead of t-test.

16. P8 Line 161: Specify which energy security question is included (or excluded) in the analysis.

17. Table 2: How household food security, Hosing insecurity, and Energy insecurity are measured? If they are indicating the questions used in Table 1, you need to specify which one is which.

18. Table 3: Please complete the table. What do the first and second columns stand for?

19. It would be better to use the term “participants” instead of “members” of the program.

20. Table 4: Mann-Whitney U Test is used to compare the mean value differences between two independent groups. Thus, you cannot use the term “Association.”

Internal Validity

21. Please add tables for this part of the result. Also, authors need to provide more explanation about food insecurity, energy insecurity, and wages. Are food insecurity and energy insecurity subordinate to economic hardship? How are they measured?

22. P13 Line 224-225: what are “other distinct constructs of economic hardship”? How can you say financial health is distinct from other distinct constructs of economic hardship? Is it tested?

23. Where are the results for the Spearman rank test?

24. Again, Mann-Whitney U Test is not testing the association between two variables. Thus, you cannot say “the associations between our financial health measure and the domains of health were as we anticipated.” If you’d like to see the association or relationship between those variables, additional statistical tests are required (e.g., regression).

25. The section explaining Figure 1 is missing.

26. Overall, check verb tenses. Some are used in present tenses, and some are used in past tenses.

Reviewer #2: PLOUS-D-19-31725

Paper Review

This paper was well written and nicely conceptualized. I must say, however, that I was surprised a bit by the framing of the paper. The notion of financial health is really not a new concept. Financial health has its origins in the 1970s and 1980s. What has happened, unfortunately, is that health researchers, in general, have not gone back deeply enough when conducting literature reviews to find this early work. Much of the early work was published as family resource management, consumer economics, family economics, or under the broader categorization of family and consumer sciences. Beginning in 1990, the work on financial health transitioned to the field of financial counseling and planning. This paper references a few papers from the Journal of Financial Counseling and Planning; it is this type of journal where much of the early work was being published. The leading researchers in the field include O’Neill, Kim, and Xiao; however, their work is seldom published in health journals, which explains why health researchers often assume that there is a paucity of research in the area. Here is an example of the type of work that exists, but which is rarely cited in health journals:

• Small steps to health and wealth™: Program update and research insights B O'Neill, K Ensle - The Forum for Family and Consumer Issues, 2014 - theforumjournal.org

• Propensity to plan: A key to health and wealth

B O'Neill, JJ Xiao, K Ensle - Journal of Financial Planning, 2016 - search.proquest.com

• Financially distressed consumers: Their financial practices, financial well-being, and health

B O'Neill, B Sorhaindo, JJ Xiao… - Journal of Financial …, 2005 - papers.ssrn.com

• Changes in health, negative financial events, and financial distress/financial well-being for debt management program clients

B O'Neill, A Prawitz, B Sorhaindo, J Kim… - Journal of Financial …, 2006 - papers.ssrn.com

• The small steps to health and wealth™ challenge: An online tool to motivate consumers to make positive behavior changes

B O'Neill, K Ensle - Proceedings of the Eastern Family Economics …, 2010 - fermascholar.org

• Family health and financial literacy–forging the connection

B Braun, J Kim, EA Anderson - Journal of Family and Consumer …, 2009 - sph.umd.edu

Anyway, this is just a summary of my initial reactions.

I would like more information on the measure used in the study. The questions seem very similar to scaling items developed by Garman and his students Joo and Kim (e.g., InCharge Financial Distress/Financial Well-Being Scale: Development, Administration, and Score Interpretation).

As far as I know, this was one of the first dissertations on the topic of financial stressors, which is essentially what is being measured in the “new” scale: https://vtechworks.lib.vt.edu/handle/10919/30519 It is possible that the CFSI measure was developed totally independently of other work related to financial stress and financial stressors, but that seems somewhat unlikely given that any google scholar search would bring up some important past research. It is possible that had a literature review been added to the current paper, much of my concern/questioning would be addressed.

A few questions/issues:

1. Is there a reason the paper is missing a review of literature? (The answer may be that it is not common for this journal to publish reviews of literature as an element of an accepted paper.)

2. On p. 12, was the spend>save question included in any of the domains? The factor loadings are very small across the domains. If it was not included, why is it shown? If it was included, why?

3. Given the sample size, and the demographic data available, why was the choice made to use a non-parametric bivariate test rather than a multivariate model? The literature shows that several demographic variables are typically associated with health and wealth outcomes. It seems like the Mann-Whitney U test would be the first stage level of analysis followed by a MANOVA or even a series of regressions.

I do like how the authors have concluded that integrating financial health into a broader definition of health is important. It may take more papers like this to help shift the health research to this acknowledgement. I like the paper; my general conclusion is that this seems very brief given the topic; also, I do think a more robust series of tests would help the paper quite a bit.

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Author response to Decision Letter 0

24 Mar 2020

Thank you for the great suggestions and edits to strengthen our manuscript. For a clearer point by point response, please see our attached document "Response to Reviewers".

General Comments:

The paper has a great deal of promise, but it needs some revisions. First, there is a lack of supporting literature in the introduction. Please add more information about the history of finance as a component of overall health. If it is postulated to be an interdisciplinary perspective on health, this needs to be more clearly stated. The analyses should be more sophisticated given the robustness of the data. Please note the suggestions made by the reviewers (below).

Thank you for this feedback. We have improved the introduction and added more background literature Please see lines 65-118.

Please ensure that your manuscript meets PLOS ONE's style requirements, including those for file naming.

Thank you for catching this, we have now adhered to PLOS ONE’s file naming requirements.

Please ensure you have cited any additional publications that have arisen from the Building Wealth and Health Network Trial in the manuscript.

Thank you for this reminder. We have added this into the text, please see line 135.

In your Data Availability statement, you have not specified where the minimal data set underlying the results described in your manuscript can be found. PLOS defines a study's minimal data set as the underlying data used to reach the conclusions drawn in the manuscript and any additional data required to replicate the reported study findings in their entirety. All PLOS journals require that the minimal data set be made fully available

We have included a minimal de identified dataset as a Supporting Information file.

Please include a separate caption for each figure in your manuscript.

We have ensured that our figure has a separate caption within the text.

Reviewer 1: It was a pleasure to read this manuscript in that the topic of this study is timely important and worth to be explored beyond the discipline. Nevertheless, I would bring up some questions and concerns that may help the manuscript strengthened.

Thank you for this comment. We have conducted logistic regressions with financial health domains as predictors of our health outcomes to better reflect the title and objectives of the paper.

Thank you for this point. We updated our objectives to better reflect the purpose of the paper.

Thank you for this catch. We have updated our analyses to reflect the use of this term more appropriately.

Thank you for the opportunity to clarify. Financial capability relates more to an individual’s knowledge and skills to make money-related decisions whereas we are claiming that financial health is a more holistic approach to a family’s financial situation. We have included this definition for financial capability to the introduction to help clarify.

The term class is out of place and has been removed.

Thank you for pointing out this oversight. We have added in text to reflect the number of participants from the pilot (N=103) as well as the Phase II (N=373), and that the study takes place in Philadelphia, PA out of Drexel University.

7. It would be better to use the term “participants” instead of “members” of the program

Thank you for this opportunity to clarify why we use the term “members” over “participants”. All participants in The Network are referred to as “members” to reflect the peer format nature of the program to foster social capital, connection and belonging. We have added these citations to the text (please see line 126)

We have specified that the sample was taken from all participants recruited for Phase II at baseline (lines 196-197).

Thank you. We have updated this in the text.

Thank you for catching this. The question should read “Within the last three months I repaid the money I owed on time.” We revised and updated the table.

Thank you for this opportunity to clarify. Please see Lines 169-172 and Table 1.

Thank you for this comment. This scale comes from Danes et al. (1999); as this study is a financial empowerment study we used this scale to help assess our members’ post programmatic growth in financial behaviors, knowledge and self-efficacy. We have included a brief description in the text please see lines 152-153.

Thank you for catching this – we have placed parentheticals around food insecurity, energy insecurity and housing insecurity to more clearly indicate these are forms of economic hardship.

Line 210, Cite: Peres-Neto, P. R., Jackson, D. A., & Somers, K. M. (2003). Giving meaningful interpretation to ordination axes: assessing loading significance in principal component analysis. Ecology, 84(9), 2347-2363.

Thank you for this opportunity to clarify. As we have decided to enhance the robustness of our analyses, we have removed the Mann-Whitney U Test and instead have included a series of regressions.

We apologize for the confusion. While the questions are from a validated energy insecurity screener, we chose to use them in our analysis as indicators of being unable to pay bills on time and have clarified this in the manuscript (lines 156-157).

Thank you for this point. We have added in descriptions on these measurements. Please see lines 173-181.

Thank you for catching this oversight. We have added column headers for this table.

Please see our response above. All participants in The Network are referred to as “members” to reflect the peer format nature of the program to foster social capital, connection and belonging. We have added this text (please see lines 126)

Thank you for pointing out the error in our language; we have since replaced the Mann-Whitney U tests with regression analyses.

Thank you for this suggestion. We have included the table, and we have provided citations for the food and energy insecurity measures, as well as provided more explanation for Figure 1, which depicts food and energy insecurity as types of economic hardship.

Thank you for this point. As it has not been tested, we have removed this statement.

We have removed the Spearman and Mann-Whitney tests to make room for the logistic regressions to enhance the robustness of our analyses.

We have added logistic regression models to our analyses that examine the odds of depression and poor health with each of our financial health domains while adjusting for demographics and other “established” determinants of health to show that there is an independent association between health and aspects of financial health.

Thank you for pointing out this oversight. We have added text (see lines 96-98) explaining Figure 1.

Thank you for this comment. We have gone through and hopefully corrected these inconsistencies.

Reviewer #2:

Thank you for these comments and for providing examples of literature to include. We have updated our literature review.

Thank you for this question, we have provided a review of the literature to hopefully provide some clarity. We have included some of the great work done by Garman and his colleagues in our literature review.

Thank you for catching this. We have provided a review of the literature. Please see lines 77-118.

The spend save question was not included in the final construction of any of the domains but was included in the initial PCA as a potentially relevant variable. We chose to include it in the table to be transparent about what variables were considered for the PCA, even if they were not statistically useful at the end. To avoid confusion, we have added text to the footnote to specify which variables contributed to each domain.

Thank you for this suggestion. We have added multivariate logistic regression models to our analyses.

Thank you for this comment, as well as your suggestions. We hope that our added literature review and additional analyses have strengthened our paper.

Submitted filename: Response to Reviewers.docx

Decision Letter 1

10 Apr 2020

PONE-D-19-31725R1

Dear Ms. Weida,

Both of the reviewers have noted some copy-editing issues that need to be addressed before the paper is ready for publication. Once these edits have been made, I will review the resubmission for final determination.

We would appreciate receiving your revised manuscript by May 25 2020 11:59PM. When you are ready to submit your revision, log on to https://www.editorialmanager.com/pone/ and select the 'Submissions Needing Revision' folder to locate your manuscript file.

Heidi H Ewen, Ph.D.

1. If the authors have adequately addressed your comments raised in a previous round of review and you feel that this manuscript is now acceptable for publication, you may indicate that here to bypass the “Comments to the Author” section, enter your conflict of interest statement in the “Confidential to Editor” section, and submit your "Accept" recommendation.

Reviewer #1: All comments have been addressed

Reviewer #2: All comments have been addressed

2. Is the manuscript technically sound, and do the data support the conclusions?

3. Has the statistical analysis been performed appropriately and rigorously?

4. Have the authors made all data underlying the findings in their manuscript fully available?

5. Is the manuscript presented in an intelligible fashion and written in standard English?

6. Review Comments to the Author

Reviewer #1: The manuscript has been considerably improved and sophisticated. I have a few questions as follows:

1. Research question and Discussion

The answer to the first research question (i.e., introduce a construct of financial health into the domain of public health defined by more than just individual measures of economic hardship) is not clearly stated in the discussion section. Please add more explanations why and which part of your analyses can be the evidence of the distinction between financial health and economic hardship (indicated by food security, housing security, and energy security).

2. “To avoid collinearity due to the interrelated nature of energy security, housing security and food security, only questions relating to energy security were used for the PCA (p.10, line 119-201)”. If only energy security items were included in the PCA, how do we know financial health variables are distinct from housing security and food security?

3. As the sample represents low-income caregivers of young children, it would be more valuable if the discussion provides implications beneficial to this specific population.

Reviewer #2: Thank you for addressing my issues. The paper does need a bit of copy editing. This may be something the editorial office can help with (e.g., some of the discussion around the new logistic regression model was oddly written). Other than that, the additions to the paper were appropriate.

7. PLOS authors have the option to publish the peer review history of their article ( what does this mean? ). If published, this will include your full peer review and any attached files.

Author response to Decision Letter 1

Thank you for the opportunity to provide more clarification. We added text in the discussion (please see lines 295-297).

Thank you for this insight. The Spearman correlation tests between each domain of our financial health construct (as well as the overall score) and housing and food insecurity were provided as demonstration construct validity to show that financial health is distinct from housing and food insecurity. The text that we added in response to your previous question will likely help us to clarify for readers the intention of these results.

Thank you for this point. Please see lines 321-330. We have added narrative at the end of the discussion section (lines 332-339) that describes the implications of this study to benefit low-income families with young children.

Thank you for the opportunity to correct these, we have taken time for more careful copyediting.

Submitted filename: Responses to Reviewers.docx

Decision Letter 2

PONE-D-19-31725R2

Dear Dr. Weida,

We are pleased to inform you that your manuscript has been judged scientifically suitable for publication and will be formally accepted for publication once it complies with all outstanding technical requirements.

Within one week, you will receive an e-mail containing information on the amendments required prior to publication. When all required modifications have been addressed, you will receive a formal acceptance letter and your manuscript will proceed to our production department and be scheduled for publication.

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Additional Editor Comments (optional):

Acceptance letter

Dear Dr. Weida:

I am pleased to inform you that your manuscript has been deemed suitable for publication in PLOS ONE. Congratulations! Your manuscript is now with our production department.

If your institution or institutions have a press office, please notify them about your upcoming paper at this point, to enable them to help maximize its impact. If they will be preparing press materials for this manuscript, please inform our press team within the next 48 hours. Your manuscript will remain under strict press embargo until 2 pm Eastern Time on the date of publication. For more information please contact gro.solp@sserpeno .

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Exploring the Important Link Between Health and Wealth

November 5, 2019  • Rhett Buttle & Financial Security Program

Over the past several months, the Aspen Institute’s prestigious programs, the Financial Security Program and the Health, Medicine and Society Program, embarked on a unique collaboration to explore the link between good health and financial wellbeing.

The connection between financial wellness and health is significant, with evidence showing that increased financial security is linked to improved health outcomes and improved quality of life. What’s more, finance and health are among the fastest-growing sectors of the economy — in the US, they comprise more than 40 percent of GDP — and both are targets of innovation.

Research has found that more than half of an individual’s life expectancy in the DC region could be explained by education and economic factors. According to another report, income growth not only correlates to life expectancy increases, but also to a decrease in the risk of chronic illness and an increase in access to resources that promote longevity and health. Other research has shown that financial insecurity is a serious source of mental stress, reducing an individual’s productivity and job performance. And yet more research notes that poor physical health directly impacts financial stability, increasing the likelihood of personal bankruptcy from medical debt.

Stakeholders across public, private, and philanthropic sectors are increasingly convinced of the necessity of a multidisciplinary approach that would result in solutions designed to tackle issues related to both economic and health inequality. Some of these efforts are being driven by the changes we are seeing in our economy — for example, the growth of the “gig” economy, high levels of debt, record income disparities, and challenges to retirement security that are all leaving their mark on an individual’s health. With economic structures in transition, entrepreneurs are beginning to link up with care providers and health advocates are promoting microenterprise. So, what does the link between health and wealth mean in this evolving economy?

Given these developments and questions, our collaboration sought to explore the connection between these two fields. Our work has manifested itself in two ways.

A Set of Exploratory Roundtables

First, the programs co-hosted a set of roundtables — one in Washington, DC, and one in San Francisco, CA — with key stakeholders from both fields. Each roundtable included approximately 20 to 30 sharp minds, including public health, healthcare, and financial security leaders from across academia, business, community-based and advocacy organizations, and other appropriate experts. The roundtables began a necessary dialogue, promoted an open space, and fostered trust in order to identify and discover areas of partnership.

Integrating Health & Wealth into the Aspen Ideas Festival

In addition to the roundtables, we brought the conversation to Aspen Ideas: Health (the three-day opening event of the Aspen Ideas Festival). There, we produced a track (or “theme”) focused exclusively on Health & Wealth. Content included a conversation with the US Surgeon General and the President of the Federal Reserve of Philadelphia, who explored ways that their jobs and missions are both fundamentally geared toward advancing the health of America’s families, communities, and economy. We also featured several business leaders who spoke to the business case for thinking about health and wealth together, and how both sectors can do more to ensure that the end goal of business aligns with helping households experience greater wellbeing. Another panel looked at how a living wage can create better health outcomes, and another explored how the growing burden of medical debt is one of the most common financial burdens for Americans. Attendees left increasingly aware that health and financial wellness are fundamentally linked.

What’s Next

These times require an authentic conversation about the substantial financial challenges facing our families — and increasing financial insecurity more broadly. Examining the connection between health and financial security is at the heart of this — and, we believe, the right place to start.

It is our hope that in partnership with several of the Institute’s policy programs — the Financial Security Program and the Health, Medicine and Society Program — we can explore an effort that combines each program’s networks, learnings, and expertise. Working together, the programs can move forward with the opportunity to examine the common essential building blocks of healthcare, medicine, wellness, and financial well-being. The true power in this effort comes from the ability to examine problems in new ways, integrate networks, and explore innovative solutions that stem from real collaboration. Through public convenings — and intensive, off-the-record dialogues with leaders from a wide cross-section of private, public, and nonprofit institutions — the Aspen Institute can play a lead role in advancing a conversation on how to improve health and wealth in tandem.

Long-lasting improvement on the issues of financial and health inequality requires multidisciplinary solutions that embrace the inter-relatedness of these issues. Improving health outcomes will allow people to live longer and healthier lives, and participate more fully in the economy. Coming together with a diverse set of committed leaders, we can effect change and improve the lives of millions.

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Wendy L. Patrick, J.D., Ph.D.

Consumer Behavior

Health vs. wealth: how the pandemic changed our priorities, shopping, sharing, and savoring: balancing health and wealth..

Posted June 6, 2022 | Reviewed by Michelle Quirk

  • The COVID-19 pandemic has uniquely impacted the value we place on both money and materialism.
  • The pandemic produced materialistic values, such as consuming media, anxiety, stress, loneliness, and depressed mood.
  • Contrary to expectations, focus on money actually decreased during the course of the pandemic.

During the early months of 2020, many people were reminded through both personal experience and global news reports of the critical importance of maintaining good health. As the pandemic progressed, we began to ask: but at what cost? We recognized that all the money in the world cannot buy good health, although good insurance helps. Flash forward several years, and we have clarified our priorities through our evolving practices of saving, sharing, and spending. As many people suspected, the COVID-19 pandemic has uniquely impacted the value we place on both money and materialism .

Shopping, Sharing, and Savoring

 Satyatiwari/Pixabay

Olaya Moldes et al. (2022) examined how people changed their priorities over the course of the COVID-19 pandemic. 1 Focusing largely on money and materialism, they made some interesting observations that demonstrate how privately evolving priorities can impact public spending behavior.

Balancing Health and Wealth

Moldes et al. note that the pandemic produced an increase in the types of factors that usually accompany an endorsement of materialistic values, such as consuming more media, anxiety , stress , loneliness , and depressed mood. Although they found that increases in media consumption, anxiety, and stress predicted levels of materialism to an extent, they found such effects to be limited. Contrary to expectations, they found that our focus on money actually decreased during the course of the pandemic.

Moldes et al. recognized a research-based definition of materialism as “individual differences in people's long-term endorsement of values, goals , and associated beliefs that center on the importance of acquiring money and possessions that convey status” (Dittmar et al., 2014). They note that wealth and consumption are thought to be tied to personal achievement and happiness —even though materialism has been linked to lower well-being and higher degrees of compulsive buying. They also note that research shows that advocating materialistic values is influenced by a higher amount of media consumption as well as social and personal insecurities and negative emotions.

But, overall, Moldes et al. explained that their observed decrease in the importance people placed on money might be due to the COVID-19–triggered alterations in the values people held—which were in the opposite direction than were predicted. They also found that, contrary to expectations, people decreased the level of importance they placed on economic resources during the outbreak, despite experiencing more factors that facilitate and promote materialism. They note that these results may be due to prioritizing personal health and well-being, or emerging “collective social identities that promote social solidarity and cooperation ,” that have previously been observed in times of emergencies and environmental disasters—thus decreasing our focus on material and economic resources.

Resignation and Revival

Moldes et al. note that the COVID-19 pandemic has changed the ways in which people think about money. Commenting on what has been dubbed “The Great Resignation” observed in the United States and the United Kingdom, they note that exiting the workforce has been likely fueled by reflecting on life priorities during the pandemic.

One interesting point, however, was that, apparently, during the pandemic, people found money to be less important, despite an increase in factors that endorse materialism. Moldes et al. observed an overall decrease in reported pandemic shopping behaviors, but a higher instance of purchasing as a coping mechanism to deal with negative emotions and in pursuit of well-being.

As we move forward seeking to prioritize both health and wealth, we have gained a greater appreciation of the ageless adage that the most precious things in life are free.

1. Moldes, Olaya, Denitsa Dineva, and Lisbeth Ku. 2022. “Has the Covid‐19 Pandemic Made Us More Materialistic? The Effect of Covid‐19 and Lockdown Restrictions on the Endorsement of Materialism.” Psychology & Marketing, January. doi:10.1002/mar.21627.

Wendy L. Patrick, J.D., Ph.D.

Wendy L. Patrick, J.D., Ph.D., is a career trial attorney, behavioral analyst, author of Red Flags , and co-author of Reading People .

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The costs of inequality: money = quality health care = longer life.

Federal insurance has helped many, but system’s holes limit gains, Harvard analysts say

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Fourth in a series on what Harvard scholars are doing to identify and understand inequality, in seeking solutions to one of America’s most vexing problems.

If you want to get an idea of the gap between the world’s sickest and healthiest people, don’t fly to a faraway land. Just look around the United States.

Health inequality is part of American life, so deeply entangled with other social problems — disparities in income , education , housing, race, gender, and even geography — that analysts have trouble saying which factors are cause and which are effect. The confusing result, they say, is a massive chicken-and-egg puzzle, its solution reaching beyond just health care. Because of that, everyday realities often determine whether people live in health or infirmity, to a ripe old age or early death.

“There are huge inequalities in this country that often get overlooked … If you want to observe the problems of poverty and inequality, you don’t need to travel all the way to Malawi. You can go to a rural house in America,” said Ichiro Kawachi, John L. Loeb and Frances Lehman Loeb Professor of Social Epidemiology and chair of the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health’s Department of Social and Behavioral Sciences. “If you’re born a black man in, let’s say, New Orleans Parish, your average life expectancy is worse than the male average of countries that are much poorer than America.”

Scholars say that inequality in health is actually three related problems. The first, and most critical, involves disparities in health itself: rates of asthma, diabetes, heart disease, cancer, drug abuse, violence, and other afflictions. The second problem involves disparities in care, including access to hospitals, clinics, doctors’ offices, skilled professionals, medical technology, essential medicine, and proper procedures to deal with illness and disease. The third problem, one that has grabbed national headlines in recent years, is inequality in health insurance, the financial means to pay for the care people get to stay well.

The three problems, scholars say, require interlaced solutions. President Obama’s signature health care law, the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (ACA), has taken important strides in narrowing the gap in health insurance coverage, but those gains so far have translated to limited advances in ensuring access to quality medical care and even less progress in making diverse groups equally healthy.

“That’s an area where there’s less progress and more disappointment,” said John McDonough, professor of the practice of public health at the Harvard Chan School. McDonough has worked on health care reform both in Massachusetts, which created the model for national care, and at the federal level.

Disparities are built into the health care landscape, but there has been great progress in recent decades, according to S.V. Subramanian, professor of population health and geography at the Harvard Chan School and the Harvard Center for Population and Development Studies . Life expectancy is increasing for African-Americans and the poor, albeit at a lower rate than for wealthy whites. Although stark disparities remain, the overall health picture in this country is one of improvement, analysts say.

“I sometimes feel that the public health narrative is all doom and gloom, but that’s inaccurate,” Subramanian said.

Still, the remaining disparities are bell-clear in one of the bluntest measures of health: life expectancy, which varies, depending on a resident’s race and ethnicity, as much as 30 years between the richest and poorest U.S. counties. That gap, Kawachi said, covers about two-thirds of the range seen between the world’s healthiest and unhealthiest populations.

In addition, a new study by the Brookings Institution found that the gap has widened considerably. An upper-income man born in 1920, for example, could expect to live five years longer than someone at the lower end of the income spectrum. But for men born in 1940, that life-expectancy divide based on income has more than doubled, to 12 years.

Health disparities are a major reason why U.S. life expectancy trails many peer nations, Kawachi said. According to a 2014 report by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), U.S. life expectancy in 2012 was 78.7 years, 27th out of the group’s 34 industrialized democracies.

The fault line of income, and care

Health disparities form along several societal fault lines, but analysts say the deepest and most persistent divide surrounds income. America’s poor — of any race or ethnicity — are sicker than well-off Americans, Kawachi said. They get substandard care, live in poor housing and degraded environments, and have higher rates of suicide, violence, drug overdose, accidents, and smoking.

“It’s not only a question of racial disparities,” Kawachi said. “At the root of it are unequal economic opportunities, unequal education, and despair.”

Disparities due to poverty hurt racial and ethnic minorities more than other groups because they make up a large proportion of the poor. Not only do they have more ailments, but they often get worse care.

“If you’re having a heart attack, there are very standardized protocols. If you’re African-American, you’re less likely to get those, even with the same health insurance, even with the same presentation,” said Ashish Jha, the K.T. Li Professor of International Health, professor of medicine, and director of the Harvard Global Health Institute. “It’s things like that that trouble us.”

Disparities in health, Jha said, begin at birth for many African-Americans and persist through life.

“One thing we hoped is that the health care system would be part of the solution. What we find, over and over, is that not only does it not do that consistently, sometimes it makes things worse,” Jha said. “It’s obviously deeply disappointing.”

Though health professionals generally care deeply about their poor and minority patients, the problem nonetheless may be rooted in racism, according to David Williams, Florence Sprague Norman and Laura Smart Norman Professor of Public Health at the Harvard Chan School and professor of African and African-American studies in Harvard’s Faculty of Arts and Sciences.

In a recent article in the Journal of the American Medical Association, Williams, along with colleague Ronald Wyatt, cited a 2003 Institute of Medicine report that labeled widespread “implicit bias” for differences in the care that African-Americans and other minorities receive. They said that substandard care leads to an estimated 260 premature African-American deaths each day.

“Insurance is not just supposed to get you access to care, it’s supposed to keep you from getting evicted from your apartment because you paid your hospital bill instead of your rent.” Katherine Baicker

“African-American individuals and those in other minority groups receive fewer procedures and poorer-quality medical care than white individuals,” Williams and Wyatt wrote. “These differences existed even after statistical adjustment for variations in health insurance, stage and severity of disease, income or education, comorbid disease, and the type of health care facility.”

The result of that disparity and others fuels another one: shorter life spans for African-Americans, according to Thomas McGuire, professor of health economics in Harvard Medical School’s (HMS) Department of Health Care Policy.

“In terms of health, there’s approximately a five-year penalty for being African-American compared to being a white male,” McGuire said.

While poverty, race, and ethnicity are key divides between wellness and ill health, another factor — often ignored — is geography, according to Katherine Baicker, C. Boyden Gray Professor of Health Economics at the Harvard Chan School and acting chair of the Department of Health Policy and Management.

Health disparities exist regionally across America — Southern states, for example, have poorer care, according to a 2014 government report. There also are smaller pockets of poverty, such as depressed urban areas.

“I think an important factor that is sometimes overlooked is there are a lot of observed disparities in care … based on income, race, or ethnicity, that are attributable to the quality of care in some parts of the country lagging behind other parts of the country,” Baicker said. “So it’s as much about where you live as what your characteristics are.”

Necessary, but not sufficient

Easily the most significant recent step to lessen health disparities came when Congress passed the ACA in 2010. The law requires people above a certain income to have health insurance, and it expands the Medicaid program to cover those who can’t afford it. A 2012 Supreme Court ruling created a significant pothole on the road to universal coverage, however, allowing states to opt out of the Medicaid expansion. That left 4 million poor Americans in 20 states ineligible and on their own.

“Under the ACA, we created a new structure where just about every American citizen and legal resident has access to some kind of affordable health insurance coverage, except for poor adults in states that have not accepted Medicaid expansion under the ACA,” McDonough said.

Despite that large pool of uncovered people, McDonough said, the ACA has clearly reduced health inequalities in much of the nation, particularly for minority and ethnic groups.

“The ACA has succeeded in taking a major step forward in reducing inequalities as pertains to access in health insurance coverage,” McDonough said. “It has not solved it, but it’s a major step forward.”

The act also has reduced disparities in medical care and in health status, according to McDonough and McGuire. By requiring insurance companies to cover people regardless of pre-existing conditions, it has worked to level the financial gap between the sick and the well.

Though researchers will require time to prove whether illness and chronic disease have dropped as a result, early studies — including one in 2012 by Benjamin Sommers and another last September led by Joshua Salomon, both at the Harvard Chan School — indicate that health insurance coverage can prevent tens of thousands of premature deaths and prompt more than 650,000 people to control chronic conditions such as diabetes, high blood pressure, and high cholesterol.

Substandard care leads to 260 premature African-American deaths daily.

“What’s fairly indisputable is that by expanding coverage to so many millions of otherwise uninsured Americans, we’re saving lives,” McDonough said.

McDonough said that Oregon presented researchers, led by the Chan School’s Baicker and Amy Finkelstein at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, with a natural experiment when it used a lottery to expand its Medicaid program in 2008. The lottery was a randomized control designed to show that people newly covered by Medicaid took advantage of more preventive care, prescription drugs, and doctors’ office visits to stay healthy, as well as more hospital stays and emergency department visits to treat worsening conditions. Their self-reported access to care and quality of care both rose. In addition, they reported better health and lower rates of depression.

The study did not show improvement in several measures of health involving chronic conditions such as high blood pressure, high cholesterol, or diabetes, Baicker said. But there was progress in improving patients’ financial stability. People covered by Medicaid had far fewer bills sent to collectors, and catastrophic out-of-pocket medical expenses were virtually eliminated.

“Having insurance improved access to care. It also provided financial protection, which is a component of insurance that people don’t talk about but which is really important,” Baicker said. “Insurance is not just supposed to get you access to care; it’s supposed to keep you from getting evicted from your apartment because you paid your hospital bill instead of your rent.”

While the ACA was designed to provide that stability nationally, it isn’t perfect, Jha said, and the endless partisan debate surrounding it in Washington, D.C., and in some states has blocked needed fixes, according to analysts. One provision of the measure that Jha finds troubling was supposed to improve patient care by penalizing hospitals with poor patient outcomes. But that provision, he said, backfires where large, urban, safety-net hospitals are involved. Since they serve a disproportionate number of poor people with chronic ailments, they often have worse outcomes that are unrelated to care.

“I do worry that it will worsen disparities,” Jha said. “There’s good empirical data; the penalties are disproportionately targeting safety-net” hospitals.

A multipronged approach

While the ACA was a giant step in bridging America’s health divide, analysts say that merely providing health insurance isn’t enough. Insurance helps equalize access to care, but disparities remain in the quality of that care. However, there are levers to tackle that problem too, according to Amitabh Chandra, Malcolm Wiener Professor of Social Policy at the Harvard Kennedy School (HKS).

Identifying poor-quality facilities provides an opportunity for rapid improvement by bringing best practices to bear, Chandra said. Baicker agreed, saying such targeted interventions can prove both effective and inexpensive.

“Part of it is about resources,” Baicker said. “There’s also fairly strong evidence that quality could be improved without costing a lot of money in some places, where best practices are not being implemented. Sometimes, it’s not clear what the right thing to do is. But sometimes it is, and our system does not generate high-quality care and best practices nearly as consistently as we would like it to.”

Government-led, policy-driven shifts on health care have led to dramatic improvements in the past and could again, Chandra said. When U.S. hospitals were desegregated in the 1960s, there was “overnight” improvement in African-American infant mortality. Similarly, Chandra said, new technology could help disadvantaged populations by improving their care condition by condition. The discovery of surfactants, for example, helped all premature babies breathe better, but benefitted African-American babies in particular because they were more often premature.

Similarly, McGuire said, attitudinal health reforms, such as against stereotypes and race-related disparities, could create a wide ripple effect. “Activation” training, during which patients from disadvantaged populations are encouraged to question physicians and immerse themselves in their own care, could improve their interactions in everyday life as well.

“The next time they interact with someone outside the health care system, this is going to help them there, too,” McGuire said.

Targeting the factors influencing health

While policy shifts can be powerful tools against health inequities, Subramanian said that such initiatives should be aimed not at outcomes, but earlier in the chain at the factors influencing health. “From a health perspective, the most important thing to think about would be inequalities in opportunities that are health-promoting, rather than inequalities in health outcomes per se,” Subramanian said.

Another helpful policy change would relax America’s relatively stingy family-leave and sick-time policies, Kawachi said.

“If you’re having a heart attack, there are very standardized protocols. If you’re African-American, you’re less likely to get those, even with the same health insurance, even with the same presentation.” Ashish Jha

Among its less-publicized features, the ACA promotes “accountable care organizations,” whose financial rewards are linked to better patient outcomes rather than to just providing treatment, thereby linking financial success to patient health.

“Many health care providers are acutely aware of the inadequacy of the office visit alone to improve population health,” Baicker said. “They sometimes lack flexibility [to try new things and] they sometimes lack resources. To the extent that they can be given flexibility, coupled with responsibility [for population health], that’s an avenue toward better disease management and health promotion.”

But eliminating health disparities outright remains problematic because some causes lie outside the care system. Poor education often leads to low-wage jobs, leading to substandard housing and poor diets and smoking, further leading to diabetes and asthma. So any overarching solution would require massive breadth.

“Health insurance affects health care. Health care affects health. But there are other things that affect health,” Baicker said, including social determinants, quality food, proper exercise, and wise behavior. “Being poor is really hard on your health in and of itself. Then having limited access to health care is another big hit. But there are lots of things about poverty that are harmful to health that really have nothing to do with health care per se.”

Addressing those social and behavioral factors would require government officials and community leaders to think innovatively and cooperatively about the everyday realities that affect health, even down to the designs of neighborhoods and transportation systems. There would have to be more flexibility for health care spending to help, for example, an asthmatic child whose medication might be covered but whose need for an air conditioner is not. Physicians would need to be aware of nonmedical pressures that patients face after leaving their offices that might, for instance, leave them without transportation to follow-up appointments or to pharmacies for medicine. Partner organizations would need to help meet routine needs by such things as grocery shopping and cooking for postoperative patients who are well enough to go home, but can’t yet push carts down store aisles.

“It’s not just about what we do in the hospital, what we do in the doctor’s office. It’s about all the things that happen outside of it,” Jha said. “We’ve come to realize that whole processes are important … not just prescribing right.”

Nancy Oriol, HMS dean of students, has been part of a 24-year experiment to hurdle some of those barriers, seeing patients as whole people and meeting them literally where they live.

As director of obstetric anesthesia for Harvard-affiliated Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center in the 1980s, Oriol became concerned about infant mortality rates in the poor neighborhoods near Boston’s Longwood section, where HMS and several of its most prominent affiliate hospitals are located.

She and Cheryl Dorsey, then a third-year medical student, began to develop a mobile clinic, the Family Van, that provides basic health education, screenings, and referrals to residents of poor neighborhoods. Though Oriol no longer works on van issues day-to-day, she is probing how the nation’s estimated 2,000 mobile clinics can fill a gap in America’s health care network.

Early on, she hoped that the Family Van would become obsolete as the health care system improved. But now Oriol sees the mobile clinics as an emerging sector, a permanent player with their own mission.

“I actually have come to believe that mobile clinics are not a bridge over a gap, but a different form of health care,” Oriol said. “It is the health care that brings you health in the same place that you live your life.”

60 million with little primary care

In another example of fresh thinking, at HMS’s five-year-old Center for Primary Care, co-director Andrew Ellner, an assistant professor of medicine, is tackling a root cause of health disparities: poor primary care.

According to a 2009 report by the National Association of Community Health Centers, a whopping 60 million Americans lack adequate access to primary care. Ellner said that even people who do have access are often poorly served by what they get.

“I think the lack of primary care certainly is part of the problem, but it is also a reflection of the problem,” Ellner said. “There’s less primary care because there’s less financing available to offer care to disadvantaged patient populations.”

Good primary care requires correct responses to illnesses, injuries, and other conditions, coupled with strong preventive medicine, including administering vaccines and routine screenings, while encouraging healthy diet and exercise. Another critical factor, Ellner said, is properly coordinating care with other providers, including specialists, therapists, and technicians.

“That’s especially important in the U.S. because the health care system is fragmented, and people can get lost. We have to make sure they don’t fall through the cracks,” he said. “It’s definitely part of the solution. Primary care is really on the front lines of health care. It’s a critical factor in making the health system work — not just in providing care, but also in making it accessible to people.”

Internationally, the United States has a reputation as a country with poor primary care. That reality is a significant factor in high health care costs, even though, Ellner said, there are pockets of excellence that provide primary care as good as anywhere in the world. The challenge, he said, is to scale up those examples nationally and make them the rule rather than the exception.

A team approach to care

In another shift, the HMS center has partnered with seven Harvard-affiliated health systems to install a team-based approach to care. The teams, which are being tested in 28 Boston-area practices serving 300,000 patients, include physicians, nurses, social workers, community health workers, and pharmacy technicians.

“Physicians are important, but a lot of primary-care functions should be filled by non-physicians,” Ellner said. “The real fix [to U.S. primary care] will be, over time, to change the ratio of primary care and specialist physicians … [and] to fundamentally change the organization of primary care into a team approach that allows doctors to focus on the parts of health care for which they are uniquely trained: complex diagnosis and management.”

Possible solutions to health care inequality

  • Earlier diagnoses of ailments
  • Universal health insurance
  • Better patient education
  • More preventive care
  • Fewer penalties on safety-net hospitals
  • Monitoring, upgrading struggling facilities
  • Wider access to technology
  • Stronger primary care
  • Broader family-, sick-leave policies
  • Social systems supporting health
  • Team approaches to care

Larger social factors play a role in health. Kawachi said studies have shown that preschool programs deliver $1.17 of benefits for each $1 invested. Since poverty is a root cause of health disparities, an increase in the federal minimum wage — which at $7.25 an hour leaves a family of four well below the federal poverty line ― would prove a health boon as well, he said.

The ACA recognizes the need to address the exterior causes of health disparities, McDonough said, but those aspects of the law haven’t been taken seriously. For instance, political opponents have attacked the $15 million Prevention and Public Health Trust Fund that provides grants to address poor housing, air quality, and lack of exercise, calling the spending wasteful. Legislators have cut a third of its funds.

“It has been under constant, ruthless assault by opponents of the law as fluff, as paying for jungle gym sets,” McDonough said. “Public health and public health programs have always taken a beating in difficult economic times. There was hope that the ACA represented the dawn of a new day and we would break out of that cycle. That hasn’t happened.”

Despite the endless political tug-of-war over the ACA , Baicker believes that there will be more opportunities soon to experiment with health care reforms, if only to slow cost increases, which have picked up speed.

“There are a lot of positive developments, but I don’t think anybody would argue that we solved this problem,” Baicker said. “There are serious financial problems with the health care system that necessitate bigger change than we’ve seen so far.”

Illustration by Kathleen M.G. Howlett.

Next Tuesday: Inequality in law

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Essay on Health is Wealth: 200, 300 and 400 Words

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Essay on health is wealth

Essay on Health is Wealth: The saying “health is wealth” rings true for each individual. Material possessions lose their lustre when you are unwell. Good health allows you to experience life fully, with energy for work, relationships, and enjoyment. While money can buy medical care, it cannot buy true health. By prioritising healthy habits like balanced meals and exercise, you invest in your greatest asset – your well-being.

This Blog Includes:

Essay on health is wealth in 200 words, essay on health is wealth in 300 words, physical well-being, mental health, economic success, life quality, 11+ quotes on health and well being.

Also Read: Essay on Best Friend

Health is beyond any doubt, one of the most valuable assets one can possess. In a world where material wealth and outside success matter, the phrase “health is wealth” holds a timeless significance. Apart from this, this phrase also reminds us that having good health is the foundation on which a fulfilling life is built. 

Speaking of the advantages of having good health, it allows us to enjoy life to the fullest. Without having a healthy mind and body the whole process becomes elusive. 

Moreover, success and productivity depend on being in excellent health. It enables people to achieve their goals, work productively, and give back to society. An unwell person frequently encounters obstacles that prevent them from realising their hopes and dreams.

Keeping one’s health is also an investment in the future. Regular exercise and a healthy diet are two preventative healthcare practices that can assist in avoiding the need for future, expensive medical treatments. It is important to take a responsible approach to protecting one’s general well-being as well as one’s financial wealth.

Finally,” health is wealth” emphasises the importance of well-being in our lives. It reminds us that the priceless gift of health cannot be replaced by any amount of material prosperity. One must put their health first and treasure it beyond everything else if one wants to live a truly wealthy and fulfilling life.

Also Read: Essay on Peacock

Health is riches, after all. This proverb, which emphasises the critical necessity of health in one’s life, is full of timeless wisdom. It is simple to ignore the priceless gem that good health represents in a world that is focused on material prosperity and material interests.

First and foremost, being healthy helps people to live happy and fruitful lives. It serves as the cornerstone on which all other accomplishments are constructed. When someone is in good health, they have the vigour, strength, and stamina to achieve their aspirations, objectives, and ambitions. Poor health, on the other hand, can be a formidable obstacle that restricts one’s potential and prospects.

Additionally, having good health results in a higher quality of life. Healthy people require fewer medical procedures and are less in pain and suffering. They can enjoy life’s simple pleasures like spending time with loved ones, going outside, and eating good food without worrying about their diet.

The state of one’s health is crucial to their mental well-being. Mental health and physical well-being are tightly related. An emotionally stable and resilient state of mind is frequently a byproduct of physical health. The importance of health in one’s entire well-being is further highlighted by the fact that poor health can result in stress, worry, and depression.

The economic effects of health are another important factor. People who are in good health tend to be more productive at work, which increases earnings and improves financial security. On the other hand, health issues can cause medical expenses and decreased earning potential, which can have a considerable influence on one’s financial security.

The term “health is wealth” embodies a profound truth, to sum it up. The most valuable asset a person can have is good health because it supports all other facets of life. It enables people to live fulfilling lives, pursue their aspirations, and maintain their mental and emotional health. As a result, we must give our health priority and make the necessary investments because it is the only type of wealth that will never be exceeded or replaced by worldly belongings.

Also Read: Essay on Health: Long and Short Essay Samples

Essay on Health is Wealth in 400 Words 

The proverb “Health is Wealth” maintains a special place in our lives. It emphasises how important good health is as the cornerstone of a successful and joyful life. The genuine meaning of riches is frequently missed in today’s fast-paced society when success is frequently gauged in monetary terms. This essay explores the deep significance of this adage and shows how true it is that the best asset anyone can have is their health.

Here are all the benefits one gets:

Being physically healthy is the same as being in good health. Our bodies perform at their peak when we are healthy, enabling us to go about our daily lives with vigour and enthusiasm. A productive existence is built on a foundation of physical fitness. It makes it possible for us to work effectively, pursue our objectives, and fully appreciate life. Even the most plentiful wealth becomes meaningless in the absence of health.

 In addition to physical health, mental health is a critical element of our entire prosperity. Ageless wisdom is having a good mind and a healthy body. Our cognitive functioning, emotional stability, and resiliency in the face of difficulties are all influenced by our mental health. Material prosperity can become a cause of stress and unhappiness in the absence of mental wellness.

Economic success is directly correlated with good health. People may actively participate in the workforce and make more money when they are healthy. Healthier populations are also less financially burdened by healthcare expenses, releasing funds for other basic requirements. As a result, investing in healthcare is an investment in the prosperity of a country.

The genuine wealth of life is found in its excellence. A person in good health can enjoy life’s joys, go on trips, engage in hobbies, and spend time with loved ones. No amount of money can replace the richness that these experiences bring to life. Healthy people are better able to live fulfilling and pleasurable lives.

To conclude, the motto “Health is Wealth” perfectly describes what a prosperous life entails. While having material possessions is necessary for comfort and security, how we use and enjoy our wealth is ultimately influenced by our health. Given that health is the foundation upon which all other types of wealth are formed, investing in it should be a top priority. One must understand that health is the ultimate treasure that neither money nor anything else can ever fully replace or imitate to truly understand its worth. Therefore, let us never lose sight of the fact that our health is the most priceless asset we have when pursuing success and happiness.

Also Read: Essay on Health and Fitness for Students

Here are popular quotes on health and well being:

  • “Take care of your body. It’s the only place you have to live.” – Jim Rohn
  • “Health is a state of complete harmony of the body, mind and spirit.” – B.K.S. Iyengar (Yoga teacher)
  • “Early to bed and early to rise makes a man healthy, wealthy and wise.” – Benjamin Franklin (Polymath)
  • “Let food be thy medicine and medicine be thy food.” – Hippocrates (Ancient Greek physician)
  • “A sound mind in a sound body.” – Juvenal (Roman satirist)
  • “You don’t have to be great to start, but you have to start to be great.” – Zig Ziglar (Motivational speaker)
  • “Your body hears everything your mind says.” – Naomi Judd (Singer)
  • “The first wealth is health.” – Ralph Waldo Emerson (American philosopher)
  • “The groundwork for all happiness is health.” – Leigh Hunt (British writer)
  • “To keep the body in good health is a duty… otherwise, we shall not be able to keep the mind strong and clear.” – Gautam Buddha (Spiritual leader)
  • “The more you praise and celebrate your life, the more there is in life to celebrate.” – Oprah Winfrey (Talk show host)
  • “Peace is the result, not of absence of conflict, but of the ability to handle it.” – Roosevelt (American President)

Explore other Essay topics for school students here:

Wealth and health are vital, but many people believe that health is ultimately more crucial. This is because it is challenging to gain from riches without being in excellent health.

A healthy person has an improved social life and a sound mental condition, which refers to a person’s emotional and psychological state and is just as important for health as physical fitness.

A person with poor mental health has a higher chance of chronic physical conditions. If you are physically fit and active, your neural functioning is enhanced which can be beneficial for your academic, social and personal environment.

We hope this blog provided you with all the information on health is wealth and the importance behind it etc. To discover more essay writing topics, then keep reading at Leverage Edu! 

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Malvika Chawla

Malvika is a content writer cum news freak who comes with a strong background in Journalism and has worked with renowned news websites such as News 9 and The Financial Express to name a few. When not writing, she can be found bringing life to the canvasses by painting on them.

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Health Is Wealth Essay for Students and Children

500+ words health is wealth essay.

Growing up you might have heard the term ‘Health is Wealth’, but its essential meaning is still not clear to most people. Generally, people confuse good health with being free of any kind of illness. While it may be part of the case, it is not entirely what good health is all about. In other words, to lead a healthy life , a person must be fit and fine both physically and mentally. For instance, if you are constantly eating junk food yet you do not have any disease, it does not make you healthy. You are not consuming healthy food which naturally means you are not healthy, just surviving. Therefore, to actually live and not merely survive, you need to have the basic essentials that make up for a healthy lifestyle.

health is wealth essay

Introduction

Life is about striking a balance between certain fundamental parts of life. Health is one of these aspects. We value health in the same way that we value time once we have lost it. We cannot rewind time, but the good news is that we can regain health with some effort. A person in good physical and mental health may appreciate the world to the fullest and meet life’s problems with ease and comfort. Health is riches implies that health is a priceless asset rather than money or ownership of material possessions. There is no point in having money if you don’t have good health.

Key Elements Of A Healthy Lifestyle

If you wish to acquire a healthy lifestyle, you will certainly have to make some changes in your life. Maintaining a healthy lifestyle demands consistent habits and disciplined life. There are various good habits that you can adopt like exercising regularly which will maintain your physical fitness. It also affects your mental health as when your appearance enhances, your confidence will automatically get boosted.

To live a healthy life, one must make some lifestyle modifications. These modifications can include changes to your food habits, sleeping routines, and lifestyle. You should eat a well-balanced, nutrient-dense diet for your physical wellness.

Further, it will prevent obesity and help you burn out extra fat from your body. After that, a balanced diet is of great importance. When you intake appropriate amounts of nutrition, vitamins, proteins, calories and more, your immune system will strengthen. This will, in turn, help you fight off diseases powerfully resulting in a disease-free life.

Above all, cleanliness plays a significant role in maintaining a healthy lifestyle. Your balanced diet and regular exercise will be completely useless if you live in an unhealthy environment. One must always maintain cleanliness in their surroundings so as to avoid the risk of catching communicable diseases.

Get the huge list of more than 500 Essay Topics and Ideas

Benefits Of A Healthy Lifestyle

As it is clear by now, good health is a luxury which everyone wants but some of them cannot afford. This point itself states the importance of a healthy lifestyle. When a person leads a healthy lifestyle, he/she will be free from the tension of seeking medical attention every now and then.

essay on health vs money

On the contrary, if you have poor health, you will usually spend your time in a hospital and the bills will take away your mental peace. Therefore, a healthy lifestyle means you will be able to enjoy your life freely. Similarly, when you have a relaxed mind at all times, you will be able to keep your loved ones happy. A healthy individual is more likely to fulfil all of his goals because he can easily focus on them and has the energy to complete them. This is why the proverb “Health is Wealth” carries so much weight.

A socially healthy individual is one who is able to interact effectively and readily connect with others. Without his ego, he can easily blend with the person in front of him, exuding a nice feeling and energy.

Every human being should participate in sports and activities to get away from the monotony of daily life. It is because sports and games assist in instilling a sense of oneness in people, build leadership skills, and make a person absolutely disciplined.

Moreover, a healthy lifestyle will push you to do better in life and motivate you to achieve higher targets. It usually happens that people who are extremely wealthy in terms of money often lack good health. This just proves that all the riches in the world will do you no good if there is an absence of a healthy lifestyle.

In short, healthy life is the highest blessing that must not be taken for granted. It is truly the source of all happiness. Money may buy you all the luxuries in the world but it cannot buy you good health. You are solely responsible for that, so for your well-being and happiness, it is better to switch to a healthy lifestyle.

Good Health for Children

Childhood is an ideal period to inculcate healthy behaviours in children. Children’s health is determined by a variety of factors, including diet, hydration, sleep schedule, hygiene, family time, doctor visits, and physical exercise. Following are a few key points and health tips that parents should remember for their children:

  • Never allow your children to get by without nutritious food. Fruits and vegetables are essential.
  • Breakfast is the most important meal of the day, therefore teach them to frequently wash their hands and feet.
  • Sleep is essential for your child.
  • Make it a habit for them to drink plenty of water.
  • Encourage physical activity and sports.
  • Allow them enough time to sleep.
  • It is critical to visit the doctor on a regular basis for checks.

Parents frequently focus solely on their children’s physical requirements. They dress up their children’s wounds and injuries and provide them with good food. However, they frequently fail to detect their child’s deteriorating mental health. This is because they do not believe that mental health is important.

Few Lines on Health is Wealth Essay for Students

  • A state of physical, mental, emotional, and social well-being is referred to as health. And all of this is linked to one another.
  • Stress, worry, and tension are the leading causes of illness and disease in today’s world. When these three factors are present for an extended period of time, they can result in a variety of mental difficulties, which can lead to physical and emotional illnesses. As a result, taking care of your own health is critical.
  • Unhealthy food or contaminated water, packed and processed food and beverages, unsanitary living conditions, not getting enough sleep, and a lack of physical activity are some of the other primary causes of health deterioration.
  • A well-balanced diet combined with adequate exercise and hygienic habits, as well as a clean environment, can enhance immunity and equip a person to fight most diseases.
  • A healthy body and mind are capable of achieving things that a sick body and mind are incapable of achieving, including happiness.
  • It is also vital to seek medical and professional assistance when necessary because health is our most valuable asset.
  • Activities such as playing an instrument, playing games, or reading provide the brain with the required exercise it requires to improve health.

Maintaining healthy behaviours improves one’s outlook on life and contributes to longevity as well as success.

Frequently Asked Questions

Question 1: What are the basic essentials of a healthy life? Answer: A healthy life requires regular exercise, a balanced diet, a clean environment, and good habits.

Question 2: How can a healthy life be beneficial? Answer: A healthy lifestyle can benefit you in various ways. You will lead a happier life free from any type of disease. Moreover, it will also enhance your state of mind.

Question 3: When is World Health Day celebrated?

Answer: Since 1950, World Health Day has been observed on the 7th of April by the World Health Organization (WHO), after a decision made at the first Health Assembly in 1948. It is observed to raise awareness about people’s overall health and well-being around the world.

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Health Vs. Wealth: A Healthy Life Is More Important Than Money

Wealth Vs Health

Is health more important than money ? We hear this question quite frequently and wonder, what is actually more preferable.

In a two words sentence, I would say, ‘ health is better than wealth . Why? Do not worry because we will be discussing the matter in detail in this post.

However, let’s get to know health a little before we stress on why it’s more important than money.

The word health refers to a situation of comprehensive emotional and physical well-being. In 2009, a medical publication defined health as the ability of the human body to conform to new threats and infirmities.

Mental and physical health are probably the two most commonly discussed types of health. Spiritual and emotional health also contribute to overall health.

Medical experts have linked these to lower stress levels and improved mental and physical well-being.

Now, let’s go and answer our question, health vs. wealth , which is important?

Table of Contents

Why Is Health More Important Than Wealth?

Health is what a person needs the most in the world to strive for great wealth and the future. No renunciation. On the other hand, wealth is what a person desires the most to provide ease and steady productivity.

Cannot reject this notion as well. So, we have to settle that these two are essentials in maintaining a great life-living balance .

Both of the elements go hand in hand for a desirable life.

However, apart from these two being important, health is never an equal thing as with wealth. You are blessed to have good health and decent wealth, but imagine one day you own everything, but health is not one.

Frightening! Right?

Health without further argument is the most incredible blessing a person could get and is important than wealth because:

Without Health, You Cannot Make Money

This is the biggest reason of all. To a certain degree, ironically, wealthy people seem to comprehend this best. If you look at the behaviors of successful people , many of them orbit around meditation, nutritious-diet, exercise, and taking time out for friends and family.

They recognize that they cannot reach the peak of productivity in their money-making ventures without taking care of their health.

If you are paying a lot of time and energy managing a chronic illness, or even the effects of stress on your body and mind, you are not able to be fully committed to achieving other goals in life. It is as simple as that.

Money Cannot Eventually Make You Happy

Study after study has revealed that having a lot of money does not necessarily make you happy.

A recent report presented that an income of $60,000 to $75,000 per year is ideal for emotional well-being.

While society is continually trying to keep up with maintaining social status, learning to be content with what you have can bring you more happiness as compared to earning more money. And if you are participating in a never-ending social status race, there is always a new level to compare when you reach one.

Concentrating on all the different aspects of health (physical, emotional, mental, social, and spiritual) is much more beneficial to your happiness in the long run than a number in your bank account.

Money Cannot Buy health

Why good health is important?   Good health gives you the time, energy, and drive to make extra money, with few exceptions, it does not work the other way around.

You cannot neglect your health over a 40-year career and then expect to get it back by throwing money at it.

Rendering to a recent research from Harvard , the U.S. spends $9,400 per capita on healthcare, compared to $5,400 in other high-income countries.

The insistent pursuit of wealth, or just trying to keep up with our peers, is a constant source of stress and busyness in our lives. And often, when we do reach the peak, we desperately realize we would gladly trade our wealth for the holistic health we had been ignoring for so long.

Why good health is important

Health Ensures Happiness And Longevity At All Stages Of Age

When you are getting older, particularly when you are retired, you will agree on this one. When you are older, tired, and health restricted, you would want health more than everything in the world.

You would want your grandchildren playing happily at your house lawn under the clouded sunny skies and you being a part of their energetic play. At the same time, you and your already grown-up kids would sit by the coffee table, reminiscing the old days together.

It is all possible with good health. No amount of wealth can bring back the energetic spirit that you once had.

Health Is the Greatest Wealth

Good health would give you many returns than money. To enjoy the beauties of life, health is way more important than money.

It is because there is no limit to money, the more you have, the stronger will be the desire to get more.

Even if you could get more money than you can handle, you would still feel unsatisfied.

However, this is not the case with health. There is no greed related to health achievement.

When you are healthy, it impacts all aspects of your life and is the actual source of bringing betterment in all areas of life, including financial.

So, yes. Health is wealth because nothing is enjoyable in life if you are not in good health, no matter how much money you have. Eventually, you will end up compromising it for your health, once if it is gone.

health is better than wealth

With knowing the importance of health over wealth , the next question arises:

How To Maintain Good Health?

Focusing on making wealth is unmistakably ambitious and useful, but remember to take care of your health as it is vital to achieve and maintain a great balance in life.

Here are some of our tips to maintain good health:

  • Talk a walk regularly.
  • Get proper and quality sleep.
  • Consume a healthy diet full of essential vitamins, fats, and all good stuff.
  • Spare time for your hobbies and enjoy them.
  • Set yourself as a priority.

Final Thoughts

No matter how much workload you have, when your body starts giving you signs of tiredness and exhaustion, always prefer your body.

It will ensure your health in the long run and enable you to do and achieve what you want to in life. So, when it comes to money or wealth , our bet is on health. Read more articles about iron foods

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Essay on Health is Wealth

essay on health is wealth

Here we have shared the Essay on Health is Wealth in detail so you can use it in your exam or assignment of 150, 250, 400, 500, or 1000 words.

You can use this Essay on Health is Wealth in any assignment or project whether you are in school (class 10th or 12th), college, or preparing for answer writing in competitive exams. 

Topics covered in this article.

Essay on Health is Wealth in 150 words

Essay on health is wealth in 250-300 words, essay on health is wealth in 500-1000 words.

“Health is Wealth” emphasizes the significance of good health in our lives. It implies that health is the most valuable asset, enabling us to lead a fulfilling and prosperous life. Good health provides energy, vitality, and focus to pursue our goals and enjoy life fully. On the other hand, poor health can limit our potential and burden us financially. To maintain good health, we must prioritize self-care through regular exercise, a nutritious diet, sufficient rest, and stress management. Preventive measures such as vaccinations and regular check-ups are also crucial. By investing in our health, we minimize the risk of chronic diseases and enhance our overall well-being. Thus, prioritizing our health is essential for a balanced and prosperous life.

“Health is Wealth” is a popular saying that emphasizes the significance of good health in our lives. It suggests that health is the most valuable asset one can possess, as it is the foundation for a fulfilling and prosperous life.

Good health enables us to lead a productive and meaningful existence. When we are physically and mentally healthy, we have the energy, vitality, and focus to pursue our goals and aspirations. It allows us to engage in activities we enjoy, build relationships, and contribute to society.

On the other hand, poor health can limit our potential and hinder our ability to enjoy life fully. It can lead to physical discomfort, illness, and reduced productivity. Furthermore, healthcare expenses can become a burden, affecting our financial well-being.

Taking care of our health should be a top priority. It involves adopting a balanced lifestyle that includes regular exercise, a nutritious diet, adequate rest, and stress management. Additionally, preventive measures such as vaccinations, regular check-ups, and early detection of illnesses play a crucial role in maintaining good health.

Investing in our health is akin to investing in our future. By prioritizing self-care and adopting healthy habits, we can minimize the risk of chronic diseases, improve our overall well-being, and enhance our quality of life.

In conclusion, the saying “Health is Wealth” highlights the importance of good health in leading a fulfilling and prosperous life. Our health is our most valuable asset, and by making conscious efforts to maintain and improve it, we can enjoy the benefits of a healthy and fulfilling existence. It is crucial to prioritize our health through lifestyle choices and preventive measures, as it is the foundation upon which we can build a prosperous and meaningful life.

Title: Health is Wealth – Nurturing the Foundation of Prosperity

Introduction :

The adage “Health is Wealth” encapsulates the profound connection between good health and the attainment of prosperity in life. It emphasizes that true wealth lies not in material possessions, but in the preservation and enhancement of one’s physical and mental well-being. This essay delves into the significance of good health, its impact on various aspects of life, the role of preventive care, and the steps individuals can take to prioritize and nurture their health.

The Foundation of Prosperity

Good health serves as the bedrock of a prosperous life. Physical and mental well-being are intertwined, creating a harmonious balance that enables individuals to thrive and achieve their goals. Optimal physical health allows for increased energy, stamina, and vitality, enabling individuals to participate fully in life’s activities. Mental well-being, on the other hand, fosters emotional stability, resilience, and the ability to cope with challenges effectively.

Impact on Personal and Professional Life

Good health has a profound impact on personal and professional spheres. In personal life, it enhances relationships and fosters deeper connections with loved ones. When individuals are in good health, they can engage in activities that promote quality time and shared experiences, leading to stronger bonds and greater happiness.

Professionally, good health equips individuals with the energy, focus, and productivity necessary for success. It enables them to perform optimally in their chosen fields, make significant contributions, and advance their careers. Moreover, good health contributes to job satisfaction, reducing absenteeism and increasing overall work productivity.

Preventive Care: The Key to Long-term Well-being

Preventive care plays a pivotal role in maintaining good health. Regular medical check-ups, screenings, and vaccinations are crucial in identifying and managing health risks before they escalate. Early detection of potential illnesses allows for timely intervention and treatment, reducing the impact and complications associated with diseases. In addition, adopting a preventive mindset encompasses healthy lifestyle choices. Engaging in regular physical exercise, consuming a balanced diet, getting sufficient sleep, managing stress, and avoiding harmful habits such as smoking or excessive alcohol consumption are vital aspects of preventive care. These practices not only prevent the onset of various illnesses but also contribute to overall well-being and longevity.

Steps towards Health and Wellness

Prioritizing and nurturing one’s health requires conscious effort and commitment. Individuals can take several steps to cultivate a healthy lifestyle. First and foremost, it is essential to adopt regular physical exercise as a part of one’s routine. Engaging in activities such as walking, jogging, swimming, or yoga not only improves physical fitness but also promotes mental well-being through the release of endorphins and the reduction of stress. A balanced diet rich in fruits, vegetables, whole grains, lean proteins, and essential nutrients is vital for maintaining good health. Proper nutrition provides the body with the necessary fuel for optimal function, boosts immunity, and reduces the risk of chronic diseases.

Adequate rest and sleep are equally important. Sufficient sleep enables the body to rejuvenate and repair itself, enhancing overall well-being and cognitive function.

Managing stress is crucial in maintaining good health. Incorporating stress management techniques such as meditation, deep breathing exercises, or engaging in hobbies can alleviate stress and promote mental clarity.

Regular health screenings and check-ups should be a priority. Periodic visits to healthcare professionals allow for the early detection and management of potential health issues, ensuring comprehensive care and well-being.

Additionally, fostering a supportive social network and seeking emotional support when needed can contribute to mental well-being. Sharing concerns, seeking guidance, and participating in social activities nurture emotional resilience and provide a sense of belonging.

Conclusion :

In conclusion, the saying “Health is Wealth” emphasizes the intrinsic link between good health and the attainment of prosperity in life. Prioritizing one’s physical and mental well-being forms the foundation upon which true wealth is built. By embracing preventive care, adopting healthy lifestyle practices, and nurturing overall well-being, individuals can cultivate good health and experience the richness and abundance that comes with it. Ultimately, investing in one’s health paves the way for a prosperous and fulfilling existence.

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Essay on Health is Wealth

The saying, “Health is Wealth,” is a timeless truth that holds significant importance in our lives. This essay will delve into the profound meaning behind this statement and provide compelling evidence to support the idea that good health is the most valuable asset one can possess

The Foundation of Happiness

Good health is the foundation of happiness and well-being. Statistics consistently show that individuals who prioritize their health tend to lead happier and more fulfilling lives. A study conducted by renowned health experts revealed that people with excellent health report higher levels of life satisfaction and lower levels of stress.

The Cost of Neglected Health

Neglecting one’s health can lead to serious consequences. Statistics indicate that health-related issues are one of the leading causes of financial hardship for families worldwide. When health deteriorates due to poor lifestyle choices, medical expenses can become overwhelming. Experts in the field of public health often emphasize the importance of preventive measures to avoid such financial burdens.

Longevity and Quality of Life

Good health not only extends one’s lifespan but also improves the quality of life. According to global health data, individuals who maintain a healthy lifestyle tend to live longer and enjoy more active and independent lives in their later years. This leads to a better overall quality of life for individuals and their families.

Productivity and Success

Health is closely linked to productivity and success in various aspects of life. Experts in the business world recognize that individuals who prioritize their health tend to be more focused, energetic, and efficient in their work. This results in increased productivity and opportunities for career advancement.

Preventive Measures

Preventive healthcare measures are essential for maintaining good health. Regular check-ups, vaccinations, and a balanced diet are recommended by healthcare professionals to prevent illnesses. Following these guidelines can save individuals from suffering and financial burdens in the long run.

Conclusion of Essay on Health is Wealth

In conclusion, the saying, “Health is Wealth,” encapsulates a profound truth about the importance of good health in our lives. The evidence presented in this essay, including statistics, expert opinions, and real-life examples, emphasizes that good health is the foundation of happiness, financial stability, longevity, productivity, and success. Therefore, it is crucial for individuals to prioritize their health through preventive measures and healthy lifestyle choices. As we navigate the journey of life, let us remember that true wealth lies not in material possessions but in the precious gift of good health. Embracing this wisdom will lead to a richer, more fulfilling life for individuals and society as a whole.

Other essays: 500+ Words Essay on Should Plastic be Banned

Health vs. Wealth? Public Health Policies and the Economy During Covid-19

We study the impact of non-pharmaceutical policy interventions (NPIs) like “stay-at-home” orders on the spread of infectious disease. Local policies have little impact on the economy nor on local public health. Stay-at-home is only weakly associated with slower growth of Covid-19 cases. Reductions in observed “mobility” are not associated with slower growth of Covid-19 cases. Stay-at-home is associated with lower workplace and more residential activity, but common shocks matter much more. Moreover, job losses have been no higher in US states that implemented stay-at-home during the Covid-19 pandemic than in states that did not have stay-at-home. All of these results demonstrate that the Covid-19 pandemic is a common economic and public health shock. They also show that policy spillovers and behavioral responses are important. The tradeoff between the economy and public health in a pandemic depends strongly on what is happening elsewhere. This underscores the importance of coordinated economic and public health responses.

We thank Haoze “Anson” Li and Jingxuan Ma for research assistance. Research funding from Michael Deering is gratefully acknowledged. We thank Jonathan Dingel for clarifying some data issues. Matthias Blum, Barry Eichengreen, Gregori Galofré-Vilà, Dan Liu, Peter Sandholt Jensen, Peter Lindert, Alan M. Taylor and seminar participants at UC Davis provided helpful early feedback. The views expressed herein are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of the National Bureau of Economic Research.

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  • May 23, 2020

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  • Panel on Social Security and COVID-19 at NBER Summer Institute Author(s): Alexander W. Bartik Marianne Bertrand Feng Lin Jesse Rothstein Matt Unrath Raj Chetty John N. Friedman Michael Stepner The Opportunity Insights Team Olivier Coibion Yuriy Gorodnichenko Michael Weber Austan Goolsbee Chad Syverson Sumedha Gupta Thuy D. Nguyen Felipe Lozano Rojas Shyam Raman Byungkyu Lee Ana I. Bento Kosali I. Simon Coady Wing Thuy D. Nguyen Sumedha Gupta Martin Andersen Ana I. Bento Kosali I. Simon Coady Wing Sumedha Gupta Laura Montenovo Thuy D. Nguyen Felipe Lozano Rojas Ian M. Schmutte Kosali I. Simon Bruce A. Weinberg Coady Wing Eliza Forsythe Lisa B. Kahn Fabian Lange David G. Wiczer Peter Zhixian Lin Christopher M. Meissner The 2020 NBER Summer Institute's Economics of Social Security meeting featured a panel discussion on the implications of the COVID-19...

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Essay on Health Is Wealth

Students are often asked to write an essay on Health Is Wealth in their schools and colleges. And if you’re also looking for the same, we have created 100-word, 250-word, and 500-word essays on the topic.

Let’s take a look…

100 Words Essay on Health Is Wealth

Introduction.

Health is our most precious wealth. It’s a vital aspect of life, as it influences our ability to enjoy, work, and live happily.

The Importance of Health

Good health allows us to perform our tasks with energy and enthusiasm. It helps us stay active, both physically and mentally.

Health and Happiness

Health is the key to happiness. Without health, wealth or success doesn’t have much meaning.

In conclusion, health is wealth because it provides us the strength to achieve our dreams. So, let’s prioritize our health.

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250 Words Essay on Health Is Wealth

Understanding the proverb: health is wealth.

The adage “Health is wealth” underscores the fundamental concept of prioritizing health above all else, including wealth. As college students, we often find ourselves caught in the whirlwind of academic pressures, forgetting the importance of maintaining good health.

Health as a Prerequisite for Success

Health is not merely the absence of disease but also a state of complete physical, mental, and social well-being. It is the cornerstone of a fulfilling life, enabling individuals to pursue their goals effectively. Without good health, even the wealthiest person cannot enjoy their riches. Conversely, a healthy person, despite having less wealth, can lead a more enjoyable and productive life.

The Interplay of Health and Wealth

While wealth can provide better healthcare facilities, the pursuit of wealth at the expense of health can lead to a vicious cycle of illnesses and medical bills. Thus, it’s crucial to strike a balance, securing wealth without compromising health.

Investing in Health

Investing in health is not just about regular exercise and a balanced diet; it also includes mental health care. This involves stress management, maintaining a positive outlook, and fostering healthy relationships. As students, we must be proactive about our health, integrating healthy habits into our daily routines.

In conclusion, the proverb “Health is wealth” serves as a reminder that health is the most significant wealth one can possess. It is an investment that yields lifelong returns, enabling us to lead a fulfilling life. Therefore, as we strive for academic and professional success, let’s not forget to invest in our health, our true wealth.

500 Words Essay on Health Is Wealth

Health is a state of complete physical, mental, and social well-being and not merely the absence of disease or infirmity. This comprehensive definition underlines the complex nature of health and its profound impact on our lives. The axiom “Health is Wealth” encapsulates this idea, emphasizing the intrinsic value of health over material wealth.

The Primacy of Health

The importance of health in our lives cannot be overstated. It is the foundation upon which all other aspects of our lives are built. Without good health, even the most significant achievements or wealth can lose their meaning. A healthy body is a fertile ground for a sound mind, enabling us to think clearly, perform tasks efficiently, and enjoy life to its fullest.

Health and Productivity

Good health directly correlates with productivity, an essential factor for economic prosperity. Healthy individuals contribute more effectively to their communities and workplaces, driving economic growth. On the contrary, poor health can lead to decreased productivity, increased healthcare costs, and a diminished quality of life. Thus, investing in health is akin to investing in wealth.

The Socio-Economic Dimensions of Health

Health is also a social determinant that can influence one’s socio-economic status. Individuals with poor health often face obstacles in education and employment, leading to a cycle of poverty and further health deterioration. Conversely, those with good health have better opportunities for upward mobility. Therefore, health and wealth are interdependent, each influencing the other.

Health, Lifestyle, and Choices

Health is not a static state but a dynamic process influenced by our lifestyle choices. Regular physical activity, balanced nutrition, adequate sleep, and stress management are key factors in maintaining good health. These healthy habits are an investment in our future, just as saving and investing money contribute to future wealth.

The Role of Public Health

Public health initiatives play a crucial role in promoting health and, by extension, wealth. They aim to prevent disease and promote health at a population level through policies, education, and interventions. Investment in public health not only saves lives but also contributes to economic stability by reducing healthcare costs and increasing productivity.

In conclusion, health is indeed wealth. It is the foundation of a fulfilling life and a thriving society. It influences our productivity, socio-economic status, and overall quality of life. By adopting healthy lifestyles and supporting public health initiatives, we can invest in our health, thereby creating wealth not just for ourselves, but for our communities and societies as well. As we navigate through the complexities of the 21st century, let us remember this timeless wisdom and strive to make health a priority in our personal lives and public policies.

That’s it! I hope the essay helped you.

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260 Money Topics to Write About & Essay Examples

Looking for a topic about money? Money won’t leave anyone indifferent! There are lots of money essay topics for students to explore.

🏆 Best Money Essay Examples & Ideas

👍 good money essay topics, 💡 easy money topics to write about, 📃 interesting topics about money, 📑 good research topics about money, 📌 most interesting money topics to write about, ❓ research questions about money.

You might want to focus on the issue of money management or elaborate on why money is so important nowadays. Other exciting topics for a money essay are the relation between money and love, the role of money in education, etc. Below you’ll find a list of money topics to write about! These ideas can also be used for discussions and presentations. Money essay examples are a nice bonus to inspire you even more!

  • Can Money Buy You Happiness? First of all, given that happiness is related to the satisfaction of personal needs, there is also a need to consider the essential need of human life such as housing, medicine, and food.
  • I Don’t Believe Money Can Buy Happiness This shows that as much as money is essential in acquisition and satisfaction of our needs, it does not guarantee our happiness by its own and other aspects of life have to be incorporated to […]
  • Connection Between Money and Happiness Critical analysis of money-happiness relationship shows that socioeconomic factors determine the happiness of an individual; therefore, it is quite unsatisfactory to attribute money as the only factor and determinant of happiness.
  • Money as a Form of Motivation in the Work Place This then shows that money can and is used as a motivational factor in the work place so that employees can strive to give their best and their all at the end of the day.
  • Money: Good or Evil? Comparing & Contrasting While there are those amongst us who subscribe to the school of though that “money is the source of all evil”, others are of the opinion that money can buy you anything, literary.
  • Money and Modern Life The rich and the powerful are at the top while the poor and helpless are at the bottom, the rest lie in-between.
  • Should America Keep Paper Money It is possible to begin the discussion of the need for keeping paper currency from referring to the rights of any people.
  • Does Money Buy Happiness? Billions of people in all parts of the world sacrifice their ambitions and subconscious tensions on the altar of profitability and higher incomes. Yet, the opportunity costs of pursuing more money can be extremely high.
  • Money, Happiness and Relationship Between Them The research conducted in the different countries during which people were asked how satisfied they were with their lives clearly indicated the existence of a non-linear relationship between the amount of money and the size […]
  • The Global Media Is All About Money and Profit Making It is noteworthy that the advertisement are presented through the media, which confirms the assertion that global media is all about money and profit making. The media firms control the information passed to the public […]
  • Discussion: Can Money Buy Happiness? Reason Two: Second, people are psychologically predisposed to wanting more than they have, so the richer people are, the less feasible it is to satisfy their demands.
  • Strategies to Save and Protect Money Thus, the main points of expenditure will be clearly marked, which will help to exclude the purchase of unnecessary goods and services.
  • Anti-Money Laundering and Hawala System in Dubai To prevent money launders and agents, most countries enacted the anti-money laundering acts with the goal of tracking and prosecuting offenders.
  • Electronic Money: Challenges and Solutions First of all, it should be pointed out that money is any type of phenomenon which is conventionally accepted as a universal carrier of value, or “any generally accepted means of payment which is allowed […]
  • Money and Its Value Throughout the World History What is important is the value that people place on whatever unit they refer to as amoney.’ Money acts as a medium of exchange and an element of measurement of the value of goods and […]
  • Time Value of Money: Importance of Calculating Due to fluctuations in economies, all organizations need to take into consideration concepts of the time value of money in any investment venture.
  • Money or Family Values First? Which Way to Go As such, family values becomes the epicenter of shaping individual behavior and actions towards the attainment of a certain good, while money assumes the position of facilitating the attainment of a certain good such as […]
  • Change in the Value of Money According to Keynes To explain the effect of inflation on investors, Keynes delves into the history of inflation through the nineteenth century and tries to explain the complacency of investors at the beginning of the First World War […]
  • Money Saving Methods for College Students A budget is one of the methods that a college student can use to save money. In the budget, one should indicate how much to save and the means of saving the money.
  • Prices Rise When the Government Prints too Much Money Makinen notes that an increase in the supply of money in an economy relative to the output in the economy could lead to inflationary pressure on prices of goods and services in the economy.
  • Two Attitudes Towards Money The over-dependence on money to satisfy one’s emotional needs is a negative perspective of money. The positive attitude of money is rarely practiced by people.
  • Money, Success, and Relation Between Them In particular, the modern generation attaches so much importance to money in the sense that success and money are presumed to be one and the same thing.
  • Paper Money and Its Role Throughout History The adoption of the paper money was considered to be beneficial for both the wealth of the country and the individual businessmen.
  • Why People Should Donate Time, Money, Energy to a Particular Organization, Charity, or Cause Its vision is to have a world that is free from Alzheimer’s disease.”The Alzheimer’s Association is the leading, global voluntary health organization in Alzheimer’s care and support, and the largest private, nonprofit funder of Alzheimer’s […]
  • Money and Banking: General Information The essay gives the definition of money and gives a brief description of the functions of money. As a store of value, money can be saved reliably and then retrieved in the future.
  • The Ascent of Money: A Financial History of the World The succinctness of this book lies in the critical analysis and emphasis of the financial history of money in spite of the fact it has impeded some important functions of the global economy.
  • Money Laundering: Most Effective Combat Strategies The practice of money laundering affects the economy and security of a country. Countries have directed their efforts to curb money laundering to control the downwards projections of their countries’ economies.
  • The Lebanese-Canadian Bank’s Money Laundering The bank was later banned from using the dollar by the American treasury; this resulted in the collapse and eventual sale of the bank.L.C.B.had to pay a settlement fine of one hundred and two million […]
  • Time Value of Money Compounding was done on the amount that I had lent out using the market rate over the duration of time the person held my money.
  • Money and Happiness in Poor and Wealthy Societies Comprehending the motivations for pursuing money and happiness is the key to understanding this correlation. The Easterlin paradox summed this view by showing that income had a direct correlation with happiness.
  • Are Workers Motivated Mainly by Money? Related to the concept of work and why people work is the original concept developed by Karl Marx in the so-called conflict theory.
  • Giving Money to the Homeless: Is It Important? The question of whether a person should give money to a homeless person or not is a complicated one and cannot have the right answer.
  • Money, Happiness and Satisfaction With Life Nonetheless, the previously mentioned examples should be used to remind us that money alone is not a guarantee of happiness, satisfaction with life, and good health.
  • “From Empire to Chimerica” in “The Ascent of Money” In the chapter “From Empire to Chimerica,” Niall Ferguson traces back the history of the Western financial rise and suggests that nowadays it is being challenged by the developing Eastern world. The hegemonic position of […]
  • Dreams of Avarice in Ferguson’s “The Ascent of Money” The chapter “Dreams of Avarice” of the book “The Ascent of Money” explores different stages of development of money functioning in the world by relating them to corresponding historical events.
  • “College Is a Waste of Time and Money” by Bird Bird’s use of logical fallacies, like if students do not want to go to college, they should not do it until the reasons of their unwillingness are identified, proves that it is wrong to believe […]
  • Exploring the Relationship Between Education and Money A person cannot be able to change his/her ascribed status in the society, but only through education a person is able to change his/her Socio-economic status and to some extent that of his/her family once […]
  • Drugs: The Love of Money Is the Root of All Evils The political issues concerning the use of drugs consist of, but not limited to, the substances that are defined as drugs, the means of supplying and controlling their use, and how the society relates with […]
  • Money: Evolution, Functions, and Characteristics It acts as medium of exchange where it is accepted by both buyers and sellers; the buyer gives money to the seller in exchange of commodities.
  • Saving Money Using Electric or Gas Vehicles The central hypothesis of the study is that the electric car will save more money than gas ones. The main expected outcome that the study is counting on is a confirmation of the presented hypothesis […]
  • Blowing Bubbles in Ferguson’s “The Ascent of Money” Moreover, the author shows the connection and similarities between the present collapse of a stock market and the Enron default along with a Mississippi Bubble of the eighteenth century that was created by John Law, […]
  • The Fiscal Triad and Money as a Weapon System The reliance on the unit commanders sparked the development of the complementary strategy, “Money as a Weapon System,” which became a focal point of the Iraq and Afghanistan campaigns.
  • Two Attitudes Toward Money Two attitudes toward money involve negative perception of money as universal evil and positive perception of money as source of good life and prosperity.
  • Success and Money Correlation The development of the information technologies and the ongoing progress led to the reconsideration of the values and beliefs. It is significant to understand that there is no right or wrong answer for the question […]
  • Money Laundering Scene in Police Drama “Ozark” In one of the first season’s episodes, Marty, the main character, illustrates the process of money laundering crime. In the scene, one can see that Marty is fully sane and is committing a crime voluntarily.
  • Money From the Christian Perspective Work in Christian missions is a business and since it affects the relationship between the missionary and the people he is trying to reach, missionary funding is essential.
  • Business Case Scenario: Missing Money in a Company A possible scenario explaining how money is missing is through the payroll department my first argument seeks to prove the payroll department as the loophole of the company’s misfortunes.
  • Sports Stadiums’ Funding by Public Money The issue is controversial from an ethical point of view since not all citizens whose taxes can be spent on the construction of the stadium are interested in or fond of sports.
  • Money Laundering: The Kazakhgate Case He was accused of breaking the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act of 1974 and money laundering by the U.S.attorney’s office for the Southern District of New York.
  • The Ways Terrorists Raise and Move Money Moreover, the government has put into action the freezing orders and blocking of united states individuals who are presumed to have a hand in terrorist activities.
  • “Money as a Weapon” System and Fiscal Triad Furthermore, the fiscal triad encompasses the procurement of products and services and the disbursement and accounting of public funding. Fiscal legislation and contracts are two key components of the “money as a weapon” system.
  • Traditional vs. Modern Forms of Money The most significant argument for the continuing existence of traditional forms of money is the impossibility of converting all financial resources into a digital form.
  • Money Laundering Through Cryptocurrencies This study will try to critique the approaches used by countries to address the aspect of money laundering activities and the risks posed by digital currencies.
  • Time Value of Money: What You Should Know The time value of money is a paramount financial concept, according to which a certain amount is now worth more than the same amount in the future.
  • The Concept of the Time Value of Money The concept of the time value of money refers to the financial principle noting that a fixed amount of money currently is worth more than the same amount of money in the future.
  • Play Money Paper: A Report Betas of the Companies in the Portfolio It is noteworthy that in the given portfolio, the beta indices of the companies involved vary considerably.
  • Integration of Business Ethics in Preventing Money Laundering Schemes The shipping information within the document seems inaccurate with the intention to launder money from the buyer. The contribution of ocean carrier in the transaction process is doubtful to a given extent.
  • Where Does the Money Go? by Bittle & Johnson Therefore, the authors explain key issues of the national debt in a relatively simple language and provide their opinion on how the country got into that situation and what could be done about it. In […]
  • Trade-Based Money Laundering The purpose of this paper is to research the subject of trade-based money laundering, its impact on global scene and export controls, identify types of trade finance techniques used to launder illegal money, and provide […]
  • Impact of Natural Disasters on Money Markets and Investment Infusion of funds from the central bank during natural disasters results in higher process of exports as a direct result of an increase in the value of the local currency.
  • The Perception of Money, Wealth, and Power: Early Renaissance vs. Nowadays In the Renaissance period, power was a questionable pursuit and could be viewed as less stable due to more frequent upheavals.
  • Financial Institutions and Money Money is a store of value because it can be saved now and used to purchase se goods and services in the future.
  • Researching of the Time Value of Money After receiving the loan, one of the monetary policies that would help PIIGS to stabilize is the deflation of their currency, in this case, the Euro.
  • Anti-Money Laundering: Financial Action Task Force Meanwhile, given the limited access for physical assessment of state jurisdictions, it is likely that current provisions of FATF are yet to be revised in spite of pandemic travel and assessment restrictions.
  • Anti-Money Laundering in the UK Jurisdiction The regime adopted in the UK is based on the provisions of “the Terrorism Act of 2000, the Proceeds of Crime Act of 2002, as well as the Money Laundering, Terrorist Financing, and Transfer of […]
  • Trade-Based Money Laundering and Its Attractiveness The proliferation of the trade-based money laundering is directly related to the growing complexity of international trade systems, where new risks and vulnerabilities emerge and are seen as favorable among terrorist organizations seeking for the […]
  • Money Laundering and Sanctions Regulatory Frameworks Under the provisions of OFAC, the company has violated the cybersecurity rules that might indirectly bring a significant threat to the national security or the stability of the United States economy by engaging in online […]
  • Type Borrowing Money: Margin Lending In the defense of the storm financial planning firm, BOQ submitted to the authorities that in view of banking regulatory policies, storm had not contravened any of the policies and this is the reason why […]
  • Lessons on Financial Planning Using Money Tree Software Financial planning remains a fundamental function among the investors in coming up with a method of using the finances presently and in the future.
  • The Supply of Money in the Capitalist Economy In the capitalist economy that the world is currently based on, the supply of money plays a significant role in not only affecting salaries and prices but also the growth of the economy.
  • Time Value of Money Defined and Calculations Simply put, the same value of money today is worth the same value in future. The time value of money can therefore be defined as the calculated value of the money taking into consideration various […]
  • Anti Money Laundering and Financial Crime There are a number of requirements by the government on the AML procedures to be developed and adopted by the firms in the financial service in industry in an attempt to fight the illegal practice.
  • Money Tree Software: Financial Planning This return is important because: It represents the reward the business stakeholders and owner of the business get in staking their money on the business currently and in the future It rewards the business creditors […]
  • Money Management: Investment on Exchange-Traded Funds The essay will discuss the possibility of investing in a number of selected ETFs in connection to an investment objective of an individual.
  • What Is Money Laundering and Is It Possible to Fight It Certainly and more often money involved in laundering is obtained from illegal activities and the main objective of laundering is to ‘clean’ the dirty money and give it a legitimate appearance in terms of source.
  • Time Value of Money: Choosing Bank for Deposit The value of the money is determined by the rate of return that the bank will offer. The future value of the two banks is $20,000 and $22,000 for bank A and bank B respectively.
  • How Money Market Mutual Funds Contributed to the 2008 Financial Crisis While how the prices of shares fell below the set $1 per share was a complex process, it became one of the greatest systemic risks posed by the MMMF to the investors and the economy […]
  • Time Value of Money From an Islamic Perspective Islamic scholars say that the time value of money and the interest rates imposed on money lent are the reasons why the poor keep on getting poor and the rich richer.
  • Rational Decision Making: Money on Your Mind The mind is responsible for making financial decision and it is triggered by the messages we receive on the day to day activities. Lennick and Jordan explain that, we have two systems in the brain; […]
  • A Usability Test Conducted on GE Money.com.au It is common knowledge that the easier it is to access services and products on a given website the more likely users will be encouraged to come back.
  • “Most Important Thing Is Money Ltd”: Vaccination Development Thus, necessary powers have been vested with the Secretary of State for Health in England, through the recommendations of the Joint Committee on Vaccinations and Immunisation to enforce such preventive steps, through necessary programs that […]
  • Money Investments in the Companies and Bonds The stock volume is on the low level now, about 30, but it is connected with the crisis in the world and the additional investment may support the company and increase it. In general the […]
  • Money Management in the Organization There is a much debate on the issue and several people an financial experts do analyze the historical perspectives of the Active vs Passive money management.
  • How the Virus Transformed Money Spending in the US In the article featured in the New York Times, Leatherby and Geller state that the rate at which people spend their money has rapidly decreased due to the emergence of the virus in the United […]
  • The Role of Money and Class Division in Society The image of modern American society tries in vain to convey the prevalence of personality over social division. Americans’ perception of financial status has been shaped for years by creating the notion of the “American […]
  • Money and American Classes in 1870-1920 Wherein, the time of the stock market emergence was the time of the ongoing “carnival,” where the mystical power of money transferred to miraculous products and medicines and compelling advertisements.
  • The Ascent of Money – Safe as Houses Looking from a broad historical perspective, Niall Ferguson devotes the chapter “Save as Houses” to the observation of the real estate concept transformation, describes the place of the real estate market in the economic systems […]
  • The Ascent of Money – Blowing Bubbles The price for a share tells how much people rely on the cost of the company in the future. The life of a stock market represents the reflection of human moods on the price of […]
  • Canada’s Role in the History of Money: The Relationship Between Ownership and Control Individuals with the predominant shares gain the directorship of the wealth production channels and as such gain control of the diversified owners.
  • Why Non-Monetary Incentives Are More Significant Than Money It is important to recognize that both monetary and non-monetary incentives, otherwise known as total rewards, are offered to employees in diverse ways for purposes of attracting and motivating them to the ideals of the […]
  • To Make Money or Serve the Society? However, when the issue of the corporation to serve the society arises, then it kind of compromises the main focus of the corporation, which is to make money. These have been the major causes of […]
  • Money Role in Macro Economy The dollar is till now the most accepted currency in the world and this dollar fluctuation that has been caused by the worst recession in American history since the time of the Great Depression is […]
  • Organizational Communication & the “Money” Aspect While the use of this information is critical for both ensuring survival of the organization and being a frontrunner in its strategies for the future, there are large boulders in use of this information effectively, […]
  • Tax Money Usage on Military Spending Issue The fact that America won the Cold War and defeated the Soviets is taken as a vindication by the American leaders of the need to continue military spending.
  • Money Makes You Happy: Philosophical Reasoning It is possible to give the right to the ones who think that money can buy happiness. This conclusion is not accepted by psychologists who think that wealth brings the happiness only in the moment […]
  • “Who Says Money Cannot Buy Happiness” by Lee Investment is a production process for will it bring about goods and services that can be sold to the market and in the process, the owner of the business makes some profit.
  • Technical Analysis as Active Money Management Method Technical analysis is the financial markets methodology that asserts the capability to foretell the probable course of security charges by the means of past market data study, principally price and volume.
  • Spare Change: Giving Money to the “Undeserving Poor” To address the central theme of the article, one need to delve deeper into the psyche of giving alms and money to the poor people we meet on the street.
  • The Use of Money in Business Practices Money is seen as the cause of problems and especially in the minds of emerging market respondents. Through this they can pick up groceries for the old in their neighborhood and make money from this.
  • Money Laundering and Terrorist Finance However, the balance money after the sham gambling is transferred to another ordinary bank account, thereby creating a legal status for the laundered money as if it has come from gambling and will be employed […]
  • City Planning. Too Much Money: Why Savings Are Bad The scenario is that the expected growth in economies where the rate of savings is high has not shown a corresponding increase in growth rate also.
  • Debates in Endogenous Money: Basil Moore The value of the currency was determined by the value of the precious metal used to mint the currency. From the time Federal Reserve took control of money and credit, economic consistency is attained by […]
  • Money and Banking. Financial Markets The essay will examine the essence and the importance of the above-mentioned financial phenomena and see how their interrelation, especially in the negative context, can influence the state of things in society.
  • Money and Justice: High-Profile Cases It is estimated that thousands of persons bracketed in the ‘poor’ sector of society go to jail annually in the United States without having spoken to a lawyer.
  • Relation Between Money and Football In the English league, clubs have been spending millions to sign up a player in the hope that the player will turn the fortunes of the company for the good.
  • Accounting for Public Money After Railway Privatization There were very many problems prior to the railway privatization in 1990.one of the problems that led to the privatization of the railway line in the UK was the misappropriation of taxpayers’ money.
  • Time Value of Money and Its Financial Applications The time value of money refers to the idea that money available at the present time is worth more than the same amount in the future, due to its potential earning capacity.
  • Time Value of Money in Examples Therefore, re-purchase of the shares appeals to the managers of the company because it will allow the company uses the money to regenerate more money for the purpose of repurchase the shares in the future.
  • Wall Street Managers: The Art of Making Money In the end, the goal of Wall Street managers is to ensure optimal returns in all of their investments. The evolution of Wall Street managers is etched in the history of financial markets.
  • Money Laundering in the USA and Australia The International Money Fund has established that the aggregate size of money laundering in the World is approximately four percent of the world’s gross domestic product.
  • Locke’s Second Treatise of Government and Voltaire’s Candide’s Value on Money Both written at a time when philosophers had started questioning the relevance of capitalism and the concept of wealth creation, it is evident that the two authors were keen on explaining the power of money […]
  • The Concept of Money Laundering The first issue I have learned is that the main problem lies in the presence of Big Data that includes trillions of transactions of various financial organizations and systems.
  • Fraud, Money Laundering, and Terrorism Financing After the audacious attack by Al-Qaeda and the destruction of the Twin Towers on 11th of September 2001, terrorism was declared the number one enemy to the peace and stability of the modern world.
  • Time Value of Money – Preparing for Home Ownership The purchase price of the house is determined by using the following formula in Excel. 66 The down payment is 20% of the future value of the house, i.e, $40,278.13.
  • Martin Van Buren: Money and Indian Relocation One of the reasons for such collaboration and understanding is the focus on the values we have. I believe this path will bring us to the land we all would like to live in.
  • The General Theory of Employment, Interest and Money Money is a determinant of the propensity to consume; hence, the more money one makes, the more that he or she consumes and the converse is the case.
  • The Practice of Saving Money Knowledge of the language is also a very crucial component of EAP as it aids the learner in understanding questions and responding to them in their examinations.another differentiating factor between the two varieties of English […]
  • Money Market and Value-Based Pricing Consequently, the GDP can be defined by the equation: Y=C+I+G+NX where: Y= Total GDP, C=Consumption by household, I=Investment, G=Government expenditure, NX=Net Exports Net Domestic product entails the reduction of the GDP by the depreciation of […]
  • How Money Markets Operate? Furthermore, only free markets have shown the resilience that is necessary to accompany the fluctuations in demand and supply of the money markets.
  • Efforts to Raise Money for Charity However, the point is that charity is supposed to be for a simple act of giving and not expecting any returns from it.
  • Access Right to Money: Sculpture Theft Among the suspects, there are those in dire need of the money due to financial problems, while others need the values worth of the item and not the actual monetary price attached to the item.
  • History of Money in Spain The production of coins melted from gold also ceased in the year 1904, with the production of that melted from silver ceasing in the year 1910.
  • Money Flows and Financial Repression in the US and China From the article, the authors depict how the interest rates in developed countries like the United States compare with those of the emerging markets such as China, India, and Brazil.
  • Management: “Marketplace Money” and “Undercover Boss” In this case, the accents are made on the support of the healthy workforce in order to guarantee the better employees’ performance and on the idea of rewards as the important aspects to stimulate the […]
  • Money Compensation for Student-Athletes Besides, sports are highly lucrative for colleges, and students whose labor brings the revenues should share the part of them not to lose the interest in such activities.
  • Chapters 1-3 of “Money Mechanics” by David Ashby The retained amount of money in the commercial bank is the primary reserve. The banks can decide to reduce their working reserve, and the money obtained is transferred to the excess reserve fund in accounts […]
  • Banking in David Ashby’s “Money Mechanics” Changes in prices may not have a direct effect on the gross domestic product and the planned expenditures because this is determined by the money that is in supply. This causes the GDP and prices […]
  • Karl Marx on Commodities, Labor, and Money Division of labour is very important in the production of commodities. The use-value of each commodity contains useful labour.
  • Anti-Money Laundering in Al Ansari Exchange Case Study Details Company name: Al Ansari Exchange Headquarters: Dubai, United Arab Emirates Sector: Financial Services Number of employees: 2500 Annual gross revenue: UAED 440.
  • The UAE Against Money Laundering and Terrorism Financing This valuation of the anti-money laundering and combating the financing of terrorism government of the United Arab Emirates is founded on the forty endorsements and the nine special commendations on extremist supporting of the monetary […]
  • UAE Anti-Money Laundering Laws and Their Benefits The legal maintenance of counteraction to the legalization of criminal incomes is carried out by means of a system of laws and regulations, controlling financial, bank, and customs relations and establishing the order of licensing […]
  • Money, Their Features, Functions and Importance The first hindrance is the inability of the household to monitor the activities of firms. In this case, it is used to state the value of debt.
  • Happiness Without Money in Sociology and Psychology The tendency’s mechanics are simple – being in the possession of any substantial sum of money increases a person’s chance to secure a dominant status within the society, which in turn will result in strengthening […]
  • Money Market Development Factors The money market is one of the fundamental elements in the functioning of any state. Under these conditions, the gradual rise of technologies and their implementation in the sphere of financial operations alter the money […]
  • “God’ Money is Now My Money” by Stanley Seat It could be said that different priorities and the lack of time for supervision of the employees are the critical reasons for the violation of rules and high frequency of fraud in the religious institutions […]
  • International Money Laundering Thus, money laundering has a profound impact on the state of the global economy, as well as on the economy of the U.S.
  • Cybercrime and Digital Money Laundering The result of the investigation was the indictment of Western Express and a number of the company’s clients for several charges including stolen credit card data trafficking and money laundering.
  • Hawala Remittance System: Anti-Money Laundering Compliance The existence and operation of money remittance systems is one of the primary features of developing economic relation at all scales from local to the global ones.
  • Time Value of Money in Economies of Scale Also, the investigation of the VoF becomes easier by means of scrutinizing the tradeoff between the TVM and the EoS. The TVM is also employed to reach the integration of infrastructure investment valuation and risk […]
  • Time Value of Money in Investment Planning The author of the post makes a good point that an amount of money is worth more the sooner it is received.
  • David Leonhardt: May Be Money Does Buy Happiness After All The case study of Japanese citizens that support Easterlin paradox do not factor in the confounding psychological effects of the Second World War on the entire population and the country.
  • Illegal Drug Use, Prostitution and Money Laundering Upon discussing the impact of money laundering, illegal drugs, and prostitution, the paper proposes the issuing of a court order restraining the use of wealth acquired from victimless crimes as one of the approaches to […]
  • Getting Beyond: Show Me the Money Nevertheless, underpayment and overpayment are common, leading to dissatisfaction. Notably, compensation is part culture, but analytics will gain traction in the big data era, as start-ups leverage such advantages from experts to manage a sales […]
  • Space Programs: Progress or Waste of Money? According to Ehrenfreund, the ingenuity to develop technologies and work in space is part of the progress that comes from space programs. Space programs have led to the development of technologies that improve air transport.
  • “The Money Machine: How the City Works” by Coggan The media plays a chief role in educating the public concerning the various financial matters that affect the undertakings of the City.
  • Money Evolution in Ancient Times and Nowadays In the means to defining what money is, most of the scholars from the psychological and physiological field have come up with the theoretical aspects of money and the ways it influences the economic growth […]
  • Fraud and Crime Theory in the “Black Money” Movie The movie shows the irregularities involved in the acquisition of arms for the Saudi government. The movie is a perfect display of the international crimes and financial fraud that has been on the rise in […]
  • Mercantilism, Stamped Money, and Under-Consumption It is paramount to note that he criticizes ideas of Ricardo quite frequently, and he believed that he did not consider the ideas that were suggested by other prominent economists.
  • Money Evolution in the 21st Century and Before The history of the world cannot be described effectively without identifying the function of money. Money has been used to measure the value of resources and financial markets.
  • Financial Crisis in Ferguson’s “The Ascent of Money” By Ferguson, the main purpose of the historian is to relieve humanity from the financial illusions on the examples of the past.
  • Monetary Policy in “The Ascent of Money” by Ferguson The rise of Babylon is closely linked to the evolution of the concept of debt and credit; without bond markets and banks, the brilliance of the Italians would not have materialized; the foundation of the […]
  • The Airtel Money Service: Indian and African Paths When comparing the Indian and African paths in introducing the service, the first difference that arises is the main user of the service as in the case of India, it was the lower middle class.
  • Money History, Ethical and Social Standarts
  • World Money History in the 20th Century and New Objects of Value
  • Locke’s Work on Interest and Value of Money
  • Money in the “Sheriff of Cape Breton” Case Study
  • Medieval England in “Treatise on the New Money”
  • Treatise on the New Money: Document Analysis
  • Human Bondage in Ferguson’s “The Ascent of Money”
  • Money History, Bonds, Market Bubbles, and Risks
  • Park Avenue: Money, Power and the American Dream
  • Deflation in the Quantity Theory of Money
  • Money, Its Purpose and Significance in History
  • “Who Stole the Money, and When?” by Greenberg
  • Money History From the Middle Ages to Mercantilism
  • Money Development From 600 BC to Nowadays
  • Money Development and Its Stages in World History
  • Market Society in “What Money Can’t Buy” by Sandels
  • Employee Theft in “Who Stole the Money, and When?”
  • European Union Anti-Money Laundering Directive
  • Park Avenue: Money, Power and the American Dream – Movie Analysis
  • T-Shirts “SENIOR 2016” and Time Value of Money
  • Time and Money in “Neptune’s Brood” by Charles Stross
  • Virgin Money Company’s Business Model in Canada
  • Money in History and World Cultures
  • Is College Education Worth the Money
  • Artworks Comparison: Les Demoiselles d’Avignon and Tribute Money
  • Weddings, Marriage, and Money in the UAE
  • Money and Happiness Connection – Philosophy
  • “Art for Money’s Sake” by William Alden
  • Money’s and Banking’ Concepts
  • Central Bank of Bahrain and Money Supply Regulation
  • Why Money Is Important: Benefits & Downsides
  • Psychological Research: Money Can Buy Happiness
  • Finance: The History of Money
  • Finance in the Book “The Ascent of Money” by Niall Ferguson
  • Criminal Law: Blood Money From the Human Organs Sale
  • Money as an Emerging Market Phenomenon
  • Cyber-Crime – New Ways to Steal Identity and Money
  • The Case of Stolen Donation Money
  • Money and Banking: The Economic Recession of 2007
  • Money and Banking: David S. Ashby’s Perspective
  • Christian Moral Teaching and Money
  • Money and Capital Markets: Turkey, India and China
  • Money and Capital Markets: Central Banks
  • Anti Money Laundering and Combating the Financing of Terrorism
  • Mobile Money Transfer as an Alternative Product for Vodafone Group Plc
  • The Relationship Between Money Supply and Inflation
  • UK and USA During the Period 2000-2010: Consumer Price Index, Unemployment Rate, Money Supply and Interest Rate
  • Money Mechanics in the U.S.
  • Money and Markets vs. Social Morals
  • Money Laundering In Saudi Arabia
  • Inflation Tax – Printing More Money to Cover the War Expenses
  • Banks and the Money Supply
  • Money Mechanics in Banks System
  • Money Laundering In Russia
  • Money and Work Performance
  • Sports and Money in Australia
  • Money Supply and Exchange Rates
  • Mobile Money Transfer Service
  • Central Banking and the Money Supply
  • The Different Roles Played By the Central Bank, Depository Institutions, and Depositors in the Determination of Money Supply
  • Jean-Jacques Rousseau and Karl Marx: The Role of Money in Human Life
  • How Saudi Banks Deal With Money Laundery
  • The Ascent of Money
  • Niall Ferguson’s ‘The Ascent of Money’
  • Role of Money in the American Dream’s Concept
  • Money, Motivation and Employee Performance
  • Money and Commodity Circulatory Processes
  • Opinion on the Importance of Money
  • Motivate Your Employees produced by BNet Video for CBS Money Watch
  • We Should Use Tax Money to Enforce Mandatory Drug Treatments on Drug
  • The World Surrounded by Money
  • The World of Money
  • Edwin Arlington Robinson: Money and Happiness in “Richard Cory”
  • Federal Reserve; Money and Banking
  • Ways to Spend Money in Saudi Arabia
  • Sports Industry: Morality vs. Money
  • Making Money on Music: The Company That Has to Stay Afloat
  • Federal Reserve and the Role of Money in It
  • What Do Money and Credit Tell Us About Actual Activity in the United States?
  • What Influence Does Money Have on Us Politics?
  • Can Money Change Who We Are?
  • Does Government Spending Crowd Out Donations of Time and Money?
  • Does More Money Mean More Bank Loans?
  • Are Corporate Ceos Earning Too Much Money?
  • Did the Turmoil Affect Money-Market Segmentation in the Euro Area?
  • How Appealing Are Monetary Rewards in the Workplace?
  • How Does Inflation Affect the Function of Money?
  • Can Banks Individually Create Money Out of Nothing?
  • Are Credit Cards Going to Be the Money of the Future?
  • Does Money Protect Health Status?
  • Can Cryptocurrencies Fulfill the Functions of Money?
  • What Tools Used by the Federal Reserve to Control Money Supply?
  • Are Athletes Overpaid Money Professional Sports?
  • Does Electronic Money Mean the Death of Cash?
  • What Does Motivate Employees and Whether Money a Key?
  • What Are the Three Functions of Money?
  • Are Gym Memberships Worth the Money?
  • Does Broad Money Matter for Interest Rate Policy?
  • Does Money Help Predict Inflation?
  • Does One’s Success Depend on the Amount of Money a Person Earns?
  • How Does Federal Reserve Control the Money Supply?
  • Does Interest Rate Influence Demand for Money?
  • Does Commodity Money Eliminate the Indeterminacy of Equilibria?
  • Are College Degrees Worth the Money?
  • Can Money Matter for Interest Rate Policy?
  • How Banks Create Money and Impact of Credit Booms?
  • How Can Virtualization Save Organization Money?
  • Can Money Diminish Student Performance Disparities Across Regions?
  • Chicago (A-D)
  • Chicago (N-B)

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IvyPanda . 2024. "260 Money Topics to Write About & Essay Examples." March 2, 2024. https://ivypanda.com/essays/topic/money-essay-topics/.

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IvyPanda . "260 Money Topics to Write About & Essay Examples." March 2, 2024. https://ivypanda.com/essays/topic/money-essay-topics/.

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Refunds for Benefytt customers who paid for health plans and products

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Did you pay  Benefytt , which also did business as “MyBenefitsKeeper,” for a health plan or product that didn’t deliver the comprehensive insurance coverage the company promised? You might be getting some of your money back.

The FTC will return nearly $100 million dollars to Benefytt customers who paid for health plans the FTC says were falsely marketed as comprehensive health insurance or an “Obamacare” plan under the Affordable Care Act (ACA).

Here’s what to know about refunds:

  • Customers who paid Benefytt $1,000 or more between 2017 and 2022 will get some money back. Checks will be mailed automatically and should arrive within the next two weeks.
  • Cash or deposit the check as soon as possible. Refund checks expire after 90 days. 
  • For more information or questions, call the refund administrator, Epiq Systems, at 888-574-3126.
  • The FTC never requires you to pay money or give account information to cash a refund check. Anyone who contacts you and says they’ll help you file for a refund or get your money back — if you pay them first — is a scammer.

Before you sign up for health coverage or products:

  • Compare plans, coverage, and prices at a trusted source .  HealthCare.gov and state marketplaces are the first stop for information about comprehensive, ACA-compliant health insurance coverage.
  • Find out more about the seller.  Ask for the name of the agent and the agency that's offering you a plan. Search online for the names plus “complaint,” “scam,” or “fraud.” Read what others are saying.
  • Check with your  state insurance commissioner’s office  to see if they have a license and find out if there are complaints. If they don’t have a license, what they’re selling is not insurance.

Resist pressure to make a decision on the spot. Legitimate health plans won’t pressure you to make a decision on the spot, and they’ll always give you a chance to compare their plan with other options.

Did you pay Benefytt for a health plan or product?  You might be getting a refund.  Learn more: ftc.gov/refunds

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The purpose of this blog and its comments section is to inform readers about Federal Trade Commission activity, and share information to help them avoid, report, and recover from fraud, scams, and bad business practices. Your thoughts, ideas, and concerns are welcome, and we encourage comments. But keep in mind, this is a moderated blog. We review all comments before they are posted, and we won’t post comments that don’t comply with our commenting policy. We expect commenters to treat each other and the blog writers with respect.

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I had over $15k in bills that I am being told to pay because they did not pay them and money that I paid towards and beyond the "deductible" for services and then was stuck. I spoke with several attorneys but nobody wanted to discuss.

As much as I appreciate the refund, 124.13. It doesn't touch the amount owed to the hospital. I do believe we still owe 37,000.00. Nor the premiums paid for nothing. The way I see it...is the big wigs of this scam, took our money and spent it on themselves. Sell everything they have and there families have to repay these people us. I'm sick over this debt of ours.

I have given them $15,184.80 in the past 10 years too my benefit keeper. I should be getting a big refund for this scam

ALTTHOUGH IM HAPPY THAT THIS WS NOTICED AND THE COMPANY WAS PUNISHED IT DOESNT MAKE UP FOR THE $10,000 THAT WAS LOST WITH THIS COMPANY IN BOGUS COVERAGES AND CLAIM ...$340 IS WHAT I GOT

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  • Headquarters | Air and Radiation (OAR)

Biden-Harris Administration finalizes strongest-ever pollution standards for cars that position U.S. companies and workers to lead the clean vehicle future, protect public health, address the climate crisis, save drivers money

Final standards will expand consumer choice in clean vehicles and build on historic progress in U.S. auto manufacturing under President Biden’s Investing in America agenda

March 20, 2024

WASHINGTON – Today, March 20, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency announced final national pollution standards for passenger cars, light-duty trucks, and medium-duty vehicles for model years 2027 through 2032 and beyond. These standards will avoid more than 7 billion tons of carbon emissions and provide nearly $100 billion of annual net benefits to society, including $13 billion of annual public health benefits due to improved air quality, and $62 billion in reduced annual fuel costs, and maintenance and repair costs for drivers. The final standards deliver on the significant pollution reductions outlined in the proposed rule, while accelerating the adoption of cleaner vehicle technologies. EPA is finalizing this rule as sales of clean vehicles, including plug-in hybrid and fully electric vehicles, hit record highs last year.

EPA projects an increase in U.S. auto manufacturing employment in response to these final standards, consistent with the broader Biden-Harris Administration commitment to create good-paying, union jobs leading the clean vehicle future. Strong standards have historically contributed to the U.S. leading the world in the supply of clean technologies, with corresponding benefits for American global competitiveness and domestic employment. Since President Biden took office, companies have announced more than $160 billion in investment in U.S. clean vehicle manufacturing and the U.S. auto manufacturing sector has added more than 100,000 jobs.

These standards will provide greater certainty for the auto industry, catalyzing private investment, creating good-paying union jobs, and invigorating and strengthening the U.S. auto industry. Over the next decade, the standards, paired with President Biden’s historic Investing in America agenda and investments in U.S. manufacturing, will set the U.S. auto sector on a trajectory for sustained growth. Additionally, the final standards will lower costs for consumers. Once fully phased in, the standards will save the average American driver an estimated $6,000 in reduced fuel and maintenance over the life of a vehicle.

EPA Administrator Michael S. Regan will join President Biden’s National Climate Advisor Ali Zaidi today at an event in Washington, DC to announce the final standards and how they build on President Biden’s historic climate and economic record. The event will be livestreamed starting at noon EDT.

“With transportation as the largest source of U.S. climate emissions, these strongest-ever pollution standards for cars solidify America’s leadership in building a clean transportation future and creating good-paying American jobs, all while advancing President Biden’s historic climate agenda,” said EPA Administrator Michael S. Regan . “The standards will slash over 7 billion tons of climate pollution, improve air quality in overburdened communities, and give drivers more clean vehicle choices while saving them money. Under President Biden’s leadership, this Administration is pairing strong standards with historic investments to revitalize domestic manufacturing, strengthen domestic supply chains and create good-paying jobs.” 

“President Biden is investing in America, in our workers, and in the unions that built our middle class and established the U.S. auto sector as a leader in the world,” said President Biden’s National Climate Advisor Ali Zaidi . “The President’s agenda is working. On factory floors across the nation, our autoworkers are making cars and trucks that give American drivers a choice – a way to get from point A to point B without having to fuel up at a gas station. From plug-in hybrids to fuel cells to fully electric, drivers have more choices today. Since 2021, sales of these vehicles have quadrupled and prices continue to come down. This growth means jobs, and it means we are moving faster and faster to take on the climate crisis – all thanks to the President’s leadership.”

Statement from United Automobile Workers : “The EPA has made significant progress on its final greenhouse gas emissions rule for light-duty vehicles. By taking seriously the concerns of workers and communities, the EPA has come a long way to create a more feasible emissions rule that protects workers building ICE vehicles, while providing a path forward for automakers to implement the full range of automotive technologies to reduce emissions.”

Light- and Medium-Duty Vehicle Final Standards

The final standards announced today, the “Multi Pollutant Emissions Standards for Model Years 2027 and Later Light-Duty and Medium-Duty Vehicles,” build on EPA’s existing emissions standards for passenger cars and light trucks for model years 2023 through 2026. The standards continue the technology-neutral and performance-based design of previous EPA standards for cars, pickups, and vans, and leverage advances in clean car technologies to further reduce both climate pollution and smog- and soot-forming emissions. EPA is finalizing the same standard proposed for MY 2032 while allowing additional time for the auto sector to scale up clean vehicle manufacturing supply chains in the first three years covered by the rule.

Annually, the net benefits to society for the light- and medium-duty final rule are estimated to be $99 billion. The final rule is expected to avoid 7.2 billion tons of CO2 emissions through 2055, roughly equal to four times the emissions of the entire transportation sector in 2021. It will also reduce fine particulate matter and ozone, preventing up to 2,500 premature deaths in 2055 as well as reducing heart attacks, respiratory and cardiovascular illnesses, aggravated asthma, and decreased lung function.

EPA received extensive feedback on the proposed rule, including through written comments, testimony at public hearings, and other stakeholder engagements. The final standards were informed by the best available data in the public record and rigorous technical assessments. Like the proposal, EPA’s final rule gives manufacturers the flexibility to efficiently reduce emissions and meet the performance-based standards through the mix of technologies they decide is best for them and their customers. EPA’s analysis considers a broad suite of available emission control technologies, and projects that consumers will continue to have a wide range of vehicle choices under the final rule, including advanced gasoline vehicles, hybrids, plug-in hybrid electric vehicles, and full battery electric vehicles.

Compared to the existing MY 2026 standards, the final MY 2032 standards represent a nearly 50% reduction in projected fleet average GHG emissions levels for light-duty vehicles and 44% reductions for medium-duty vehicles. In addition, the standards are expected to reduce emissions of health-harming fine particulate matter from gasoline-powered vehicles by over 95%. This will improve air quality nationwide and especially for people who live near major roadways and have environmental justice concerns.

Investing in America’s Clean Transportation Future

The final rule reflects the significant investments in clean vehicle technologies that industry is already making domestically and abroad, as well as ongoing U.S. market shifts and increasing consumer interest in clean vehicles. The Biden-Harris Administration is also directly supporting communities across America in moving towards a cleaner transportation future, including by building a national network of EV chargers and alternative-fuel stations; ensuring domestic manufacturers have the critical minerals and materials they need to make EV batteries; and funding clean transit and clean school buses, with priority for underserved communities. President Biden’s Investing in America agenda is focused on growing the American economy from the bottom up and the middle out – from rebuilding our nation’s infrastructure, to creating a manufacturing and innovation boom, to building a clean-energy economy that will combat climate change and make our communities more resilient.

Here's what leaders are saying about the final rule:

“I’ve always said Michigan automakers are the best in the world. And this is their moment,” said Senator Debbie Stabenow (MI) . “I appreciate EPA’s commitment to engaging with our automakers and autoworkers to develop an ambitious but achievable final rule. It represents an opportunity for union workers to continue to build the vehicles of the future right here in the U.S. and tackle the climate crisis.”

“My priority will always be to protect American jobs and our environment, keep the United States at the forefront of automotive manufacturing, technology, and innovation, and keep our domestic industry strong and competitive,” said Congresswoman Debbie Dingell (MI-06) . “The EPA has worked with all stakeholders to reach this final rule that includes hybrid and electric vehicles, and ensure these goals are achievable. It’s important to protect vehicle choice – the number of available models has doubled in the last three years, and in the last year sticker prices are down 20%. We need to continue to work on making sure that these vehicles are affordable to everyone, that we have the infrastructure in place to make them accessible and practical for consumers, and bring jobs back to the U.S. The bottom line is that the future of the industry must be created in America and driven by American workers, and we are all committed to working together toward that future.”

“The future is electric. Automakers are committed to the EV transition – investing enormous amounts of capital and building cutting edge battery electric vehicles, plug-in hybrids, traditional hybrids and fuel cell vehicles that drive efficiency and convert petroleum miles to electric miles,” said John Bozzella, President and CEO, Alliance for Automotive Innovation . “Consumers have tons of choices. But pace matters. Moderating the pace of EV adoption in 2027, 2028, 2029 and 2030 was the right call because it prioritizes more reasonable electrification targets in the next few (very critical) years of the EV transition. These adjusted EV targets – still a stretch goal – should give the market and supply chains a chance to catch up. It buys some time for more public charging to come online, and the industrial incentives and policies of the Inflation Reduction Act to do their thing. And the big one? The rules are mindful of the importance of choice to drivers and preserves their ability to choose the vehicle that’s right for them.”

“This is a day to celebrate American achievement. The step EPA is taking today will slash climate pollution and air pollution,” said Amanda Leland, Executive Director of Environmental Defense Fund . “It will bring more jobs for workers, more choices and more savings for consumers, and a healthier future for our children. The U.S. has leapt forward in the global race to invest in clean vehicles, with $188 billion and nearly 200,000 jobs on the way. Jobs in communities across the country, in places like Michigan, Nevada, and Kentucky. These clean car standards will help supercharge economic expansion and make America stronger.”

“These standards make clear that securing America’s global leadership in manufacturing and securing a better future are 100% aligned,” said Albert Gore, Executive Director of the Zero Emission Transportation Association . “We have everything we need today to meet and exceed this standard, and that means more of the vehicles sold in America will be made in America.”

Learn more information about the final rule .

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