This is our last blog post for 2019. We really hope you’ve enjoyed what we’ve provided to you throughout this year.
As the year draws to a close, can we offer you one more piece of financial advice: Take. That. Holiday.
Even if this is a busy time for you and your work, make sure that you schedule time for holidays. Everything depends on it – your health, your wealth and your relationships with loved ones. (Of course, all of these things are intimately related).
If you don’t want to take our word for it, consider some of the science. In 2012, researchers from the Finnish Institute of Occupational Health found a relationship between longer working hours and an increased rate of cardiovascular disease. In 2018, Finland was rated as the world’s happiest country by none other than the United Nations. So the rest of us should really pay attention when they come up with findings like this.
Or you may have heard of the Framingham Heart Study, a long-term project being conducted by Boston University. Specifically, it found that men who skip their annual vacation more than once have a 30% increased risk of experiencing a heart attack.
The Finnish results above came three years after the same researchers found that people who take more breaks are more intellectually alert and can concentrate better. Taking breaks help you do your job more effectively – especially as you get older.
As financial advisers we spend a lot of time talking to people about insuring against unwanted episodes such as illness, injury or early death. And then we hope that our clients never make a claim on their insurance policies! But when it turns out that holidays make insured events less likely to happen, you can see why we think we have an obligation to give all of our clients this simple piece of sage advice – take your holidays. It would be irresponsible not to.
Above all, please stay safe and we very much look forward to seeing you again early in 2020 – bring on the 20s!
