{"id":449949,"date":"2026-05-28T19:59:12","date_gmt":"2026-05-28T19:59:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/449949\/"},"modified":"2026-05-28T19:59:12","modified_gmt":"2026-05-28T19:59:12","slug":"how-to-make-financial-wellness-work-for-you","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/449949\/","title":{"rendered":"How to Make \u2018Financial Wellness\u2019 Work for You"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

The term \u201cfinancial wellness\u201d has increased in popularity over the past five years. But what exactly does it mean and how can it help us with our money? <\/p>\n

For many financial experts, it\u2019s synonymous with having a healthier relationship with our personal finances. <\/p>\n

\u201cPeople are talking about wellness and self-care in ways they haven\u2019t before, and that has expanded into the finance space,\u201d says Audrey Emerson, a certified financial planner and founder of Cents of Joy, a planning firm in Bellingham, Washington. <\/p>\n

That\u2019s a good thing, she says, because it opens up conversations that include the emotional aspects of money, which can play a big role in how we handle our finances. <\/p>\n

\u201cYou can\u2019t change your relationship with money if we don\u2019t talk about how you feel about it,\u201d Emerson says. <\/p>\n

And it really can affect our health. \u201cIf a person is financially stressed, it can affect them physically,\u201d says Shar-N\u00e9 Warren, a CFP and founder of Financial Excavation, a firm in the Dallas area. <\/p>\n

\u201cOn the other side, if someone is feeling financially confident, they feel empowered, peaceful, and joyful in other areas of their life,\u201d she adds. <\/p>\n

Monitor and adjust cash flow<\/p>\n

The first rule of financial wellness is awareness.<\/p>\n

Understand where your money is going and how your spending aligns with your current priorities, says Josh Radman, a CFP based in Denver and founder of Presidio Advisors. <\/p>\n

\u201cMany of my clients have cash-flow related stress,\u201d he says, partly because they are juggling significant child care costs on top of a mortgage. To help, he sometimes encourages them to temporarily stop contributing to retirement accounts<\/a> in order to get through that high-cost season of life. <\/p>\n

Prioritizing these kinds of costs at the moment can create guilt and worry about the future, Radman says. <\/p>\n

But, giving them \u201cpermission\u201d to pause longer-term savings \u2014 because it\u2019s what\u2019s right for now \u2014 alleviates that psychological burden. And he helps them create a plan for returning to longer-term savings when they are ready. <\/p>\n

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SUBSCRIBE FOR FREE <\/a> \"CTA Reflecting on what spending brings you joy<\/a> and what doesn\u2019t can also bring financial wellness, Warren says. \u201cIt\u2019s about knowing money is going in a direction you value,\u201d she says. <\/p>\n

When she was in her mid-twenties, she realized she was spending a lot on restaurant meals that weren\u2019t that meaningful to her. \u201cWhat upset me was that I ate at places that weren\u2019t memorable,\u201d she says, but the cost was high. <\/p>\n

Once she realized, she cut back and saved splurging for more memorable culinary experiences, and longer-term financial goals like living abroad. <\/p>\n

Mindfulness can also help, says Matt Sheers, a CFP and certified health and wellness coach and founder of Sheer Empowerment Financial in Plymouth, New Hampshire. <\/p>\n

Using meditation or other techniques that put you in the present moment (without judgment), can make it easier to stay aware of spending habits and ensure they reflect our priorities, he says. <\/p>\n

\u201cIt can give you a little more presence of mind to pause and possibly make a different decision,\u201d he adds. <\/p>\n

Coordinate with loved ones<\/p>\n

Sharing finances with someone else?<\/p>\n

Schedule a money date with a partner<\/a> to review spending and talk about financial priorities in a harmonious way, Emerson suggests. <\/p>\n

\u201cIt helps carve out intentional space for spouses or partners to talk about money at a time when it\u2019s not already emotional,\u201d she says. <\/p>\n

If you wait to talk about money until there\u2019s a problem, then it can be more heated. <\/p>\n

Similarly, Emerson suggests drafting a shared statement about financial goals, values and what matters most. \u201cWhat do we want money to accomplish? Usually it\u2019s for money to be a tool to have more freedom and flexibility,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n

Spelling out that \u201cfinancial purpose\u201d can create clarity around upcoming financial decisions, she adds. <\/p>\n

Cultivate gratitude and positivity<\/p>\n

We often focus on what\u2019s lacking in our lives instead of what\u2019s going right, says Sheers. To counter that tendency, he suggests starting a gratitude practice, where you reflect on what you are grateful for instead. <\/p>\n

\u201cIt can mean reflecting on what\u2019s going well, which brings more positive energy,\u201d Sheers says. He likes to list five things that went well at the end of each day as his simple practice. <\/p>\n

On the same note, Warren says to cut out the negative self-talk. \u201cIt\u2019s not helpful to constantly criticize yourself,\u201d she says. \u201cYou might not have done everything right, but none of us have.\u201d<\/p>\n

Make a list of what you\u2019ve done right, she says. And keep it running, because your financial wellness journey starts now.<\/p>\n

About the author \"Kimberly <\/a> Kimberly Palmer is a personal finance expert at NerdWallet. She is also the author of three books about money: “Smart Mom, Rich Mom,” “The Economy of You” and \u201cGeneration Earn.\u201d Kimberly’s work also appears at NerdWallet Canada<\/a>. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The term \u201cfinancial wellness\u201d has increased in popularity over the past five years. But what exactly does it…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":449950,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[14],"tags":[138,246,111,139,69,244,245],"class_list":["post-449949","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-personal-finance","tag-business","tag-finance","tag-new-zealand","tag-newzealand","tag-nz","tag-personal-finance","tag-personalfinance"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/449949","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=449949"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/449949\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/449950"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=449949"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=449949"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=449949"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}