The questions we should be asking ourselves now to ensure a healthier and wealthier future. Over a quarter (26 percent) of British adults don’t look ahead in regards to their physical, mental and financial health and over a third (38 percent) say they have no vision of their future according to new research by insurance provider AXA. Contributor Chris Horlick, Director – AXA PPP.
The survey of over 4,000 UK adults highlighted how a surprising 33 percent of married or living as married people would not feel comfortable talking to their partner about their current financial situation suggesting that a lack of willingness to open up about certain topics is preventing the nation from picturing their futures. In a bid to get people to open up more about these topics, AXA PPP healthcare has partnered with renowned philosophers, The School of Life, to create a box of 100 ‘truth’ questions cards which encourages people to have meaningful conversations about health and finances.
The cards facilitate three increasingly difficult levels of conversations to help unlock a healthier and wealthier future by encouraging people to talk about their current and future situations. The type of questions we should be asking ourselves now to allow us to think about how we want our future to be includes:
- What did you used to dream about achieving by this point in your life?
- Do you think your best times are behind you, or still lie ahead? Why?
- What would you like to see inscribed on your headstone?
- Which worries you more – physical frailty or dementia? Why?
- Would you prefer to get everything you’ve ever wanted but die in one year or live your life as it is now, knowing you will never get them?
- You discover that your entire life is being broadcast live to the citizens of another country. How would you now act differently?
- If your entire financial history were posted online, what would you feel most embarrassed about?
If I could go back in time and tell my parents how to raise me, I would advise them… David Waters, Fellow from The School of Life who helped create the questions, comments: “So often it’s our fears that get in the way of being open and courageous in our conversations with loved ones. We fear their response, or what they will think of us. But given the right tools, it can lead us progressively to a new height of confident honesty and a fresh commitment for our future.”
Chris Horlick, Director at AXA PPP healthcare comments: “We need to start having conversations about our health and wealth now to ensure we have the future we want to envision. It is not too late to make changes to our lifestyle to ensure a healthy and prosperous future, with simple changes such as combatting a sedentary lifestyle, keeping our mind challenged and putting at least 20 percent of monthly income into savings or a pension making a big difference further down the line.
“The UK’s ageing population is a ticking time bomb, with a generation of people at risk of mental, physical and financial poor health if we don’t start envisioning and creating the future we want, so it is time to open up and start talking about it now.”
