72% of UK consumers are opting for better food choices in supermarkets while spending on health and fitness in the country is on the rise despite increasing pressure on income. A healthy lifestyle can improve your fitness, lower the risk of cardiovascular disease and even boost your mental health. However, can being health conscious help your wallet? Evidence says it can. Here are four ways healthy habits can impact your financial goals, including your plans for getting on the property ladder and your retirement future.
Better Food Decisions = Less Spending
Consumers in the UK spent over £49 billion on eating and drinking out in 2017. This equates to £1,000 per person. In fact, Brits spend more on lunch than utilities. However, healthier eating means savings on the food front. One tip for eating healthy is to choose a packed homecooked lunch where you are aware of all the ingredients and that it is free of preservatives. Doing this can add at least £245 to your bank balance each year. Shopping and cooking at home also saves money in the supermarket, further reducing your monthly food bills. The recommended diet is full of fruit, vegetables, and whole grains; all of which you can consumer for £3 a day. The cost of one meal out can be enough to provide food for 3 or more days.
Your Earning Capacity Improves
Living a healthier lifestyle improves productivity. Eating healthier foods increases your energy and leads to better sleep. A diet rich in whole foods including fruits, lean protein and vegetables will boost energy levels. Multiple studies have linked eating a nutritious breakfast to productivity levels throughout the day. Thanks to increasing convenience in the kitchen, fueling your body with healthy breakfast beverages or meals are now much easier. When you are feeling more rested, you are then able to concentrate and retain information better. All of these positive changes equates to better productivity in the workplace, boosting your earning potential.
It can also boost creativity; spurring ideas and motivation to launch side businesses and pursue other sources of income (and have the energy to keep up with them). This is part of the reasoning behind the growth of corporate wellness programs in workplaces today. Happier, healthier employees are good for business.
Living Healthy Improves Life Expectancy- And Your Credit
Some habits that are a part of living a healthier life include avoiding smoking, monitoring alcohol and sugar intake and exercising. All of these also impact your life expectancy. Living longer can not only mean saving on health insurance but also influence your approval for longer life mortgages, if needed. Longer term mortgages are proving to be a popular way to help people buy a home and also save up to £30,000 on their mortgage overall. Increasing the term of your home loan can decrease your chances of defaulting on payments, falling into debt, damaging your credit scores and simply making your bills more affordable.
Opting For A Healthier Lifestyle Could Protect Your Retirement Funds
The fear of outliving their retirement savings is very real for British consumers, particularly with the younger workforce. It is estimated that you will need to set aside at least £260,000 for their retirement needs in addition to their state pension. Financial firm Key Research puts basic living costs to be approximately £10,830 a year. However, the benefits of being health conscious means fewer healthcare bills, and lower health and life insurance premiums in retirement. Savings like these can be put back into your retirement funds.
Choosing to live a healthier lifestyle is about more than making the healthier choices. It is about improving your present and protecting your future. Better health means a better standard of life, including financially.
This week Finance Monthly brings you a list of 5 awesome buys to treat yourself with after your next bonus, pay rise or big client win! Sure, you could invest it, or gamble on some new cryptocurrencies, but we all know that there is nothing better than treating yourself to something special, particularly after you’ve earned it. Here’s our top picks to motivate you towards your next milestone.
The Bike: Husqvarna Vitpilen 401
The Husqvarna Vitpilen 401 is a sleek, refreshingly simple and progressive new urban street motorcycle. Husqvarna’s designers have stripped away all of the unnecessary bells, whistles and gadgets and left behind only what is truly required for a raw and authentic riding experience. Perfect for getting around the city, this sleek streetbike is a sure head turner. The Vitpilen 401 will be available in authorised Husqvarna dealers from March 2018.
Price: £5,599
The Television: Samsung 75” QLED Smart T
This Samsung television is a modern, fashionable and spectacular piece of technology. The smart TV delivers breathtaking picture quality, achieving 100% colour volume. Suddenly watching movies at home will feel akin to a cinematic experience, and sports matches will come alive like never before. With a stunning 360 design, this isn’t just a TV - the QLED is a statement piece that will bring new dimensions to your living space.
Price: £4,719
The Home Tech: iRobot Roomba 980 Vacuum Cleaner
If you’ve had a long, intense week at work - the last thing you’ll want to do is tackle the vacuuming over the weekend, This is where the Roomba comes in, a robotic vacuum cleaner that will revolutionise your home cleaning. At the touch of a button, the impressive Roomba 980 will navigate around your home, keeping track of its location and recharging as needed until the job is complete. The smart iRobot Home App even allows you to control your cleaning schedule while you are on the go, how efficient!
Price: £899.99
The Watch: U-Boat Classico 1001 in Titanium Blue
This limited edition Italo Fontana U-Boat Classico 1001 pays homage to the essence of the brands classic style with bold, military inspired design and a wide dial. Timeless and iconic, the Classico is a clean and uniquely styled model with a running theme of raw, natural materials. A surefire way to elevate your outfit both in and out of work, the Classico is even water resistant to 1001 metres.
Price: £4,250
The Sunglasses: Linda Farrow Aviator Sunglasses
Warmer months are coming and if there is one accessory that completes your summer wardrobe, it’s a pair of designer sunglasses. The compliments will be flooding with these luxurious Linda Farrow aviator sunglasses which are handcrafted purely from 18-22 carat white gold-plated lightweight titanium. Definitely the ultimate sunglasses to invest in for the summer.
Price: £830
Oh Madrid! Elegant boulevards, lush parks, stunning architecture and thousands of hip cafés and restaurants – it’s very difficult not to fall in love with everything that this bustling with life city has to offer! Madrid’s countless attractions, museums and art galleries make it the ideal destination for a culture-rich weekend or city break. And even though this city never sleeps, you’d still need a welcome relief after a day of walking around, overdosing on culture and eating tapas. Only YOU Hotel Atocha is a conveniently located boutique bolthole, whose trendy industrial interiors and upscale comfort will make it hard to leave the hotel after a lazy brunch at the sunlit terrace.
Only YOU Hotel Atocha is the second Only YOU Hotel in Madrid and opened its doors in December 2016. Both hotels boast urban interior vibes, courtesy of Catalan interior designer Lázaro Rosa Violán. Brick walls, exposed pipes and wooden flooring are tastefully paired with modern industrial furnishings and funky artworks – Only YOU Hotel Atocha perfectly combines fresh contemporary atmosphere with state-of-the-art comforts. The hotel offers 205 rooms and suites, scattered across seven floors. For a truly lush experience, stay at the Terrace Suite on the top floor, which, naturally, comes with a fully furnished solarium terrace, a separate lounge, amenities kit by RITUALS and stunning views overlooking the busy streets of Madrid.
On the first floor, you’ll find the bar and restaurant area that features a giant bookcase serving as the centrepiece of the area, cosy armchairs and bright furnishing accessories. Sample’s the bar’s cocktail menu or grab a quick bite in the restaurant, whilst languid jazz is playing in the background.
On the seventh floor you’ll find the light-filled, stylish SÉPTIMA restaurant, where the hotel hosts music sessions and special events. This is also where breakfast is served. You can also enjoy your eggs and coffee on the beautiful terrace, if weather permits - which it normally does in sunny Madrid. The expansive buffet selection offers freshly made juices and smoothies, an extensive list of cheeses and cold cuts, homemade pastries and muffins and an omelette bar – you’ll find everything that you’d need to fuel up for a day of exploring the energetic streets of Spain’s capital.
Whether you’re visiting Madrid for business or pleasure, Only YOU Hotel Atocha’s characterful, contemporary luxe and central location make it an ideal place to stay in the never-stopping city of jamon and flamenco.
Double rooms at Only YOU Hotel Atocha start at £127 in low season; and from £170 in high (breakfast excluded).
Written by Katina Hristova
Looking to visit Britain’s capital? Georgian streets, countless cafés and restaurants, convenient location and classy vibes - whether travelling for work or pleasure, London’s fashionable and affluent area of Marylebone is the perfect place for city-breaking. Here is Finance Monthly’s suggestion for the best Marylebone hotel for your trip.
Housed in a converted Edwardian townhouse building, No Ten Manchester Street is an opulent boutique hotel set in the heart of Marylebone and within a walking distance of the shops of Oxford street. Combining truly English charm with a contemporary European vibe, the hotel boasts stylish rooms, a cigar bar and all the comforts you could possibly need to unwind after a long day of work meetings (or shopping).
The décor of the well-appointed 44 bedrooms and suites is elegant, classic and plush, equipped with bespoke Christopher Guy furniture, Richmond Hypnos beds, complimentary Handy phones, Wi-Fi access, 32-inch flatscreen TVs and en-suite bathrooms. Despite its central location, No Ten Mancheter street’s rooms somehow feel miles away from the hustle and bustle of the busy streets – a good night’s sleep guaranteed!
No Ten Manchester Street prides itself to be an official Gold Havana Cigar Specialist, with its Cigars at No 10 bar attracting hotel guests from across the globe. The hotel’s cigar team meticulously maintain the cigar collection, house it in a bespoke D’art humidor, making sure that your chosen cigar will arrive in complete optimum condition – however, the extensive cigar selection will make it difficult to choose only one. The bar is one of London’s finest cigar venues and is a chic place to hang after dinner, whilst sipping on a whisky and indulging in Havanas.
Deluxe rooms at No Ten Manchester Street cost from £148.
www.tenmanchesterstreethotel.com
More than a quarter (27%) of small financial business owners in the UK have had a health scare since starting their business according to research from Ultimate Finance, which explores the pressure British SMEs are under in the UK.
79% of financial business owners and managers worry their current work / life balance is having a negative impact on their health.
Two fifths (40%) have found it hard to eat healthily since starting a business, while a further 21% struggle to go to the gym and maintain their health regime.
81% worry about the future and their health due to their work habits.
Steve Noble, Chief Operating Officer at Ultimate Finance commented: “While it is common knowledge that running your own business is stressful, we were shocked it has triggered health scares in so many entrepreneurs in the banking and finance sector. It can be isolating spearheading a business, particularly in uncertain economic and political times and clearly the strain is taking its toll in terms of personal health and wellbeing. Many SMEs operating in the financial sector are simply not finding the time to eat well or exercise.
“When you consider that over five million businesses are SMEs, we could be heading towards a bit of a crisis. We need to start talking seriously about the importance of prioritising physical health, not just for the sake of entrepreneurs’ personal health but to ensure the long-term success of their business.”
Business psychologist Robert Stewart added: “Many SME owners focus on the needs of the business and their employees but fail to address their own personal needs. At the start of a new year, I would urge the UK’s financial SME community to take this research seriously and establish their own process for looking after themselves. This may be in the form of a personal wellbeing advocate who can ask them difficult questions about their work / life balance or simply by taking a more honest look at the way they work and creating boundaries and new habits of eating well and exercising.”
The independent survey, carried out by 3Gem on behalf of SME funding partner Ultimate Finance, questioned hundreds of managing directors, across a range of sectors, about the impact that running their business was having on their lives.
Ultimate Finance conducted the research as part of a bigger SME wellbeing campaign, with the aim of highlighting the need for small business owners to consider their own health, as well as their employees. To help SMEs who need support with their wellbeing, the leading UK funding ally has created an information hub with insight and guidance on a range of business wellbeing topics.
(Source: Ultimate Finance)
Set beneath the pink-soil cliffs on Babbacombe beach, near Torquay, The Cary Arms & Spa is a chic inn that perfectly captures the beauty of the English seaside. Located inside the curve of a bay, the hotel promises breathtaking views of the endless sea and the old jetty (where both locals and seals can be seen fishing) and immense tranquillity.
The Hotel
Each room in The Cary Arms has been inspired by the hotel’s surroundings and has a very coastal feel to it. However, the main act are undoubtedly the two seafront suites and their private balconies that are a few metres from the crystal clear waters of the English Channel. Spacious rooms, walls of glass, log fires, wooden floors, walk-in showers with White Company toiletries and huge beds with outstanding view out to sea - these two suites are nothing short of spectacular! The six luxury white-and-blue beach huts which also boast views that stretch for miles, are another way of making the most of this hotel and its dreamy location. If you’re planning a seaside getaway with family or friends (including the four-legged members of the family), the three secluded Cottages come with three or five bedrooms and all the modern comforts you can ask for.
The Dining Experience
With its stone walls, wooden floors and a fireplace, the inn in The Cary Arms is probably the cosiest and most relaxed fine-dining restaurant I’ve been to, meant to serve ‘gastro food cooked simply’. If the weather is warm enough, dinner could be taken alfresco, however, the conservatory is also a great viewing point. The ever-changing menus centre around fresh, local ingredients and line-caught seafood, simply and creatively cooked according to the season. Starters include pan seared Bixham scallops and Devon crab and crayfish cocktail, whilst mains feature pan fried sea bass fillet and the classic fish and chips, with a Brixham twist. For breakfast, try the traditional Devon full English, or if you fancy a lazy breakfast on your private terrace, ask for the breakfast hamper the night before.
The Spa
Take time to pamper yourself in the hotel’s spa that features a plunge pool fitted with massage jets, sauna, steam room, mini gym and sun deck. The three treatment rooms, including a couple’s massage room, offer facials, massages and aromatherapy treatments inspired by marine-themed French beauty and skincare brand Thalgo.
I can go on and on about how gorgeous The Cary Arms & Spa is but I’m certain that neither words, nor photos will do this place full justice. I found myself utterly enchanted by the cosiness of the burning logs in the inn, the deliciousness of every bite of freshly caught fish, the smell of salty air, the happiness that being by the sea brings, and most importantly - the fact that I was experiencing all of this in England.
Luxury Doubles start from £245, Beach Huts from £345 and Beach Suites from £475 per room per night, on a B&B basis.
Website: https://www.caryarms.co.uk/
In a new white paper, Vodafone – supported by Bernard Vrijens, Professor in public health at the University of Liege, Belgium – claims that new connected solutions based around the Internet of Things (IoT) will help people to follow their medical treatment programmes more closely. This latest development could improve millions of lives and save billions of dollars.
The World Health Organisation has said that adherence – the action of complying with a medical treatment regime – for long term conditions such as hypertension, cancer and HIV stands at only around 50%, meaning half of patients do not follow their doctor’s instructions. As a result, patients’ chances of recovery and relief are reduced. Better approaches to adherence have been estimated to bring 50% of the non-adherent population onside1.
Bringing together smart devices, connectivity and the cloud, the Internet of Things (IoT) can lead to more effective healthcare, according to the white paper. It will encourage patients to follow their treatment programme more accurately by providing them with individualised information on their therapy. By encouraging them to continue with their full course of treatment, this approach could potentially save up to an estimated $290 billion in otherwise avoidable medical spending, in the US alone each year[i].
The data-driven and IoT enabled adherence management outlined in the white paper would offer benefits to patients, clinicians, medical device companies and those that pay for the provision of medical services. It could lead to more independence for patients, better treatment, more effective drug development and ultimately lower healthcare costs.
University of Liege Professor of public health Bernard Vrijens said, “Healthcare providers currently monitor four main vital signs: body temperature, pulse rate, respiration rate and blood pressure. The IoT means they’ll soon be able to accurately measure a fifth – adherence. I believe that that the importance of connectivity in the both medical devices and in patient engagement cannot be under estimated. This is a pivotal moment on the road to more individualised healthcare.”
Vodafone IoT Director Erik Brenneis added, “This is a great example of how the internet of things has the potential to help people live healthier lives and access more effective medical treatment. We hope that the vision and creativity of people like Professor Vrijens will quickly become a reality with the IoT. We believe that we are on the threshold of a significant change in the way chronic diseases are managed.”
(Source: Vodafone)
