scorecardresearchHow to ensure sound sleep during times of financial stress? Here are 5

How to ensure sound sleep during times of financial stress? Here are 5 tips

Updated: 20 Mar 2023, 05:18 PM IST
TL;DR.

A cluttered and discontented mind can never rest in peace. The consequence is sleep deprivation, which in most cases is the precursor to serious physical and emotional disorders, thus, impeding money-making decisions.

Let not your money troubles disrupt your sleep

Let not your money troubles disrupt your sleep

A good night’s sleep is necessary to feel rested. “Sleep is essential for health” is a fact we dare not ignore. Sleeping well is one way of ensuring overall good physical and mental health. You cannot experience well-being without getting enough sleep regularly. Yet, so many people in the world continue to be sleep deprived without realizing how they are slowly inching towards emotional stagnation.

No doubt, your body needs rest and so does your mind, but it is easier said than experienced. Being able to sleep is a privilege limited to some only. But, what if you feel bothered due to piling debt or lack of adequate finances?

Money is much needed, irrespective of how frugally you may choose to live. Having enough money in your bank account is the first step to getting sound sleep. Repaying your loans on time is essential to get rid of sleep debt. You can still repay your lingering through debt consolidation or direct your passive income towards loan repayment. However, you cannot recover your missed sleep, which is why focusing on finances is a must to ensure sound sleep.

Focus on having enough money in hand

The first thing you must do is focus on enough liquidity in hand. This you can do by contributing regularly to your savings account while also ensuring some good amount into your deposits regularly. Alternatively, you may consider allocating a part of your money into short-duration debt funds or liquid funds to make sure that you will have access to money, as and when you need it. Also, to tackle sudden and unforeseen situations, work on an emergency fund equivalent to at least six months’ worth of income.

Prioritize buying health insurance

Bad health is often a precursor to interrupted sleep or erratic sleep patterns. You cannot afford to ignore your health problems, especially, growing age concerns and discomfort due to poor constitution. However, increased expenses on hospitalization and subsequent treatment may refrain you from getting necessary medical care. This explains the need to opt for a comprehensive health insurance cover that you must buy early to avail of the benefits of low premium charges and no-claim bonus (NCB). Including health policies in your investment portfolio is a must in today’s times marred with high expenses and uncertainty in life.

Plan your retirement in advance

The next thing that comes to mind is planning for retirement. We all retire from our regular jobs or profession someday. You do not save for your retirement in a day or two. In fact, it is a step-by-step approach that starts with first assessing how much corpus you would need to survive the golden years of your life. This must include ensuring a regular income every month, adequate health insurance coverage, zero liabilities, an own house to live in and maybe some more to pay for your children’s higher education if the need arises. Now, this cannot happen overnight, which means that you must plan between pension plans, annuity schemes, debt fund instruments, long-term equities and traditional bank deposit schemes.

Plan your wealth creation strategy

Then, comes planning your journey towards wealth creation. The idea is simple – decide your goals and then break them into short-term and long-term goals. This way, you can decide how and where to invest your money to buy your next car or a trip to a foreign location. Your long-term goals can be saving enough for your house or children’s higher education in foreign universities, and more.

For this, you may choose between investing in the market versus traditional investment schemes offered by banks and insurance companies. Many people have shown a strong propensity to invest in newly launched government-sponsored schemes or investments launched specially to benefit women. Apart, there is always a struggle to focus on investments that help save on taxes too, thus, adding unwarranted complexities to one’s investment style.

There is no limit to human wants. There should be no limit to what extent one must harbour ambitions in life. However, too many goals lead to restlessness. The inability to prioritize goals or plan them accordingly may cause you to suffer from sleeplessness. Continued lack of sleep may result in depression, thus, warranting the need for people to have a good night’s sleep.

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First Published: 20 Mar 2023, 05:17 PM IST