PEOPLE have been hearing the word “self-care” a lot nowadays as it has become a trend among young individuals.

As the name suggests, self-care means taking care of one’s self physically, mentally and emotionally. It’s surging in popularity not because it’s a new practice but maybe because more young people, especially Gen Zs, are investing in their overall well-being. 

But self-care doesn’t only center on promoting positive mental health and physical health. 

There’s another type of self-care that focuses on improving one’s financial wellness, known as “financial self-care.” Such a practice has existed way before, which the older generations called financial planning. 

However, there’s a “critical difference” between the two and that is the emphasis on the word “self,” which should only focus on one’s own financial situation, according to Francis Diaz, president and co-founder of LUNA Securities.

‘Wealthness’

In LUNA Securities, Diaz said they call financial self-care as “wealthness,” a combination of the words wealth and wellness.

“Financial self-care wealthness is really the overall well-being of your financial profile. Are you able to save enough? Are you in debt? Are you able to take care of your debt? Are you able to take care of the things that you need to take care of? Are you able to provide for other things like leisure, travels, your hobbies?” he told republicasia.

“It all revolves around money and the purpose of money,” he added.

The financial expert noted that having “wealthness” means an individual could provide for their basic needs, their psychosocial and spiritual needs, their investments, and their passions, among others.

“We live in a world where everything that we do has a cause and wealthness, financial self-care, is really being able to properly take care of these aspects so that you feel complete as a person as well,” emphasized Diaz.

Gains

Practicing financial self-care has many benefits, which include financial security, empowerment, and generational impact, said Diaz.

Financial security gives a person the ability to provide for themselves, meet their needs, and prepare for surprise needs such as emergencies.

“Kapag secured ka sa finances mo, it even comes with reduced stress and, in my many years of experience, it comes with a lot of improved relationships because you don’t have to focus so hard on trying to survive paycheck-to-paycheck, month-to-month,” stressed Diaz.

Financial self-care can also empower a person to improve their quality of life and live the life they want for themselves. They may choose to live simply, go on an adventure, pursue their passion, or spend more time with their loved ones.

“Empowerment is very, very important. You feel empowered that you have more control over your life and because as we know, everything that we do, there’s really a money aspect or a cost aspect to it. So it’s very, very critical,” he said.

Engaging oneself in financial self-care could also have a generational impact, which could greatly benefit their future family.

Diaz shared a personal experience of how financial self-care benefited their family. He said that his father did not grow up in a wealthy family but because of his knack for financial self-care, he was able to help his family members to get ahead in their lives.

“Magaling siya kumita, magaling siyang magpalago ng pera, and magaling siya mag-budget. All of these things. And it really benefited us because we didn’t have to get through what he went through,” he recalled.

Future generations won’t have to start entirely from scratch as older generations could give them a headstart on their financial success.

“If you start early and you are able to take care of yourself financially and you are able to, at some point, get married and maybe have children, hindi sila start from zero. Start sila a little bit above zero na, and then so on and so forth,” he said. 

‘Critical’ to youth

Incorporating financial self-care into the self-care routine is essential for all generations but Diaz said that it’s “critical” to the younger generation.

He said that starting early in this routine is important for the youth so that they can immediately invest their money, create capital, and compound it to build wealth.

“There’s a concept that’s in finance called the time value of money. And what does that mean? Money today is more valuable than money tomorrow,” he explained.

“And because you’re a younger generation, you have the advantage of starting now or starting first. You can do it now and you can start creating your financial self-care as early as now,” he added.

The financial expert advised young individuals to familiarize themselves more with financial self-care by learning subjects such as personal finance and basic finance.

Before people engage themselves in a certain activity, of course, they would need to prepare themselves.

In practicing financial self-care, there’s not much to consider other than knowing their personal circumstances and financial intelligence quotient (IQ), which they can find out by taking financial IQ tests that are free on the internet, shared Diaz.

But these aren’t really a priority.

“Sometimes, the best way to start is to just start and I always preach: just don’t overthink it,” he said.

“The journey of financial care is something you don’t just wake up to. It’s something you prepare for and that takes trial and error and you just need to get started as soon as possible,” he added.

Tips

Diaz also shared some dos and don’ts when someone is practicing financial self-care. Here are those:

• Start now even if slowly. People don’t need to overthink the process.
• Be consistent. They have to make financial self-care their habit to improve their financial skills.
• Do realize it. Financial self-care is about you, your needs, and your circumstances. It’s not about anyone else.
• Don’t compare. Focus on yourself and try not to compare your journey with that of others that you see on social media. 
• Set budgets. People have different ways of how they budget their money but it is ideal to prioritize providing for their basic needs.
• Don’t be too strict. Financial self-care should not have “hard and fast rules.” It should allow people to become flexible.
• Conduct research. Acquiring more knowledge is a must. There are plenty of resources out there about financial topics that they can get from the internet or books.
• Don’t be afraid to ask for help. People can also seek guidance or advice from experts. They must keep in mind that they are not alone in their financial journey.
• Review plans regularly and be patient. It’s also important for them to consistently check their plans. And if something’s not going their way, they should be patient with themselves because, as many know, not everything will go as planned in life.
• Have fun. Financial self-care routine should ease stress, not the other way around. It should be a fun process for everyone.

Financial self-care should not stop a person from buying things that they want as long as it is part of their budget. 

“If it’s in your budget then don’t be afraid to spend it. And that’s really what I think self-care is all about–it’s holistic and it’s about balance. It’s about balancing, making money, saving money, investing, asset gathering, even incurring a little bit of debt let’s say through a credit card,” stressed Diaz.

The financial expert highlighted that the goal of financial self-care is to “enrich” a person and make themselves “happy and complete.”