Find out your Financially Fit to Live level by answering the following questions:
1. When it comes to credit cards, you:
a. Charge only what you can pay off in full each month.
b. Charge beyond your means so you can make only minimum payments, and then stress out over how you'll ever pay off the balances or ignore what the total is.
c. Make payment in full online before the due date to eliminate interest payments.
2. Stress over money:
a. Is a once-in-a-while kind of thing. You have a budget and some planning done, so only those unusual events, like a job loss, a hurricane, and illness or a market crash may create stress. In those cases, you get a bit stressed-out but consult your financial advisor for a plan adjustment.
b. Causes you to overeat, drink, fight with a relative, stay awake at night, or fuel other habits that are ultimately bad for you.
c. Doesn't happen. The war chest has been built, and you are ready to help those less fortunate than you.
3. When it comes time for retirement, you:
a. Are not thinking about it yet. You are too busy thinking about meeting the financial demands of today.
b. Expect to retire on a combination of Social Security, working a part-time job in retirement, and also some company-sponsored benefits. Maybe you have the benefits from your spouse as well.
c. Are on track for saving enough to cover your income needs as well as your medical expenses in retirement. You are planning a new career living your dream while you are still healthy enough to do so.
4. If you were unable to take care of yourself due to health reasons, you:
a. Would be forced to move in with relatives, and they would figure it out.
b. Would probably go into a nursing care facility of some kind.
c. Would use your savings and long-term-care insurance benefits to hire a caregiver in your own home.
5. What would your family do if you were to pass away unexpectedly?
a. They would be in trouble. Your income is very important to sustaining the household.
b. Your life insurance policy is enough to cover the gap in income and your services to the household, based on a thorough needs analysis.
c. You have some life insurance through work. They would use that to make ends meet.
6. If your spouse or partner left, you would:
a. Not know what to do.
b. Have to get a better paying job right away.
c. Have earned enough money on your own to support a decent lifestyle.
7. When it comes to retirement, which song title most reflects your attitude?
a. "Sweet Dreams (Are Made of This)" by the Eurythmics.
b. "I Will Survive" by Gloria Gaynor.
c. "Margaritaville" by Jimmy Buffett.
8. If you received a windfall of $100,000, what would you do with it?
a. Save a third, spend a third on something really special, and give a third to the charity of your choice.
b. Pay off major bills! Then take a trip with the rest.
c. Keep doing what you are doing today, only more of it.
9. Which best describes your handling of monthly bills and expenses?
a. You write checks. What happens after that remains to be seen.
b. You balance the checkbook monthly or your partner/spouse does it.
c. You have a budget and make sure your spending is completely aligned with it.
10. How much of your income do you typically set aside for savings?
a. You can't save anything. You need all your income to live on . . . and then some!
b. You save about 10 percent or more of your income.
c. You save intermittently, when you get a bonus or a tax refund.
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Fitness Assessments are reprinted with permission from Fit to Live by Pam Peeke. Copyright 2007 by Pamela Peeke, MD. Permission granted by Rodale, Inc. Emmaus, PA 18098. Available at the Discovery Store, directly from the publisher by calling (800) 848-4735, or wherever books are sold.
