The 4 Pillars of Holistic Financial Wellness (2024)

Work and personal finance represent the raison-d’etre for many individuals operating within the modern culture. Money is, for better or for worse, a contemporary necessity that helps us to found stability and freedom for ourselves, and those we support. We expect that when we have enough money – whatever that means to us as individuals – that all of our problems will fade away, and we will be left with the greater sense of autonomy and confidence that should come from our series of perfectly balanced accounts.

Recent studies show, however, that even among households earning over $100,000 per year, nearly half still experience significant financial stress, lending credence to the age-old phrase: “Money can’t buy happiness.”

The concept of financial wellness has gained in popularity over the last several years. Individuals and organizations alike have made it their mission to build up this type of monetary wellbeing for themselves as well as their employees. But some financial education techniques miss the mark when they forget that achieving financial wellness isn’t always about how much you make – rather, it’s about building a healthier relationship with the finances we currently enjoy.

What is financial wellness?

A point of clarity: financial wellness is not accessible to many individuals who earn below the living wage. It is the responsibility of organizations to ensure first and foremost that they are paying their people adequately if they want to reap the benefits which workforce financial wellness affords.

But when individuals earn enough to cover their basic costs and work towards other financial goals, this helps to set a strong foundation on which financial stability can be built.

From a metrics perspective, financial wellness includes these key factors:

A state of financial well-being goes beyond these points of measurement, stemming largely from improved financial literacy and behavior. Financial wellness is as much a sense of control over an individual’s money as it is a percentage of your paycheck going into a savings account each month.

What is holistic financial wellness?

Holistic financial wellness expands upon the more basic concept by including additional aspects of our finances (and our lives in general) into how we think about, use, and strategize our money.

Individuals have different needs, resources, and lifestyles from one another, and this will invariably change what financial wellness looks like from person to person.

Different people will receive different total compensation packages based on a number of factors, and so two individuals with a similar salary may have different financial capacities. Or, two people with similar salaries may have wildly varying life goals from one another, and so the task of achieving financial wellness will require different steps, etc.

At its core, holistic financial wellness is a behavioral concept which supports individuals in achieving monetary autonomy and freedom – whatever that means for them.

The 4 pillars of holistic financial wellness you need to know

Cultivating holistic financial wellness takes time, diligence, and understanding. And it is absolutely possible with a little help.

Here are the top 4 pillars for creating long-lasting holistic financial wellness.

Perspective

Finances are like a puzzle – if too many pieces are missing, you won’t be able to get a complete picture. To build financial wellness, it is critical to have as much perspective on your total financial reality as possible. This means:

  • Knowing your current debt level.

  • Knowing your total compensation.

  • Having a sense of your expected obligatory expenses.

  • Having a sense of both your short and long-term financial goals.

Laying these aspects of your finances out will help you to know what you’re working with so you can strategize your finances to build wellness. With this information, you can create a better budget, save within your capacity, and more easily plan for future expenses – whether that’s retirement, buying a home, paying for a vacation, etc.

Understanding

Less than two-thirds of the American population consider themselves to be financially literate. But understanding money – how it works, how it can be used, etc. – is crucial to building greater financial independence, autonomy, and wellness.

With better financial literacy, individuals understand how to strategically engage credit and other forms of debt, investment, budgeting, insurance, etc. to build stronger financial foundations and ultimately grow their wealth and monetary flexibility beyond the boundaries of a monthly paycheck.

Strategy

With a full picture of their own financial reality, as well as a solid understanding of how their money can be used, a financial plan can be put in place that will drive the individual towards their goals.

One aspect of holistic financial wellness means that we are applying our money towards building the lives we want to have, and a well-thought-out financial strategy is what’s going to get us there. A financial plan will include a variety of avenues including daily budget, saving tactics, and others that allow individuals to support both their long and short term objectives.

Support

It’s all too easy to abandon a plan if we hit a wall we simply don’t have the skills to climb over. And money has long been a taboo subject to broach in our world, meaning many individuals are left to fend for themselves when their finances become too complex to understand. But it doesn’t have to be this way, and in fact it is critical to achieving holistic financial wellness to have a team or set of resources in place that can help individuals to bridge the gaps in their financial knowledge on the way to their goals.

Origin is one support system that works to build holistic financial wellness for pan-industrial workforces. Our solution offers an amalgamation of educational resources, tools, and expert advice to build up the skills employees need to take their finances into their own hands, with just the right amount of support to help keep them moving towards their objectives. Origin also helps businesses to achieve their goals through bolstering human stats like retention, engagement, and employee happiness – learn more here.

The 4 Pillars of Holistic Financial Wellness (2024)

FAQs

The 4 Pillars of Holistic Financial Wellness? ›

Are you financially healthy? Many financial experts agree that financial health includes four key components: Spend, Save, Borrow, and Plan. It is crucial that you actively work on improving the health of each one.

What are the 4 pillars of financial wellbeing? ›

To achieve financial wellness, you need to practice the four pillars of financial wellness: budgeting, saving, investing, and planning. By following these principles and practices, you can improve your financial well-being and enjoy a better quality of life.

What are the 4 pillars of financial services? ›

Regardless of income or wealth, number of investments, or amount of credit card debt, everyone's financial state fits into a common, fundamental framework, that we call the Four Pillars of Personal Finance. Everyone has four basic components in their financial structure: assets, debts, income, and expenses.

What are the four pillars of holistic wellness? ›

Individuals can achieve a sense of balance and well-being by focusing on the four pillars of physical, emotional, spiritual, and social wellness pillars of physical, emotional, spiritual, and social wellness; individuals can achieve a sense of balance and well-being.

What are the 4 pillars of financial literacy? ›

Financial literacy is having a basic grasp of money matters and its four fundamental pillars: debt, budgeting, saving, and investing. It's understanding how to build wealth throughout one's life by leveraging the power of these pillars.

What are the five pillars of financial wellness? ›

Financial confidence comes from understanding how budgeting, saving, investing, risk and debt management work. These pillars develop good money habits and build a strong foundation for a stable future.

What is 4 pillars concept? ›

The four pillars of OOPS are Inheritance, Polymorphism, Encapsulation and Abstraction. Object-oriented programming mainly focuses on objects which might be required to be manipulated. In OOPs, it may represent data as objects with attributes and functions.

What are the four 4 functions of the financial system? ›

The five key functions of a financial system are: (i) producing information ex ante about possible investments and allocate capital; (ii) monitoring investments and exerting corporate governance after providing finance; (iii) facilitating the trading, diversification, and management of risk; (iv) mobilizing and pooling ...

What are the basics of holistic wellness? ›

Holistic wellness is an approach where we view our lives from a 360-degree view encompassing five key dimensions – mental & emotional, physical, social, occupational and financial wellness.

What are the six pillars of holistic wellness? ›

The National Wellness Institute promotes Six Dimensions of Wellness: emotional, occupational, physical, social, intellectual, and spiritual. Addressing all six dimensions of wellness in our lives builds a holistic sense of wellness and fulfillment.

What are the main pillars of the financial sector? ›

The three major pillars of the financial sector are the: stock market, the labor market, and the bond market.

What are the 5 steps to financial wellbeing? ›

Here are some tips to help improve your financial wellness score.
  1. Create a plan. Decide where you want your finances to take you and compare that to your current financial situation. ...
  2. Automate savings. ...
  3. Carry cash. ...
  4. Improve your credit score. ...
  5. Build financial literacy.

What determines financial wellbeing? ›

Being financially well means you can meet your current and ongoing financial obligations, feel secure in your financial future, and are able to make choices that allow you to enjoy life – in other words, financial freedom.

Top Articles
Latest Posts
Recommended Articles
Article information

Author: Corie Satterfield

Last Updated:

Views: 5468

Rating: 4.1 / 5 (42 voted)

Reviews: 81% of readers found this page helpful

Author information

Name: Corie Satterfield

Birthday: 1992-08-19

Address: 850 Benjamin Bridge, Dickinsonchester, CO 68572-0542

Phone: +26813599986666

Job: Sales Manager

Hobby: Table tennis, Soapmaking, Flower arranging, amateur radio, Rock climbing, scrapbook, Horseback riding

Introduction: My name is Corie Satterfield, I am a fancy, perfect, spotless, quaint, fantastic, funny, lucky person who loves writing and wants to share my knowledge and understanding with you.