Having sufficient protection for unexpected healthcare costs and seeking financial advice appear to substantially boost mental health, according to research from HSBC.
The bank’s study also revealed other strong correlations between financial, physical and mental health, including that wider financial planning showed notably improved mental health.
It surveyed 10,000 people in Hong Kong (2,016), mainland China (3,560), Singapore (2,059) and the UK (3,024) during March and April to assess how physical health, mental wellbeing and financial fitness were interconnected.
HSBC stated that respondents with adequate protection for healthcare costs reported increased mental health and physical fitness.
Three quarters (75%) of those with adequate protection said they had average or above average mental health, while half (49%) of those who did not have adequate protection said they had below average mental health.
HSBC was not able to provide suitable comparison figures for physical health relating to people with or without protection.
Financial advice and planning
Where advice was concerned, 74% of people who sought professional financial advice were more likely to have average or above average mental health, while of those who did not seek expert advice, 42% said they had below average mental health.
Similarly, 72% of people who reviewed their financial plan at least once a year said they benefited from average or above average mental health.
However, the bank said the contrast with those who did not have a plan was “striking”, with half (50%) of this group saying they had below average mental health.
These results were replicated for retirement planning with 77% of people with a comprehensive retirement plan having average or above average mental health, while of those without a plan, 48% felt they had below average mental health.
‘Strong correlation’
Overall, HSBC said its +Factor study highlighted a “strong correlation” between physical fitness, mental health and financial fitness.
“We observed that when one aspect of wellbeing improves, the other dimensions improve as well,” it said.
It found that the better the subject’s physical fitness, the better their mental health and financial fitness.
Of those who indicated they were physically fit, 85% had average or above average mental health and 52% scored very fit for financial fitness.
By comparison, just 38% of the physically unfit group had average or above average mental health and 24% scored very fit for financial fitness.
This was repeated for those with above average mental health, where 73% reported they were physically fit and 55% scored very fit for financial fitness.
Conversely, only 12% of people with very low mental health considered themselves physically fit and only 22% scored very fit for financial fitness.
The vast majority of survey respondents believed wealth could not be enjoyed without physical or mental health – 84% agreed they needed to be physically healthy and 82% felt they needed to be mentally healthy, to allow them to enjoy their wealth.
A similar proportion (80%) felt their physical health and financial position were equally important, while 75% felt their mental health and financial position were related.