While many of you understand that being overweight is bad for your health, you may not have considered that it can be detrimental to your wallet also. In these times of higher gas prices, rising unemployment rates and soaring healthcare costs, being overweight can put you at a definite economic disadvantage.

Not only will losing just 15 pounds make you feel better, give you more energy and a better quality of life; it will also make your wealthier.

Here’s how you can beef up your wallet by trimming a few pounds.

#1: Save $275 on Life insurance

Losing weight not only makes you feel better, it puts you at a lower risk for contracting such detrimental conditions as heart disease, diabetes and stroke.

It’s no secret, having health problems can make it harder, if not impossible for you to buy life insurance. Even if you are overweight, but not obese and otherwise healthy, you will have to pay more to be insured. People who are slightly overweight can be disqualified for the “preferred rate,” which is a lower premium that rewards individuals that are classified as being healthy. So losing that extra 15 pounds can push you from the “standard rate” down to the “preferred rate,” which could mean a difference of paying $340 per year in premiums instead of $615.

#2: Save $680 on Health insurance

Researchers at Stanford University found that obese men and women earn an average of $3.41 per hour less than their slimmer peers. The difference can be partially attributed to healthcare costs, since employers tend to pay obese workers less when they are footing their insurance bill.

Overweight or obese consumers may pay up to 30% more for premiums than their healthy counterparts. If you consider the average consumer pays $2,268 for individual health coverage, trimming off those extra pounds could cut your annual costs by as much as $680.

#3: That extra .67 cents could cost you $345

The University of Wisconsin concluded from their study that the average .67 cent supersize charge for a fast food meal can result in a 36-gram weight gain. That translates into increased energy needs for that extra weight in the form of gasoline, for your vehicle and medical costs for yourself. The costs ranged between $4.06 and $7.72 for men and $3.10 and $4.53 for women, depending on their body type.

For example, let’s say that the average man who is already overweight, who continues to supersize his value meal will wind up spending an extra $6.14 in annual health care costs per value meal. If he eats just one supersized value meal per week, that comes to a little over $345.

Do you really need another reason not to supersize?

#4: Your employer could give you up to $600

Since roughly 70% of any given employee’s healthcare costs come down to lifestyle, employers are scrambling to find ways to ensure they hire and retain healthy and “cheaper to keep um” employees. 

The cost to employers from lost worker productivity is staggering:

$39.3 Million – lost workdays
$29.9 Million – Restricted activity days
$62.7 Million – Physician office visits

 So employers figure if their workers are healthy, they’re going to be at work more often and be more productive while on the job. So they’re willing to pay you to be healthy. How sweet is that?

More than 40% of employers now offer some type of financial incentive for leading healthier lifestyles and achieving health-related goals. Some even offer bonuses or insurance premium discounts for completing health assessments. Others either pay for gym memberships and weight loss programs or offer hefty reimbursements. Discounts, incentives, reimbursements and outright payments ranged from $50 to $600, depending on the company and type of incentive.

Resolve now to lose weight and put some money back in your wallet.

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