Lifestyle

How to Measure Financial Well-Being (and Why It’s Worth It)

Published

5 years ago

August 7, 2020

One of the most challenging aspects of managing money is figuring out where you stand financially. After all, there’s nobody looking over your shoulder telling you whether the decisions you make are right or wrong. It helps to first have a framework for measuring your financial well-being — sort of like a report card.

The point of measuring your financial well-being against benchmarks is to help you get a sense of where you stand — and what actions you could take to bring yourself closer to your goals.

Here’s more on how to evaluate your financial standing and why it’s worth it to do so periodically.

Try the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau Well-Being Scale

The CFPB has actually developed a scale to help consumers assess their financial situations. Users answer sets of questions to determine where they fall on the scale, then add up the point values of their responses to get an overall “financial well-being score.” Users can then compare their scores to U.S. averages, as well as access resources on common topics — like tracking expenses, dealing with debt, saving and investing.

From these questions we begin to see some of the categories that define financial well-being, like:

The ability to cover a large unanticipated expense without going into debt.
Having money left over at the end of the month.
The degree to which finances control your life and choices.
Having room in your budget to cover variable expenses (like gifts for special occasions).
Staying on top of bills and financial decisions rather than falling behind.
Planning for the future, as well as managing money in the present.

If you’re short on time, you can fill out an abbreviated version of this scale to get a general feel for where you stand. If you’d like to take a more in-depth look, there’s a standard version with more questions.

According to the CFPB, financial well-being encompasses:

Net Worth: A Broad Look at Financial Well-Being

Perhaps the quickest and most straightforward way to evaluate financial well-being at a glance is calculating your net worth.

1. Tally up the value of your assets — like savings accounts, investments, vehicles, etc.

2. Tally up the total amount of your liabilities — like credit cards, mortgages, other loans, etc.

3. Subtract the liabilities from the assets.

These days, you can even plug these values into a simple net worth calculator rather than doing the math by hand.

Improving Your Financial Well-Being

It can be quite frustrating to find your financial well-being currently falls short of where you’d like it to be. However, getting an honest feel for where you stand today is the first step toward attaining your ideal financial future; it will help you set realistic goals and measure your progress.

Here’s an example: Many people exist in debt denial. They know they owe money, but avoid sitting down and looking at exactly how much — let alone planning how to repay it. Assessing their financial well-being could be the push they need to finally take an honest look at their budget and debts. After figuring out where they stand, someone in this situation may decide to speak with a credit counselor who then helps them get enrolled in debt relief management. Under a debt management plan (DMP), the person is able to consolidate their debts through the agency and pay what they owe over the course of three to five years at reduced interest.

According to Michigan State University, there are four general behaviors which support financial well-being:

Living within your means by actively managing your money.
Conducting research and gaining knowledge about financial decisions.
Setting realistic goals and planning for the future.
Following through on all three aforementioned behaviors over time.

Measuring financial well-being means checking in across various aspects of money management, which is why it’s a good practice for anyone and everyone. Only by understanding where you stand today can you set goals and make effective decisions for tomorrow.

Lifestyle

Kat Marie Alvarez: Where Innovation Meets Regulation

Published

8 hours ago

January 23, 2026

Michelle Langton

Regulation is often thought of as a limitation, yet in healthcare, it also serves as a foundation for building models that endure. For Kat Marie Alvarez, Founder and CEO of KATALYST & CO, the framework of rules established by agencies like CMS (Centers for Medicare and Medicaid) and the OIG ( office of the Inspector General) create opportunities to design systems that are compliant, ethical, and transformative. Her approach demonstrates that regulation can be a platform for innovation when it is interpreted with both technical rigor and vision.

Kat’s 25-year career reflects this philosophy. A former nurse who advanced into executive leadership and strategy, she has led $2.7B+ P&L operations, advised on over $5B in healthcare transactions, and guided value based organizations including Innovacare, Cano Health, WellMed, Centene, and Humana through periods of exponential scaling. Her perspective combines clinical, financial, and regulatory experience, giving her a unique ability to design structures that support integrity and accountability while driving measurable outcomes.

Turning Statutes into Strategy

For Kat, regulation serves as a framework for building smarter and more ethical models. She interprets CMS guidance and OIG rules as levers for innovation, using them to advance integrity and accountability. With the CMS V28 risk adjustment model, Alvarez refined coding practices, strengthened clinical documentation, and structured risk frameworks that reward accuracy and elevate standards of care. In addressing RADV audits, she crafted strategies that protect stakeholders while keeping patient outcomes at the forefront. She aligns compliance, cost, and care in equal measure. Her current work as a contributor to the CMS IDea Challenge, an initiative focused on strengthening the foundation of trust in our system, further echoes her commitment to advancing regulations in ways that unlock innovation while safeguarding the integrity of care.

Her interpretive approach brings discipline and vision to every challenge. She engages stakeholders to redesign workflows that meet regulatory requirements and enhance the patient experience. Each policy becomes a mechanism to strengthen accountability and operational precision, shaping a system that is both compliant and humane.

Innovation Built Within Boundaries

At KATALYST & CO, this interpretive approach is carried into every project. Kat has integrated predictive analytics and AI-driven tools into care models, with safeguards that ensure interventions remain clinician-led and ethically sound. For example, AI flags in chronic disease management are connected to human-led actions that improve patient care. The result is a model that benefits from technology while preserving accountability and clinical integrity.

Staffing and infrastructure provide another example of her philosophy in action. By leveraging offshore BPO operations in Latin America, Asia, and Eastern Europe, KATALYST & CO extends capacity for health plans and providers. These expansions are carefully designed to meet data security, licensure, and jurisdictional requirements, ensuring that global reach is paired with local compliance. It is a system that balances scale with responsibility.

The Art of Influence Through Alignment

Kat often describes her role as translating complexity into clarity. Whether she is working with payers, providers, or investors, she builds consensus by grounding ambitious strategies in the language of statute. Value-based care models, utilization management programs, and clinical frameworks are designed to prove compliant ROI for stakeholders while maintaining patient focus.

Her approach begins with people. In integrations, partnerships, and platform builds, she respects legacy strengths, listens to frontline voices, and creates systems that are not only efficient but also trusted. This ensures that compliance does not feel like restriction, but like a structure that supports innovation and adoption.

Redefining the Future of Compliance and Care

KATALYST & CO is scaling with $10M in initial funding, expanded international operations, and a growing advisory portfolio. Under Kat’s leadership, the firm is showing how regulation can be a foundation for both innovation and durability. She demonstrates that lasting progress in healthcare is achieved by leaders who know how to design systems that are bold, ethical, and deeply human.

By approaching regulation as a guide rather than a limitation, Kat Alvarez is building models that prove compliance and innovation can move forward together. Her formula ensures that the future of healthcare is shaped not only by ambition, but also by trust and responsibility.