When we talk about financial planning, we often focus on numbers. Income, savings, returns and time horizons. But there’s another layer that quietly shapes every financial decision we make: our health.

Halo, a longevity and healthspan assessment program created by Heather Holmes, brings together genetics, lifestyle and environment to help people understand how long and how well they might live. It also helps financial advisers and their clients make better, more personalised decisions about their future.

Heather’s idea for Halo began with two moments that changed her life. The first was in a hospital operating room, watching a family lose someone they loved and realising how little people understand about their health risks. The second was seeing her father’s declining health affect his financial decision-making, leaving her family uncertain about who to trust. Both moments revealed the same truth: health and money are deeply connected.

Bridging health and financial planning

Halo helps people bring health into their financial discussions. In just a few minutes, it creates a personal profile using family health history, lifestyle and environmental factors to show how those elements combine to shape longevity and quality of life.

What makes it different is how it turns data into action. Clients complete the assessment privately, and only a high-level summary is shared with their adviser. That summary helps shape planning decisions such as how long income may need to last, when to plan for aged care and how to balance enjoying the present with caring for the future.

For many, it changes perspective. Most people underestimate how long they might live, which can lead to short-term thinking. Seeing the data can prompt a shift from uncertainty to informed action.

Knowledge that empowers

Heather is clear that Halo is not about prediction. It is about awareness. While genes play a role, the choices we make each day can have just as much impact. What we eat, how we move, how well we sleep and who we connect with all influence our healthspan.

It is a concept that mirrors good financial advice: understand what you can control, prepare for what you cannot, and make decisions that protect your wellbeing.

When we understand our health more clearly, we plan our money more wisely. It is not about guessing the future. It is about being prepared for it.

The bigger picture

Bringing health into the money conversation helps us think more broadly about what we are really planning for. It shifts the question from “How much do you need?” to “What kind of life do you want to live, and for how long?”

For clients, it is a reminder that financial wellbeing and physical wellbeing are inseparable. The earlier we connect the two, the better our choices become.

To hear Heather’s full story and learn how Halo is changing the way people plan their lives, listen to our conversation on It’s Never About Money.

Because when you see the full picture, money stops being the goal. It becomes the tool that helps you live the life you want, for as long and as well as possible.