How the Wealth Score Is Calculated
This document explains the scoring model in plain terms. It is intentionally explicit: inputs, transformations, aggregation, penalties, and limitations.
Model Scope
The technical model below uses five core dimensions:
- Financial Stability
- Physical Health
- Mental Well-Being
- Social Connectedness
- Time Autonomy
Each dimension is scored from 0 to 100, then combined into one Wealth Score.
1) Scoring Inputs for Each Dimension
Financial Stability
- Income-to-expense ratio
- Emergency fund coverage (months of essential expenses)
- Debt burden (debt payments as a share of monthly income)
- Savings rate (share of income saved)
- Payment reliability (on-time bills and obligations)
Physical Health
- Activity consistency (moderate or vigorous sessions per week)
- Sleep sufficiency and regularity
- Nutrition quality (whole-food and ultra-processed balance)
- Preventive care adherence (screenings, checkups)
- Substance risk behaviors (smoking, high-risk drinking)
Mental Well-Being
- Perceived stress intensity and recovery
- Mood stability across recent weeks
- Cognitive load and burnout indicators
- Access to support (therapy, coaching, trusted contacts)
- Self-reported sense of purpose and control
Social Connectedness
- Frequency of meaningful social interactions
- Relationship quality and trust
- Perceived loneliness or social isolation
- Community participation and reciprocity
- Reliability of support network in a crisis
Time Autonomy
- Share of weekly hours under personal control
- Workload predictability and schedule volatility
- Commute and administrative time burden
- Recovery time (rest, reflection, unstructured time)
- Alignment between time use and stated priorities
2) Normalization to a 0–100 Scale
Inputs use different units (hours, percentages, counts, yes/no). To combine them, each input is converted to a standardized score from 0 to 100.
- For metrics where higher is better: normalized score equals current value minus minimum benchmark, divided by benchmark range, multiplied by 100.
- For metrics where lower is better: normalized score equals maximum benchmark minus current value, divided by benchmark range, multiplied by 100.
- For target-range metrics: score is highest in the healthy target band and declines as values move away from the band.
- For categorical responses: each option maps to a calibrated point value between 0 and 100.
All normalized values are clipped so no metric can go below 0 or above 100.
3) Weighting System
Equal weighting is not always appropriate because inputs do not carry equal consequence. Missing one preventive screening does not have the same impact as chronic debt stress or severe sleep deprivation.
The model therefore applies weights at two levels:
- Within a dimension: each input has an input weight based on estimated outcome impact and data reliability.
- Across dimensions: each dimension has a dimension weight reflecting its predictive importance to long-run life quality and stability.
Plain-English formula: A dimension score equals the sum of each normalized input multiplied by its input weight, divided by the sum of input weights in that dimension.
Plain-English formula: The base Wealth Score equals the sum of each dimension score multiplied by its dimension weight, divided by the sum of all dimension weights.
4) Penalty Multipliers for Extreme Imbalance
A high average can hide critical weakness. Example: very high Financial and Social scores can mask severe burnout and no recovery time. To avoid this, the model applies a penalty multiplier when imbalance is extreme.
Imbalance index (plain English): highest dimension score minus lowest dimension score.
- If imbalance index is 25 points or less, penalty multiplier is 1.00 (no penalty).
- If imbalance index is greater than 25 and up to 40, penalty multiplier is 0.95.
- If imbalance index is greater than 40, penalty multiplier is 0.90.
Final formula (plain English): final Wealth Score equals base Wealth Score multiplied by the penalty multiplier.
5) Sample Calculation Walkthrough
Assume normalized dimension scores are:
- Financial: 82
- Physical: 74
- Mental: 58
- Social: 88
- Time: 46
Assume dimension weights are:
- Financial: 0.25
- Physical: 0.20
- Mental: 0.20
- Social: 0.15
- Time: 0.20
Step 1: Weighted base score. Multiply each score by its weight and add the results: 20.5 + 14.8 + 11.6 + 13.2 + 9.2 = 69.3. Base Wealth Score is 69.3.
Step 2: Imbalance check. Highest dimension is 88, lowest is 46, so imbalance index is 42.
Step 3: Apply penalty multiplier. Imbalance over 40 uses multiplier 0.90. Final Wealth Score is 69.3 multiplied by 0.90, which equals 62.4 after rounding to one decimal place.
This is intentional: the model rewards balanced resilience more than isolated excellence.
Limitations of the Model
- Self-report bias: answers can be optimistic, inconsistent, or incomplete.
- Measurement error: some constructs (especially mental and social states) are noisy and context-dependent.
- Benchmark drift: healthy ranges and risk thresholds can change as evidence evolves.
- Population variance: one normalization curve cannot perfectly fit all ages, cultures, or medical contexts.
- Compensating effects are simplified: real-world interactions between dimensions are nonlinear and not fully captured by weighted averaging plus a single penalty term.
- Not diagnostic: the score supports prioritization and reflection; it is not a medical, legal, or financial determination.