Individuals and nations should be like the tortoise in the fable and provide for the long term. Health, both financial and physical, is affected by personal decisions and external influences. About 100 graphs and tables complement the text in depicting the results of extensive analyses. Topics include career choices, reduced spending and early investing for retirement along with practices of the governments of sample countries. Finances, health, education and employment are compared.

Internationally accepted data are analyzed to depict annual deaths from various energy sources and the financial costs of solar and wind power, as well as for electric vehicles.

Example of California electricity generating capacity availability and costs in US$ per 1,000 kilowatt-hours: Wind 25.5% - $306; Utility Solar 27.5% - $447; Residential Solar 17.5% - $1,342. Market Value—only the $40–$100 cost of natural gas power plant fuel due to natural energy source unreliability on annual system capacity demand peak as well as winter and summer months' energy demand.

Examples of annual deaths per 100 million people relevant to electric vehicles:

USA, cumulative due to smoking, inactivity and poor diet: 380,000
USA, due to all sources of energy for electricity generation: 6,800
China, due to electricity generation from coal alone: 27,000
US, net lives saved by replacing all gasoline vehicles with electric vehicles: 2,300

Annual deaths per 100 million people from violence:

Mexico: 18,970; USA: 5,530; Canada: 1,770; Germany: 690; China: 820; Japan: 260.