Why I Keep Investing Simple, Focus on My Work, and Treat Wealth Like Physical Fitness

My investment strategy is intentionally simple — not because I don’t understand complexity, but because I understand where complexity actually belongs.

I buy VT — Vanguard Total World Stock ETF — and then I go to sleep.

That sentence tends to trigger reactions. Some people hear it and assume passivity. Others hear it and mistake it for laziness. In reality, it reflects one of the most disciplined decisions I’ve ever made — not just as an investor, but as a human being trying to live a sustainable, healthy, long-term life.

Because investing, just like fitness, does not reward intensity in short bursts.

It rewards consistency over long periods of time.

I don’t outsource my thinking.

I outsource unnecessary decisions.

That distinction is everything.

Owning the World Instead of Chasing It

VT represents something most people miss when they look at a ticker symbol.

It is not a bet on:

• A country
• A political system
• A sector
• A trend
• A decade

It is a bet on human productivity continuing forward, unevenly, imperfectly, and relentlessly over time.

VT owns thousands of companies across the globe — U.S., international developed markets, and emerging markets — all weighted by market capitalization and continuously adjusting as capital flows shift, industries evolve, and economies rise and fall.

When companies grow more important, they naturally become a larger part of the fund.

When they fade, they naturally shrink or disappear.

There is no ego in the system.

There is no attachment to yesterday’s winners.

VT is capitalism without emotion.

And that’s exactly why it works.

The Fitness Parallel: You Don’t Need a New Workout Every Week

This is where investing and fitness become inseparable.

People fail at investing for the same reason they fail at fitness:

• They chase novelty
• They overreact to short-term feedback
• They abandon systems before results compound

Nobody builds a strong body by switching programs every week, maxing out every session, or panicking when progress stalls for a month.

And nobody builds wealth by chasing hot sectors, rotating constantly, reacting to headlines, or micromanaging portfolios.

The fundamentals work — if you let them.

VT is the equivalent of:

• Compound lifts
• Full-body movements
• Progressive overload
• Adequate recovery

It’s not flashy.

It’s effective.

What VT Gives Me Automatically

VT quietly delivers everything most investors try to assemble manually:

• Broad U.S. equity exposure
• International developed market exposure
• Emerging market exposure
• Sector diversification
• Currency diversification
• Continuous internal rebalancing

All of this happens without guessing, tinkering, monitoring, or stress.

Just like fitness, the system works best when it’s boring enough to stick with forever.

The Core Philosophy: Markets Work, I Work

Here’s the belief that underpins everything I do financially:

My highest-return activity is not optimizing my portfolio — it’s optimizing my income, skills, discipline, and health.

Markets already do what they’re designed to do:

• Allocate capital
• Reward productivity
• Price risk
• Compound over time

My role isn’t to outsmart that system.

My role is to feed it consistently while staying physically and mentally strong enough to keep earning.

Burnout kills progress — in the gym and in life.

When Markets Are Up: Capital Gain Harvesting (Not Market Timing)

When VT rises significantly and I’m sitting on meaningful unrealized gains, I’ll sometimes harvest capital gains intentionally.

This isn’t market timing.

It isn’t prediction.

It isn’t fear.

It’s tax awareness.

What Capital Gain Harvesting Looks Like

• Sell VT
• Realize the gain
• Immediately repurchase VT at fair market value
• Reset cost basis higher
• Maintain identical market exposure

Before:
VT @ $80
Cost Basis: $50
Unrealized Gain: $30

Action:
Sell VT → Repurchase VT @ $80

After:
New Cost Basis: $80
Exposure: Unchanged

The market doesn’t notice.

My portfolio doesn’t change direction.

But my future tax surface improves.

This is not market timing.

It’s tax timing.

Capital Gain Harvesting Calculator

Taxable income “stack” (not AGI):
[ deductions applied ]
Ordinary taxable income fills from the bottom first.
Then LTCG “sits on top” and is taxed at:
  0% up to the 0% threshold (by filing status),
  15% up to the 20% threshold,
  20% above that.

When Markets Are Down: Turning Pain Into Progress

Market downturns don’t scare me.

They activate my system.

Just like soreness in training isn’t a signal to quit — it’s a signal that adaptation is happening — volatility in markets is not failure. It’s raw material for future strength.

When VT drops meaningfully, I don’t abandon my strategy or sit in cash. Instead, I convert volatility into a future tax asset while maintaining full market exposure.

Capital Loss Harvesting Calculator

1. Short-term losses offset short-term gains first
2. Long-term losses offset long-term gains first
3. Net remaining losses offset the opposite gain type
4. If losses remain:
   → Up to $3,000 offsets ordinary income
   → Remaining losses carry forward indefinitely

The Three-ETF Loss Harvesting Structure

Instead of selling and rebuying VT directly, I temporarily rebuild its exposure using three distinct ETFs that are highly correlated but legally different:

• VOO — U.S. large-cap equities
• VXF — U.S. mid and small-cap equities
• VXUS — International equities

Together, they recreate global exposure without violating wash sale rules.

Market Downturn
      ↓
Sell VT → Realize Loss
      ↓
Buy:
• VOO
• VXF
• VXUS
      ↓
Maintain Exposure
      ↓
Harvest Capital Loss

The money never stops working.

The exposure remains intact.

And the loss becomes a future tax asset.

Losses harvested today can offset future gains for years — sometimes decades — turning volatility into leverage earned through discipline.

The Psychological Edge Is the Real Advantage

This strategy doesn’t just optimize returns.

It protects mental bandwidth.

I’m not watching markets all day.

I’m not reacting to headlines.

I’m not emotionally attached to tickers.

I know:

• I own everything
• I benefit from growth
• I benefit from volatility
• I’m never fully out of the market

This calm matters.

Because calm creates consistency.

Consistency creates compounding.

And compounding — muscle or money — only works if you stay in the game.

Investing and Fitness Share the Same Rule

There is one rule that governs both wealth and health:

What you can sustain beats what you can optimize.

Extreme strategies fail.

Burnout fails.

Perfection fails.

Systems that respect recovery, discipline, and time win.

That’s why I lift consistently.

That’s why I walk daily.

That’s why I buy VT and go to sleep.

Investing Should Be Quiet — Just Like Good Health

If your investing system demands constant attention, it will eventually demand a mistake.

If your fitness routine demands obsession, it will eventually demand injury.

Mine are designed to be:

• Boring
• Predictable
• Resilient
• Survivable

So I can focus on:

• Work
• Family
• Health
• Discipline
• Living a life I don’t want to retire from

Final Thoughts

I don’t need to beat the market.

I don’t need to predict it.

I don’t need to react to it.

I need to own it, intelligently and consistently — while keeping my body strong, my mind clear, and my life balanced.

So I buy VT.

I go to sleep.

And I wake up to train, work, and build.