When Compounding Works Against You

When it comes to building wealth, money is not the only thing that compounds over time. So do things like your health for better or for worse. The effects of living off instant ramen for years to save on grocery bills or trading sleep for one more hour of work will compound over time. But so will exercising for 30

minutes a day or keeping your stress levels manageable. But the thing is none of the effects will show up for years and by then the result is mostly irreversible. The good news is you don't have to become a health expert. You need the same thing that works for an investment portfolio. A short list of

things that evidence actually agrees on and enough time for them to work. I'm Ben Felix, Chief Investment Officer at PWL Capital and I'm going to show you why investing in your health is just as investing in your finances.

This topic is important to me right now because I was diagnosed with testicular cancer in January of 2025. Now it's a year and a half later. I'm down to one testicle but I'm otherwise okay.

Testicular cancer is the most common cancer in men who are 15 to 35 years of age which happens to have a huge overlap with my audience demographic. It's also typically a highly treatable cancer especially if it's caught early. It's a bit awkward talking about my testicles, sorry my testicle

to 600,000 or so subscribers but guys, if your balls don't feel quite right, see your doctor. I talked about this on my podcast last year and a few guys have since reached out to me to tell me that hearing my story prompted them to get checked out ultimately leading to their own cancer diagnoses and treatments. I

am not a medical professional to make sure I'm not saying anything unfounded about investing in your health. I had this video reviewed by Dr. Mark Soth, a physician with multiple specialties who's also an associate professor in the Department of Medicine at McMaster University and he's my co-host on the

Money Scope podcast and Dr. Sam Hetz, a physician who runs a longevity focused clinic in Ottawa called Lifespan MD. I appreciate their reviews, but any errors, of course, are my own. Most people are familiar with the concept of lifespan, which is how long you can expect to live, but less familiar with

healthspan, which is how long you can expect to live in good health. My main premise with this video is that it is possible to spend your time and your money to improve your health, extending the length and quality of your life.

I think it's a reasonable premise. Canadians in the highest income quintile live 8.1 years longer in good health, on average, than those in the lowest income quintile. A 2018 study found that Americans who maintain healthy lifestyle factors, including never smoking, having a healthy body mass index, doing at

least 30 minutes per day of moderate to vigorous physical activity, having moderate alcohol intake, and maintaining a high diet quality score, live 12 to 14 years longer than those who do not maintain those lifestyle factors.

There's clearly something there, but it's worth understanding specifically what contributes most to improved health and longevity, and how to put those things into practice using your time and your money. The incremental and then exponential nature of compounding makes the effects of small lifestyle changes