For most of my adult life, I believed investing was complicated by default.

Not just complicated, but inaccessible. Something reserved for professional investors, financial advisors, or people who spent their days watching markets and speaking in acronyms. Even as I earned more, saved more, and followed the traditional advice, investing still felt like a separate world that I was never formally invited into.

Medical school taught me how to diagnose, treat, and manage risk in patients. It did not teach me how to build wealth in a way that felt calm, intentional, and sustainable.

Over time, and after reading dozens of books and experimenting with different investment strategies over the last two decades, I came to an uncomfortable realization.

The strategies that actually work are not complex at all.

They are simple. They are disciplined. And for high achieving professionals, they are often emotionally difficult to follow.

No one helped crystallize this more clearly for me than JL Collins and his book The Simple Path to Wealth. What follows is not a summary of the book, but the key ideas that fundamentally changed how I think about money, investing, and freedom.

Wealth Is Not About Numbers. It Is About Freedom.

One of the most important shifts I had to make was redefining what wealth actually means.

We often talk about wealth as a number. A net worth goal. A portfolio balance. A retirement target. But wealth, in practice, is much more personal than that.

Wealth is the ease with which you can meet your needs and wants.

JL Collins shares a story that perfectly captures this idea. Two high school friends take very different paths in life. One becomes a wealthy minister. The other becomes a monk. Years later, the minister tells the monk that if he would cater to the king, he would not have to eat rice and beans. The monk replies that if the minister could eat rice and beans, he would not have to cater to the king.

The lesson is simple and uncomfortable. If your wants are modest, they are easy to meet. If your wants are expensive, no amount of income ever feels like enough.

For physicians and other high income professionals, this is especially challenging. There is often pressure to look successful, to live a certain lifestyle, and to keep up with peers. Overspending rarely feels reckless in the moment, but over time it quietly erodes freedom.

Spending less is not about deprivation. It is about being comfortable without needing to appear wealthy. That distinction matters.

Debt Is Not Moral. It Is Mathematical.

We often hear debt described as good or bad. Mortgage debt is labeled good. Consumer debt is labeled bad. But that framing can be misleading.

Debt is neither good nor bad on its own. It is a tool. And like any tool, it can either help you or hurt you depending on how it is used.

The only meaningful way to evaluate debt is by its return.

If you take on debt to acquire an asset that reliably produces more than the cost of the debt, it may be reasonable. If you take on debt that limits your flexibility, increases your stress, or depends on optimistic assumptions, it becomes dangerous quickly.

Even profitable assets can turn into liabilities when they are overleveraged. We saw this clearly in commercial real estate over the last few years. Properties that looked strong on paper became fragile when interest rates rose and cash flow tightened. The problem was not the asset itself. It was the amount of debt layered on top of it.

Debt also has a time component that is often overlooked. The longer you hold debt, the more interest you pay. That interest is a guaranteed negative return. Not only are you losing money today, but you are also losing the opportunity to use that money tomorrow.

Used sparingly and intentionally, debt can be useful. Used carelessly or excessively, it removes options and increases risk. Freedom grows faster when debt shrinks.

Spending Less Than You Earn Is Powerful but Underrated.

This principle sounds obvious, which is why many people dismiss it. But its simplicity is precisely what makes it powerful.

Saving is not about how much you earn. It is about how much you keep.

Two people can earn the same income and experience vastly different financial outcomes based on their spending habits. One builds flexibility and options. The other builds obligations.

What makes this difficult for high income professionals is that income growth often masks inefficiencies. Overspending does not feel urgent when paychecks are large. But the long term cost is real.

Every dollar you do not spend is a dollar that can be invested. Every dollar invested is a dollar that can compound. Over time, that compounding becomes more impactful than any individual investment decision.

You cannot control market returns. You can control your savings rate.

Investing Does Not Have to Be Complicated.

At its core, investing is straightforward. You are buying something that you expect to either increase in value or produce income over time.

That could be a business. Shares of a business. Real estate. Or a diversified collection of assets.

The challenge is not understanding this conceptually. The challenge is navigating the overwhelming number of choices and opinions in the investing world.

There are thousands of funds. Endless strategies. Constant noise about what is outperforming and what is falling behind. This complexity often leads to paralysis or overtrading, both of which are costly.

One of Collins’ most influential recommendations is radical in its simplicity. Instead of trying to pick winning stocks or even winning funds, own the entire market through a low cost total stock market index fund.

By doing this, you are not betting on individual companies. You are betting on the long term growth of the economy as a whole.

Low fees matter more than most people realize. A one percent difference in fees may not sound significant, but over decades it can cost tens or hundreds of thousands of dollars. Fees are one of the few aspects of investing that are fully within your control.

Index funds are designed to be efficient. They are passively managed, diversified, transparent, and inexpensive. They do not try to beat the market. They aim to capture it.

For people who do not want to spend their lives analyzing investments, this simplicity is not a weakness. It is a strength.

Consistency Matters More Than Brilliance.

One of the biggest mistakes investors make is changing course too often.

Market volatility creates discomfort. Headlines amplify fear. The temptation to adjust strategies during downturns is strong. But reacting emotionally often does more harm than good.

Market crashes are not rare. They are part of the system. They are temporary, even when they feel overwhelming in the moment.

History consistently shows that staying invested through downturns is critical. Many of the best market days occur shortly after the worst ones. Selling during periods of fear often means missing the recovery.

Trying to time the market is especially dangerous. Even professional investors struggle to do this successfully. Over long periods, the majority of active managers fail to outperform simple index strategies after fees.

Consistency, not prediction, is what compounds wealth.

Bonds Feel Safe but Come With Tradeoffs.

Bonds are often described as safer investments because they provide predictable income. But they are not risk free.

Inflation erodes purchasing power over time. Interest rate changes affect bond values. Long term bonds are especially sensitive to these risks.

As investors approach retirement, bonds can play a role in reducing volatility. But allocating too heavily to bonds too early can significantly reduce long term growth.

One of the benefits of a simple, stock focused approach is reduced complexity. Fewer moving parts. Less rebalancing. Lower costs. Less temptation to tinker.

The Goal Is Choice.

Ultimately, the purpose of building wealth is not to retire early or quit working entirely. It is to create options.

Options to reduce hours. Options to take breaks. Options to say no to situations that no longer serve you. Options to say yes to opportunities that matter.

JL Collins famously refers to this as financial independence that gives you the power to walk away. Not out of anger, but out of alignment.

When you are not dependent on your next paycheck, your relationship with work changes. Decisions become calmer. Tradeoffs become clearer.

Final Thoughts

There is no perfect strategy. No guaranteed path. No investment approach without risk.

But there is a simpler way forward than most people are led to believe.

Avoid excessive debt. Spend less than you earn. Invest consistently in low cost, diversified assets. Stay the course through volatility. Focus on freedom, not appearances.

Simple does not mean easy. But over time, simple works.

If you are looking for clarity rather than complexity, discipline rather than hype, and freedom rather than accumulation, this path is worth considering. Learn more about how you can save on taxes with my free Tax Playbook: Click Here to download.

And if you want to go deeper, I highly recommend reading The Simple Path to Wealth by JL Collins and reflecting on how these ideas apply to your own life and priorities.

Clarity often begins not with learning more, but with simplifying what you already know.