How Much Should You Really Invest in Your Health?
- December 9, 2025
- by Dennis McNamara
“Health spending isn’t the issue, unintentional spending is.” - Raad Ghantous
Over Labor Day weekend, while camping with my brother-in-law, I mentioned yet another supplement I was considering adding to my routine (sulforaphane, if you’re curious).
He laughed and asked, “Where do you draw the line on this stuff?”
It was the kind of simple question that lands with the force of a mirror.
Because he was right, not just about supplements, but about health spending altogether.
There’s always one more test… one more device… one more “this will change everything” protocol. And while curiosity has served our generation well, it can easily veer into a slippery slope.
This is personal for me. I’ve priced out cold plunges, red-light panels, hyperbaric chambers, and longevity clinics. I’ve flirted with concierge functional medicine, stacked gym memberships, and justified a borderline ridiculous amount of equipment for my home setup.
Lisa, our Director of Client Care, laughed when I confessed this.
She admitted she does the same thing with skincare. As a trained aesthetician, her rule of thumb is simple: the ideal number of products is always “N+1.” There’s always one more serum, one more cream, one more treatment that promises a little extra glow.
Sound familiar?
The Two Ends of the Spectrum
On one end, you have the LeBron Jameses and Bryan Johnsons of the world, each reportedly spending more than $1 million a year on personal health. Private chefs, three-a-day trainers, full panels of therapies and tech. The whole high-performance ecosystem.
On the other end, you have the minimalist who spends almost nothing and still captures 80% of the healthspan benefits by doubling down on the real foundations:
- Sleep
- Exercise
- Whole foods
- Managing stress
- Strong relationships
Those five things move the needle exponentially more than any device, protocol, or powder.
The rest is…well, garnish.
A Simple Back-of-the-Envelope Rubric
My brother-in-law’s question lingered, and eventually I found myself sketching a simple framework for health spending: a blend of interest, intention, and financial reality.
Here’s the rough draft:
Level 1 – Minimalist (0–1%)
Time, discipline, simplicity. Groceries, maybe a gym membership. Nothing fancy.
Level 2 – Essentials (1–3%)
Higher-quality food, a fitness program you enjoy, a few supplements, an annual lab panel.
Level 3 – Optimizer (3–5%)
You start adding tools: wearables, coaching, regular bloodwork, some higher-end equipment.
Level 4 – Investor (5–10%)
Health becomes a line item. Concierge medicine, retreats, advanced diagnostics, therapies.
Level 5 – Maximalist (10%+)
You push the limits, scaled to your income, but without sacrificing your long-term financial freedom.
Where did I land?
If we exclude groceries and my CSA membership, my last twelve months of tracked spending (via fina.xyz) put me squarely in Level 4.
And I’m not mad about it.
These levels aren’t rules. They’re guardrails are guides for staying intentional rather than reactive.
The Real Question: When Is It “Too Much”?
The red flag isn’t the spending itself.
It’s when health spending begins to compromise the very freedom it’s supposed to extend.
When the quest for vitality crowds out retirement savings, education funds, or basic quality of life, that’s imbalance.
If your devotion to longevity creates fragility in your financial ecosystem… you’re not optimizing. You’re outsourcing your peace to gear.
Gen X Knows This Better Than Anyone
We’re the generation that lived before the internet, built our careers as it came online, and learned to navigate both worlds with a quiet fluency that younger generations underestimate.
We know the difference between signal and noise.
And the truth is this:
Eighty percent of our results come from the basics.
Those basics cost almost nothing.
Sleep.
Movement.
Real food.
Relationships.
Stress resilience.
Nail those, then add the upgrades.
My New Filter for Every Health Decision
I’ll be honest, I’ll probably always be tempted by the next gadget, the next supplement, the next longevity retreat. Gen X loves a good experiment. We always have.
But after this little self-audit, I’m checking myself with one simple question:
Is this adding to my freedom or is it just noise?
Because freedom is the real flex at this stage of life.
Not the cold plunge.
Not the wearable.
Not the supplement stack.
Freedom.
Invest enough to build vitality, strength, ease, and joy. But don’t major in the minors. Don’t let the fringe become the centerpiece.
Because, just like wealth, health compounds when we honor the fundamentals.
And Gen X?
We’re the generation built on fundamentals.
Which means we don’t need a million dollars of equipment to live long, strong, and fully awake.
We just need clarity, intention, and a line we’re willing to hold.
For me, that’s where I’m drawing it.
The Raad Life: 5 Takeaways
- Health spending isn’t the issue, unintentional spending is.
The danger isn’t in buying a cold plunge or stacking supplements. The danger is when health expenses start eroding the very financial freedom you’re trying to protect. If vitality comes at the cost of stability, that’s not optimization. - The real ROI comes from the basics, not the bells and whistles.
Sleep. Movement. Whole foods. Stress regulation. Strong relationships. These five foundations create more healthspan than any device, protocol, or expensive therapy. Everything else is optional garnish. - Your health budget needs a boundary and a purpose.
Having a personal rubric (Minimalist → Maximalist) keeps experimentation fun and financially sane. The goal isn’t austerity; it’s alignment. Spend with intention, not impulse. - Gen X has a natural advantage: we know how to filter noise.
We were raised analog, built digital, and learned to blend both. That perspective makes us uniquely good at spotting what actually matters. And when it comes to longevity, what matters is consistency, not gear. - Freedom is the ultimate health metric.
Not the cold plunge.
Not the wearable. Not the supplements. Freedom.
Freedom to move with strength, to age with agency, to show up fully, and to build a life that feels expansive instead of constrained. If a health choice increases your freedom, it’s a good investment. If it doesn’t, it’s noise.
About the Author:
Dennis McNamara helps successful professionals design a life they can thrive in. He believes this is achieved financially, mentally, and physically. A seasoned fiduciary with deep expertise in evidence-based investing and long-horizon planning, he blends wealth management with longevity science to help clients build both net worth and well-being. Co-founder of wHealth Financial Advisors, Dennis is known for translating complexity into clarity and guiding people toward a future they’re genuinely excited to live.