At Constitution Wealth, we have a dedicated team of financial advisors who are focused on aligning our clients’ conservative values with their financial lives. They are a tight-knit group with shared conservative, family, and faith-based values and meet weekly to support each other. They share their expertise for best practices, talk about life, and how to be successful not only financially but spiritually and physically as well. This is just one advisor’s perspective on healthy investing and living, and will hopefully provide you with insights into some of the topics they discuss on a weekly basis. Truth be told, they are all focused not only on their clients’ financial health but their own financial and physical health as well. Simply stated, they are trying to lead by example.
I was speaking with a prospective client the other day. He is a physician, had been through a divorce years back, and is doing well, but admittedly “playing catchup” financially while working and maintaining his household with his new family. He has been trying to manage his investments and financial affairs on his own, but just didn’t know how he was tracking towards retirement, which he’d like to do in about 10 years. His question for me was, “Is now the right time to be working with a financial advisor?”
At that moment, I just thought about his role as a doctor and thought about life and health. If you want to have a vibrant life in the future with the prospects of fulfilling your dreams, whether that means travelling, exploring, spending quality time with family, or all of the above, not living healthy today and waiting to change your lifestyle choices years down the road is not a good way of working towards your goals.
As it turns out, long-term physical health requires a disciplined daily lifestyle approach, but it can be enjoyable at the same time. Waiting for years until it feels like the right time or a serious medical condition arises is not the right approach. People who are most successful in achieving an active and fulfilling life rarely do it on their own. They utilize coaches, doctors, trainers, and activities to keep them on track and teach them things they otherwise might not have known. Most importantly, these relationships can keep us on track when we are feeling not so motivated or so busy that it becomes difficult to stay on course. Some of us might be very self-disciplined and can accomplish much with our own motivation, but everyone can get off track. That’s when a doctor, coach, or advisor really earns their keep.
All of these ideas pertain to your financial health and partnering with a financial advisor as well, and this is what I communicated to this doctor. He chuckled and agreed. He’s an expert, how could he not? While there’s no perfect time, the right time is when you have a solid plan, sufficient resources, and a strong belief in your idea. Ultimately, the “right time” is often a decision based on your own motivations and willingness to take action.
If you look around, I think you’ll find that most successful/wealthy families have financial advisors and a team of folks they rely on to outsource activities they don’t have expertise in. Even if they have expertise in finance, they’ll most likely admit that they don’t know what they don’t know, don’t have the time and resources to focus on the never-ending challenges and changes in wealth management, and they have more important things they want to focus on; the experiences of living. And, very importantly, many spouses/partners that are primarily handling investments for their families are rightly concerned about things falling apart should they pass away. And as we know, life is short and things like children growing up and retirement sneak up quickly. If we recognize that, we’ll understand the need to plan early.
With a nod to my conversation with the doctor, rather than give you some tips on financial health, I’ll give you some of my tips for physical health. Consider this a high-level summary of some of the ways I try to maintain my physical health. Of course, I’m not a doctor, and this is not medical advice, so please consult your doctor for anything health-related.
- Night to mid-day fast: No food after 8-9pm until 12 noon the next day. This is a good rule of thumb I think unless you are getting up in the morning and working out, you might want to have some protein after the workout but not absolutely necessary.
- Morning Routine In Order
- 1) Hydrate: Drink a glass of water as soon as you wake up. I mix collagen peptides and super greens powder with probiotics in my water.
- 2) Hot chocolate with powdered milk and organic unsweetened cacao
- 3) Ginger tea – I’m a tea guy, not a coffee achiever so this works well for me. I brew some black tea with minced ginger and a healthy dose of milk.
- I’ll add a multi-vitamin, and depending how I’m feeling I’ll add some tumeric curcumin pills, zinc, fish oil etc.
- This routine gets me through to lunch no problem.
- Morning Routine In Order
- Physical Exercise & Weight: There is plenty of research showing that keeping the weight off and having an appropriate amount of muscle mass is very beneficial to longevity. There are scales that not only measure weight, but also measure body fat, muscle mass etc. I don’t use these too much but my son got into his own workout program and was monitoring his progress every day. Understanding there is a myriad of body types, I recommend you set targets and a program that is appropriate for your age and body type. This is my program.
- Intense physical activity: I’m a black belt in Brazilian Jiu Jitsu and train at least 3 times a week. This training involves everything physical (and mental); strength, endurance, cardio, flexibility, recovery resilience.
- Hydration – For my intense physical training when I’m sweating a lot I’ll often add hydration powder.
- Strength & Endurance for workouts: I found an immediate benefit taking Taurine about an hour prior to my workouts.
- Recovery: I need protein after hard workouts or it can take me a while to recover. Until recently I’ve taken whey protein but lately have switched to this protein shake. I like the vanilla option and it fills me up more.
- Weight Training: Training with weights and resistance to build and maintain muscle is very important especially as you get older. I only need a full body workout one to two times a week.
- Stretching: One of the most important elements of my lifestyle for staying mobile. Some prefer intense yoga but have a quick routine I do at home at least four times a week that focuses on hip and back mobility.
- Walking/Hiking: In my opinion walking and hiking are somewhat underrated. If you’re not in good enough physical condition to do more intense workouts, walking and hiking is probably all you need. Long walks are a great way to lower body fat as well.
As I mentioned earlier, I’m not a doctor and this is not medical advice so please consult your doctor for anything health related. However, I am a CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNER® and experienced professional in my field so you can certainly come to me for investment and financial planning advice.
Market Review: 2025 Q2
A volatile second quarter ended with major stock indices at record levels even as the quarter began with sharp declines following the Trump administration’s announcement of global tariffs, driving the Chicago Board Options Exchange’s CBOE Volatility Index (VIX) to its highest levels since 20201. Despite trade policy uncertainty and increased geopolitical tensions as conflict between Israel and Iran dominated news, US stocks ended the quarter with the S&P 500 Index up 10.9%2. Global stock markets fared even better with the MSCI All Country World ex USA IMI Index (net div.) up 12.7%3.
The Federal Reserve continued to leave interest rates on hold citing uncertainty around the impact of tariffs on prices. The European Central Bank and Bank of England both diverged from the Fed by cutting their target rates again. Both emerging and developed non-US stock indices outperformed the US market with both the MSCI World ex USA IMI Index (net div.) and the MSCI Emerging Markets IMI Index (net div.) returning 12.7%4.
Global Asset Class Returns Chart: Past performance is not a guarantee of future results. Indices are not available for direct investment. Index performance does not reflect the expenses associated with the management of an actual portfolio.
See disclaimers below for Market segment (index representation) below.
An important theme from Q1 2025 that continued through Q2 2025 was the outperformance of international vs US markets. I just want to emphasize the importance of sticking to a diversified allocation even when there are times that certain components of your portfolio are underperforming vs other indexes. Due to the very nature of diversified portfolios, this will always be the case and hopefully, as an insightful investor, you understand that it’s times like these where the benefit of discipline can reward a long term perspective. When you look at the outperformance of international markets over U.S. markets year-to-date, this concept really stands out.
World Class Chart: Past performance is not a guarantee of future results. Sources: MSCI Emerging Markets Index (net div.), MSCI World ex USA Index (net div.), Russell 3000 Index. MSCI data © MSCI 2025, all rights reserved. In USD. Indices are not available for direct investment. Their performance does not reflect the expenses associated with the management of an actual portfolio.
Morgan H Smith Jr. is an investment advisor with Constitution Wealth. Constitution Wealth is a registered investment adviser in Wyoming. Constitution Wealth is registered with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). Registration of an investment advisor does not imply any specific level of skill or training and does not constitute an endorsement of the firm by the commission. Constitution Wealth only transacts business in states in which the firm is properly registered or is excluded or exempted from registration. A copy of Constitution Wealth’s current written disclosure brochure filed with the SEC, which discusses among other things, Constitution Wealth’s business practices, services, and fees, is available through the SEC’s website at www.adviserinfo.sec.gov.
Please note, the information provided in this document is for informational purposes only and investors should determine for themselves whether a particular service or product is suitable for their investment needs. Please refer to the disclosure and offering documents for further information concerning specific products or services.
Any hypothetical, backtested performance has been provided for illustrative purposes only, and is not necessarily, and does not purport to be, indicative, or a guarantee, of future results or the adviser’s skill. Hypothetical, backtested performance does not represent actual performance. The results are prepared by retroactive application of a model, with the benefit of hindsight, and actual results may vary substantially. The preparation of such information is based on underlying assumptions, and does not represent the actual performance of any fund, portfolio, or investor, it is subject to risk and limitations that are not applicable to non-hypothetical performance presentations. Although advisor believes any hypothetical, backtested performance calculations described herein are based on reasonable assumptions, the use of different assumptions would produce different results. For the foregoing and other similar reasons, the comparability of hypothetical, backtested performance to the prior (or future) actual performance of a fund is limited, and prospective investors should not unduly rely on any such information in making an investment decision.
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This document may contain forward-looking statements relating to the objectives, opportunities, and the future performance of the U.S. market generally. Forward-looking statements may be identified by the use of such words as “believe,” “expect,” “anticipate,” “should,” “planned,” “estimated,” “potential,” and other similar terms. Examples of forward-looking statements include, but are not limited to, estimates with respect to financial condition, results of operations, and success or lack of success of any particular investment strategy. All are subject to various factors, including, but not limited to general and local economic conditions; changing levels of competition within certain industries and markets; changes in interest rates; changes in legislation or regulation; and other economic, competitive, governmental, regulatory, and technological factors affecting a portfolio’s operations that could cause actual results to differ materially from projected results. Such statements are forward-looking in nature and involve a number of known and unknown risks, uncertainties, and other factors, and accordingly, actual results may differ materially from those reflected or contemplated in such forward-looking statements. Prospective investors are cautioned not to place undue reliance on any forward-looking statements or examples. None of Constitution Wealth or any of its affiliates or principals or any other individual or entity assumes any obligation to update any forward-looking statements as a result of new information, subsequent events, or any other circumstances. All statements made herein speak only as of the date they were made.
Any indices and other financial benchmarks shown are provided for illustrative purposes only, are unmanaged, reflect reinvestment of income and dividends, and do not reflect the impact of advisory fees. Investors cannot invest directly in an index. Comparisons to indexes have limitations because indexes have volatility and other material characteristics that may differ from a particular hedge fund.
