The Investing Expert: Why Investing Is the BIGGEST Life Hack & Everyone Should Start Today!

Here are the top 10 key takeaways from Chris Camillo's discussion about why investing is the ultimate life hack everyone should adopt today.

1. Investing is the biggest life hack

Chris Camillo, a successful investor who turned $20,000 into $2 million in three years, emphasizes that investing is the most important life hack anyone can adopt. He states emphatically that "nothing comes remotely close to this life hack" and advises people to "forget about everything else in life and just start investing. Period."

This perspective shifts the focus from struggling with income limitations to building wealth gradually through investment. Camillo believes this approach is vastly underappreciated and should be taught from kindergarten onward. He expresses frustration that investing isn't more widely promoted as a fundamental life skill, calling it "disgusting" that more emphasis isn't placed on helping everyone become part of the "investor class."

2. Starting a business is unnecessarily risky compared to investing

Camillo challenges the common belief that entrepreneurship is the path to wealth. He shares that despite his own success as an entrepreneur, most of his business ventures failed. Out of approximately 150 private companies he's invested in, roughly 75% have failed or will fail despite his expertise and thorough research.

The investor argues that entrepreneurship requires exceptional dedication, intelligence, and often personally destructive behavior patterns. Instead of trying to become the next Steve Jobs or Elon Musk, Camillo suggests a simpler approach: invest in these exceptional individuals and let them create value that benefits you as a shareholder. This approach allows ordinary people to "ride their life" and profit from the value created by extraordinary entrepreneurs without sacrificing personal wellbeing.

3. The wealth gap is solvable through universal investing

While Camillo believes the income gap is nearly impossible to fix, he sees the wealth gap as "100% a solvable problem" through widespread investment participation. Rather than focusing solely on helping people earn more through their careers, he advocates teaching everyone to invest regardless of income level.

This approach democratizes wealth creation by allowing anyone to own pieces of successful companies. Camillo emphasizes that investment education doesn't need to be complex—people simply need to be convinced to start investing consistently. He believes this simple shift could transform society by enabling ordinary people to build significant wealth over time through compound growth.

4. Everyone has money to invest

Camillo strongly challenges the notion that some people can't afford to invest. He argues that everyone has money to invest once they change their perspective on what a dollar represents. Instead of seeing a dollar as just one dollar, he suggests viewing each dollar as potentially worth $100 in the future through investment growth.

This mindset shift changes how people make daily financial decisions. Small savings like clipping coupons, making coffee at home, or mowing your own lawn become much more attractive when you view each saved dollar as $100 in future value. Camillo emphasizes this isn't about deprivation or "living below your means" but rather about recognizing the future potential of every dollar saved and invested.

5. Market crashes are opportunities, not disasters

Rather than fearing market volatility, Camillo views market downturns as valuable opportunities. He recounts experiencing major crashes including the 1987 crash, the dot-com bubble, and the 2008 financial crisis. While these events were frightening, especially for young investors who lost 70-80% of their portfolios, the markets recovered much faster than expected.

Camillo advises investors to mentally prepare for potential 70% downturns from the start. He suggests thinking of your investment account as being worth only 30% of its current value to develop the right psychological mindset. This preparation helps investors remain calm during volatility rather than panic-selling at the worst possible time. With this approach, market crashes become buying opportunities rather than reasons to abandon investing altogether.

6. Women have investment advantages they're not utilizing

Camillo has spent 20 years trying to bring more women into investing and believes they have natural advantages they're not capitalizing on. His investment strategy focuses on observational investing—detecting changes in consumer behavior, trends, and preferences before Wall Street notices them. Women, he argues, are generally better positioned to excel at this approach.

Many of Camillo's most successful investments came from female and youth trends that older, predominantly male Wall Street analysts were slow to recognize. He cites examples like the explosive popularity of Elf Cosmetics after a Jeffrey Star YouTube video, which Wall Street completely missed. Camillo attributes this advantage to women being more expressive about their interests, preferences, and purchasing decisions, as well as being better listeners to these conversations. Despite these advantages, he notes women remain underrepresented in the active investor class.

7. Simple investment strategies work best

Despite his sophisticated approach to spotting market trends, Camillo advocates for simplicity in investment strategy. He dismisses the complexity of typical financial planning as marketing designed to make wealth management seem more complicated than it is. Instead, he suggests a straightforward approach: divide your money between "risk assets" (like stocks) and "safety" (like Treasury bonds).

For those not interested in actively trying to beat the market, Camillo recommends simply investing regularly in a low-cost S&P 500 ETF. This approach requires minimal knowledge, costs almost nothing in fees, and can produce significant wealth over decades. This simplicity makes investing accessible to everyone, regardless of financial education or experience.

8. Market information is more accessible than ever

Camillo believes now is "the best time in my life to be an investor" due to the democratization of information. While Wall Street firms have experienced layoffs and resource reductions, retail investors now have unprecedented access to information through social media and digital platforms. This shift has created information advantages for everyday people who are observing real-world trends as they happen.

The investor spends 3-4 hours nightly analyzing TikTok comments to spot consumer trends before Wall Street notices them. He cites examples like the resurgence of Crocs during the pandemic and increased bicycle sales that led to profitable investments. While he previously had to physically visit malls to observe shopping patterns, he can now identify trends directly from his phone. This accessibility makes investing more democratic and levels the playing field between Wall Street professionals and everyday investors.

9. Think of each dollar as $100 through investment potential

A transformative concept Camillo emphasizes is viewing each dollar not for its current value but for its potential future value through investment growth. By thinking of every dollar as potentially worth $100 in the future, people make radically different spending decisions and find money they didn't realize they had available to invest.

This perspective shift motivates people to clip small coupons, make coffee at home instead of buying at coffee shops, or handle tasks themselves instead of paying others. These small decisions accumulate significant investment capital over time. Camillo stresses this isn't about deprivation—it's about recognizing the enormous future value hidden in everyday financial decisions. This mental reframing makes the sacrifices feel worthwhile when viewed as $100 future gains rather than $1 present savings.

10. Investing creates passive income that eventually exceeds active income

Camillo describes a pivotal moment in his life when his investment income surpassed his substantial $200,000 salary. Despite his high earnings, he couldn't achieve his life goals, including philanthropic ambitions, through his salary alone. By focusing on investing, he created a parallel income stream that eventually eclipsed his primary earnings.

This approach solves a common problem: most people hit income ceilings in their careers that limit their financial potential. Instead of pursuing side hustles or starting businesses to break through these ceilings, Camillo suggests consistent investing as a more reliable path. He promises that anyone who commits to regular investing will likely experience a moment when their investment returns exceed their salary—a transformative shift that creates financial freedom without requiring more work hours or entrepreneurial risk.