Listener questions take over the studio as Don and Tom work through a very big pile without sacrificing any more forests than necessary. The quick tour runs from life insurance in retirement to the seductive yield on floating-rate bank-loan ETFs—and why extra income usually comes with extra risk. Then a live call turns asset allocation into an actual retirement plan: how a couple can move from 90/10 to 70/30, use Roth space intelligently, and rebalance without guessing what the market will d...

AI stocks are booming, valuations are stretched, and capital spending is surging. Does that add up to a bubble—or just another story investors cannot reliably time? Tom and Don walk through Fidelity’s warning signs without pretending anyone can ring a bell at the top. The practical conclusion is less exciting and more useful: stay diversified, keep realistic expectations, include the fixed income your plan needs, and do not mistake a recent gain for money the market owes you forever. Then a...

Markets fluctuate. That sounds obvious—until a favorite stock climbs for years and investors start treating gravity as optional. Tom and Don revisit Financial Physics and the essential difference between a temporary market decline and permanent single-company damage. The cure is not predicting the next dip. It is connecting the return you need with the volatility you can tolerate, then owning thousands of companies and rebalancing instead of reacting. Questions range from IRA eligibility fo...

Bonds are supposed to be the brakes in a portfolio—but should those brakes be BND, a shorter-term fund, CDs, or a Treasury ladder? Don explains why duration, yield stability, and personal comfort make the answer more nuanced than one ticker. The Friday questions keep coming: pairing AVGE with VT, moving $5 million from real estate into a retirement portfolio, understanding an emerging-markets fund that became legally non-diversified, and building 529s for grandchildren. The final stretch is...

AI can crunch a portfolio, harvest losses, and explain an investment concept in seconds. But can it stop a nervous investor from selling at exactly the wrong moment—or understand the life behind the spreadsheet? Tom and Don test the robot-advisor promise, even asking ChatGPT to weigh in. The verdict is a useful division of labor: let technology handle repeatable mechanics, while human judgment, fiduciary responsibility, and behavior coaching remain hard to automate. Then the questions get w...

A quarter in the piggy bank has grown into a maze of UTMAs, 529s, custodial Roth IRAs, and the new child investment accounts. Tom and Don sort the options by what the money is actually for—and who keeps control. The 529 emerges as the flexible favorite, especially with its education uses and limited Roth rollover. Then the conversation turns to concentrated factor ETFs, the familiar Bitcoin argument, and whether private markets are really swallowing public investing. The through-line is ref...

Chasing performance feels like the easiest way to make money—but buying what has already gone up often means arriving late and leaving with less. In this episode of Talking Real Money, Tom and Don examine the “behavior gap”: the difference between an investment’s return and what investors actually earn after buying high, selling low, and chasing the latest market story. They explain why disciplined diversification and a sensible asset allocation usually beat a portfolio built around hot ideas...

The episode covers market bubbles, diversification, Social Security timing, and retirMarkets aren’t mysterious—they’re driven by one of the oldest economic principles there is. In this episode of Talking Real Money, Tom and Don explain why supply and demand can send prices soaring in the short run… and why disciplined investors should usually ignore the excitement. You’ll also hear practical answers to listener questions about Social Security timing, investment clubs, umbrella insurance, and ...

This week Don tackles seven excellent listener questions covering everything from credit cards and emerging markets to covered-call ETFs, annuities, retirement buckets, and whether investors should worry about new additions to stock indexes. 00:51 Summer surge in listener questions 01:15 LitReading success and thanks 02:01 Are credit cards really evil? 05:09 Emerging markets inside international funds 07:44 Paying kids for chores to fund Roth IRAs 10:58 Covered-call ETFs (JEPI and others) 15...

What exactly is a model portfolio—and should you trust one with your retirement? Tom and Don explain why professionally designed model portfolios can improve consistency and reduce advisor bias, but also why investors should be wary as firms like Morningstar begin adding private equity, private credit, and other alternative investments to traditional portfolios. 00:12 What is a model portfolio? 02:11 Why advisors should use investment models 03:31 Morningstar’s new private market portfolios 0...