In this episode we answer emails from I Have No Name, Shellie, Midwest Nice, and Mr. Ed (a motley crew indeed!). We discuss some massively funny generosity to our Top of the T-Shirt Campaign for the Father McKenna Center, an odd small cap value fund in a 401(k) and the issues surrounding holding too much cash, how stocks and long-term treasury bonds can both rise while still showing negative correlation and how that relates to the Four Quadrant Model, and redeploying proceeds from the s...
Jul 12
48 min
In this episode we answer emails from Ethan, Joe, and Jim. We discuss a plan for young teachers to reach early financial independence with the right accounts and a little encouragement, the peculiar benefits of 457s and Roth contributions, a critical read of an academic article about an impractical TIPS ladder strategy, and the real-world problems with 30-year TIPS ladders, including complexity, tax issues, and longevity risk. We also discuss catastrophe bonds as an asset class an...
Jul 8
43 min
In this episode we answer emails from Joe, Ashley, and Chris. First, we celebrate the early retirements and generosity of our listeners, spotlighting what retirement feels like when it is driven by joy and choice instead of fear. Then we answer a near-retirement question about bubble warnings, international investing, the proper way to use expert opinions, and how to build a risk parity style portfolio that can survive drawdowns and fund withdrawals. With the help of Claude. And...
Jul 4
48 min
In this episode we answer emails from Sarah, Tyler and Luc. We Sarah's detailed plan to take a one to two year family gap year, travel, and unpack tax-smart ways to fund short-term spending, why we keep long-term money invested simply, more cowbell, and why complicated advisor math can be more noise than help how it can mask conflicts of interest. We also touch on the Cederberg paper (yes, with a C and not an S despite my mis-statement) and why it is of little or no practical use ...
Jul 1
38 min
In this episode we answer emails from Tim, Avid Listener, and Aaron. We discuss bond allocation in an intermediate accumulation Golden Butterfly style portfolios, the follies of fixating on fund or ticker symbol returns instead of the purpose of an asset in a portfolio, and the follies of holding too much in cash. And we discuss our Top of the T-shirt Campaign (Part Deux!) for the Father McKenna Center. And THEN we our go through our weekly portfolio reviews of the eight sample ...
Jun 28
41 min
In this episode we answer emails from Michael, Raphy, and Roman. We discuss using a short-term SPIA as a bridge before Social Security and why it probably doesn't matter one way or the other if you are even a little over-saved, and how much flexibility a well-funded risk parity portfolio can really provide. We also tackle covered calls, dividend and income fund hype, and why portfolio design starts with asset classes, taxes, and drawdown tolerance rather than chasing tickers. We a...
Jun 24
43 min
In this episode we answer emails from Wilson, Tim, and John. We discuss why life insurance products are not magical perpetual motion machines that make your portfolios go faster, why insurance contracts cannot outperform the same underlying investments once costs and commissions are included, and how insurance marketers mislead the public with biased studies. We also a listener's musical tastes and answer an I Bonds allocation question. And we discuss our Top of the T-shirt Campaign (P...
Jun 21
56 min
In this episode we answer emails from Peter, Alejandro, and Anderson. We discuss retiring early and related family, work and community considerations, various portfolio and tax considerations and gambling problems, AI-driven portfolio tweaking, when simplicity applies, and share a fast way to summarize old episodes with NotebookLM. And reference our Top of the T-shirt Campaign (Part Deux!) for the Father McKenna Center. Links: Father McKenna Center Donation Page (please ...
Jun 17
44 min
In this episode we first kick off the Top of the T-Shirt Campaign Part Deux (!) for the Father McKenna Center and explain why matching funds, donated resources, and volunteers make every dollar go further. Then we answer emails from Aaron, Hostile Witness, and Jenzo. We discuss improving on the Permanent Portfolio , managed futures, leverage, drawdowns, and why we prefer diversification over CAPE-wearing Sonias. And THEN we our go through our weekly portfolio reviews of the eight samp...
Jun 14
50 min
In episode we answer emails from Nick, Patrick and Aaron. We discuss matching goals with portfolios for an early FI person, review an Early Retirement Now blog post about diversification misperceptions, and discuss using STRIPS funds instead of regular treasury bond funds. Links: Early Retirement Now Blog Post: How to "Lie" with Personal Finance - Part 3: Diversification - Early Retirement Now Large Cap Growth and Small Cap Value Long Term Comparison: Asset Analyzer for E...
Jun 10
40 min
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