Talking Real Money - Investing Talk

Ep. 1976: Questions Behind the Numbers

Retirement questions rarely have one-number answers. Don works through a couple’s ambitious retirement goal after a late start, a new retiree’s urge to attack a 7% mortga

Ep. 1975: Put the Brakes on Buy Now

The best portfolio cannot help much if every spare dollar disappears at checkout. Don and Tom debate practical ways to slow impulse purchases, automate saving, and build

Ep. 1974: Who Watches the Insurers?

Who is looking out for insurance customers—and who is paying the people who set the standards? Don and Tom examine insurance-industry incentives, questions about the NAIC

Ep. 1973: One Size Fits Nobody

Target-date funds promise a simple glide path from growth to safety—but people with the same retirement date can have completely different needs. Don and Tom compare Vang

Ep. 1972: Your Questions, No Detours

Should retirement spending pass through a Roth? Can a nonprofit offer a 401(k) with ETFs? Does active management really win overseas? Don works through a packed listener-

Ep. 1971: Trust, But Verify

A CFP mark reflects meaningful education, but it does not guarantee clean disciplinary history, fee-only advice, or an unwavering fiduciary relationship. Don and Tom exam

Ep. 1970: The 11% Trapdoor

An 11.15% coupon sounds irresistible—until you read the trapdoors. Don and Tom unpack a listener’s BNP Paribas auto-callable structured note and ask the question Wall Str

Ep. 1969: Stay Calm

Dimensional Fund Advisors founder David Booth joins Don and Tom to explain why better investing begins with accepting uncertainty instead of pretending to predict it. The

Ep. 1968: No Reward Without Risk

Risk and reward are inseparable, even when an investment pitch makes the danger hard to see. Don and Tom explain why higher expected returns require accepting uncertainty

Ep. 1967: Find the Robot

It’s Friday Q&A—with a small experiment. Don slips one AI-generated voice among the listener questions and challenges you to identify the robot, with his complete two-boo

Ep. 1966: The Casino Next Door

Robinhood says it wants to be everything to investors—but its fastest-growing attractions look a lot like a casino. Don and Tom examine prediction markets, options, crypt

Ep. 1965: The Market Hasn’t Sung Yet

The market’s long winning streak has investors wondering whether a crash is waiting in the wings. Don and Tom look at the S&P 500’s run, the lost decade that followed the

Ep. 1964: The Year of the Stock Picker. Again.

Wall Street has declared yet another “year of the stock picker.” Don and Tom examine Morningstar and SPIVA data showing how few active large-cap funds beat their benchmar

Ep. 1963: Yesterday’s News, Today’s Price

Rule Seven of Financial Physics says there is no new news: by the time public information reaches you, the market has already reacted. Don and Tom explain why neither he

Ep. 1962: The Jester’s Portfolio

Friday’s question pile ranges from the safest bond fund around to the harder question of what retirement is actually for. Don sorts through the choices with his usual pre

Ep. 1961: Smart Enough to Know Better

Being great at running a company does not make anyone a market oracle. Don and Tom unpack the money regrets of successful CEOs—and the costly confidence that often follow

Ep. 1960: Who Calls the Financial Plays?

Could a nation of steadier 401(k) investors make markets calmer—or will algorithms, options, and meme-stock behavior keep the ride bumpy? Tom and Roxy weigh the forces pu

Ep. 1959: Bond. Very Long Bond.

AI’s appetite for data centers is sending tech giants to the bond market—and some of that debt will still be around in 2075. Don and Tom look at the scale of the borrowin

Ep. 1958: Nobody Knows Nothing

Why is financial forecasting so persuasive when its track record is so poor? Don and Tom open the Book of Financial Physics to Law No. 6—“Nobody Knows Nothing”—and explai

Ep. 1957: RMDs Without the Fire Sale

Required minimum distributions don’t have to trigger a fire sale. Don explains how an in-kind transfer can move an investment from an IRA to a brokerage account while pre