If an investment takes longer than a minute to explain, the confusion may be doing the selling. Don and Tom examine the confusion-to-risk ratio through structured notes, CDOs, variable annuities,…
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% mortgage with Roth money, and the…
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 better money habits—without…
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’s funding and transparency,…
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 Vanguard, Fidelity, and BlackRock…
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-question episode covering Roth…
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 examine the gap between reassuring…
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 Street hopes nobody asks: what…
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. They discuss staying calm through…
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, why recent gains do not…
