Money For the Rest of Us

We answer listener questions in our final episode of 2021. Topics covered include: Estimating financial market returns in the next thirty years Investing in art Whether stocks will no longer exist How to start investing Fidelity's new Bitcoin ETF How mutual funds are priced How to teach family members about investing Volatility versus drawdowns How to face the uncertainty of crashing stocks, risin...

What is Web 3.0 and how will it transform the world? How you can invest your time and money in decentralized autonomous organizations and other Web3 projects. Topics covered include: What are Web 1.0, Web 2.0, and Web 3.0 and how do they differ What are decentralized autonomous organizations (DAOs) How DAOs operate and what are some examples How to register one's Web 3.0 user name How the Ethereum...

How different asset classes and investment strategies have performed during periods of unexpectedly high inflation. While trend and momentum strategies have performed the best, what are some of the challenges with implementing those strategies. Topics covered include: What has led to today's high inflation environment and why it is unique How current demographic and technology trends are disinflat...

With oil, natural gas, coal, and gasoline at the highest prices in eight years, we consider if there is an energy crisis due to an over-reliance on renewable energy sources. Topics covered include: How high have prices risen for oil, gasoline, natural gas, and coal Why rising energy prices is a multifaceted problem as illustrated by coal How the global energy mix has changed for power production W...

What conditions need to be in place for an asset bubble to continue and how that applies to stocks, cryptocurrency, and houses. Topics covered include: How to determine if there is an asset bubble What are microbubbles and anti-bubbles How the cannabis stock bubble burst What is required to sustain an asset bubble How the current runup in home prices differs from the housing bubble in the mid-2000...

How to decide whether it is worth it to hedge currency exposure when investing outside of your home country. Topics covered include: How currency exchange rates impact investment returns What factors impact currency exchange rates What are carry trades and how do they influence exchange rates How currency forward contracts work How ETFs and funds hedge currency exposure What to consider when decid...

How New York City and other metropolises will overcome the pandemic economic shock. Why do some cities thrive while others devolve into chaos? How we can develop the resiliency of thriving cities. Topics covered include: How New York and other cities have dealt with the pandemic economic shock Why the city of Port au Prince in Haiti is struggling Why do cities fail less frequently than companies H...

Why the new U.S.-based Bitcoin ETFs are a bad idea and will underperform Bitcoin. Topics covered include: What fund and ETF options are available for investing in Bitcoin Why the U.S. has only authorized Bitcoin ETFs that invest in Bitcoin futures even though there are closed-end funds that hold Bitcoin directly What is there a regulatory battle surrounding cryptocurrencies? How closed-end funds d...

How the economics of timeshare vacation rentals work, and why they can be a great fit for some individuals. Topics covered include: When were the first timeshares introduced What are the different timeshare ownership models Why timeshares don't appreciate but fall in price after purchase What are maintenance fees and why do they keep increasing Who is the target market for timeshares and how do ti...

Why the U.S. is closing in on both a debt default and a government shutdown.  Topics covered include: How a government shutdown differs from a debt ceiling crisis Why hasn't Congress passed legislation to fund the government and raise the debt limit How refusing to increase the debt ceiling could impact Social Security How big is the national debt and who owns it Why we never know how much fe...

What is causing the shortage of goods and workers? What should we do about it? Topics covered include: How a tree pandemic killed billions of American Chestnut trees How a massive increase in demand has crippled the global supply, leading to an eight-fold increase in shipping costs Why there are so many job openings and people quitting their jobs Why the free market doesn't work as well for child...

A regulatory crackdown and ideological campaign by the Chinese government has upended the Chinese stock market, which comprises close to 40% of emerging market indices. We evaluate what is going on and what investors should do. Topics covered include: How has the Chinese stock market performed in 2021 Why has Cathie Wood and Ark Invest dramatically cut their Chinese stock exposure What are example...

What are the demand and supply drivers of home prices? What is the current status of those drivers and do they suggest a housing price crash is imminent, particularly given mortgage forbearance programs are ending? Topics covered include: How much have home prices appreciated in the past year compared to historical rates What has driven the demand shock for housing Why U.S. houses are so much more...

Why bother rebalancing your investment portfolio and what is the best method for doing so. Topics covered include: How a target asset allocation can get out of line if a portfolio is not rebalanced What is positive skewness and why it matters to portfolio investing What is volatility drag and how it can lead to lower end of period wealth What are the costs of rebalancing Which rebalancing method i...

We compare the U.S. dollar with Bitcoin on their key attributes to determine which is better for transactions and preserving wealth, which is most absurd and which has serious flaws. Topics covered include: How are new U.S. Dollars and Bitcoin created How much has the supply of each currency grown How both the dollar and Bitcoin have had rule changes Why Bitcoin transactions are faster than non-ca...

What are the advantages and disadvantages individual investors have relative to professional investors. How individual investors can capitalize on their advantages without being overwhelmed by too many choices. Topics covered include: How much have fees and commissions dropped for individual investors in the past two decades How the overall objective of individual investors differs from profession...

How permanent life insurance can be an effective tool for retirement planning. Topics covered include: What is the difference between term and whole life insurance How many people let their life insurance policies lapse each year What are strengths that insurance companies have that are beneficial to individual investors What are the benefits of whole life insurance policies How the infinite banki...

How owning fewer, more permanent things can lead to greater freedom and continued economic growth. Topics covered include: How a railroad company issued a bond that matured in 999 years Why land and gold are the most permanent investments What is the oldest currency in use Why fiat and cryptocurrencies are potentially worthless Why permanence is freedom and constantly craving more things limits fr...

How the carbon emissions allowances and carbon offset markets are structured and how to invest in them. Topics covered include: How much greater are the levels of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere and how much have average temperatures increased Why industries and companies are seeking to cut their greenhouse gas emissions How cap and trade emissions trading systems work What are the demand and sup...

The risks and opportunities of investing in startups on equity crowdfunding platforms. Topics covered include: Why do individual investors now have more access to startup investments What has been the historical performance of venture capital funds How most startups fail, leaving only a few startups to offset portfolio losses What factors to consider when deciding on which startups to invest Why d...

How to decide when to take out a home mortgage and whether to pay it off early. How reverse mortgages can be a helpful retirement tool. Topics covered include: Why it is more difficult to get a mortgage today How federal government mortgage guarantees lead to lower mortgage rates How to analyze whether to pay off your mortgage early The differences between personal risk, market risk, and aspiratio...

We answer over a dozen questions from listeners on investing, housing, retirement, business, podcast production, and more. Topics discussed include: The Endowment Model Teaching children about investing 4 influential investing books The difference between being an entrepreneur and investing The balance between too much and too little efficiency and productivity What we learned about investing from...

What are the risks and opportunities of investing in frontier equity markets? Topics covered include: What are the criteria used to determine whether a country's stock market is considered a frontier, emerging, or developed market Why some countries aren't included in any MSCI stock index How large are frontier markets in terms of population, economic output, and equity markets How frontier market...

What are the pros and cons of owning an electric vehicle (EV) compared with an internal combustion engine (ICE) vehicle. Are electric vehicles worth it? Topics covered include: What is the total energy consumption for EVs versus ICE vehicles including energy expended to produce the vehicles and energy used to produce the electricity and refine the gasoline that run the vehicles. What vehicles weig...

What are ways to invest in water and is it an attractive investment? Topics covered include: How water rights work and how they have been overallocated in the Colorado River basin. Why agriculture uses the vast majority of water in the southwestern U.S. while contributing only a few percentage points to the region's gross domestic product. Why hedge fund manager Michael Burry invests in farmland i...