Talking Real Money - Investing Talk

In this episode, we open Don's "good" book, Financial Fysics to the section on the power of a well-diversified investment portfolio. We take some questions, too: What should be done with two maturing annuities? How should a $5 million portfolio be invested to reduce taxes? Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Questions? Comments? Click!

On today's Q&A show: Why is an attractive-sounding annuity a bad idea? Are there times when a 403b shouldn't be rolled into an IRA? How can someone complain about insurance products in a 403b? When can a contribution be made to a mid-year HSA? What's the best way to invest in various types of accounts? Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Questions? Com...

Far too many Americans fall through the cracks in the U.S. retirement system. In an age of few pensions, many don't invest for retirement and can't survive on just Social Security. How do we get more workers to save more and invest better? Listeners ask: For a primer on brokered CDs. Are callable CDs worth considering? Which is better: a money market or certificate of deposit? Learn more...

We discuss the current state of the bond market and the possibilities for the future. Is there any way investors can outguess the bond market (or any other securities market)? Plus, we talk about Tom's new iPhone 15. Listeners would like to know: What is the difference between a money market account and a money market mutual fund? Was it wise to purchase 20-year bonds for long-term income? Wh...

Six month's later, the Wall Street Journal contradicts itself in the debate about the efficacy of a 60% stock/40% bond portfolio. Understand how a short period can influence our long-term perception. Plus, what are your alternatives to traditional stock/bond investing? Our listeners ask: Why would you use a regular IRA when you expect to be in a lower future tax bracket? What do we think of t...

Could betting markets predict the future? The evidence shows that the "wisdom of crowds" has been pretty accurate. In finance, they call it "the efficient market." Essentially, this means that, in aggregate, a large crowd (like the global stock market) is likely to be a more accurate future prognosticator than you or even professional managers. Then listeners ask: What are the...

This week: Why do we like the Utah 529 Plan? Should BND be sold to create a ladder even if it's down? Why don't we mention M1 Finance? What do we think of the Fidelity Zero funds? Can a corporate bond ETF replace a money market fund? Is 1% per year a fair fee for an investment advisor? Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Questions? Comments? Click!

Because they are so popular with financial salespeople, we need to talk about the confusing world of annuities. What are they and what are those who sell them failing to disclose? Discover the realities of these very complex (and lightly regulated) insurance investment products. Plus, we get annoyed with some if Suze Orman's simplistic and hyperbolic advice. Listeners ask: Which investments s...

Young investors have a lot of money in cash because they fear the stocks market. Yet, the best time to invest is when you are young because you have time to ride the ups and down of the market. Then it's question time: What can be done after an adviser puts money into an annuity with the client's permission? Why does a CD ladder makes sense? Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaph...

How much might Bitcoin appreciate per year? Someone claims to know. Then, a Bitcoin farm can consume the energy of a small city and while the Chinese won't allow them in China, they have no problem consuming our power and maybe even our national security secrets. Is Bitcoin worth the costs? Don shares some actual numbers. Listeners ask: Do we know of a great 529A Able Plan? What do we think o...

A special episode devoted to paying for your children's higher education. Appella Wealth college-funding specialist, Jim Femia joins Tpm and Don to share his expertise on the various ways you can afford to help your kid's get through college. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Questions? Comments? Click!

Friday is when Don takes the questions you record at Talking Real Money: Why do Treasury security yields change throughout each day? How do you check out a fee-based advisor? What do we think of a company's new fund options? Does his advice for a friend's retirement portfolios make sense? Is the ETF "HIGH" a decent investment? Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.f...

A Washington Post advice columnist suggested firing a financial advisor friend. How can you find the right person to manage your money? Then we hear from lots of listeners: Is it better to invest fixed income dollars in bonds or laddered CDs? Will moving from one brokerage firm to another cause a taxable event? When is the best time to make a QCD? Why doesn't the Fed raise rates in one big mo...

There's a lot money tied up in our homes, so should you pay off your cheap mortgage? What are the costs to access all of that money should you need it? At Bank of America, it could cost up to 10% for a home equity line of credit. We talk about the potential future of bond prices. The we here from a bunch of Kens, a Barb (and others): What happens to the homeowner's capital gain exemption...

The movie "Dumb Money" depicts a small slice of the pandemic meme stock trading stupidity. Today, we discuss trying to time the market and it's similarity to other ways we lose money. Then, listeners ask: How much should be kept in the short-term liquid accounts? Should we take money from different types of account in different markets? Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaph...

A recent study found that the vast majority of Americans don't believe they will be in good enough financial shape to retire at age 65. What are some of our biggest concerns and how can we deal with our unpreparedness? Plus, we share the tale of a money talk show host who went wild with listeners money. Then, we here from listeners: One takes us to task for sharing mutual fund portfolios inst...

In this Friday's Question and Answer episode: While stocks plunged for most of the Great Depression, how did bonds perform? Does it make sense to convert to a Roth if the taxes are paid from the IRA? Does taking early Social Security payments and investing them better than waiting until age 70? How is a lump sum pension distribution taxed and should it be used to pay off a house? In which kin...

Trillions of dollars are wasting away in low-yielding bank accounts. Why do investors keep making the same investing mistakes, over and over again, despite evidence that investing is incredibly simple if done right? How can you avoid making bad investing decisions? We also discuss the huge spread between savings account and credit card interest. A listener asks: Is her brother's dividend port...

The 401k and 403b investment offerings are a mess and the US Labor Department would like to make it better, but the financial product industry opposes mandating truly honest investing advice. Salespeople aggressively push expensive or unsuitable products, while the low cost products are hidden from participants view. What can you do to avoid the bad products and fiind the best retirement investmen...

We came prepared to talk about the impact of a government shutdown on your investments. Just as we came on the air, Congress voted to defer the issue for another 45 days. Yet, what would be the financial impact of another shutdown? We look back at the recent performance of the markets. Don shares some great streaming TV shows with Tom. Fund fees keep falling. Then, listeners ask: What should be do...

The evidence continues to show why most "expert" money managers fail to beat their benchmarks. Don and Tom share some powerful academic reasons why money managers (and you) are unlikely to beat the market over time. Plus, those once-hot NFTs have turned icy cold, losing billions of dollars. Then, we take some questions: Is the I-Bond early-withdrawal interest penalty from early interest...

In today's question and comment episode: Don is appalled by another great example of a slick salesperson selling a horribly complex and misleading insurance investment for retirement. Should a Roth be funded for someone on the cusp of making too much money. A listener shares positive comments about a recent show. Does overfunding a 529 to allow a future Roth IRA transfer to a child make sense...

A recent study shows that most people trust the right people for investing advice. What is your trusted source of money information? Then, we hear from listeners: What do we think of this retirement portfolio, heavily invested in real estate trusts? Does the Schwab CD ladddering tool look good? Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Questions? Comments? Click!

Morningstar recently reported a ongoing gap between investor returns and the returns of the stock market. You and your behavior make less than underlying indexes. We discuss Tom's attempt to buy a new Toyota and the lack of resonse to his queries. A caller shares his long history as a trader. Another looks for our opinion on real estate investment trusts (REITs). Is there any way to avoid the...

Finding good financial advice is really tough. You might believe that those providing money information in the media are required to tell the truth. They're not. You need to carefully vet anyone providing investing information. We take a close look at the truth behind one the money radio shows in the Seattle radio who calls himself "The Money Professor." We find out there is less th...