Talking Real Money - Investing Talk

Who should you ask your for investment advice? Managing a tricky annuity alongside an IRA.Researching the current value of the New York 529 Plan. When to pick up brokerage CDs. Understanding stock market reports and what rises and falls are compared to. The worst lesson anyone can take when it comes to money. Why learning about money is important from an early age. The drawbacks of teaching kids a...

Don’s beef with most of the people, not all of the people, who sell financial services is that they don’t regularly tell the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth. The reason being, that they are paid to obfuscate. In this episode, Tom and Don discuss the misleading nature of many of the sales pitches out there today. The phrase, “It’s just capitalism,” so often heard when it comes to s...

Learn more about Washington State’s Dream Ahead plan. Why we’re not gigantic fans of the 529 because of asset allocation. Hear our “secret” plan for The Dream Ahead stock portfolio. Learn more about the State’s TAP Annuity plan. Is it worth it? Why hedge funds dramatically underperform on average. Why the bane of the financial services industry is the concept of dual registration. Why Wall Street...

The lousy pay in teaching and education. Looking at the DreamAhead College Investment Plan and its possibilities. Comparing a Global REIT fund from Vanguard with bond funds. The low-down on annuities and when to avoid them. Clarifying some points from the Washington GET College Fund. Preparing for a child’s college payments the smart way. Recapping the story from last week’s episode with Jordan Go...

Bill Gross and the so-called ‘Bond King's’ epic fail! Finding and budgeting for a true fiduciary advisor. Why a long term perspective is indispensable to successful investing. The study that shows why it is better to hold off on Social Security. What is AAII’s shadow stock portfolio? Money Thirty Podcast — https://www.moneythirty.com/Real Investing Journal — https://www.realinvestingjournal.c...

In this episode we talk with former Money magazine reporter Jordan Goodman about recommendation of the alleged Woodbridge Wealth Ponzi scheme and his advice for investors going forward. Apparently, he failed to learn his lesson from his last failed promotion. Special guest, Jordan GoodmanThe risk of the stock market versus the safety of a bank. Jordan’s take on the SEC complaint against Woodbridge...

How many Warren Buffet’s are really out there? Learn more about Warren Buffets’ Berkshire Hathaway. Berkshire Hathaway VS Vanguard Total Stock Market Index Fund. The very big difference between anecdotes and evidence. The problem with the majority of brokers / fiduciaries today. Dual-registered advisers and why you should be weary of them. What to do if your advisor does not have your best interes...

Big banks and their conscious-free approach to money. One of the biggest challenges for Bank of America managers. The substantial shift to passive investment strategies. Is the best way to slow or reverse the ship by generating alpha? Recommendations from Bank of America that investors can perform. Return volatility and buying the riskier stocks. Stock Picker’s Paradise: Is that a real place or ju...

In this episode of the podcast we are steering you away from the troubled waters of shady advisors and bad investments. Don and Tom take a few calls about correcting your investment path, the reality of gold and precious metal investments.. The duo also discuss the state of Seattle’s pension fund, Don’s book, and bitcoin. The episode finishes off with an invite to their next event, The Science of...

In this episode of Talking Real Money our hosts take a look at some particularly tricky investment questions. Tom gives some advice on how to not get scammed by people claiming to be the IRS. We then look at short term plans, recent interest rates, college funds and dispel any myths around energy investments! Don helps answer a query about real estate and when to pivot from a your own personal inv...

In this episode our hosts advise you to stay away from actively managed funds! Don and Tom look at the recent Seattle pension debacle before looking at emerging market funds and which give the best returns. We also cover some questions on payouts, rollovers and how to view investment in your 20s. The episode finishes off with a reminder about how volatility relates to investment returns. How to in...

In this episode, Don and Tom want to keep you from falling victim to a Ponzi scheme or greedy stock brokers. Their advice: Stick to fee-only fiduciaries and keep those investments as diversified as possible. We look at how to check up on possible advisors using BrokerCheck, answer some questions on stable value funds and bonds indexes, look at the state of pensions in Seattle and advise that if yo...

In this episode, Don and Tom look at reasonable portfolio returns, the 2008 crash and, of course, cryptocurrency. The duo continue to explain the use of intermediate bond funds in getting your investments ready for retirement. Returns on portfolios and weighing good percentages. Why you can make more than 5% a year on a diversified portfolio. The risk quiz and why everyone should take it. Remember...

Don't learn the hard way. There are no special investment for "special" people. Today on the show, Don and Tom help you to avoid falling victim to a Ponzi scheme or greedy stock brokers. We look at how to check up on possible advisors using BrokerCheck. Don and Tom answer some questions on stable value funds and bonds indexes, look at the state of pensions in Seattle and advise that...

This episode features a panel of experts from Retiremeet North, Harlan Accola from Fairway Mortgage, Rick Gregorek from Gregorek and Associates, Paul Merriman formerly of Merriman, Don McDonald, and Tom Cock. The most difficult decisions we see people make as they get close to retirement. Understanding the mental shift required to spend home equity. Overcoming the fear of action and breaking free...

This episode is the second part of live recording at the Retiremeet North Conference and on today’s roster of speakers we have Harlan Accola from Fairway and Rick Gregorek from Gregorek and Associates. Harlan is an expert author and advisor on reverse mortgages. He explains how to use these products and clear up all confusion about reverse mortgages. Rick covers the topics of estate planning, putt...

This special episode features Paul Merriman’s keynote address at Retiremeet North on May 5, 2018 in Everett, WA. Paul talks about the essential aspects of smart investing and what he calls the ten million-dollar decisions that investors make. These choices have to be made, either consciously or just by default and Paul is here to remind us of the importance of making these decisions carefully corr...

This is the last of Don’s holiday episodes and so we gratefully thank Paul Merriman for stepping in one last time as co-host. In this episode, we cover some historically good and bad investments from none other than our hosts, reversed mortgages, gold and silver investments, market speculation and the work of Professor Bessembinder. Paul gives some invaluable information on salespeople and why you...

The focus of this episode is the Roth account, as our hosts take a few calls on the subject and unpack the benefits for our listeners. Guest host, Paul Merriman lays out his ideas around really long term investing, for your grandchildren, and how to utilize the Roth IRA for this purpose. We also talk about picking strategies for multiple accounts and how much of an effect small choices make over t...

Tom is joined by Paul Merriman again this week as Don is still traversing New Zealand in a camper-van. On today’s episode Tom and Paul look at the news regarding 2017’s mutual fund costs, talk about important phone calls, answer questions on real estate, retirement and index funds. As usual the emphasis is on long term, diversified, passive investments. Paul states that, on average, people oversta...

Welcome to the Talking Real Money Podcast! We are once again joined by Paul Merriman, who will be helping us talk about all the things that matter to you most and field your questions about how to make the most of investments. Paul and Tom go through some information about mutual funds, annuities, show again why stock picking is a bad choice and tackle index funds. Paul also gives a teaser of what...

Don is still away in New Zealand so today we welcome a very special guest and friend in the form of Paul Merriman. Paul will helping to field all the questions you may have regarding investing, stocks, bonds and the market in general and we sure are pleased to have him aboard for today. We chat about some of last week’s problems including a small issue that arose on social media. We challenge the...

Tom continues talking with securities attorney, Lawrence Cock. In this episode:The problem with short term, actively managed funds. Some information on home equity lines of credit and refinancing real estate. How to make decisions around housing when approaching retirement. Waiting on social security collection and weighing the benefits. Choosing between credit card debt and taking out a second mo...

With Don away in New Zealand for a rare holiday Tom is joined by securities attorney, Lawrence Cock to talk about the legal side of finances and how you can protect your wealth. In this episode:Why short-term returns are the wrong way to view your money. Following an academic approach to the market. Introducing this week’s guest star! Some of the financial scams that are currently making the round...

The best place to keep your savings with quick and easy access. Why interest rate changes might mean for your savings. High rates at Goldman Sachs bank. A couple of good resources for an introduction to investing. More info about Don’s upcoming holiday in New Zealand. Unloading stocks, penalties and the IRS protocols for profit. A discussion on the rules and culture of cricket. Seriously. When is...