Tall Oaks Podcast

Is playing it safe still working? Branden DuCharme breaks down what happened across the markets in June and what the charts are signaling heading into the second half of 2026 — interest rates, the US dollar, Bitcoin, emerging markets, the Magnificent 7, and gold. This is a chart-driven technical recap: trend, momentum, and price action across every major asset class, translated into plain-language...

Is your cheapest insurance policy quietly setting you up for financial disaster? In this episode of the Tall Oaks Podcast, Branden DuCharme sits down with Latham Jepson — a property and casualty insurance broker based in Utah — to break down the gaps most people don't know exist in their home and auto coverage, and the surprisingly inexpensive fixes that could save you everything. This isn&ap...

Is real estate investing still a reliable path to wealth? Stop viewing buying a home as a guaranteed ticket to riches and avoid financial strain. This discussion challenges the outdated belief that real estate is an automatic wealth builder. We break down why the current real estate market requires a more cautious approach and why purchasing property solely for investment potential can backfire if...

We make the case for a mid-year insurance review and explain insurance as a tool to transfer the few risks that can blow up your cash flow and net worth. We walk through the coverages that matter, the gaps we see most often, and a simple process to keep policies organized and aligned with your life. • Summer as a natural trigger for insurance reviews due to new purchases, renewals and close calls...

Managing your investment portfolio requires balancing US stock market exposure with the necessity of taking calculated financial risk. We talk with Meb Faber about building wealth with boring consistency, and why chasing “easy” income can quietly sabotage long-term returns. We challenge dividend myths, zoom out on market history, and map out practical ways to diversify, rebalance, and keep emotion...

In the May 2026 market update, Branden emphasizes the importance of systematic financial strategies and methodical decision-making within a dynamic market economy. We explore how adhering to predefined rules in your financial life is crucial, especially when navigating the stock market. Understanding investment strategy is essential for achieving financial success, particularly when considering th...

Many people often misunderstand the true nature of real estate ventures, particularly rental property investing. This discussion clarifies that owning rental properties is not a passive income stream, but rather an active real estate business requiring dedicated effort. We explore why this type of income generating asset often involves more work than initially perceived, emphasizing the job-like a...

Most people avoid two simple documents their entire financial life — and it's costing them more money than they realize. If you've ever felt like managing your personal finance is more complicated than it should be, you're not alone. The problem usually isn't complexity — it's a lack of clarity. In this episode, Branden  Du Charme and Carisa Bertrand break down the two fou...

Should you claim Social Security at 62, 67, or 70? That single decision can change your lifetime retirement income by $500,000 or more—and it's permanent. In this episode, Branden sits down with Steve Durdin, a New Jersey financial planner and Social Security expert, to break down exactly how to make this choice. With 11,000 Americans turning 65 every day, most people are claiming too early a...

Should you pay off your mortgage early or invest the extra cash? The answer isn't as simple as the math suggests — and making the wrong call can quietly cost you flexibility when life gets complicated. In this episode, we answer real audience questions on the real estate decisions that sound straightforward but get complex fast once taxes, risk, and liquidity enter the picture. What we cover:...

Risk gets thrown around like it's a math term, but your life experiences it as a margin call. In this episode, we sit down with Ron Piccinini to rebuild the definition from the ground up: risk is the loss you can take and the collateral you'd need to survive the bad day. Once you see it that way, "more risk" stops meaning "more volatility" and starts meaning something...

A rental property can feel safer than the stock market because you can touch it, but the math doesn't care how tangible it feels. In this episode, we walk through a real rental deal in St. George, Utah and ask the only question that matters: does the deal pencil? We run a full analysis model including vacancy, property management, capex reserves, taxes, insurance, and transaction costs—showin...

Private credit was the investment everyone bragged about at cocktail parties. Now March 2026 is putting that story to the test — and the data is worth paying attention to. In this episode, we walk through what private credit's liquidity dynamics actually look like when investors want out at the same time, use a major player's recent drawdown as a real-world case study in concentration ri...

Most people hire a financial advisor by recognizing a few letters and hoping for the best. That's how you end up paying a brain surgeon to treat a sniffle. In this episode, Branden sits down with Cliff Cornell — CFP based in New York and writer behind the Yield To Maturity newsletter — to decode what the most common financial credentials actually train for, and what they quietly leave out. Wh...

The scariest market risk isn’t a single bad year. It’s a long stretch where your portfolio goes sideways, inflation keeps eating purchasing power, and you still need to pull cash for real life. That’s what “lost decades” look like, and today we unpack why they can quietly wreck a retirement plan even when the headlines feel calm. I’m joined by Ryan Gorman of Tamar’s Financial, to talk through his...

A 60/40 portfolio feels diversified, but it can still behave almost like the stock market. That gap between what we think we own and the risk we actually take is where this conversation gets interesting. I’m joined by Alex Shahidi, co-CIO at Evoke Advisors and author of books on risk parity and balanced asset allocation. We walk through risk parity in plain English: picking asset classes that tend...

7 in 10 retirees will need help with the basics—bathing, dressing, transferring, toileting, eating, or continence—yet most plans ignore the financial shock of long-term care until it's urgent and expensive. In this episode, we bring Mitch Hancock into the studio to unpack what real care looks like, what it costs, and how to fund it without blowing up your retirement or burdening your family....

Headlines can hijack your plan—unless you know exactly how markets translate them into prices you pay and returns you earn. In this February 2026 market update, we unpack what war-time volatility historically means for long-horizon investors, how to right-size risk for real-life cash needs, and where today's rate dynamics actually hit your wallet. We break down the yield curve in plain Englis...

Ever wonder why two smart people can hear the same financial plan and walk away with opposite reactions—one ready to act, the other frozen? In this episode, we dig into the DISC framework to reveal how your natural communication style drives risk tolerance, patience, and decision-making under pressure. With CFP pro Melanie Ferreira joining from South Africa, we unpack each style—Dominance, Influen...

Markets reward risk, but not all risk pays you the same way. In this episode, we sit down with Drew Feldman, a filmmaker-turned-advisor, to unpack why "own the market and chill" feels easy until life shortens your time horizon. We get practical about fees: high-cost closet beta doesn't deserve a spot, but strategies with low correlation and distinct return drivers can earn their kee...

When the headlines scream panic and prices snap higher, most investors feel relief. We make the opposite case: those outsized up days often signal a fragile market beneath the surface. In this episode, we sit down with technician Vincent Randazzo to pull back the index curtain and look at participation, liquidity, and the hidden imbalances that build before the break. Breadth shows whether the who...

Markets are whispering two messages at once: prices look confident, but momentum is slipping. In this episode, we unpack that tension with a plain-spoken tour through the data—starting with an S&P 500 that's still climbing while RSI and weekly MACD cool, a classic divergence that often precedes choppy corrections. We frame valuation bands that don't predict the turn but do set expect...

Headlines say "pensions are gone," but the real story is more complicated—and way more actionable. In this episode, we break down Intermountain Health's pension freeze in plain English, translate pension credits into today's dollars, and show exactly who's likely to benefit or be hurt by the shift to a 401(k). Along the way, we get honest about interest rates, lump sums, a...

What if your healthcare allocation could deliver alpha and fund life-saving research at the same time? In this episode, we sit down with Mike Taylor—a scientist-turned–hedge fund manager who now runs PINK, an actively managed healthcare ETF that donates its net fees and his compensation to the Susan G. Komen Foundation—to explore how performance, purpose, and rigorous stock picking can live under...

New tax rules can look like a gift—and still come with strings. In this episode, we dig into the updates that actually move the needle: a stronger below-the-line deduction for seniors, a temporary SALT cap increase to $40,000, and the return of 100% bonus depreciation. Along the way, we map the tradeoffs that don't show up in glossy summaries: when a short-term deduction phases out your bigge...