The Rational Reminder Podcast

Today we are so happy to welcome the amazing Katy Milkman to the show. Katy is the author of the impressive and inspiring new book,  How to Change: The Science of Getting from Where You Are to Where You Want to Be,  and in this episode, we get the inside scoop from her about her work, with specific attention to how it can be applied to investment and finances. Emerging from an engineering backgrou...

Today we get the chance to take some very interesting listener questions and dig into fascinating findings on day trading in 2020. To kick things off we have a quick review of Simon Sinek's insightful new book,  The Infinite Game  before rounding up some of the news from the investing space. Then it's time to tackle a number of questions from a member of our thriving community and break down some...

The work of Bill Schultheis has had a profound effect on us here at the Rational Reminder Podcast, and eventually having him join us on the show is truly an honour! Bill is the author of the  Coffeehouse Investor  series and is currently the Principal and Senior Advisor at Soundmark, in Kirkland, Washington. Throughout his career Bill has dedicated himself to helping his clients make the choices t...

Welcome back to another episode of the Rational Reminder Podcast, where we give you the most considered and evidence-based information about investing in Canada. Our focus for this episode is the topic of tax loss harvesting, a subject we have touched on before but felt warranted a revisit, with some updates. To kick off the show, we review  Playing to Win , looking at the illuminating perspective...

Today we welcome Rob Arnott to the show! Rob is the founder of Research Affiliates and is a prolific writer who has published hundreds of articles for many different journals. We know firsthand, the power of Rob's work, and how it can alter the way you think about investing, and this depth of knowledge, coupled with his ability to make complex topics understandable makes him a dream guest for us!...

The looming issue of climate change has far-reaching implications, not least of which are relevant to the financial and investment world. Today we spend some time considering these impacts, with a focus on the question of whether climate risk is a priced investment. The short answer, conferred by the numerous academic explorations into the subject, is yes. This answer, however, still leaves invest...

One of the major topics we hope to help our listeners with is retirement planning, and today we have a really informative and illuminating conversation with a true expert in the field, Don Ezra. His approach is typified by his focus on retirement and happiness, and their important intersection, subjects he has broached in his many published books, notably  Life Two,  and  Happiness.  Don is a self...

Welcome back to another episode of the sensible money show. The focus this week is the age-old question of housing; whether to buy or to rent. After our preliminary remarks, book review, and a new TV recommendation, we get down to brass tacks on the important things to look at when assessing your living situation. There are some commonly held views on the expenses and sacrifices associated with re...

Today we speak to Professor Johanna Peetz about how the errors people make about predicting their futures affect financial planning and relationships. Professor Peetz is an Associate Professor of Psychology at Carleton University and her three main research interests are time perception, personal spending, and close relationships. We kick the conversation off on the topic of biased spending estima...

Welcome back to your favourite Canadian podcast about sensible investing! Today we are focusing on evaluating equity strategies and wondering aloud whether you should be chasing these anomalies, thinking about the costs and turnover, and how these products are being implemented. These are just some of the important questions that can be asked on this subject, and we do our best to cover the most v...

There is an overarching investment philosophy that permeates most of what we do here at the Rational Reminder Podcast, and while some guests' positions might differ at times, it is rare that we have someone on the show whose approach is as strongly contrasted with ours, as Professor Brad Cornell. Professor Cornell's arguments are so well-founded and researched that they require a re-examination of...

Is it possible to hedge your investments against different levels of inflation? This is the question we ask in today's episode, as we run through a variety of different investment approaches and commodities. While the answer may not come as a huge surprise, it is definitely worth the walk-through and getting to grips with what the literature can tell us in each scenario. After rounding up some new...

Today's guest is Professor Robert Novy-Marx, the Lori and Alan Zekelman Distinguished Professor of Business Administration at Simon Business School of the University of Rochester. Professor Novy-Marx is best known for his articulation of the profitability factor and has also done a ton of great work on momentum and low volatility. We kick our conversation off with Professor Novy-Marx's thoughts on...

Today we dive deep into the connection between happiness and money, looking at a host of theories and studies that have examined the important factors in this discussion. The main material referenced is the fascinating,  The Happiness Hypothesis  by Jonathan Haidt, and during the episode, we get to look at a great selection of the findings and claims in the book. To kick things off, we consider th...

It takes only a handful of smart choices to convert regular savings into a secure future. Today we welcome famed financial educator Paul Merriman onto the show to discuss how the right habits and investing approach can add millions to your retirement nest egg. After chatting about his personal and professional background, we dive into Paul's investing philosophy and how it's been influenced by the...

As many of you already know, we have been working hard to figure out the best way to model expected stock returns for financial planning and asset allocation. It has a lot of history in financial literature, which is to be expected, given the importance of the figure. In today's episode, we're looking all the way back to 1985, when Rajnish Mehra and Edward C.Prescott called the equity premium a pu...

From YouTube channels to get-rich playbooks, whole industries are devoted to the subject of building wealth. But few books present a clear and honest view of what it's like to have a lot of money. Today we welcome author Jennifer Risher onto the show to share her insights on living with wealth. Early in the episode, we explore how Jennifer and her husband 'hit the lottery twice' by being given sto...

Today's episode doesn't have an external guest, but Benjamin and Cameron provide fascinating information on a vast range of topics. First, the discussion centers around the book that Cameron is currently reading and what it is teaching him about social networks, the ego-driven world of social media, and the benefits of anonymity online. The hosts share some of the findings from a very insightful d...

Technology has made our lives easier but it has also fragmented our leisure time, creating a near-universal feeling that we have too much to do and not enough time to do it. Today we speak with Harvard Business School Assistant Professor Ashley Whillans about how our views of money and experience of time poverty impact our sense of well-being. We open our conversation by exploring the idea of time...

While there is no way of knowing what the best portfolio is, empirical data and financial economics have fixed the problems surrounding investing. But if we've fixed investing, then what's the point of financial advisors? Today we dive into this topic and reveal why financial advice is still valuable to the everyday investor. We open the episode by touching on our movies and books for the week, as...

How do your perceptions of time influence your long-term decision-making and financial well-being? Today we speak with psychologist and UCLA Associate Professor Hal Hershfield to answer this abstract question. We open our conversation with Hal by exploring the concept of well-being. After chatting about the factors that impact financial well-being, Hal unpacks the balancing act that's required to...

Where do stock returns actually come from? The answers to this deceptively simple question might change your investing perspective. We dive into this foundational investing topic after sharing community updates and chatting about our books and TV series of the week. A key concept in understanding where returns come from, we unpack how stock returns are impacted when companies migrate across size a...

We've previously compared IPOs to lotteries that are prone to inflated valuations and low returns. Today we welcome "Mr. IPO," Professor Jay Ritter onto the show for a deeper dive into IPO performance, for his insights into SPACs, and to hear his research into why economic growth doesn't correlate with stock returns. Early in the episode, Jay unpacks how long-term IPO returns perform against first...

How we model our expected returns hugely impacts our financial decision-making, with poor models leading us to retire either too early or too late. Today's episode is a deep dive into two topics: how we model expected returns and how fixed income bonds fit into your portfolio allocation. We open the show by talking about the books and news of the week before unpacking the relationship between bond...

Today's extensive conversation with David Blanchett covers nearly all aspects of retirement planning. As the Head of Retirement Research for Morningstar, David has published extensively on the topic and speaks energetically about how you can best manage your retirement wealth. After a brief digression on Kentucky's Bourbon Chase Relay, we open the episode by discussing how an increase in your pre-...