Churn, fees, spreads, taxes, cash drag, and even your own panicky mind. None of these feel

dramatic in the moment, but over decades they're the difference between retiring at 60 with a glass

of wine on the porch and retiring at 75 with a glass of warm prune juice in the cafeteria.

Hello, friends. This is Tyler Gardner, welcoming you to another episode of your

Money Guide on the Side, where it is my job to simplify what seems complex, add nuance to what

seems simple, and learn from and alongside some of the brightest minds in money, finance,

and investing. So let's get started and get you one step closer to where you need to be.

You know those crime shows where the detective walks through the house and points out that the

burglars didn't just take the television? They also siphoned the gas out of the car, borrowed the dog, and left the fridge just slightly

ajar.

Well, that's basically Wall Street with your retirement account.

They're not always robbing you blind, and yes, there are plenty of people out there who

are providing you

with a great service of helping you understand what you're doing with your money, et cetera,

et cetera. But or and you need to know how all of these services work, how retail investing works,

how asset management works, and how sometimes even the most noble of people

who are helping you make decisions about your money, are, to follow the crime metaphor above,

just leaving a couple faucets dripping, little leaks that don't seem like much until the water bill arrives,

and you realize you could have funded a trip to New Zealand with what just went down the drain,

and all, genuinely, because you simply didn't know it was happening. So, my goal in this episode is not to condemn any fee or service or product,

but rather to, as per usual, make you aware and educate as many as possible about where and how

you could be losing money to tiny fees each year.

...