A Couple’s Financial Manifesto, Revisited

Motley Fool Hidden Gems Investing

The Motley Fool

Investing, Business

4.3 • 3.1K Ratings

🗓️ 14 February 2026

⏱️ 20 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

It’s Valentine’s Day, and there’s nothing more romantic than talking about money with your partner. Well, maybe not. But it is important because studies show that financial acrimony can lead to marital disharmony. Soon after they got married, Motley Fool Money host Robert Brokamp and his wife, Elizabeth, wrote what they called their financial manifesto – an agreement about how they’d manage money as a couple. Twenty-six years and four kids later, Robert and Elizabeth discuss what was in it, what worked, and what didn't.Also in this episode:-The dowdy Dow has its day, crossing 50,000 and beating the S&P 500 and the Nasdaq over the past few months-The job market is giving mixed signals, with the unemployment rate dropping – but so are job openings-The CBO projects that Uncle Sam’s debt-to-GDP ratio will exceed its all-time high over the coming years-Send us your tips, tricks, and recommendations for monitoring your finances and maintaining money harmony as a coupleHost: Robert BrokampGuest: Elizabeth BrokampEngineer: Bart Shannon Disclosure: Advertisements are sponsored content and provided for informational purposes only. The Motley Fool and its affiliates (collectively, “TMF”) do not endorse, recommend, or verify the accuracy or completeness of the statements made within advertisements. TMF is not involved in the offer, sale, or solicitation of any securities advertised herein and makes no representations regarding the suitability, or risks associated with any investment opportunity presented. Investors should conduct their own due diligence and consult with legal, tax, and financial advisors before making any investment decisions. TMF assumes no responsibility for any losses or damages arising from this advertisement.We’re committed to transparency: All personal opinions in advertisements from Fools are their own. The product advertised in this episode was loaned to TMF and was returned after a test period or the product advertised in this episode was purchased by TMF. Advertiser has paid for the sponsorship of this episode.Learn more about your ad choices. Visit ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠megaphone.fm/adchoices Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Transcript

Click on a timestamp to play from that location

0:00.0	A couple's financial manifesto revisited, and the Dowdy Dow has its day.
0:09.3	You're listening to the Saturday Valentine's Day, personal finance edition of Motleyful
0:14.0	Money.
0:19.0	I'm Robert Brokamp, and this episode I'm going to do something I've never done over my 14 years of podcasting.
0:26.9	I'm going to have my wife on as a guest as we look back on a plan for how we'd manage our finances that we wrote together 26 years ago.
0:34.8	But first, let's discuss some items from recent headlines.
0:39.2	On February 6th, the Dow Jones Industrial Industrial average crossed 50,000 for the first time after crossing 40,000 less than two years ago.
0:44.9	Plus, as pointed out in a recent Wall Street Journal article, it has been the index to beat
0:49.4	over the past few months. Since Halloween, the Dow has returned 5.9% compared to 1.8% for the S.O. 500 and a loss of
0:57.3	2.6% for the NASDAQ. The Dow, which was called the Old Man Index by a 30-year-old investor
1:03.4	quoted in the journal article, has benefited from a lower allocation to the recently lagging
1:08.0	tech sector and higher allocations to surging sectors like industrials,
1:11.6	materials, and energy.
1:13.6	It is admittedly a quirky index, waiting its 30 holdings according to each company's stock price
1:18.6	instead of their market capitalizations.
1:20.6	Currently, the top holdings are Goldman Sachs at 12%, Caterpillar at 9%, and then Microsoft, Home Depot, Amgen, Sherwin Williams,
1:28.8	and American Express each come in at around 5%. That makes for a diversified mix of holdings that,
1:34.8	at least currently, is working out pretty well. Next up, mixed signals from the job market.
1:40.8	Let's start with the good news. On February 11th, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics
1:44.4	announced that non-farm payrolls increased by $130,000 for January, more than twice the number
1:49.8	economists were expecting, and the unemployment rate dropped to 4.3%. Also, discouraged workers,
1:55.3	and those holding part-time positions for economic reasons declined to 8%. That said,
	...

Please login to see the full transcript.

Previous episode | Next episode

Disclaimer: The podcast and artwork embedded on this page are from The Motley Fool, and are the property of its owner and not affiliated with or endorsed by Tapesearch.

Generated transcripts are the property of The Motley Fool and are distributed freely under the Fair Use doctrine. Transcripts generated by Tapesearch are not guaranteed to be accurate.