A Dimensional Mind

Talking Real Money - Investing Talk

Don McDonald

Business, Education, Investing, How To

4.2 • 680 Ratings

🗓️ 19 May 2025

⏱️ 31 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Don and Tom welcome Weston Wellington of Dimensional Funds for a rare and richly insightful conversation covering market volatility, media noise, diversification, and the enduring wisdom of index investing. Weston compares Spam to Motorola, skewers financial hype, and champions simplicity in investing—and yes, he might just sing if you let him. The conversation explores how far the financial industry has evolved (and still has to go), why most investors get in their own way, and whether AI or just good old-fashioned “aggregated intelligence” holds the future of smart money management. 0:04 Don’s surprise “singing telegram” and guest intro0:53 Weston Wellington on volatility and market uncertainty2:47 Why volatility is the “price we pay to play”3:32 The media’s role in investor anxiety4:57 Should investors act on daily financial advice?6:15 Portfolio changes should reflect personal changes, not headlines7:24 Spam vs. Motorola: A lesson in stock picking9:44 Dimensional’s stance on individual stock ownership10:02 Diversification as “the closest thing to a free lunch”11:07 Are alternative investments the new magic bullet?12:43 Mutual funds vs. ETFs—what works best and when15:27 Industry evolution: from 8% loads to indexing dominance18:29 Where Dimensional fits in the modern fund landscape21:01 AI vs. “aggregated intelligence” in managing portfolios24:04 How regular people can find real financial advice25:34 The key to success: Temperament, not timing26:44 Weston’s side gig as a roving birthday singer27:58 Why Weston hasn’t been invited lately (and he's lonely) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Transcript

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0:00.0	Rated T for Teen.
0:02.0	Each year, thousands of adults lose their shred.
0:05.0	It's an epidemic simply known as shred loss, but it doesn't have to be this way.
0:09.0	Because rekindling your shred is as easy as playing the new Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 3 and 4.
0:14.0	With new parks, cross-platform multiplayer, and sick new game modes,
0:19.0	we can put an end to shred loss everywhere.
0:21.6	Hit the new Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 3 and 4 and show the world that the shred's not dead.
0:26.6	Pre-order Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 3 and 4 and play the Foundry demo.
0:33.6	Reality Radio for a really great future.
0:37.9	We're talking real money.
0:40.8	Well, wait, I'm kind of confused.
0:43.3	Tom, there's somebody else in the studio today.
0:47.2	Don't wait, aren't we doing a podcast?
0:49.3	Is this guy, wait, oh, I get it.
0:50.9	This guy's a singing telegram.
0:53.3	You got me a singing, Tom, my birthday's not till June.
0:56.6	You stole my thunder, my best line, but that's okay. Our guest. I know on talking real money.
1:03.2	Is this guy going to sing to me? Not you. And we don't have a lot of guests, as you know, like never, but because he's so distinguished,
1:11.3	he's been around the industry forever and he always has something important to say. He's a vice
1:16.3	president with dimensional funds, a fun family that we have known and worked with for darn near
1:20.7	30 years now and somebody that we've had at retire meet, other places. Weston, Wellington,
1:26.0	thank you for making time out of your trip to Seattle and venturing to
	...

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