All Questions, No Dumb Ones

Talking Real Money - Investing Talk

Don McDonald

Business, Education, Investing, How To

4.2 • 680 Ratings

🗓️ 1 May 2025

⏱️ 21 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

Don records this Q&A episode a bit early—right before heart surgery—to make sure listeners don’t miss their Friday dose. He kicks off with a listener confused by a boilerplate $50 foreign stock fee warning on a Fidelity Zero fund (spoiler: it doesn’t apply). Another caller is teetering on the edge of retirement viability with $500K, pensions, and Social Security—Don offers honest thoughts on withdrawal flexibility and why waiting on SSI might be wise. Then comes a takedown of Wealthfront’s direct indexing for small investors (aka “gimmickry”), a nuanced answer about annuitizing a pension vs. taking the lump sum, and finally, a nearly microscopic comparison of IXUS vs. VEU for international exposure. Birds chirp, bells ring, and Don reminds everyone that free help is just a click away 0:05 Early episode recording—Don preps for heart surgery2:07 Fidelity Zero fund confusion over $50 foreign stock disclosure5:40 Can I retire with $500K, two pensions, and a 60/40 Roth portfolio?9:07 Is Wealthfront’s direct indexing portfolio worth it at $20K?12:46 Should I annuitize my pension or take the lump sum?15:30 IXUS vs. VEU for international diversification—does it matter? Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Transcript

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0:00.0	Rated T for Teen.
0:01.7	Each year, thousands of adults lose their shred.
0:05.1	It's an epidemic simply known as shred loss, but it doesn't have to be this way.
0:09.2	Because rekindling your shred is as easy as playing the new Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 3 and 4.
0:13.8	With new parks, cross-platform multiplayer, and sick new game modes,
0:18.9	we can put an end to shred loss everywhere. Hit the new
0:22.6	Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 3 and 4 and show the world that the shred's not dead. Pre-order Tony
0:27.1	Hawks Pro Skater 3 and 4 and play the foundry demo.
0:34.9	Reality Radio for a really great future.
0:37.9	We're talking real money.
0:40.1	Boy, it doesn't take any time at all to get through a week, does it?
0:42.9	Whiz, it seems like I just recorded the past Q&A episode.
0:47.9	Because actually, I just did a couple of days ago.
0:51.5	I'm recording this one a little early because I need to get it done and into the compliance people
0:57.3	and up on the web so that you can listen to it while I'm laying in a hospital bed somewhere
1:03.7	recovering from a surgical procedure.
1:08.0	I'm getting an ablation done on my heart because I inherited a rhythm problem.
1:18.2	I don't have, you know, I do have, I have too much rhythm. That's my problem. So I'm getting
1:24.1	that done. And so that's my Friday. That's how my Friday is going.
1:29.1	This way I can pre-publish the podcast.
1:34.6	I won't have the email sent to you until later, but I can have the podcast ready so that you guys on Friday, even though I'm not here, you can listen.
1:43.6	So it's Q&A day.
	...

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