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Talking Real Money - Investing Talk

Always Question Season

Talking Real Money - Investing Talk

Don McDonald

Investing, Education, Business, How To

4.5 • 810 Ratings

🗓️ 5 December 2025

⏱️ 25 minutes

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

This Friday Q&A episode tackles a wide range of listener questions: whether someone with full pension income still needs bonds, how to fix a cluttered 403(b) invested through Corebridge, what to make of Bill Bengen’s new comments about higher withdrawal rates, how inherited IRAs are taxed over the 10-year rule, and a quick explanation of the difference between “securities” and “equities.” Along the way, Don delivers a vintage KOA radio tag, explains why simplicity beats complexity in retirement plans, and walks through why 8% withdrawal fantasies collapse under real-world math. 0:04 Friday Q&A intro and listener call-ins 1:19 Do you need bonds when pensions cover all expenses? 3:01 Why fixed income still matters (and how to gauge risk tolerance) 4:33 Listener request: Don recreates a KOA radio tagline 7:29 A messy CoreBridge 403(b): what funds to keep and how simple it can be 11:37 Target-date vs. multi-fund portfolios and a small value tilt option 12:05 Bill Bengen’s new withdrawal rate comments — does 8% make any sense? 14:07 Why high withdrawal rates implode in historical simulations 16:02 Inherited IRA: what’s actually taxed and how to plan distributions 18:35 The bracket danger of big lump-sum withdrawals 19:31 Final question: difference between a security and an equity 21:15 Why music licensing on podcasts is a nightmare Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Transcript

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0:00.0

Think about cheese.

0:02.0

Make your thoughts cheesier.

0:04.2

Now add 100% chicken breast fillet,

0:06.3

Chipotle sauce and Amadea cheese melt.

0:08.3

And it's giving the new cheesy chicken stack at McDonald's.

0:12.3

Did we mention it's cheesy?

0:13.9

Cheese.

0:15.8

Availments with the 4th of Jan, 2026 from 11am.

0:18.1

Plus and participation may vary.

0:19.2

Subjects availability.

0:27.7

Reality Radio for a really great future.

0:29.7

We're talking real money.

0:34.4

Have you ever noticed that every single week it seems like there's another Friday?

0:35.9

Just like that.

0:39.8

Just another Friday. Hi, it's another Friday,

0:46.5

and that means here on Talking Real Money anyway, that means your questions, the ones you spoke, the ones that you used your mic on your phone or your computer to record at Talking realmoney.com on the contact form.

0:56.2

And then every Friday on the podcast, I pull out four, five, six of them, depending on

1:03.1

how many we have and try to give you the best answers I possibly can to your burning money

1:10.3

questions. I'm Don McDonald, by the way,

1:13.1

and I do the Friday podcast most of the time. Sometimes Tom does it with Roxy, but most of the time

1:18.3

it's me. And thanks for listening. I really appreciate it. And please send your questions in at

1:24.0

talking realmoney.com on the contact form and speak them. You can type them to if you really

...

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