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Talking Real Money - Investing Talk

Asking Away

Talking Real Money - Investing Talk

Don McDonald

Education, Business, Investing, How To

4.5811 Ratings

🗓️ 27 March 2026

⏱️ 23 minutes

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

A lively Friday Q&A kicks off with some unintended voice effects courtesy of Don’s grandkids before diving into listener questions on money market funds versus high-yield savings accounts, Roth vs. traditional 401(k) decisions in high tax brackets, expense ratios in fund-of-funds like Avantis ETFs, the limited value of international bonds, the reality behind indexed annuity caps, and whether investors should ever move beyond simple one-fund portfolios. The throughline: keep it simple, understand risk vs. safety, and don’t overestimate your ability to outsmart well-constructed investment strategies. 0:04 Grandkids + Rodecaster voice effects open 1:55 HYSA vs. Schwab money market funds (SWVXX, Treasury MMFs) 3:54 Risk spectrum: prime vs. government money markets 5:35 Why some online banks are ditching ACH transfers 6:54 Roth vs. traditional 401(k) in a high tax bracket 8:11 Blended strategy and tax flexibility over time 10:21 AVGV expense ratio—are fees stacked? 10:47 Fund-of-funds pricing explained (no double dipping) 11:41 International bonds: worth it or unnecessary complexity? 13:22 Indexed annuity caps—can they go up? (the reality) 15:33 Why indexed annuities remain opaque and costly 16:08 One-fund portfolios vs. DIY allocation thresholds 17:42 Why simplicity often beats customization 18:47 Don’s own one-fund 401(k) approach 19:32 Plug: Short Storyverses podcasts 20:06 Plug: Financial Fysics Kindle release Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Transcript

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0:00.0

Jamie Lang and Sophie Haboo have arrived on Disney Plus.

0:04.0

We're having a baby.

0:06.0

We're having a baby.

0:07.0

I've always wanted to be mom.

0:09.0

And we're bringing you on our journey through everything.

0:12.0

I have no idea what we're doing.

0:13.0

Thank you. I have more of an idea.

0:15.0

I think of it like a Tamagotchi.

0:17.0

At the end of all of this...

0:20.0

We're going to have a little baby.

0:21.6

Raising Chelsea, a Hulu original series streaming April 2nd exclusively on Disney Plus.

0:27.2

18 plus subscription required T's and T supply.

0:34.9

Reality Radio for a really great future.

0:38.0

We're talking real money.

0:40.9

All right.

0:41.7

This is going to sound really strange.

0:45.3

But this is how my roadcaster was set up for the beginning of the program.

0:53.9

I'll take that off for a second.

0:56.7

You see, yesterday my grandkids were here,

0:58.8

and they think my studio is the coolest thing ever.

1:02.6

And they discovered that my Roadcaster Pro actually does voice effects.

1:08.1

So the two of them, five and seven years old, were just entertaining the hack

...

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