Brokers and Models

Talking Real Money - Investing Talk

Don McDonald

Business, Education, Investing, How To

4.2 • 680 Ratings

🗓️ 7 July 2025

⏱️ 37 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

Is your portfolio built by a broker or a model? Don and Tom break down the surprisingly persistent patterns of old-school broker portfolios—loaded with local stocks, overpriced “index” funds, and actively managed everything—versus the growing adoption of model portfolios based on actual research (not just a hunch and a handshake). Along the way, they torch high-fee index fund imposters, answer smart listener questions on global diversification, CD ladders, tax traps in variable annuities, and even debate whether a Japanese WWII bomber should really be called “Jill.” Oh, and Tom reads a brutal Apple Podcast review… and takes it like a champ. 0:04 Dumb money habits and the rise of model portfolios 1:23 Bellevue vs Florida weather showdown 2:34 Classic broker-built portfolio ingredients 3:55 Sprinkling in overpriced “index” funds 5:50 What a model portfolio is (and isn’t) 6:53 Structure vs speculation: why models matter 8:31 Global diversification as a simple model 9:18 The difference between advice and product-pushing 10:24 When “index” doesn’t mean cheap: top offender list 11:55 The 2.33% RIDEX fund shame parade 13:02 The Jill bomber sidetrack takes flight 13:54 Listener Laura’s AVDE allocation dilemma 15:40 Two-fund model: Avantis U.S. + international 17:00 Logistical pronunciation issues and Bolden software 18:42 Rate assumptions for planning software 19:35 Tom’s humor gets roasted in a 5-star review 20:52 Listener Carol’s CD ladder tax question 22:38 Timing vs safety: the truth about “dry powder” 24:36 Mitchell’s $550K variable annuity dilemma 26:10 Why annuity gains aren’t capital gains 27:01 Low-cost annuity, but still no step-up 28:11 The opaque, intentionally confusing nature of insurance 29:41 Scheduling complaints and Don’s one-day-off fantasy 32:12 Programming note: no podcast on market holidays 34:04 Calls, questions, and Jill Bomber sign-off chaos Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Transcript

Click on a timestamp to play from that location

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.
0:25.6	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.
0:40.2	This may be an exercise in futility.
0:42.9	Okay, it probably is an exercise in futility.
0:46.9	But one of our goals here on Talking Real Money, the podcast,
0:51.2	is to get you to give up some of your mistaken methods of managing money.
1:01.0	That was about as alliterative as I can get in the morning. Wow. Because we do a lot of dumb
1:08.1	stuff. And one of the dumb stuff we do is we go to a broker, for example.
1:12.9	We go to our, well, they call themselves semi- fiduciary financial advisors or whatever
1:18.5	they call themselves.
1:19.3	And we ask them to help us make a portfolio.
1:22.2	Well, there's another way to do it, but is it better?
1:24.6	We're going to talk about the difference between your broker-built
1:27.8	portfolio and your model portfolios, modeled after what? Military aircraft? I know which plane I'd pick.
	...

Transcript will be available on the free plan in 19 days. Upgrade to see the full transcript now.

Previous episode | Next episode

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

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