College Pays

Talking Real Money - Investing Talk

Don McDonald

Education, Business, Investing, How To

4.5 • 811 Ratings

🗓️ 30 March 2026

⏱️ 29 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

This episode mixes studio banter with a surprisingly substantive look at education and investing trade-offs. Don and Tom walk through data on the lowest-paying college majors, highlighting that many bachelor’s degrees—especially in education and the arts—start and stay low in income unless paired with advanced study. They push back on the idea that college isn’t worth it, citing Federal Reserve data showing higher lifetime earnings, better job stability, and longer life expectancy for graduates, while emphasizing the real danger: taking on large debt for low-paying fields. Listener questions cover Roth conversions (worth considering carefully within tax brackets), why 529 plans still beat so-called “Trump accounts,” and the flaws in covered-call income ETFs like JEPI—ultimately reinforcing their core philosophy: ignore gimmicks, focus on total return, and keep investing simple. 0:04 Almost-live intro from “studio” (aka broom closet) and end of radio era 2:10 Lowest-paying college majors and why outcomes vary 3:23 Pharmacy (without grad school) and theology incomes 4:22 Social services, performing arts, and education pay realities 5:42 Liberal arts debate—value vs. earning potential 7:42 Biology, hospitality, psychology, and other $45K careers 9:22 Should you skip college? ROI vs. cost and debt 10:44 Federal Reserve data on college ROI and lifetime earnings 11:48 Job stability, longevity, and socioeconomic effects of degrees 12:42 Mid-career earnings—education still lags badly 14:32 The real issue: debt vs. income mismatch 16:45 Roth conversion question—when it might (and might not) make sense 19:21 529 plans vs. “Trump accounts” for kids’ savings 20:59 Covered call ETFs (JEPI, etc.) and income strategy pitfalls 22:06 Why income-focused funds don’t reduce risk 23:07 Expense drag and hidden costs in “income” ETFs 24:14 Gimmick investing vs. simple total return strategy 25:43 Bellevue weather, Lyft misadventure, and wrap-up Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Transcript

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0:00.0	Reality Radio for a really great future.
0:08.0	We're talking real money.
0:10.2	Ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls, welcome to another exciting edition of the Talking Real Money podcast.
0:15.7	By the way, this one, this one comes to you almost live, but not really, from the Appella Wealth
0:23.5	studios in Bellevue, Washington. Oh, wait, studios. This is about a studio. A hundred foot,
0:31.0	square foot of something. Is this even a hundred? I don't, probably less. I don't think it's a hundred.
0:35.8	Last time you and I were this close, well, we probably shouldn't talk about that. This is about prison cell size. So it's very similar to where we were. Except you had yours on one side. I had mine. Anyway, so yeah, it's very tight. Just, I just want to make it real clear that we joke once in a while. No, we have never served time in prison. Never convicted. That's the proper term. Honest to God, we're not lovers. I know that when I say to people, yeah, oh, I was talking to my partner, they go, oh, you have one of those partners. No, I don't. Well, I do, but it's Debbie. It's not Tom. I have a partner named Don and another partner named Don.
1:14.0	It's kind of a weird situation if you're really thinking through.
1:17.2	I think I probably blew up the headphones with the laugh.
1:22.0	By the way, the two Dons in my life have never seen The Dawn.
1:26.5	That's the thing I have fascinating. And I, and you made me get up again
1:30.3	early this morning to come in. I wanted to just sleep in. I'm sorry. You get the rest of the week
1:36.0	anyway, welcome to the Talking Real Money podcast, quickly becoming all podcast all the time,
1:42.1	because we're, we're killing off the radio show.
1:44.6	We've killed off the radio show.
1:46.1	I think by now we probably killed it off.
1:48.5	But we're still here to talk about important money stuff.
1:51.8	And usually we talk about investing, planning for retirement.
1:56.4	But every now and again, we try to talk about things that affect people who aren't getting ready to retire,
2:02.8	who are really just getting out into the workforce, like your kids or your grandkids.
2:07.9	And while liberal arts graduates will argue with me...
2:14.9	And they will.
	...

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