Surprising Win

Talking Real Money - Investing Talk

Don McDonald

Education, Business, Investing, How To

4.5 • 811 Ratings

🗓️ 22 October 2025

⏱️ 41 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Don and Tom dive into common misconceptions about what’s really been the top-performing asset class over the past five years—spoiler: it’s not the S&P 500. They compare U.S. large-cap growth with international small-cap value, using Larry Swedroe’s data to highlight the importance of global diversification. Listeners call in about estate planning, withdrawal rates in retirement, and portfolio construction. The hosts explain community property rules, flexible withdrawal strategies backed by research, and which small-cap value ETFs they prefer. The episode closes with a reality check on Bitcoin’s latest crash, revisiting Mark Hulbert’s warning that crypto isn’t an asset class but a risky “thingy.” 0:04 Opening banter on the show’s long Seattle run and mission to simplify money. 2:08 The S&P 500 obsession—why investors overweight large U.S. growth stocks. 3:23 Larry Swedroe’s quiz: best-performing asset class 2019–2025 (hint: it’s not U.S. large growth). 4:07 Dimensional International Small Cap Value Fund (DISVX) vs. S&P 500 Growth (VOOG). 5:20 Why diversification and global exposure matter long-term. 6:20 Break: “Financial Flinch Reflex” PSA. 7:42 Diversification means holding assets that sometimes disappoint you. 8:33 Don’s marriage analogy and listener call-in from Baltimore about trusts. 10:15 Estate simplicity, beneficiary designations, and when trusts are unnecessary. 11:55 The danger of “trust mills” and the value of family transparency. 14:40 Community property vs. joint tenancy—Washington’s unique tax advantage. 16:36 Call from Michael: flexible vs. fixed withdrawal rates in retirement. 17:29 Why a 5% flexible withdrawal often beats the classic 4% rule. 20:19 Research roundup: Kitsis, Vanguard, Morningstar confirm flexible success rates. 23:09 Listener from Tennessee asks about capital-gains exclusions. 25:44 Chris from Seattle: using target-date funds to fix a “hodge-podge” portfolio. 27:24 Adding small-cap value (AVUV) to target-date funds for tilt and simplicity. 28:34 Listener from New Hampshire asks which planning software Appella Wealth uses. 30:06 Call from Sam: best small-cap value ETF options (AVUV vs. VBR). 33:21 Risk, volatility, and why small-cap value offers higher expected returns. 35:47 Mark Hulbert on crypto’s crash—bigger than 1929 by percentage. 36:54 Why hype, not utility, drives crypto coverage. 38:36 Final takeaway: investors remain too U.S.-centric; diversify globally. 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.
0:07.9	We're talking real money.
0:10.3	Well, for pretty much every Saturday for eons, it feels like anyway, Tom and I have been
0:18.6	hanging out here with you on the radio in Seattle on the station that is now known as Northwest News Radio.
0:27.2	You know it by another name, but everybody still probably calls it the other name.
0:31.5	I think they do.
0:32.5	It's not that other name, so we're not going to call it that.
0:35.8	But we're here, and we've been here for a long time to try to do one thing well.
0:42.7	Get you to a better financial place in the future.
0:48.8	Trying to help you avoid getting ripped off, save better, spend better, invest better, and deal with money in a sane,
1:00.5	simple fashion, because it really doesn't have to be as hard as it seems to be.
1:05.7	So to do that, we share information with you on every show.
1:10.9	We also, though, want to take your questions that you can call us with on Saturdays.
1:17.2	It's the only day of the week you can call us live.
1:19.2	The number is 855-935-8255, which spells talk.
1:25.4	T-A-L-K talk with us.
1:27.2	I'm Don. That's tom in the model military airplane museum
1:31.9	you forgot the modern part no it's not modern no it's the modern military no it's the model
1:37.5	military aircraft museum because they're well some of those planes they're in do you see some of those planes? They're from like World War II?
1:45.7	Yeah.
1:46.0	Those aren't modern.
1:47.6	Okay.
	...

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