The Value of Rethinking

Talking Real Money - Investing Talk

Don McDonald

Education, Investing, Business, How To

4.5 • 811 Ratings

🗓️ 24 July 2025

⏱️ 32 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Don and Tom explore the value of changing your mind in the face of new data—financial and otherwise. Sparked by Christine Benz’s recent Morningstar piece, they reflect on how their own views on DIY investing, target date funds, and even TIPS have evolved over time. Listener questions cover annuity taxes, Bitcoin inflation claims, covered call ETFs, and whether CDs beat bond funds in retirement. Grumpiness levels: elevated but entertaining. 0:04 Flexibility in finance: Why it’s okay to change your mind 1:16 Christine Benz says she’s rethinking the DIY retirement approach 2:48 The underrated value of real financial advice (Vanguard Alpha) 3:51 Why advice matters more in retirement than during accumulation 5:36 All-in-one funds like target date strategies get a new look 6:41 Trick: Adjust your target date fund based on risk tolerance 7:47 Target date glide path flattens at retirement (~50% stock) 8:24 TIPS funds vs. laddering: Christine’s third “meh” shift 9:53 Equities = effective inflation hedge; tips may be redundant 10:29 Don’s personal changes: Target date funds and 4% rule flexibility 12:07 Vanguard survey: Advisors = peace of mind + time savings 13:23 Money and emotion: #1 cause of murder and divorce 14:57 Listener Q: What to do with a low-cost deferred annuity at Fidelity 17:09 Stop obsessing over who pays taxes—spend and enjoy 19:20 Listener Q: Bitcoin vs. dollars—why price comparisons fail 20:07 Bitcoin isn’t a currency. It’s just volatile 20:31 Listener Q: Are JEPI/JEPQ “safe” for dividends? Nope 22:04 Covered call ETFs carry hidden risks and higher costs 23:50 Listener Q: Why use bond funds instead of CDs or money market? 25:03 Bond funds vs. CDs: risk, return, and long-term expectations 27:08 Don’s rant: Stop trying to game the system—good enough is good enough Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Transcript

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0:00.0	Race the rudder, raise the sails, raise the sales!
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0:13.0	Reach sales professionals, not professional sailors.
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0:21.4	To get £100 off your first campaign, go to LinkedIn.com slash lead to claim your credit.
0:26.6	That's LinkedIn.com slash lead. Terms and conditions apply.
0:35.0	Reality radio for a really great future.
0:38.0	We're talking real money.
0:40.7	There's something to be said for flexibility.
0:44.8	You know, we all should have the, as a matter of fact, not just the right to, but we have an obligation as people who, particularly us, give advice on the radio to are on podcasts,
0:57.0	to change our mind as we are presented with new information.
1:01.7	We should not get locked into a position just because we believed it before.
1:07.5	If that was the case, I'd still be telling you to buy individual stocks and overpriced mutual funds at Dean Witter, which doesn't exist anymore.
1:16.5	It's Morgan Stanley.
1:18.0	Or I would be giving advice like I pretty much believed up until 2000, 2001, that people were capable of investing on their own without spending a lot of money
1:31.7	for help.
1:33.1	Well, it's nice.
1:34.9	It's refreshing when somebody can say, I've changed my mind and then give you the reason why
1:40.2	they change their mind.
1:41.3	And the reason we're talking about this is because somebody, we enjoy reading, and we think her material is very good.
1:49.1	Christine Benz and Morningstar basically said, I've changed my mind.
	...

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