Ep. 1986: Six Questions, Straight Answers
Six listener questions drive this Friday edition, starting with whether a pre-retirement car purchase belongs on a 401(k) withdrawal. Don ex...
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Talking Real Money - Investing Talk
34-year financial talk radio veteran, Don McDonald and former host of Serious Money on PBS, Tom Cock, join forces to talk about real money issues. In each episode, they solve real money prob...
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Ep. 1985: The Just-Right Path
Retirement planning gets dangerous when people drift toward either extreme. Don and Tom unpack a survey in which savers wildly overestimate...
Ep. 1984: Before the Bear Arrives
Winter comes for markets, too. Don and Tom ask the useful question before the next bear market arrives: will your portfolio—and your nerves—...
Ep. 1983: Coast FI’s Missing Passengers
Coast FI promises that if you save enough early, your retirement money can coast the rest of the way. Don and Tom run the numbers and find t...
Ep. 1982: The Price of Excitement
Exciting investments often arrive wrapped in a great story—and hide a much bigger risk. Don and Tom revisit Financial Physics Rule 10, expla...
Ep. 1981: Money Questions, Sorted
Friday’s listener questions cover the kind of decisions that sound simple until the details arrive. Don weighs the ease of Vanguard’s total...
Ep. 1980: Don’t Crack the Nest Egg
Americans’ 401(k) balances are hitting records—but nearly one in five workers has an outstanding plan loan. Don and Tom explain why a proper...
Ep. 1979: Bonds Help You Sleep
Bond prices are falling as long-term rates rise, but that doesn't mean bonds have failed. Don and Tom explain why bond prices and yields mov...
Ep. 1978: Garbage In, Money Out
Financial advice is everywhere, but useful investing guidance is strangely hard to find. Don and Tom sort through the stock-picking headline...
Ep. 1977: The Confusion-to-Risk Ratio
If an investment takes longer than a minute to explain, the confusion may be doing the selling. Don and Tom examine the confusion-to-risk ra...
Ep. 1976: Questions Behind the Numbers
Retirement questions rarely have one-number answers. Don works through a couple’s ambitious retirement goal after a late start, a new retire...
Ep. 1975: Put the Brakes on Buy Now
The best portfolio cannot help much if every spare dollar disappears at checkout. Don and Tom debate practical ways to slow impulse purchase...
Ep. 1974: Who Watches the Insurers?
Who is looking out for insurance customers—and who is paying the people who set the standards? Don and Tom examine insurance-industry incent...
Ep. 1973: One Size Fits Nobody
Target-date funds promise a simple glide path from growth to safety—but people with the same retirement date can have completely different n...
Ep. 1972: Your Questions, No Detours
Should retirement spending pass through a Roth? Can a nonprofit offer a 401(k) with ETFs? Does active management really win overseas? Don wo...
Ep. 1971: Trust, But Verify
A CFP mark reflects meaningful education, but it does not guarantee clean disciplinary history, fee-only advice, or an unwavering fiduciary...
Ep. 1970: The 11% Trapdoor
An 11.15% coupon sounds irresistible—until you read the trapdoors. Don and Tom unpack a listener’s BNP Paribas auto-callable structured note...
Stay Calm
Dimensional Fund Advisors founder David Booth joins Don and Tom to explain why better investing begins with accepting uncertainty instead of...
No Reward Without Risk
Risk and reward are inseparable, even when an investment pitch makes the danger hard to see. Don and Tom explain why higher expected returns...
Find the Robot
It’s Friday Q&A—with a small experiment. Don slips one AI-generated voice among the listener questions and challenges you to identify the ro...