Podcast Episodes
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Extra Qs
A year-end Boxing Day Q&A covering realistic downside expectations for global portfolios, the marginal value of adding international small-cap value, details for RetireMeet 2026, and a deeply skeptic…
Published on 10 hours ago
Market Value?
It’s surprisingly hard to know what something is really worth until someone actually tries to buy it—and that problem is front and center in private funds. Don and Tom unpack why private equity, priv…
Published on 2 days, 12 hours ago
Sucker's Rebellion
A Wall Street Journal column argues that younger investors are turning to options, crypto, and betting as a rational response to a “rigged” economic system. Don and Tom aren’t buying it. While acknow…
Published on 3 days, 11 hours ago
Money Suckers
Streaming was supposed to save us money. Instead, it quietly rebuilt cable… with better branding and worse self-control. Don and Tom trace the journey from rabbit-ear TV to today’s subscription spraw…
Published on 4 days, 11 hours ago
More Holiday Q&A
In this holiday Friday Q&A, Don opens with a festive announcement about Season’s Readings—now Apple-featured and temporarily commercial-free—before diving into listener questions on fixed annuities v…
Published on 1 week ago
The Upside of Down
Market drops are a gift when you’re young and a potential gut-punch when you’re retired, and this episode walks through why that’s true—and what to do about it. Don and Tom break down sequence-of-ret…
Published on 1 week, 1 day ago
Easy Money Isn't...
This episode of Talking Real Money takes aim at the latest “easy money” illusion—house flipping—explaining why rising costs, higher interest rates, softer housing demand, and plain old competition ha…
Published on 1 week, 2 days ago
Investing Reality Check
A classic TRM episode that starts with Tom’s ill-fated attempt to cross a flooded Snoqualmie River (spoiler: no walking on water) and turns into a timely lesson on market returns, diversification, an…
Published on 1 week, 3 days ago
Retirement Reality Check
If you’re nearing retirement and uneasy about the math, you’re not alone. Don and Tom tackle the uncomfortable reality that most near-retirees haven’t actually run the numbers—and many won’t like wha…
Published on 1 week, 4 days ago
Santa's Little As
A holiday-flavored Friday Q&A that covers a lot of ground without selling a single candy cane. Don answers listener questions on Medicare vs. Medicare Advantage (and the IRMAA buzzsaw), how to safely…
Published on 2 weeks ago