Episode Details

0:43 Don and Tom turn up the heat on factor investing: why small, value, and profitable companies have historically earned higher returns, why tracking error can be brutal, and why a modest tilt may be easier to live with than a portfolio built entirely around factors.

12:20 A listener’s 457(b) includes a non-U.S. value fund holding roughly 45% cash. The hosts explain why that unusually high cash position, active management, and higher expenses make the simpler international index option more appealing.

17:47 Should a bond mutual fund inside an IRA be converted to its new ETF version? Then at 20:49, they weigh Schwab’s stock-lending program, including income potential, collateral, taxes, and the small but real tail risk when markets seize up.

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