Your Brain’s Investing Mistakes

Talking Real Money - Investing Talk

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3d ago 38:10

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Our memories—and sometimes our parents'—shape how we invest, often more than logic or data. Don and Tom break down how generational financial trauma, recent market trends, and asset class myths (like gold and U.S.-only investing) skew our thinking. They call out flawed stock picking contests, revisit the real long-term returns on gold versus stocks, and explain why short-term memory leads to bad long-term decisions. Listener questions hit everything from where to park house savings to bond fund risks, rebalancing strategies, and simplifying retirement saving using the TSP. Oh, and yes, the laundry room podcast myth lives on, and the Fyre Festival somehow still smolders in the background.

0:04 Don and Tom settle into the show—studio quirks, mic levels, and inviting questions
0:52 How memory bias—from the Great Depression to dot-com boom—influences investment behavior
2:07 Family stories from the Depression era and why stock picking games teach the wrong lesson
2:54 Why investors wrongly believe growth stocks always beat value—thanks to recent performance
5:20 Myths about market trends: U.S. dominance, buy-the-dip thinking, and time horizon confusion
7:46 Gold mania: Recent price surge vs. long-term returns—spoiler, stocks win
9:58 Long-term perspective: $10k in 1980—Gold vs. Treasuries vs. Global portfolio
10:28 Listener: Where to park house construction funds short-term—ETFs vs. money markets
13:30 Why those new ultra-short ETFs may be a trap
15:17 Listener: Should I buy callable bonds with 6% yields? And what’s with PIMCO’s “14%”?
17:36 Risks of leveraged bond funds like PDI—why they don’t belong in a stable portfolio
19:46 Listener: How often should I rebalance in a 401(k)?
23:12 Listener in Albuquerque: Should I go all-in on the C Fund for simplicity?
25:39 Roth vs. TSP—what matters more: today’s tax rate or the future’s unknowns?
27:33 Future goals: quarterly travel in retirement and pizza roof update
28:22 Investing in “brands” like Fyre Festival—don’t
32:30 $63 offer for the Fyre trademark, and a plug for free fiduciary advice

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