An Economist Walks Into a Brothel (with Allison Schrager)

Allison Schrager is an economist who's studied negotiation, diversification, and also, the topic we'll discuss in today's episode, risk. She'll explain risk using a lens that we haven't seen someone use before...the eyes and actions of legal sex workers. To illustrate how people think about risk, she visited brothels, horse breeders, and, among others, poker players. We'll discuss the many ways we miscalculate risk, how to make better decisions, and what happens when we evaluate the wrong types of risk. And in our headlines segment, we'll call up Madeline Hume from Morningstar. They've completed a report on the state of 529 college savings plans nationally, and Joe and Madeline will dive into the data. We'll talk ab out the latest innovations in plans, plus shine a spotlight on some of the best and worst states to invest your hard-earned college money. Plus, we'll look at one piece describing a shakeup in the online financial planning community that could spell trouble for industry leader Vanguard. In our Haven Life Line segment, we'll throw out the line to Jason, who has some questions for OG about risk parity. Would something like a a 50/50 split between stocks and long-term treasuries a good idea? What are the possible downsides? After we spend some time giving advice to Jason we'll tear open Chris's letter, who has some social security questions. Considering the investments and pensions Chris and his wife already have on the table, would it make more sense to defer taking social security? We'll give our thoughts, but if you're looking for a more in depth conversation about social security you can check our our previous interview with Philip Moeller and Paul Solman. Thanks to Skillshare for supporting Stacking Benjamins. Get TWO months of courses for free at Skillshare.com/SB. Thanks to Simple Contacts for supporting Stacking Benjamins. Save $20 on your first Simple Contacts order at http://www.simplecontacts.com/sb and use promo code: sb.