Finerate

What is going on in the stock market? Before diving into the topic, Anastasia provides news updates relating to topics discussed in previous episodes: The Rise of GameStop (GME) Stock, Investing in Common Stock Part Two, and How to Pay for College. Bill and Anastasia then discuss inflation concerns, what the autumnal dip is and why it happens, the effects of crypto trading on the markets and how much we should pay attention to China. Bill provides some very important long-term prospective for investors and Anastasia brings up a conversation she had while getting scuba-certified.

For questions and comments, you can email us at [email protected].

How can you fund attending college in the U.S.? Bill and Anastasia first discuss reasons why an individual should attend college and when they shouldn't, before launching into a discussion of the various ways you can save or pay for college if you are a U.S. citizen. How does FAFSA work? What type of student loans are available? How and when should you begin saving for a child's or grandchild's college education? Bill discusses how he set the expectation early for his children to attend college and Anastasia mentions a controversy in a recent episode of a (guilty pleasure) reality TV show.

For questions and comments, you can email us at [email protected].

Is investing the same as gambling? Bill and Anastasia dive into a topic that has come up in separate conversations with millennials about cryptocurrency trading. They start by defining investing, gambling, and speculating, then launch into a discussion of casino gambling, sports betting, why people may conflate investing with gambling, and why the rise of Bitcoin seems to be affecting how millennials view the stock market. Anastasia discusses risk tolerance and the importance of beating inflation. Bill provides long-term perspective on speculative bubbles and his thoughts on the bull market we've been living in since 2009.

For more information:

-If you have not listened to Creating Wealth's two-parter on Cryptocurrency Explained or Risk Tolerance, these make good companion episodes to this one.

-Bill also highly recommends two books: Reminiscences of a Stock Operator by Edwin Lefevre and Extraordinary Popular Delusions and Madness of Crowds by Charles Mackay.

For questions and comments, you can email us at [email protected].

What are the common financial concerns of those in their 60s and 70s? Bill and Anastasia tackle the third and final life stage to discuss common questions that individuals ask before, during, or after retirement. How should you balance your portfolio in this life stage? How do you receive Social Security benefits - do you have to register for it? As your health expenses typically increase in this age, how much can you expect Medicare to cover? When should I consider selling my house and downsizing to a smaller space, or moving to a retirement home? How should I plan to assist children or grandchildren with expenses (education, weddings, etc)? And the question on everyone's minds: When do you have enough money to retire?

If you haven't yet, be sure to check out our previous two related episodes, Financial Challenges of Your 20s and 30s and Financial Challenges of Your 40s and 50s. For questions and comments, you can email us at [email protected].

What are the common financial concerns of those in their 40s and 50s? Bill and Anastasia tackle the second of three life stages to discuss common questions that individuals ask in the middle of adulthood, sometimes called "The Sandwich Generation." How do you balance a family budget of food, utilities, travel, child care costs, assisting any aging family members, etc? How might you manage moving to a bigger home or more desirable school district? What should you be doing at this stage to prepare for retirement? When should you start preparing for end-of-life care and when should you update your will or estate plan? Bill and Anastasia swap stories of mediocre supervisors. Anastasia attempts to explain the purpose of pet insurance to Bill.

If you haven't yet, be sure to check out our previous episode, Financial Challenges of Your 20s and 30s. For questions and comments, you can email us at [email protected].

What are the common financial concerns of those in their 20s and 30s? Bill and Anastasia tackle the first of three life stages to discuss common questions that individuals ask at the beginning of adulthood. When should you start saving for retirement? When you get married, how do you merge financial assets? If you have kids, how should you start funding their education? When should you write a will? In a callback to the previous episode, how important is it in terms of wealth creation to buy a home and stop renting? Bill counsels on how to avoid a mid-life crisis and Anastasia jokes about what happens when paying the restaurant bill.

For questions and comments, you can email us at [email protected].

How do you buy a home and how do you know when you are ready to do so? What matters more - your credit score or the amount of money you have saved up? Should you base any decisions on macroeconomic trends--for example, wait to buy in an overheated market? Anastasia and Bill discuss housing ratios to determine what you can afford, what contingencies are and what you might use them for, and how much you should leave in your bank account when all is said and done. Anastasia bought a house during the pandemic so breaks down the process for anyone wondering how she went about it.

For questions and comments, you can email us at [email protected].

In the last few years, cryptocurrency has become a full blown phenomenon. In Part Two, Bill and Anastasia discuss listeners' questions on the tax ramifications and liquidity of cryptocurrencies, and where they see cryptocurrency going from here. Stay tuned: Anastasia makes an important announcement near the end of their discussion.

Since this is a two-part episode, be sure to check out Part One first if you haven't listened to it yet.

For questions and comments, you can email [email protected].

In the last few years, cryptocurrency has become a full-blown phenomenon. Bill and Anastasia discuss Bitcoin and what makes people so excited, and concerned, about cryptocurrencies. Bill answers what makes cryptocurrency valuable and why it's different from any financial product he's ever seen before in his 42 year career.

There was so much to cover that we had to split the episode. Part Two will come out in two weeks.

For questions and comments, you can email us at [email protected].

What is the difference between income and wealth, and why is it fundamental to understanding wealth creation? What do people get wrong by focusing on income instead of wealth? Bill talks about the importance of building wealth for retirement and reiterates a formula introduced in the Season One episode "Spending Control" for determining how much your net worth should be by age, how to find out what you will receive in Social Security in retirement, and how much you will need in order to retire. Bill shares an example from his career of what can happen when you aren't focused on wealth and Anastasia finds a way to talk about Gilmore Girls again.

For questions and comments, you can email us at [email protected]. Be sure to send us questions for our upcoming episode on cryptocurrencies.