Joe DeLisi Financial

By Joe DeLisiBusiness Investing

Joe DeLisi Financial episodes

November 03 Election night isn't an investment strategy
Joe recorded this one the day before the midterms, and he'll be the first to admit he's a political animal. "It's like sports to me," he says. He went to college right outside Washington, D.C., and he watches both sides of the aisle closely.

So it may surprise you how little he thinks the results matter for your portfolio. In his words: "Election night is not an investment strategy."

Joe walks through what he leans on instead. It starts with a written philosophy, one some of his clients can now repeat back to him. He explains why he won't change his for anyone, and what "we will not gamble with your money" looks like in practice. Then he pulls up a few long-run numbers from Ibbotson and Fama-French that he calls "kind of fun to go through," and explains why even the winner on that list isn't where he'd put all your money.

"If I could predict the future, I wouldn't tell you."

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joedelisi.com
14 min
October 27 What are you Even Complaining About?
Joe is on X more than he'd like to be. Not for the professionals. He goes there to take the temperature of everyday investors, and right now, he says, people are "freaking out."
So he asks the question his industry rarely says out loud: should you even be in the stock market? He starts with a thought experiment. Imagine knowing back in January that this year would bring a war with Iran, a closed Strait of Hormuz and oil up more than 50%. What would you have predicted for stocks? Joe suspects most people would have gotten it "dead wrong."
From there he looks under the hood of the S&P 500, where the index and the stocks inside it tell two very different stories, and explains why a market drop never arrives without scary news attached. He also takes on the urge to run somewhere safe. Bonds, real estate, small businesses and guaranteed assets all carry their own risks, inflation included. "There's really no safe harbor. It's just the appearance of safe harbor."
It isn't a pep talk. Joe is candid that "some people just don't have the temperament for it," and that's not a knock. He closes with what to do if the headlines are getting to you.
9201836.1 Exp. 10/28
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13 min
October 13 Investing 301
Time in the market beats timing the market. Joe calls that investing 101, and this episode isn't 101.
Joe walks through how the portfolios he builds are actually put together, and why the answer to "why A and not B" can't be a hunch. "You don't want Joe out there saying, I just have a gut feeling," he says. The thinking goes back to the academics he studied when he first got licensed, about 30 years ago: Eugene Fama, Ken French and Harry Markowitz. "It's not my philosophy," Joe says. "It's one I've adopted from people much smarter than me."
Along the way: what you're actually being paid for when you invest, why a house flipper skips the nicest house on the nicest street, why the word "growth" trips up even advisors, and the one factor Joe says his colleagues get "muddled around on."
It's light on statistics and heavy on reasoning. Joe's advice: listen to it more than once.
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16 min
September 28 Will High Rates and the Midterms Crash the Market
The emails and phone calls started with the same question: "Joe, is this time different?"Joe recorded this one on Thursday 24 September, with the screen red across the board. Treasury yields are high compared with the last decade, it's a midterm election year, and the headlines are doing what headlines do. Joe doesn't wave any of it away, including the national debt. He says plainly that he isn't "rubber stamping" anybody's fiscal policy.What he does instead is go back. Six times since 1966, a midterm election arrived while Treasury yields were rising. Joe takes them one at a time, from the year he was born to a year some people still call the bond massacre, and asks the question that matters: what happened next?Then he checks where markets actually stand this year, and why a client of his should always ask "which market?" He closes with a question for anyone who owns a business, or thinks like they do.In Joe's words: "I always say fear and fancy sell."Lots of numbers in this one. If you're driving, Joe's advice is to skip memorizing them and keep the context.

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17 min
September 14 The Biggest Mistake I see High Income People Making Today
What if one of the biggest mistakes high-income people are making with their money isn’t about investing at all, but taxes?
Joe DeLisi explains why there’s a big difference between avoiding taxes and simply deferring them. While tax deferral can have real benefits, continually pushing taxes into the future can create a significant tax burden later, especially for high-income executives, business owners, and W-2 earners approaching retirement.
Joe looks at what can happen when too much wealth accumulates in tax-deferred accounts like 401(k)s and discusses alternatives that may provide more flexibility, including Roth strategies, taxable investments, and other approaches for business owners and highly compensated executives.
The goal isn’t necessarily to stop deferring taxes. It’s to stop assuming that deferral automatically means you’re saving money on taxes.
As we move toward the end of 2026 and begin thinking about 2027 tax planning, Joe explains why now may be a good time to take a closer look at where your money is going and what tax bill you may be creating for your future self.
For a quick assessment of your current financial life go to:

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At the end of the assessment you can request a meeting with me to review the results.

joedelisi.com
9 min
August 31 Can AI Beat the Market
There are two questions buried inside this one, and they have opposite answers.

Can AI invest better than a human? Yes. Easily. It has no emotion, and emotion is where
most of the damage gets done. But there's a catch, and it's bigger than people realize.

Can AI beat the market? No. And that has nothing to do with how good the technology gets.

In this episode I walk through both answers. Why the weak link in investing has always
been the human, not the market. What you'd actually have to hand over to let AI run your
money — everything, forever, including the decision about whether you get to build the
pool in the backyard. Why beating the market requires predicting the future, and why
that's the one thing AI can't do. And what the data on professional fund managers says
about anyone who claims otherwise.

This is a good one to send to your adult kids. Investing is getting gamified, and the
line between a portfolio and a bet is getting blurry.

Joe DeLisi, CFP®, ChFC®, CExP® — joedelisi.com
9103420.1 Exp. 9/28
For a quick assessment of your current financial life go to:

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At the end of the assessment you can request a meeting with me to review the results.

joedelisi.com
15 min
August 17 The Financial Tool People are Missing with Neal Brincefield
Almost nobody lies awake at night thinking about their rate of return. They lie awake asking one question: am I going to be okay?

I've heard that question from clients for almost thirty years. Neal Brincefield RICP®, CLU®, ChFC®, CExP™ has spent his career building the answer to it.

Neal is one of the people behind The Living Balance Sheet, the planning system my clients know well. He helped take it from a simple account aggregation tool into what it is now, and most of the calculators inside it came through him, including the cash flow simulator. He's also the guy who stands in front of a thousand advisors and trains them on how to use it. That vantage point is rare. He isn't looking at one practice. He's looking at what thousands of families ask, and at what advisors do with the question when it lands.

He's also a friend, which made this a more honest conversation than most.

We spend the hour on the part of planning that doesn't get airtime.

Neal explains why cash flow is the worry that never leaves, at every income level. Why a single confidence score can leave a family feeling certain about a plan nobody has actually mapped out. Why protection has to come first, not because it's interesting, but because it's the one area where a mistake can't be undone. And what he sees in the people who are happiest in retirement, which has less to do with their portfolio than you'd think.

Then a question I've never asked him before: what happens to your plan when your advisor retires before you do?

Neal's answer to that one is the reason I wanted him on the show. A plan that only works while one person is holding the wheel isn't a plan.

The math is the easy part. This episode is about the rest of it.

For a quick assessment of your current financial life go to:

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At the end of the assessment you can request a meeting with me to review the results.

joedelisi.com
42 min
August 03 Is Your Advisor the Weak Link
Your financial advisor should welcome tough questions. In this episode, Joe DeLisi shares the conversations every investor should have with their advisor—and explains why the answers matter more than many people realize.
Beyond investment returns, a strong financial relationship should include thoughtful guidance on taxes, cash flow, insurance, estate planning, retirement income, and the many decisions that shape long-term financial success. Joe discusses why emotions often lead investors astray, how to evaluate whether your advisor's philosophy aligns with your own, and why understanding the reasoning behind recommendations is just as important as the recommendations themselves.
Whether you've worked with the same advisor for decades or are considering making a change, this episode provides practical questions that can help you better understand the value you're receiving and whether your financial plan is built to help you reach your goals with confidence.
If you've ever wondered, "Am I asking my advisor the right questions?" this episode is a great place to start.
For a quick assessment of your current financial life go to:

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At the end of the assessment you can request a meeting with me to review the results.

joedelisi.com
18 min
July 20 Revisiting Predictions Regarding Tariffs
In a world where financial headlines change by the hour, it's easy to believe someone knows what's coming next. But what if they don't?
In this episode, Joe DeLisi looks back at some of the biggest market predictions from the past year, including reactions to tariffs, market volatility, and major investment themes, to see what actually happened. Rather than focusing on who's right or wrong, Joe explains why markets often move faster than the news and why long-term investors should be cautious about making decisions based on short-term predictions.
By revisiting real events with the benefit of hindsight, this episode offers a practical reminder that successful investing is built on discipline, not forecasts.
If you've ever been tempted to change your investment strategy because of a headline, this conversation will help you put today's market noise into perspective.
For a quick assessment of your current financial life go to:

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At the end of the assessment you can request a meeting with me to review the results.

joedelisi.com
13 min
July 08Are Tech Stocks in Trouble
The biggest names in tech have fueled the market for years, but what happens when those stocks start falling? In this episode, Joe DeLisi examines whether recent declines in major technology companies are a warning sign or simply another reminder of why diversification matters.
Joe walks through current market performance, compares large-cap tech with small-cap and value investments, and explains why chasing the hottest sector has historically been a risky strategy. You'll also hear why long-term investors shouldn't base their financial plan on predictions about where technology stocks are headed next.
If you've been wondering whether now is the time to worry about tech, this episode offers perspective rooted in decades of market history rather than headlines.
In this episode, you'll learn:
Why several major tech stocks are well below their recent highs
How other areas of the market are performing in comparison
Lessons from the tech crash of the early 2000s
Why diversification remains one of the most effective risk management strategies
How disciplined investing helps remove emotion from market decisions
Whether you own individual tech stocks or invest through retirement accounts, this conversation will help you keep today's market movements in the proper long-term perspective.
For a quick assessment of your current financial life go to:

Livingbalancesheet.com/lbsvision/lite/joedelisi

At the end of the assessment you can request a meeting with me to review the results.

joedelisi.com
13 min