Money For the Rest of Us

By J. David Stein

Business Investing

What's Money For the Rest of Us about?

A personal finance and investing podcast on money, how it works, how to invest it and how to live without worrying about it. J. David Stein is a former Chief Investment Strategist and money manager. For close to two decades, he has been teaching individuals and institutions how to invest and handle their finances in ways that are simple to understand. More info at moneyfortherestofus.com

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What Investment Strategies ...

12.01.2021

How different asset classes and investment strategies have performed during periods of unexpectedly high inflation. While trend and momentum strategies have performed the best, what are some of the challenges with implementing those strategies. Topics covered include:What has led to ...

Money For the Rest of Us episodes:

12.01.2021 What Investment Strategies Do Best During High Inflation Periods? How different asset classes and investment strategies have performed during periods of unexpectedly high inflation. While trend and momentum strategies have performed the best, what are some of the challenges with implementing those strategies. Topics covered include:What has led to ...
11.17.2021 Is There a Global Energy Crisis? With oil, natural gas, coal, and gasoline at the highest prices in eight years, we consider if there is an energy crisis due to an over-reliance on renewable energy sources. Topics covered include:How high have prices risen for oil, gasoline, ...
11.10.2021 Why Some Asset Bubbles Don't Burst What conditions need to be in place for an asset bubble to continue and how that applies to stocks, cryptocurrency, and houses. Topics covered include:How to determine if there is an asset bubbleWhat are microbubbles and anti-bubblesHow the cannabis stock ...
11.03.2021 Should You Hedge Your International Stock Exposure From Currency Fluctuations? How to decide whether it is worth it to hedge currency exposure when investing outside of your home country. Topics covered include:How currency exchange rates impact investment returnsWhat factors impact currency exchange ratesWhat are carry trades and how do they ...
10.27.2021 Why Most Cities Thrive and What We Can Learn From Them How New York City and other metropolises will overcome the pandemic economic shock. Why do some cities thrive while others devolve into chaos? How we can develop the resiliency of thriving cities. Topics covered include:How New York and other cities ...
10.20.2021 Should You Invest in a Bitcoin ETF? Why the new U.S.-based Bitcoin ETFs are a bad idea and will underperform Bitcoin. Topics covered include:What fund and ETF options are available for investing in BitcoinWhy the U.S. has only authorized Bitcoin ETFs that invest in Bitcoin futures even ...
10.13.2021 Are Timeshares a Scam? How to Buy and Sell a Timeshare Vacation Rental How the economics of timeshare vacation rentals work, and why they can be a great fit for some individuals. Topics covered include:When were the first timeshares introducedWhat are the different timeshare ownership modelsWhy timeshares don't appreciate but fall in price ...
09.29.2021 Will the U.S. Default? Debt Ceilings, Government Shutdowns, and the National Debt Why the U.S. is closing in on both a debt default and a government shutdown. Topics covered include:How a government shutdown differs from a debt ceiling crisisWhy hasn't Congress passed legislation to fund the government and raise the debt limitHow ...
09.22.2021 Why Are There So Many Shortages? What is causing the shortage of goods and workers? What should we do about it? Topics covered include:How a tree pandemic killed billions of American Chestnut treesHow a massive increase in demand has crippled the global supply, leading to an ...
09.15.2021 Should You Stop Investing in China? - Evergrande, VIEs and other Chinese Risks A regulatory crackdown and ideological campaign by the Chinese government has upended the Chinese stock market, which comprises close to 40% of emerging market indices. We evaluate what is going on and what investors should do. Topics covered include:How has ...
09.08.2021 Is a Housing Crash Coming? What are the demand and supply drivers of home prices? What is the current status of those drivers and do they suggest a housing price crash is imminent, particularly given mortgage forbearance programs are ending? Topics covered include:How much have ...
09.01.2021 How, When, and Why Should You Rebalance Your Investment Portfolio? Why bother rebalancing your investment portfolio and what is the best method for doing so. Topics covered include:How a target asset allocation can get out of line if a portfolio is not rebalancedWhat is positive skewness and why it matters ...
08.25.2021 Which Money Is Crazier: The U.S. Dollar or Bitcoin? We compare the U.S. dollar with Bitcoin on their key attributes to determine which is better for transactions and preserving wealth, which is most absurd and which has serious flaws. Topics covered include:How are new U.S. Dollars and Bitcoin createdHow ...
08.18.2021 Now Is the Best Time Ever to Be an Individual Investor What are the advantages and disadvantages individual investors have relative to professional investors. How individual investors can capitalize on their advantages without being overwhelmed by too many choices. Topics covered include:How much have fees and commissions dropped for individual investors ...
08.11.2021 The Pros and Cons of Infinite Banking and Whole Life Insurance How permanent life insurance can be an effective tool for retirement planning. Topics covered include:What is the difference between term and whole life insuranceHow many people let their life insurance policies lapse each yearWhat are strengths that insurance companies have ...
08.04.2021 Is This the Key to Wealth, Freedom and Happiness? How owning fewer, more permanent things can lead to greater freedom and continued economic growth. Topics covered include:How a railroad company issued a bond that matured in 999 yearsWhy land and gold are the most permanent investmentsWhat is the oldest ...
07.28.2021 How to Profit From Carbon Investing While Combatting Climate Change How the carbon emissions allowances and carbon offset markets are structured and how to invest in them. Topics covered include:How much greater are the levels of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere and how much have average temperatures increasedWhy industries and ...
07.21.2021 How to Invest in Startups on Equity Crowdfunding Platforms The risks and opportunities of investing in startups on equity crowdfunding platforms. Topics covered include:Why do individual investors now have more access to startup investmentsWhat has been the historical performance of venture capital fundsHow most startups fail, leaving only a ...
07.14.2021 Forward and Reverse Mortgages: When To Take Them Out and When to Pay Them Off How to decide when to take out a home mortgage and whether to pay it off early. How reverse mortgages can be a helpful retirement tool. Topics covered include:Why it is more difficult to get a mortgage todayHow federal government ...
06.30.2021 Listener Q&A: Individual stocks, housing bubble, crypto, retirement and more We answer over a dozen questions from listeners on investing, housing, retirement, business, podcast production, and more. Topics discussed include:The Endowment ModelTeaching children about investing4 influential investing booksThe difference between being an entrepreneur and investingThe balance between too much and ...
06.23.2021 Should You Invest in Frontier Markets? What are the risks and opportunities of investing in frontier equity markets? Topics covered include:What are the criteria used to determine whether a country's stock market is considered a frontier, emerging, or developed marketWhy some countries aren't included in any ...
06.09.2021 Should You Buy an Electric Car or Truck? What are the pros and cons of owning an electric vehicle (EV) compared with an internal combustion engine (ICE) vehicle. Are electric vehicles worth it? Topics covered include:What is the total energy consumption for EVs versus ICE vehicles including energy ...
06.02.2021 Investing In Water What are ways to invest in water and is it an attractive investment? Topics covered include:How water rights work and how they have been overallocated in the Colorado River basin.Why agriculture uses the vast majority of water in the southwestern ...
05.26.2021 Why Should You Care About Shadow Banking? Half of the global financial system is made up of shadow banks. You have probably already used one. What are shadow banks and what to be wary of when using them. Topics covered include:What are the roles of shadow banksWhat ...
05.19.2021 Why The Productivity Slowdown Could Lead to Lower Living Standards Why productivity growth is key to creating wealth. Why U.S. productivity growth is slowing, and what we can do to increase business and personal productivity. Topics covered include:How productivity is measured and how it relates to GDP, inflation, and living ...
05.12.2021 Is Another Great Inflation Coming? Best Inflation Hedges How today's inflationary environment is similar and different from the great inflation of the 1970s. What are the best assets to protect your portfolio if the next great inflation is here. Topics covered include:How is inflation measured and why the ...
05.05.2021 How To Overcome Investing Fears Seven ways to manage fear in order to improve your investing. How fear can be beneficial. Topics covered include:Why fear can be both helpful and harmfulWhy expected investment returns are lower from a year agoWhat are the drivers of asset ...
04.28.2021 Climate Change, ESG, and What Should Investors Do? How businesses, households, governments, asset managers, and investors interact in unpredictable ways to address the risks and opportunities related to climate change and other global trends. Why ESG investing goes beyond just buying an ESG fund or ETF. Topics covered ...
04.21.2021 How to Make Money With Dai, BlockFi and the Evolving DeFi Ecosystem What is decentralized finance and how it is seeking to solve the shortcomings of centralized finance. How BlockFi and MakerDAO, early entrants in the DeFi space work. How to earn up to a 9% yield with cryptocurrency lending. Topics covered ...
04.14.2021 Inflation, the National Debt and the U.S. Dollar - What Could Go Wrong? With a ballooning U.S. federal budget deficit, a growing national debt, and double digit increases in the money supply, is it time to bet against the dollar? Topics covered include:What is driving the double digit increases in U.S. home pricesWhy ...
03.31.2021 Why in the World Do You Own Bonds? With interest rates rising does it still make sense to own bonds? Yes. This episode explores the role of bonds including why they are more effective at hedging stock losses than protective put options. Topics covered include:David's business and investment ...
03.24.2021 Own What Is Real There has never been this much money in the world. Now is the time to own real property. Topics covered include:How to buy something with BitcoinHow cryptocurrencies are similar and different from fiat currenciesWhat is legal tenderWhy there has never ...
03.17.2021 Are Non-fungible Tokens (NFTs) Good Investments? How do non-fungible tokens work, what are the risks, and how do NFTs fit within the landscape of investments. Topics covered include:Investing in physical art versus cryptoartHow NFTs work on the ethereum blockchainHow Ethereum differs from BitcoinWhat is the purpose ...
03.10.2021 Should You Invest in Farmland? How much can you earn investing in farmland and what are the risks? What are the ways to invest in farmland? Topics covered include:What determines farmland investment returnsHow much has U.S. farmland appreciated historicallyHow much income does farmland investing generateWhy ...
03.03.2021 How The Covid Shock Nearly Destroyed The Financial System Why the Federal Reserve had to step in again to sop runs on money market mutual funds and keep the financial system from imploding. Topics covered include:What are the differences between shocks and vulnerabilitiesWhat are the four main vulnerabilities the ...
02.24.2021 What Is Tail Risk and Are You Taking Too Much Of It? When should you protect against rare, but extreme events? When should you self-insure? Under what circumstance should you sell tail risk protection to others? Topics covered include:How tail events differ from tail riskWhy volatility is not the best measure of ...
02.10.2021 Why Do We Work So Much? How to structure employment so workers are more creative, productive, and happier. Topics include:What percentage of employees work at home due to the pandemicHow many hours per week do men and women work in both paid employment and unpaid caregivingHow ...
02.03.2021 Is Silver the Next GameStop? How to Invest in Silver Why has silver jumped to its highest price in eight years. What you need to know to invest in silver. Topics covered include:What drove the huge spike in silver purchasesHow silver differs from meme stocksHow hedge funds are positioned with ...
01.27.2021 Meme Stocks, GameStop, Short Squeezes, and Bubbles How coordinated buying by retail investors has turned the table on Wall Street. Are there signs of a market bubble? Topic covered include:What are meme stocksWhy GameStop's stock (GME) has soared to over $300 from $17 in less than a ...
01.20.2021 Are You Underweight Chinese Stocks? Pros and Cons of Investing in China Most global stock ETFs, funds and indices have only about 5% invested in China even though China has the second-largest economy in the world. What are the pros and cons of increasing your allocation to Chinese stocks. Topics covered include:Why ...
01.13.2021 Is Student Loan Forgiveness A Good Idea? Should the U.S. cancel $10,000 or more of student loan debt per borrower? What would be the economic and financial impact? Why the student loan system is broken and how to fix it. Topics covered include:How large and what is ...
01.06.2021 The New Math of Retirement Spending and Investing How should individuals invest and spend in retirement with interest rates so low, stock valuations high, and inflation uncertain. Why retirement managed payout funds and income replacement funds failed. Topics covered include:How managed payout and income replacement funds compare to ...
12.16.2020 Convertible Bonds : The High Return Asset Class That Vanguard Abandoned How convertible bonds work, why they gained 50% in 2020 and outperformed stocks over the past five years. Why Vanguard shut down their convertible bond mutual funds. Topics discussed include:How big is the convertible bond marketWhy companies issue convertible bondsHow ...
12.09.2020 2020 - The Year We Will Never Forget A review of how the pandemic, financial markets, and government policy evolved in 2020 to make for an unforgettable year. Topics covered include:Why the Covid-19 pandemic ranks as the second worst in modern historyWhat is the difference between risk and ...
12.02.2020 The Economy Is Not a Machine How the drive for efficiency leads to greater wealth concentration and threatens capitalism. What can be done about it. Topics covered include:Why income growth has slowed for the middle classWhy the economy now follows a power-law distribution rather than a ...
11.18.2020 Why Currency Exchange Rates Matter How a nation's balance of payments impacts its currency exchange rate as evidenced by Turkey and other countries. Topics covered include:What is a nation's balance of payments, its current account, and its capital accountHow an individual's personal financial flows are ...
11.11.2020 How To Analyze Complex Investments How to determine whether you should invest in a complex investment such as an actively managed ETF that uses option strategies. Topics covered include:A recent investment David made that he shouldn't haveWhat is the volatility risk premium and how to ...
11.04.2020 Somebody Won the Election. Now What? As we await the U.S. presidential election results, we review the results of the Trump Administration's economic policies to see if Americans are better off financially than they were four years ago. Topics covered include:Why pollsters and election models can ...
10.28.2020 Here Come Central Bank Digital Currencies How central bank digital currencies would work, what is the motivation to create them and what are the risks. Topics covered include:What percentage of central banks are working on a digital currency and plan to issue one soonWhat are the ...
10.21.2020 What Are SPACs and Should You Invest in Them? How special purpose acquisition companies work, what their performance has been and what are the ways to invest. Topics covered include:How much money has been raised in SPAC initial public offerings and who are some of the better known sponsorsWhat ...

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