On October 19th, 1987, I was a 32-year old stockbroker working for EF Hutton. On that day, the Dow Jones Industrial Average lost more than 22 percent of its value. That's the largest one-day stock market decline in market history.

Not only did I lose a ton of my personal savings; my clients were wiped out and freaked out.

Not a fun time to be an investment adviser.

Since that time, I've weathered many vicious market beatings. The 7 percent one-day decline in October of 1997. Several 7 percent + one-day declines in 2008. The 10 percent one-day decline in March of 2020.

And here we are again: As of January 25, this is the worst start to a year since people began tracking the S&P 500 index back in 1929. So far this month, the S&P 500 is down 8.6%. The tech-heavy Nasdaq is down 13.3%.

Losing money hand over fist is bad enough. But if you don't understand why it's happening and what's likely to happen next, it's also dangerous. Because panic leads to bad decisions, like selling when you should be sitting.

That's why we're producing a special edition of the "Money!" podcast. We're going to discuss why the stock market is tanking, what's likely to happen next, and what you should be doing. We'll also recap other important personal finance news that's happened this month and check in on our personal investments.

As usual, my co-host is financial journalist Miranda Marquit. Listening in and sometimes contributing is producer and novice investor Aaron Freeman.

Want more information? Check out these resources:

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Remember your first car?

Mine was a 1969 Camaro. What I remember most about it wasn't just that it was a cool car. (It was.) What I remember was how much it changed my life.

A car was freedom. It meant having something to do. Places to go. A spot to hang out with friends. A private place to take a date. A way to commute to my first job at McDonald's.

In short, it changed everything.

That was lots of years and lots of cars ago. As the years have melted away, the thrills of driving have too.

But maybe that's about to change.

In the near future -- nearer for some of us than others -- we're going to experience a different kind of vehicle. A silent, efficient, low-maintenance, high-torque, futuristic electric ride.

Electric cars may look like just another car, but in some ways they're revolutionary; as different from the traditional internal-combustion machine as they are from a horse.

I'm excited by the prospect. Granted; not as excited as I was to drive that 69 Camaro, but excited nonetheless.

Maybe you've already traveled this road, and have an electric car plugged in your garage right now. Or maybe, like me, you're still just thinking about it.

If you're exploring electric cars, you're in the right spot, because that's what this week's "Money!" podcast is about. We're going to check out the pros and cons of electric cars and decide whether we should get behind the wheel ASAP or wait for prices to come down and technology to catch up.

As usual, my co-host will be financial journalist Miranda Marquit. Listening in and sometimes contributing is producer and novice investor Aaron Freeman.

Want more information? Check out these resources:

Become a member: https://www.moneytalksnews.com/members/

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Reflecting on stock market performance over the last few years reminds me of an expression from the old days when I was a stockbroker.

"Bulls make money, bears make money and pigs get slaughtered."

The S&P 500 stock index advanced 29% in 2019, 16% in 2020 and about 27% in 2021.

Since stocks average about 10% per year, it's highly unlikely these returns are likely to repeat. Sooner or later, unless the world has changed in a fundamental way, markets will ultimately regress to the mean. In other words, they'll balance things out with a crummy year or two.

Will 2022 be the year it begins?

One catalyst for lower stock prices could be rising interest rates. Odds are that the Federal Reserve will begin raising rates as early as March of 2022. While rate hikes aren't necessarily devastating for stock prices, they're not the best thing for them either, particularly for more speculative, less profitable companies.

So does all this negative news mean you should head for the sidelines in 2022?

That's what this week's "Money!" podcast is about. We're going to talk about where things are likely to go this year with stocks, interest rates and housing prices. And not only are we going to attempt some predictions, we'll be making some recommendations as well.

As usual, my co-host will be financial journalist Miranda Marquit. Listening in and sometimes contributing is producer and novice investor Aaron Freeman.

Want more information? Check out these resources:

Become a member: https://www.moneytalksnews.com/members/

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Nearly every day, there's news that affects you and your money. From politics and taxes to markets and interest rates, things are happening that affect your savings and your future -- so many things, in fact, it's hard to keep up with them all.

Problem solved. We track everything that's happening every day. And every couple of weeks, we condense it all and report everything you need to know in a special edition of the "Money!" podcast.

In addition to recapping the news, we check in on our personal investments, and discuss ideas and suggestions to make you smarter and richer, all without boring you to death in the process.

As usual, my co-host is financial journalist Miranda Marquit. Listening in and sometimes contributing is producer and novice investor Aaron Freeman.

Sit back, relax and listen to this special edition of the "Money!" podcast:

Want more information? Check out these resources:

Become a member: https://www.moneytalksnews.com/members/

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

If you're young, say, 40 or under, retirement is likely more of a hazy concept than something to actually plan for. For now, it's no big deal. There are infinite possibilities that could change the outcome. You could get a big raise. Win the lottery. Get an inheritance from a relative you didn't know you had. Heck, maybe you'll even die before the big day arrives.

But take it from a guy in his mid-60s: The years are going to rush by, and with every passing year, your options will narrow. In the blink of an eye, you'll be entering the final chapters of your life. And the quality of those chapters will depend on how much you've saved and how you manage it.

In short, if your goal is to retire rich, there's a proven path and specific steps to take along the way, starting now; at whatever age you are. That path and those steps are what we're talking about in this week's "Money!" podcast.

As usual, my co-host will be financial journalist Miranda Marquit. Listening in and sometimes contributing is producer and novice investor Aaron Freeman. And this week, we have a special guest: Joe Saul See-hi of the legendary podcast Stacking Benjamins.

Want more information? Check out these resources:

Become a member: https://www.moneytalksnews.com/members/

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Recorded: November 11, 2021

When I wrote my first book, Life or Debt, more than 20 years ago, I had a simple solution for investing your long-term savings. It was to subtract your age from 100, then put the resulting percentage in stocks. The rest you'd divide into two equal parts: an intermediate term bond fund, and a money market fund.

If you were 40 years old, for example, you'd subtract 40 from 100, and put the resulting percentage, 60%, in stocks. The remaining 40% would be divided between bonds and money market funds.

An even simpler way of investing long-term savings, and one that's been around for generations, was to simply put 60% of your savings into stocks and 40% into bonds: the classic 60/40 portfolio.

But as it turns out, nothing lasts forever, including these simple diversification guides.

What happened? You probably already know. What happened was interest rates; namely, rates that have been so low for so long that money in bonds and money market funds is earning basically nothing. Which means it's also not keeping up with inflation.

So what's an investor to do? That's what this week's "Money!" podcast is about. We're going to explore whether the traditional 60/40 investment mix is really dead, or just waiting for its triumphant return. We'll also discuss newer potential investments to modernize your investing. And we're going to do it without making your eyes glaze over.

As usual, my co-host will be financial journalist Miranda Marquit. Listening in and sometimes contributing is producer and novice investor Aaron Freeman.

Want more information? Check out these resources:

Become a member: https://www.moneytalksnews.com/members/

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

We've had a wild couple of years.

I've been investing for a long time, and I can't remember anything like it. The pandemic shaved 20% off the market in what seemed like minutes, then snapped back and took off just as fast.

Recorded: December 16th, 2021
Bitcoin started 2020 below $7,000 and now it's close to $50,000.

Gamestock, one of many meme stocks, started this year at $15, went as high as $350 and is now about $150; way down from the high, but still up about 700% for the year.

Even the housing market's been insane. Depending on where you live, it's possible your home has increased in value by 40% in a couple of years.

But the good times can't last forever. Sooner or later, the fat lady sings.

Much of the asset inflation we've been experiencing is because of historically low interest rates, and odds are that punchbowl will soon be taken away.

And that's not the only risk we're facing. Unfortunately, there are plenty of other potential dark clouds on the horizon.

That's what this week's "Money!" podcast is about. We're going to talk about some economic risks we might encounter in the year ahead; not to alarm you, but to prepare and inform you. We'll also talk about how to deal with any issues that might occur.

As usual, my co-host will be financial journalist Miranda Marquit. Listening in and sometimes contributing is producer and novice investor Aaron Freeman.

Want more information? Check out these resources:

Become a member: https://www.moneytalksnews.com/members/

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

If you were retiring tomorrow, which monthly income would you rather receive: $1,543 or $3,895?

The $1,543 figure is the average monthly Social Security retirement benefit in 2021, while $3,895 is the maximum possible monthly benefit.

While the size of your ultimate Social Security benefit depends on the earnings you report over your working life, that's not the only component. Simple things you do or fail to do while you're working, as well as when and how you claim when the time comes, can make massive differences in your lifetime benefits.

That's why it makes sense to get a better understanding of how Social Security works at the earliest possible time. And why it's important to test various strategies as you approach retirement. There are myths you should dispel and tips you need to understand.

And that's what this week's "Money!" podcast is about. We will go over the basics of Social Security and help you get the biggest benefit possible and avoid common claiming mistakes.

As usual, my co-host will be financial journalist Miranda Marquit. Listening in and sometimes contributing is producer and novice investor Aaron Freeman.

Want more information? Check out these resources:

Become a member: https://www.moneytalksnews.com/members/

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Nearly every day, there's news that affects you and your money. From politics and taxes to markets and interest rates, things are happening that affect your savings and your future -- so many things, in fact, it's hard to keep up with them all.

Problem solved. We track everything that's happening every day. And every couple of weeks, we condense it all and report everything you need to know in a special edition of the "Money!" podcast.

In addition to recapping the news, we check in on our personal investments, and discuss ideas and suggestions to make you smarter and richer, all without boring you to death in the process.

As usual, my co-host is financial journalist Miranda Marquit. Listening in and sometimes contributing is producer and novice investor Aaron Freeman.

Want more information? Check out these resources:

Become a member: https://www.moneytalksnews.com/members/

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

I spent about 30 years as a syndicated TV news reporter, and for about 15 of those years, I had an annual ritual.

Every December, I'd hit the streets with a videographer, stop random people and ask them the following three questions.

After I recorded answers from average folks on the sidewalk, I got answers to the same questions from Wall Street experts: the highly paid prognosticators employed by the biggest financial firms on the planet.

So, who do you think was right more often? People who barely knew the stock market, or people who earn 7 figures to make accurate financial predictions?

As it turns out, experts in stocks, oil and real estate tended to do slightly better than average people on the street. But the key word in that sentence was "slightly." There were many answers from many amateurs over the years that proved far more accurate than those of the pros.

This should come as no surprise. The world is a complicated place with infinite variables. Things happen all the time that nobody, even experts, can possibly see coming. (Recent example: Covid-19.)

But despite the fact that there's no way to reliably predict the future, that doesn't stop us from trying. Me, you and the experts on Wall Street: We can't plan if we can't at least try to guess what's ahead.

And that's what this week's "Money!" podcast is about. We're going to make some educated guesses about what's ahead for you and your money. As usual, my co-host will be financial journalist Miranda Marquit. Listening in and sometimes contributing is producer and novice investor Aaron Freeman. And this week, we have a special guest: Joe Saul See-hi of the legendary podcast Stacking Benjamins.

Want more information? Check out these resources:

Become a member: https://www.moneytalksnews.com/members/

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.