When I became an investment adviser more than 40 years ago, there were a few tried and true rules for where to put your long-term savings. For example, subtracting your age from 100, then putting that percentage of your assets into stocks, the rest into bonds.

Another popular rule was the 60/40 rule: 60% of your savings in stocks, 40% in bonds. The idea was to achieve growth with the stock portion, and income with bonds.

These simple ideas worked for generations. But they don't work so well anymore. Why? Because bonds are no longer a safe, reliable income-producing asset. Interest rates are laughingly low, and should rates rise (about the only direction they can go from here) bonds, especially long-term bonds, will take a sizable hit. (Bond prices move inversely to interest rates.)

So, what should investors be doing, especially those approaching retirement? That's the topic of this week's "Money!" podcast. We're going to explore some ideas, see if the 60/40 formula is truly dead, and if so, what we should be doing instead. Our special guest is Roger Whitney, star of the Retirement Answer Man podcast and president of Agile Retirement Management.

Want more information? Check out these resources:

Hosts:

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

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Not too long ago, a conservative investor could easily earn 5% in an insured bank account, or 8% on risk-free Treasury bills.

But as today's savers are only too well aware, those days are long gone. Today banks are paying nothing, or close to it. And Treasury notes? Agree to lock up your savings for 10 years, and Uncle Sam will still offer you less than 2%.

So what's a saver, especially one close to retirement, supposed to do?

That's the topic of this week's "Money" podcast. We're going to explore some ideas, and see what we can earn by sticking our necks out a little, but not too much.

As usual, my co-host will be financial journalist Miranda Marquit. Listening in and sometimes contributing is producer Aaron Freeman, and our special guest is Roger Whitney, star of the Retirement Answer Man podcast and president of Agile Retirement Management.

Want more information? Check out these resources:

Hosts:

Ask us a question

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'll track everything that's happening every day. And every other week or so, we'll condense it all and report everything you need to know, and nothing you don't, in a special edition of the "Money!" podcast.

We're going to recap the news, check in on my personal investments, and generate some 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 Aaron Freeman.

Want more information? Check out these resources:

Hosts:

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

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

A 2014 Pew Research Center study asked 2,000 experts about how technologies like robotics and artificial intelligence (AI) would affect jobs. About half said a significant number of jobs, both blue and white-collar would be gone, potentially resulting in massive unemployment, income inequality and a complete breakdown of social order.

While we're used to factory jobs being lost, the rise of AI will be vastly more far-reaching. In 18 Jobs That Are Most Likely to Be Killed off by Computers, we listed jobs in jeopardy ranging from equipment operators to physicists. Computers equipped with AI are now even writing articles like this one, so journalism jobs could also one day follow dial phones and camcorders into history.

But it's not all doom and gloom. Some futurists are suggesting that by letting robots and AI handle much of the work that humans currently do, the new economy could provide a universal guaranteed income, thus freeing humans to be more creative and productive.

So which is the likely outcome: Dystopian hellscape or a free-money Nirvana? That's what we're going to explore in this week's "Money!" podcast.

As usual, my co-hosts will be financial journalist Miranda Marquit and producer Aaron Freeman. Our special guest for this episode will be Dr. Anthony P. Carnevale, Professor and Director of the Georgetown University Center on Education and the Workforce.

Want more information? Check out these resources:

Hosts:

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

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

magine you bought 100 shares of stock at $1 per share 10 years ago, back in 2011. And say your stock did exceedingly well, compounding at 20% per year. Result? Your $1,000 original investment would be worth $6,192; six times what you put in. Well done!

Now imagine that instead of stock, you'd put the same $1,000 into Bitcoin 10 years ago. What would that be worth today? As I write this, about $55 million.

That's right. One bitcoin went for as little as $1 back in 2011 and today (March 17, 2021) they're changing hands at more than $55,000. Bitcoin rose more than 200% per year, every year for the last 10. Ever heard of anything like that?

Me neither.

Depending on who you talk to, bitcoin is smoke and mirrors -- a complete hoax -- or it's an investment that's still in its infancy. Think today's price is insane? There are folks who think it will one day be worth more than $1 million.

So, what's an investor to do? Jump on board before the train completely leaves the station? Invest in other, less expensive crypto-currencies? Or should you simply run the other way?

That's what we're going to attempt to determine in this week's "Money!" podcast. 

Want more information? Here's additional reading:

Hosts:

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

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

I've been offering financial advice professionally for 40 years, since I started work as an investment adviser in 1981. I'm also a millionaire several times over.

During my time in the trenches, I've heard every conceivable piece of financial advice, acted on many and offered a few of my own.

In this week's "Money" podcast, we're going to explore the best of the best — a few simple techniques you can use that will absolutely, positively make you richer and quite likely, a millionaire.

Don't expect some magic formula; there isn't one. What there are, however, are proven techniques that worked for me and will work for you as well.

Want more information? Check out these resources:

Hosts:

Ask us a question

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

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Having money in a rapidly rising market, especially if it's lots of money, can make you feel rich. On the other side of that sword, however, is the panic you feel when things start coming apart.

I've been investing in stocks for 40 years, and I don't recall a time more volatile than what we've endured in the last year, and especially over the last couple of weeks.

Last February, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was at about 30,000. A few weeks later in mid-March, it dipped below 19,000, a head-spinning decline of 37%. And since that time, it's been on a tear. We regained, then exceeded, Dow 30,000, and it's been mostly in a straight line, except for a few quick, minor dips.

Until recently, that is. One day the market is up 500, the next down 700. It's been a roller coaster, with some of the biggest bubble stocks (e.g. Tesla) down 20% or more from their highs.

What's going on? Well, if you listened to the podcast we recorded January 28 of this year, Is the Stock Market in a Dangerous Bubble?, you'd know exactly what's happening. In that episode, I told you to watch for rising interest rates, because rising rates are often the pin that pops a stock bubble. And rising rates are what's behind the recent market mayhem.

At the end of January, the rate on the 10-year Treasury bond was barely above 1%. Now it's above 1.5%. Still low, but that's a 50% move in a little more than a month.

I also told you in the same podcast that the stocks most vulnerable to market corrections would be the highest flyers, like Tesla and big tech stocks. That too was sound advice. As rates have recently risen, these are the stocks that have been hammered the most.

So that's where we are and where we've been. The question now is, where are we going? That's what we're going to attempt to determine in this week's "Money!" podcast. 

Want more information? Here's additional reading:

Hosts:

Ask us a question

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

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

After exhausting debate, The American Rescue Plan Act of 2021 is finally about to be signed into law.

The legislation was passed on a strict party line basis. Every democrat voted for the bill; not a single republican joined in.

Whether you feel the package is an economic necessity (most democrats) or a spectacular waste of taxpayer money (most republicans), there's one thing we can all agree on: It's very long (nearly 600 pages), it's complicated, and it's costly: close to $1.9 trillion. Here's what that looks like as a number: $1,900,000,000,000. (According to Kiplinger, just $1 trillion would buy nearly 42 million cars, pay 18 million teachers for a year, or Lebron James for 50,000 years.)

So where's all this money going? That's what we're going to attempt to determine in this week's "Money!" podcast. 

Want more information? Here's additional reading:

Hosts:

Ask us a question

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

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

When my wife and I joined households 11 years ago, we combined our kitchen stuff, our furniture, our linens and just about everything else. The one thing we didn't combine? Our money.

When it comes to money, she does her thing and I do mine. About the only time our money meets is on our joint tax return.

This is the system that works for us, although it likely wouldn't work for everyone. That's the thing with money and relationships; there's no right answer. Anyone who tells you there's only one correct way to mix money and marriage, and there are plenty of "experts" who do, is just plain wrong. The one thing that's universally true is that money secrets are bad. My wife and I don't combine our money, but we do discuss it. Often.

Whether you've been together for 30 months or 30 years, avoiding talking money puts your relationship at risk. This is especially true if you combine your finances and have different money "personalities" (spender or borrower vs saver or investor) and even more critical if finances are tight.

To nobody's surprise, money routinely surveys as a major source of stress.

So when, and exactly how, can we discuss money with our significant others without causing friction? How do we get on the same page and stay there? Or are differences about money just something couples have to learn to live with?

In this week's "Money" podcast, we're going to find answers to these questions, as well as many more. Our guest is best-selling author and award-winning speaker Tarra Jackson, also known as Madame Money.

Want more information? Check out these resources:

Hosts:

Ask us a question

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

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Not long ago, the phrase "working in retirement" was an oxymoron, much like "bittersweet," "act naturally" or "hot water heater." After all, if you're working, you're by definition not retired.

But that was then. These days, working at least part-time while retired is increasingly common. According to one recent survey quoted in Forbes, 27% of pre-retirees said they planned to work part-time in retirement and among retirees, 19% are working part-time.

Why so much working during retirement? More likely than not, because of money. As we explained in articles like 8 Reasons Your Parents Had an Easier Retirement Than You Will, pensions are rapidly disappearing, replaced by much less reliable accounts like IRAs and 401(k)s.  And as retiree income is falling, costs are rising.

On the plus side, however, while more retirees may be forced back into the workplace to make ends meet, there are more ways than ever to bring in a bit of extra bacon.

In short, in my parent's generation, retirement meant not working at all. But for us Boomers, retirement is morphing into something different. It's not about doing nothing. It's about being productive and making money, but by doing what you want to do, rather than what you have to do.

What kind of work will today's (or tomorrow's) retiree look forward to doing? Will it be easy to find pleasant, lucrative work? Should we start long before we retire?

In this week's "Money" podcast, we're going to find answers to these questions, as well as many more. Our guest is author and super-popular podcaster Paula Pant from Afford Anything. Smart, funny and knowledgeable, you'll have a good time listening to her.

Want more information? Check out these resources:

Hosts:

Ask us a question

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

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.