Wes discusses why Suze’s new advice is the same Wall Street fear mongering we’ve seen for years. Also, the GOP’s new tax bill has something in it for almost every American but may benefit your 401(k) and investors more than anyone. Wes also answers a question from a dad who is considering investing in Bitcoin.

1 Hour Show

This hour focus is on the mature working age population and how this changing around the world. There is a direct relationship between growth in the working age segment of the population and stock market performance in the long run.

Also, caller questions include “how safe are online banks?”, and a teacher from Michigan asks about the value of going back to work in the public sector to reinvigorate his pension.

Wes describes the technology behind Bitcoin, called block chain technology. Blockchain technology will revolutionize many industries just like the Internet has revolutionized our economy over the last several decades. Wes also describes how Bitcoin can make our current payment systems much more secure.

If on Oct. 7th 2007 you knew the storm was coming, what investment would you have picked? The S&P 500 or the 10 year Treasury bond? And which one did better over that period of time? Also Wes discusses his baseline asset allocation as laid out in a recent Barron’s article.

Two heavy topics explored in this episode of Money Matters. Wes explains the new individual, corporate, and small business tax changes that could happen under the GOP's new tax proposal. Wes also details how to protect yourself from financial cyber hackers.

Warren Buffett predicts that the Dow Jones industrial average will reach 1 million by the year 2117. That's 100 years from now, but what would it take for us to get there? Interest rates have moved dramatically since the beginning of September, what does this mean for stock and bond markets? Also, callers ask about index funds versus index annuities, and lump sum versus monthly pension payouts.

The Lost Decade for Stocks

What can we learn from the 11 year period where the Dow Jones Industrial Average started and finished at 9,000. Capital appreciation was zero, but total return with dividends was 31%. What this teaches us as income investors. Also, a caller asks about an annuity purchase she is contemplating.

We discuss economic damage done by the top 10 hurricanes to hit the US since 1900.

This more than 30 year trend will likely continue. According to the EBRI Americans' sense of retirement security has dropped. In 1973 73% of US workers felt confident they could afford a comfortable retirement. In 2017 only 60% felt that way.