Parents know well the high costs of raising children. Certainly, this affects our ability to save for retirement or meet other financial goals, but what about when our kids leave home? How do empty nesters tend to respond financially, and psychologically?

Work from Andrew Biggs, a Senior Fellow at the American Enterprise Institute and author of The Real Retirement Crisis: Why (Almost) Everything You Know About the US Retirement System is Wrong, finds that the period after our children become financially independent can have a big impact on retirement readiness. On this episode of The Behavioral Divide, host Hal Hershfield, discusses the research with Dr. Biggs along with real-world perspective from Certified Financial Planner Robin Sherwood, who serves as a Principal at HTG Investment Advisors.

We look at how the empty-nester phase—and life transitions in general—can shape financial choices and personal fulfillment, and what can be done to make both better.

The book The Real Retirement Crisis: Why (Almost) Everything You Know About the US Retirement System is Wrong is not affiliated with, sponsored by, or endorsed by Avantis Investors or American Century Investments. 

If you enjoy the show, please let us know by giving our series a five-star rating. We’d also love to hear from you. To join in on the discussion, send us a note at

[email protected].

Important Disclosures

Follow us on social media:

You may have heard the saying “everything in life is a negotiation.” It highlights the prevalence of negotiations across many facets of our everyday lives—sometimes with lower stakes like agreeing to an allowance with your children and in other cases much more impactful decisions that pertain to your career or that might affect long-term financial goals.

If we can negotiate more effectively, it could make a big difference. But, how? On this episode of The Behavioral Divide, host Hal Hershfield discusses this question with Yale University’s Daylian Cain, Ph.D., a Senior Lecturer in Negotiations, Leadership, and Ethics, and Scott Colangelo, Chairman and Managing Partner at Prime Capital. Our goal is to understand the types of negotiations we may face during our financial journey and identify well-researched and practically applied tips for potentially better outcomes.

If you enjoy the show, please let us know by giving our series a five-star rating. We’d also love to hear from you. To join in on the discussion, send us a note at: [email protected].

Important Disclosures

Follow us on social media:

Subscribe to The Behavioral Divide podcast:

There are obvious negative effects of financial stress—or financial constraints, in general. But how do financial constraints actually affect our decisions with money or in other areas of our lives?

And while we may associate financial stress with those that have little money, anyone can feel constrained financially. For some, those constraints will be “real”, like truly struggling to make ends meet, and for others it may be more subjective, such as when one has ample income to meet necessities but may feel it’s a challenge to maintain a desired higher standard of living.

On this episode of The Behavioral Divide, host Hal Hershfield examines this topic with Princeton University Professor Anuj Shah and Sam Swift, CEO of TCI Wealth Advisors to better understand how financial stress manifests in individuals across the income spectrum and how we might better manage it.

If you enjoy the show, please let us know by subscribing and rating our series.

We’d also love to hear from you on this topic. To join in on the discussion, send us a note at [email protected].

Important Disclosures

Follow us on social media:

Financial literacy has been found to be a strong predictor of future financial outcomes. A better understanding of fundamental financial concepts tends to lead to better decision making. Yet, the grim reality is that financial literacy among the global population is quite low. Past studies estimated that only about a third of the world are considered financially literate.

But what can we learn from the latest academic research on this topic? What has the academic community found that might help to drive progress? And how do the observations and findings from real-world financial advice compare?

On this episode of The Behavioral Divide, host Hal Hershfield speaks with renowned financial literacy expert and Stanford University Professor Annamaria Lusardi along with Tom Cock, Partner and Regional Director at financial advisory firm Apella Wealth, to shed light on the current state of financial literacy, why it bears our attention today more than you may realize, and what these two perspectives can offer as a guide to better outcomes for ourselves, our clients, and society at large.

If you enjoy the show, please let us know by subscribing and rating our series. We’d also love to hear from you on this topic. To join in on the discussion, send us a note at [email protected].

Important Disclosures

The views expressed in this presentation are the speaker’s own and not necessarily those of American Century Investments. This presentation is for general information only and is not intended to provide investment, tax or legal advice or recommendations for any particular situation or type of retirement plan. Please consult with a financial, tax or legal advisor on your own particular circumstances.

Hal Hershfield is not affiliated with American Century Investments.

Visit our website: https://a.vant.is/4j2MiZa 

Other contact options: https://a.vant.is/41X5vVe 

Subscribe to The Behavioral Divide podcast:

Spotify: https://a.vant.is/4iJvk2j 

Apple: https://a.vant.is/4l6ME2U 

YouTube: https://a.vant.is/4kvcTPh 

Follow us on social media:

LinkedIn: https://a.vant.is/4c7Wu0f 

X: https://a.vant.is/4ce009u

There are plenty of logical reasons to devote some of our current wealth to future generations, such as supporting a better future for your family or society, the potential for estate tax benefits, and simply a common desire to build a legacy that endures beyond our lives. But tradeoffs abound when it comes to making such legacy decisions—not the least of which is how much do I want or need for myself today versus how much am I willing to give others for the future.

Our choices may also be influenced by tendencies of human behavior or even our experience and feelings about legacy decisions of past generations. Do I feel like they were generous towards me, or selfish? Might that drive how I think about my own choices?

On this episode of The Behavioral Divide, presented by Avantis Investors®, host Hal Hershfield speaks with Duke University Professor Kimberly Wade-Benzoni, an expert in intergenerational decision making, and Matt Hall, Co-Founder and CEO of Hill Investment Group, to examine what we can learn from both the academic research and real-world advisor-to-client experience to help us make better financial legacy decisions.

If you enjoy the show, please let us know by subscribing and rating our series. We’d also love to hear from you on this topic. To join in on the discussion, send us a note at [email protected].

Important Disclosures

The views expressed in this presentation are the speaker’s own and not necessarily those of American Century Investments. This presentation is for general information only and is not intended to provide investment, tax or legal advice or recommendations for any particular situation or type of retirement plan. Please consult with a financial, tax or legal advisor on your own particular circumstances.

Hal Hershfield is not affiliated with American Century Investments.

Visit our website: https://a.vant.is/4id5Auj

Other contact options: https://a.vant.is/3DeHC2Y

Subscribe to The Behavioral Divide podcast:

Spotify: https://a.vant.is/3ESJtLn

Apple: https://a.vant.is/4hSX6c2

YouTube: https://a.vant.is/4kczKPS 

Follow us on social media:

LinkedIn: https://a.vant.is/4gXL7Jd

X: https://a.vant.is/4kfjHRD

Fear of missing out, or FOMO, is something we can face in many different aspects of our lives. Whether it’s our investment portfolio, our social lives, our career status, and so on, we often compare ourselves against others and feel regret or fear when it seems like they are doing better than we are.

On this episode, our focus is on why we face FOMO as investors and what we might be able to do about it. First, we speak with Professor Shai Davidai of Columbia Business School on his work into different forms of regret that may arise when we feel we are missing out and how this can ultimately affect what we learn and the decisions we make in the future. Our second discussion is with Blaine Lourd, a veteran of the financial advisory business and founder and CEO of LourdMurray. Blaine takes us through how he’s witnessed FOMO in his clients and how he goes about helping them through it.

If you enjoy the show, please let us know by giving our series a five-star rating. We’d also love to hear from you on the topic of FOMO in investing. To join in on the discussion, send us a note at [email protected].

Important Disclosures

The views expressed in this presentation are the speaker’s own and not necessarily those of American Century Investments. This presentation is for general information only and is not intended to provide investment, tax or legal advice or recommendations for any particular situation or type of retirement plan. Please consult with a financial, tax or legal advisor on your own particular circumstances.

Hal Hershfield is not affiliated with American Century Investments.

Have you ever failed to stick with a New Year’s resolution? Chances are that’s a ‘yes’. The truth is that most only last a few months. And just like those resolutions to go to the gym three times a week or cook more often, setting financial goals, such as saving more or spending less, can be difficult to maintain. Achieving our goals typically requires self-discipline. But what can we do to increase self-regulation and resist temptation when it comes to our financial decisions?

That’s the topic of this episode. In search of insights, we speak with Professor Johanna Peetz of Carleton University, who has done fascinating research on self-regulation tactics with respect to financial goals. She offers her findings on what seems to work best. We also talk with Max Kayajanian, CFP, a wealth advisor with the Wealth Enhancement Group. He shares tactics he offers to his clients, both younger and older, to help them stay on course with their financial plans.

If you enjoy the show, please let us know by giving our series a five-star rating. We’d also love to hear from you on this topic of age and financial decision making. To join in on the discussion, send us a note at [email protected].

Age is a topic many prefer to avoid. But, when it comes to financial decisions, age may be something we should be thinking about. Age can certainly play a role at different stages of our financial journey. On this episode, we look to the literature as well as speak with a long-tenured financial advisor to gain a firmer grasp on how exactly the choices we make are affected by age and understand what types of mistakes we are prone to both earlier and later in life.

Our first discussion is with Duke University Professor Greg Samanez-Larkin—one of the world’s experts on how financial decisions change as we age. Greg speaks to his own research along with other breakthrough studies on this topic of aging. Greg highlights where younger and older adults tend to face the greatest challenges and what we might be able to do to overcome them.

We also speak with financial advisor and founder of Constitution Wealth, Christopher Van Slyke, CFP. Christopher speaks to what he’s observed among his client base along, in particular speaking to the value of experience and the difficulties that come with addressing cognitive decline.

If you enjoy the show, please let us know by giving our series a five-star rating. We’d also love to hear from you on this topic of age and financial decision making. To join in on the discussion, send us a note at [email protected].

Important Disclosures

The views expressed in this presentation are the speaker’s own and not necessarily those of American Century Investments. This presentation is for general information only and is not intended to provide investment, tax or legal advice or recommendations for any particular situation or type of retirement plan. Please consult with a financial, tax or legal advisor on your own particular circumstances.

Hal Hershfield is not affiliated with American Century Investments.

While most would be happy to have more money, the reality is that more money may not lead to greater happiness for everyone. For many, living a fulfilled life goes beyond finances, so can we increase happiness and meaning in life through the decisions we make with our money today? To explore this question, we speak with UCLA Professor Cassie Holmes and an accomplished financial advisor, Joseph Janiczek, MSFS, ChFC, Chief Executive Officer of Janiczek Wealth Management.

In our discussion with Cassie, we discuss her book, Happier Hour: How to Beat Distraction, Expand Your Time, and Focus on What Matters Most, and her research into how wellbeing is affected by how much time we have and how we use it. We talk about how our decisions with our money may help us use our time in more meaningful ways for greater lasting happiness.

Joseph speaks to how his firm has found ways to evolve client discussions towards a more holistic view of their clients’ lives. Joseph shares that, through the use of creative tools, client meetings feature topics that go well beyond a client’s financial picture to include aspects that matter to each individual’s overall happiness.

If you enjoy the show, please let us know by giving our series a five-star rating. We’d also love to hear from you on this topic of enhancing meaning through how we choose to spend our money. To join in on the discussion, send us a note at [email protected].

Important Disclosures

The views expressed in this presentation are the speaker’s own and not necessarily those of American Century Investments. This presentation is for general information only and is not intended to provide investment, tax or legal advice or recommendations for any particular situation or type of retirement plan. Please consult with a financial, tax or legal advisor on your own particular circumstances.

Hal Hershfield is not affiliated with American Century Investments.

The book Happier Hour: How to Beat Distraction, Expand Your Time, and Focus on What Matters Most is not affiliated with, sponsored by, or endorsed by Avantis Investors or American Century Investments.

We’ve all likely dealt with budgeting in one form or another, but is there any well-tested advice on how best to budget? And how does it fit into making progress toward longer-term goals like saving for retirement? In this episode of The Behavioral Divide, we get two perspectives.

First, we interview wealth advisor Lowell Parker, CFP of Merriman Wealth Management, to discuss the role of budgeting within the financial plans he establishes with his clients. What we uncover on the importance of the details of those budgets may surprise you.

In our second discussion, we speak with Abby Sussman, Ph.D.—a professor at the University of Chicago Booth School of Business—who has done a great deal of research into how individuals budget and why. Abby speaks to her findings on where people often go wrong with budgeting and what they can do about it.

If you enjoy the show, please let us know by giving our series a five-star rating. We’d also love to hear from you on this topic of budgeting. To join in on the discussion, send us a note at [email protected].

Important Disclosures

The views expressed in this presentation are the speaker’s own and not necessarily those of American Century Investments. This presentation is for general information only and is not intended to provide investment, tax or legal advice or recommendations for any particular situation or type of retirement plan. Please consult with a financial, tax or legal advisor on your own particular circumstances.

Hal Hershfield is not affiliated with American Century Investments.