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Today's guest is Professor Robert Novy-Marx, the Lori and Alan Zekelman Distinguished Professor of Business Administration at Simon Business School of the University of Rochester. Professor Novy-Marx is best known for his articulation of the profitability factor and has also done a ton of great work on momentum and low volatility. We kick our conversation off with Professor Novy-Marx's thoughts on how profitability should inform portfolios. From there we hear why Professor Novy-Marx has a problem with evaluating the performance of a multi-signal strategy the same way that we would a single-signal strategy. He then talks about the trade-off between concentrated versus diversified factor exposure for capturing premiums. Next, we discuss why there is no good empirical evidence that we can time premiums. Professor Novy-Marx makes a great argument for why the regressions people use to say that the value spread works to predict the value premium can't be taken seriously. Our conversation moves to focus on how our guest defines price momentum and what drives it, and the nuances of investing in momentum. We then hear his perspectives on the low volatility anomaly and how profitability helps to explain it. After that, we talk about whether investing in a low-vol fund is a way of accessing value and profitability, and why the five-factor model is a trustworthy factor model for regular investors. In the last part of our conversation, we talk to Professor Novy-Marx about his approach to critiquing other methods before ending off with his definition of success. Tune in for this excellent evergreen conversation.
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Today we dive deep into the connection between happiness and money, looking at a host of theories and studies that have examined the important factors in this discussion. The main material referenced is the fascinating, The Happiness Hypothesis by Jonathan Haidt, and during the episode, we get to look at a great selection of the findings and claims in the book. To kick things off, we consider the broad ideas around how money can stimulate happiness, as well as its addictive aspects, before examining a few of the most prominent lenses used for measuring different kinds of happiness. Talking about the ideas of Hedonia and Eudaimonia, the influence of forecasting and the future, and the effects of different kinds of spending, we see the common threads as well as the distinctions between these models of measurement. Ultimately all of this material should hopefully enable us to live out a better life with this information in mind, and we spend some time reflecting on some of the key takeaways that seem to come to the surface in the happiness debate. To finish off, we field some listener questions on avoiding spending, and returns on investment, before diving into this week's bad advice featuring a video starring Warren Buffett, Charlie Munger, and Mark Cuban!
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It takes only a handful of smart choices to convert regular savings into a secure future. Today we welcome famed financial educator Paul Merriman onto the show to discuss how the right habits and investing approach can add millions to your retirement nest egg. After chatting about his personal and professional background, we dive into Paul's investing philosophy
and how it's been influenced by the work of Eugene Fama. A significant theme in this episode, we then talk about why Vanguard's portfolio allocation ensures that clients have the smoothest possible emotional relationship with their investments. This leads to a discussion on the benefits of simple versus complex funds and how simple funds fit with the preferences of many do-it-yourself investors. Linked to this, Paul explains why it's emotion and not strategy that gets in the way of successful investing before exploring the challenges of sticking to portfolios that are heavily weighted in small-cap value stocks. Reflecting on his career as an advisor, we ask Paul about his difficulties in working with clients as well as the role of financial advisors. Later, Paul unpacks some of the top habits and beliefs that lead to investing success; a key focus of his new book, We're Talking Millions. We wrap up our conversation by touching on target date glide paths, how Paul's foundation educates investors, and the relationship between money and a life well-lived. With such an illustrious career in financial education, tune in to benefit from Paul's investing advice.
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As many of you already know, we have been working hard to figure out the best way to model expected stock returns for financial planning and asset allocation. It has a lot of history in financial literature, which is to be expected, given the importance of the figure. In today's episode, we're looking all the way back to 1985, when Rajnish Mehra and Edward C.Prescott called the equity premium a puzzle, through to the present day, when the equity risk premium has only gotten larger. We dive into some of the theories for resolving the equity premium puzzle, explain why US stock market data isn't the best way to estimate future premiums, thanks to its survivorship bias, and some of the general issues with interpreting past returns. Benjamin also gets into predictability, which is not as obvious as it seems, and highlights some of the information from the simulation he performed, and the big breakthroughs from running the numbers. All this and more in today's episode on expected stock returns, so make sure to tune in today!
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From YouTube channels to get-rich playbooks, whole industries are devoted to the subject of building wealth. But few books present a clear and honest view of what it's like to have a lot of money. Today we welcome author Jennifer Risher onto the show to share her insights on living with wealth. Early in the episode, we explore how Jennifer and her husband 'hit the lottery twice' by being given stock options for both Microsoft and Amazon before they went public. Jennifer then shares details about the key premise of her book: people with wealth never talk about their money. Informed by her experience of having sudden wealth, we discuss why gaining wealth doesn't significantly change people despite it leading to feelings of isolation. After talking about how wealthy people rarely feel that they have enough, we unpack the many benefits that come from talking about your wealth. As Jennifer explains, using examples from her life, communicating your feelings about money is a solution to many relationship issues that arise from having wealth. Linked to this, we dive into how you can raise balanced children whose outlooks aren't spoiled by affluence. Later, we touch on the role of giving, Jennifer's top advice for newly wealthy people, and how Jennifer views work now that it's optional for her. We wrap up our conversation by hearing about how the wealthy make a positive impact on society. In this episode, we dispel many myths about being rich. Tune in for more on why we need to be talking about wealth.
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Today's episode doesn't have an external guest, but Benjamin and Cameron provide fascinating information on a vast range of topics. First, the discussion centers around the book that Cameron is currently reading and what it is teaching him about social networks, the ego-driven world of social media, and the benefits of anonymity online. The hosts share some of the findings from a very insightful discussion which took place on their anonymous community board platform around people's thoughts on the positive and negative impacts of work. Happiness and the factors that cause it are a big theme in today's show, as is the practice of 'buying the dip.' If you aren't familiar with this term, you should have a decent understanding of what it is and why you shouldn't do it by the time you finish listening. The hosts also discuss the incident that has been called "the largest financial meltdown since 2008," who the RR Model Portfolios are aimed at, and some of the ways people react to crises (in terms of their investments.) Tune in for a whirlwind education on some very important topics!
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Technology has made our lives easier but it has also fragmented our leisure time, creating a near-universal feeling that we have too much to do and not enough time to do it. Today we speak with Harvard Business School Assistant Professor Ashley Whillans about how our views of money and experience of time poverty impact our sense of well-being. We open our conversation by exploring the idea of time poverty, with Ashley unpacking the many factors that contribute towards feeling time-poor. Diving into the specifics, we talk about how different income groups experience time poverty and how these feelings are influenced by job satisfaction. After looking into differences in how we value time and money, Ashley shares research into how lower-income women benefit as much from being given extra time as they do from being given money. We then discuss the predictors of whether someone will prioritize time or money before chatting about the best practices and tips that will save you time and boost your well-being. Later, we hear Ashley's insights into why wealth doesn't lead to happiness and the need to engage in meaningful activities that increase the value of your time. With such radical changes in our work environments, we reflect on how work-from-home often deepens our feelings of time poverty. We wrap our discussion with Ashley by touching on retiring early versus working for longer, why you don't need wealth to feel consistent happiness, and how you can incorporate time poverty into your financial planning. As Ashley's research shows, money can be as integral as time in living a happier, more fulfilling life. Tune in to hear more about the connection between time poverty and your well-being.
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While there is no way of knowing what the best portfolio is, empirical data and financial economics have fixed the problems surrounding investing. But if we've fixed investing, then what's the point of financial advisors? Today we dive into this topic and reveal why financial advice is still valuable to the everyday investor. We open the episode by touching on our movies and books for the week, as well as the latest from the financial world. We then explore why, despite their failure at making predictions, experts are so important across many industries. After defining what financial advice is, co-host Benjamin Felix systematically unpacks the value that financial advisors provide as they relate to key areas including goal-setting and quantification; asset allocation; understanding your human capital and insurance needs; selecting the right financial products; and tailoring strategies to tax considerations. Later, Benjamin highlights how financial advisors can help investors overcome their biases while helping them align their investing goals with living a meaningful life. We close the episode with our Talking Sense segment, followed by the bad financial advice of the week. When so much data is available, it's necessary to revisit the relevancy of financial advisors. Join us to hear why they continue to play such a valuable role in helping people meet their investing goals.
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How do your perceptions of time influence your long-term decision-making and financial well-being? Today we speak with psychologist and UCLA Associate Professor Hal Hershfield to answer this abstract question. We open our conversation with Hal by exploring the concept of well-being. After chatting about the factors that impact financial well-being, Hal unpacks the balancing act that's required to live in the present while safeguarding your wealth to support your future self. Hal shares exercises that can help you develop a more vivid sense of your future self and we discuss how this can lead to better financial decisions. We then dive into the role that free time plays in determining your well-being, leading into a discussion on how financial advisors can steer their clients towards achieving their idea of well-being. Returning to the notion of your future self, Hal shares insight into the importance of self-compassion, dealing with life and preference changes, and how hitting age milestones lead to periods of personal reflection and financial reevaluation. Later, Hal gives listeners his take on annuities and how retirees perceive them. We wrap up another informative episode by looking into the link between perceived wealth and spending before touching on how Hal views success. Tune in to hear more about Hal's research and how it can give you a stronger and deeper conception of your financial future.
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Where do stock returns actually come from? The answers to this deceptively simple question might change your investing perspective. We dive into this foundational investing topic after sharing community updates and chatting about our books and TV series of the week. A key concept in understanding where returns come from, we unpack how stock returns are impacted when companies migrate across size and value portfolios. While exploring how migration differently affects value and growth stocks, we also break down why book equity and growth drive capital gains for growth portfolios but not for value stocks. Linked to this, we discuss stock convergence as they relate to growth and value stocks. Looking deeper into the stock returns, we assess research on why valuation changes in asset classes are critical in determining expected returns. We touch on how valuations lead to an unfair depiction of international stock performance before asking: how justified are valuation changes to value and growth stocks? From understanding stock returns, we jump into our mini-planning topic on Canadian work from home tax reductions, followed by our Talking Sense segment. We wrap our conversation by sharing some bad financial advice. Join us to hear what it is, and to learn more about the anatomy of stock returns.
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