The Stacking Benjamins Show

Most portfolios are built for nobody in particular. Peter Lazaroff, chief investment officer at PlanCorp and author of The Perfect Portfolio, tells Joe Saul-Sehy and OG why the right mix starts with your goals, not a list of funds. He also shares a four-question filter for deciding what earns a spot in your portfolio. Then a listener asks who to name on life insurance for his kids, and the panel disagrees sharply with the advice he got from his agent.
Veterans Day Giveaway
Enter by Friday, Nov 6 at stackingbenjamins.com/veterans for a chance to win a Solo Stove, drawn on Veterans Day. Veterans and active duty service members get three entries, and everyone else gets one. If you already get the 201, you can still enter.
What You’ll Walk Away With
Why “perfect” is personal, and what a steak dinner on paper plates has to do with it
The sign that a portfolio was built for nobody in particular
Why your first stated goal is rarely your real one
How to tell discomfort from danger when markets drop
Why owning a loser in your portfolio means you are diversified
The four questions that decide whether an investment earns a seat
A quick round of “Does It Earn a Seat?” with international stocks, AI stocks, and bonds
What belongs on a one-page investment policy statement, and why rules matter most when everything looks broken
Why naming a guardian on life insurance and hoping the money reaches the kids can go wrong
What a court does with money left to a minor, and how a trust changes that
Why This Matters Now
Financial news is built to make you react, and most investing success comes from avoiding mistakes. Year-end is a natural time to write the one-page plan you will follow when markets get loud. If you have kids, it is also a good time to check who is named on your beneficiary forms. The estate discussion is general education, and an estate attorney can set up the specifics for your situation.
From the Basement
Doug’s trivia asks what “alpha” means in finance, after he makes his case for being the alpha of the basement because he controls the trivia microphone and the thermostat. Joe Saul-Sehy and OG compare notes on how warm mom likes the house. Doug also gives the Bay Area another reason to write in with “San Fran.”
Resources Mentioned
Veterans Day giveaway: enter to win a Solo Stove
The Perfect Portfolio: A Proven Guide to Smart Investing for Long-Term Success: Peter Lazaroff’s book from Harriman House
The Long Term Investor podcast: Peter’s show
Peter Lazaroff at PlanCorp: his bio and firm
Mind the Gap US 2025: Morningstar’s research on the gap between investor and fund returns

See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Every money decision comes with a basement door. Sometimes you go down and find a great deal, and sometimes you should run. Joe Saul-Sehy and OG run a Halloween game show in which the panel rules on eight real-life dilemmas, including a stock that has tripled, a dream house that leaves almost no cash, and a car loan a parent is asked to cosign. The panel disagrees, and the reasoning behind each answer is the useful part.
Veterans Day Giveaway
Enter for a chance to win a Solo Stove at stackingbenjamins.com/veterans. Veterans and active duty service members get three entries, and everyone else gets one. If you’re already in the 201 email series, you get an entry too, and you can earn more by referring friends.
What You’ll Walk Away With
What to do when your company stock has grown into a huge slice of your portfolio, and why a gains budget beats waiting for the perfect moment
Why optimism about your employer is not the same as a good price on its stock
How much house is too much, and why the bank’s limit is not your limit
What a thin cash cushion after closing really risks, and when a plan to rebuild it changes the answer
How to weigh a bigger paycheck against a boss who keeps losing people, and the airport layover test for judging a future manager
Why a tax bracket jump does not cost you more than you earn
How to say yes to helping an adult child with a car while keeping the title, insurance, and risk in your own hands
Why many people treat family loans as gifts
Emergency fund or great credit? Low fixed expenses or great insurance? High savings rate or diversification? High income or financial knowledge? The panel picks sides
Why This Matters Now
Big decisions rarely arrive with a clean right answer, and the fear of making an irreversible mistake can stall good choices. Hearing smart people disagree, and explain why, builds your own judgment faster than a rule of thumb does. Year-end is a natural time to look at your concentrated holdings, your housing costs, and your cushion.
From the Basement
Doug arrives in a tin foil hat to resist Federal Reserve brainwaves, the panel shows up as a genie villain, a wreath-wearing leaf pile, and an Oktoberfest regular, and Doug’s trivia asks where “I’ll be back” ranks among the greatest movie quotes ever. He also reports that the Terminator spoke very few words in the whole film and that he once lost an argument at The Sizzler over the senior discount on shrimp cocktail. OG explains his Halloween yogurt policy, and a new traveling trophy with an honest inscription makes its debut.
Resources Mentioned
Veterans Day giveaway: enter to win a Solo Stove
AFI’s 100 Years...100 Movie Quotes: the list behind Doug’s trivia
Afford Anything: a podcast from one of the panelists
Personal Finance for Long-Term Investors: a podcast from another panelist

See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Amy Wilson and her husband did nearly everything right on the road to financial independence, and the one task they kept postponing turned out to matter most. She shares what happened when a sudden loss met an unfinished estate plan, how she rebuilt her financial life on her own, and what she’d want you to do this week. Then Joe Saul-Sehy and OG explain how a change in IRS guidance can turn marketplace premium help into a bill for early retirees and side hustlers, with a quick round of income detective to show what counts.
What You’ll Walk Away With
Why “we’re married, so it all goes to each other” isn’t a plan
How beneficiary designations and default rules can pull in different directions across accounts
Why your state already has an estate plan for you, and how to find out what it says
What mattered, and what didn’t, in the first hours after a loss
Whether to do nothing with your money for a while or dive into the details, and how to tell which fits you
What it’s like to go from saving to spending overnight, and why a money nerd hired an advisor
The small clues that told her an advisor was the right one
A simple allowance system that keeps spending steady and leaves room for big plans
Why advance premium help is an estimate, not a price guarantee
The change that removed the cap on repayments, the income line that can cost you the entire credit, and what to recalculate before year-end
Why This Matters Now
Plans get interrupted, and the paperwork we postpone is usually the paperwork that matters most. Year-end is when open enrollment arrives and good intentions pile up, which makes it a natural time to finish the estate documents and recheck your income estimate. If you worry about a mistake you can’t undo, this episode treats both as checklist items you can finish, not worries to carry around.
From the Basement
Doug’s trivia is about cacao beans as currency, which leads him to try paying for dinner at The Sizzler with a bag of chocolate chips. Then OG explains his Halloween policy of yogurt only, with a granola exception.
Resources Mentioned
Repayment caps eliminated for excess advance payments of the Premium Tax Credit: IRS guidance on the change
Questions and answers on the Premium Tax Credit: IRS answers on how reconciliation works
HealthCare.gov: where to update your income estimate with the marketplace
Camp FI: in-person gatherings for the financial independence community, where Amy is a regular

See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

How to Turn Trick-or-Treat Into a Money Lesson (and Choose a Pension Option)
One doorstep each Halloween becomes a lesson in risk, reward, and generosity, and one listener believes it helped him land a job. Chuck Jaffe walks through the cash-or-candy game he’s refined over the years, including this year’s twist, and how to run a version whether you get a hundred trick-or-treaters or six. Then Joe Saul-Sehy and OG take a question from a listener with a military pension: how to weigh the survivor benefit, why the choice can’t be changed later, and what to ask before you sign. It’s a lighthearted start and a practical finish.
What You’ll Walk Away With
The simple cash-or-candy trade that turns a doorstep into a lesson on risk and reward
Why kids who never think about money will happily do the math when it’s a game
How the game changes every year, including the lottery option and a choice that lets kids give something away
How to run a version with a handful of trick-or-treaters and a few envelopes
Why the dollar bill is the worst deal on the table, and why plenty of kids still take it
How a doorstep wave turned into a jump start on the way to a job interview
What a pension survivor option actually means, in plain terms
How to compare a reduced pension against buying your own insurance
What a “pop-up” provision is, and which questions to ask the pension office about a spouse’s health coverage
Why a pension choice deserves far more research than picking a fund
Why This Matters Now
Some of the best money lessons are low-stakes enough for a fourth grader, and some of the biggest decisions are high-stakes enough that you only get one try. Both reward thinking early. If you worry about making a choice you can’t undo, or you want to give the kids in your life a calm, fun way to learn about money, this episode covers both ends of that range.
From the Basement
The basement debates candy corn versus Kit Kats, while OG volunteers to hand out Greek yogurt to trick-or-treaters. Doug’s trivia introduces a mule named Kevin and an Erie Canal that paid for itself in a year.
Resources Mentioned
Survivor Benefit Plan: Military OneSource’s overview of the military survivor benefit
Money Life with Chuck Jaffe: Chuck’s daily podcast, wherever you listen

See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

You build a plan around a goal, the goal changes, and the spreadsheet keeps marching toward the old one. Joe Saul-Sehy and a roundtable of regulars, joined by Financial Bliss Coach Kelley Long, CFP, ask what happens when the house, the career, or the family you saved for stops being the life you want. They play a game of keep it, kill it, or change it, then get practical about the real invoice for changing course: cash runways, taxes, selling while markets are down, and the stubborn pull of sunk costs. You’ll also hear why staying put has a price of its own.
What You’ll Walk Away With
A three-card game (keep it, kill it, change it) applied to a house the kids have outgrown, a plan built around children that no longer applies, and a career plan with a countdown
Why people regret never questioning a goal far more than missing it, and what a story from base camp has to do with it
How to tell whether you want to stop working or just want out of a job you’ve outgrown, a lot like mistaking thirst for hunger
The “invoice” for changing course, and the fixed expenses worth covering for a year while you figure it out
A test-drive trick that lets you feel a change before you make it
A way to compare a big decision by taking the money out first and asking what you’re really trading
What to do when you need cash and your investments are down
Why a big tax bill can be worth paying, and what happens when a rule of thumb swallows the reason behind it
Sunk cost versus switching cost, and why only one of them is a feeling
The “too small blanket” problem, and the flexibility you can build in from the start
Why This Matters Now
Most of us spend plenty of energy checking whether we’re on track, and very little asking whether we still want to go where the track leads. If you worry about a change you can’t undo, or you’ve outgrown a plan you built with good intentions, this conversation treats changing your mind as a cost you can plan for. Getting good with money was never about living yesterday’s life more efficiently. It was about having more choices tomorrow.
From the Basement
Joe reports that his new tendon came from an Olympian, at his request, and that standing up is now a major athletic event. Doug’s trivia is a cautionary tale about the worst side hustle ever pitched, and the Detroit Lions provide a live demonstration of a plan with an Achilles heel.
Resources Mentioned
Financial Bliss Coach: Kelley Long’s coaching practice, with links to her podcast and book
But Who Will Take Care of You When You’re Old? Financial Planning for People Without Kids by Kelley Long: her forthcoming book on planning without children
Lynda Gratton: What If You Live to 100? Here’s How to Actually Plan For It: our conversation on the hundred-year life

See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.