The Long View

Today on the podcast we welcome back Nick Maggiulli. He’s the author of a new book called The Wealth Ladder: Proven Strategies for Every Step of Your Financial Life. His first book was called Just Keep Buying. In addition, Nick writes a wonderful blog called Of Dollars and Data, which is focused on the intersection between data and personal finance. In his day job, Nick is the Chief Operating Officer and Data Scientist at Ritholtz Wealth Management. He received his bachelor’s degree in economics from Stanford University.

Episode Highlights

00:00:00 Writing The Wealth Ladder

00:05:30 The Six Levels of the Wealth Ladder

00:09:52 How Wealth Changes Across Net-Worth Levels

00:16:16 Why People Rarely Fall Down the Wealth Ladder

00:21:00 Spending Rules and the 0.01% Rule

00:29:25 Career Choices, Income, and Opportunity Costs

00:37:42 Investment Risks and Ascending the Wealth Ladder

00:44:29 Money, Happiness, and Life Beyond Wealth

More From Morningstar

Jim O’Shaughnessy: Investing Lessons From a Lifelong Learner

Dan Haylett: ‘The Retirement You Didn’t See Coming’

David Bach: ‘Start Enjoying Your Life Sooner’

If you have a comment or a guest idea, please email us at TheLongView@Morningstar.com.

Follow Christine Benz (@christine_benz) and Ben Johnson (@MstarBenJohnson) on X, and Christine Benz, Amy Arnott, and Ben Johnson on LinkedIn. Visit Morningstar.com for new research and insights from Christine, Ben, and Amy. Subscribe to Christine’s weekly newsletter, Improving Your Finances.

If you want more Morningstar podcasts, check out The Morning Filter and Investing Insights.

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Our guest on the podcast today is Stefan Sharkansky. Stefan is a Ph.D. statistician who specializes in finance. He wrote a provocatively titled paper, “The Only Other Spending Rule Article You Will Ever Need,” which was published in the Financial Analyst Journal. Stefan has also developed a related website called, The Best Third, designed to help people with their retirement spending plans and portfolio structures. In addition, he developed and operates the website PersonalFund.com, which provides proprietary cost analysis of mutual funds to financial advisors. Stefan has a B.A. in mathematics from the University of Wisconsin-Madison, an M.S. in computer science from Stanford University, and an M.S. and a Ph.D. in statistics from the University of Washington.

Episode Highlights

00:00:00 Introduction

00:02:43 Why the 4% Rule Can Lead to Underspending

00:07:23 TIPS Ladders vs. Retirement Annuities

00:08:48 Reducing Fixed Spending and Stock Allocation

00:12:09 Why Individual TIPS Beat TIPS Funds

00:18:53 A Formula for Stock Portfolio Withdrawals

00:23:54 Historical Returns vs. Monte Carlo Simulations

00:29:30 Should Retirees Diversify Globally?

00:32:23 Leaving a Bequest Without Underspending

More From The Long View

Brett Arends: Worried About Outliving Your Money? There’s an Answer

Dana Anspach: Don’t Let Fear Ruin Your Retirement

Bill Bengen: ‘Inflation Is the Greatest Enemy of Retirees’

If you have a comment or a guest idea, please email us at TheLongView@Morningstar.com.

Follow Christine Benz (@christine_benz) and Ben Johnson (@MstarBenJohnson) on X, and Christine Benz, Amy Arnott, and Ben Johnson on LinkedIn. Visit Morningstar.com for new research and insights from Christine, Ben, and Amy. Subscribe to Christine’s weekly newsletter, Improving Your Finances.

If you want more Morningstar podcasts, check out The Morning Filter and Investing Insights.

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Our guest on the podcast today is Ryan Frederick, an author, speaker, and entrepreneur focused on the intersection of place and healthy longevity. As founder and CEO of HERE, he provides content courses and coaching in place planning, a holistic, research-based approach to help people find the right place for every stage of life. He’s also the author of Right Place, Right Time, a book that helps individuals think through housing decisions for the second half of life. In addition, Ryan provides strategy consulting to organizations looking to create better places, including Fortune 500 companies, institutional investors, health systems, and housing developers and operators. He’s also a member of the Advisory Council for the Stanford Center on Longevity. He previously served on the National Advisory Board of Johns Hopkins University School of Nursing and was a member of the Bipartisan Policy Center Task Force on Health and Housing. He’s a graduate of Princeton University and Stanford Business School.

Episode Highlights

00:00:00 Senior Living, Longevity, and 100-Year Life Planning

00:08:39 How Place Influences Health as You Age

00:10:37 The Four Pillars of Place Planning

00:16:19 Income’s Impact on Housing, Home Equity, and Limitations of Aging in Place

00:30:01 Place Planning Tools and Building Community

00:41:43 New Housing Models, Cohousing, and Age Diversity

00:49:13 Continuing Care Retirement Communities and Healthy Aging Dashboards

More From Morningstar

Your Retirement Countdown, With Christine Benz

Harry Margolis: How to Confront Aging Challenges Head-On

Joy Loverde: Planning Ahead for Care Needs as You Get Older

If you have a comment or a guest idea, please email us at TheLongView@Morningstar.com.

Follow Christine Benz (@christine_benz) and Ben Johnson (@MstarBenJohnson) on X, and Christine Benz, Amy Arnott, and Ben Johnson on LinkedIn. Visit Morningstar.com for new research and insights from Christine, Ben, and Amy. Subscribe to Christine’s weekly newsletter, Improving Your Finances.

If you want more Morningstar podcasts, check out The Morning Filter and Investing Insights.

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Our guest on the podcast today is Brett Arends. Brett has been a columnist for MarketWatch, The Wall Street Journal, and other Dow Jones publications since 2007. His regular column for MarketWatch is called ROI, and he has also written for SmartMoney, TheStreet.com, and the Boston Herald. In addition, Brett has written several books including Storm-Proof Your Money: Weather Any Economy, Rebuild Your Portfolio, Protect Your Future. Brett took a double first in history at Cambridge University and did postgraduate research at Oxford University. He’s also a chartered financial consultant.

Episode Highlights

00:00:00 Financial Journalism Origins and Early Stock-Picking Lessons

00:11:12 Comparing the AI Boom to Dot-Com Bubble

00:21:53 Diversification, Index Funds, and AI Bubble Risk

00:26:25 Why Private Securities Are a Bad Deal

00:33:09 Why TIPS Are Attractive Under Rising Inflation

00:38:10 Generating Retirement Income and Immediate Annuities

00:45:35 Social Security and Policy Risks

More From Morningstar

GQG: Why We Are Still in an AI Stock Market Bubble

Jeremy Grantham: ‘Almost Everything Looks More Attractive Than the US Equity Market’

How to Use TIPS in Your Portfolio

If you have a comment or a guest idea, please email us at TheLongView@Morningstar.com.

Follow Christine Benz (@christine_benz) and Ben Johnson (@MstarBenJohnson) on X, and Christine Benz, Amy Arnott, and Ben Johnson on LinkedIn. Visit Morningstar.com for new research and insights from Christine, Ben, and Amy. Subscribe to Christine’s weekly newsletter, Improving Your Finances.

If you want more Morningstar podcasts, check out The Morning Filter and Investing Insights.

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Today on the podcast, we welcome back Dana Anspach. Dana’s the author of a new book about retirement called Living Off Your Acorns: Your Guide to the Four Phases of Retirement. This is her third book. Earlier books are Control Your Retirement Destiny and Social Security Sense. Dana is also founder and CEO of the financial planning firm Sensible Money, based in Scottsdale, Arizona, and she has been practicing as a financial planner since 1995. In addition, Dana’s the author of the lecture series, How to Plan for the Perfect Retirement, available on The Great Courses, and she has been blogging about her own retirement journey on The Retirement Manifesto website.

Episode Highlights

00:00:00 The “Pre-Go” Phase, Unplanned Early Retirement, and Working Longer

00:10:19 “Retirement Red Zone” Risks, Two-Bucket Strategy, and Building a Bond Ladder

00:17:34 Balancing Guaranteed Income and Annuities

00:21:54 TIPS, Cash Flow Projections, and Getting Comfortable Spending

00:31:33 Strategies for Long-Term Care

00:36:19 Planning the Transition to Retirement

00:40:34 Estimating Longevity, Lost Decade Potential, and Inflation Risk

00:46:11 Minimizing Taxes and Mitigating Financial Fraud Risk

More From Morningstar

Dana Anspach and Fritz Gilbert: ‘This Is What a Joyful Retirement Could Feel Like’

Adam Grossman: Asset Allocation Is an Investor’s Best Defense

Bill Bengen: ‘Inflation Is the Greatest Enemy of Retirees’

If you have a comment or a guest idea, please email us at TheLongView@Morningstar.com.

Follow Christine Benz (@christine_benz) and Ben Johnson (@MstarBenJohnson) on X, and Christine Benz, Amy Arnott, and Ben Johnson on LinkedIn. Visit Morningstar.com for new research and insights from Christine, Ben, and Amy. Subscribe to Christine’s weekly newsletter, Improving Your Finances.

If you want more Morningstar podcasts, check out The Morning Filter and Investing Insights.

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.