Money For the Rest of Us
Money For the Rest of Us
A personal finance and investing podcast on money, how it works, how to invest it and how to live without worrying about it. J. David Stein is a former Chief Investment Strategist and money manager. For close to two decades, he has been teaching individuals and institutions how to invest and handle their finances in ways that are simple to understand. More info at moneyfortherestofus.com
- 38 minutes 31 secondsIs It Too Late to Invest in Gold? with Max Belmont - FEG Insight Bridge
Greg Dowling of FEG interviews Max Belmont, a gold specialist and portfolio manager at First Eagle Investments. Greg and Max discuss the historical, philosophical, and practical reasons for owning gold.
Topics covered include:
- Where does gold’s reputation as a safe haven come from, and why it trades differently than other commodities.
- How gold differs from other asset classes including Bitcoin, which is sometimes referred to as digital gold.
- How we should think about gold when including it in our investment portfolios.
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Show Notes
The Golden Age with Max Belmont - FEG Insight Bridge episode page
Related Episodes
431: The Long-term Bullish Case for Gold
316: Paper, Rocks, or Digits—What Makes the Best Money
263: Should You Invest In Gold?
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2 April 2025, 4:27 pm - 24 minutes 23 secondsShould You Investment 100% of Your Retirement in Closed-End Funds?
We compare three approaches to closed-end fund investing: Opportunistic trading, the buy and hold income factory, and a systematic approach of selling closed-end funds after 5% gains.
We also explore the pros and cons of closed-end funds relative to open-end mutual funds and ETFs.
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Show Notes
The Closed-End Fund Market, 2023—Investment Company Institute
How to Invest in Closed-End Funds—Money for the Rest of Us
Investing in Closed-End Funds Course—Money for the Rest of Us
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26 March 2025, 4:26 pm - 22 minutes 39 secondsWhat Trump Wants Part 2 - How Trade Deficits and Capital Flows Can Harm or Help Countries
How trade deficits are making the U.S. poorer, while in the past they have made the U.S. wealthier.
Topics covered include:
- Two ways countries can increase their competitiveness
- How savings always equals investment
- Why excess savings flows to the U.S. leading to a drop in U.S. domestic savings
- Why the U.S. current trade situation could lead to a debt crisis
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Show Notes
Why U.S. Debt Must Continue to Rise by Michael Pettis—Carnegie Endowment
A User’s Guide to Restructuring the Global Trading System by Stephen Miran—Hudson Bay Capital
Is Peter Navarro Wrong on Trade? by Michael Pettis—Carnegie Endowment
Related Episodes
515: Tariffs and the Mar-a-Lago Accord: What Trump Really Wants
470: How the Economy Really Works: Savings, Investing, Consuming and Market Distortions
144: Trade Deficits Aren’t Always Bad. Trade Wars Are.
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19 March 2025, 5:14 pm - 28 minutes 49 secondsTariffs and the Mar-a-Lago Accord: What Trump Really Wants
How the Trump administration is using tariffs as a negotiating tool to weaken the U.S. dollar and increase the global competitiveness of U.S. manufacturers.
Topics covered include:
- Why U.S. stocks are falling, and recession risk is increasing
- How the U.S. dollar as the reserve currency is becoming a burden on the U.S.
- How the Trump administration aims to reduce its trade deficit and make it less attractive for foreign governments to own U.S. assets
- What are the risks of trying to weaken the U.S. dollar
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Show Notes
A User’s Guide to Restructuring the Global Trading System by Stephen Miran—Hudson Bay Capital
Wonking Out: The Mysteries of the Almighty Dollar by Paul Krugman—The New York Times
On the Persistence of the China Shock by David Autor, David Dorn, and Gordon H. Hanson—NBER
Manufacturing, value added (% of GDP)—World Bank Data Group | Prosperity Data360
Two cheers for Germany’s fiscal reform by Neil Shearing—Capital Economics
Related Episodes
404: Why Is the U.S. Dollar So Strong? Will It Continue?
322: Why Currency Exchange Rates Matter
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12 March 2025, 6:18 pm - 48 minutes 15 secondsWhy Japanese Stocks Could Outperform with Howard Smith - FEG Insight Bridge
This week on episode 514, we share a conversation between Howard Smith of Indus Capital and Greg Dowling of FEG Investment Advisors on why Japan could surprise investors over the next decade with strong investment returns. David introduces the episode by sharing his key takeaways from the discussion.
FEG Investment Advisor is David's former institutional advisory firm, where he worked for 17 years, before founding Money for the Rest of Us. Greg Dowling is Chief Investment Officer of FEG, and David's former business partner and colleague.
Topics covered in the episode include:
- The false narrative that Japan is a difficult place to invest with subpar returns
- Why Japan's national debt problem is not as worrisome as the U.S. national debt
- Why the Japanese yen is tremendously undervalued
- How Japan's corporate governance has improved
- Opportunities in Japanese technology industries
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Show Notes
Berkshire Hathaway 2024 Annual Letter
Related Episodes
468: Lessons from Japan’s 34 Years of Stock Market Underperformance
235: What If Home Prices Always Declined
178: Japan and the Impact of A Shrinking Population
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5 March 2025, 6:38 pm - 23 minutes 18 secondsCrypto: Innovation or Insanity? Meme Coins, Hacks, and Strategic Bitcoin Reserves
We consider the incongruency of a U.S. Strategic Bitcoin Reserve, the latest crypto exchange hack, and how most participants lost money on the Trump meme coin. Given all that, we review some areas where cryptocurrency is helping individuals and businesses.
Topics Covered
- What is the U.S. Strategic Petroleum Reserve
- Why it makes little sense for the U.S. and individual states to create and participate in a Strategic Bitcoin Reserve
- What led to the latest and largest cryptocurrency exchange hack in history
- How financial and other data breaches impacted over 1 billion people last year, costing over $15 billion
- How quantum computers could disrupt the security of cryptocurrency and traditional financial systems
- Why most speculators lose money on meme coins
- What are some current ways cryptocurrency is helping individuals and businesses achieve greater financial stability and lower costs
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Show Notes
All Information (Except Text) for S.4912 - BITCOIN Act of 2024—Congress.gov
House Bill No. 4087—Michigan Legislature
2025 South Dakota Legislature House Bill 1202—South Dakota Legislature
State of Arizona Senate SB 1025—Arizona State Legislature
Quantum computers and the Bitcoin blockchain by Itan Barmes, Bram Bosch and Olaf Haalstra—Deloitte
Cost of a Data Breach Report 2024—IBM
ITRC Annual Data Breach Report—Identity Theft Resource Center
Post by @realDonaldTrump—Truth Social
Memecoin scandal rocks Argentina’s Javier Milei by Ciara Nugen—The Financial Times
Related Episodes
488: Should You Invest in an Ethereum ETF?
462: Now Should You Buy a Bitcoin ETF?
373: Are Stablecoins Safe? Should You Own Them?
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26 February 2025, 5:28 pm - 25 minutes 44 secondsUnlocking Hidden Returns: How Mortality Credits Boost Retirement Income
How using a deferred income annuity can increase retirement income compared to an immediate annuity or a bond ladder.
Topics covered include:
- How immediate annuities and deferred income annuities work
- What are mortality credits, and why they are a key diversifier
- Examples of how mortality credits lead to a 1% to 1.5% higher annualized return over several decades
- How to decide whether an annuity is right for you
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Show Notes
Related Episodes
464: More Ways to Lock in Higher Yields in Case Interest Rates Fall
455: Easier Investing, Richer Life: TIPS Ladders to Annuities
407: Worry-Free Retirement Investing
279: Why All Retirees Should Consider an Income Annuity
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19 February 2025, 4:44 pm - 19 minutes 32 secondsWhat Are Sovereign Wealth Funds and Does the U.S. Need One?
The U.S. and the UK each announced they were establishing sovereign wealth funds. We explore the purposes and types of sovereign wealth funds, how they invest, and some concerns with the U.S. establishing one.
Topics covered include:
- What are the four types of sovereign wealth funds, and why the U.S. doesn't fit the typical use case
- How sovereign wealth funds navigate between politics and generating high returns
- Why a U.S. sovereign wealth fund, depending on its size, could crowd out other investment capital, leading to lower investment returns
- How the U.S. federal government already invests in its economy without a sovereign wealth fund
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Show Notes
A Plan For Establishing A United States Sovereign Wealth Fund—The White House
International Forum of Sovereign Wealth Funds
Guardians releases 2024 Annual Report—NZ Super Fund
UK Wealth Fund Brings Government And Private Investment Together by Efraim Chalamish—Global Finance
2024 Invesco Global Sovereign Asset Management Study—Invesco
Top 100 Largest Sovereign Wealth Fund Rankings by Total Assets—Sovereign Wealth Fund Institute
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12 February 2025, 6:15 pm - 50 minutes 41 secondsContrarian Investing with GMO's Ben Inker - FEG Insight Bridge
This week on episode 510, we share a conversation between Ben Inker of GMO and Greg Dowling of FEG Investment Advisors on contrarian investing, deep value stocks, and the rise of passive investing. David introduces the episode by sharing his key takeaways from the discussion.
FEG Investment Advisor is David's former institutional advisory firm, where he worked for 17 years, before founding Money for the Rest of Us. Greg Dowling is Chief Investment Officer of FEG, and David's former business partner and colleague.
Topics discussed in the episode include:
- How experienced professionals can have a significant influence on one's career, such as the impact Jeremy Grantham and David Swenson had on Ben's career
- The impact of the rise of passive investing
- Investment opportunities in quality and deep-value stocks
- The distinct risks of the high concentration in large-cap tech stocks
Show Notes
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Related Episodes
491: The Five Layers of Investing
419: How to Make Portfolio and Asset Allocation Changes
401: Why Diversifying Your Portfolio Feels Awful
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5 February 2025, 6:25 pm - 26 minutes 20 secondsHow to Invest in Private Credit / Direct Lending
We explore what private credit, or direct lending, is and how to invest in it. We also show how it is similar and different from investing in leverage loans and CLOs.
Topics covered include:
- Why more companies are staying private
- How private credit differs from the leverage loan market
- Why private credit is growing so rapidly
- What are the benefits to private credit investing
- What are liquid and less liquid ways to invest in private credit
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Show Notes
The Credit Markets Go Dark by Jared A. Ellias and Elisabeth de Fontenay—SSRN
The Lost Promise of Private Ordering by Cathy Hwang, Yaron Nili, and Jeremy McClane—SSRN
Investments Mentioned
VanEck BDC Income ETF (BIZD)
Barings Corporate Investors Fund (MCI)
Long Angle
Cliffwater Enhanced Lending Fund
BlackRock Private Credit Fund (BDEBT)
BondBloxx Private Credit CLO ETF (PCMM)
Virtus Seix AAA Private Credit CLO ETF (PCLO)
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29 January 2025, 6:10 pm - 23 minutes 2 secondsWho Should Bear the Cost? Socialized versus Market-Based Risk Management
Natural disasters are becoming more severe and costly—who should bear the financial burden? We explore the tension between socialized risk and market-based insurance.
Topics covered include:
- The surprisingly large percentage of natural disaster losses that are uninsured
- Why natural disaster severity is increasing
- A deep dive into the complexity of the home insurance market, including state-run home insurance plans
- How California has tried to update its home insurance regulations, leading to potentially greater coverage but higher premiums
- How socialized insurance relieves the cost burden to consumers but can also lead to riskier behavior and adverse risk selection
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Show Notes
The World Is Getting Riskier. Americans Don’t Want to Pay for It. by Greg Ip—The Wall Street Journal
Related Episodes
481: How to Navigate the Crippling Home Insurance Crisis
444: Natural Disasters: Are They Truly Increasing?
Investments Mentioned
Stone Ridge High Yield Reinsurance Risk Premium fund (SHRMX)
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