Money For the Rest of Us

Latest Episodes:

How to Protect Your Savings May 06, 2020

Show notes

How to protect your savings from monetary threats like devaluation. Why high yield savings accounts exist, and are they worth it.

Topics covered include:

Why Lebanon defaulted on its national debt and announced it will devalue its currency by 57%.
Why some depositors in Lebanon will probably lose some of their bank savings.
What investors can do to protect themselves from currency devaluations.
What are stablecoins and why are they useful.
Why some online banks pay above-average interest rates on savings accounts.
Why banks need to attract new deposits even though they create deposits when they make a loan.

Thanks to Mint Mobile and Policygenius for sponsoring the episode.

For show notes and more information on this episode click here.

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

Why Negative Prices Exist and What They Can Teach Us Apr 29, 2020

Show notes

Why the oil price fell below zero and what are other examples of negative prices. What lessons can we learn from negative prices.

Topics covered include:

How oil futures work and why the oil future prices fell below zero for the first time ever.
Why has the United States Oil ETF (USO) lost so much money.
How ETF authorized participants create new shares only so they can be shorted.
How storage problems for oil and electricity can lead to negative prices.
How negative interest rates are another form of negative prices.
Why sellers will pay buyers to deliver a service to them.
What financial lessons can we learn from negative prices.

Thanks to LinkedIn Learning and The Investor's Podcast for sponsoring the episode.

For show notes and more information on this episode click here.

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

Federal Reserve Insolvency and Monetizing the National Debt Apr 22, 2020

Show notes

How central banks can become insolvent and why it can lead to hyperinflation. What are four ways the Federal Reserve and the U.S. Treasury could monetize the national debt.

Topics covered include:

What are the major asset and liabilities of the Federal Reserve
How does the Federal Reserve make a profit and what happens if it suffers a loss.
How has the Federal Reserve has significantly expanded the types of assets it will hold and what are the risks.
What could cause the Federal Reserve and other central banks to become insolvent.
What are the constraints central banks face.
What are four ways the U.S. national debt could be monetized.
How investors can protect themselves against central bank insolvency.

Thanks to The Great Courses Plus and Policygenius for sponsoring the episode.

For show notes and more information on this episode click here.

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

How Stories Go Viral and Drive Economic Events Apr 15, 2020

Show notes

How the stories we tell ourselves lead to economic change. What are current pandemic related narratives that are impacting financial markets and the economy.

Topics covered include:

Examples of mathematical models for epidemics.
What are the risks when the global economy is opened again.
Under what circumstances do individuals rely on anecdotal evidence rather than statistics.
What are some propositions that underly how economic narratives spread.
What are some examples of major narratives that impact the economy.
How humans have a bias toward action and how to deal with that when the best course is to stay in place.
Should investors be increasing their stock exposure now that the markets are rallying and central banks are taking aggressive action.

Thanks to Policygenius and LinkedIn for sponsoring the episode.

For show notes and more information on this episode click here.

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

Decision Making: Uncertainty versus Risk Apr 01, 2020

Show notes

What is the difference between risk and uncertainty and how our decision making approach should differ under each scenario. Why pandemics are highly uncertain and should be treated as such.

Topics covered include:

How the coronavirus pandemic is far worse than other pandemics this century.
How humans have a difficult time accepting that things won't return to normal.
What is the difference between risk and uncertainty.
How we make decisions should differ if something is uncertain versus risky.
What is the minimax regret approach to making decisions under uncertainty.
How stories help us deal with uncertainty.
How the story driving financial markets has changed.
What is the duration and severity of bear markets during a recession and how large have bear market stock rallies been.
What will it take for the pandemic to end and to be more confident about the future.

Thanks to Mint Mobile and Grammarly for sponsoring the episode.

For show notes and more information on this episode click here.

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

Will Infinite Money Save the Economy Mar 25, 2020

Show notes

What central banks such as the Federal Reserve and federal governments are doing to counteract the negative impact of the pandemic related economic shutdown. What are the risks of this massive monetary and fiscal stimulus and how to mitigate those risks.

Topics covered include:

How central banks have the capacity to create an infinite amount of money.
How the Federal Reserve is using its money-printing ability to stabilize the financial system and reduce the negative impact of the pandemic related economic shutdown.
What are the mechanics of quantitative easing.
What are examples of stimulus programs during the Great Depression that didn't work because they were too focused on social engineering.
How massive central bank and government stimulus could lead to inflation or deflation.
How inflation-indexed bonds such as Treasury Inflation Protection Securities can help reduce inflation risk, and why owning individual TIPs is particularly attractive right now.
Why it's okay for investors with a long time horizon to ride out the current market turmoil without reducing risk.
What are current and leading economic indicators suggesting about the severity of the economic shutdown and the potential for recovery.

Thanks to LinkedIn Learning and Rad Power Bikes for sponsoring the episode.

For show notes and more information on this episode click here.

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

How To Survive the Coronavirus (Covid-19) Shutdown Mar 18, 2020

Show notes

How to avoid ruin and help others avoid ruin as the economy shuts down to slow the spread of the coronavirus.

Topics covered include:

What is the precautionary principle and how can it help us make important decisions with regards to the coronavirus pandemic.
How many people could be infected with Covid-19 in the next 30 to 60 days at the current daily growth rate.
Why investment managers are selling assets to reduce their market exposure.
Should individual investors be increasing or reducing their exposure to the stock market in the current market environment.
How recent actions by the Federal Reserve suggest they think a U.S. recession is imminent.
What can individuals locked down at home do to survive mentally and emotionally.
What we can do to help businesses avoid ruin during the pandemic crisis.

Thanks to Netsuite and Rad Power Bikes for sponsoring the episode. Text the word RAD to the number 64-000 to get a free accessory with the purchase of a bike.

For show notes and more information on this episode click here.

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

What Are Closed-End Funds and How Do You Invest in Them? Mar 11, 2020

Show notes

Why closed-end funds are David's favorite investment vehicle, particularly during market panics. What are the unique characteristics of these funds and what are successful strategies for investing them.

Topics covered include:

How closed-end funds differ from open-end mutual funds and ETFs.
Why most closed-end funds are bond funds and use leverage.
Why closed-end funds can sell at large discounts and premiums.
What are managed distribution programs.
How to evaluate and select closed-end funds.
What is the Income Factory approach to closed-end fund investing.

Thanks to LinkedIn and The HPScast for sponsoring the episode.

For show notes and more information on this episode click here.

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

Market Timing Versus Time in the Market Mar 04, 2020

Show notes

Why most investors practice both market timing and time in the market. Why it is okay to reduce stock exposure given the coronavirus pandemic threat.

What would a stock portfolio return that misses the best or worst days and how likely is that.
How do rolling 30-year stock returns differ depending on the starting point.
Why are stocks likely to outperform bonds over the next 30 years.
What is sequence of return risk.
What is market timing.
Why long-term investors should never move completely out of the stock market, but it is still okay to adjust stock exposure based on market conditions.
What are some additional rules of thumb for market timing.
How the coronavirus pandemic has increased financial and economic risks and what to do about it.

Thanks to Policygenius and Mint Mobile for sponsoring the episode.

For show notes and more information on this episode click here.

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

Will Early Retirements Crash the Economy Feb 26, 2020

Show notes

Almost half of Millennials want to retire early. Will that hurt economic growth? There were similar concerns in the 1920s that early retirement would wreck the economy. In fact, there was significant pushback against retiring at all due to fears retirements would destroy the economy. Yet, the Great Depression still came. In this episode, we consider what ended the Roaring Twenties, caused the Great Depression, and how early retirements impact the economy.

Topics covered include:

What is the paradox of thrift and how does it apply to early retirement.
Why the 1920s were called the Roaring Twenties.
Why the work culture in the 1920s was for workers to not retire, but "die in the harness."
What caused the Great Depression.
How economies and job markets adapt over time.
How waves of early retirements could change the economy.

Thanks to LinkedIn Learning and Vistaprint for sponsoring the episode. Use promo code David to get free shipping from Vistaprint.

For show notes and more information on this episode click here.

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