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Tom and Don are Talking Real Money

Money and funny? Yes, the two can go together. Toss in honesty and transparency, mix with true financial science, and you have the most unique investing podcast in America. Listen as two of the country's top financial broadcasters and educators show you how to stop playing with your hard-earned money and start investing it for YOUR future. Tom Cock was the host of the PBS-TV show “Serious Money” for many years, and Don McDonald hosted a nationally syndicated financial talk show since 1988. Today, Tom and Don are still dishing out simple, straightforward financial advice on one of the most popular investing podcasts in the world.

Recent Episodes

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The $315K Fork
Aug. 12, 2026

The $315K Fork

Fresh from passing the CFP exam, Roxy Butner joins Tom to work through a classic retirement fork: take the richer lifetime teacher pension, or accept a $315,000 lump sum and invest it. The math matters, but so do longevity, survivor benefits, liquidity, investing temperament, and the temptation to spend the pile.

Next comes a clever tax-payment question: can IRA withholding replace quarterly estimated payments during Roth-conversion years? They explain why paying conversion taxes from taxable m
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Retirement Radish?
Aug. 11, 2026

Retirement Radish?

Just when you thought America had invented every possible retirement account, along comes the Radish. Don and Tom dig into the proposed employer-funded savings plan, the man who helped create the 401(k), and whether workers really need another tax-advantaged vegetable in an already crowded garden. The practical answer is simpler: start saving now. A Roth IRA and one broad global stock ETF can do more good than waiting for the perfect account—or learning every acronym in the retirement alphabet.
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Worst Case, Ready
Aug. 10, 2026

Worst Case, Ready

Financial Physics rule five asks the uncomfortable question every investor should answer: what is the worst that could happen? Don and Tom revisit leverage in 1929, the crashes of 2000, 2008, and 2020, and the practical defenses that keep a bad market from becoming a ruined plan. Then the questions turn to retirement planning: managing IRMAA while considering Roth conversions, weighing long-term-care insurance against self-insuring, and judging whether a $1.6 million portfolio can support a mod
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Five Questions, No Magic
Aug. 7, 2026

Five Questions, No Magic

Don opens with a spirited defense of AI as a creative tool—especially when it makes ideas possible that would otherwise be too expensive or time-consuming. Technology changes the jobs around us, but learning to direct it responsibly can expand what one person can make. Then it’s on to listener questions: how charitable giving from a retirement account might work better through an IRA and qualified charitable distributions, whether dividends and bond interest should be reinvested, and why money
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Chargeback to the Future
Aug. 6, 2026

Chargeback to the Future

Chargebacks were built to protect consumers from stolen cards and crooked merchants. Now they’re increasingly used when a subscription surprises someone, a restaurant disappoints, or buyer’s remorse sets in. Don and Tom sort real fraud from “friendly fraud”—and explain why the first call should usually go to the merchant, not the bank. They also look at confusing statement names, recurring subscriptions, the cost merchants absorb when a dispute lands, and why credit cards generally provide stro
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Three Funds, One Risk Dial
Aug. 5, 2026

Three Funds, One Risk Dial

VT, DFAW, and AVGE all promise global diversification—but they take different roads to get there. Don and Tom compare cost, holdings, factor tilts, and the extra risk behind higher expected returns, then explain why the “best” one-fund solution depends on how much risk you actually need. Then a listener asks why advisors build portfolios with many funds when one might do. The answer runs through tax-loss harvesting, rebalancing, personalization, and the fine line between thoughtful design and a
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