Investing Trivia Time
This lively episode of Talking Real Money features trivia-packed investing fun, smart listener questions, and sharp commentary from Don and Tom. They dive into a Wall Street Journal quiz on investing genius, exploring surprising historical returns and market myths. Listener calls span a range of financial planning topics—from special needs trusts and Roth IRAs for kids to emergency fund placement and ETF selection.
0:04 Don and Tom banter about working weekends and boomers in the office
1:55 Wall Street Journal quiz: Are you a stock market genius?
3:20 Which stock created the most wealth in 100 years? (Hint: it wasn’t Apple)
4:19 Why Altria (Philip Morris) beat the rest
5:31 Berkshire Hathaway drops 99%—would Buffett still beat the market?
6:37 Show mission: make investing simple, not complex
8:28 Caller Valerie: Investing for a daughter with disabilities using Vanguard ETFs
10:24 Portfolio review and discussion of special needs trusts
11:20 Structuring brokerage accounts with trust beneficiaries
13:31 Caller Steve: Roth IRAs for sons, target date vs. all-equity funds
14:36 Tom critiques Schwab’s target date funds—Vanguard preferred
16:20 Future value of $10K over 50 years at 10%—retirement math
17:20 Caller Sam: Can he gift stock into a Roth IRA? (Spoiler: No, but workarounds exist)
18:59 Economist “Felicity Foresight” exercise—guess the ending balance after 100 years of perfect timing
20:34 The shocking power of compound returns: $10 quintillion
22:15 Geography jokes, the U.S. “Middle East,” and why cruises go to Juneau
23:39 Written Question (Bruce): Keeping emergency funds in a Schwab money market fund
25:10 Online bank trust vs. FDIC insurance—why it’s safe
27:51 Don calls Tom a “premature curmudgeon”
28:30 Caller West: Should he add SGOV to his BND bond portfolio?
29:52 BND vs SGOV explained—behavior during rate changes
30:37 Back to WSJ quiz: investing trivia and early company names
31:31 Bezos almost named Amazon “Kadabra”; Google was almost “Backrub”
33:20 What’s a googol? And why Google isn’t even the biggest number
34:48 Shoeshine story: how Joe Kennedy dodged the ‘29 crash
36:39 Caller Diana: Investing for four grandkids—gold coins vs stocks
38:41 Why diversified ETFs beat Boeing stock or gold coins
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