Ep. 2017: The Eggs-in-One-Basket Conundrum

SPEAKER_00 0:42

Yes, we're talking real money, money, money. Hi, everybody. Welcome

Rule 17: Diversify Your Investments

SPEAKER_00 0:46

to Monday. Mondays are, at least for a few more weeks, readings from the good book, the book of financial physics, where we talk about the laws of financial physics from a book written by some whacked guy named Don McDonald. Who knows why he did it, but he did it a long time ago, and then he did it again, and then he did it again. He just keeps doing the darn thing. And today we're going to uh look into I think it's Rule 17. Is did I get my number correct this time? It's the first time I've ever had to count this high, so yes, this is 17. Oh, by the way, I'm Don McDonald. Oh, coincidentally, and that's Tom Cock, who's going to give us the today's reading from the good work.

SPEAKER_01 1:28

And the author makes it clear that this is a pretty important one. Pretty important. Eggs in one basket conundrum. Yeah, don't you love the name? Then you listen more carefully. Ah, this is a fascinating yet I think um people get it. Some people, not everybody, and they also believe things they get some misconceptions about uh being diversified not to work.

SPEAKER_00 1:54

As the song said, basically the song was talking about 1999, Enron, WorldCom, and Delta. People who own those three stocks considered themselves reasonably well diversified.

SPEAKER_01 2:05

Yeah, I can I I've I think I've told the story previously. I was at a conference, a money show conference with Paul Merriman in about 1999. At said conference, he got up and said, you need to diversify. You got to own small, you gotta own value, you gotta own international. And about half, this is no joke, about half of the room got up and walked out. And I was asking people at the exit, what are they what are you doing? And they said, anybody knows you just buy five tech stocks and you're rich. You don't need to own all that other stuff. Forget it. That's stupid. And they meant it in terms of the stuff. Yeah, WorldCom.

When Individual Stocks Go to Zero

SPEAKER_01 2:39

Exactly. And how did that work out? So let's talk, let's unpack a bit what about diversification that is really important. The chapter really, the author talks about, you mentioned it, WorldCom Delta, and Enron, right? That these are stocks that own a great. Right, you own three major industries.

SPEAKER_00 2:58

You own telecommunications, because WorldCom was MCI WorldCom. Remember, it was MCI and Sprint and ATT. Um then um Delta was the biggest airline at the time. They were they they were praised by everyone in the industry. And Enron was this gigantic energy conglomerate that could do no wrong.

SPEAKER_01 3:19

Well, no, they not do they were voted the most innovative company like three out of the last four years there in existence. Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 3:25

Yeah. On and up really smart. Their executives were singing their praises even after they were bankrupt.

SPEAKER_01 3:32

And they were telling people the video, I think, is still available online up till the end when people still held Enron stock in their 401ks. Should you keep it or sell it? And they got and said, You keep it. Hell yeah, keep. I mean, I can remember the chant from it insane. Insane. And so, yeah, putting all of your eggs in one basket in this regard is can be it's not just the loss, it's the complete loss. I mean, you could go to zero.

SPEAKER_00 4:01

And that's crazy. In every one of those cases, if you didn't sell before the end, the complete end, you did go to zero in every case.

SPEAKER_01 4:10

Yeah, and we have a lot of people.

SPEAKER_00 4:12

I mean, Delta people go, wait, Delta's still here. Not that version. No, that version went to zero, and then they issued new stock.

SPEAKER_01 4:19

Yeah, and we have this comp we had this company, the largest trust bank in the United States of America. And you can see me interview the then CEO of a company called Washington Mutual that was going up, up, and up, and then down, down, and down. And in 2008, they went bust, and a company called Chase came in, took it all over, and that was that. So yeah, that stock also went to zero, basically. I mean, so yes, you can lose everything if you hold individual stocks. Now, convincing people of that oftentimes I found is extremely difficult. Let me give you a couple examples. In Seattle, guess among other companies people hold individually is. You're kind of Seattle centric. Yeah, well, because I know it. I see that I hear the stories every day, right?

SPEAKER_00 5:07

Let me see which which one you're gonna you're gonna go for. You didn't give me any clues yet. Nope. So I'm going with Microsoft.

SPEAKER_01 5:14

Yeah, you know I like to poke you in the eye with this one anyway, right? So um Microsoft is an extremely successful software company, although they recently announced they're going to lay off 60,000 people for a variety of reasons. A lot of people. But there have been periods of time, the the 2000s, for example, when Steve Ballmer took out this over when the stock did nothing for 10 years. In addition, you may or not remember this. Wait a minute, hold on.

SPEAKER_00 5:45

Wait, Steve Baller did nothing for 10 years?

SPEAKER_01 5:48

Nothing.

SPEAKER_00 5:49

The stock, you can go look at the basically the same as the Clippers.

SPEAKER_01 5:53

I I was hoping for that point to be made, and I appreciate it. Yes. But here's one of the reasons why. You can go back and look, and I think this is on the internet too. Bill Gates at one point said the internet is not the future, and we're not focusing on that. That was about like 95 or 96. The company said, nah, that's that's not gonna be a big thing. We're gonna keep selling our software. That's way bigger than this thing called the internet. And they were way off, right? And then they've made good bets and bad bets, like companies do. And people still think they're the end all. Well, they're gonna end it all if all of your money's in it because someday that company will go away. I don't know when, but I wouldn't bet on it. That's here. But how about okay, you want me in a different city? How about Atlanta? How about Coca-Cola in Atlanta?

SPEAKER_00 6:38

Oh, they and Delta own Atlanta.

SPEAKER_01 6:40

They own Atlanta, and people own the stock there because I know the CEO, right? I know the company, been very successful. Sure, they would never make a mistake like, let's say, New Coke, would they?

SPEAKER_00 6:53

Hmm. The logo.

SPEAKER_01 6:55

The low, there's all kinds of things. And you mentioned Enron in Houston, again, where people believed in the company, very innovative, involved in the community. This is my biggest worry that people buy into things for the wrong reason. People owned Microsoft. Would they own it if it was still, by the way, did you know this? In Albuquerque, where the company started? That's where I was. I knew that.

SPEAKER_00 7:15

Yes, yeah. University of New Mexico, yeah.

SPEAKER_01 7:17

Would they would people in Seattle think it was this great firm? No, they wouldn't care about it in Albuquerque, but because it's in Redmond, right down the street, they believe in it. That's when I worry about people owning individual stocks. It's a bad decision.

SPEAKER_00 7:32

You know, less than two years ago, uh Nadella at uh Microsoft thought that uh AI was a lot of hype. Is that what he said? Yeah. Sound familiar?

SPEAKER_01 7:43

Yeah. Stuff like that where you make the wrong decision.

Diversifying Across Asset Classes

SPEAKER_01 7:46

But that's one problem. Single stock, the author does a great job, talks about it. I think that's wonderful. A little less, and I would have liked to see more, on concentrated asset classes, right? But we're and we see this all the time. I think the author does mention in the 2000s, had you just held the S P 500, which is not diversified, you can't do that.

SPEAKER_00 8:07

Well, it's diversified, but it's not globally diversified.

SPEAKER_01 8:11

You would have ended up losing money for 10 years. That is a long time not to.

SPEAKER_00 8:16

People have totally forgotten that today. I mean, uh, you've got a huge a lot of our listeners, they call us with their portfolios and go, I have VOO and this. And we go, and you're diversified? Yeah, I have VOO. No. They forgot 2000 to 2010 when the loss was about 10%.

SPEAKER_01 8:38

And you may have started it all again here with this recent tech meltdown, the AI. Who knows? We don't know. Who knows? But you don't want to be focused on one asset class. You gotta own those big companies, you gotta own the small ones, you gotta have growth, you gotta have value, you gotta have US in all those things that we

Why Invest Beyond the U.S.?

SPEAKER_01 8:53

talk about, right? And which brings me to the last one about diversification that I think is way overlooked and way risky. I see a lot of portfolios where people only have stocks in the United States of America. Now, again, going back to other great countries and great economies, Japan in the late 1980s, which was a huge focus of many people. In fact, I think didn't Dimensional start their Japan fund in like 1990 or something like that?

SPEAKER_00 9:20

But Dimensional started a Japan fund?

SPEAKER_01 9:22

Yep, Japan only fund back then, because all everybody's putting the money.

SPEAKER_00 9:25

They don't have it anymore.

SPEAKER_01 9:26

I think I think they may still, but you I'm sure you're gonna look it up and tell me I'm wrong. But the fact is, in Japan and people in Japan had 90% of their money invested in Japanese companies, the Nikkei peaked in 1990. It did not reach the level again until about 2025. That is a very long time. So I worry, because I see a lot of your portfolios that are only in the U.S., only in large concentrated positions. You need greater diversification. Um, that could be a real problem, Don, when something goes south and you need your money, and that goes underwater by 30, 40, 50 percent, or greater. Have we seen that as well?

SPEAKER_00 10:11

I did not, you know, until you mentioned that I had no idea, and I've looked at DFA. I feel like such a dummy. I had no idea they had a Japan fund. Yeah. I don't I I may be wrong on the starting date, but they still do.

SPEAKER_01 10:24

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 10:24

Uh they have a U a UK fund, they have a Japanese small company portfolio. They get really into the weeds.

SPEAKER_01 10:33

There you go.

Are Your Funds and Custodian Safe?

SPEAKER_01 10:34

So but you got to be diversified. Let me tell give me a couple of the things that come up oftentimes about diversification that are just plain wrong. Because I hear them all the time. People tell me, well, I don't want to have all my money at dimensional funds. What if dimensional funds goes bust? I should be diversified among various mutual funds.

SPEAKER_00 10:50

No, okay. The the dimensional argument is is spurious because you don't own dimensional. You do you have no ownership interest in dimensional whatsoever if you have a fund that they run. You're not buying dimensional. You are merely hiring them to manage your portfolio, and they don't hold your portfolio. An independent custodian holds that portfolio. It cannot be commingled with the funds of Dimensional. If they did so, it would be a crime of immense proportion. Um and that no company in their right mind would do something like that or it because it puts them out of business the minute they get caught.

SPEAKER_01 11:30

Yeah, and I think the likely And then there's insurance to cover it.

unknown 11:33

Trevor Burrus, Jr.

SPEAKER_01 11:34

Thank you. And the likely outcome is if a firm, and we probably should mention somebody other dimensional, because they'll probably write me a note, were to go bust, the likely outcome is what I mentioned about uh Washington Mutual and Chase Bank. Overnight it would become T Roll Price or whatever the fund is. Right.

SPEAKER_00 11:49

Because again, the fund company, Van whether it's Vanguard or Fidelity or Schwab or iShares or whomever, they don't own those assets. You do. You own them.

SPEAKER_01 12:03

They might be as uh minute as delivering the stock shares to you. I don't know. I mean I don't know what would happen, but I'm telling you generally another company.

SPEAKER_00 12:11

Oh, it's just gonna switch to another custodian.

SPEAKER_01 12:13

Yeah, which brings me to the custodians because there's another one that comes up. I don't want to have all my money at Schwab because what if they go bust? You know, like Beyonce liked losing the six billion, right?

SPEAKER_00 12:23

What Beyonce lost last week with the Trevor Burrus, No, that was not Beyoncé, that was Binance.

SPEAKER_01 12:27

Oh, okay. I misread that. So my apologies. I thought, wow, that's a tough day for the Trevor Burrus. I mean, okay.

SPEAKER_00 12:32

I don't think I don't think that Beyonce is worth six billion.

SPEAKER_01 12:36

I don't. I was shocked when I read it.

SPEAKER_00 12:37

I thought it was a bad day. I don't know. Taylor Swift, she's worth a lot. I don't know what she's a billionaire.

SPEAKER_01 12:43

Yep.

SPEAKER_00 12:43

Yeah, she's a billionaire. Oh, for sure.

SPEAKER_01 12:45

What about Mr. Swift? But that's a whole other story.

SPEAKER_00 12:47

Um, he's not a billionaire. Not on his own. But he gets a nice allowance now. Come home when he wrote it.

SPEAKER_01 12:55

I don't know. What about the custodian argument? The custodian argument that I don't want to have all my money in a custodian, because what if they go bust? I should be diversified. Trevor Burrus, Jr.

SPEAKER_00 13:02

They don't again, they don't own the money, they would have to steal it, and they're insured against that. Yeah. Trevor Burrus, Jr. From the Securities Investments Protection Corporation and private companies. Trevor Burrus, Jr.

SPEAKER_01 13:11

Yeah. And they're testing all the time. I think they spend $50 million a year trying to hack the money.

SPEAKER_00 13:16

They're not just testing, they're also regularly audited by regulators and private auditors that they hire. Trevor Burrus, Jr.

SPEAKER_01 13:26

Sure. Make sure it's all there, make sure it's working.

SPEAKER_00 13:28

Trevor Burrus, Jr. These are silly, spurious worries.

SPEAKER_01 13:31

But I will say still of the Trevor Burrus.

SPEAKER_00 13:33

Binance is a bigger worry because they're not regulated. At least they say they're covering those losses, but legally they don't have to.

SPEAKER_01 13:42

Then how do you pronounce it again? So it's not Beyonce. Okay. Thank you. Appreciate that. Where did you get Beyoncé? I don't know. I just I see the headline.

SPEAKER_00 13:51

So okay. But you should immediately jump to a popular singer.

SPEAKER_01 13:56

Because you know what? The brain's kind of working. Yeah. Maybe something.

SPEAKER_00 13:59

And you want to keep doing this show for many more years, you've lost your mind. Literally.

SPEAKER_01 14:04

Can you go find it for me? I'd appreciate it.

SPEAKER_00 14:06

I don't know where to look.

SPEAKER_01 14:07

I will say this in close.

SPEAKER_00 14:09

You should have put an air tag on it.

SPEAKER_01 14:10

I will say this in the code.

SPEAKER_00 14:11

You could have tracked it with our iPhones.

SPEAKER_01 14:12

This is why there's two of us. Where it's a very simple thing. Diversify,

The Cost of Concentrated Investing

SPEAKER_01 14:15

diversify, diversify. You gotta diversify. You really do. It's no joke. It really is serious, folks, because if you don't, you could face a catastrophic loss if you hold an individual equity, or if you're concentrated in a position, you could face a very long period of no return or negative return. That's why.

SPEAKER_00 14:34

And that's the reason I use that 1999 story so often, is because three stocks would have given you what appears to be pretty darn good diversification, and yet with three stocks, you could have lost everything. You would have lost everything. Could happen again. Now it's question time here at Talking Real Money, and we want to thank you all for uh typing in those questions on an electronic device so Tom can remove them from an electronic device and put them on pieces of paper, which seems totally illogical. Even our listeners call in and go, couldn't Tom read it off of a tablet?

SPEAKER_01 15:06

That would mean he'd actually read it off a tablet.

SPEAKER_00 15:10

I said no, he can't do that. I'm sorry. He can't do that because he've he's misplaced his brain and we forgot to air tag it.

SPEAKER_01 15:17

We should somebody return it, please. Uh from Knoxville.

SPEAKER_00 15:20

Yeah, did you put a tag on it that says if found, please return to please send it back.

SPEAKER_01 15:24

Knoxville Tennessee. Knoxville, Tennessee. Sarah writes, Hi Don and Tom. Don first. I love the jingles. Please keep them coming.

SPEAKER_00 15:33

I I will, because I like making them. They're so much fun. I had so much fun making today's. Making it took like 20, 30 iterations to get the kind of sound I wanted, but uh and I rewrote the lyrics a bunch. Yeah.

Should You Add Micro-Cap Funds?

SPEAKER_00 15:48

But it was fun.

SPEAKER_01 15:48

Um okay, question. Are microcap funds necessary desirable, neither? I have a friend saying I should buy DFMC, which is the uh dimensional microcap fund, or IWC, which is the iShares version of the similar type of index. I checked, there's no overlap with my main U.S. holding DFUS, which I doubted, and we looked it up, and that's correct. Uh but also the overall volatility and long stretches of underperformance. I think it would be hard for my stomach, even with the long excellent long-term retur returns, thoughts.

SPEAKER_00 16:27

We first we believe in keeping it simple. Yes, you can build a very, very complex portfolio that includes all of these different segments of the market, but we can't find any tremendous difference uh between uh the the evidence supporting small companies and increasing that risk to microcaps because it does increase the risk. Now, you you can imagine when you increase risk, it makes sense that you have the potential to increase returns. But it really hasn't there's there's no scientific basis, really robust scientific basis for uh adding microcaps. You can certainly add them if you want a more aggressive portfolio. Not saying it would be a bad idea necessarily, but remember, as you said in your note, they are a lot more volatile. They are stomach churning. And the problem is individuals tend to look at individual portions of their portfolio as opposed to looking at it in aggregate, and that can scare the living daylights out of you.

SPEAKER_01 17:38

Yeah, you had a a general DFUS and then you added this, tracking error would be a major problem because you're going to look at one fund that's way up and one fund that may even be down. Uh number two, I Dimensional had made a reputation owning this part of the market. I don't hear him talking that much about it anymore because I don't I I think it's, as you said, the volatility is just harsh for people that manage it on their own.

SPEAKER_00 18:04

Well, and part of the problem is, and that was there was an article I'm trying to remember who wrote it. I think I think it was Cliff Asnes.

unknown 18:14

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 18:15

I'm pretty sure from AQR. Mm-hmm. I think he wrote a piece that basically said, yeah, you there you can get more bang for your buck and even things like microcaps. But the trick with microcaps is that you have to be far more there are a lot more really bad companies. In the microcaps arena. In the microcap arena. Yeah. Because they're they're tiny little unproven, unregulated practically for all intents and purposes. And and really not well researched. So you're you're at a disadvantage if you're playing the microcap side. We we're not gonna add that to portfolios. There's no reason to add the confusion.

Building an Emergency Fund Before Retirement

SPEAKER_00 18:56

Why bother?

SPEAKER_01 18:56

Okay. Let's go to another question from Tumwater, Washington, where John writes us, Don and Tom, my wife, 54, and I, 60, plan to retire in July 2028 from the state of Washington.

SPEAKER_00 19:10

Okay. What are you gonna do for the rest of your life? Oh, never mind.

SPEAKER_01 19:13

That's a whole other topic. We're in good place with pension social security replacing 106% of our current salaries.

SPEAKER_00 19:20

Well, that's good.

SPEAKER_01 19:21

As we phase in on one pension and future Social Security benefits, we'll draw from the traditional deferred comp and the TSP thrift savings plan for about 12 years to cover expenses and travel during our go-go years. That's not related to go-go dancers, though, right?

SPEAKER_00 19:38

No, this is go-go going places.

SPEAKER_01 19:40

Oh, okay. However, we do I was looking for the boots. However, we don't have a strong emergency emergency. Nobody else will. Strong emergency fund because of our major home improvements projects and wages not keeping up with the serve. Okay, wait a minute. I gotta get this with inflation.

SPEAKER_00 19:57

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 19:58

They don't have a strong emergency fund because of our major home improvement projects and wages not keeping up with inflation.

SPEAKER_00 20:03

Okay.

SPEAKER_01 20:04

Current fund, emergency fund is $5,000 in high yield savings, so our retirement accounts essentially serve as our emergency fund. We expect to be in the low end of the 24% tax bracket until 2029. So that means 2027 and 2028. My question is, should we withdraw $30,000 now from the retirement account to build a three-month emergency fund between now and our retirement in 2028? No, I don't think so. I would wait till 2028.

SPEAKER_00 20:34

Yeah, it sure is a small emergency fund, though. Yeah, if I had other savings, if I was doing any other saving, so he can pull money out of the retirement account when he actually needs it and just pay the tax on it. I know, but why would you hurry then? Why bother? It's the same thing. You can take it out to cover the emergency.

SPEAKER_01 20:52

I guess I would want to I would never want to bust the bracket. So if you're in 24, I wouldn't want to go higher than that. Here's the thing.

SPEAKER_00 21:00

Here's the thing. It depends on what the assets in the retirement plan are investing.

SPEAKER_01 21:04

Well, yeah.

SPEAKER_00 21:05

Of course. That's really the deciding factor because the reason you have an emergency fund is so that you don't need to sell assets that have declined in value due to bad market conditions. That's very good point. That's really the biggest point.

SPEAKER_01 21:23

So in that, if that if we're going to agree on that, then you're going to take the money out, set it aside in the high yield, and let it ride. Because then you're not going to get any variants.

SPEAKER_00 21:32

Yep.

SPEAKER_01 21:32

Yeah, that's good.

SPEAKER_00 21:33

That's the trick. You want to have up a pretty substantial chunk of change that maintains its relative value and allows you to avoid tapping into your stocks that uh that might have gone down in a bad market. Yeah. I don't know. That's good. That's what I think.

SPEAKER_01 21:53

No, I think that I think you're right. Yeah, because then the stability is there. You could pay the bill if you needed to. As you said, you don't want to pull from Things that have gone down.

SPEAKER_00 22:01

And find the source for for it should be maybe just rebalancing. For example, if you're you're looking at your portfolio, your retirement portfolio, and you're going, ah, I have too many stocks, I gotta sell some of those and put them into bonds. Good. Yeah, sell the stocks, put them into emergency instead of bonds in the retirement plan.

SPEAKER_01 22:19

And by the way, good luck with your retirement. I mean, that's awesome to retire relatively young.

unknown 22:25

Okay.

SPEAKER_00 22:26

As long as your goal is to travel and have some fun and do some stuff. I just always worry about I I know that uh for me personally, boredom would just wipe me out.

SPEAKER_01 22:36

Oh, by the way, what percentage of Americans in their 70s are still working?

SPEAKER_00 22:41

I don't know. It's a lot. What percentage? I don't know.

SPEAKER_01 22:45

Well, take a guess. I just looked this up. Twenty. No, there is no number. They don't measure that. They said that. Oh. They do measure. It was a trick question. I know. That wasn't very nice of me. Somebody's gonna write and say, I looked it up and it's blank. Um I'm looking

Converting Mutual Funds to ETFs

SPEAKER_01 23:02

it up. Okay, I'm sure you are. Francine from Ben Salem, Pennsylvania writes I read that converting mutual funds to exchange traded funds of essentially the same investments can avoid the capital gains accumulated in the mutual funds. I have several Vanguard funds that have these capital gains. Vanguard is also the ETFs with the same investment strategy as the mutual funds. Can I convert the to the ETFs and avoid paying taxes on the capital gains?

SPEAKER_00 23:30

Yes. Yes. By moving it, but it it doesn't get rid of the future tax on the gains. It just means you don't have to pay it now. If you bought the pay it.

SPEAKER_01 23:41

Yep, that's right.

SPEAKER_00 23:43

Because they take your cost basis. If you put $1,000 in and it's worth $10,000 today and you move that to an ETF, well you don't have to pay tax on the $9,000 in gains now.

SPEAKER_01 23:53

But you will later. The trick is you won't pay anything at the moment, and you get the advantage of the way the ETF is operated that's more tax efficient than a mutual fund in the years moving forward. But as Don said, when you go to eventually sell it, you're gonna pay tax on whatever gain you had.

SPEAKER_00 24:12

And there is a number.

SPEAKER_01 24:15

Everything I found could Okay, what is the number?

SPEAKER_00 24:19

The Bureau of Labor Statistics.

SPEAKER_01 24:21

Oh, that's funny, because everything I read said nobody keeps track of that number.

SPEAKER_00 24:24

The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics in their 2025 annual average report said that between age 70 and 74, 18.1% of Americans still work.

SPEAKER_01 24:39

20 percent? That's high. Higher than I think. That's the number. I was more realistic. Okay. Wow, there you go.

SPEAKER_00 24:48

So uh it's the overall average is uh 12%, roughly. So over 70. Roughly.

SPEAKER_01 24:55

One out of ten. Yeah. Yeah. There you go.

SPEAKER_00 24:59

That's a lot. That is a lot. More than

Retirement, Work, and What Comes Next

SPEAKER_00 25:02

I thought. Because we live longer. This is what the the whole thing with this retiring at 60 or retiring at 65, even. Yeah, that made a lot of sense when we were generally dead at 64 or 65. No reason to keep working. Yeah, I'm gonna be dead any day now. Might as well enjoy about 12 minutes of fun before I kick the bucket. Now it's 25 years in many cases or more.

SPEAKER_01 25:27

And what do you do? I mean, it's only so many books you can read, right?

SPEAKER_00 25:30

But I'd be reading a lot.

SPEAKER_01 25:34

I'd still do my workouts, you know.

SPEAKER_00 25:36

So until the points don't work any. No, see, that doesn't count. That's you're making a paycheck. Can't do it. That's not semi-retoric.

Listener Thanks and the Show Wrap-Up

SPEAKER_01 25:43

Before we move on and uh conclude this sterling effort, I personally just want to thank Andre and Stephanie for bringing me an amazing B-29. Really thoughtful. Thank you so much.

SPEAKER_00 25:56

People are now bringing you planes.

SPEAKER_01 25:58

Yeah, that's the second one this year. Remember the other guy sent me one of South Carolina.

SPEAKER_00 26:03

I mean, it's pretty big.

SPEAKER_01 26:04

The B-29 is massive. Great. I know. Where do you park it? You it won't fit a track. Right now it's on my d on my table in my office.

SPEAKER_00 26:11

So it's a baby B-29.

SPEAKER_01 26:12

But it wants to go on a raid. I keep telling it, no, stay here. We don't need to do anything against it. Stay, stay, stay.

SPEAKER_00 26:18

No little man or fat boy or whatever. None of those for you.

SPEAKER_01 26:22

Enola gay, yeah.

SPEAKER_00 26:23

Enola gay. Hey, hey. Oh, did you could paint on the nose? Enola gay. Do the little No.

SPEAKER_01 26:29

You know how you'd never paint that stuff. That comes off in a little bit of a.

SPEAKER_00 26:33

Oh, is it a detail?

SPEAKER_01 26:34

Oh, yeah. That's me paint that?

unknown 26:36

No.

SPEAKER_00 26:37

That's true. I forgot about your lack of artistic talent.

SPEAKER_01 26:39

A little? No, that would be bad. Really bad. No.

SPEAKER_00 26:43

You didn't get that gene.

SPEAKER_01 26:44

No, I did not get that.

SPEAKER_00 26:45

Your brother got that gene.

SPEAKER_01 26:46

Oh yeah.

SPEAKER_00 26:47

Yeah. Big time. All right. Thanks for being here. Please send your questions in at talkingrealmoney.com. You can do it with the button that says ask a question, or you can record them in the lower right hand corner, but just by clicking the mic. You just speak into a mic and you go, okay, Don, here's my question.

SPEAKER_01 27:01

Or okay, Mike, go ahead.

SPEAKER_00 27:06

No, it's not Tom. Tom does not do the Friday QA.

SPEAKER_01 27:11

Get him out of here.

SPEAKER_00 27:13

But you can talk with Tom in his role as a fiduciary advisor, although he doesn't take on clients. He does help a lot of people. That was that thing on the White House lawn, right?

SPEAKER_01 27:27

Yeah. And that came out looking pretty good, I gotta say.

SPEAKER_00 27:31

Trump brought you in because it makes him look good.

SPEAKER_01 27:34

Probably true, by the way.

SPEAKER_00 27:38

Oh, that hurts. That hurts. Uh okay. Uh that was a joke, Trump Trump people. That was a joke. You can't infer anything negative from that joke. Joke about the commander in chief. Okay, please. We joked about Gerald Ford. Come on.

unknown 27:54

Good point.

SPEAKER_00 27:55

Fair spare.

SPEAKER_01 27:56

He never found a pair of stairs. He didn't want to fall down.

SPEAKER_00 27:59

Exactly. All right. And then if you want to meet with an advisor, just go to talkingrealmoney.com and click on meet an advisor. It's free. No cost, no obligation, no high pressure sales pitch. Thanks for listening. Please tell a friend or a thousand. And oh yeah, do follow us. Following actually really helps. I don't understand the algorithm. But if you follow Tom, uh you'll find something he's doing wrong. It won't take much time at all.

SPEAKER_01 28:26

Maybe 30 seconds.

SPEAKER_00 28:27

Yeah, because uh I don't know what he does when he's not.

SPEAKER_02 28:36

Talking real money.

SPEAKER_03 28:38

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