4min chapter

Top Learnings from 2022 (plus 23 in 23 Special Guest Shaun Tomson) (EP.235)

The Rational Reminder Podcast

notes

CHAPTER

What's Your Purpose?

The CEO of Patagonia gave away $3 billion to an environmental nonprofit. He says purpose underlies that biggest private environmental donation in the history of the world. "I think I'll just give you clarity in your important financial decisions," he said.

00:00

Transcript

Episode notes

As we kick off the new year, we wanted to look back at our biggest areas of learning from last year. So this episode serves as a great companion piece to our year-end recap from a couple of weeks ago, but the focus here is on the personal impact that specific guests, ideas, and topics had on each of our lives. We cover ICAPM thinking, the nature of money, financial literacy, setting financial goals, the history of index funds, and more. For the second half of the show, we are joined by the amazing Shaun Tomson, former world surfing champion, author, and renowned speaker. Shaun is here to talk a bit about his latest book, co-authored with Noah benShea, entitled The Surfer and the Sage. We get to hear about Shaun's belief in the power of words, the specific conditions that can enforce this power, the lessons he has taken from a life in the ocean, and how the tragedy of losing his son influenced his life's trajectory. Join us to catch it all.

Key Points From This Episode:

Differentiating between the CAPM and ICAPM theories. (0:08:02)
Long-run risks in stocks and bonds; demystifying safety claims. (0:14:46)
Further illumination on the concept of money and how to think about it. (0:24:27)
Learnings around the empirical side of financial literacy. (0:31:00)
Improved setting of financial goals and common mistakes that many of us make. (0:32:24)
Filling in the gaps in an understanding of the history of index funds. (0:35:57)
A one-minute recap of our episode with Allison Schrager from last year. (0:37:47)
A quick review of Shaun Tomson's book, The Surfer and the Sage. (0:39:38)
Shaun explains the significance of the wave as a metaphor. (0:43:28)
The tragic passing of Shaun's son in 2006 and how this redirected his life's purpose. (0:45:10)
Shaun explains his CODE method for transformation. (0:49:35)
The significance of the structure of the book and the motivation behind it. (0:56:38)
Unpacking the importance of purpose when making financial decisions. (0:59:40)
Shaun's tactical recommendations; resilience, hope, optimism, and discipline. (1:05:44)
Upcoming book recommendations for our 23 in 23 Reading Challenge. (1:19:22)