

The Rob Berger Show
Rob Berger
Personal finance for smart people by the host of the Dough Roller Money Podcast. Rather than forcing you into a one-size-fits-all financial plan, we discuss the tools, resources, and strategies that will empower you to make the best money decisions for you and your family.
Episodes
Mentioned books

Aug 12, 2022 • 9min
RBS 066: Betterment vs 3 Fund Portfolio--Are 10 ETFs Better Than 3?
As robo-advisors go, Betterment is one of the best in my opinion. It offers excellent features (e.g., automatic rebalancing, tax loss harvesting, excellent planning tools) at a reasonable price. But how does Betterment's Core Portfolio of 10 ETFs stack up to the simple, humble 3-fund portfolio?We put both to the test in this video.Join the newsletter: https://robberger.com/newsletter/?utm...

Aug 10, 2022 • 2h 7min
RBS 065: How to Invest in a Bad Stock Market | Live Q&A
I used Capitalize to Rollover a 401k to an IRA. It's totally free and very easy to use: https://robberger.com/go/capitalize/y...Get a free estimate of term life insurance in 20 seconds with Haven Life Insurance: https://robberger.com/go/haven-life/y...Join the newsletter: https://robberger.com/newsletter/?utm...

Aug 8, 2022 • 60min
RBS 064: A Complete Guide to Bond Investing
Investors today are nervous about bonds because of the historically low yields. The fear is that as interest rates rise, the value of existing bonds will fall. In this video we'll walk through bond investing for beginners. I'll cover how bonds work, my approach to bonds, and some suggesting bond funds.If you find this information useful, consider joining my weekly newsletter:Join the newsletter: https://robberger.com/newsletter/?utm...Note: At 26:14 my reference to I bonds should have been TIPS.

Aug 5, 2022 • 16min
RBS 063: Bond Alternatives
With inflation and interest rates on the rise, many have asked me about bond alternatives. While I haven't changed my investments, including the bonds funds I own, I do understand the concern over bond funds that have lost money this year.So in this vide we will first looked at 4 alternatives to a traditional total U.S. bond fund.Then we'll look at four bond alternatives.And finally, we'll look at four investments many list as a bond alternative that really aren't a good alternative at all. In this section I should have included covered call ETFs. These are investments that can have a very high yield (8% or more). The problem is they can lose a lot of value, which takes away from the yield. And their risk as measured by standard deviation are often 3x that of a total U.S. bond fund.Join the newsletter: https://robberger.com/newsletter/?utm...

Aug 3, 2022 • 2h 5min
RBS 062: How to Invest in a Taxable Account
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Aug 1, 2022 • 17min
RBS 061: Case Study: How Investment Advisor Fees Can Cost us $500,000 (or more)
Personal Capital (Investment Tracking, Retirement Planning): https://robberger.com/go/personal-cap...Today we look at a portfolio constructed by an investment advisor. This is a person who has a fiduciary obligation to act in the best interest of their clients. The result? I high fee portfolio on top of the 1% advisor fee. As you'll see, this portfolio could easily cost an investor $500,000 or more in lost wealth.Join the newsletter: https://robberger.com/newsletter/?utm...

Jul 29, 2022 • 11min
RBS 060: Claim Social Security at 62 and Invest the Money--Good or Bad Idea?
Several viewers have recently asked me whether it makes sense to claim social security at 62 if you plan to invest the money. At first, it seems like a solid strategy. While your monthly benefit will be lower, you get years of investment returns you'd otherwise forfeit.It turns out, however, that the issue is a bit more complex. First, depending on your investment returns, claiming social security at 62 may or may not turn out in your favor.The arguably more important issue, however, is taxes. Claiming social security at 62 could affect everything from how much your social security benefits are taxed to IRMAA premiums or ACA credits. It could also affect a Roth conversion strategy.Join the newsletter: https://robberger.com/newsletter/?utm...

Jul 27, 2022 • 53min
RBS 059: Conversation with the Father of the Bucket Strategy--Harold Evensky
Sallie Mae 2.20% No-Penalty CD: https://www.allcards.com/best-savings...Personal Capital Tesla Promotion: https://robberger.com/go/personal-cap...Today we have the pleasure of speaking with Harold Evensky, the father of the Bucket Strategy.Here are some resources from the show:--Mr. Evensky's newsletter: https://evensky.com/resources/--His most recent newsletter: https://files.myprimitive.cloud/uploa...--His book (free on Kindle): https://www.amazon.com/Hello-Harold-V...And some of his published papers:--Modern Fool’s Gold: Alpha in Recessions: http://www.empirical.net/wp-content/u...--The Efficacy of Publicly Available Retirement Planning Tools: https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.c...--The Benefits of a Cash Reserve Strategy in Retirement Distribution Planning:

Jul 25, 2022 • 32min
RBS 058: Defensive Investing--How to Prepare for a Market Crash (In Advance)
Defensive Investing--How to Prepare for a Market Crash (In Advance)With stocks, bonds and real estate at all-time highs, it's just a matter of time before we see a market correction, or worse. It doesn't help that our government is borrowing trillions of dollars, funded by a Fed who is buying bonds.The question for investors is whether we should make changes to our portfolio today in preparation for the coming crash. If we should make changes, what should they be and when should we make them? And then there's the question of when we reverse any changes we make.In this video we look at a Morningstar study on the diversification benefits of various asset classes based on their performance in past market crashes.Morningstar Study: https://www.morningstar.com/content/d...#RobBerger #marketcrash #investing

Jul 22, 2022 • 24min
RBS 057: Fidelity Contrafund Review | Growth vs Value | Active vs Passive Investing
The Fidelity Contrafund (FCNTX) is a popular growth stock fund. In this video we take a deep dive on the fund to see if it's worth adding to our investment portfolio. In the process we'll look at growth vs value stock investing, active vs passive funds, and how to evaluate a fund's performance.Join the newsletter: https://robberger.com/newsletter/?utm...


