

Two Quants and a Financial Planner
Excess Returns
Two Quants and a Financial Planner bridges the worlds of investing and financial planning to help investors achieve their long-term goals. Join Matt Zeigler, Jack Forehand and Justin Carbonneau as they cover a wide range of investing and financial planning topics that impact all of us and discuss how we can apply them in the real world to achieve the best outcomes in our financial lives.
Episodes
Mentioned books

Jul 24, 2023 • 48min
The Many Facets of Discipline in Investing
Discipline is a word that everyone uses in investing. But saying it is much easier than living it. In this episode, Matt and Justin talk about the practical application of discipline in the real world. They revisit many of the topics from our previous episodes and discuss how discipline is a common thread among them.
SEE LATEST EPISODES
https://www.validea.com/the-education-of-a-financial-planner-podcast
FIND OUT MORE ABOUT VALIDEA CAPITAL
https://www.valideacapital.com
FIND OUT MORE ABOUT SUNPOINTE INVESTMENTS
https://sunpointeinvestments.com/
FOLLOW JACK
Twitter: https://twitter.com/practicalquant
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jack-forehand-8015094
FOLLOW JUSTIN
Twitter: https://twitter.com/jjcarbonneau
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jcarbonneau
FOLLOW MATT
Twitter: https://twitter.com/cultishcreative
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/matt-zeigler-a58a0a60/

Jul 17, 2023 • 40min
A Financial Planner's View of Factor Investing
Asset managers who build factor investing strategies can sometimes have a difficult time seeing how those strategies are used by financial planners who build portfolios with them. In this episode, we look at that issue from both sides as we ask Matt how he thinks about using factor portfolios for clients and we have an opportunity to answer some of his questions about how we think about building them.
SEE LATEST EPISODES
https://www.validea.com/the-education-of-a-financial-planner-podcast
FIND OUT MORE ABOUT VALIDEA CAPITAL
https://www.valideacapital.com
FIND OUT MORE ABOUT SUNPOINTE INVESTMENTS
https://sunpointeinvestments.com/
FOLLOW JACK
Twitter: https://twitter.com/practicalquant
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jack-forehand-8015094
FOLLOW JUSTIN
Twitter: https://twitter.com/jjcarbonneau
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jcarbonneau
FOLLOW MATT
Twitter: https://twitter.com/cultishcreative
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/matt-zeigler-a58a0a60/

Jul 10, 2023 • 53min
The Basics of Estate Planning
In this episode, we take a high-level look at estate planning. We discuss why it is important, the major areas that are important to focus on and the tools available to use. We cover wills, living wills, powers of attorney and the other most important documents should be put in place, the importance of trusts, the estate tax, intergenerational planning and a lot more.
SEE LATEST EPISODES
https://www.validea.com/the-education-of-a-financial-planner-podcast
FIND OUT MORE ABOUT VALIDEA CAPITAL
https://www.valideacapital.com
FIND OUT MORE ABOUT SUNPOINTE INVESTMENTS
https://sunpointeinvestments.com/
FOLLOW JACK
Twitter: https://twitter.com/practicalquant
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jack-forehand-8015094
FOLLOW JUSTIN
Twitter: https://twitter.com/jjcarbonneau
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jcarbonneau
FOLLOW MATT
Twitter: https://twitter.com/cultishcreative
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/matt-zeigler-a58a0a60/

Jul 3, 2023 • 33min
Lessons From the Epsilon Connect Conference
In early June, Matt attended the Epsilon Connect conference. The conference brought together a diverse group of people with a common goal of understanding how narratives and media bias affect our world and overcoming them to try to identify the truth and become better citizens and investors. In this episode, we discuss the biggest lessons from the conference and what they mean for all of us in the real world.
SEE LATEST EPISODES
https://www.validea.com/the-education-of-a-financial-planner-podcast
FIND OUT MORE ABOUT VALIDEA CAPITAL
https://www.valideacapital.com
FIND OUT MORE ABOUT SUNPOINTE INVESTMENTS
https://sunpointeinvestments.com/
FOLLOW JACK
Twitter: https://twitter.com/practicalquant
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jack-forehand-8015094
FOLLOW JUSTIN
Twitter: https://twitter.com/jjcarbonneau
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jcarbonneau
FOLLOW MATT
Twitter: https://twitter.com/cultishcreative
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/matt-zeigler-a58a0a60/

Jun 26, 2023 • 44min
Five Major Issues on Investors' Minds: Inflation, Recession, Valuations, AI Stocks, Geopolitics
In this episode, we begin a new quarterly series where we will discuss some of the biggest issues that investors are thinking about in the current market and try to put them in a long-term context. We discuss how investors should think about inflation and the potential for a future recession, how to interpret market valuations, the impact of AI stocks on the market and whether political and geopolitical events should play a role in an investment strategy.
SEE LATEST EPISODES
https://www.validea.com/the-education-of-a-financial-planner-podcast
FIND OUT MORE ABOUT VALIDEA CAPITAL
https://www.valideacapital.com
FIND OUT MORE ABOUT SUNPOINTE INVESTMENTS
https://sunpointeinvestments.com/
FOLLOW JACK
Twitter: https://twitter.com/practicalquant
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jack-forehand-8015094
FOLLOW JUSTIN
Twitter: https://twitter.com/jjcarbonneau
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jcarbonneau
FOLLOW MATT
Twitter: https://twitter.com/cultishcreative
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/matt-zeigler-a58a0a60/

Jun 19, 2023 • 38min
Aligning Your Assets with Your Purpose: Lessons from Peter Mladina
In this episode, we discuss the major lessons from our recent interview on our separate podcast Excess Returns with Northern Trust's Peter Mladina. Peter's work on goals-based planning, aligning goals with purposes, the importance of time and in many other areas has wide reaching implications for investors. But it also can be very complex. So we wanted to break it down in simpler terms than we were able to in the initial interview and discuss the most important lessons investors can take from it.
SEE LATEST EPISODES
https://www.validea.com/the-education-of-a-financial-planner-podcast
FIND OUT MORE ABOUT VALIDEA CAPITAL
https://www.valideacapital.com
FIND OUT MORE ABOUT SUNPOINTE INVESTMENTS
https://sunpointeinvestments.com/
FOLLOW JACK
Twitter: https://twitter.com/practicalquant
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jack-forehand-8015094
FOLLOW JUSTIN
Twitter: https://twitter.com/jjcarbonneau
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jcarbonneau
FOLLOW MATT
Twitter: https://twitter.com/cultishcreative
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/matt-zeigler-a58a0a60/

Jun 12, 2023 • 48min
Annuities: Useful Financial Planning Tool or Just a Bunch of Shady Steak Dinners?
Annuities have a bad reputation. From steak dinners to high fees to questionable salespeople, many investors are wary of using them. In this episode we look at how much of that reputation is earned and discuss the facts about annuities. We cover the different types of annuities, both the good and bad uses of them and things investors should be on the lookout for when evaluating annuity products.
SEE LATEST EPISODES
https://www.validea.com/the-education-of-a-financial-planner-podcast
FIND OUT MORE ABOUT VALIDEA CAPITAL
https://www.valideacapital.com
FIND OUT MORE ABOUT SUNPOINTE INVESTMENTS
https://sunpointeinvestments.com/
FOLLOW JACK
Twitter: https://twitter.com/practicalquant
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jack-forehand-8015094
FOLLOW JUSTIN
Twitter: https://twitter.com/jjcarbonneau
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jcarbonneau
FOLLOW MATT
Twitter: https://twitter.com/cultishcreative
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/matt-zeigler-a58a0a60/

Jun 5, 2023 • 38min
Will ChatGPT Replace Financial Planners?
There is no doubt that ChatGPT and AI technology will change the world. Many think it will be an innovation that will be on par with the development of the internet in terms of its importance. But how it will do that and which areas of our lives it will impact the most is still up for debate.
In this episode, we discuss how ChatGPT might impact the worlds of financial planning and asset management. We talk about the areas it might have the most impact and others where it might have a more difficult time causing significant changes.
SEE LATEST EPISODES
https://www.validea.com/the-education-of-a-financial-planner-podcast
FIND OUT MORE ABOUT VALIDEA CAPITAL
https://www.valideacapital.com
FIND OUT MORE ABOUT SUNPOINTE INVESTMENTS
https://sunpointeinvestments.com/
FOLLOW JACK
Twitter: https://twitter.com/practicalquant
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jack-forehand-8015094
FOLLOW JUSTIN
Twitter: https://twitter.com/jjcarbonneau
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jcarbonneau
FOLLOW MATT
Twitter: https://twitter.com/cultishcreative
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/matt-zeigler-a58a0a60/

May 30, 2023 • 40min
The Challenge of Understanding Your True Risk Tolerance
Figuring out an investor's true risk tolerance can be a very difficult process. There are certainly standard tools and processes that can be used to try to find the answer, but as Mike Tyson said "Everyone a plan until they get punched in the face." In this episode, we talk through the different types of risks investors face in markets and discuss some of the approaches we have used to better assess investors' true ability to handle them.
SEE LATEST EPISODES
https://www.validea.com/the-education-of-a-financial-planner-podcast
FIND OUT MORE ABOUT VALIDEA CAPITAL
https://www.valideacapital.com
FIND OUT MORE ABOUT SUNPOINTE INVESTMENTS
https://sunpointeinvestments.com/
FOLLOW JACK
Twitter: https://twitter.com/practicalquant
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jack-forehand-8015094
FOLLOW JUSTIN
Twitter: https://twitter.com/jjcarbonneau
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jcarbonneau
FOLLOW MATT
Twitter: https://twitter.com/cultishcreative
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/matt-zeigler-a58a0a60/

May 22, 2023 • 54min
Interpreting the Key Lessons from Great Investors
On our Excess Returns podcast, we have had the privilege to talk to many great investors. At the end of each of those interviews, we ask all of them one standard closing question:
If you could teach one lesson to the average investor, what would that be?
We recently published a compilation where we brought on all those insights together into one episode. In this episode, we discuss our favorite lessons from all of those we highlighted and discuss what they mean for investors.
SEE LATEST EPISODES
https://www.validea.com/the-education-of-a-financial-planner-podcast
FIND OUT MORE ABOUT VALIDEA CAPITAL
https://www.valideacapital.com
FIND OUT MORE ABOUT SUNPOINTE INVESTMENTS
https://sunpointeinvestments.com/
FOLLOW JACK
Twitter: https://twitter.com/practicalquant
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jack-forehand-8015094
FOLLOW JUSTIN
Twitter: https://twitter.com/jjcarbonneau
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jcarbonneau
FOLLOW MATT
Twitter: https://twitter.com/cultishcreative
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/matt-zeigler-a58a0a60/