Radio Show: The "Stay Rich" Portfolio... A Senator Wants to Ban Share Repurchases... and Listener Q&A | #102

Episode 102 has a radio show format. In this one, we cover Meb’s Tweets of the Week, some write-in questions, Twitter questions, and our first-ever call-in question. We discuss the “Stay Rich” portfolio, and the unfortunate reality that even the safest portfolios can suffer ~25% drawdowns. Next, there’s discussion of stock buybacks and a recent push from Senator Tammy Baldwin to introduce a bill that would prohibit companies from repurchasing their own shares (she claims it’s exacerbating the wealth gap). Then, with volatility showing some life in the market, there’s discussion of volatility clustering. Next up is the investing service, Robinhood, which is now referring to calls and puts as “going up” and “going down.” Also, an ETF for companion pets filed by Gabelli. We then dive into questions. Some that you’ll hear Meb address include: How do you keep a level head when markets are imploding around you? Meb and Elroy Dimson discussed the historical returns of housing and indicated that owning a house is not a high-performing investment, relative to other asset classes. However, if the alternative to buying a house is paying rent, often at a similar cost to a monthly mortgage payment, how does this factor in to the assessment of the investment? I understand that any given strategy can underperform the market for long periods of time. What is a reasonable time-frame to fairly evaluate the results of any particular strategy? Valuation difference in countries is often caused by sector structure. Can you explain that? The AUM of Target Date Funds was at $250B in '08. Many investors were shocked at the bad performance in '08. Target Date Funds AUM is now $900B. What's the industry's level of responsibility to educate? Is Russia worth the current political risk for long term investor (5-7 years)? If so, is it best to look at specific Russian equities or an index such as the RSX? All this and more in Episode 102.