The Piggy Bank Chronicles

E100 - MilestonesThe Piggy Bank Chronicles reaches a major milestone with 100 episodes! J.J. sits down for an interview with his AI assistant to discuss the past, present, and future of the podcast.This episode is a love letter to all those who have listened these past 4 years. It is offered with sincere thanks.

E99 - Indexing, againHas your humble host lost faith in index investing?JJ spends way too much time thinking about the strategy of indexing and what kinds of events would lead to under performance compared to other approaches.  In yet another rambling chat he discusses his foray into direct indexing (on paper), what smarter people than him think about indexing as a strategy, and how he manages to insert it all into his ever evolving mental model of investing.If you like buy and hold investing this discussion is for you. If you don’t, then we will win you over eventually!Investments discussed in this episode:Dimensional International Core Equity Market ETF (DFAI)Vanguard Total International Stock Index Fund ETF Shares (VXUS)Vanguard FTSE All-World ex-US Index Fund ETF Shares (VEU)

Episode 98 - ConsequencesIf I do this, what happens next? So many people are really bad at thinking about consequences. Are you one of those people?We can be taught to be critical thinkers. We can also teach ourselves. Sometimes we can get there through a good boss or mentor. Other times it’s up to us.In this episode JJ explores why this matters and some tools to help you get better at being a critical thinker.

Episode 97 - I can see for milesIf you have been around for a minute, you are familiar with the VISION acronym that JJ uses to make sure you chart a solid course for life. But is it any good? In this episode JJ digs through the Vision acronym to see what it covers, but more importantly what it might be missing.Key investing takeaways include:Insurance is for risk mitigation, investment is for wealth, never mix the twoOptions are optional, just say noMargin is dumb, don’t be dumbFees should be low, or they should be avoidedWhat we hope to find at the end of the road is that the VISION acronym is pretty good. Fingers crossed!

Episode 96 - ConcentrationInvestors in the S&P 500 are experiencing the highest levels of concentration in the top 10 stock holdings of the index in this century and beyond. What does this mean for the health and diversification of our portfolios?In this episode JJ shares his thoughts on why we are seeing these levels of concentration in the US market index and what if any actions you might want to consider in response to this historic moment in investing history.

E95 - Don't call it a dividendETFs are just wrappers. It's what's inside of them that counts for investors. Do you know what's inside of your ETFs?JJ, if you haven't picked up on it yet, is a natural born worrier. Lately he's been worrying about what people are saying regarding ETFs, but he has struggled to give voice to what was bothering him. That is until one perfectly pitched video brought his concerns into sharp focus.High yield ETFs may make you feel good in the short term, but like all drugs they have risks. Join in as JJ shares his concerns about your portfolio when it contains these "sugar rush" investments.

Episode 94 - Indexing for lifeIndexing is a great way to be the market rather than beat the market. It is also a great why to beat ourselves as stock pickers.In this episode JJ waxes nostalgic over stock hits and misses of the past to confirm why he's a die hard index investor and to support the notion that a small amount of direct stock picking, as long as you keep it in check, is a good way to scratch that investing itch.

Episode 93 - Be direct with meWe live in an era of bad, predatory, and just down right dangerous financial products! Given that back drop, it seems like Direct Indexing may be a ray of sunshine on a cloudy day. Let me share with you why I think that, what’s good, bad, and just plain interesting about direct indexing, and why you might want to pay attention.

Episode 92 - Social media is not researchDo you follow financial content on social media? If you do then you need to remember that social media is not research. At best, it’s idea generation. You should never invest based on what some random person says on social media.What you should do is learn some key concepts about investing to make you a better investor and to help you filter the noise you get on social media. In this episode JJ talks about why you need to learn more about:InflationOpportunity CostsDiversificationValueSimplicity

Episode 91 - Our favorite restaurantsOnce again my family joins me on our holiday special to count down our five favorite things. This year it's our five favorite restaurants. Thank you all for a great year. I look forward to sharing more crazy saving, investing, and life nonsense in season 4 next year. Until then, from me an all the gang around the chronicles, may you and yours have a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!

Episode 90 - What’s in the box?Have you been asked which stock is a better investment? Have you been asked if the cheaper ETF is better than the expensive one? Well I sure have!In this episode we try to untangle that time honored question every investor eventually gets asked. Is investment A or B the better choice?Investments discussed Include:VOO - Vanguard S&P 500 Index ETFVTI - Vanguard Total Stock Market ETFVT - Vanguard Total World Stock ETFVXUS - Vanguard Total International Stock Index Fund ETFJoin the conversation, leave us a comment!

Episode 89 - Your not so silent partnerIf you have an IRA or 401k or 403b, you have a silent partner in uncle Sam. That’s because of taxes on qualified withdrawals. The Roth IRA is the cure for partnership blues. Once you get your money in a Roth IRA uncle Sam has to go hunting elsewhere for his revenue.In this episode JJ provides another ill conceived and poorly acted skit to get his point across about the perils of partnership. Then he discusses strategy considerations for accumulators and with drawers when it comes to Roth IRAs and retirement savings. What could possibly go wrong.

Episode 88 - Is Utopia a 4 letter word?Capitalism, Socialism, Communism, Hybrid? We have all kinds of economic systems in the world today. What would a post scarcity world order look like? We have talked on this pod before about knowing the game you are playing. Would you know how to play the game of life in a post scarcity world?In this episode we consider what a post scarcity world is, what it might look like, and what a transition to it might entail. Are you ready to make the trek through the valley of despair to reach higher ground?

Episode 87 - AlignmentWhat is the impact of Agentic AI? What is the impact of General AI?In this episode we present a fictional news show inspired by the research paper AI 2027. Are any of us really ready for the future where AI becomes unaligned and where society struggles to adapt to capitalism without the value of human capital.

Episode 86 - Paris is lovely this time of yearDiversification is a great way to protect our portfolios from unexpected risk. One simple way to broaden exposure and therefore reduce risk from the stock portion of our portfolio is to buy stocks from different countries. Indexed international stock funds offer a low cost way to do this.In this episode we will compare the performance of US vs non-US stocks and offer some suggestions on how to think about adding international stocks to your portfolio.ETFs discussed on this episode include:VTI - Vanguard Total Stock Market Index Fund ETF (CRSP US Total Market Index)VXUS - Vanguard Total International Stock Index Fund ETF (FTSE Global All Cap ex US Index)VOO - Vanguard S&P 500 ETF (Standard & Poor‘s 500 Index)VEU - Vanguard FTSE All-World ex-US Index Fund ETF (FTSE All-World ex US Index)

Episode 85 - Chief Executive MeHave you ever criticized your company’s CEO? Have you ever complained about the owner at your small company? Have you ever grumbled about your direct supervisor and swore you could do better? If so, then this episode is for you.If any of those characterizations are true then prepare to get your toes stepped on. In this episode we break down the key role of a CEO / owner and how the same responsibilities apply to you in your own personal financial life. Let’s see if you are able to beat your boss when you are only running a company with one employee.You might well be doing worse than you think compared to your imaginary nemesis. It’s not about the volume, it’s about the percentages.

Episode 84 - Small is the new bigSmall Cap stocks have underperformed their larger cousins for some time now. Should we expect that to continue? In this episode we explore:How have Small Cap stocks done recently relative to others?Why have they performed this way?Do we expect this to continue or is there improvement ahead?How and why does your humble host include them in his own portfolio?Investments discussed include:VTI - Vanguard Total Stock Market Index ETFIWM - iShares Russell 2000 ETFVOO - Vanguard S&P 500 ETF

Episode 83 - Super heroes wear a CAPEHave you ever heard of the Cyclically-Adjusted Price Earnings (CAPE) Ratio? Have you ever heard of the Shiller PE ratio? If you haven’t then you are not alone. If you are an investor, knowing this ratio and its current value could at least add a data point to your understanding of the US Equity market. If you are a retiree or soon to be retired, then knowing this ratio might just save your bacon.In this episode JJ discusses:What is the CAPE RatioWhat does it try to tell usWhy should we care, especially if we are retiredReferences for this episode include:https://earlyretirementnow.com/2022/10/05/building-a-better-cape-ratio/https://www.multpl.com/shiller-pe

Episode 82 - Catch me if you canDo you work with a full service broker?Are you buying individual stocks and bonds on your own?Are you loading up on your cousin Ralph’s favorite stock of the week?If you are, do you know if it’s working?In this episode JJ challenges you to compare results with his modified version of the Bogglehead 3 fund portfolio. In one easy step you will learn why tracking your results matters and if doing something super simple might be better than any of the options above. As usual, what could possibly go wrong?

Episode 81 - Help, it’s an emergency!Do you have an emergency fund? If not, you should!In this episode, with the help of AI JJ delves into emergency funds to discover:Why do you need an emergency fund?How big should your emergency fund be?Where should you keep your emergency fund?How should you fill your emergency fund?When should you use your emergency fund?What should you do after you use your emergency fund?Buckle up for some silly acting (of course) and some hopefully helpful rules of thumb on emergency funds. ChatGPT, Claude, and Gemini AI free versions were used to research this episode. Prompt used for all 3 AI’s:“what are the basic rules of thumb for building and maintaining an emergency fund”

Episode 80 - Charting a courseDo you have an Investment Policy Statement? If not, maybe you should.In this episode JJ revisits the tenets of the VISION model last mentioned in Episode 50 and then dives into the Investment Policy Statement to talk about what it is, why you need one, and what you might want to put in yours.Then we close out the Episode by reviewing JJ’s own Investment Policy Statement.IPS sample format and content provided by Claude AI from Anthropic.

Episode 79 - Sticks and stonesWe have all been called names. When people call you names related to saving and investing it might say more about them than it does about you. In an episode that is both therapy for the host and informative for the guests JJ tries to unpack better behavior through name calling.Are you cheap, or are you thoughtful? Here are 3 checks you can make to figure it out.Are you weird, or are you prepared? Here are 3 things to consider when striving to be better than normal with your finances.

Episode 78 - Vino and DineroDoes drinking wine make you a better investor? Probably not. But if you ask your good questions ahead of time then you might get some candid answers.In this offbeat  episode JJ talks to 3 family members who are charging through the first decade of their careers and investing journeys to answer some really great questions on saving, investing and living their best life.

Episode 77 - Investment Showdown #3We are back with another investment showdown. This time we are comparing two random investments chosen by ChatGPT.Avantis U.S. Equity ETF (AVUS)Invesco S&P 500 Equal Weight ETF (RSP)Buckle up for some strong if barely useful opinions, some amateur analysis of investments that are new to your humble host, and his final conclusion of if or when you might buy each of them. Also, just for fun, which he would pick if he could only invest in one.

Episode 76 - Yes and noBoundaries are an important part of living your best life. Are you saying yes and no at the right times?In this episode JJ dives into some key takeaways inspired by the best selling book Boundaries by Dr. Henry Cloud and Dr. John Townsend.Observations include core concepts of:Responsibility - What are you responsible for (yes) and not responsible for (no)Communication - People can’t read your mind, be forthright about what you wantLove - What we give out of love is always stronger than what we give out of obligation.

Episode 75 - I will gladly repay you on TuesdayIn this is the long overdue episode on bonds we will explore:What are bonds?What causes bonds to go up and down?Who sells bonds?Should we all have bonds?Get ready for some more goofy acting and stories as JJ with the help of his niece Cady tries to make learning about bonds both entertaining and educational. Here’s hoping he gets at least one of those right.

Episode 74 - No such thing as a free lunch.None of us work for free. Given that, we should not expect our financial advisors to either. If you are getting help investing your money and you think you are paying low or no fees, then your advisor may be profiting from you in another way that is not as obvious.In this episode we cover 3 major themes of fees that financial professionals receive including:Direct feesMarketing and Revenue Sharing feesWealth Management feesThen we review how your costs could be made up of one or more of these fees. We make the case that up front and transparent fees, when necessary, are the best kind of fees to pay for financial services both from a peace of mind and long term outcome perspective.If you or someone you care about is working with a broker-dealer to invest hard earned money then this episode is definitely for you.Investments discussed will include:Vanguard Total Stock Market Index Fund ETF Shares (VTI)American Funds The Growth Fund of America® C (GFACX)

Episode 73 - Are the robots our friends?Morning Star has released their 2025 Robo-Advisor report and we were excited to dig in and find out what if anything has changed in 2 years. The discussion includes:The state of robo advisors in 2025Who are the leaders per the semi-annual Morning Star 2025 Robo-Advisor Report and which if any are different from 2023?Does this still represent a  good option for  beginning, journeyman and late stage investors?This is one of our favorite episodes so let’s dive in and find out what’s up with Robo-Advisors in 2025!Link to the Morning Star article:https://www.morningstar.com/financial-advisors/best-robo-advisors

Episode 72 - Your portfolio is what you buyRemember that old adage you are what you eat? Well the same is true for investing. Your portfolio is what you put into it.Let’s be honest. Do we really think enough about what we eat before we eat it? If you knew all the preservatives and chemicals and other stuff you were putting into your body every time you sat down for a meal you might think twice about many if not some of your food choices.The same can be true for investing. If you knew what was inside of the ETFs, Mutual Funds and Closed End Funds you buy, you might think twice about owning them. Just because you are looking at 2 different ETFs does not make them similar. In fact they can be more different from one another than the stocks of two individual companies might be.Let’s take a deep dive into two ETFs. One is an indexed investment focused on growth. The other is a concentrated investment focused on income. Like with all investments we need to compare the benefits and the risks associated with each to help us decide if either or both might be right for us. To help compare the two we will look at a fishing metaphor to try and explain how the two are so different, but also have some similarity or cross over.Investments discussed will include:iShares Core S&P 500 ETF Ticker: IVVYieldMax NVDA Option Income Strategy ETF Ticker: NVDYNow let’s go fishing!

Episode 71 - ETFs and authorized participants and net asset values oh my.Exchange Traded Funds or ETFs as they are commonly referred to sit in the portfolios of millions of Americans today. In recent years they have gained market share over Mutual Funds because they offer tax efficiency over Mutual Funds in the same asset categories. Do you know why that is? Also, do you really know what is going on under the hood with your favorite ETF?In this episode we dive into ETFs and cover:What are ETFs?How do ETFs work?What is an authorized participant and are they good for us?Why are ETFs tax efficient?Just like the old adage you are what you eat, your portfolio is what you put in it. If you have ETFs in your portfolio then you owe it to your hard earned dollars to understand what those things are, how they work and how they are different from other options.

Episode 70 - My friend Mr. JonesIn this episode JJ sets out to show you how to live your best life, only to get stuck in a tight cave and produce a recording that may well be his last.Key takeaways include:Be authentic about your choices, don’t buy stuff or do things based on what others will think of youBe prepared, emergencies happen and having the right gear and an emergency fund are both important to survivalBe smart, debt is a trap that can feel like the walls are closing in on you, make sure you only use it wisely if at allNone of these were the lessons that JJ set out to teach you when he crawled into that cave, but sometimes life happens. Hope you enjoy episode 70 of the Piggy Bank Chronicles! Also hope there is an episode 71. Good luck man!

Episode 69 - A pig and a pokeWhere do piggy banks come from? What do corporate raiders eat for breakfast? JJ will try to answer one of those questions with the help of the internet. The other not so much.In this episode JJ discusses the origins of the piggy bank and why savings as a great start still needs to be paired with investing to live your best life.Next JJ dives into his unsolicited opinions about a recent exchange between Elliott Investment Management L.P. and Phillips 66. JJ offers 3 conjectures that nobody asked for. All conclusions are editorial and not fact based because what does he know. Then he ties this recent event with index investing and how it shields us from the shenanigans of individual investment firms and public companies.

Episode 68 - What's in a nameDo names have power? Do they impact how we see, connect and interact with people, places and things in our lives? In this compact but important episode JJ explores the psychology of names anchored in recent events and what it can mean for us in our daily lives.

Episode 67 - Watch this No one expects change, but it comes anyway. When the market eventually makes a big correction, will you be ready for it? Will you know what to do. Creating a watch list of stocks, mutual funds and ETFs that you may want to buy when the market finally goes down dramatically is a good, practical step you can take to prepare. That and making sure you won't sell your assets out of fear. JJ explains the simple watch list concept and shares a couple of examples from his personal list and the reasons why he put them there.

Episode 66 - BAM 2025 When it comes to your personal finances, does everything they tell you to do just feel too complicated. What if you could do the bare booty minimum? Yeah, yeah, I know you know BAM means something else, but BBM is a stinky acronym and this is a family friendly podcast! Anyway, what if you could do the financial BAM in 2025? Would you do it? Well in this episode JJ outlines his idea for BAM in 2025. Here's hoping you find it useful in making your own financial new year's resolutions.

Episode 65 - Our favorite TV shows It is that time of year again. For our holiday special my dear family joins me once again to list off our top 5 favorite somethings. This time it is TV shows. If you are looking for something new to watch we hope something on this list sparks your interest. We want to wish everyone a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year! Please be kind to others and I look forward to visiting with you again in season 3 starting in January.

Episode 64 - Use your ult In video gaming you have an ultimate ability or ult that makes your character special. In investing you have an ult also. In this episode JJ drives home this metaphor to help power up your investment on a regular basis.

Episode 63 - Liquidity Today JJ riffs on liquidity, what it is and why you might or might not care about it.

Episode 62 - The princess and the ogre A fairy tale about ownership to help you frame your thinking on wealth and financial freedom.

Episode 61 - Intentional success JJ discuss how some of the riches men in American history achieved success through careful and consistent control over their personal and professional spending and how you can too.

Episode 60 - The bots are coming AI is already very present in our lives. In this episode JJ introduces you to the concept of AI generated social content and provides some examples of how easy it is to create content with little or no effort. There's a worth while message about saving and investing for your financial freedom and about investing in your personal skills as part of the journey to get there. Plus there are some cool AI voice items to explore. Please enjoy this episode.

Episode 59 - Visualize (welcome to the crazy) Do you think about how purchases will fit into your life and your financial health on a regular basis? If not you should. JJ pulls back the covers and talks about 2 upcoming purchases, the process he goes through in his head before he makes them. JJ may be crazy (we haven't had him tested yet), but his simple 2 step process for making purchases will be a benefit to anyone on the path to financial independence.

Episode 58 - Agency A candid discussion of agency and how if can change the course of your life.

Episode 57 - The game you are playing - part 2 In this episode JJ concludes his exploration of the game you are playing by looking at how to perform a Discounted Cash Flow Analysis on a sample real world company and how we should think about that company in the macro sense as it tries to do business in a big and fast evolving world.

Episode 56 - The game you are playing - part 1 What is game theory and how does it apply to life and investing? JJ explores his thoughts on game theory, complex systems and how we can think about the consequences of our actions for short term vs long term game. We are setting the state for a way to think about individual equity investing in part 2.

Episode 55 - Good work In this episode JJ talks about some advice (from someone smarter than him) on happiness in life and how you might think about applying that to your career as well.

Episode 54 - Think for yourself JJ dives into 3 key points to consider for your investing journey for decades to come. The episode includes: 1. A brief review of the editorial page (courtesy of Chat GPT) and how it has taken over everything 2. A quick example (again courtesy of an energetic conversation with Chat GPT) on why context matters 3. A conclusion that context matters for investing and podcasting just like it does for news

Episode 53 - Today and Anything Start saving today. Start saving anything. Then let the power of compounding do its work on your behalf. JJ finally gets around to talking about the power of compounding and why it is one of the most important parts of your investment journey.

Episode 52 - Yes you can With 3 quotes on perseverance and 1 quote on wealth JJ attempts to motivate you to believe in yourself and the power inside you to achieve whatever is most important to you.

Episode 51 - The fish that ate the fish Past performance is not a good indicator if future results. Given this is an S&P 500 Index ETF or Mutual Fund still a good investment? JJ gives 3 reasons to consider why the S&P 500 still ranks among the top places for US investors to put a least a portion of their savings.