Investing Trivia Time

This lively episode of Talking Real Money features trivia-packed investing fun, smart listener questions, and sharp commentary from Don and Tom. They dive into a Wall Street Journal quiz on investing genius, exploring surprising historical returns and market myths. Listener calls span a range of financial planning topics—from special needs trusts and Roth IRAs for kids to emergency fund placement and ETF selection.

0:04 Don and Tom banter about working weekends and boomers in the office

1:55 Wall Street Journal quiz: Are you a stock market genius?

3:20 Which stock created the most wealth in 100 years? (Hint: it wasn’t Apple)

4:19 Why Altria (Philip Morris) beat the rest

5:31 Berkshire Hathaway drops 99%—would Buffett still beat the market?

6:37 Show mission: make investing simple, not complex

8:28 Caller Valerie: Investing for a daughter with disabilities using Vanguard ETFs

10:24 Portfolio review and discussion of special needs trusts

11:20 Structuring brokerage accounts with trust beneficiaries

13:31 Caller Steve: Roth IRAs for sons, target date vs. all-equity funds

14:36 Tom critiques Schwab’s target date funds—Vanguard preferred

16:20 Future value of $10K over 50 years at 10%—retirement math

17:20 Caller Sam: Can he gift stock into a Roth IRA? (Spoiler: No, but workarounds exist)

18:59 Economist “Felicity Foresight” exercise—guess the ending balance after 100 years of perfect timing

20:34 The shocking power of compound returns: $10 quintillion

22:15 Geography jokes, the U.S. “Middle East,” and why cruises go to Juneau

23:39 Written Question (Bruce): Keeping emergency funds in a Schwab money market fund

25:10 Online bank trust vs. FDIC insurance—why it’s safe

27:51 Don calls Tom a “premature curmudgeon”

28:30 Caller West: Should he add SGOV to his BND bond portfolio?

29:52 BND vs SGOV explained—behavior during rate changes

30:37 Back to WSJ quiz: investing trivia and early company names

31:31 Bezos almost named Amazon “Kadabra”; Google was almost “Backrub”

33:20 What’s a googol? And why Google isn’t even the biggest number

34:48 Shoeshine story: how Joe Kennedy dodged the ‘29 crash

36:39 Caller Diana: Investing for four grandkids—gold coins vs stocks

38:41 Why diversified ETFs beat Boeing stock or gold coins
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