Wrap-Up Season 3 – Invested Poorly: Sad Tales of FInancial Fails (S3 E11)

Transcript

That wraps up Season 3 of Invested Poorly: Sad Tales of FInancial Fails. I’ve really enjoyed retelling stories over the last couple of seasons of my experiences as a portfolio manager and financial advisor working with clients. I hope you’ve found these real-life examples useful along your FI path.

Since launching the podcast, I’ve received a handful of comments which are greatly appreciated, so please send me any thoughts you have after listening to another season.

Looking back on Season 3, I started in episode 1 with a broad overview of the investment phases we all go through, which include accumulation, transition, and drawdown. This one episode summarized everything you need to know over your entire investing life span, in just over 10 minutes.

Episode 2 shifted from the big picture to outlining some specific mistakes I saw investors make all the time—including savvier DIY investors. Unfortunately, even those who are quote, unquote, “doing everything right,” often still make mistakes without even realizing it. In episode 3, I challenged the notion that index funds are always the “right way” to invest. I provided a couple real world examples of where alternative strategies significantly outperformed.

Next came my take on bonds in episodes 4 and 5. I’ve been eager to get to this topic on the podcast. I first tackled the individual bonds versus bond funds argument. Then, I moved on to discuss the merits of high-yield bonds with a deep dive into how I use bonds in my portfolio, which I’m pretty confident was different than anything you had ever heard before.

The conversation then shifted to a more somber discussion around estate planning in episode 6. Never fun to talk about, but a very important aspect of proper financial planning that investors all too often neglect. Episode 7 was a crash course in privacy and security reminding you of some best practices we all need to take seriously to prevent ourselves from becoming the next victim of a financial scam.

I discussed the value of tracking your spending in Episode 8, which might not sound exciting, but knowing exactly how much your life costs is crucial to your FI journey. My personal story is “Exhibit A” when it comes to the value and eventual payoff this effort can make.

Trust, but verify, was the theme of episode 9 where I highlighted the importance of having at least a decent understanding of your personal financial situation, even when you hire a professional to assist you. Lastly, Season 3 ended with episode 10, exposing the perils of fear-based investing. Emotions always run deep when it comes to investing, so I wanted the final episode to be a reminder that the best advice you can take away from this podcast is to always ignore the noise.

With three seasons now complete, I’m thinking about options for the future of this podcast, as well as possibly offering further resources and services to help people along their path to FI. One idea I have is guest appearances where I interview other investors telling their personal stories of financial fails. If you are interested in hearing your story told or have any other ideas for future episodes, resources, or services, please contact me via my website, AreYouFI.com.

Before closing out, I want to encourage you to go back and browse previous seasons for topics of interest you might’ve missed or need a refresher on, to help you stay on track with your investments.

If you have gotten any value out of the show, please leave a 5-star rating and review on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, or your favorite player app. And share the show with family members and friends who you think would enjoy my stories and viewpoint on investing. Also be sure to hit “follow” or “subscribe” in your favorite podcast player, so you will be alerted when future episodes are released. This should take just a minute and will help support the show so we can continue producing content about successful investing to help you reach financial independence.

Finally, please visit my website at AreYouFI.com (that’s A R E Y O U F I dot com) for more information about my personal FI journey, as well as the resources I use to make wise investment decisions with my own money. You can also join our mailing list and provide me with feedback.

Thanks again for listening to the third season of Invested Poorly and don’t forget, when it comes to investing, always…ignore the noise.

I’m your host, Jeff Harrell, thanks for listening.

Invested Poorly: Sad Tales of FInancial Fails was created for informational purposes only and should not be relied on for specific tax, legal, or investment advice. You should consider consulting a qualified professional to review your situation before engaging in any transactions. Investing involves risk, including loss of principal and past performance is no guarantee of future results.

This podcast was produced by Ted Cragg. Learn more about creating podcast mini-series like this by visiting QuickEditPodcasts.com.