Does the average financial plan have "retirement tunnel vision," with a focus on pouring every spare dollar into your retirement accounts. We're all told to save for the future, but what happens when that focus makes us 'house poor' or 'life po...

First up: A listener challenges our take on Dollar Cost Averaging out.Then, we confront the fear: How spooky is this market? Ross and Dan bust the financial ghouls and tell you what’s truly frightening for your portfolio (and what’s jus...

The October Mailbag is here! Ross and Dan open up the mailbag to answer your pressing financial questions, tackling everything from navigating the costs of college to whether you can Dollar Cost Averaging (DCA) out of a position a...

Is the grueling pace of your job fueling your desire for FIRE (Financial Independence, Retire Early)? This week on Check Your Balances, Ross and Dan tackle the reality that for many, burnout is...

When it's time to sell your personal home, do you treat it like a purely emotional move or a smart financial transaction? This week, our resident real estate expert, Dan, is under contract on selling his personal home.Join us as Dan bre...

Your Catch-Up Contributions Are Changing! This week, Ross and Dan dive into the new guidance from the Treasury Department that will redefine how high earners over age 50 make their 401(k) catch-up contributions. The new rule manda...

30 Year Fixed Mortgage rates decline down to 6.26%, is it too early to consider a re-finance from a high rate loan? This week Ross and Dan unpack some of the trickery that can make you think you're saving more money than you really are when you...

This week, Ross and Dan read and discuss The Millionaire Next Door. Does a finance book from 1996 still have precious lessons for us to learn about becoming Prodigious Accumulators of Wealth (PAWs) and avoiding the dreaded Under-Accumulator of ...

As a follow up to last week's episode with David Gardner, we dive deeper into whether the Rule Breaker Investing philosophy is suited for an investor that is approaching retirement. Ross and Dan spent 6 years almost exclusively trying to answer...

This week we are honored to have the Co-Founder and Chief Rule Breaker of The Motley Fool, David Gardner, join the show. David has an unbelievable investing track record, and his new book Rule Breaker Investing is his formula for success. We kn...

Got extra cash and wondering if you should throw it at your mortgage? 🤔 This week, we dive into the age-old debate: when does it actually make sense to overpay your mortgage? What are you using if you still mourn the loss of Mint.com? Th...

When it comes to talking about finance, not all of the theories you hear out there are going to be winners. What are some of the dumbest theories that we've come across, and why are they wrong? Tune in to find out.

Are you one of the many people who've inherited a retirement account and are now wondering, "What's an RMD and how do I manage it?" The rules around inherited IRAs and required minimum distributions have changed, and it can be confusing....

Scott Galloway recently announced he’s dropped all of his insurance—but is he an anomaly or onto something? Dan and Ross break down his controversial stance and discuss whether most people are actually over-insuring themselves against small ris...

The highly anticipated "One Big Beautiful Bill" has officially been signed into law, sparking intense debate and speculation. This week on Check Your Balances, we're cutting through the noise to deliver a crucial breakdown of its sweeping chang...

In this episode of Check Your Balances, we're joined by Callum Thomas to tackle a crucial question for your portfolio: Do you own enough emerging markets? Callum shares his expert insights on the current landscape, potential, and risks of inves...

This week, NerdWallet's Sara Rathner makes a second appearance on the show to talk about the changes to the Chase Sapphire Reserve card. As one of the most prominent travel cards and the market, and one that Ross happens to personally use... th...

On this week's episode of Check Your Balances, a mailbag episode! Does Chat GPT know how each of your retirement account taxes actually works? How do the fees in mutual funds and ETFs actually get deducted? These questions and more as we dive i...

What can the hit Apple TV show Severance teach the fellas about saving for financial independence? Join us this week as Ross and Dan explore the idea that you might be "severed" from the version of yourself that you're supposed to be saving mon...

How do you you get your money to line up with being available when you actually need it? Designing a portfolio with this strategy in mind is called "Liability Matching" and it's a concept that Ross and Dan believe in and teach regularly. While ...

Think you know the average American? Ross and Dan are about to find out if they do! Welcome to "Over Under," the brand new game on Check Your Balances where our hosts put their statistical savvy to the test. They'll compete in a lighth...

A surge in homes for sale relative to the number of buyers leads Ross to question whether his purchase of a home 6 months ago might have been poorly timed. Is he the worlds worst real estate investor? Only time will tell, but you can hear the b...

This week on Check Your Balances, we tackle a listener question: Should your Roth IRA double as an emergency fund? We'll explore the pros and cons. We'll also demystify the critical difference between correlation and causation in personal finan...

This week we're diving into the big questions we think you should be asking. We break down the latest rumblings around SALT deduction changes and what they could mean for your tax bill. Then, we pivot to the ever-shifting housing market, and wh...

What do you do when the numbers tell a different story than your gut? This episode tackles a common planner's dilemma: how to help clients truly believe their financial plan when the data clearly shows they'll be okay. We'll explore if it's abo...