Risk Parity Radio
Business & Finance
About
Risk Parity Radio is a podcast about investing located at www.riskparityradio.com. RPR explores risk-parity style portfolios comprised of uncorrelated or negatively correlated asset classes -- stocks, selected bonds, gold, managed futures, and other easily accessible fund options for the DIY investor. The goal is to construct portfolios that are robust and can be drawn down on in perpetuity, and to maximize projected Safe Withdrawal Rates regardless of projected overall returns.
Episodes
- Episode 515: Practical Continuity Considerations For Your Family And Why Popular Fear-Based Plans Are Highly Undesirable
In this episode we answer emails from Mark and Eric. We discuss managing finances through aging, dementia, and what happens when the family’s primary money manager can’t manage anymore. Then we challenge popular fear-based retirement think…
- Episode 514: FI-lanthropy Friendly Portfolios, Solving A Transition Quandary, Golden Bow Ties, And Portfolio Reviews As Of May 29, 2026
In this jam-packed crushed-fresh stone-solid hour-busting episode we do a trifecta response to one most excellent email from Rebecca. We discuss portfolios for FI-lanthropy, options and resources for making a transition from a 100% stock p…
- Episode 513: The Perils Of All-Bond Portfolios And Over-Simplification, Choose FI, Muddled Thinking About Index Funds, And Why You Don't Need To Overplan Decades In Advance
In this episode we answer question from Rob, Matthew, and Luke. We discuss the pitfalls of trying to rely on an all-bond portfolio in retirement and better options, the problems with over-valuing financial simplicity over good living, the…
- Episode 512: Avoiding Level Two-Thinking Foibles And CAPE'd Crystal Balls, Basic Accumulation, Talking To Optimus Bill, And Portfolio Reviews As Of May 22, 2026
In this episode we answer emails from TJ, Jose and Optimus Bill. We discuss the foibles of trying to catch up via investment picking if you are behind on retirement, debunk CAPE-style and other crystal ball forecasts from "experts" that Le…
- Episode 511: Missives From Canada, Superman, Parsing Small Cap Funds, And More Fun With AI Creations
In this episode we answer emails from Luc, Deep, and Paul. We discuss the French Canadian "Sak kosh" portfolio, try to help out the elder Sonia sleep well at night, distinguishing small cap blend funds from small cap value funds, and share…
- Episode 510: Charitable Giving, Transitioning From A Single Stock Collection, Using Margin At Interactive Brokers, An Inflation Study, And Portfolio Reviews As Of May 15, 2026
In this episode we answer emails from Geraldo, Rock, Ute. We discuss how to give well, shifting from big-name school donations to smaller charities with immediate impact, moving from individual stocks to a Golden Butterfly style portfolio…
- Episode 509: Navigating Financial Advisor Business Models, Intermediate Portfolios, Monthly Withdrawal Mechanics, Bitcoin Follies, And Another Thank You From Fairfax CASA
The podcast covers financial advisor business models, investment strategies including Treasury STRIPS and rebalancing, practical withdrawal mechanics, and analyzes Bitcoin's correlation to tech stocks. The episode also includes an update o…
- Episode 508: Allocations To Help You Sleep Better At Night, The Three H's Of Retirement Spending, Bond Ladder Follies, And Portfolio Reviews As Of May 8, 2026
Risk Parity Radio addresses a 67-year-old investor concerned about an all-equity portfolio, offering strategies for better sleep through allocation changes. The episode introduces the "three H
- Episode 507: Celebrating Your Generosity With Queen Mary, Estimating Health Care Insurance Costs, Index Funds, Assorted Milkshakes, and Surviving Stagflation
Risk Parity Radio addresses listener questions on estimating retirement health care costs using current data, clarifies the "index fund" labeling issue by distinguishing mutual funds from ETFs and various index designs, and explores portfo…
- Episode 506: Somebody's Drinking Mommy's Milkshake, Tax Considerations In Retirement, Ditching The TSP, And Portfolio Reviews As Of May 1, 2026
This episode of Risk Parity Radio addresses listener questions about financial relationships with parents, retirement withdrawal strategies including tax minimization and asset swaps, and provides portfolio reviews for May 2026.
- Episode 505: Driving Ms. Mamie, The Why Of Risk Parity Radio And Becoming A 1%-er, And Some Portfolio And Calculation Musings
This episode of Risk Parity Radio covers a range of topics including lessons on clarity and happiness, involvement with the Father McKenna Center and Fairfax CASA, and the work behind foster care advocacy. It also delves into practical inv…
- Episode 504: Fun With Bond Funds, Why Unnecessary Income Sucks, Social Security And Four Quadrant Musings, A CAGE Match, And Portfolio Reviews As Of April 24, 2026
In this episode we answer emails from Jose, Optimus Bill, and Steve. We discuss bonds, retirement taxes, valuing Social Security and when to take it, how some use the four quadrant model for market timing, and the latest wave of complex ET…
- Episode 503: Our Inspiring And Generous Listeners, Tweaking The Golden Ratio, And A Few Fund Questions
In this episode we answer emails from Andrew, Geoff, and Frank. We discuss connecting risk parity investing to a bigger question: how to build a drawdown portfolio you can hold while using money to live a full life. Along the way we share…
- Episode 502: Spending More And Living More In Retirement, More On The Four Quadrant Model, Celebrating Our Listeners And Friends, And Portfolio Reviews As Of April 17, 2026
In this episode we answer emails from Matt, Michael, Stephen and Al. We discuss expanding the spending muscle in retirement, the generosity of our listeners, more on the Four Quadrant model and its permutations, and how we stay connected t…
- Episode 501: Talking CASA, Dealing With Shiny Object ETFs, Musings About TDFs, And Transitions From Cash
In this episode we answer emails from Dustin, Optimus Bill, Vaibhav, and Morrie. We discuss how to vet a new "shiny object" ETF, why trying to "fix" target date funds is likely to be a fools' errand as their proper use is extremely limited…
- Episode 500: A Non-Profit Portfolio, Some Retro Ranting on TIPS, Parsing Withdrawal Methods, And Portfolio Reviews As Of April 10, 2026
In this episode we answer emails from Ronald, George, Jeff. We celebrate episode 500 by sharing a few “Easter egg” resources, then jump into listener questions that cut through common investing myths. We discuss a portfolio for a non-profi…
- Episode 499: Thanking Our Generous Listeners, Converting An Inefficient Vanguard Thingamablob, Assisting College-Age Kids, And Smiling With Sara
In this episode we answer emails from Jose, Luc and Sara. We discuss using specific tax lots to reduce capital gains when reallocating, how the 0% long-term capital gains bracket works and why many land in the 15% bracket, where to hold go…
- Episode 498: Maximizing Portfolio Use To Maximize Life, HSA Musings, Meta-Reflections, And Portfolio Reviews As Of April 3, 2026
In this episode we answer emails from Frank, Stephen (from Cincy), Jeff, and Sally. We focus on a common retirement blind spot: once you are financially independent, portfolio tweaks matter less than the life choices you make with the time…
- Episode 497: Critiquing A Problematic Portfolio, A New Listener Tool, 401K Quandaries, And Mucho Mucho Gratitude
In this episode we answer emails from Dave, Marcus Vindictus, and Sharon. We take a hard look at what “diversified” really means in retirement and why correlations matter more than fund count. We also talk about simplifying messy accounts,…
- Episode 496: The Dangers Of Fixating On Tickers, Minimizing Taxes On Cash, Transitions, And Portfolio Reviews As Of March 27, 2026
In this episode we answer questions from Dustin, Optimus Bill and Scott. We discuss the common mistake of chasing tickers and low fees instead of building a portfolio around goals and carefully chosen asset classes, cowbell origins, what t…
- Episode 495: EconoMe, Fairfax CASA, Speculations On Chaos, New 401k Regs, And More Cowbell
In this episode we answer emails from Andy, John, and Todd. We discuss what "holding dollars" means, the lure of speculation on recent events, the ongoing inadequacies of 401k and 403b plans and their incentives, and small cap value vs. sm…
- Episode 494: More Gooooold, Calculator Comparisons, Planning And Portfolios, And Looking For Those Elusive Risk Parity Style Advisors
In this episode we answer emails from Nicholas, Nathan and Lisa. We discuss how much gold is enough and how much is too much, why calculators disagree and the best ways to use them, and what “better” means when the future is uncertain. We…
- Episode 493: Our Raison D'etre, Common Investor Fallacies, UK Investing Notes, Treasury Bond Correlations, And Portfolio Reviews As Of March 13, 2026
In this episode we answer emails from Lee, Leo, Tony, and Samuel. We revel in Lee's generosity and discuss why we hold gold and treasuries, why recent performance should not drive allocation changes and common amateur investor fallacies, h…
- Episode 492: An Expat Risk Parity Style Portfolio, Intermediate Accumulation For A Mortgage, And Assorted Asset Allocation Questions
In this episode we answer emails from TJ, John and Optimus Bill. We discuss TJ's modified Golden Ratio portfolio and backtests, maximizing withdrawals with flexibility, ZROZ vs. TLT simulated leverage, gambling problems, intermediate accum…
- Episode 491: Celebrating Listener Generosity, Donor Advised Funds, Learning Some Accumulation Ropes, Risk Parity ETFs, And Portfolio Reviews As Of March 6, 2026
In this episode we answer emails from Optimus Bill, Mark and Ryan. We discuss donor advised fund sponsor Daffy and a strips fund portfolio substitution, the challenges of figuring out accumulation without getting caught up in chasing shiny…
- Episode 490: Queen Mary Segment With Jillian Johnsrud, Big Law Life, Alternative Assets And Four Quadrant Portfolio Construction Principles, And A Partial Retirement Withdrawal Scenario
In this episode we answer emails from Connor, Zachary and Brian. We discuss fund selection, doing the Big Law dance, portfolio construction basics and analyzing alternatives, and a partial retirement drawdown scenario involving early withd…
- Episode 489: Cowbell Direct Indexing, More Fun With Leverage, An Early Retirement Extra Spending Model And Portfolio Reviews As Of February 27, 2026
In this episode we answer emails from Jeffrey, Bryan, and Erik. We discuss the trade-offs of direct indexing in small cap value, why modest leverage on a diversified mix can outperform stock-heavy portfolios with fewer drawdowns, and model…
- Episode 488: All Hail Queen Mary And Fairfax CASA, Gold vs Managed Futures, And A Short-Term Drawdown Portfolio
In this episode we respond to emails from Nick, Ginna, Ashley, Chris and Sara. In our Queen Mary segment where we are raising money for Fairfax CASA, we express our gratitude for the outpouring of listener support and tell Noah and Taylor’…
- Episode 487: It's Mary Time, Intermediate Accumulation, 529s To Roths, And Leeroy Jenkins Gambling Problems
In this episode we answer emails from Tim, Anderson, and Pete. We discuss using a Golden Butterfly portfolio for intermediate accumulation, converting 529s to Roths and excessively levered portfolios for small children. (I can't make this…
- Episode 486: Matching Your Portfolio With Your Spending Goals, The RPR Site, ETPs, Coast FI Sabbaticals, And Portfolio Reviews As Of February 6, 2026
In this episode we answer email Serge, Nielsen, Paul and Loren. We dig into the core question that drives every portfolio -- when will this money be spent and by whom -- which dictates how it should be invested, and talk about the website,…
- Episode 485: Discerning Managed Futures From Momentum, Monte Carlo Simulation Mania, And Variable Withdrawal Mechanisms
In this episode we answer questions from Ben, Todd, and Tom. We discuss how managed futures differ from momentum, differentiating Monte Carlo simulations and why you need to be careful with parameterized simulations, and flexible withdrawa…
- Episode 484: Portfolio Considerations Pre-Retirement, Accounting For Taxes, Data, Catherine O'Hara And Portfolio Reviews As Of January 30, 2026
In this episode we answer emails from Sebastian, Mark, and James. We discuss the purpose of treasury bond allocations, annuity cash flows, and where rentals fit, goofy accounting for taxes, a bridge to social security and answer questions…
- Episode 483: Parsing Amateur Gold And Cash Ideas, Expert Links, Managed Futures, Testfolio Hints, And Other Hijinks
In this episode we answer emails from Gregory, Rick and Graham. We discuss some more amateur ideas on gold and cash buffers, and modeling managed futures, and we explain why costs and liquidity often matter more than the story you’re told.…
- Episode 482: Reviewing "The Score", Tweaking A Portfolio, And Portfolio Reviews As Of January 23, 2026
In this episode we answer emails from Isaiah and Mike. We unpack how metrics hijack meaning and show how a diversified, risk-parity approach lets you thrive without chasing perfect scores, review our business model and help Mike tweak his…
- Episode 481: Dr. Bill's Excellent Adventure Into Risk Parity Retirement
In this episode we read a lengthy email missive from our good friend Dr. Bill on reaching financial independence a few years early, designing a risk parity portfolio with an advisor, and facing the emotional fog that follows. We share how…
- Episode 480: Tail Risk Strategies, Better Approaches Using Diversification And Who To Learn That From, Fund Taxonomy, And Portfolio Reviews As Of January 16, 2026
In this episode we answer emails from Gregory and Isaiah. We discuss whether tail-hedged ETFs belong in a retirement portfolio, then map out a cleaner path with Treasuries as recession insurance, a value tilt for equity resilience. We also…
- Episode 479: The 60% Transition Solution, Financial Advisor Horror Stories, And Notes On Performance Data
In this episode we answer emails from Bee, Brian, and Derek. We discuss shifting from pure equities toward a Golden Ratio allocation at 60% of the way to financial independence, using 401(k) BrokerageLink to add small cap value, and replac…
- Episode 478: Index Fund Choices, Distribution Methods, The Financial Advisor Landscape, Parsing Our Approach, And Portfolio Reviews As Of January 9, 2026
In this episode we answer emails from Jeff, Chad and Matt. We discuss choices in 100% equity accumulation portfolios, distribution methodology for the sample portfolios, more on radio-personalities-cum-financial-advisors who try to punch d…
- Episode 476: Come On Up To The House With Our Annual Portfolio Reviews For The Very Good Year Of 2025
In this episode we conduct our annual portfolio reviews of our eight sample portfolios you can find at Portfolios | Risk Parity Radio , and compare them with commercial alternatives. We discuss why factors beat geography, and explain how g…
- Episode 475: Managing An Inherited Roth IRA, Roth vs. Traditional Tax Locations, Some Basics With Resources, And Portfolio Reviews As Of December 26, 2025
In this episode we answer emails from Tyler, Michael and Jon. We discuss managing an inherited Roth across a 10-year window and related questions, compare VXUS to targeted international tilts, tax and asset location considerations for trad…
- Episode 474: Planning Around Taxes In Transition, Bitcoin FOMO, Living In A Trailer, And Portfolio Reviews As Of December 19, 2025
In this episode we answer emails from Jenna, Kevin, and Jack Rabbit. We challenge the myth of “never pay taxes” and show how to transition scattered holdings into a Golden Butterfly framework while keeping taxes manageable. We also examine…
- Episode 473: Merry Christmas From Testfolio, More Cowbell, KBWP, And Fund Seeder Mania
In this episode we answer emails from JT, Phil, and Glenn. We revel in the updates to the TestFolio tools, weigh how tilting toward small cap value can lift safe withdrawal rates but also reduces overall diversification, return to KBWP and…
- Episode 472: A Field Day In New Jersey, Obviating Late Accumulation Risks, And Portfolio Reviews As Of December 12, 2025
In this episode we answer emails from Anonymous from New Jersey, James, and Brad. We answer a donor’s six-part retirement plan, from mortgages and liquidity to 403(b) constraints, ETF trading, asset location, asset swaps, and tax‑savvy wit…
- Episode 471: Holy MiFID Quandaries, HGER, And The Desert Portfolio
In this episode we answer emails from Anonymous, Pete, and Wilhelm. We discuss how MiFID reshapes investing for U.S. citizens retiring in the EU, the commodities fund HGER and the "Desert Portfolio." Links: Father McKenna Center Donation P…
- Episode 470: Short Term Bonds, A Growth Plan For A Late Starter, A Birthday Wish And Portfolio Reviews As Of December 5, 2025
In this episode we answer emails from Adam, Cha Cha, and TJ. We discuss how cash and short-term bonds affect safe withdrawal rates, why the Golden Butterfly’s allocation is a preference not a rule, and how to build a growth-first plan when…
- Episode 469: Risk Parity For Charity, Managing Indvidual REITs, And Reverse Glidepaths
In this episode we answer emails from Patrick, Kyle, and Dave. We discuss the advantages of using risk parity style portfolios for higher withdrawal rates, how to manage a sleeve of individual REITs, the joys of giving in its various forms…
- Episode 468: Revisiting Listener Gambling Problems, Canadian Considerations, And A Visit To the Father McKenna Center
In this episode we answer emails from Grant, Brian, and Mourad. We unpack Grant's various gambling problems with leveraged ETFs and Bitcoin wrappers, owning gold in CAD or USD for Canadians, the role of preferred shares and Mourad's recent…
- Episode 467: A Smorgasbord Of Retirement Account Management And Spending Tips And Portfolio Reviews As Of November 21, 2025
In this episode we answer emails from Camille and Jeff. We discuss how 72(t) and asset swaps enable early IRA access, where to place managed futures and treasuries for taxes, practical cash options at IBKR and ultra-short term ETFs, design…
- Episode 466: TDFs, Managed Futures, Complex Trading Strategies, STRIPS And TIPS
In this episode we answer emails from Phil and Chris. We discuss moving from target date funds to low-cost index funds, why equity diversification needs a value tilt, how managed futures replication mimics an index fund in that asset class…