We started our podcast in early 2016, with the hope of shining a light on opportunities being missed and mistakes to avoid. Three years later, we still love tackling your questions of how you can make small tweaks to find minor improvements that make major differences down the road. As we reflect back on 2018, in this episode, we highlight our top 4 most popular podcasts of 2018, and because we are podcast fans as well, we fill you in on some of our favorite podcasts that inspired us throughout the year.
Diversity: A Theme for Investing and Our Podcast
Our 4th most popular podcast aired relatively recently and we discussed why you should bother diversifying your portfolio with international stocks. On that episode, we highlighted why the U.S. has done so well and why you would want to have a mediocre portfolio by mixing it up with international stocks. We discussed the risks of investing internationally as well as our tendency toward home country bias. Episode 67 discussed the long-term benefits and how they can shine through our short-sighted viewpoints.
What Investment Decision Process Should You Implement?
Episode 52 was the 3rd most popular podcast of 2018. The markets had just dropped when this one aired which makes everyone nervous. It’s important to remember that the markets frequently fluctuate. We often forget the rough times in the financial world which is why it is so important to have an investment plan. An investment plan isn’t there for the easy times when all is well, it’s there to help you through the hard times. That episode mentioned how to get through the emotional part of investing. We love to give you a glimpse behind the curtain so to speak so that you can see our own details and strategy that we use here at Financial Symmetry. Do you have a financial plan in place?
5 Easy Ways to Improve your Financial Decisions
This episode discussed how we often act against our own best judgment. We tend to place more value in small rewards now rather than larger rewards in the future. This episode included easy steps that anyone can implement to improve their financial situation. We talked about small wins, automation, accountability, and how to have a bigger awareness of spending. Check out episode 60 to find out how to improve your financial decisions.
The Top Episode Took us by Surprise
We were surprised by the most downloaded episode of 2018, episode 61. This one aired in June and discussed how to plan a more enjoyable vacation. We love encouraging experiences over material items, a theme we hit regularly with our references to the Happy Money book. Experiences create lasting memories and material items are easily forgotten. Check out episode 61 if you are planning your next vacation. Also, find out which episode didn’t make it into the final 4 as well as other podcasts we enjoy listening to on this episode of Financial Symmetry.
Outline of This Episode
- [3:27] What are our top 4 podcasts of 2018?
- [4:42] Why bother diversifying with international stocks
- [7:04] What investment decision process should you implement
- [10:25] 5 Easy ways to improve your financial decisions
- [15:20] Planning a more enjoyable summer vacation
- [17:58] What is the one that didn’t make it
- [19:28] Some other podcasts you might enjoy
Resources & People Mentioned
- Episode 67 – Why Bother Diversifying
- Episode 52 – What Investment Decision Process Should You Implement?
- Episode 60 – 5 Easy Ways to Improve Your Financial Decisions
- Episode 61 – Planning a More Enjoyable Vacation
- Episode 62 – The Tumultuous Journey of Bitcoin and How Cryptocurrencies Work
- Psychology of Persuasion Podcast with Robert Cialdini
- Serial Podcast
- Planet Money Podcast
- Money for the Rest of Us Podcast – Why Health Insurance is a Mess
- No Laying Up Podcast (a golf podcast)
- What’s Good Podcast About the Beastie Boys
- Bill Simmons Podcast
- BOOK – Atomic Habits by James Clear
- BOOK – Happy Money by Elizabeth Dunn
- BOOK – Influence by Robert Cialdini
Connect With Chad and Mike
- https://www.financialsymmetry.com/podcast-archive/
- Connect on Twitter @csmithraleigh@TeamFSINC
- Follow Financial Symmetry on Facebook
