Just Invest!

In this episode, Don and Tom tackle investor emotion during market highs and use a Schwab-inspired scenario to show how discipline beats market timing—every time. They walk through four fictional investors (lucky, disciplined, unlucky, and fearful) to reveal the long-term value of staying invested. The hosts also answer a listener’s question about breaking into the fiduciary advice world and finish with a blistering takedown of FIBA, a so-called fiduciary group pushing high-commission annuities to federal workers. This one’s part reality check, part rally cry. 0:04 Emotional investing and the danger of reacting to market highs 1:13 Why timing the market is so tempting—and so wrong 2:35 Four investor scenarios: lucky, disciplined, unlucky, and the guy who sat it out 5:03 20-year returns: how even the worst timing beat sitting in T-bills 6:25 Discipline as a risk-reduction strategy and emotional filter 8:16 Worst-case fear vs real-world data: even the unlucky come out ahead 9:21 Market rebounds: faster than most think, from 2008 to 2025 10:28 The fourth golden rule: Discipline beats market noise 13:03 Listener Zach thanks Tom—phone call advice pays off 13:34 Listener “Long” asks how to become a fiduciary advisor 14:55 Why financial skills alone don’t make great advisors 16:38 Should you start at a sales-driven firm? Probably not 18:04 Better idea: get your Series 65, find a DFA firm, study for CFP 20:08 Sales skills matter—but you don’t have to sell your soul 20:55 Listener asks about FIBA and a “too good to be true” annuity pitch 21:48 FIBA’s fake fiduciary claim and questionable annuity advice 24:30 Unregistered “advisors” pushing 9–11% commission products 26:25 Why these products are sold: $35K+ commissions 28:30 How to spot fake fiduciaries—and what real ones disclose 29:23 Tom and Don still steaming about annuity predators Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices