
Loading summary
Farnoosh Tarabi
Banking with Capital One helps you keep more money in your wallet with no.
Barry Ritholtz
Fees or minimums on checking accounts and no overdraft fees.
Farnoosh Tarabi
Just ask the Capital One Bank Guy. It's pretty much all he talks about in a good way. He'd also tell you that this podcast is his favorite podcast too. Ah, really? Thanks Capital One Bank Guy.
Barry Ritholtz
What's in your wallet?
Farnoosh Tarabi
Term supply See CapitalOne.com Bank Capital One NA Member FDIC hey, this is Farnoosh Tarabi from the Sew Money podcast. Running a business means wearing a lot of hats, but ordering supplies shouldn't be one of the ones you don't like. Walmart Business helps organizations like yours save time, money and the headache of managing purchases. From office essentials to bulk break room snacks, it's all in one place, online, in store, or right in their app. Sign up for free@business.walmart.com and get back to what really matters. Running your business Putting off that dream trip because you're nervous about not speaking the language? Don't sweat it. Babbel's got your back. I've been brushing up on my French with Babbel Oui Francais and I love how quickly it's getting me speaking with confidence. The lessons are short, practical and tailored to real life conversations so you can actually talk about things that matter, like ordering that must have pastry at a Parisian cafe, which gives me a lot of anxiety. But I've been practicing. Babbel's lessons are crafted by over 200 language experts and they use real native speakers, not robots, to help you sound authentic. Plus, their speech recognition tool makes sure you're nailing the pronunciation. And here's something that really impressed me. Studies from Yale, Michigan State and other leading universities continue to prove Babbel works. One study found that using babbel for just 15 hours is equivalent to a full semester at college with over a dozen languages and bite sized lessons you can do in just 10 to 15 minutes a day. Learning a new language has never been more doable. So here's the deal. I want you to learn another language. So I'm teaming up with Babbel to gift you 55% off subscriptions, but only for so Money listeners go to babbel.com somoney that's spelled B A B B E L.com somoney rules and restrictions may apply. So money episode 1840 how not to Invest Avoiding Financial Failure in a Noisy World. You're listening to so Money with award winning money guru Farnoosh Karab. Each day get a 30 minute dose of financial inspiration from the world's top business minds, authors, influencers, and from Farnoosh yourselves. Looking for ways to save on gas or double your double coupons. Sorry, you're in the wrong place. Seeking profound ways to live a richer, happier life. Welcome to so Money.
Barry Ritholtz
We've been hearing democratize investing for what, 50 years now? And here's the simple reality. The top 10% of the economic strata in the country own over 80% of the outstanding equities. I guess it's better than it used to be when the answer was it was 95%. But there's only been so much democratizing going on whenever someone, whenever a salesman is using this highfalutin principle like democratization. Hold on to your wallet because this has nothing to do with democratization. We just want a little more wallet share from mom and Pop. There's so much money around, we want to get our beaks wet with that. That's a Since when do you care about democratization? You're running a private equity fund. If you were really interested in democratization, I don't know if this is the career path you would have taken. Just stop and think about it for a second.
Farnoosh Tarabi
Welcome to SO Money everyone. I'm Farnoosh Tarabi. Our guest today is someone I've long admired for his contrarian insight and his ability to cut through the noise on Wall Street, Barry Ritholtz. Barry is the co founder and Chief Investment Officer of Ritholtz Wealth Management. He's the host of the long running podcast Masters in Business and he's also the co author of a classic book called Bailout Nation. Barry is credited with having the foresight ahead of the financial crash in 2008, spotting some of the controversial investing in the subprime mortg market. His new book is called how not to Invest the Ideas, Numbers and Behaviors that Destroy Wealth. It's a sharp, timely guide to what really derails investors and how to avoid those traps. And we cover a lot of ground in our conversation, including why smart investing is about avoiding unforced errors. We also get into his read on the market today, how to avoid the policy whiplash, including President Trump's tariff teetering. You heard in his opening quote the danger dangers of these quote unquote democratized investment schemes, why Wall street suddenly wants your mom's retirement money, and what Barry does pay attention to in a world full of noise. Here is Barry Ritholtz. Barry Ritholtz, welcome to SEW Money. It's great to have you thank you.
Barry Ritholtz
So much for having me.
Farnoosh Tarabi
Your new book, let's just start with that. How not to Invest. It's called the Ideas, Numbers and Behaviors that Destroy wealth and how to Avoid Them. Your book makes a really powerful case that successful investing is not about brilliance. It's about restraint and avoiding mistakes. So I want to start there. What is right now with all this volatility going on, what do you think is the most tempting mistake investors are making in this current environment?
Barry Ritholtz
2025, the obvious mistake is just getting sucked in to the fire hose of news flow. Whether it's tariffs, on again, off again. Is a recession coming? We've been hearing that for what, three, four years now? This is the year the Fed's gonna cut. No, this year. No, this year we've been hearing this consensus. It's very easy to get drawn into these debates when most of the time the average investor would be better off answering the question, if I don't need my money for 5, 10, 15 years, what do I care what happened on a random Wednesday? That's number one. And number two, you have to have some faith that the market is somewhat efficient. By the time it's on TV or on the front page of the Wall Street Journal, it's more or less in the stock price. So whatever you're going to be doing in response to that noise, it's not going to help you get ahead of whatever comes next.
Farnoosh Tarabi
What is your read on the stock market right now? Because we know that the market, while to your point, it's efficient generally over time, but it does indicate sometimes how investors feel where things might be going. I know we can never compare the economy to the stock market, but it's hard not to. It's like there is some correlation. So how would you characterize the market right now? Just generally like people are saying, I'm not very bullish on the market over the next 10 years. These policies, these tariffs, they're going to definitely make an impact and that's going to slow things down. And that's hard to dismiss.
Barry Ritholtz
I'll give you a broad picture and then a few specific examples. The old joke is the stock market has forecast nine of the past three recessions, so you got to be a little wary about that to give you a sense of how cautious we have to be when we're looking at day to day market actions. But look, the relationship between the economy and the market is much more tenuous than people believe. Generally speaking, a good economy, people with jobs, consumer spending. Historically that translates into increased corporate revenue. And increased profits. But it's not a straight line. Just think back to the first or second quarter of 2020 during the pandemic. People were telling me, everything is closed, the world is shutting down, the markets become unhinged from reality. And the correct answer was no. The market's rallying because it's market cap based. At least the S&P 500 is. And when you look at the companies that are positioned to do well during a global pandemic shutdown, there are things like Nvidia and Netflix and Amazon and go down the list, Apple and Microsoft and Peloton and DocuSign and Telehealth. Those were doing great because a challenge arose and they were able to come up to it. Very often it's obscured as to what is driving things in real time. And then you figure out after the fact when it's of absolutely no use to you as an investor. So when we look at this year, we had the April 2 tariff announcements and a lot of people said this is crazy and this is, that's the end of Pax Americana and the dollar is gonna crash and blah, blah, blah. And here it is a month and a half, two months later, and we're significantly above that level, coming up on all time highs. That doesn't mean this goes on forever. And we're certainly at, let's call it increased risk of an unforced policy error. Back to the book. Make fewer mistakes. Hey, the White House can engage in behavior that is really troublesome to the economy and the market. This White House seems to have walked back some of their worst impulses. I kind of like to imagine Scott Besant running into the oval and saying, Mr. President, if you don't do something about these tariffs, you're going to be the next Herbert Hoover. You gotta give me something. All right, 90 day. We'll hold this off for 90 days. And that's where this whole taco meme came from. It's on again, off again, on again, off again at US markets. Do not appreciate being surprised the way April 2nd was. Anytime the Fed changes policy, hey, we're changing policy in three months. And hey, this is, we're looking at PCE and cpi. Look at the dot plot. Okay, here it comes. And then all the Fed governors fan out and they all give their speeches. So months and months before this policy change, just waiting till the market closes on April 2 and shocking the markets. Mr. Market is none too happy with that. And I believe we're starting to accept some recognition that this is being walked back yeah.
Farnoosh Tarabi
Or maybe even just from recognition that uncertainty is the certainty. And I know that in the beginning, the market was very reactive to Trump's tariffs waffling. But maybe, I don't know, are we starting to take him less seriously? Is that reflected on the market like his? Okay, here he goes again. We're not going to overreact.
Barry Ritholtz
That's as good of an explanation as any I've heard. You know, at a certain point, everybody kind of looked askance at, hey, didn't we try this in 1930? And it worked out terribly? Where are we going with this? Yeah, Legitimate issues out there. China does not respect intellectual property rights. They've been a bad actor on that stage. Other countries have fulfilled our incessant demand for fentanyl and other drugs. So there are real issues that need to be addressed. It just seems a little reckless to put a bullet in a six shooter, spin it and play Russian roulette with a $28 trillion economy. Sometimes the response has to be appropriate to the risk level. But the most interesting thing about all of this, we've seen all this soft data, all this soft data like sentiment surveys and plans to build plants or hires or plan to go on vacation. They've all turned soft and negative. And yet the economy remains resilient. And so far, so good. Playing the guessing game. I'm not a macro tourist, and I think people who try to be end up disappointed.
Farnoosh Tarabi
Ah.
Barry Ritholtz
I think that we're going to figure out exactly what's going to happen in the global economy. Just a bunch of people thought they were immunologists during the pandemic.
Farnoosh Tarabi
Right.
Barry Ritholtz
And they became military strategists. Then they became constitutional scholars, like, at a certain point. And not to just talk my book, but one of the themes in the book is Wall street really needs a heaping dose of humility that the world is much more random than we recognize. And sometimes pretending we know what's going on doesn't help us, and it certainly doesn't help our portfolios.
Farnoosh Tarabi
But we're human. We don't learn from our mistakes. You think maybe 2008, 2009 was a point of humility? And you were actually one of the first to call that ahead of time. You know, you saw a little bit of the handwriting on the wall with the subprime mortgage debacle. I'm wondering, what do you pay attention to, Barry, there's so much to not pay attention to.
Barry Ritholtz
Right.
Farnoosh Tarabi
Don't pay attention to the faux experts. And sometimes the slick charts are just imagery that they're not informative. TikTok. Forget it. Junk. But and the media too, even the traditional media is a lot of times just filler noise. And so where do you focus your attention when it comes to making smart investment moves?
Barry Ritholtz
So in terms of media and just the fire hose of commentary and opinion and substacks and whatever, I like the idea of separating the signal from the noise and just putting together an all star team. There's a handful of people that I read on. You know, whenever you hear someone give you a real black or white up or down answer, that's a lazy response because the world is shades of gray, right? And so anytime someone says don't pay attention to any media, that's not realistic. When you're young you consume a lot of content and as you get older you learn through addition, through subtraction and you find yourself focusing on a handful of things that are really worthwhile. One of the chapters in the book, I describe my personal all star team. The people who I follow closely and why do I follow them? A couple of reasons. They've been through a few cycles, have a good temperament, they don't run around with their hair on fire every 6% move down. They have a process that is defendable and rational. It makes sense that if you're looking at certain things that you can justify how you're reaching your conclusions and that they've been more right than wrong over time. If you have a process and you're always wrong, then there's something amiss with that process. There are a handful of people who have just been so consistently wrong but well covered by the media, they're really not deserving of your time and attention. And that's all we really have as investors is a limited amount of time and a limited amount of attention. And your goal is all right. If you feel like you need to stay informed, the idea is to be informed enough to make intelligent decisions, not overwhelmed with all the news flow and not to be excessively online. Doom scrolling does not help anybody's portfolio.
Farnoosh Tarabi
Are you going to drop names or am I going to have to pull out?
Barry Ritholtz
I mean, I drop a bunch of names. In the book I talk about people who I respect, like Sam Zell or Michael Burry, both fabulous investors. But the way they made their money wasn't going on TV and forecasting recessions or forecasting market dislocations. They both became fabulously wealthy by identifying when assets were mispriced. For Sam Zell, it was high quality real estate that was being sold at distressed fire sale prices, which he then held on to years and decades. Or Michael Burry, who recognized that, oh, the risk of dislocation in securitized mortgage related products were way too cheap to bet against. So I want to take that position where the risk is asymmetrical. Hey, I'm putting up a dollar betting that mortgages are going to be problematic to make 100 and so that sort of asymmetric risk mispricing approach, that's where both of those guys made their money. But forecasting recession every couple of months or a market crash every year? Neither of them earn their living that way.
Farnoosh Tarabi
Yeah. Hey, so money friends, I know so many of you are dreaming of starting something of your own, or you're already building a business and trying to make the smartest moves possible with your time, energy, and of course, your money. If that's you, I want to recommend a podcast that's really aligned with the way we think here on Sew Money. It's called this Is Small Business, and this new season is all about something I talk about often, often Risk. Every episode dives into real founder stories, people who've taken calculated risks, faced major financial decisions, and stayed grounded through the ups and downs of building something from scratch. Host Andrea Marquez thoughtfully unpacks how these entrepreneurs made bold moves and what we can all learn from their choices. This Is Small Business is full of financial and entrepreneurial insights that can help you take the next step with confidence. Whether you're wondering how to fund your idea, price your product, or know when the risk is worth it, these episodes give you that clarity. So go check it out. Follow this Is Small Business on Apple podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you listen. It's the kind of inspiration you don't want to miss. As soon as the weather warms up, I get the itch to refresh my wardrobe. But I've learned not to fall for fast fashion or overpriced labels. Instead, I turn to Quince, and their summer styles are timeless, lightweight and beautifully made. I actually ordered a few summer pieces for my daughter, a gorgeous 100% organic cotton poplin smocked dress. I have it in my size too, and the most adorable tankini and the quality is unmatched. The fabrics are soft and breathable, the fit is spot on, and everything feels so much more expensive than it is. Quince makes luxury feel effortless. You'll find 100% European linen shorts and dresses starting at just $30, Italian leather sandals, elevated swimwear, and lots more. By working directly with top artisans and cutting out the middlemen. Quince delivers premium pieces for half the price of brands, and they do it with ethical, responsible manufacturing. Give your summer closet an upgrade with quince. Go to quince.com sewmoney for free shipping and 365 day returns. That's Q-U-I-N C E.com somoney it's not what you say, it's how you say it. And when you show up in a Range Rover Sport, you don't have to say much at all. This is the vehicle for those who lead with quiet confidence, where power, poise and performance speak louder than words. The Range Rover Sport combines a dynamic sporting personality with refined elegance and agility, delivering an instinctive drive that feels as purposeful as it looks. Its distinctly British design doesn't shout for attention, but it gets it. And when the road changes the Terrain Response 2 system with seven drive modes adapts like a seasoned traveler. Inside luxury is not an add on, it's a standard. Breathe easy with the cabin air purification system, enjoy serenity with active noise cancellation and explore in comfort, whether you're gliding through city streets or carving through winding country roads. There's even a plug in hybrid engine option with an estimated electric range of 53 miles, because even raw power can be smart. Explore Range Rover sport@range rover.com USSport that's range rover.com if you love to travel, Capital One has a rewards credit card that's perfect for you. With the Capital One Venture X card, you earn unlimited double miles on everything you buy. Plus you get premium benefits at a collection of luxury hotels when you book on Capital One Travel. And with Venture X, you get access to over 1,000 airport lounges worldwide. Open up a world of travel possibilities with a Capital One Venture X card. What's in your wallet? Terms apply. Lounge access is subject to change. See capitalone.com for details. You've had so many successes in your career as well as mistakes. You write about them in the book. You say you've made every mistake in your book. Thankfully, many were done when you were too broke for it to matter. Those were your words. Was there one mistake that hurt your ego? Ego more than your wallet. You talked about Wall street needing a dose of humility, and I'm wondering, did you have a humble moment that was very educational.
Barry Ritholtz
There's two in the book, and they're both very different and both instructive. One was so I've been a Mac fan for a long time. In grad school, I had a Mac Classic I've been using Apple products for forever. And I ended up getting one of the very first ipods. Note I'm saying ipod, not iPhone. And so this was like late, oh 2, early 03, something like that. And oh, I understand this is going to replace a Sony Walkman. I don't have to walk around with tapes or CDs. It's a thousand songs in my pocket. At the time, Apple was $15, the share price with 13 cash. And I recommended to the whole office. We were buying a ton of it and I'm watching all the prints go by. Look at all this Apple. We're buying at 15 and a couple of weeks go by, it's 20 and now everybody's selling it. Oh, why? Why are we selling it? Hey man, you're up 33% in a crappy market. Take the win. I'll show those guys. I held onto it till it was a triple. It was $45. Now understand, since that $15 purchase, Apple split two for one, three for one, two for one. So I think my purchase price was 28 cents, something like that.
Farnoosh Tarabi
Oh my God.
Barry Ritholtz
And then ran up to 100 and change. So that was humbling. Even though I did better than the retail guys that had taken the small win, I could have just let it run. Not that I would.
Farnoosh Tarabi
Yeah, I used to work with Jim Cramer and he said famously, pigs get slaughtered and Apple's an outlier. But had this been another stock look, we would have all loved to bought Amazon when we were in the womb. It's one of those things. You did have the foresight to buy it early. That's a.
Barry Ritholtz
Not the foresight to stay with it and let it fully unfold. Which by the way, is the idea behind the cowboy account. Every now and then a portfolio comes into the Office and it's $15 million. 14 in Microsoft or 14 million in Nvidia or Bitcoin or whatever. And those are the rarities because most people, they get a little winner. Pigs get slaughtered, so they sell. So when they actually find that one in a million stock, yeah, they can't ride it out. The beauty of having a little. If you're that sort of junkie, if you're always looking for the dopamine hit, then take 3% of your net wealth and play with it. And if it crashes and burns, thank goodness it was only 3%. But if it runs up 500, a thousand, 5,000%. Most people just temperament wise are unable to let stuff run that way. Oh my God, I have $3 million. This is real money. What Do I do. Oh, my God. It's 10 million. Oh, my. It just keeps going, and they're just frozen and paranoid. And I have to. I've watched people start with a small thing, have it go all the way up, and then come all the way down, and they're just paralyzed the whole time.
Farnoosh Tarabi
Yeah. You mentioned crypto. I wasn't planning on a question about this, but it's. But I'm curious, would you consider crypto as part of that 3% gamble?
Barry Ritholtz
Sure, if you want to speculate, why not? I look at bitcoin as, you know, market cap wise. I haven't looked at it today, but it's a little bigger than Facebook. It's a little smaller than Google. So I think of it as a technology company that's a solution in search of a problem. Eventually, some something will be figured out with it. I love the concept of smart contracts and artists being able to put ticket sales on a blockchain so only their fan base with a certain email and a certain number can buy tickets. And if someone wants to flip a $50 ticket for a thousand dollars, the contract that's on the blockchain says, Hey, 80% of that money is going to Taylor Swift or John Mayer, not to Middleman. I know people who literally flew to Paris, stayed in a hotel, bought Taylor Swift tickets, went to the show with their family, flew back, and that whole experience was cheaper than buying tickets on StubHub.
Farnoosh Tarabi
Oh, my gosh.
Barry Ritholtz
I want to offend StubHub, but, yeah, things seems to be wrong with that picture. You want the fans to be able to afford to buy inexpensive tickets, and if someone's gonna flip it, shouldn't the artist capture most of those revenues? That's a solution to a problem that perhaps the blunt can apply. So I don't know how this gets integrated into real life. I've read a bunch of really interesting ideas out there. It's been a long time. The funny thing is the iPhone came out around the same time as Satoshi's white paper on bitcoin, and the iPhone has become ubiquitous and indispensable. We're still waiting for the use case for crypto to reveal itself. Stablecoins are becoming a thing. Eth has become a thing. But I'm not an expert in the space. That's why if you want to speculate with it, sure. Just make sure if it's small enough to not hurt you if it goes south.
Farnoosh Tarabi
I appreciate the solution. Looking for a problem. I think that is a good description. You started the episode talking about look, if you've got a 30 year horizon until retirement, does a Wednesday down day in the Dow really matter? And I agree with you, it doesn't. But what if you are someone who is approaching retirement, who wants to have a shorter timeline for investing five years, seven years? What's the advice for that person?
Barry Ritholtz
So a couple of really interesting things there. First, you have two issues. One is you want to have a reduced amount of risk as you are rapidly approaching retirement. But the offset of that when you look at the traditional target date funds that used to go 70, 30, 60, 40, 50, 50. The challenge is that so many people are living into their 80s, 90s and beyond. And so it's not like you work till 65, you retired, you played a few rounds of golf, then you drop dead. That's a different world than today. So when we used to think about, hey, you want to go from 70, 30 to 60, 40 by the time you're 62, if you want to retire at 65, all those numbers have been pushed out. Obviously it's random and variable. But I was just talking with some people yesterday, their mom is 98, their dad lived till like their late, his late 80s. Hey, if you're 65, you shouldn't plan on just being retired for a few years. You probably have another 20, 25 years to go. That should affect your risk tolerance. You're going to need a little more risk to generate the sort of returns that will last deep into your 80s or 90s.
Farnoosh Tarabi
So then you're talking, stick with 75, 25, or if you're 80, that might.
Barry Ritholtz
Be a little, might be a little aggressive. But think about if you were making changes at 60, 65, 70, maybe you push back those changes to 68, 72, 77. I'm just spitballing numbers, but maybe you got to back them up five or seven years because you know, there's some crazy numbers that if you make it to 68, the odds of making it into your 80s go up dramatically. When you look at the distribution, the mortality tables, like a lot of things happen when you're an infant, when you're a teenager especially us men tend to kill ourselves in our teenage years. Ask any adult male. I bet they could tell you, oh, I once almost killed myself doing this. Remember that time you fell off the ladder or you're driving too fast in the ice. There's a million stories like that. And then there's a period in like your 40s and 50s, the heart attack zone. If you get past that. All right, all the things that usually kill us. Now you have a pretty good shot at late 70s, early 80s.
Farnoosh Tarabi
Yeah. Yeah. I don't think that the healthcare system was planning for us to live this long.
Barry Ritholtz
Absolutely not.
Farnoosh Tarabi
No surprise, Barry. You're considered to be like this fantastic contrarian and we appreciate that so much. I'm curious right now. What is something relatively mainstream that you're seeing happening on Wall street at the. A thought, a trend that you can't stand like that you just want to. If you could snap your fingers and get rid of it, you would.
Barry Ritholtz
I try not to react emotionally. So can't stand is a strong term. I'll tell you something that's raising some red flags and making me a touch cautious about that sector. I Remember in the mid-2405 06 what started out as an institutional problem product, namely securitized mortgages and the derivatives that attach to them started getting marketed to mom and pop investors was originally institutional foundations, endowments, perpetual capital suddenly became a Main street product. And I'm seeing the same thing happen with private credit, private equity, a lot of the alts and it makes me think, gee, we've really must have exhausted all of the foundations and private capital that are out there that you now want to sell this to mom and pop. That always makes my spidey sense tingle. Hey, wait there. There aren't enough multi billion dollar family offices and giant college endowments and elsewhere. David Swensen at the Yale Endowment essentially built this whole. It's called the Yale model of a certain percentage in hedge funds, venture capital, private equity, commodities. And now after an amazing run, Swensen is no longer with us. But that dates back 40 years to the 1980s. Now Yale is cutting loose a lot of their private investments. They're blaming it on the administration's cuts to higher education. But it just seems a little coincidental to me that's happening at the same time as so much private credit and equity are being marketed to mom and pop investors. I find a good rule of thumb is Sturgeon's Law, who just bluntly, he was a science fiction writer in the 50s and 60s and critics always used to ask him how come so much of science fiction is junk. And his response was 90% of everything is crap. Pick an area. It could be romance, fantasy, non fiction. 90% of the books in that space are crap. You could pretty much apply that most of the stocks in the market don't contribute to net gains of national wealth. Most mutual funds underperform over any reasonable timeline. You look at a Lot of the alts, hedge funds, venture capital, private equity, a lot of them are expensive and don't do any better than the public markets. Why do you need the cost, the lockup periods, the complication, the K1s. Keep it simple. Is not a bad strategy. The big shift from alternatives, going after mom and Pop, that's caught my eye and I'm a little suspicious.
Farnoosh Tarabi
Yeah, the marketing around it is very sexy. Is just like a consumer. We want to democratize private equity. Oh, yeah, sure, great.
Barry Ritholtz
What do you do?
Farnoosh Tarabi
And. But what consumers often don't realize is that, well, among other risks, the fees are just so high. Right. To get into those alternatives versus an index fund which is basically free to invest in that compared to something that involves now a derivative or a K1 and a whole team that's managing it.
Barry Ritholtz
We've been hearing democratize investing for what, 50 years now. And here's the simple reality. The top 10% of the economic strata in the country own over 80% of the outstanding equities. I guess it's better than it used to be when the answer was it was 95%. But there's only been so much democratizing going on. Whenever someone, whenever a salesman is using this highfalutin principle like democratization, hold on to your wallet, because this has nothing to do with democratization. We just want a little more wallet share from mom and pop. There's so much money around, we want to get our beaks wet with that. That's a. Since when do you care about democratization? You're running a private equity fund. If you were really interested in democratization, I don't know if this is the career path you would have taken. Just, just stop and think about it for a second. Yeah, you're in the chapters in the book is just simply, what are these people selling? Always ask yourself, what's the product that they're selling? In the book, I specifically disclose, hey, I run an asset management shop. I want your money and I want to charge a fee. I host a podcast. I want your time and attention. And here's a book. I want you to buy my book. So now that my. Here's what I want from listeners, readers, viewers, always ask yourself, what are these guys selling if they're selling democratization? Last I checked, Wall street was not exactly known as a hotbed of free giving. The old joke is, if you want a friend on Wall street, get a dog. And so when I see democratization again, that, that makes my, my Spidey sense tingle. And I'm like, Yeah, I don't really think so.
Farnoosh Tarabi
Yeah. Wow. I want everyone to check out your book. This was some great storytelling and important advice, especially now, a lot of us are not sure what to do. And I think your book provides a lot of clarity and most importantly, context for the young investors and even middle age and older investors, but particularly the young investors not knowing what how our world today fits into the grand scheme of financial history and just history is a mistake. And I think that can often help you to make more rational, less reactive choices. Barry Ritholtz, thank you so much. Your book is called how not to Invest the Ideas, Numbers and Behaviors that Destroy Wealth. What's your next book?
Barry Ritholtz
It took me 15 years since bailout Nation to write this one, so I kind of figure I got till 2040 to come up with the next title. I don't know. I'd love to update this. Talk about tariffs. Talk about all the stuff that's happened since the book went to print six months ago. We'll see so far the paperback is now out next May. Once I get through that, I'll start thinking about the next book.
Farnoosh Tarabi
All right, we'll be here for it. Thank you so much.
Barry Ritholtz
My pleasure. Thanks for having me.
Farnoosh Tarabi
Thanks so much to Barry Ritholtz for joining us. His book again is called how not to Invest, available everywhere. I'll see you back here on Wednesday where we're going to be talking about managing your money if you have adhd or if, like me, you're just really overwhelmed and distracted. I'll see you then. And I hope your day is so money. This episode of SEW Money is brought to you by Nordstrom. Spring is here, and if you're looking to refresh your wardrobe without breaking the bank, Nordstrom has you covered. They've curated the best of spring fashion, all under $100 from top brands like Mango, Skims, Levi's, Nike, and Free. People think effortless boho dresses, sleek matching sets, and the must have sneakers and handbags of the season. Whether you're into floral minis, 70s inspired denim, or that perfect pair of heels, Nordstrom makes it easy to find what you love at a price that fits your budget. And let's be real, shopping for trendy, affordable fashion can be overwhelming. But Nordstrom takes the guesswork out of it by bringing together the best styles in one place so you can spend less time searching and more time feeling fabulous. And the best part? Shopping in Nordstrom is risk free with free shipping and returns. Plus, you can pick up your order the same day at your nearest Nordstrom or Nordstrom Rack. So if you're ready to update your look, check out Nordstrom in stores, online@nordstrom.com or on the Nordstrom app. Ready to order? Yes. We're earning unlimited 3% cash back on dining and entertainment with a Capital One Saver Card. So let's just get one of everything. Everything. Fire everything. The Capital One Saver card is at table 27, and they're earning unlimited 3% cash back.
Barry Ritholtz
Yes, Chef.
Farnoosh Tarabi
This is so nice. Had a feeling you'd want 3% cash back on dessert. Ooh, tiramisu. Earn unlimited 3% cash back on dining and entertainment with the Capital One Savor card. Capital One what's in your wallet? Terms apply. See capitalone.com for detail.
Podcast Summary: So Money with Farnoosh Torabi
Episode 1840: How Not to Invest: Avoiding Financial Failure in a Noisy World
Release Date: June 16, 2025
Guests:
Barry Ritholtz – Co-founder and Chief Investment Officer of Ritholtz Wealth Management, host of the podcast Masters in Business, and author of Bailout Nation and How Not to Invest: The Ideas, Numbers, and Behaviors that Destroy Wealth.
Farnoosh Torabi welcomes Barry Ritholtz to the show, highlighting his expertise and contributions to financial strategy and investing. She introduces his latest book, How Not to Invest, emphasizing its focus on avoiding common investment mistakes rather than seeking brilliance.
Notable Quote:
"Your book makes a really powerful case that successful investing is not about brilliance. It's about restraint and avoiding mistakes."
— Farnoosh Torabi, [05:20]
Barry discusses the primary mistakes investors are prone to in the current volatile environment. He emphasizes the danger of getting overwhelmed by constant news and market fluctuations.
Key Points:
Notable Quote:
"If I don't need my money for 5, 10, 15 years, what do I care what happened on a random Wednesday?"
— Barry Ritholtz, [05:40]
Barry provides his insights into the current state of the stock market, discussing its often tenuous relationship with the broader economy.
Key Points:
Notable Quote:
"The relationship between the economy and the market is much more tenuous than people believe."
— Barry Ritholtz, [07:20]
The conversation shifts to the concept of democratizing investing, with Barry expressing skepticism about its true intent.
Key Points:
Notable Quote:
"Whenever someone is using this highfalutin principle like democratization, hold on to your wallet, because this has nothing to do with democratization."
— Barry Ritholtz, [06:45]
Barry shares strategies on how investors can effectively filter out noise and focus on meaningful information.
Key Points:
Notable Quote:
"Your goal is to be informed enough to make intelligent decisions, not overwhelmed with all the news flow."
— Barry Ritholtz, [13:43]
Barry reflects on his own investment missteps, illustrating the importance of humility and learning from mistakes.
Key Points:
Notable Quote:
"I could have just let it run. Not that I would."
— Barry Ritholtz, [22:45]
The discussion turns to the role of cryptocurrency in modern investing, with Barry offering a measured perspective.
Key Points:
Notable Quote:
"If you want to speculate, why not? Just make sure it's small enough to not hurt you if it goes south."
— Barry Ritholtz, [25:28]
Barry provides insights into adjusting investment strategies for individuals nearing retirement, challenging traditional risk reduction methods.
Key Points:
Notable Quote:
"If you're 65, you shouldn't plan on just being retired for a few years. You probably have another 20, 25 years to go."
— Barry Ritholtz, [28:17]
Barry expresses concerns over the mainstreaming of alternative investments and their suitability for the average investor.
Key Points:
Notable Quote:
"Most mutual funds underperform over any reasonable timeline. Why do you need the cost, the lockup periods, the complication?"
— Barry Ritholtz, [33:10]
Farnoosh wraps up the conversation by encouraging listeners to explore Barry's book and hints at future topics on the show. Barry mentions plans to release the paperback version of his book and briefly discusses potential topics for his next publication.
Notable Quote:
"Your book provides a lot of clarity and most importantly, context for the young investors and even middle age and older investors."
— Farnoosh Torabi, [34:59]
Conclusion:
In this episode, Barry Ritholtz provides a candid and insightful analysis of common investment pitfalls, emphasizing the importance of long-term thinking, disciplined strategies, and skepticism towards overly complex investment products marketed to retail investors. His experiences and lessons underscore the value of humility and continuous learning in achieving financial success.
Additional Resources: