Don celebrates the continued success of the Friday Q&A format and the encouraging first week of sales for his novel The Line Uncrossed, including a strong Kirkus review, before tackling a series of listener questions centered on retirement income and fixed income investing. He explains how his combination of cash reserves, a CD ladder, and bond funds supports a disciplined withdrawal strategy, discusses why diversified bond funds like BND still play an important role in reducing portfolio volatility, rejects the idea that Social Security and pension income should be counted as bond allocations within an investment portfolio, argues against the concept of a reverse glide path that increases stock exposure later in retirement, and shares lessons learned from decades of entrepreneurship about balancing investments in a business versus the market. Throughout the episode, he emphasizes diversification, discipline, investor behavior, and the importance of managing volatility rather than chasing returns.

0:05 Why listener questions remain Don’s favorite part of talk radio after 40+ years
1:16 Friday Q&A episodes continue to be the most downloaded shows each week
1:50 Easier ways to submit questions through the redesigned Talking Real Money website
2:42 First-week sales update on The Line Uncrossed and reader support
3:21 Positive Kirkus review and details on the ebook bundle
4:48 How Don uses cash, bond funds, and a CD ladder during retirement
8:00 Why BND and total bond market funds remain useful fixed income tools
11:22 Should Social Security and pensions count as bonds in your allocation?
14:26 Why Don believes reverse glide paths are a bad retirement strategy
17:34 Investing in your own business versus investing in the market
21:23 Why compliance reviews delay listener questions from airing

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