The Mind Money Spectrum Podcast

Ideal day, week, and year...but really why life is so hard. In this episode, Aaron and Trishul begin an exercise to imagine their ideal day, week, and year. What does your perfect Monday look like? What might be too much for every day but sensible for once a week? They discuss the reasons why their model day feels so good. But then, they delve into competing societal pressures and soon uncover the challenges around putting an ideal day into action. Episode References MMS #15. George Kinder: Three life questions that will change everything. MMS #18. Why happiness is not the answer to your problems. MMS #7. The impact of friends, family, and communities on happiness. Neuroscientist 'These 5 Things Will Improve Your Life Drastically' George Kinder's Step-by-Step Guide: How to Develop a Life Plan and Live into Your Dreams of Freedom Aaron Agte and Trishul Patel go beyond traditional finance questions to help you explore how to use your money to achieve the freedom you want in life. Aaron is a Bay Area Financial Planner with GraystoneAdvisor.com, and Trishul is an East Coast Wealth Manager (InvestingForever.com). MindMoneySpectrum.com and YouTube.

Understanding mutual fund share classes helps transparency in financial services. In this episode, Trishul and Aaron discuss mutual fund shares classes and the evolution of mutual funds over the last forty years. They describe how stock brokers transitioned to financial advisors and how the Internet improved investor education. Consumer demand and aligned incentives fostered the rise of fee-only investment advisers more than regulatory requirements. ETFs are not necessarily better than mutual funds if you understand how they work and where they came from. Episode References MMS #11. In the active vs. passive debate, fees and taxes matter more than trying to identify alpha MMS #90. What you need to know about advisory fees. Investing Forever - Active vs Passive Vanguard Share Classes Invesco S&P 500 Index A (passive mutual fund) John Bogle (Vanguard Founder) American Funds Growth Fund of Amer A Vanguard S&P 500 Mutual Fund Vanguard S&P 500 ETF Vanguard Total Stock Market Index Fund Aaron Agte and Trishul Patel go beyond traditional finance questions to help you explore how to use your money to achieve the freedom you want in life. Aaron is a Bay Area Financial Planner with GraystoneAdvisor.com, and Trishul is an East Coast Wealth Manager (InvestingForever.com). MindMoneySpectrum.com and YouTube.

Aaron and Trishul think it's okay not to save. WHAT?!?! In this episode, Aaron and Trishul discuss scenarios when it is okay not to save for the future. When is traditional financial planning too conservative? When taking a life planning approach, it's okay to prioritize well-being over prudent financial decisions. It may require future flexibility, but with good process and intention, you should feel like you are living the life you want rather than making a sacrifice. Episode References MMS: What's the big deal about FIRE? MMS: Most important financial advice for someone in their 20's Kitces: 3 Types of Retirement MMS: #15. George Kinder: Three life questions that will change everything. Aaron Agte and Trishul Patel go beyond traditional finance questions to help you explore how to use your money to achieve the freedom you want in life. Aaron is a Bay Area Financial Planner with GraystoneAdvisor.com, and Trishul is an East Coast Wealth Manager (InvestingForever.com). MindMoneySpectrum.com and YouTube.

When AI becomes more intelligent than humans, is humanity doomed? In this episode, Trishul prepares Aaron for when Artificial Intelligence becomes Artificial General Intelligence and the ensuing implications for humanity. He explains inner alignment and outer alignment problems and how capitalism and the prisoner's dilemma may mitigate AI creators from pursuing sufficient safety. When we start to consider scale and accessibility, it's possible that despite the best efforts of the vast majority of humanity, we can't overcome humans' inability to unanimously agree on anything. Episode References Artificial General Intelligence Nuclear Close Calls Prisoner's Dilemma Moloch Youtube: AI Alignment Problem Microsoft $10B investment in OpenAI Great Filter Don't Look Up I, Robot Aaron Agte and Trishul Patel go beyond traditional finance questions to help you explore how to use your money to achieve the freedom you want in life. Aaron is a Bay Area Financial Planner with GraystoneAdvisor.com, and Trishul is an East Coast Wealth Manager (InvestingForever.com). MindMoneySpectrum.com and YouTube.

How do you decide when to sell your NSOs? In this episode, Aaron uses the Netflix Employee Stock Option Plan to explain how to decide when to sell NSOs. Just because the stock price has appreciated doesn't mean you should cash out now. Options have both moneyness and time value. Aaron explains leverage to help understand when an option is sufficiently "in-the-money" and a Black-Scholes Calculator to quantify the Time Value. You can then apply an Insight Ratio to determine if you should cash out now or hold on for longer. Episode References Graystone: Netflix employees should wait to sell their stock options Graystone: Netflix Employee Stock Option Plan myStockOptions.com Black-Scholes Calculator Yahoo Finance: NFLX NFLX Volatility StockOpter Insight Ratio® Aaron Agte and Trishul Patel go beyond traditional finance questions to help you explore how to use your money to achieve the freedom you want in life. Aaron is a Bay Area Financial Planner with GraystoneAdvisor.com, and Trishul is an East Coast Wealth Manager (InvestingForever.com). MindMoneySpectrum.com and YouTube.

What happens to Silicon Valley Bank customers and will this affect my cash? What does the failure of Silicon Valley Bank mean? On 3/15/23, Aaron and Trishul answer client questions regarding the news about SVB. They discuss FDIC insurance and how some risk-free instruments are safer than other risk-free instruments. They address how specific regulatory and economic factors affected SVB and how they may or may not apply to other banks and money markets. In the end, SVB may be suffering the consequences of the risks they took on, but customers probably don't need to worry about losing any money. Episode References AI Copywriter SIPC SVB Weakens Risk SIVB Stock SVB Balance Sheet SVB Relative Size MaxMyInterest US Reserve Requirement Ratio Investopedia: Reserve Requirements Did WaMu customers lose money? Aaron Agte and Trishul Patel go beyond traditional finance questions to help you explore how to use your money to achieve the freedom you want in life. Aaron is a Bay Area Financial Planner with GraystoneAdvisor.com, and Trishul is an East Coast Wealth Manager (InvestingForever.com). MindMoneySpectrum.com and YouTube.

What happens after AI replaces labor? In this episode, Trishul and Aaron imagine what happens when robots and AI put everyone out of a job. What careers could still exist? Does everyone get custom computer-generated content? If wealth inequality continues on an exponential path, what will the median household do? If the costs of everything in life are driven to a de minimis level, do most people even need jobs? If not, how do they spend their time? Episode References AI Copywriter Wealth Inequality in America Trends in Income and Wealth Inequality U.S. Wealth Distribution Over Time (Graph error; total wealth in Trillions, not Billions) AI reading X-rays Music AI Exams Passed by ChatGPT AI Makes Basic Coding Obsolete ChatGPT FAQ Aaron Agte and Trishul Patel go beyond traditional finance questions to help you explore how to use your money to achieve the freedom you want in life. Aaron is a Bay Area Financial Planner with GraystoneAdvisor.com, and Trishul is an East Coast Wealth Manager (InvestingForever.com). MindMoneySpectrum.com and YouTube.

Is AI going to replace Aaron and Trishul? In this episode, Aaron and Trishul discuss the implication of ChatGPT on their (and other) careers. It will likely replace the knowledge they have gained through the CFP program and can answer most client questions directly. Just like a student can outsource a test and a CPA can outsource data entry. The future value may not come from their knowledge but from the ability to help clients who don't know what they don't know. In asking better questions, both about their lives and specific topics, the ability to help guide along the way to make better decisions will be how advisors [and doctors] thrive in the future. Episode References AI Copywriter AI Video AI Lawyer AI Blogs Arthur C Clarke's Quote ChatGPT on Final Exams ChatGPT passes Wharton Exam AI Robot Lawyer ADA Health AI Tool ChatGPT will change automation jobs AI Lawyer in action AI Podcast ChatGPT adoption rates Aaron Agte and Trishul Patel go beyond traditional finance questions to help you explore how to use your money to achieve the freedom you want in life. Aaron is a Bay Area Financial Planner with GraystoneAdvisor.com, and Trishul is an East Coast Wealth Manager (InvestingForever.com). MindMoneySpectrum.com and YouTube.

Trishul and Aaron get philosophical as they consider artificial intelligence. In this episode, Aaron and Trishul planned on discussing ChatGPT. But when they go through the history of machine learning, Trishul wonders if a modern AI can pass the Turing Test, and they go down a rabbit hole of the difference between humans and machines. They ponder the question of whether a human's mind/soul has free will or whether the human brain is the result of biology and external inputs. Episode References Bot Writes a Hallmark Christmas Movie ChatGPT Deep Blue vs Gary Kasparov AlphaGo AlphaFold Free Will Blog on ChatGBT Aaron Agte and Trishul Patel go beyond traditional finance questions to help you explore how to use your money to achieve the freedom you want in life. Aaron is a Bay Area Financial Planner with GraystoneAdvisor.com, and Trishul is an East Coast Wealth Manager (InvestingForever.com). MindMoneySpectrum.com and YouTube.

Creating a routine to fill the unstructured time off. In this episode, Trishul and Aaron discuss what they are going to do with their unstructured time off around the holidays. Aaron is particularly concerned with limiting screen time for his three kids. Trishul shares some of the activities he and his family did during his sabbatical and during Covid and how you can create a routine when you have time to do whatever you want. Episode References All Trails Thousand Trails Year-End Financial Planning Checklist Video Games Versus TV Social Media Versus Mental Health Aaron Agte and Trishul Patel go beyond traditional finance questions to help you explore how to use your money to achieve the freedom you want in life. Aaron is a Bay Area Financial Planner with GraystoneAdvisor.com, and Trishul is an East Coast Wealth Manager (InvestingForever.com). MindMoneySpectrum.com and YouTube.

Safe withdrawal rates, fulfillment, and economic impact of an aging population. In this episode, Aaron and Trishul explore the question "What if we live forever?" They touch on the science of aging, the economic impact of an aging population, like Japan, and the ramifications on the workforce. While it may seem that supporting a long retirement may require a larger nest egg, it's possible the next generation chooses lifestyles and careers they can maintain much later in life. Episode References Variable Spending Strategy Future Population Growth Retirement Spending Strategies The Rejuvenation Roadmap Reverse Aging Treatment for Mice “Time Jump” by 30 Years Aaron Agte and Trishul Patel go beyond traditional finance questions to help you explore how to use your money to achieve the freedom you want in life. Aaron is a Bay Area Financial Planner with GraystoneAdvisor.com, and Trishul is an East Coast Wealth Manager (InvestingForever.com). MindMoneySpectrum.com and YouTube.

The current and future impact of going solar and electric. In this episode, Trishul and Aaron discuss the decreasing cost of solar power and whether paying the extra cash now for solar panels or electric vehicles pays off in the end. Episode References EVs save money in the long run California Electric Mandate Solar is now the cheapest in history Price of solar has dropped 89% in 10 years Solar makes sense at ground level Energy.gov: Homeowner's Guide to Federal Tax Credit Are EVs worth the money? Solar in US to triple in five years Are EVs worth it? Only EVs by 2035 Aaron Agte and Trishul Patel go beyond traditional finance questions to help you explore how to use your money to achieve the freedom you want in life. Aaron is a Bay Area Financial Planner with GraystoneAdvisor.com, and Trishul is an East Coast Wealth Manager (InvestingForever.com). MindMoneySpectrum.com and YouTube.

Everything Fantasy Football. In this episode, Aaron teaches Trishul how to play fantasy football. They use passive investing and simple behavior heuristics as analogies for auto-drafting and setting a lineup. They discuss positional scarcity, relative value, and the diminishing marginal benefit of additional research time. But in the end, it's the context that keeps a group of friends together that is the biggest benefit of fantasy football. Amazon: All or Nothing Yahoo! Fantasy Sports ESPN Fantasy Aaron Agte and Trishul Patel go beyond traditional finance questions to help you explore how to use your money to achieve the freedom you want in life. Aaron is a Bay Area Financial Planner with GraystoneAdvisor.com, and Trishul is an East Coast Wealth Manager (InvestingForever.com). MindMoneySpectrum.com and YouTube.

Is ESG investing worth extra fees and opportunity cost? There may be better ways to spend your money. In this episode, Aaron and Trishul discuss Socially Responsible Investing and ESG investing. Environmental, Social, Governance investing. They discuss the theories around how and why you you would invest in companies with objectives other than pure profit maximization. Trishul argues that if there was any additional ourperformance to be had, the efficient market would already have priced that in. Aaron uses an analogy of female led companies to argue that there may be some bias against non-traditional invesment strategies. But in the end, they both agree that lower investment fees is the way to go. Women Led Startups received 2.3% of VC Funding Female Entrenpreneurs Funded by Female VCs ESGV - Vanguard ESG US Stock ETF Companies with female leaders outperform those dominated by men ESG ETFs What is ESG investing? Forbes: ESG Investing Nerdwallet: ESG Investing Robo-Advisors Socially Responsible Investing ESG Investing intro ESG ETF Reports Aaron Agte and Trishul Patel go beyond traditional finance questions to help you explore how to use your money to achieve the freedom you want in life. Aaron is a Bay Area Financial Planner with GraystoneAdvisor.com, and Trishul is an East Coast Wealth Manager (InvestingForever.com). MindMoneySpectrum.com and YouTube.

Tax-Loss Harvesting is not free money, but it still has some long-term benefits. In this episode, Trishul and Aaron discuss all the nuances and caveats of tax-loss harvesting. It is definitely a good thing, but may be more of a tax-deferral than a genuine tax savings. Unless you can get a step-up in basis. The biggest benefit of tax-loss harvesting may come from the time value of money; the compounding growth on the money that didn't go to taxes at the beginning. MMS #79. Tax-Loss Harvesting 101 7 Stages to Financial Freedom Mox-nix VOO - Vanguard S&P 500 ETF VT - Vanguard Total World Stock ETF Fidelity: Tax-loss harvesting IRA Wash Sale Rule Wash Sale Challenge: What is substantially identical? Aaron Agte and Trishul Patel go beyond traditional finance questions to help you explore how to use your money to achieve the freedom you want in life. Aaron is a Bay Area Financial Planner with GraystoneAdvisor.com, and Trishul is an East Coast Wealth Manager (InvestingForever.com). MindMoneySpectrum.com and YouTube.

With social media, it takes practice to fight the default doomscrolling behavior. In this episode, Trishul and Aaron examine their own behaviors when it comes to social media and how it continually elicits negative emotions. Social media engines feed more negative items because these drive greater interaction across society. They discuss the balance between 'ignorance is bliss' and being an informed voter. With so much noise in the world, it takes work to create filters and you need to practice the process of curation. Doomscrolling Tang ping BBC: Doomscrolling Echo Chamber Aaron Agte and Trishul Patel go beyond traditional finance questions to help you explore how to use your money to achieve the freedom you want in life. Aaron is a Bay Area Financial Planner with GraystoneAdvisor.com, and Trishul is an East Coast Wealth Manager (InvestingForever.com). MindMoneySpectrum.com and YouTube.

Most advice for dealing with rising interest rates doesn't work after the fact. All the advice of what to do during rising interest rates only applies if you went back in time and knew interest rates were going to rise in the future. Once they have already risen, there is not much you can do. But Aaron and Trishul discuss some of the things you could have done if you were able to predict the future. MMS #61. The market's at an all-time high (again!). CNN: How to benefit from rising interest rates. Interest Rates are Rising Globally Fed Raised Interest Rates Fed Funds Rate History: Highs and Lows US Treasury Yield Curve BND - Vanguard Total Bond Market ETF Interest Rate Sensitivity Mortgage Rates Aaron Agte and Trishul Patel go beyond traditional finance questions to help you explore how to use your money to achieve the freedom you want in life. Aaron is a Bay Area Financial Planner with GraystoneAdvisor.com, and Trishul is an East Coast Wealth Manager (InvestingForever.com). MindMoneySpectrum.com and YouTube.

Being intentional with spending and saving can reduce stress and increase happiness. If you are on track to be financially independent, when is it ok to spend more? If you are saving well and your income keeps growing, do you scale back or use your extra to move beyond basic needs? After you are earning enough to cover regular spending and saving, it becomes an intentional life decision of what you do with your extra income? Do you maintain the same expenses and pursue FIRE? Do you become a one-income household? Do you design your career with your life in mind? As you move from stability to flexibility, it becomes more important to be intentional with your life decisions first, then make sure your finances are supporting your ideal life. MMS #3. Does money buy happiness? MMS #6. The difference between well-being and happiness MMS #7. The impact of friends, family, and communities MMS #18. Why happiness is not the answer to your problems. 7 Stages to Financial Freedom Rich Dad Poor Dad Hedonic Treadmill Reddit FIRE Happy Money Aaron Agte and Trishul Patel go beyond traditional finance questions to help you explore how to use your money to achieve the freedom you want in life. Aaron is a Bay Area Financial Planner with GraystoneAdvisor.com, and Trishul is an East Coast Wealth Manager (InvestingForever.com). MindMoneySpectrum.com and YouTube.

How the math behind Buffett's Billion applies to psychology and finance. In this episode, Aaron and Trishul look at the math behind the March Madness game Buffett's Billion and the probabilities of unlikely things happening. How does Warren Buffett put up $1 Billion for a free game? While each individual underdog is more likely to lose, if enough underdogs play, you can start to expect that at least one underdog will win. They discuss the collective psychology of looking back at unexpected things vs. trying to predict unexpected things in advance. While you may feel the shock of "What are the odds of that happening?!?!", this is often ascribed after the fact and the probability of SOME unexpected event occurring is much higher than any specific event. MMS #24. Always shop around for insurance Warren Buffett Billion Dollar March Madness Bracket Small-World Effect How many grains of sand? Aaron Agte and Trishul Patel go beyond traditional finance questions to help you explore how to use your money to achieve the freedom you want in life. Aaron is a Bay Area Financial Planner with GraystoneAdvisor.com, and Trishul is an East Coast Wealth Manager (InvestingForever.com). MindMoneySpectrum.com and YouTube.

Deflation from technology, but prices still increase. In this episode, Aaron and Trishul discuss deflation due to improvements in technology. They use computers, TVs, and cars as analogies for real estate, education, and healthcare. Even if prices of new cars aren't going down, it's the benefits and value that have driven the increases in prices. They guess how it may be possible for the cost of education to trend toward zero, while a four-year university can continue to outpace the CPI. Our Economy: What is Technology? The Great Deflation of Computer Prices Deflation Inflation Big Mac Index Lumber Cheap TV? New Car Inflation Solar Panels over Time Population Growth Rate Online Learning Platforms Aaron Agte and Trishul Patel go beyond traditional finance questions to help you explore how to use your money to achieve the freedom you want in life. Aaron is a Bay Area Financial Planner with GraystoneAdvisor.com, and Trishul is an East Coast Wealth Manager (InvestingForever.com). MindMoneySpectrum.com and YouTube.