Your Money Guide on the Side

Pre-order Tyler's book, Real Wealth, at ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠tylergardner.com/book⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ and be eligible for all monthly incentives between now and December 1st! And as always, a MASSIVE thank you to this week's sponsors: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Caldera + Lab⁠ → If you've been meaning to take better care of your skin, head to CalderaLab.com/TYLER and use code TYLER for 20% off your first order. Gelt → ⁠⁠joingelt.com/tyler⁠ because it's not too late to make strategic game-changing tax moves. If you're a business or a high-net worth individual, you might want to check this one out today. Momentous⁠ → ⁠⁠livemomentous.com⁠ Use code Tyler for up to 35% off your first order! Fabric⁠ → ⁠⁠meetfabric.com/tyler⁠⁠ Made for busy parents like you; all online, on your schedule, right from your couch. You could be covered in under 10 minutes, often with no health exam required. A spreadsheet can tell you which decision might leave you richer. It’s less useful at explaining why you still want to pay off the house. In this episode, Tyler explores five money questions whose answers depend on values and obligations as much as arithmetic. Starting with a client whose priorities he once misunderstood, he examines the tension between building wealth and building a life, including his own habit of saving for a future that keeps getting preferential treatment. You’ll learn: Why paying off a mortgage can answer a different question from maximising returns. How your relationship with your future self can encourage both saving and excessive sacrifice. Why support for adult children needs a clear purpose and an agreed endpoint. How family conversations about inheritance can address expectations before surprises arrive. Why “enough” keeps moving when it’s attached only to a number. Better decisions begin with what the money is for—and an honest answer about the life it should support. If this episode helped, please consider leaving a review on Apple or Spotify.

Pre-order Tyler's book, Real Wealth, at ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠tylergardner.com/book⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ and be eligible for all monthly incentives between now and December 1st! And as always, a MASSIVE thank you to this week's sponsors: Thrive Market⁠ → Use link thrivemarket.com/tyler to get $30 off your first two orders. You cannot get this deal on the website — it's only through my link. And that right there covers your membership fee, so sign up now before this exclusive offer ends. Caldera + Lab⁠ → If you've been meaning to take better care of your skin, head to CalderaLab.com/TYLER and use code TYLER for 20% off your first order. Anthropic⁠ → ⁠⁠claude.ai/tyler ⁠to experience AI for minds that don't stop at good enough. Gelt → ⁠⁠joingelt.com/tyler⁠ because Q2 is where strategic businesses make game-changing tax moves. If you're a business or a high-net worth individual, you might want to check this one out today. And on to the show notes!! The “safe” part of a portfolio can still deliver a nasty surprise. Bonds have a job to do, but protecting against everything isn’t in the contract. In this episode, Tyler revisits his earlier argument against bonds with a sharper distinction between growth and ballast. He explores what fixed income actually protects, what it leaves exposed, and when certainty matters more than chasing a higher return. You’ll learn: How interest rates, inflation and opportunity cost challenge the idea that bonds are automatically safe. Why a bond fund is not a bond, and what duration reveals about potential price swings. The different jobs money markets, bond funds and TIPS can perform. When matching maturities to expenses and holding a retirement spending buffer make sense. Why pensions and other steady income belong in your whole financial picture. The useful question is safe from what? Judge each holding by the job it needs to do, rather than a reassuring label. If this episode helped, please consider leaving a review on Apple or Spotify.

Pre-order Tyler's book, Real Wealth, at ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠tylergardner.com/book and be eligible for all monthly incentives between now and December 1st! And as always, a MASSIVE thank you to this week's sponsors: Momentous⁠ → ⁠⁠livemomentous.com⁠ Use code Tyler for up to 35% off your first order! Gelt → ⁠⁠joingelt.com/tyler⁠ because Q2 is where strategic businesses make game-changing tax moves. If you're a business or a high-net worth individual, you might want to check this one out today. Caldera+ Lab⁠ → If you've been meaning to take better care of your skin, head to CalderaLab.com/TYLER and use code TYLER for 20% off your first order. And on to the show notes!! Most people spend decades learning how to make and save money. Far fewer learn how to spend it well. In this episode, Tyler shares two very personal lists: five things he’ll happily overpay for, and five things he refuses to spend money on again. Not because one list is objectively right. Because the point is figuring out your own list. In this episode, Tyler covers: Why many well-funded retirees still struggle to give themselves permission to spend Five things Tyler believes are genuinely worth the money, from generous tipping to buying back time Why a capsule wardrobe, books, house cleaning, and even leasing a car can make sense when they solve the right problem Five purchases he’s done with—including short-haul first class, expensive wine, and other versions of “luxury” that don’t actually improve his life Why outsourcing tasks you hate can increase happiness—but outsourcing things you enjoy can do the opposite How to separate spending that buys time, health, peace, or connection from spending that mostly buys an audience The exercise of building your own “worth it” and “never again” lists The core idea: The money was never the finish line. It’s a tool for buying more of what you already value. Spend generously where it meaningfully improves your life. And stop paying for things you only thought you were supposed to want. If the show’s been helpful, leaving a quick review on Apple or Spotify genuinely helps. Hope this gives you something to think about this week.

Pre-order Tyler's book, Real Wealth, at ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠tylergardner.com/book⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ and be eligible for all monthly incentives between now and December 1st! And as always, a MASSIVE thank you to this week's sponsors: Caldera+ Lab⁠ → If you've been meaning to take better care of your skin, head to CalderaLab.com/TYLER and use code TYLER for 20% off your first order. DeleteMe⁠ → joindeleteme.com/tyler20⁠ Use code Tyler20 for up to 20% off! Thrive Market⁠ → Use link thrivemarket.com/tyler to get $30 off your first two orders. You cannot get this deal on the website — it's only through my link. And that right there covers your membership fee, so sign up now before this exclusive offer ends Gelt → ⁠⁠joingelt.com/tyler⁠ because Q3 is where strategic businesses make game-changing tax moves. If you're a business or a high-net worth individual, you might want to check this one out today. The best financial advisor Tyler has ever worked with charges almost nothing, never calls during dinner, and automatically fires its own losers. It’s the S&P 500. In this episode, Tyler revisits the case for simple index investing—and tackles the arguments that usually come next: What about concentration?What about international diversification?What about investor behavior?And what exactly are you paying an advisor to do? In this episode, Tyler covers: How the S&P 500’s profitability and inclusion rules create a built-in quality filter Why the index automatically removes declining companies and replaces them with stronger ones The case that large U.S. companies already provide meaningful international exposure Why today’s market concentration is a real risk—but not necessarily a reason to abandon the index The enormous long-term advantage of low fees and tax efficiency Tyler’s three-bucket framework for matching investment risk to when you actually need the money Whether behavioral coaching really justifies a 1% advisory fee How AI, primary-source verification, and hourly or flat-fee professionals can handle more complex planning questions The core idea: You don’t necessarily need someone continuously managing your investments. You need a simple structure you understand, enough friction to stop yourself panicking, and targeted expertise when the problem actually requires it. The S&P 500 won’t hold your hand. But for the job of growing long-term savings cheaply and automatically, it’s remarkably difficult to beat. If the show’s been helpful, leaving a quick review on Apple or Spotify genuinely helps. Hope this gives you something to think about this week.