Robin Wigglesworth: Why Bonds Are Behind Every Financial Boom and Bust

Today’s guest on The Long View is Robin Wigglesworth. Robin is the editor of the Financial Times finance blog, Alphaville. He’s also the author of Trillions, which is the definitive book on the past, present, and future of passive investing. Robin’s joining us today to discuss his latest book, A Fabulous Debt, which is a history of the bond market. The history of the bond market is marked by war, peace, market mania featuring a very colorful cast of characters, and so much more. Robin is such a brilliant writer that he really brings every aspect of a history to life. One of the highlights of the show was when he was talking about the huge amount of capital spending we’re seeing in artificial intelligence and how it parallels the railroad boom in the 19th century. He made the point that debt-fueled capital spending sprees tend to end quite badly, although the scale of capital investment in AI this time around is still quite a bit smaller. As Robin points out, history rarely repeats, but often rhymes, and we might be living through one of those rhyming moments today.Episode Highlights00:00:00 Why the History of Bond Market Matters00:09:38 Venice and the Birth of Bonds00:16:34 How Britain Shaped America’s Financial System00:24:48 The Poyais Bond Scam00:30:13 Railroad Capex and AI Spending00:37:08 Jay Cooke and The Father of Junk Bonds00:41:55 The Rise of Credit Ratings00:47:07 How Bond Markets Replaced Banks00:57:11 How Much Debt Can the US Carry?More From The Long ViewWade Pfau: Higher Bond Yields Are a Plus for Retirees Ben Carlson: Exploring Risk and Reward Jeremy Grantham: ‘Almost Everything Looks More Attractive Than the US Equity Market’ If you have a comment or a guest idea, please email us at [email protected]. Follow Christine Benz (@christine_benz) and Ben Johnson (@MstarBenJohnson) on X, and Christine Benz, Amy Arnott, and Ben Johnson on LinkedIn. Visit Morningstar.com for new research and insights from Christine, Ben, and Amy. Subscribe to Christine’s weekly newsletter, Improving Your Finances. If you want more Morningstar podcasts, check out The Morning Filter and Investing Insights.   Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Our guest on the podcast today is Elliott Appel. He’s a financial planner and the founder of Kindness Financial Planning. He’s also an author. His latest book is called How to Help Your Parents As They Age: A Financial Planner’s Guide to Caregiving, which chronicles his father’s last years and the key lessons he learned along the way. He’s also co-host of his own podcast called the ME and Money Podcast. We really loved this conversation because Elliott provided so many tangible tips that people can use to help their parents, and his personal story really provides a lot of color.We’d love to hear what you think about The Long View podcast. Please take a moment to share your feedback—thanks for listening! Episode Highlights00:00:00 Introduction00:01:23 Financial Planning Through Life Transitions00:03:22 Appel’s Journey Planning for His Father00:08:45 How an Eldercare Consultant Can Help00:13:03 Estate Planning and Choosing the Right Power of Attorney00:17:05 Guardrails for Aging Parents’ Finances00:24:43 Put Parents on Your Cellphone Plan00:27:17 Navigating Healthcare, Housing, and Care Transitions00:33:59 Managing Caregiver Stress and Burnout00:43:31 Rethinking Aging and Death in the USMore From The Long ViewBeth Pinsker: Lessons From ‘My Mother’s Money’ Kathleen Rehl: Helping Widows and the Advisors Who Serve Them Sally Balch Hurme: Getting Your Affairs in Order as You Get Older If you have a comment or a guest idea, please email us at [email protected]. Follow Christine Benz (@christine_benz) and Ben Johnson (@MstarBenJohnson) on X, and Christine Benz, Amy Arnott, and Ben Johnson on LinkedIn. Visit Morningstar.com for new research and insights from Christine, Ben, and Amy. Subscribe to Christine’s weekly newsletter, Improving Your Finances. If you want more Morningstar podcasts, check out The Morning Filter and Investing Insights.  Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Our guest on the podcast today is Jeff Ptak. He’s a longtime Morningstar employee and currently serves as managing director for Morningstar Research Services. He originally joined Morningstar back in 2002 as a senior mutual fund analyst. Jeff was one of the original two co-hosts of this podcast and regularly posts his thoughts on Morningstar.com, Substack, X, and LinkedIn. Ptak’s work really focuses on investor outcomes. One of the highlights from the podcast today was when Ptak talked about how such a small number of stocks tend to generate a disproportionate amount of the market returns and what that means for diversified actively managed funds. He also discusses what target-date funds get right for investors, as well as what some of them may be missing.We’d love to hear what you think about The Long View podcast. Please take a moment to share your feedback—thanks for listening! Episode Highlights00:00:00 Mind the Gap and Investor Behavior 00:08:15 Crypto ETFs and Timing Mistakes 00:11:44 Active Funds and Letting Winners Run 00:23:11 Improving Investor Outcomes Through Lower Costs 00:30:20 Private Markets, SpaceX, and 401(k) Risks 00:34:26 Thematic ETFs, Speculation, and Fun Money 00:38:51 Market Timing Myths and Portfolio Construction 00:42:27 Is Tech’s Dominance Sustainable? More From MorningstarRead: Mind the Gap 2026 Leyla Kunimoto: Why Investors in Private Markets Need a Louder Voice Will Danoff: ‘Be Very Careful of Unprofitable Companies’ Don Phillips: Encouraging Better Outcomes for Investors If you have a comment or a guest idea, please email us at [email protected]. Follow Christine Benz (@christine_benz) and Ben Johnson (@MstarBenJohnson) on X, and Christine Benz, Amy Arnott, and Ben Johnson on LinkedIn. Visit Morningstar.com for new research and insights from Christine, Ben, and Amy. Subscribe to Christine’s weekly newsletter, Improving Your Finances. If you want more Morningstar podcasts, check out The Morning Filter and Investing Insights.  Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Today on the podcast, we welcome back Jean Chatzky. Jean is the author of a new book about retirement planning called The Forever Paycheck: The New Retirement Strategy to Spend More, Worry Less, and Never Run Out of Money. In addition, she has written several other New York Times bestselling books about money and investing. She’s also CEO of HerMoney.com and host of the podcast Her Money with Jean Chatzky. She served as the financial editor of NBC Today for 25 years and is the financial ambassador for AARP. She appeared frequently on CNN and MSNBC, and was a recurring guest on The Oprah Winfrey Show.We’d love to hear what you think about The Long View podcast. Please take a moment to share your feedback—thanks for listening!Episode Highlights00:00:00 Introduction00:01:00 Why Retirees Struggle to Spend00:05:18 Creating a Retirement Paycheck00:09:25 Choosing Annuities and Financial Advice00:20:40 Bridging the Social Security Gap00:23:40 Managing Sequence-of-Returns Risk00:28:42 Retirement Planning for Couples and Working Longer00:37:17 Protecting Against Financial Fraud00:40:39 How Jean Chatzky Reimagined RetirementMore from The Long ViewBrett Arends: Worried About Outliving Your Money? There’s an Answer Dana Anspach: Don’t Let Fear Ruin Your Retirement Stefan Sharkansky: The Retirement Rule That Leaves Too Much Money Behind If you have a comment or a guest idea, please email us at [email protected]. Follow Christine Benz (@christine_benz) and Ben Johnson (@MstarBenJohnson) on X, and Christine Benz, Amy Arnott, and Ben Johnson on LinkedIn. Visit Morningstar.com for new research and insights from Christine, Ben, and Amy. Subscribe to Christine’s weekly newsletter, Improving Your Finances. If you want more Morningstar podcasts, check out The Morning Filter and Investing Insights.  Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Today’s guest on The Long View is David Booth. David is a repeat guest, the founder of Dimensional Fund Advisors, and has just released a new book titled Stay Calm: Learn to Embrace Uncertainty in Investing and Life. One of the interesting through lines on the episode really centered on data. David explained that without data, people are just arguing beliefs. There was so much time within the industry where investors really were in a data desert. That foundational layer was critical to everything that David, his colleagues at Dimensional, and so many others around the broader investing industry have ultimately brought to bear for the benefit of so many investors over the years. Plus, David explained that having access to a more complete dataset can really help provide a sense of calmness and reassurance for investors, even in an uncertain environment. Episode Highlights 00:00:00 Introduction 00:03:21 How Market Data Revolutionized Investing 00:09:22 Learning From Eugene Fama 00:16:16 Communicating Financial Science 00:20:40 What is the Efficient-Market Hypothesis? 00:24:11 Diversification and the Limits of Indexing 00:32:37 Is Dimensional Active or Passive? 00:34:24 The Science Behind Factor Investing 00:40:29 Trusting Markets and Embracing Uncertainty More From Morningstar David Booth: ‘Usually the Great Ideas Start Out as Small Ideas and Then You Build on Them’ Don Phillips: Encouraging Better Outcomes for Investors Charley Ellis: Indexing Is a Marvelous Gift If you have a comment or a guest idea, please email us at [email protected]. Follow Christine Benz (@christine_benz) and Ben Johnson (@MstarBenJohnson) on X, and Christine Benz, Amy Arnott, and Ben Johnson on LinkedIn. Visit Morningstar.com for new research and insights from Christine, Ben, and Amy. Subscribe to Christine’s weekly newsletter, Improving Your Finances. If you want more Morningstar podcasts, check out The Morning Filter and Investing Insights. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Our guests on the podcast today are Andy Clarke and Nelson Wicas, co-authors—along with Ganesh Suntharam—of the new book, The Architecture of Wealth: The Art and Science of Portfolio Construction. Andy has spent more than three decades as an investment researcher and writer. He has worked at Morningstar and Vanguard, where he served as assistant to Vanguard Founder and indexing pioneer, John C. Bogle. Andy has published research in practitioner journals such as the Journal of Index Investing. He is the author of Wealth of Experience and a CFA Charterholder. Nelson has developed and managed quantitative equity strategies for more than 30 years. Most recently, he worked at Redpoint Investment Management, where he was a founder and research analyst. After completing his PhD in economics at the University of Pennsylvania, Nelson joined Vanguard to help establish its quantitative equity management function. Nelson later helped found Vanguard’s investment counseling and research team to produce portfolio construction insights for clients and internal teams. Nelson has been a visiting professor of economics at Haverford College in Haverford, Pennsylvania. Episode Highlights 00:00:00 The Architecture of Wealth 00:06:42 Why Portfolio Construction is an Art and Science 00:10:03 Bogle’s Approach to Active Management 00:15:38 Why Index Investing Isn’t Passive 00:22:09 The Birth of Modern Portfolio Theory 00:26:58 Behavioral Finance, Investor Biases, and Impact of Education 00:36:13 Why Index Funds Finally Took Off 00:39:25 Evaluating Active Managers 00:43:27 The Small-Cap Effect More From The Long View Charley Ellis: Indexing Is a Marvelous Gift Jeff Ptak: The Simple Secret to Becoming a Better Investor Andy Reed: Inertia Is the Most Powerful Force in Behavioral Finance If you have a comment or a guest idea, please email us at [email protected]. Follow Christine Benz (@christine_benz) and Ben Johnson (@MstarBenJohnson) on X, and Christine Benz, Amy Arnott, and Ben Johnson on LinkedIn. Visit Morningstar.com for new research and insights from Christine, Ben, and Amy. Subscribe to Christine’s weekly newsletter, Improving Your Finances. If you want more Morningstar podcasts, check out The Morning Filter and Investing Insights. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Our guest on the podcast today is Jeff Ptak. He’s a longtime Morningstar employee and currently serves as managing director for Morningstar Research Services. He originally joined Morningstar back in 2002 as a senior mutual fund analyst. Jeff was one of the original two co-hosts of this podcast and regularly posts his thoughts on Morningstar.com, Substack, X, and LinkedIn. Ptak’s work really focuses on investor outcomes. One of the highlights from the podcast today was when Ptak talked about how such a small number of stocks tend to generate a disproportionate amount of the market returns and what that means for diversified actively managed funds. He also discusses what target-date funds get right for investors, as well as what some of them may be missing. Episode Highlights 00:00:00 Mind the Gap and Investor Behavior 00:08:04 Crypto ETFs and Timing Mistakes 00:11:33 Active Funds and Letting Winners Run 00:23:00 Improving Investor Outcomes Through Lower Costs 00:30:09 Private Markets, SpaceX, and 401(k) Risks 00:34:15 Thematic ETFs, Speculation, and Fun Money 00:38:40 Market Timing Myths and Portfolio Construction 00:42:16 Is Tech’s Dominance Sustainable? More From Morningstar Read: Mind the Gap 2026 Leyla Kunimoto: Why Investors in Private Markets Need a Louder Voice Will Danoff: ‘Be Very Careful of Unprofitable Companies’ Don Phillips: Encouraging Better Outcomes for Investors   If you have a comment or a guest idea, please email us at [email protected].   Follow Christine Benz (@christine_benz) and Ben Johnson (@MstarBenJohnson) on X, and Christine Benz, Amy Arnott, and Ben Johnson on LinkedIn. Visit Morningstar.com for new research and insights from Christine, Ben, and Amy. Subscribe to Christine’s weekly newsletter, Improving Your Finances. If you want more Morningstar podcasts, check out The Morning Filter and Investing Insights. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Today on the podcast we welcome back Nick Maggiulli. He’s the author of a new book called The Wealth Ladder: Proven Strategies for Every Step of Your Financial Life. His first book was called Just Keep Buying. In addition, Nick writes a wonderful blog called Of Dollars and Data, which is focused on the intersection between data and personal finance. In his day job, Nick is the Chief Operating Officer and Data Scientist at Ritholtz Wealth Management. He received his bachelor’s degree in economics from Stanford University. Episode Highlights 00:00:00 Writing The Wealth Ladder 00:05:30 The Six Levels of the Wealth Ladder 00:09:52 How Wealth Changes Across Net-Worth Levels 00:16:16 Why People Rarely Fall Down the Wealth Ladder 00:21:00 Spending Rules and the 0.01% Rule 00:29:25 Career Choices, Income, and Opportunity Costs 00:37:42 Investment Risks and Ascending the Wealth Ladder 00:44:29 Money, Happiness, and Life Beyond Wealth More From Morningstar Jim O’Shaughnessy: Investing Lessons From a Lifelong Learner Dan Haylett: ‘The Retirement You Didn’t See Coming’ David Bach: ‘Start Enjoying Your Life Sooner’ If you have a comment or a guest idea, please email us at [email protected]. Follow Christine Benz (@christine_benz) and Ben Johnson (@MstarBenJohnson) on X, and Christine Benz, Amy Arnott, and Ben Johnson on LinkedIn. Visit Morningstar.com for new research and insights from Christine, Ben, and Amy. Subscribe to Christine’s weekly newsletter, Improving Your Finances. If you want more Morningstar podcasts, check out The Morning Filter and Investing Insights. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Our guest on the podcast today is Stefan Sharkansky. Stefan is a Ph.D. statistician who specializes in finance. He wrote a provocatively titled paper, “The Only Other Spending Rule Article You Will Ever Need,” which was published in the Financial Analyst Journal. Stefan has also developed a related website called, The Best Third, designed to help people with their retirement spending plans and portfolio structures. In addition, he developed and operates the website PersonalFund.com, which provides proprietary cost analysis of mutual funds to financial advisors. Stefan has a B.A. in mathematics from the University of Wisconsin-Madison, an M.S. in computer science from Stanford University, and an M.S. and a Ph.D. in statistics from the University of Washington. Episode Highlights 00:00:00 Introduction 00:02:43 Why the 4% Rule Can Lead to Underspending 00:07:23 TIPS Ladders vs. Retirement Annuities 00:08:48 Reducing Fixed Spending and Stock Allocation 00:12:09 Why Individual TIPS Beat TIPS Funds 00:18:53 A Formula for Stock Portfolio Withdrawals 00:23:54 Historical Returns vs. Monte Carlo Simulations 00:29:30 Should Retirees Diversify Globally? 00:32:23 Leaving a Bequest Without Underspending More From The Long View Brett Arends: Worried About Outliving Your Money? There’s an Answer Dana Anspach: Don’t Let Fear Ruin Your Retirement Bill Bengen: ‘Inflation Is the Greatest Enemy of Retirees’ If you have a comment or a guest idea, please email us at [email protected]. Follow Christine Benz (@christine_benz) and Ben Johnson (@MstarBenJohnson) on X, and Christine Benz, Amy Arnott, and Ben Johnson on LinkedIn. Visit Morningstar.com for new research and insights from Christine, Ben, and Amy. Subscribe to Christine’s weekly newsletter, Improving Your Finances. If you want more Morningstar podcasts, check out The Morning Filter and Investing Insights. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Our guest on the podcast today is Ryan Frederick, an author, speaker, and entrepreneur focused on the intersection of place and healthy longevity. As founder and CEO of HERE, he provides content courses and coaching in place planning, a holistic, research-based approach to help people find the right place for every stage of life. He’s also the author of Right Place, Right Time, a book that helps individuals think through housing decisions for the second half of life. In addition, Ryan provides strategy consulting to organizations looking to create better places, including Fortune 500 companies, institutional investors, health systems, and housing developers and operators. He’s also a member of the Advisory Council for the Stanford Center on Longevity. He previously served on the National Advisory Board of Johns Hopkins University School of Nursing and was a member of the Bipartisan Policy Center Task Force on Health and Housing. He’s a graduate of Princeton University and Stanford Business School. Episode Highlights 00:00:00 Senior Living, Longevity, and 100-Year Life Planning 00:08:39 How Place Influences Health as You Age 00:10:37 The Four Pillars of Place Planning 00:16:19 Income’s Impact on Housing, Home Equity, and Limitations of Aging in Place 00:30:01 Place Planning Tools and Building Community 00:41:43 New Housing Models, Cohousing, and Age Diversity 00:49:13 Continuing Care Retirement Communities and Healthy Aging Dashboards More From Morningstar Your Retirement Countdown, With Christine Benz Harry Margolis: How to Confront Aging Challenges Head-On Joy Loverde: Planning Ahead for Care Needs as You Get Older If you have a comment or a guest idea, please email us at [email protected]. Follow Christine Benz (@christine_benz) and Ben Johnson (@MstarBenJohnson) on X, and Christine Benz, Amy Arnott, and Ben Johnson on LinkedIn. Visit Morningstar.com for new research and insights from Christine, Ben, and Amy. Subscribe to Christine’s weekly newsletter, Improving Your Finances. If you want more Morningstar podcasts, check out The Morning Filter and Investing Insights. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.