This Q&A episode of Talking Real Money covers a wide range of listener questions, from proposed “youth retirement accounts” and 529 plans to the deceptive marketing tactics behind indexed annuity steak dinners. Don also shares details about his upcoming Civil War novel, The Line Uncrossed, releasing May 22. Other topics include Vanguard’s ETF stock split, the difference between quantitative investing and factor-based investing used by firms like Dimensional and Avantis, and a bizarre Apple Podcasts glitch that incorrectly labeled a recent episode as explicit content. Along the way, Don delivers a passionate takedown of indexed annuity sales tactics and marvels at modern AI audio cleanup tools

0:05 Q&A episode kickoff and listener question backlog talk

1:13 Don discusses dictation vs typing and listener engagement

2:21 Announcement of Don’s debut Civil War novel The Line Uncrossed

3:35 Decoration Day origins and Memorial Day history

4:38 Question about proposed youth retirement accounts and 529 plans

6:30 Why proposed 530A accounts currently cannot fund 529s

7:40 Reminder about free fiduciary advisor meetings at TalkingRealMoney.com

8:09 Listener reports attending a free steak dinner annuity seminar

9:47 Indexed annuity “54% bonus” pitch dissected

11:29 Why indexed annuity charts are misleading

13:25 Hidden caps, fine print, and low long-term returns

14:49 The truth behind “bonus” annuity money

15:51 Don unloads on indexed annuity sales tactics and commissions

17:26 Vanguard’s mega-cap ETF stock split explained

18:40 Why ETF stock splits can help small investors

19:30 Difference between quantitative investing and factor investing

20:49 Demonstration of AI audio cleanup software

21:23 How Dimensional and Avantis use evidence-based investing rules

23:33 Listener reports Apple Podcasts flagged “War vs. Markets” as explicit

24:06 Don investigates the mysterious Apple Podcasts explicit label

25:34 Apple appears to have manually overridden the explicit setting

27:02 Request for more listener questions and podcast sharing

27:55 Final reminder about Don’s novel presale availability

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