Black Friday Q&A

A light Black Friday edition tackles four listener questions covering Vanguard’s Digital Advisor, the timing of Social Security versus IRA withdrawals, whether to swap target-date funds for a VT/BND mix, and the wisdom (or lack thereof) of adding managed-futures ETFs. The show ends with a look at whether international bonds meaningfully improve diversification (answer: barely). The through-line? Keep investing simple, avoid expensive complexity, and stick with risk-appropriate, broadly diversified portfolios—holiday weekend or not.

0:09 Don debates doing a Black Friday episode but decides to keep listeners company

1:58 How to submit questions on the website and call on Saturdays

2:16 Q1: Is Vanguard’s Digital Advisor worth using?

2:56 Pros and cons: low cost, limited choices, avoid the active-fund version

4:29 Transition to Q2

4:55 Q2: Should a spouse take Social Security at 62 or delay and live off an IRA?

5:50 Pension changes the math—delay for the 8%/yr benefit

7:13 Target-date vs. VT/BND performance and Roth allocation logic

8:32 Risk tolerance matters more than account type

9:09 Actual performance: 2035 fund vs. VT/BND nearly identical

9:42 Q3: Adding managed-futures ETFs as a diversifier

10:23 Why Don strongly opposes adding complexity and high-expense hedges

11:36 Expense ratios make them non-starters

11:56 Q4: Should investors add international bonds?

12:46 Tiny diversification benefit; generally not worth it for DIY investors

14:38 Correlation improvement maxes out around one-tenth of one percent