#196 Small Caps, Student Loans, Inflation

The holiday music is back, putting callers into a jolly mood for the first show of December! Thanks to Steve from CA, who asked about whether or not to add a small company stock index to his $825,ooo portfolio. Small stocks are defined as those with market capitalizations (number of shares outstanding, times the stock price) of less than $2 million and while they can be more volatile than larger stocks, over time, investors have been rewarded by owning them.

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Check out this chart from Dimensional Fund Advisors, which shows how lucrative small caps have been over time:

Source: Dimensional Fund Advisors

In addition to Steve's allocation question, we also answered investment questions from Alan, Kevin and Diane. Bryan's question about student loans was certainly unique, which "Splashing Around in Debt" was needed a strategy to pay down cheap housing debt as he approaches retirement.

Wade is worried about hyper-inflation, but with oil prices down 30 percent since the summer, it is hard to make the case runaway price increases are coming any time soon.

David was kind of enough to send us more information about Social Security calculators that can be helpful in determining your future benefits. Here is the link: http://www.ssa.gov/oact/anypia/anypia.html

Thanks to everyone who participated and to Mark, the BEST producer in the world. Check out Mark's first-producing credit for this CBS Evening News segment that aired recently. If you have a financial question, there are lots of ways to contact us:

  • Call 855-411-JILL and we'll schedule time to get you on the show LIVE 
Radio ShowMark TalercioFinancial Planning, retirement plans