Answering Your Financial Questions | #414

In this episode, Ben Felix and Ben Wilson tackle a wide range of listener questions covering portfolio construction, home-country bias, currency exposure, ETF selection, retirement decumulation, leasing versus buying a car, discounted cash flow valuations, and the real work of portfolio management. Along the way, they revisit the Rational Reminder model portfolios, discuss how new products like CAGE have changed the DIY investing landscape, and explore whether Warren Buffett's long-term record still provides evidence that active management can outperform.

The conversation also offers a behind-the-scenes look at PWL Capital's planning-centric approach to wealth management and why helping clients make better financial decisions often matters more than portfolio construction itself.

Key Points From This Episode:

(0:28) Why AMA episodes have become less frequent despite hundreds of listener questions waiting to be answered.

(2:07) Ben shares observations from PWL's growing institutional investment business and why low-cost, planning-focused institutional advice remains surprisingly rare.

(6:37) Revisiting the original Rational Reminder model portfolios and how newer products have simplified implementation.

(10:09) Should U.S. investors underweight the U.S. market relative to global market-cap weights?

(11:07) Research, home-country bias, and Ken French's arguments for overweighting domestic stocks.

(18:11) Asset-allocation ETFs in retirement: Is there any benefit to separating stocks and bonds during withdrawals?

(21:03) Leasing versus buying a vehicle, opportunity costs, depreciation, and convenience.

(26:13) Currency exposure, RRSPs, withholding taxes, and common misconceptions about USD-denominated ETFs.

(30:30) If Dimensional funds were unavailable, what would Ben choose instead?

(31:26) Are there any popular ETFs investors should avoid? A look at Canada's largest ETF holdings.

(38:28) Why discounted cash flow models often produce wildly different valuation estimates.

(41:47) What portfolio managers at PWL actually do when they are not trying to beat the market.

(45:57) Concentrated stock positions, client coaching, and helping investors make better long-term decisions.

(50:02) Why financial planning questions are often portfolio management questions—and vice versa.

(52:53) Helping clients navigate the transition from wealth accumulation to wealth preservation and spending.

(58:06) Revisiting Berkshire Hathaway's long-term performance versus broad-market index funds.

(1:02:35) The challenges of active management as assets under management grow larger.

(1:04:22) Aftershow: Ben reflects on his experience appearing on Diary of a CEO with Steven Bartlett.

Links From Today's Episode:

Meet with PWL Capital: https://calendly.com/d/3vm-t2j-h3p

Rational Reminder on iTunes — https://itunes.apple.com/ca/podcast/the-rational-reminder-podcast/id1426530582.
Rational Reminder on Instagram — https://www.instagram.com/rationalreminder/

Rational Reminder on YouTube — https://www.youtube.com/channel/
Benjamin Felix — https://pwlcapital.com/our-team/

Benjamin on X — https://x.com/benjaminwfelix

Benjamin on LinkedIn — https://www.linkedin.com/in/benjaminwfelix/

Editing and post-production work for this episode was provided by The Podcast Consultant (https://thepodcastconsultant.com)