Ben Carlson on Inflation, Investing, and Why Less Is More

Ben Carlson, CFA, author of Risk & Reward, joins the podcast to discuss why successful investing is often less about finding the perfect strategy and more about keeping things simple and sticking with a plan. We discuss the challenges of private equity, bonds and TIPS, inflation hedges, investor behavior, and why portfolio changes should generally be driven by life changes rather than market headlines. Ben also shares how his investing philosophy has evolved, including his thoughts on factor investing, momentum, and using a little “fun money” as a behavioral release valve. Finally, we dig into increasingly popular tax-aware strategies such as direct indexing and long-short tax-loss harvesting, including whether the potential tax savings are worth the added costs and complexity. Ben sums up much of the conversation with three words: “Less is more.”

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Jon Luskin, CFP®, a long-time Boglehead and financial planner, hosts this episode of the podcast. The Bogleheads® are a group of like-minded individual investors who follow the general investment and business beliefs of John C. Bogle, founder and former CEO of the Vanguard Group. It is a conflict-free community where individual investors reach out and provide education, assistance, and relevant information to other investors of all experience levels at no cost. The organization supports a free forum at Bogleheads.org, and the wiki site is Bogleheads® wiki.

Since 2000, the Bogleheads® have held national conferences in major cities across the country. In addition, local Chapters and foreign Chapters meet regularly, and new Chapters form periodically. All Bogleheads activities are coordinated by volunteers who contribute their time and talent.

This podcast is supported by the John C. Bogle Center for Financial Literacy, a non-profit organization approved by the IRS as a 501(c)(3) public charity on February 6, 2012. Your tax-deductible donation to the Bogle Center is appreciated.

Show Notes:

Ben Felix on Simplicity, Private Equity, Factor Investing, & Living a Good Life: Bogleheads® on Investing Episode 95

https://boglecenter.net/ben-felix-simple-investing/

Financial Historian Mark Higgins in Fireside Chat with Bill Bernstein

https://youtu.be/tFeHc_tGh88

You Can Spend More in Retirement with Bill Bengen: Bogleheads® on Investing Episode 92

https://boglecenter.net/bill-bengen-spend-more-money-in-retirement/

TIPS Ladders with Kevin Esler

https://youtu.be/FOKg3OmIHAI

Owning Individual Bonds vs. Owning a Bond Fund

https://awealthofcommonsense.com/2022/11/owning-individual-bonds-vs-owning-a-bond-fund/

Bogleheads® Live with J.L. Collins: Episode 19

https://boglecenter.net/bogleheads-live-with-j-l-collins-episode-19/

2025 Bogleheads Conference Recordings

https://boglecenter.net/2025conference/

2026 Bogleheads Conference

https://boglecenter.net/2026conference/