Episode 543: Personal Finance Books Mania, The Famous Easy Chair, EDV vs. TLT, And Portfolio Reviews As Of September 25, 2026

In this episode we answer emails from Michael, Matt, and Ron.  We discuss books for a 30-something family man and practical advicbe for approaching non-fiction more efficiently in the age of AI ChatBots, the world's most famous Easy Chair, and how EDV can work in a risk parity style portfolio. 

And THEN we our go through our weekly portfolio reviews of the eight sample portfolios you can find at Portfolios | Risk Parity Radio.

Additional Links:

The World's Most Famous Easy Chair:  Easy Chair.jpg - Google Drive

Catching Up To FI Podcast With Yours Truly in Said Easy Chair:  Are Bonds Dead?: Fixed Income Fundamentals (Part 1) | Frank Vasquez | Episode 229

Bigger Pockets Money Podcast feat. Yours Truly:  We Built a 5% SWR Retirement Portfolio Using Fidelity in 48 Minutes (Golden Ratio Portfolio)

AI Agent Folllies with Hannah Fry:  Why AI Agents are either the best or worst thing we’ve ever builtb

Breathless Unedited AI-Bot Summary:

Most personal finance advice fails for one simple reason: it ignores where you actually are. We start by answering a listener’s question about book recommendations, but we do it through a framework that makes the whole money world easier to navigate: four investor levels, from budgeting and cash flow, to early-stage investing, to low-cost index fund competence, to more advanced goal-driven portfolio design. Along the way, we call out the “shiny object” traps where media and marketing keep people stuck buying products instead of building skills.

From there we get practical about learning efficiently in 2026: use AI to summarize popular personal finance books, compare what overlaps, and only read the ones that truly fit your family. We talk through standout titles like The Psychology of Money, The Simple Path to Wealth, Die With Zero, and Just Keep Buying, then pivot to what matters most for couples in their 30s with kids: getting on the same page. We share resources built for real relationships, including Ramit Sethi’s Money for Couples and a surprisingly useful marriage-centered option from John Gottman that includes guided money conversations.

Next, we tackle a classic risk parity investing question: should you use EDV instead of TLT for long-term Treasury bond exposure? We break down bond duration in plain English, why total bond funds like BND can be weak diversifiers against equities, and how Treasury STRIPS funds can change portfolio volatility and sizing. Finally, we run through our weekly portfolio reviews and the current market backdrop, including why managed futures can behave differently when stocks and bonds struggle.

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