Episode 389: How the Rational Reminder Podcast is Made
Release Date: 12/25/2025
Episode 403: Patrick Adams - When Stock Crashes Matter for Long-Term Investors
The Rational Reminder Podcast
What if your biggest investment risk isn’t the stock market—but your own income? In this episode, we are joined by Patrick Adams, a PhD candidate at MIT, for a fascinating deep dive into how income risk, spending commitments, and liquidity constraints reshape what “optimal” investing actually looks like. Drawing on large-scale administrative tax data, Patrick challenges the conventional wisdom that young investors should be heavily—or even fully—invested in equities. We explore why stocks appear safe over long horizons but become risky when real-world constraints force investors to...
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Episode 402: The Problem with Private Markets
The Rational Reminder Podcast
In this episode, we unpack the growing tension in private markets—private equity, private credit, and private real estate—and examine whether their long-standing appeal holds up under scrutiny. With increasing pressure to bring these investments to retail investors, the discussion explores how illiquidity, valuation opacity, and complex fee structures may be masking risks rather than reducing them. We break down how private assets are marketed, why their “smooth” returns may be misleading, and what recent events—like gated funds and forced asset sales—reveal about their true risk...
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Episode 401: Eduardo Repetto & Caitlin Ebanks - Opening the Avantis CAGE
The Rational Reminder Podcast
What if factor investing in Canada became as simple—and affordable—as buying a single ETF? In this episode, we are joined by Eduardo Repetto, CIO of Avantis Investors, and Caitlin Ebanks, Director of ETF Strategy at CIBC, to unpack the long-awaited launch of Avantis ETFs in Canada. This conversation explores how a partnership built on client-first principles and fee discipline is bringing sophisticated, evidence-based investing strategies to Canadian investors in a dramatically more accessible way. We dive into the structure and philosophy behind the new ETF lineup, including how Avantis...
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Episode 400: The Evolution of Index Fund Investing
The Rational Reminder Podcast
In this special 400th episode, the Rational Reminder hosts reflect on 50 years of index investing and the profound impact it has had on financial markets, investor behavior, and the cost of investing. The episode features a panel moderated by Ben Felix at the New York Stock Exchange—hosted by Vanguard and S&P Dow Jones Indices—bringing together leading voices in the indexing world to explore how passive investing evolved and what it means for the future of capital markets. Ben is joined on the panel by Tim Edwards (S&P Dow Jones Indices), Jim Rowley (Vanguard), and Shelly...
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Episode 399: James Choi - Portfolio Theory in a Spreadsheet
The Rational Reminder Podcast
In this episode, we welcome back James Choi, Professor of Finance at the Yale School of Management, to unpack one of the most important—and misunderstood—questions in personal finance: How much of your portfolio should be in stocks? Drawing on his new paper, Practical Finance: An Approximate Solution to Lifecycle Portfolio Choice, James walks us through the classic portfolio choice problem first solved by Robert C. Merton, later extended by Francisco Gomes and co-authors, and now made dramatically more usable through a spreadsheet-based approximation. We explore how risk aversion, wealth,...
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Episode 398: Tom Hardin - Ethics, Financial Crime, and Redemption
The Rational Reminder Podcast
In this episode, we sit down with Tom Hardin, also known as “Tipper X,” the former hedge fund analyst who became one of the most prolific informants in the largest insider trading crackdown in U.S. history. Tom walks us through his journey from rule-following soccer referee in Georgia to Ivy League graduate and rising Wall Street analyst—before crossing the line into insider trading at age 29. What makes this conversation so compelling is not just the crime, but how ordinary it felt at the time. Tom explains how small rationalizations, cultural pressures, ambition, and the normalization...
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Episode 397: Hendrik Bessembinder - Constant Leverage & Measuring Investor Outcomes
The Rational Reminder Podcast
In this episode, we welcome back return guest Hank Bessembinder for a deeply analytical conversation spanning leveraged ETFs, volatility, and the future of performance measurement. Hank walks us through his latest research on leveraged single-stock ETFs, clarifying the misunderstood concept of “volatility decay” and decomposing returns into rebalancing effects and frictions. The results are striking: meaningful underperformance relative to simple levered benchmarks, driven by both embedded costs and the mechanics of daily resets. In the second half, we shift gears to a more foundational...
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Episode 396: Theresa Ebden - Protecting Investors at the OSC
The Rational Reminder Podcast
In this episode of the Rational Reminder Podcast, we are joined by Theresa Ebden, Vice President of the Investor Office at the Ontario Securities Commission, for a deep dive into how regulators are thinking about modern investor risks—from AI-powered scams to finfluencers and the gamification of investing apps. Theresa explains how the OSC works to protect investors through policy, education, behavioral research, and direct engagement with the public, and why investor education is one of the most powerful tools regulators have. Key Points From This Episode: (0:01:55) Overview of the OSC...
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Episode 395: Charles Chaffin - The Psychology of Financial Planning
The Rational Reminder Podcast
Ben Felix and Braden Warwick are joined by Dr. Charles Chaffin, a leading voice in financial psychology, to explore why investors so often act against their own best interests—and how better tools and frameworks can help bridge the gap between rational plans and real human behavior. The conversation blends behavioral finance, goal setting, and risk profiling, while also introducing a new evidence-based risk tolerance questionnaire now being made publicly available to listeners. The episode digs into why humans are wired for short-term survival rather than long-term optimization, how biases...
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Episode 394: Equal Weight vs. Market Cap Weight Index Funds
The Rational Reminder Podcast
Equal-weighted index funds sound like an elegant solution to some of today’s biggest investor anxieties: high market concentration, elevated valuations, and outsized influence from a handful of mega-cap stocks. In this episode of the Rational Reminder Podcast, Ben Felix, Dan Bortolotti, and Ben Wilson take a deep, evidence-based look at whether equal weighting actually improves portfolios—or simply introduces new risks under a different name. The discussion breaks down how equal-weighted indices differ fundamentally from traditional market-cap-weighted indexes, why equal weighting has...
info_outlineIn this special year-end episode, Ben and Cameron turn the spotlight inward for a behind-the-scenes look at the Rational Reminder podcast. They’re joined by the extended team that keeps the show running—from compliance to editing to marketing—to reflect on a landmark year in the podcast’s evolution. We hear from Multimedia Specialist Matt Gambino, Compliance Reviewer Ross Brayton, long-time Marketing Lead Angelica Montagano, and others who share their roles, personal stories, and what the show means to them. Ben and Cameron also discuss the podcast’s growth trajectory, the impact of joining OneDigital, standout market events from 2025, and what’s ahead for 2026. It’s a thoughtful, personal, and often funny conversation that celebrates community, nerdiness, and meaningful work.
Key Points From This Episode:
(0:01:00) Behind the scenes: Why the entire Rational Reminder team joined the mic for this special episode.
(0:01:40) Meet the production crew: From video editing to compliance and marketing.
(0:02:54) From 767 to 334,000: How the podcast grew since August 2018.
(0:04:40) YouTube’s rising role: Now 33% of all podcast consumption.
(0:07:24) AMA evolution: How listener Q&As became a regular series in 2025.
(0:08:45) Bringing in PWL advisors: Sharing real-world financial planning experience on the pod.
(0:10:05) 12,500 members: Rational Reminder Community continues to thrive.
(0:11:30) OneDigital acquisition reflections—one year later, no pressure to cut costs or change values.
(0:14:23) Compliance-free growth: Maintaining service levels while scaling the firm.
(0:15:06) Market surprise of 2025: Canadian small caps up 35%+ year-to-date.
(0:16:55) Real estate rewind: National average home prices down 20% since 2022 peak.
(0:19:24) Rent declines too: Down 7% YoY in Toronto, 4.4% in Vancouver.
(0:20:39) Looking back: A wild year of unexpected returns and market resilience.
(0:21:00) A different kind of year-end episode: No highlight reel—just team storytelling.
(0:23:53) [Matt Gambino] The editor speaks: Role evolution, creative direction, and 200+ episodes later.
(0:28:42) YouTube growth: From 11,000 to 46,000 subs under Matt’s watch.
(0:32:55) Matt on money: What 4 years editing the pod taught him about finance and happiness.
(0:36:54) Defining success: Matt’s answer after years of listening to the show.
(38:40) [Ross Brayton] Compliance from the inside: What Ross listens for, and why disclaimers got longer.
(0:43:05) Ross on investing: From Warren Buffett books to podcast fact-checker.
(0:46:11) Planning life after financial independence: Ross poses a thoughtful challenge.
(0:47:41) [Angelica Montagano] The original marketer: How the podcast started in a hallway.
(0:50:14) Early tech struggles: Mono recordings, brick recorders, and lots of duct tape.
(0:51:53) COVID’s silver lining: Why lockdowns accelerated the pod’s evolution.
(0:54:20) Launching the RR Community: From 100-member goal to 12,500+ and counting.
(0:55:49) Podcast = Brand: How RR became central to PWL’s identity and communication.
(0:57:26) What’s next: Angelica’s dreams for live events and even a coffee table book.
(0:59:10) Angelica on investing: From ex-banker cynicism to believer in behavior and psychology.
(1:00:38) Favorite moment: Hearing real stories of how listeners’ lives have been changed.
(1:01:36) Defining success: Impact, confidence, and financial empowerment.
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/
Cameron Passmore — https://pwlcapital.com/our-team/
Cameron on X — https://x.com/CameronPassmore
Cameron on LinkedIn — https://www.linkedin.com/in/cameronpassmore/
Editing and post-production work for this episode was provided by The Podcast Consultant (https://thepodcastconsultant.com).