Christine Benz is the Director of Personal Finance and Retirement Planning at Morningstar, where she has spent over three decades helping investors navigate the complexities of financial planning. She is also the author of "How to Retire: 20 Lessons for a Happy, Successful, and Wealthy Retirement" and serves as the president of the John C. Bogle Center for Financial Literacy.

Before focusing on retirement planning, Christine worked as a fund analyst, bringing a unique perspective that combines deep investment knowledge with practical financial wisdom.

Christine joins the show to discuss why retirement isn't just about hitting your "magic number," how to overcome the psychological barriers to retirement spending, why keeping your inner circle vibrant is crucial for long-term happiness, the surprising power of lifetime giving, and MUCH more.

I hope you enjoy this conversation as much as I did. For the full transcript, episode takeaways, and bucketloads of other goodies designed to make you go, "Hmm, that's interesting!", check out our Substack.

Important Links:

• Website
• Twitter
• LinkedIn

Show Notes:

• Retirement Focus: Finances or Lifestyle?
• Bring Your Kids In The Loop
• Embrace the Challenges of Social Health
• A Day in The Life of a Retiree
• Defaulting People Into Saving
• Genesis of the FIRE Movement
• Horsemen of The Investment Apocalypse
• The Delicate Balance of Investment Buckets
• Dodging A Single Point of Failure
• How to Sniff Out Fishy Financial Advice
• The Saver vs the Investor Personality Type
• Keeping Up With Mr. Market
• Annuities: The Low-Risk Underdog
• Christine as World Emperor

Books / Authors Mentioned:

• How to Retire: 20 Lessons for a Happy, Successful, and Wealthy Retirement; by Christine Benz
• The works of Jonathan Franzen

Luke Fehily is the Director of Innovation Policy at Progress Ireland — an independent think tank backed by the likes of the Collison brothers — that’s on a mission to connect Ireland to proven policy solutions from around the world.

Before joining Progress Ireland, Luke cut his teeth in both public and private sectors, developing a unique perspective on how to navigate bureaucratic challenges while maintaining ambitious visions for change. His current work spans housing, infrastructure, and innovation policy, with a particular emphasis on meta-scientific approaches to research funding and development.

In this episode we discuss why Ireland should embrace techno-optimism, how to beat the NIMBY challenge with win-win solutions, why young scientists need more research funding, and MUCH more. Plus, we even touch on drone coffee deliveries (happening now in Dublin) and the things needed to unleash Ireland's entrepreneurial spirit.

I hope you enjoy this conversation as much as I did. For the full transcript, episode takeaways, and bucketloads of other goodies designed to make you go, “Hmm, that’s interesting!”, check out our Substack.

Important Links:

• Progress Ireland Website
• Twitter
• LinkedIn

Show Notes:

• The Irish GDP Boom
• The Origins of Progress Ireland
• The Path Past Bureaucratic Barriers
• Where the State Meets the Street
• How Bad Political Vibes Can Seep in
• Where the Creme De La Creme Goes in State Projects
• Innovation Amidst EU’s Strict Restrictions
• National EU Friction
• Densification Dilemmas
• Balancing Efficiency and Equity in Public Procurement
• How to Handle NIMBYs
• Pushing Past Infrastructural Comfort Zones
• Fostering Cultural Shifts
• What is Metascience?
• Recalibrating Success Metrics
• The Irish Brain Drain

Books Mentioned:

• Where the State Meets the Street by Bernardo Zacka

Rudy Havenstein is a writer and satirist known for his sharp critiques of America’s sprawling institutions and the elites who run them.

He joins the show to discuss the accountability crisis in America — how it manifests across political life and, most importantly, what we can do to fix it.

Important Links:

• Rudy’s Twitter
• Rudy’s Substack

Show Notes:

• Why we should fear hyperinflation
• “The Fed is Congress’ drug dealer”
• The Great Financial Crash & America’s accountability crisis
• How to disagree agreeably
• How democracy REALLY works
• Why we should bring back Glass-Steagall
• The problem of cluelessness
• Solutions to the accountability crisis
• What has happened to investigative journalism?
• Why partisanship is overstated
• Rudy as World Emperor
• MORE!

Books Mentioned:

• Yellen: The Trailblazing Economist Who Navigated an Era of Upheaval; by Jon Hilsenrath
• Deterring Democracy; by Noam Chomsky
• The Rule of Nobody: Saving America from Dead Laws and Broken Government; by Philip K. Howard