The retirement columnist weighs in on income annuities, investing FOMO, and the appeal of TIPS. Plus, the crisis he sees in Social Security. Our guest on the podcast today is Brett Arends. Brett has been a columnist for MarketWatch, The Wall Street Journal, and other Dow Jones publications since 2007. His regular column for MarketWatch is called ROI, and he has also written for SmartMoney, TheStreet.com, and the Boston Herald. In addition, Brett has written several books including Storm-Proof Your Money: Weather Any Economy, Rebuild Your Portfolio, Protect Your Future. Brett took a double first in history at Cambridge University and did postgraduate research at Oxford University. He’s also a chartered financial consultant. MarketWatch Column: ROI https://www.marketwatch.com/column/brett-arendss-roi Episode Highlights 00:00:00 Financial Journalism Origins and Early Stock-Picking Lessons 00:11:12 Comparing the AI Boom to Dot-Com Bubble 00:21:53 Diversification, Index Funds, and AI Bubble Risk 00:26:25 Why Private Securities Are a Bad Deal 00:33:09 Why TIPS Are Attractive Under Rising Inflation 00:38:10 Generating Retirement Income and Immediate Annuities 00:45:35 Social Security and Policy Risks More From Morningstar GQG: Why We Are Still in an AI Stock Market Bubble https://www.morningstar.com/markets/gqg-we-are-still-very-much-an-ai-stock-market-bubble Jeremy Grantham: ‘Almost Everything Looks More Attractive Than the US Equity Market’ https://www.morningstar.com/podcasts/the-long-view/jeremy-grantham-almost-everything-looks-more-attractive-than-us-equity-market How to Use TIPS in Your Portfolio https://www.morningstar.com/portfolios/how-use-tips-your-portfolio If you have a comment or a guest idea, please email us at TheLongView@Morningstar.com. Follow The Long View on social media: Christine Benz on X (@christine_benz) https://x.com/christine_benz Ben Johnson on X (@MstarBenJohnson) https://x.com/MstarBenJohnson Christine Benz on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/christine-benz-b83b523 Amy Arnott on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/amy-c-arnott-cfa-6a1a7331 Ben Johnson on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ben-johnson-cfa-5a288175 Subscribe to Christine’s weekly newsletter, Improving Your Finances https://www.morningstar.com/newsletters/improving-your-finances Visit Morningstar.com for new research and insights from Christine, Ben, and Amy. This episode is sponsored by Vanguard: https://advisors.vanguard.com/engagement/fixed-income