The Long View

Our guests on the podcast today are Cody Garrett and Sean Mullaney. They’re both advice-only financial planners, and they’re the co-authors of a new book called Tax Planning To and Through Early Retirement. Cody is a certified financial planner and the founder of Measure Twice Money, where he helps DIY investors make informed decisions aligned with their values. He also leads Measure Twice Planners, which is an educational community for financial planners. Sean Mullaney is a certified public accountant and head of Mullaney Financial & Tax. He also writes the blog, TheFITaxGuy.com, which is focused on the intersection between financial independence and taxes.

Episode Highlights

00:00:00 Introduction

00:01:27 Defining Early Retirement, the 4% Rule, and Withdrawal Strategies

00:11:03 Fear-Based Tax Narratives and Retirement Calculators

00:15:10 Rethinking Future Tax Rate Assumptions

00:23:14 Retirement Savings Tax Trade-Offs

00:30:08 Taxable Accounts in Early Retirement

00:32:29 Backdoor Roth IRAs, Asset Allocation, and Sequence Risk

00:44:03 RMDs, Roth Conversions, and Retirement Planning Tools

More From Morningstar

Bill Bengen: ‘Inflation Is the Greatest Enemy of Retirees’

A Tax-Smart Plan for In-Retirement Withdrawals in 3 Steps

Morningstar’s Tax-Planning and IRA Resources for 2026

If you have a comment or a guest idea, please email us at TheLongView@Morningstar.com.

Follow Christine Benz (@christine_benz) and Ben Johnson (@MstarBenJohnson) on X, and Christine Benz, Amy Arnott, and Ben Johnson on LinkedIn. Visit Morningstar.com for new research and insights from Christine, Ben, and Amy. Subscribe to Christine’s weekly newsletter, Improving Your Finances.

If you want more Morningstar podcasts, check out The Morning Filter and Investing Insights.

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Today on the podcast, we’re delighted to welcome back Jeremy Grantham to discuss his book, The Making of a Permabear: The Perils of Long-term Investing in a Short-term World, which he co-authored with Edward Chancellor. Jeremy is the long-term investment strategist at his namesake firm, Grantham, Mayo, Van Otterloo & Company, or GMO, which he co-founded in 1977. He serves on GMO’s asset-allocation committee and board of directors. Prior to GMO, Jeremy was co-founder of Batterymarch Financial Management and, before that, was an economist at Royal Dutch Shell. He earned his undergraduate degree from the University of Sheffield and his MBA from Harvard University. Jeremy is a member of the Academy of Arts and Sciences, holds a CBE from the UK, and is a recipient of the Carnegie Medal of Philanthropy. In 1997, he and his family started the Grantham Foundation for the protection of the environment, which supports research and action to address climate change.

Episode Highlights

00:00:00 Writing Permabear With Edward Chancellor

00:06:44 Value Investing and Identifying Market Bubbles

00:15:07 Current Market Outlook and Valuation Risks

00:20:28 Value Discipline, SpaceX’s IPO, and Past Market Bubbles

00:27:26 Speculative Trading, Indexing, and Zero‑Sum Markets

00:34:24 Market Inefficiencies, Small-Cap Stocks, and the Greater Fool Theory

00:43:27 Artificial Intelligence Hype, Attractive Assets, and Market Pessimism

00:47:02 Climate Risks, Resource Constraints, and Shrinking Populations

More From Morningstar

3 Warnings for Investors From the Ultimate Contrarian

Ben Carlson: Exploring Risk and Reward

What Today’s Index ETFs Get Right, and Wrong, for Investors

If you have a comment or a guest idea, please email us at TheLongView@Morningstar.com.

Follow Christine Benz (@christine_benz) and Ben Johnson (@MstarBenJohnson) on X, and Christine Benz, Amy Arnott, and Ben Johnson on LinkedIn. Visit Morningstar.com for new research and insights from Christine, Ben, and Amy. Subscribe to Christine’s weekly newsletter, Improving Your Finances.

If you want more Morningstar podcasts, check out The Morning Filter and Investing Insights.

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

We’re taping this podcast live at the Morningstar Investment Conference, where we’re delighted to be joined by Fidelity’s Will Danoff. Will runs a number of Fidelity equity strategies, the best known of which is Fidelity Contrafund FCNTX, a mutual fund he’s been managing since September 1990. Morningstar named Will its Domestic-Stock Manager of the Year in 2007. Prior to becoming a portfolio manager, Will served as a retail analyst at Fidelity and assistant portfolio manager at Fidelity Magellan FMAGX. He graduated from Harvard University and earned his MBA at the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania. Will, welcome back to The Long View.

Episode Highlights

00:00:00 Introduction

00:00:56 Investing Origins and Early Influences

00:00:53 Retail Analysis and Unit Economics

00:10:29 Reg FD Changes and Adapting Research Processes

00:15:00 Identifying Durable Competitive Advantages

00:19:24 SpaceX and Buying Private Companies

00:22:40 Investing Mistakes and Avoiding Unprofitable Companies

More From Morningstar

2026 Morningstar Investment Conference: From SpaceX to Safeguarding Retirement

Here’s Fidelity Contrafund’s Will Danoff’s Secret Sauce

As Legendary Manager Will Danoff Leaves Fidelity, Should Investors Follow Him Out the Door?

If you have a comment or a guest idea, please email us at TheLongView@Morningstar.com.

Follow Christine Benz (@christine_benz) and Ben Johnson (@MstarBenJohnson) on X, and Christine Benz, Amy Arnott, and Ben Johnson on LinkedIn. Visit Morningstar.com for new research and insights from Christine, Ben, and Amy. Subscribe to Christine’s weekly newsletter, Improving Your Finances.

If you want more Morningstar podcasts, check out The Morning Filter and Investing Insights.

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Today’s guests are Morningstar’s Brian Moriarty and Jack Shannon. Brian is a principal, fixed-income strategies, for Morningstar. Before assuming his current role in 2015, Brian was a client solutions consultant for Morningstar Office, a practice and portfolio management system for independent financial advisors. Before joining Morningstar in 2013, he was a research assistant for DePaul University’s religious studies department. Brian holds a bachelor’s degree in political science from Michigan State University and a bachelor’s degree in Islamic world studies from DePaul University.

Jack Shannon is a principal, equity strategies, for Morningstar. He focuses on actively managed equity strategies and is the lead analyst for MFS and Artisan Partners, among other firms. Before joining Morningstar in 2020, Jack worked in commercial banking and was a consultant providing subject-matter expertise on complex financial litigation. Jack holds a bachelor’s degree in economics and history from James Madison University. He also holds a master’s of business administration in investments and corporate finance from the University of Notre Dame’s Mendoza College of Business.

Episode Highlights

00:00:00 Introduction

00:02:06 What are Private Markets, and What Investment Opportunities Do They Provide?

00:03:13 Do Semiliquid Funds Provide Easier Access to Private Markets?

00:05:57 Applying Morningstar Processes to Evaluate Private Markets

00:09:50 Managing Liquidity in Private Market Investments

00:18:48 Valuation and Transparency: Putting Private Assets Under the Microscope

00:24:07 Payment in Kind as a Valuation Concern

00:28:02 Public vs. Private Markets: Understanding Risk, Language, and Infrastructure Differences

00:39:28 Building Methodology to Explain Private Asset Fees and Incentive Structures

00:44:22 What Morningstar Medalist Ratings Signal for Semiliquid Funds

More From Morningstar

Morningstar’s Guide to Public/Private Investing

Private Equity Funds Step Into the Spotlight

Private Credit Pricing: Are Prosecutors Opening Up Pandora’s Box?

If you have a comment or a guest idea, please email us at TheLongView@Morningstar.com.

Follow Christine Benz (@christine_benz) and Ben Johnson (@MstarBenJohnson) on X, and Christine Benz, Amy Arnott, and Ben Johnson on LinkedIn. Visit Morningstar.com for new research and insights from Christine, Ben, and Amy. Subscribe to Christine’s weekly newsletter, Improving Your Finances.

If you want more Morningstar podcasts, check out The Morning Filter and Investing Insights.

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Our guest on the podcast today is Kathleen Rehl. Kathleen is an author, educator, speaker, and certified financial planner dedicated to empowering widows financially and guiding the professionals who support them. She operated her own planning firm for 18 years before shifting her focus to writing, teaching, and research. After her husband died, she transformed her personal grief into a mission, helping others navigate widowhood, legacy planning, and purposeful aging. She is the author of Moving Forward on Your Own: A Financial Guidebook for Widows.

Episode Highlights

00:00:00 Introduction

00:02:17 Learning Widowhood From the Inside

00:04:13 Decision-Making Without a Spouse

00:05:16 Early Irreversible Choices For Widows

00:08:39 Stress-Testing Life Without a Spouse

00:16:03 Why Widows Leave Advisors

00:18:53 Slowing Down Decisions to Prevent Emotional and Financial Harm

00:25:55 Continuing Care Retirement Communities

00:30:38 “Refirement” vs. Retirement and Building a Legacy

More From Morningstar

Harry Margolis: How to Confront Aging Challenges Head-On

How to Tackle Estate Planning Basics in 7 Steps

3 Tricky Decisions for Every Retirement Plan

If you have a comment or a guest idea, please email us at TheLongView@Morningstar.com.

Follow Christine Benz (@christine_benz) and Ben Johnson (@MstarBenJohnson) on X, and Christine Benz, Amy Arnott, and Ben Johnson on LinkedIn. Visit Morningstar.com for new research and insights from Christine, Ben, and Amy. Subscribe to Christine’s weekly newsletter, Improving Your Finances.

If you want more Morningstar podcasts, check out The Morning Filter and Investing Insights.

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.