The Long View

Our guest on the podcast today is Claudia Sahm. Claudia is chief economist at New Century Advisors, the founder of Sahm Consulting, and a regular contributor at Bloomberg Opinion. She has policy and research expertise in macroeconomics, consumer spending, and household finance. She created the Sahm rule, an automatic trigger for stimulus payments in recessions. Previously, she was a section chief at the Federal Reserve, where she oversaw the Survey of Household Economics and Decisionmaking. Before that, she worked for 10 years on the staff’s macroeconomic forecast. She was a senior economist at the Council of Economic Advisers. She holds a Ph.D. in economics from the University of Michigan and a bachelor’s degree in economics, political science, and German from Denison University.

Episode Highlights

00:00:00 Lessons From the Fed During the Global Financial Crisis

00:04:56 Making Sense of Fed-Speak

00:09:29 The “Whiplash Economy” and Understanding Risk

00:14:21 Rising Gas Prices, Geopolitical Uncertainty, and Consumer Sentiment

00:18:03 Interest Rates, AI, and Fed Leadership Changes

00:29:48 Undoing the Effects of Trump’s Tariffs

00:33:34 The Sahm Rule and Recession Risk Today

00:43:56 Costs of Underfunding US Economic Data

00:49:57 “Economics Is a Disgrace”

More From Morningstar

Risk, Not Volatility, Is the Real Enemy for Investors

Michael Gates: Why More Advisors Are Migrating to Model Portfolios

Q2 Market Outlook: Why a Stock Barbell Strategy Is Ideal for Today’s Market

If you have a comment or a guest idea, please email us at [email protected].

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.

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Today’s guest on The Long View is Michael Gates. Gates is the head of model portfolio solutions for the Americas and the lead portfolio manager for target-allocation models at BlackRock. BlackRock’s target-allocation models have been adopted by a large and growing contingent of advisors in the US. Four of the model families within BlackRock’s target-allocation suite have been awarded Morningstar Medalist Ratings of Gold. In 2025, Morningstar’s manager research team nominated Gates for a Morningstar Award for Investing Excellence in the Outstanding Allocation Portfolio Manager category. Gates’ time at BlackRock dates to 1999, including his years with Barclays Global Investors, which merged with BlackRock in 2009. Before founding the model portfolio solutions group, Gates conducted quantitative trading research for equities in BlackRock’s global trading group. At Barclays Global Investors, Gates led the development and implementation of the firm’s quantitative approach in fixed-income and alternative asset investing. Gates earned a master’s degree in economics and a bachelor’s degree with honors from the University of California, Davis. He is a CFA charterholder.

Episode Highlights

00:00:00 What Are Model Portfolios and How Do They Work?

00:08:19 How Tax-Loss Harvesting and Other Offerings Reshape Model Design

00:15:50 AI‑Driven Productivity and the Market Outlook

00:17:57 Rebalancing With Risk in Mind

00:24:56 Building AI Exposure Into Equity Models

00:35:39 Thematic Investing and Active vs. Passive Investing

00:42:07 How Technology May Shape Portfolios’ Future

More From Morningstar

Alpha Isn’t Dead. You’ve Just Been Measuring It Wrong

Tax-Efficient Model Portfolios for Retirees and Retirement Savers

Can AI Chatbots Build a Retirement Portfolio? We Tested Them

If you have a comment or a guest idea, please email us at [email protected].

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.

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Our guest on the podcast today is Harry Margolis. Harry has been representing seniors, individuals with special needs, and their families since he started ElderLaw Services, the predecessor of Margolis Bloom & D’Agostino in June 1987. His firm helps clients pay for long-term care, manage the incapacity of a family member, and plan for safe and productive futures for their children and grandchildren. Harry served as editor of the ElderLaw Report, a monthly newsletter for attorneys, for three decades. He has been selected as a fellow of both the National Academy of Elder Law Attorneys and the American College of Trust and Estate Council. He has founded two websites and answers consumer questions online at www.askharry.info. In addition, Harry writes about eldercare issues on his Substack, Risking Old Age in America, also known as okayboomer.substack.com, and has a podcast with the same name.

Episode Highlights

00:00:00 Margolis’ Path to Elder Law

00:04:15 Aging Clients, Estate Planning, and Long-Term Care

00:08:29 Aging In Place and Medicare Misconceptions

00:15:45 Estate Planning Paperwork and DIY Planners

00:21:26 Power of Attorney Mistakes, Living Wills, and Healthcare Coordination

00:27:06 Caregiving, Money Conversations, and Common Financial Mistakes

00:31:51 Benefits of NORCs

00:34:07 Special Needs Planning: Housing, Trusts, and Expectations

More From The Long View

Sally Balch Hurme: Getting Your Affairs in Order as You Get Older

Joy Loverde: Planning Ahead for Care Needs as You Get Older

Beth Pinsker: Lessons From ‘My Mother’s Money’

If you have a comment or a guest idea, please email us at [email protected].

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.

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Our guest on the podcast today is retirement researcher Wade Pfau. Wade is the founder of Retirement Researcher, an educational resource on retirement planning for individuals and financial advisors. He’s co-founder of the Retirement Income Style Awareness Tool and a co-host of the Retire With Style podcast. He’s a professor of practice at the American College of Financial Services and a research fellow with the Limra Retirement Income Institute. And he’s also a principal and director of retirement research for McLean Asset Management. Wade has written several books, including his most recent, a third edition of his Retirement Planning Guidebook. He holds a doctorate in economics and a master’s degree from Princeton University and Bachelor of Arts and Bachelor of Science degrees from the University of Iowa. He’s also a chartered financial analyst.

Episode Highlights

00:00:00 Updates to the Retirement Planning Guidebook

00:00:29 Do Retirees Today Have a Stronger Starting Spending Rate?

00:04:03 Asset Allocation, Annuities, and Target-Date Funds

00:08:11 Retirement Income Styles

00:15:07 Non-US Safe Withdrawal Rates and Flexible Spending Strategies

00:23:55 Probability of Success and Estimating Longevity

00:27:47 Underspending, Organic Income, and Mortgage Payoff

00:35:46 Exploring the Retirement Risk Zone

00:39:20 Equity Glide Paths, Sequence Risk, and Delaying Social Security

00:46:43 Annuities: Private Equity Concerns and Due Diligence

More Retirement Research From Wade Pfau

Exploring the Retirement Risk Zone

Reducing Retirement Risk with a Rising Equity Glide Path

More From Morningstar

What’s Your Retirement Income Style?

8 Reasons You Might Need to Tweak Your Portfolio

Wade Pfau: The Risks of Retirement Today

If you have a comment or a guest idea, please email us at [email protected].

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.

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Today’s guest on The Long View is Pat Dorsey. Pat is the founder of Dorsey Asset Management, a boutique asset manager serving institutional clients. From 2000 to 2011, Pat was the director of equity research for Morningstar, where he led the growth of Morningstar’s equity research group from 20 to 90 analysts. Pat was instrumental in the development of Morningstar’s economic moat ratings, as well as the methodology behind Morningstar’s framework for analyzing competitive advantage. Pat is also the author of two books, The Five Rules for Successful Stock Investing, and The Little Book That Builds Wealth. Pat holds a master’s degree in political science from Northwestern University and a bachelor’s degree in government from Wesleyan University. Pat is a CFA charterholder.

Episode Highlights

00:00:00 Defining Economic Moats and Moat Source Mistakes

00:05:34 Shifting Landscape for Returns on Invested Capital as a Metric

00:07:52 Inevitable vs. Noninevitable Moats

00:09:36 Moat Durability, Network Effects, and Lessons From PayPal

00:13:46 Management Quality, Founders, and Pricing Discipline

00:24:02 High-Quality Companies, “Too Hard” Bucket, and AI Uncertainty

00:29:29 Premortem, Behavioral Edge, and Opportunity Cost

More From Morningstar

AI Isn’t an Economic Moat Killer, but It Will Disrupt Industries

Lawrence Lam: ‘The Types of Companies That Attract Me Are Founder-Led and Profitable’

How to Measure a Company’s Competitive Advantage

If you have a comment or a guest idea, please email us at [email protected].

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.