The Decision Dividend

Last episode explored how more money can improve well-being. So, how should you spend it to improve your life?

In Episode 41 of The Decision Dividend, Pat Collins and Marcus Schafer explore research suggesting that experiences, spending on others, and buying back time often produce more happiness than material purchases alone.

You’ll learn:

• Why experiences create lasting happiness through anticipation, connection, and me...

The headline was simple: happiness reaches a point of diminishing returns around $75,000 of income. The research that followed revealed a more complicated reality in which additional income can still improve well-being, but not equally for everyone or in every circumstance.

In Episode 40 of The Decision Dividend, Pat Collins and Marcus Schafer explore what the evolving evidence can teach us about money, happiness, and the meaning o...

Have markets and technology advanced enough that investors should consider owning the individual stocks in an index rather than investing through a pooled vehicle such as an ETF or mutual fund?

In Episode 39 of The Decision Dividend, we’re joined by Brant Cavagnaro to explore how direct indexing works, who may benefit most, and when a low-cost commingled fund may still be the better choice.

You’ll learn:

• What disti...

Retirement is a natural time to rethink where you live. But moving states is not just a tax decision.

In Episode 38 of The Decision Dividend, Pat and Marcus discuss how to evaluate a retirement move by starting with quality of life, then running the numbers. The goal is not to ignore taxes, but to understand them in the context of your actual retirement income, residency, housing, insurance, and relationships.

You’ll learn:

A rental property can have been a great investment and still no longer be a great investment to keep. Deciding what to do next requires weighing not just the expected return, but the broader set of tax-efficient exit options available to real estate owners.

In Episode 37 of The Decision Dividend, we’re joined by Dan Mong, one of Greenspring’s most experienced advisors in real estate planning, to assess a property’...

Can someone be a fiduciary while also earning commissions for selling financial products? The answer is more complicated than many investors realize.

In Episode 36 of The Decision Dividend, Pat Collins and Marcus Schafer explore the history and meaning of fiduciary duty, the different standards governing financial advice, and the signals investors can use to evaluate an advisor.

You’ll learn:

Why fiduciary duty requires the d...

Using SpaceX to understand IPO access, pricing, and expected returns.

SpaceX may be a high-profile company, and it is rare for a private company to go public at a valuation that would place it among the largest companies in the market.

In Episode 35 of The Decision Dividend, we use SpaceX to understand IPO access, pricing, and expected returns. We look at what history says about IPO returns and why the first-day “pop” i...

Practical frameworks for separating process from outcome. A good outcome can make a bad decision look smart. A bad outcome can make a good decision look foolish.

In Episode 34 of The Decision Dividend, we look at how to separate the quality of your decision from the luck of the result. To do that, we walk through five practical tools for making better decisions before, during, and after uncertainty shows up.

You’ll learn:

A research-informed order of operations for cash reserves, debt, retirement accounts, brokerage accounts, 529s, and mortgage prepayment.

The hard part of having extra savings is rarely finding a good option. It’s choosing between several.

In Episode 33 of The Decision Dividend, Pat Collins and Marcus Schafer walk through a practical order of operations to decide where your extra savings should go. The answer is not always the...

Too often, families spend more time planning how to build wealth than how to pass it on. In Episode 32, we’re joined by Ron Diamond* to discuss family governance, inheritance, and how to prepare the next generation for wealth without creating confusion, conflict, or entitlement.

You’ll learn:

• Why investing should often come after governance, values, and family communication
• How to prepare children for wealth withou...

We revisit a question we expect to ask every 1-2 years. Is this time different? The catalyst this time is energy and trade shocks tied to conflict. You’ll learn:

• How common market drops like this are and how often they rebound
• How separating your roles as a citizen, consumer, and investor can guide what action, if any, to take
• What history tells us about market returns through past conflicts and energy shocks
• The questio...

Many investors assume that if they need cash, even for short-term expenses, they have one option: sell their investments. In Episode 30 of Return on Reason, we discuss a less widely understood option, borrowing against your investment portfolio. It may be one option for accessing short-term liquidity, but it also introduces tradeoffs that stretch beyond the interest rate. You’ll learn:

• Four ways&nbs...

Cash feels safe. Over time, excess cash quietly works against you through lower returns, inflation, and taxes.

In Episode 29 of Return on Reason, we dive into how to optimize the return on your cash by exploring how much to hold and where to hold it, so that it works for you, not for your bank or brokerage.

• When cash may stop being a reserve and become a drag on wealth
• Why it’s easier than ever to earn more on cash and h...

AI, banking innovation, estate planning tools. Why better tools don’t automatically mean better decisions.

Innovation in personal finance is no longer constrained to investments. Access to new tools is expanding. But better information does not eliminate trade-offs.

In Episode 28 of Return on Reason (formerly Greenstream), we explore where innovation genuinely adds value and where judgment, coordination, and incentives still ...

After-tax outcomes. Concentrated wealth. Private market access. The math matters more than the marketing. Innovation is inevitable. Access to new investment tools continues to expand. The question is whether the benefits outweigh the costs.

In Episode 27 of Greenstream, we discuss the tradeoffs behind strategies designed to improve after-tax outcomes, manage concentrated wealth, and pursue private market opportunities to determine ...

Whether you know it or not, every investor's portfolio takes factor bets. In Episode 26 of Greenstream, we break down what factor investing actually is and how it is used as a framework for understanding risk, diversification, and portfolio construction.

You’ll learn:

• Why factor returns are expected, not guaranteed
• Why stocks vs. bonds is the original (and one of the biggest) factors bet investors make
• How factor investi...

Index funds have transformed investing. They lowered costs, improved diversification, and helped investors avoid many of the most common mistakes. For most people, indexing has been a clear upgrade over trying to outsmart the market.

But even indexing is an active decision. The way an index is built, how it handles income and taxes, and how it’s implemented all influence results in ways that don’t show up in expense rat...

Even after a win, the best coaches go back to the tape. 2025 was a strong year for markets. But like a disciplined coach after a big win, the most valuable work happens in the film review. In Episode 24 of Greenstream, we look back on the year not to celebrate outcomes, but to pressure-test decisions. From tariff-driven volatility to the return of cash as a real option, this episode focuses on the habits that matter when markets do...

What does it take to run a modern Major League Baseball franchise? In Episode 23 of Greenstream, we talk with Catie Griggs, the Baltimore Orioles’ President of Business Operations, about how the O’s are working to build a championship-caliber fan experience on the field and in the stands. You’ll learn about:

• Catie’s career path and how 100+ informational interviews helped her break into sports’ ap...