Home Podcasts The Investing for Beginners Podcast - Your Path to Financial Freedom
The Investing for Beginners Podcast - Your Path to Financial Freedom

The Investing for Beginners Podcast - Your Path to Financial Freedom

By Andrew Sather, Stephen Morris, and Evan Raidt | Stock Market Guide to Buying Stocks 716 Episodes Jul 2, 2026

This podcast teaches stock market investing in a simple, jargon-free way. It covers strategies for beginners, comparing companies like Coke vs. Pepsi and spotting red flags in CEOs. The goal is to help listeners build wealth steadily without chasing get-rich-quick schemes.

Episodes

Tech Stocks Are Down—Is It “Tech Rot” or Just Noise? Jul 2, 2026 2870 Tech stocks dip and suddenly the media declares the bubble popped—“AI is over,” rates are killing growth, and data centers cost too much. Stephen and Andrew cut through the headlines and explain what’s actually going on: why broad labels like “tech rot” are mostly clickbait, and how small drawdowns get spun into a crisis narrative that can scare newer investors out of the market. Then they get
AAR56 - Engineering POV on Building Margin Into Personal Finance Jun 30, 2026 2595 Most personal finance advice gets treated like a checklist: hit the emergency fund number, hit the savings rate, and you “pass.” In this episode, Evan explains why that mindset breaks in the real world—and why you should build margin into your finances the same way engineers build margin into parts, systems, and analysis. You’ll learn how small decisions “stack up,” how to set ranges instead of
What the Shiller P/E (CAPE) Can and Can’t Tell You Jun 29, 2026 2875 A listener named Chris emailed in with a question a lot of investors are quietly thinking: if the CAPE ratio is around 40 and forecasts say future stock returns could be low, why keep investing at all—especially when CDs, T-bills, and high-yield savings accounts are paying 4–5%? In this episode, Andrew and Stephen break down what CAPE (the Shiller P/E) actually measures, why it’s elevated, and how
How to Read a 10-K in 20 Minutes (The Beginner Speedrun Checklist) Jun 25, 2026 2872 Most investors download a 10-K, scroll for a few minutes, and quit—because it feels like 100 pages of legal pain. In this episode, Andrew and Stephen break down a practical “speedrun” approach to get real value from a 10-K in about 20 minutes, without pretending you need to read every paragraph. They walk through the key sections that matter most for beginners plus a simple checklist to make su
AAR55 - 5 Years in Engineering: 5 Things I Learned About Building Wealth Jun 23, 2026 2090 In this solo episode, Evan reflects on five years working in engineering (quality → design) and shares the biggest money lessons he’s learned along the way. This isn’t a highlight reel or a sob story—it’s an honest breakdown of what actually changed his financial trajectory, what mistakes he made early, and what he’d do differently if he could start over. You’ll hear why a steady paycheck can c
Why A Negative P/E Happens and What to Use Instead Jun 22, 2026 2413 Ever pulled up a stock and noticed the P/E is negative—then immediately wondered if the company is “cheap” or just a disaster? In this episode, Stephen and Andrew break down exactly why a P/E ratio “breaks” when earnings go negative, what that actually tells you (and what it doesn’t), and why a negative P/E should be treated as a big red flag—but not an automatic walk-away. They cover the three
Personal Finance First: The Step-by-Step Plan Before You Start Investing Jun 18, 2026 4038 Most people advise to jump straight into investing—but that’s backwards. In this episode, Stephen is joined by Evan Raidt (host of At Any Rate) to lay out a simple, phase-based roadmap for building a stable financial foundation before you start making investing moves. Think of it like building a house: if the foundation isn’t solid, everything you build on top of it is at risk. They walk throug
AAR54 - AI and Your Finances: Tool or Risk Jun 16, 2026 2934 AI is everywhere—and now it’s creeping into personal finance in a big way. In this episode, Evan is joined by Stephen Morris to talk about what AI could mean for your money, especially as tools like ChatGPT move toward linking directly to financial accounts through services like Plaid. They break down the real risks: privacy and security, “black box” decision-making, hallucinations that sound c
Present Value vs. Terminal Value: The Real Difference Between “Value” and “Growth” Jun 15, 2026 4215 “Value vs. growth” gets treated like two different religions—but the math doesn’t agree. In this episode, Andrew is joined by Daniel Mahncke and Sean O’Malley to break down intrinsic value into two core components: present value (cash flows you can reasonably forecast) and terminal value (everything beyond your explicit forecast period). They make it tangible with two case studies: Universal Mu
Not All Dividends Are Equal: Dividend Kings, Aristocrats, and Red Flags Jun 11, 2026 2237 Not all dividends are created equal. In this episode, Andrew and Stephen break down two popular “quality filters” dividend investors use—Dividend Aristocrats and Dividend Kings —and why a long streak can be a useful starting point for stock ideas, not a guarantee of safety. They also dig into what a dividend streak can signal about a business, plus the red flags that can turn a “safe yield” int
AAR53-Stop Ballparking It: A Real Plan for Saving Toward a Goal Jun 9, 2026 2146 In this episode, Evan walks through a real-time example of saving toward a short-to-medium term goal: buying a motorcycle (plus safety gear) ahead of a future motorcycle trip with his best friend. Instead of vague “just save more” advice, he breaks down the exact mindset and planning process he’s using—built for goals under ~2 years where you need clarity, not hype. You’ll hear what to avoid , the
The Truth About Market Timing, Crashes, and Long-Term Investing with Ben Carlson Jun 8, 2026 2971 What’s the secret to investing? According to Ben Carlson (CFA, Ritholtz Wealth Management), the “secret” is that there isn’t one—building wealth is mostly about time, consistency, and letting compounding do the heavy lifting. In this conversation, Ben breaks down why the lottery-ticket approach and constant market timing are usually a losing game, even for smart people. We also dig into how the

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