The Investing for Beginners Podcast - Your Path to Financial Freedom
The Investing for Beginners Podcast teaches you how to buy your first stocks and build long-term wealth in the stock market— without the hype or confusing jargon. Hosts Andrew Sather and Stephen Morris break down value investing fundamentals into plain English: how to read financial statements, value a company, avoid common beginner mistakes, and build a long-term portfolio you can actually stick with. Plus, in our At Any Rate episodes with host Evan Raidt, we tackle the personal finance side of wealth building— paying off debt, budgeting, saving, and the money debates every household faces before (and while) investing. Stop chas...
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Accidental Indexing: Why Owning Too Many Stocks Destroys Returns
<p>Most retail investors spend endless hours hunting for the next breakout stock, only to ruin their returns by spreading their capital across dozens of minor positions. Buying too many stocks creates an "accidental index fund," while placing tiny bets on multi-bagger winners renders those gains completely meaningless to your net worth. In this episode, Stephen and Andrew break down the mechanics of position sizing, the danger of chasing speculative moonshots early in your investing journey, and how to construct a focused 10-to-15 stock portfolio built for long-term wealth.</p> <p><br></p> <p>What You Will Learn</p> <p>...
AAR62 - Homeownership Progress Update
<p>It has officially been one year since Evan and his wife purchased their first home at 27 years old. In this solo episode of At Any Rate, Evan takes a transparent look at how the finances, lifestyle changes, and hidden expenses have actually played out over the past 12 months.</p> <p><br></p> <p>From navigating Florida's home insurance landscape and new-build tax perks to dealing with $2,200 shower door quotes and managing property tax reassessments, this episode breaks down what went according to plan, what came out cheaper than expected, and what unexpected mental loads every homeowner should prepare for.<...
Why Your Brain is Sabotaging Your Portfolio
<p>The stock market isn't just a platform for building wealth; it is a real-time stress test of human psychology. When headlines scream panic and portfolios bleed red, our innate cognitive biases trigger emotional reflexes that push us toward destructive mistakes like compulsive trading and holding onto losers. In this episode, Stephen and Andrew break down the mental traps that destroy returns and provide the systematic guardrails needed to protect your capital from yourself.</p> <p><br></p> <p>What You Will Learn</p> <p>The Salience Bias Trap: Why reacting to the loudest financial headlines (like the hyped SpaceX...
The AI CAPEX Illusion with Thomas Chua
<p>Tech giants are dropping hundreds of billions on AI infrastructure, but the market is punishing some players and rewarding others for the exact same strategy. In this episode, Thomas Chua from Steady Compounding reveals why the true story of AI demand is hidden in the footnotes of balance sheets, and how everyday investors can separate genuine compounders from capital-destroying hype.</p> <p><br></p> <p>What You Will Learn</p> <p>The $700 billion footnote: Why Alphabet’s hidden long-term contractual agreements for data center power are a far stronger indicator of AI demand than standard CAPEX.</p> <p>The "Co...
AAR61 - Drafting Our Finances
<p>In this episode of At Any Rate, Evan and Andrew run a high-stakes "Fantasy Financial Draft." Alternating picks back and forth, they compete to build the ultimate personal finance strategy across six key categories: safe investments, compounding assets, inheritance accounts, side hustles, home ROI upgrades, and common money rules.</p> <p><br></p> <p>From comparing index funds to LeBron James and individual stocks to Joel Embiid, to breaking down the tax magic of the "step-up in basis" rule, the guys debate high-upside financial moves against steady, reliable strategy—and let you, the listener, vote on who built the be...
Birdseye View ASTS: Moonshot Potential vs. Financial Reality
<p>In this episode, Stephen and Andrew take a bird’s-eye view of AST SpaceMobile (ASTS) to separate the revolutionary promise of direct-to-cell satellite broadband from the cold, hard financial realities hiding in its SEC filings. While the technology aims to solve global cellular dead zones, a look under the hood reveals massive cash burn, crushing debt maturities, and significant operational delays.</p> <p><br></p> <p>What You Will Learn</p> <p>Why direct-to-cell tech is a potential game-changer: How ASTS plans to eliminate cell towers and bring 4G/5G broadband directly to unmodified smartphones.</p> <p>The hidden ri...
Why 100-Baggers Cause Bad Decisions and How to Stay Grounded
<p>The temptation of hitting a 100x return in the stock market often drives investors straight into emotional traps, leading to reckless greed or paralyzing fear. In this episode, Stephen and Andrew dive into the psychology of money, breaking down the true economics behind massive winners, how to manage emotional swings, and why building a disciplined, repeatable process is the only way to safeguard your portfolio over the long term.</p> <p><br></p> <p>What You Will Learn</p> <p>Why the 100-bagger dream is a trap: How chasing huge wins distorts your decision-making and leads to panic selling...
AAR60 - Money Debates 2 - Early Mortgage Payoff? Emergency Fund vs. HELOC
<p>This episode is a follow-up to the recent “Money Debates” episode. Evan and Andrew run the format back with new topics: they present both sides of common financial arguments, then share what they personally agree with—sometimes changing their minds mid-discussion.</p> <p><br></p> <p>They debate whether a HELOC (home equity line of credit) can replace a traditional emergency fund, whether paying off a mortgage early is smart or mostly emotional, whether a windfall should be invested as a lump sum or dollar-cost averaged over time, and whether credit card debt should be attacked directly or transferred to low...
The Stoplight System with Tykr founder Sean Tepper
<p>In this episode, Andrew interviews Sean Tepper, founder and CEO of Tykr (T-Y-K-R), an investing education and stock analysis platform built for everyday investors who want a clear, repeatable process. Sean shares how he went from running a service business to building a value-investing system inspired by Phil Town—then turning it into software with a simple “stoplight” rating: green (on sale), gray (watch), red (overpriced).</p> <p><br></p> <p>They break down what drives Tykr’s ratings, why Sean avoids technical analysis, and how Tykr uses a combination of financial statement trends and margin of safety to score st...
Stop Overthinking Stock Screeners
<p>Stock screeners can feel intimidating, but they’re really just a fast way to generate starting points—not “buy” signals. In this episode, Stephen and Andrew build a simple screener in Fiscal.ai (growth, ROIC, balance sheet strength, valuation, and anti-dilution rules), then run it live and walk through what shows up.</p> <p><br></p> <p>You’ll hear how they quickly pressure-test businesses like Yelp, LendingTree, Brinker (Chili’s), Yeti, Zoetis, and CarGurus—using basic questions around moats, management quality, cyclicality, and what the financials are actually saying. The big takeaway: keep an open mind, be willing to be wrong, a...
