Episode 5: Christine Benz on FIRE, ‘Boring’ Allocations and Correlations in the COVID Crisis
Christine Benz is on FIRE (not literally).
The Financial Independence, Retire Early (FIRE) movement has participants aggressively saving while radically reducing expenses. It’s gained in popularity as Millennials have come of age which, truth be told, is probably why it was initially dismissed by their older, crankier counterparts. But a reexamination of what it is and what it entails suggests the kids are on to something.
It’s what Morningstar’s Benz recently did. The director of personal finance with Chicago-based Morningstar came clean in a piece titled “Confessions of a Former ‘FIRE’ Skeptic.”
The always interesting and incredibly insightful Benz joins us to discuss her newfound FIRE respect. She also tackles critics of the traditional 60/40 portfolio and explains how to handle rising correlations in the current COVID crisis.
