Well, Just About Everything Happened in 2025. Here Are the Top 9 Podcast Episodes That Got Investors Through It

This year was marked by stock market swings, artificial intelligence’s unwavering acceleration, and tariff tumult between trade partners. With ongoing uncertainty and noisy headlines, our podcast hosts sought to help investors focus on what matters. As we reflect on 2025, here are the top three most listened to episodes in Apple Podcasts of Morningstar’s The Long View, The Morning Filter_, and _Investing Insights.

The Long View

On The Long View podcast, expand your investing horizons and look to the long term. Hosts Christine Benz, director of personal finance and retirement planning for Morningstar, and author of How to Retire: 20 Lessons for a Happy, Successful, and Wealthy Retirement, Amy C. Arnott, a portfolio strategist for Morningstar Inc., and Ben Johnson, head of client solutions in asset management for Morningstar, talk to influential leaders in investing, advice, retirement, and personal finance about a wide range of topics, such as asset allocation and balancing risk and return. New episodes air on Wednesday.

Here are the top pieces of financial wisdom that helped investors protect their portfolios this year.

Barry Ritholtz: ‘How Not to Invest’

On this March 18 episode, Benz and Arnott welcomed Barry Ritholtz to the podcast. He’s co-founder, chairman, and chief investment officer of Ritholtz Wealth Management, a firm that was launched in 2013. He’s the creator and host of Masters in Business_, one of the earliest finance-related podcasts. He also regularly posts on The Big Picture, where he’s been covering everything investing related since 2003. He is the author of Bailout Nation_and How Not to Invest: The Ideas, Numbers, and Behaviors That Destroy Wealth—and How to Avoid Them.

Ritholtzdiscussed the most impactful conversations he’s had with investing luminaries, why he finds market forecasts to be a losing game, and how saying “I don’t know” can be a superpower for investors.

Nick Maggiulli: Climbing the Wealth Ladder

On this July 22 episode, Benz and Arnott welcomed back Nick Maggiulli. He’s the author of a new book called The Wealth Ladder: Proven Strategies for Every Step of Your Financial Life. His first book was called Just Keep Buying. He also writes a blog called Of Dollars and Data, which is focused on the intersection between data and personal finance. In his day job, Maggiulli is the Chief Operating Officer and Data Scientist at Ritholtz Wealth Management.

Maggiulli explained how financial priorities should change with income and net worth, the money/happiness connection, and why deciding how to spend is just as important as deciding how to invest.

Charley Ellis: Indexing Is a Marvelous Gift

On the Aug. 5 episode, Benz and Arnott welcomed back Charley Ellis, whose latest book is called Rethinking Investing: A Very Short Guide to Very Long-Term Investing. Charley founded investment consultant Greenwich Associates in 1972. His seminal book about the benefits of passive investing, Winning the Loser’s Game, is in its seventh edition. Charley has also authored or co-authored books about investment policy and strategy, the retirement system in the US, and large investment firms, including Goldman Sachs and Capital Group. He has taught investment management courses at the Yale School of Management and Harvard Business School, and was the successor trustee of Yale University, where he chaired the university’s investment committee with David Swensen. He also served on the board of directors at the Vanguard Group. Charley was awarded the Graham & Dodd Award of Excellence from the _Financial Analyst Journal _and is one of only 12 people recognized by the CFA Institute for Lifetime Contributions to the Investment Profession.

Ellis discussed the virtues of simplicity, the challenges facing active managers, and why he would stay away from investing in private capital. According to Ellis, indexing is a marvelous gift. Here’s why.

The Morning Filter

Every Monday morning, The Morning Filter hosts, Susan Dziubinski, investment specialist for Morningstar, and Morningstar chief US market strategist, Dave Sekera, discuss what’s on Sekera’s radar this week, new Morningstar research, and a few stock picks or pans for the week ahead.

Here are the top episodes that helped investors tune out the noise in 2025.

5 Stocks to Buy Before the Fed Cuts Interest Rates

On the Sept. 8 episode, Sekera and Dziubinski caught up on tons of economic news, covering everything from tariffs to inflation to jobs—and whether the Federal Reserve would cut interest rates at its September meeting.

They unpacked Morningstar’s fair value increase on Nvidia’s NVDA stock after earnings, whether Marvell Technology MRVL was still a buy after issuing so-so guidance, and if it was time to throw in the towel or back up the truck on Bath & Body Works BBWI stock. They shared Morningstar’s take on stocks in the news, including whether Kraft Heinz KHC stock was a buy ahead of the company’s split and if Alphabet’s GOOGL stock still looked attractive after the company skirted a breakup in its antitrust case. They also discussed Dave’s latest stock market outlook and his stocks to buy before the next Fed meeting.

6 Stocks to Sell Before the End of the Year

On the Nov. 24 episode, Sekera and Dziubinski discussed why a Fed rate cut in December was starting to look unlikely. They also unpacked new research about Palo Alto Networks PANW and Walmart WMT after earnings. And they cover whether Nvidia is a buy after another stunning quarter.

They took a deeper-than-usual dive into the audience mailbag, answering questions about AI and data center stocks, lithium and Albemarle ALB, and uncertainty and when to take profits. They wrapped up the episode with six overvalued stocks to sell.

4 New Stocks to Buy Now and Hold for the Long Term

On the Oct. 6 episode, Sekera and Dziubinski discussed what impact the government shutdown may have had on the Federal Reserve’s October meeting. Dave explained why he was watching the earnings reports from Pepsi PEP and Delta Air Lines DAL that week and revealed whether Carnival CCL or Nike NKE were stocks to buy after earnings.

They covered whether the US stock market looked overvalued at the start of the fourth quarter, if investors should underweight red-hot growth stocks, and which sectors looked most attractive. Morningstar chief Europe market strategist Michael Field joined the podcast, focusing on investment opportunities in Europe. The episode wrapped up with four new stocks to buy and hold in the fourth quarter that haven’t been picks before.

Investing Insights

Investing Insights is a thoughtful look at investing opportunities and risks beyond the market headlines, plus personal finance and retirement tips, from Morningstar. Host Ivanna Hampton, lead multimedia editor for Morningstar, and Morningstar researchers discuss new research about portfolios, ETFs, stocks, and more to help you invest smarter.

Listen to our top episodes where Hampton helped investors stay steady during market turbulence.

Retirees: Here’s How to Tweak the 4% Rule to Protect Your Nest Egg

New retirees might enter a different environment from their predecessors. The economy or market might have changed slightly or dramatically. Morningstar researchers have investigated and identified their latest “starting safe withdrawal rate.” Here’s a hint: it’s slightly lower than the previous year.

On the April 25 episode, Hampton sat down with Arnott to discuss why her team’s starting safe withdrawal rate is more conservative than the popular 4% rule from Morningstar’s 2025 retirement income research, The State of Retirement Income for 2026, that Arnott authored alongside Benz, and Jason Kephart, senior principal for multi-asset strategy ratings for Morningstar. Plus, they discussed a new metric to help determine financial priorities during retirement.

Should You Hold Cash Investments After the Fed Cuts Interest Rates?

There has been a tug-of-war between investing in cash and long duration bonds in this years’ interest environment. The longer end of the yield curve may have looked more appealing as anticipation was building about interest rate cuts. Morningstar’s economics team and market watchers were predicting the Federal Reserve will lower rates more than once in the final months of 2025. What may still matter more is the time horizon for your financial goals.

Arnott joined Hampton on the Sept. 19 episode to discuss why sticking with cash is a less-risky and better approach for some investors.

Oracle’s ORCL transformation served as a reminder that big opportunities to invest in artificial intelligence still exist. The database provider’s expansion into being a cloud provider sparked a 42% jump in its stock price. That caught the attention of Dan Kemp, chief research and investment officer at Morningstar Investment Management Europe. The author of the Markets Brief said one of the big takeaways is that stocks like Oracle are making good use of AI, and investors should look beyond the popular names.

Investing in AI? Here Are 6 Undervalued Stocks for Buy-and-Hold Investors

Excitement over artificial intelligence is spurring a once-in-a-generation tech spend. Nvidia counts several of its Magnificent Seven pals as customers buying its sophisticated AI chips. And the world’s most valuable company says it could’ve earned even more if geopolitical tensions between the US and China eased. But investors are debating whether the market is experiencing an AI boom or AI bubble. How should buy-and-hold investors think about investing in AI—are there any undervalued stocks left today?

On the Sept. 5 episode, Hampton spoke to Sekera to break down what he thinks is coming next for investors and AI. Hampton also spoke with Morningstar’s CEO, Kunal Kapoor, on how he is thinking about the AI boom. They discussed Kapoor’s thoughts on Wall Street’s big bets on AI this year, and what individual investors need to keep in mind as AI continues to accelerate its exponential growth.