{"podcast":{"title":"The Rational Reminder Podcast","slug":"the-rational-reminder-podcast-743537","podcast_index_feed_id":743537,"rss_url":"https://rationalreminder.libsyn.com/rss","website_url":"https://www.pwlcapital.com/author/benjamin-felix/","image_url":"https://static.libsyn.com/p/assets/4/6/0/2/46022375490517e6/logo-Rational-Reminder-Dark.png","author":"Benjamin Felix, Cameron Passmore, and Dan Bortolotti","episode_count":441,"summary":"A weekly reality check on sensible investing and financial decision-making, from three Canadians. Hosted by Benjamin Felix, Cameron Passmore, and Dan Bortolotti, Portfolio Managers at PWL Capital.","last_synced_at":"2026-07-23T20:21:46.826520+00:00","page_url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/the-rational-reminder-podcast-743537"},"episode":{"title":"Episode 391: How Assumptions Shape Financial Planning Outcomes","slug":"episode-391-how-assumptions-shape-financial-planning-outcomes","published_at":"2026-01-08T10:30:00+00:00","page_url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/the-rational-reminder-podcast-743537/episode-391-how-assumptions-shape-financial-planning-outcomes","show_page_url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/the-rational-reminder-podcast-743537","url":"https://rationalreminder.libsyn.com/episode-391-how-assumptions-shape-financial-planning-outcomes","audio_url":"https://dts.podtrac.com/redirect.mp3/traffic.libsyn.com/secure/rationalreminder/RR_-_EP.391_-_AUDIO_V1.mp3?dest-id=763774","summary":"Financial planning is built on assumptions — about markets, inflation, longevity, human behaviour, and even the questions clients bring into the room. In this episode, Ben and Braden welcome a diverse panel that originally came together at the FP Canada Conference to explore how those assumptions influence planning outcomes in practice. Joining them are Adam Chapman, a retirement-focused planner who helps clients turn their money into memories; Joe Nunes, an actuary with decades of pension and longevity experience; and Aaron Theilade, Director of Continuing Education at FP Canada. Together, the panel unpacks how to make assumptions credible, how to stress-test them, how to navigate client bias, and how planners can blend math with humanity to create better client outcomes. Key Points From This Episode: (0:00:04) Why this episode: recreating a conference panel on planning assumptions. (0:01:03) Braden on the panel's value for planners and DIY investors. (0:02:32) Meet the guests: Adam, Joe, Aaron, and Braden. (0:06:04) Assumptions matter: directional accuracy > prediction. (0:07:47) Actuarial view: start with inflation, bond yields, and risk capacity. (0:09:38) Engineering mindset: plan for expected and unexpected outcomes. (0:13:21) Client pushback: longevity surprises and hidden assumptions. (0:16:59) Asset allocation: strategic, goal-based, informed by behaviour. (0:20:57) Software limits: life is too variable for perfect modeling. (0:22:01) Behaviour gap: retirees spend less over time despite inflation. (0:25:18) Software guides; planners interpret and humanize outputs. (0:28:48) Use assumptions based on the specific question (e.g., withdrawals). (0:30:31) Always ask: \"Why are we modeling this?\" (0:34:15) Handling bias: reframe assumptions to reveal inconsistencies.…","meta_description":"Financial planning is built on assumptions — about markets, inflation, longevity, human behaviour, and even the questions clients bring into the room. In…","key_points":[],"chapters":[],"topics":[],"duration_seconds":4539,"processing_state":"not_requested","actions":[{"name":"request_transcript","method":"POST","url":"https://stenobird.com/v1/public/podcasts/the-rational-reminder-podcast-743537/episodes/episode-391-how-assumptions-shape-financial-planning-outcomes/transcription-requests","description":"Idempotently request low-priority transcript generation for this episode."},{"name":"read_markdown","method":"GET","url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/the-rational-reminder-podcast-743537/episode-391-how-assumptions-shape-financial-planning-outcomes.md","description":"Read the agent-friendly Markdown representation of this episode resource."}]}}