Motley Fool Answers Shares Its "Maintain, Don't Gain" Holiday Tradition

On this episode of Motley Fool Answers, the cast turns their attention to investor health beyond retirement accounts and stock holdings. Instead, they welcome the Motley Fool's chief wellness officer Sam Whiteside onto the show, as she shares some important tips with listeners on how to make healthier choices amid the many temptations that accompany the holiday season. You can still enjoy your eggnog and holiday meals while building momentum for the new year.

A full transcript follows the video.

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This podcast was recorded on Nov. 22, 2016.

Alison Southwick: This is Motley Fool Answers. I'm Alison Southwick and I'm joined, as always, by Robert Brokamp, personal finance expert here at The Motley Fool. He's also the advisor on Motley Fool's Rule Your Retirement newsletter. Such a great newsletter.

Robert Brokamp: Well, thank you very much, Alison.

Southwick: It's the holidays -- that special time of year where we don festive sweaters and get stressed-out drunk and a little more chubby. But it doesn't have to be that way. The Motley Fool's chief wellness officer joins us with five ways to maintain and not gain over the holidays. We'll also answer your question about creating a portfolio of ... bonds?

Brokamp: A special type of bond fund. That's what we're going to talk about here. I know. I know you're excited. I know. Alison is falling asleep, everyone out there in Podcastland.

Southwick: Well, no. I mean, obviously we got a question about it, so it matters to someone. It just doesn't matter to me and I am naturally predisposed to kind of fall asleep whenever the word bond ... It's like The Manchurian Candidate where I hear the word "bond" and it's just like boom. She falls asleep rather than like activates and tries to assassinate someone.

Brokamp: Yes. Well, I prefer that you fall asleep, rather than the other one, since I'm the only one in this room with you right now.

Southwick: Who knows? Maybe there is a word out there. You've got to be careful what you say.

Brokamp: OK.

Southwick: All that and more on this week's episode of Motley Fool Answers.

__

Southwick: All right, it's time for Answers, Answers and today's question comes from Steve. Are we sure this isn't Steve Broido?

Brokamp: It's not Steve Broido.

Southwick: Our in-house bond expert?

Brokamp: No.

Southwick: All right. Steve writes: "I continue to hear about the risk that rising interest rates pose to traditional bond funds, as well as the benefits of laddering individual bonds, but I'm intimidated by picking and maintaining a portfolio of individual bonds. What are your thoughts on laddering target-dated maturity bond funds such as Guggenheim's corporate bonds or iShare's muni bonds?" All right, Bro. Make this interesting to me.

Brokamp: OK. Well, I don't know if I can do that, but, Steve, your concerns are valid. Interest rates are at historic lows. Just for an example, a 10-year Treasury, pretty much the main benchmark rate, in July hit historic lows. But when rates go up, the values of existing bonds go down. So actually, rates have gone up since July.

So if you look at, for example, the Vanguard Total Bond Index Fund, the biggest bond fund in the world, it's actually down 3% over the last three months. And you think, "Well, bonds are safe. Oh, my goodness. My investment has dropped 3%," so this is a concern for anyone who's looking for an alternative to the stock market.

Some people will recommend individual bonds. You buy a bond for, let's say, $1,000. A five-year bond. Rates go up. The value of it in the marketplace will go down, but as long as you hold it to maturity and the company is still in business, you'll get your $1,000 back in five years.

Southwick: And that is what we talked about with the Steve Broido episode.

Brokamp: Right, exactly. Bond funds, though, fluctuate in value. You don't know what you're going to get. But buying individual bonds can be complicated and you do have to own many to be specially diversified.

So a company called Guggenheim, and then followed by iShares, came up with a solution. They have what are called target-date maturity bond funds in that you buy, for example, the 2018 bond fund and it only holds bonds that mature in 2018. At the end of 2018, you just get all your money back, because all the bonds have matured.

Southwick: Oh!

Brokamp: So it's a way to get the benefits of holding individual bonds but instant diversification, so it's actually a pretty good deal.

Let's take a look very quickly at the bond fund that's going to mature this year, 2016. It matures at the end of the year. Over the last five years, it has earned an average of almost 3% a year. That's about what the overall bond market has earned, so that's good. And when you compare it to -- I mentioned that Vanguard is the biggest bond fund -- the second biggest bond fund, PIMCO Total Return, that's actually earned a little over 3% a year. The next is NatWest. The total return -- that's earned over 4% a year.

So while I like these Guggenheim target-date bond funds, you probably won't get the same returns as you might get with another type of fund, but you also won't get the fluctuation. I mentioned how a lot of bond funds have actually come down over the last three months. This 2016 Guggenheim fund has actually made a little bit of money. Why? Because it's 2016. This is the year these bonds are maturing, so actually half that bond is already in cash, because those bonds have matured.

So I think it's a great option if you are looking for something that's going to earn a little bit more than cash. You want a little bit more security about the money. But over the long term, I don't think that they will have quite the same returns as a traditional diversified bond fund that you hold for the long term.

Southwick: Can you address the laddering part? I kind of understand laddering.

Brokamp: Laddering is you buy different bonds -- and you can do it with CDs, too -- of different maturities. So maybe you put some of your money in a bond that matures one year, then two years, three years, four years, and five years. Every year you have bonds coming due -- so you have some liquidity there -- but you also have some bonds that are longer dated, because the longer the bond is, the higher interest rate you're going to get.

Southwick: And every year that they mature, then you buy another year out.

Brokamp: Right, exactly. And these target-date ETFs actually can be good for that. In fact, on Guggenheim's website, you even have a tool in there where you put in how long you want your ladder to be, how much you want to put in your ladder, and it will tell you which ETFs to buy and how much to invest in those ETFs.

Southwick: So generally speaking, bottom line, not a bad idea, Steve.

Brokamp: Not a bad idea. Especially if you're retired and you want to protect money that you need in the five years, it's a great idea. If you're just buying bonds for diversification to your long-term portfolio, a regular bond fund is probably OK.

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Southwick: Bro, how much weight do you think you gain over the holidays? If you had to guess?

Brokamp: If I had to guess? Three to five pounds.

Southwick: Three to five pounds. You know what? That is actually what most people say -- is that they gain about five pounds over the holidays.

Brokamp: What you're saying is I'm just average. Is that what you're saying?

Southwick: Well, no. Well, a little. But sometimes it's OK to be average. Studies vary on how much weight people actually gain on average. Some stories will say that it's like seven to 10 pounds, especially if it's a reporter who's writing a story about the epidemic of gaining weight over the holidays. The New York Times says actually the average is closer to one pound; however, if you're already overweight, you're likely to gain closer to five pounds.

Brokamp: Mm.

Southwick: So, I don't know how that makes you feel.

Brokamp: It might be the type of food. There's so much more rich and sweet food you just feel worse because you're eating it. Maybe that's why I feel it more. The eggnog. Oh, my gosh, the eggnog.

Southwick: I'm sure you consumed five pounds of food.

Brokamp: Oh, I love the eggnog.

Southwick: Well, anyway. Today we are joined by the Fool's chief wellness officer, Sam Whiteside, and she brings us her best advice to maintain and not gain over the holidays. Hi, Sam.

Sam Whiteside: Hi, Fools.

Southwick: Thanks for coming back to the show.

Whiteside: Absolutely. It's been too long.

Southwick: It has been too long.

Brokamp: It has.

Southwick: So what I like about your "Maintain, Don't Gain" challenge that you do here at the Fool is the idea that, "Listen. We know you're going to overindulge. Just try to maintain. I'm not asking you to lose weight. Just try not to get fatter."

Whiteside: Exactly. It's more about being cognizant in the moment, and making sure that you're aware of the choices that you're making.

Southwick: Yeah, those choices. All of the choices.

Whiteside: All of the choices.

Brokamp: So many choices.

Southwick: Because many of those choices are around the holidays, and take place at a party or among friends and family, I think it only makes sense for us to eavesdrop, a little bit, on a get-together and discover what trips people up the most over the holidays. Shall we go eavesdrop on a party?

Brokamp: Let's do that.

Southwick: Let's!

[Door opens. Sounds of people talking at a party]

Brokamp: I love living in New Hampshire!

Southwick: Fill the pool with whiskey! Cannonball!

Brokamp: Cannonball!

[Door shuts]

Southwick: So, yeah. Drinking alcohol. That happens a lot around the holidays.

Whiteside: It sure does. Every single party [or get-together] I'm sure we will all attend this holiday season will have some sort of booze. Have you been to a party without booze during the holidays?

Brokamp: Not that I'm aware of.

Southwick: No. No. Maybe like a kid's birthday...

Whiteside: No ...

Southwick: ... no, even kids' birthday parties these days have like ... beer. The funny thing about alcohol is not only does alcohol have a lot of calories, but the mixers have a lot of calories and then you end up eating all this horrible food after you drink alcohol. It's just horrible.

Brokamp: Did I mention eggnog yet?

Whiteside: Well, it's a funny thing. Let's take a guess. How many calories do you think an average pour of eggnog has?

Southwick: Bro looks so sad right now.

Brokamp: [Sobs] Don't confront me with reality!

Whiteside: I'm going to tell you. It's 340 calories.

Southwick: Wow!

Whiteside: And 19 grams of fat.

Brokamp: But eggs are good for you!

Whiteside: Twelve grams of sugar ...

Southwick: Wow.

Whiteside: ... in a typical eggnog concoction ...

Brokamp: Mm.

Whiteside: ... so that brings me to my first point. The holidays -- don't use that as an excuse to overconsume and overindulge, specifically on alcohol. There are calories in those alcoholic beverages and just because it's liquid, it does not mean it doesn't count. It definitely goes into your total caloric intake.

And so I usually recommend trying some alcohol-free days, specifically during the week when you know that you have a party to go to that Friday or Saturday.

Number two. Every other alcoholic beverage -- maybe swap it out for a glass of water. Have that glass of water in your hand when you're walking around the party. That way someone won't come up to you and be like, "Hey, you don't have a drink in your hand."

Southwick: Oh, yeah. Fools do that.

Whiteside: How many times does that happen? That does happen a lot here. Your hands are empty!

Brokamp: Every day, all day long.

Southwick: No, not at work. Well, sometimes at work, but not often.

Whiteside: So that will reduce someone coming up to you and saying, "Your hands are empty. You don't have anything in your hand." You do, and every other drink is a glass of water.

Southwick: Great. Shall we head back to the party?

Brokamp: Let's go.

[Door opens. Sounds of people talking at a party]

Southwick: I'm going to eat all the carbs.

Brokamp: And the dairy. Cheese everyone. Cheese!

[Door closes]

Southwick: So sometimes going to parties, there's a lot of food. No, always there's food. We're Americans. Of course, at every party there is food and it's not always the healthiest.

Whiteside: Yeah. And funny that you mentioned cheese. Most of the vegetables that you will likely see at holiday parties will be covered in cheese or...

Southwick: Ooh, fondue!

Whiteside: Right, fondue!

Southwick: Cannonball!

Whiteside: ... are going to be covered in things you might not typically cover vegetables with.

Brokamp: Eggnog, for example?

Whiteside: Eggnog, yes. Dipped in asparagus.

Southwick: Ooh!

Whiteside: That sounds amazing. And so I usually instruct Fools or clients to not only make sure you prepare for these parties, [but to] bring a healthy dish; specifically if it's a potluck get-together. Be the change in the world by bringing a healthy dish to an unhealthy party.

Brokamp: You'll be so popular, too.

Southwick: Well!

Whiteside: And don't just bring a crudits plate or a vegetable tray that you picked up at your local grocery store. Make it fun. I usually do a sweet potato dish that's diced sweet potatoes, red potatoes, and purple potatoes drizzled with olive oil and a little bit of pesto. Stick it in the oven. Pull it right out five minutes before and top it with goat cheese. Not exactly the healthiest option you could ever eat in your entire life, but it's definitely one of the healthier options you might be able to bring to a holiday party.

Southwick: You know what blew my mind when I had it? And we had it here at the Fool and we had a nutritionist come. And it was cauliflower to be made like mashed potatoes.

Brokamp: I have heard of this, but I never tried it.

Southwick: [Whispers] It was amazing.

Brokamp: Really?

Southwick: It was just cauliflower, salt, and like olive oil.

Whiteside: It's hard, sometimes, to tell the difference between a really good cauliflower mash and regular mashed potatoes.

Brokamp: Wow!

Whiteside: So a good resource that I use a lot is a website called SparkPeople.com. On that website you can easily find all kinds of fitness and nutrition tips and you can also search for recipes that are low in sugar, or heart-healthy recipes, or that might be more diabetic friendly. Or with a specific vegetable. That website I definitely recommend for anyone looking for a healthy option.

Southwick: I would also recommend making the recipe at least once before you take it to the party.

Whiteside: That, too ...

Southwick: Because I have made that mistake so many times where I just show up with this casserole dish and I'm like, "I'm sorry." I hand it over and then I walk away.

Whiteside: It looks bad, but it might taste good.

Brokamp: So let's say someone doesn't want to gain over the holidays, they go to a party, and they overindulge. Is it reasonable to compensate the next day by basically fasting or just eating vegetables? Can you counteract what you do by going the extreme other way on the next day or for the following week?

Whiteside: That's a great question. I'm never really a great proponent of fasting. Your body is a machine. You need to feed it for it to perform, and so I definitely do not recommend fasting. Increasing your vegetable count during the holidays is always a good idea.

And it's funny that you mentioned that. The Washington Post actually came out with a piece today that says "11 strategies for getting through the holidays without weight gain," and one of those strategies was to increase your vegetables during this time. So I would recommend that. I would definitely not recommend fasting.

Southwick: You also recommended in the past eating before you go to a party.

Whiteside: Absolutely.

Southwick: So there you go. Get your vegetables in then, Bro ...

Brokamp: OK.

Southwick: ... so you can pound all the eggnog you want.

Brokamp: And my asparagus-nog.

Southwick: All right, are we ready to head back to the party?

Brokamp: Let's go!

[Door opens. Sounds of people talking at a party]

Southwick: I am way too busy researching Westworld fan theories online and there is no time left to exercise.

[Door closes]

Southwick: It's always funny to me how people are like I don't have time. I don't have time. I don't have time. But, like me, I do have time to research fan theories on Westworld online, and I do have time to do a lot of stuff. So I make these excuses to not exercise and do a lot of things when the truth is I do have time. I just choose not to use that time for things that are good for me.

Whiteside: That's a great point. Especially during the holidays we're going to be surrounded with not only numerous indulgences and tempting offers, but we have family coming in and out of town. We're travelling. These are all things that can definitely weigh heavily on the fact that we only have 24 hours in a day.

If you have 10 minutes, you have time to exercise. There should really be no excuse to make sure that you're taking care of yourself, especially during a stressful time. There are numerous apps out there that can provide you with free, really easy body weight workouts. If you're traveling and you know you're going to be staying in a hotel, make sure that hotel has a gym before you make the reservation. A lot of hotels out there, now, are even renting or giving [away new workout clothes].

Southwick: Oh!

Brokamp: Really!

Whiteside: Yes, you can actually rent ...

Brokamp: Everything cleaned?

Whiteside: I would hope so.

Brokamp: OK.

Whiteside: You can rent workout clothes or a pair of shoes. So that is another way to make sure that you're reducing those barriers.

Southwick: Right, so no excuses if there's clothes, there.

Whiteside: Yes, reduce the excuses and the barriers. Again, if you have 10 minutes, you have time to exercise. Even if you spend that 10 minutes taking a walk, it is much better than going ahead and taking a seat on that couch.

Southwick: You talked about the importance of having a friend or a family member to hold you accountable.

Whiteside: Absolutely. Specifically, you want somebody who can help hold you accountable that hopefully lives within a close-enough distance to where you guys actually interact. Not necessarily on a daily basis, but possibly on a weekly and definitely on a monthly basis. Making sure that you have those interactions. For me, I have a couple of cousins in the area, and we schedule morning walks during the time that we know it's stressful. We're both off of work, there's stuff going on, but we're making sure that we're holding each other accountable.

Southwick: Or a co-worker, perhaps.

Whiteside: Or a co-worker.

Brokamp: Hm?

Southwick: I could do a better job holding you accountable, huh?

Brokamp: You could. What would you say is like a healthy amount of weight loss over a given period of like a month? Or maybe even a week?

Southwick: You're not even looking to maintain. You're looking to lose? Is that what you're saying?

Brokamp: Because I've been working with Sam and I've had trouble sticking with things, so I'm like, "Here we are talking about this. Talking about accountability ..."

Whiteside: Yes.

Brokamp: I'm going to put some money on the line.

Southwick: Oh!

Brokamp: Like what's a healthy amount?

Whiteside: Are we putting money on the line right here?

Southwick: Right now.

Brokamp: I'm just talking about it. I'm thinking about it. So you tell me.

Southwick: He backed out of that pretty quickly, didn't he?

Brokamp: What's a healthy amount of weight for someone to expect to lose in a week that isn't crazy?

Whiteside: I am a big believer of the two-to-three pound rule. Of course, it's going to depend on how much you weigh, male or female, your current level of activity, how many calories you're currently consuming, and how many calories you plan to possibly cut. But two to three pounds of weight loss per week is a safe number depending on those things that I just mentioned.

Brokamp: So someone losing 10 pounds between now and the end of the holidays would be quite an accomplishment?

Whiteside: Are you promising that you're going to lose 10 pounds...

Southwick: Wow!

Whiteside: ... in my "Maintain, Don't Gain?"

Brokamp: I think so.

Whiteside: I'll take that challenge.

Brokamp: All right. I'm putting $200 on the line.

Southwick: Two hundred?

Whiteside: Two hundred?

Brokamp: Two hundred dollars on the line. So by December 31st. Is that the end of the holidays or are we saying January 2nd?

Southwick: No, after New Year's.

Whiteside: Yeah. I'm giving all Fools until the end of the first week in January to weigh out.

Brokamp: All right.

Southwick: All right.

Brokamp: So $100 ... Well, $200 ...

Southwick: You said $200!

Brokamp: I was going to say $100 for each of you and then I looked at Rick. I'm like, all right. You guys are going to have to figure out how to split up the $200.

Southwick: Rick and I can split up the $200.

Brokamp: All right, so we've got to do a weigh-in after this. OK. All right.

Whiteside: Bring it on.

Southwick: This is fun. I know for me personally, I never lose weight. It's just when I exercise more, I think I must gain muscle, and then my clothes fit better, but I never, ever lose weight.

Whiteside: And that's something else to be cognizant of. Don't just rely on the number on the scale. That is not an indicator of your total health. That definitely does not correlate with how hard you've been working. We see it all the time in the show The Biggest Loser. Those individuals are working their tails off for that entire seven days. They go to weigh in and sometimes they gained weight. Your body will fluctuate, and your body will sometimes see things as a stressor. So that's also really important why you need to maintain your stress during the holidays, as well.

Southwick: Oh, hey. That's a great segue into our next trip to the holiday party.

[Door opens. Sounds of people talking at a party]

Brokamp: Everyone in my family has opinions on how to cook the turkey and fix our economy. I'm so stressed.

[Door closes]

Southwick: Yeah, so stressed. I'm actually pretty lucky that my holidays are usually pretty stress-free, but for other people like old Bro, over here ...

Brokamp: I think this holiday season will be very interesting, given the recent election, for people who come from mixed political families like I do. So it will be interesting.

Whiteside: It will be interesting. So a great way, and an easy way, and a way that will not take very much of your time to make sure that you're handling, managing, decreasing your stress is the "M" word, meditation. The "M" word ...

Brokamp: The "M" word ...

Whiteside: Some people are so scared of meditation. You'll be so surprised. Or they think, "Oh, gosh. That's not for me. I can't do that." Or, "That's too left field." The idea of meditation is simply to find a quiet space and to try and put more time in between the thoughts that come through your mind.

It's not about doing yoga, or standing on your head, or having a certain pose, or being completely quiet and having no thoughts come in. It's basically trying to put more space in between the thoughts that come through your brain. Because we're humans, our brains are consistently trying to create stories around things that come through, and it's basically just trying to decrease that. [To] give yourself more quiet space in your brain.

There's some really great apps out there. Some free ones. Calm, Headspace, Omvana, Take a Break, and Smiling Mind are some of the top free apps out there. Some cheap ones are Buddhify and Simply Being. And with each of these apps you can go anywhere from five minutes to 45 or 60 minutes of meditation. You can play with the music. Different themes. There can be guided imagery. An easy way to make sure that you're taking care of yourself and decreasing that stress.

Southwick: So what does that mean, though? I think when people think of meditation, they think of someone sitting in the lotus position. Is that what it's called? And just being like, "Ohhmmm."

Whiteside: Right.

Southwick: While incense is wafting through, and chimes, and stuff like that.

Brokamp: Boomm ...

Southwick: So what are you going to get from one of these apps? What is this app going to ask me to do? Because if there's some funky mind control in there by some tech company... And yes, maybe I got these conspiracy theories from watching Westworld, but ...

Brokamp: Pull out your credit card ...

Southwick: What's going to happen when I use one of these apps?

Whiteside: That's the great thing about all the apps that I mentioned. There's a lot of different variability that you can play with. You can play with different music or the different sounds. Or having someone speak to you. Or, "No, I don't want to listen to anyone talk right now. I just want to listen to some waves crashing on the beach." And so you definitely have all of those choices with all of those apps that I just mentioned.

Brokamp: In a previous episode I mentioned the Beck Diet Solution, which is based on cognitive therapy ... basically how you think affects how you act, and one of the premises of the book is we have all these permission-giving thoughts about eating when we know we shouldn't, and I think stress is a big part of that. I'm very stressed. I know I shouldn't eat this, but I'm so stressed I'm going to go ahead ...

Whiteside: Exactly.

Brokamp: ... and eat this, or I need that drink because I'm so stressed.

Whiteside: Right. We place a link between those things, and there should be no link. Don't give yourself an excuse to have two brownies just because you're stressed out. If you're stressed out, find a different coping mechanism. Find a positive one that's going to impact you in a positive way.

Southwick: I'm currently in the process of trying to link running and destressing.

Brokamp: It will work, too.

Southwick: It does work. I just have to keep reminding myself that I will feel better, and I will feel less stressed if I go run for a little bit.

Whiteside: Right.

Southwick: But it's like reprogramming myself.

Whiteside: Right. And as a Western culture, we associate food with happiness and food with decreasing stress. Or food as a gift. Those are things in our culture I see we can probably work on. It definitely plays a huge role in a family unit. Every time that you get together with your girlfriends, or you have a big family outing, we all eat, or drink, or eat and drink a lot. That's something that provides a lot of joy, but you can find joy in other ways.

Southwick: Make it a sometimes. Sometimes food. Well, we are done with the cocktail party, but I do want to hear Sam's bottom-line, best piece of advice for everyone over the holidays, and it is...

Whiteside: Shoo! That's a hard one, but if I had to choose one thing, it would definitely be to volunteer. Give back. Specifically during the holiday season, we not only are stressed out, but we're making possibly poor decisions. We're being pulled at all different angles and what I call "keeping your tank full"... Our tanks start to decrease. We start to feel frazzled. So for me, an easy way to keep my tank full or to refill that tank is to give back in some capacity.

An easy way to do that for me is to go onto a couple of different websites. One is HandsOn Network. It's definitely an easy way to find local volunteer opportunities wherever you are. If you going to PointsofLight.org/HandsOnNetwork, you will be able to find local volunteer opportunities pretty much in whatever zip code you live in. I have been using that network, probably, for about six or seven years.

On Thursday morning on Thanksgiving Day, I will be volunteering at New Hope Housing's Thanksgiving lunch, so I will be making dinner rolls the night before and a potato dish of some kind, and a healthy...

Brokamp: A healthy one, of course.

Southwick: I've heard of one that has sweet potatoes and regular potatoes.

Whiteside: Yeah, where'd you get that from?

Brokamp: And asparagus-nog.

Southwick: Someone is making asparagus-nog. That's like the meanest thing you could make for someone.

Whiteside: That is horrible. That sounds gross. And so I will be serving that food to some of our chronically homeless here in Alexandria. So, yeah.

Brokamp: Good for you.

Southwick: Yeah!

Brokamp: That's great.

Southwick: I love that idea, because if you're volunteering, you're not eating, you're not overindulging, and you're also not spending money which we also like to do.

Whiteside: Save that money.

Brokamp: Could you imagine serving food to the homeless and then overindulging? Taking all their food? That would be horrible. Absolutely horrible.

Whiteside: That is not giving back well. That is not going to help you lose those 10 pounds.

Brokamp: I'm here for the free food.

Southwick: If you did donate asparagus-nog, you would get it all to yourself, so you could overindulge in that case. Thank you so much for joining us, and coming in today, and sharing your great advice. This has been really wonderful.

Whiteside: It's been wonderful to be here, and I hope it isn't another six or 12 months before I see you again.

Brokamp: It won't be.

Whiteside:I mean I see you around the office, but...

Southwick: No, it won't be.

Brokamp: It might be just the beginning of next year when I'm not giving you $200.

Whiteside: Boom! I want that money though.

Brokamp: There you go.

Whiteside: I kind of want that money, though.

Southwick: I'm going to spend it all on wine, and cheese, and crackers.

Whiteside: And carbohydrates.

Southwick: And all the carbohydrates.

__

Southwick: Well, that's the show. I want to thank Harris and Shoots who sent postcards from Dubai and Helen of Montana, respectively.

Brokamp: Very nice.

Southwick: I love it! They still come in! Amy at the front desk will come up, and she'll drop them off at my desk, and then she'll cover her ears, because I'll squeal. And then my husband -- he sits like 15 feet from me. People will be like, "What happened?" And Ron will say, "Ugh, Alison just got some more postcards from listeners." Oh, I love him so much.

All right. Our email is Answers@Fool.com. We have a Mailbag episode coming up, so we are also up to our eyeballs in mail. We're sorry about that, but we're going to start digging. But you can still email us. Answers@Fool.com. We love to hear from you. Also, if you have time, head to our podcast center. It's at Fool.com/Podcast.

And if you enjoyed last week's episode with Kim Palmer about how to be an entrepreneur, you might enjoy Rule Breaker Investing. [David Gardner's podcast] is having Entrepreneur Month with lots of interviews with fun and interesting entrepreneurs and experts. Rick, who were some of the people interviewed? Guy Kawasaki?

Rick Engdahl: Danny Meyer.

Southwick: Who's Danny Meyer?

Engdahl: Of restaurant fame. Shake Shack and Union Square Cafe in New York.

Southwick: Oh, yeah. I believe he also interviewed the so-called king of Kickstarter, and he's a board game creator. I believe it's Jamey Stegmaier. So lots of interesting people. Oh, and he also interviewed Tom Gardner, co-founder and CEO of The Motley Fool, a little company you may have head of.

So there you go. You can head to Podcast.Fool.com and you can also learn about some of the services we provide like Motley Fool Rule Your Retirement...

Brokamp: Rule Your Retirement...

Southwick: ... newsletter. It's the jam. The show is edited volunteeringly by Rick Engdahl. For Robert Brokamp, I'm Alison Southwick. Stay foolish, everybody.

Alison Southwick has no position in any stocks mentioned. Richard Engdahl has no position in any stocks mentioned. Robert Brokamp, CFP has no position in any stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool is short Shake Shack. Try any of our Foolish newsletter services free for 30 days. We Fools may not all hold the same opinions, but we all believe that considering a diverse range of insights makes us better investors. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.