If you’re traveling this Thanksgiving and want something both smart and calming to listen to, we have a great pick. Investing 101 – It’s a short, clear episode from the Rational Reminder podcast, which highlights the same evidence-based investing principles we believe in.

In the episode, hosts Ben Felix, Dan Bortolotti, and Ben Wilson revisit the research-backed ideas that support a disciplined investing experience: owning markets instead of trying to time them, staying globally diversified, keeping costs low, and maintaining focus amid market noise.

We’re sharing it because even the most experienced long-view investors benefit from revisiting these fundamentals, especially during a season that’s often busy and hectic, yet ultimately about gratitude and perspective.

Pop in your headphones, take a walk, or queue it up on your flight home, and share it with a friend. It’s 40 minutes well spent.

As this season of gathering kicks off, if someone you care about could benefit from our approach, give us a call or email us here.

Listen here

Welcome to our next article in our “finfluencer” series which examines popular claims circulating online or in print. Our goal is to help you separate the signal from the noise. In other words, what matters and what doesn’t. At Hill Investment Group, we believe good advice should be simple, clear, and grounded in evidence, not hype.

Heard something at work, on the course, or on social media that made you pause? Send it to zenz@hillinvestmentgroup.com. We’ll help unpack it. Submissions are confidential. With your permission, we may quote an anonymized version in a future post.

This Month’s Topic: Currency Debasement

The term currency debasement (the act of reducing its value) has recently become a favorite talking point among financial influencers. The claim is that the U.S. dollar is “losing value,” and that the supposed evidence lies in the rising prices of gold and bitcoin. Some interpret this to mean that investors holding dollar-denominated portfolios are quietly falling behind and should buy gold or bitcoin.

This storyline is designed to cause fear and get clicks, but it fundamentally misrepresents how value is created and how real wealth should be measured. Let’s dig in.

Assets vs. Stores of Value

There are two basic categories of things investors can own.

Productive assets – like stocks, bonds, and real estate – create value over time through earnings, interest, or rent. For example, a company may invest in building a factory that manufactures widgets to sell for a profit. When you own a share of that company, you own some portion of those profits, as well as any future profits. These are the types of investments that our clients own in their Hill Investment Group portfolios.

Stores of value – like gold, bitcoin, or fiat currencies (currencies issued by governments, like euros or dollars) – do not create value; they simply represent it. Owning bitcoin doesn’t generate more bitcoin. Stated differently, there is no economic engine in bitcoin or any commodity like gold, silver, or corn, that generates more of that item. Instead, these “stores of value” fluctuate relative to one another as investors’ preferences and supply/demand conditions change.

Owning productive assets means owning a share of future output and innovation. Owning stores of value means holding something that sits still while the world moves around it. Comparing them isn’t apples to oranges – it’s apples to basketballs.

Measuring What Actually Matters

The rise or fall of gold and bitcoin doesn’t determine whether your wealth has been “debased.” Those price movements simply reflect changing exchange rates between stores of value. Measuring your wealth in gold or bitcoin vs. dollars is like measuring your weight in kilograms vs. pounds – the number changes, but you don’t.

What matters is whether your productive assets are growing faster than your liabilities – your living expenses, savings goals, and future spending needs. Inflation, not the price of gold or bitcoin, is what affects your actual purchasing power.

If your portfolio grows faster than inflation, your real wealth is rising – no matter what gold or bitcoin are doing relative to the dollar. You want to invest in assets that you expect to increase in value relative to your liabilities, not assets that are meant to store value.

An Evidence-Based Alternative

At Hill Investment Group, we focus on building globally diversified portfolios that are designed to compound wealth in real, inflation-adjusted terms across decades. A disciplined mix of equities and high-quality fixed income has historically been one of the most effective ways to preserve and grow purchasing power over time.

Unlike commodities or speculative stores of value, productive assets participate in global capitalism, delivering cash flows that rise with the economy and outpace inflation across decades.

The Bottom Line

“Currency debasement” makes for catchy headlines but poor guidance. Gold and bitcoin may surge or stall, but neither creates lasting economic value. A disciplined, evidence-based portfolio – anchored in productive assets – remains the most reliable path to maintaining real purchasing power and achieving your goals in the currency that matters most: your own.

Want to learn more? Set up a time to talk with us here. 

Carl Richards Always Delivers

While your mail may be delayed, Carl Richards always brings it home.

As Matt shared above, Carl has a rare gift for connecting money and emotion through beautifully simple sketches and memorable stories. At our recent event, he walked us through several concepts that sparked intense, productive conversations. In Carl’s words, the sketches often serve as “conversation grenades”… in a good way. Translation: they jump-start meaningful dialogue and help people have clearer, more honest conversations about money and life.

On November 12, Matt Hall led a live conversation with Carl at the Racquet Club in St. Louis, exploring themes from Carl’s latest book, Your Money: Reimagining Wealth in 101 Simple Sketches.

If you were unable to attend the event in St. Louis, please email us here to request a complimentary, signed copy of Carl’s book, which each attendee received.

If you’re interested in a webinar or in-person event with Carl, email me at buddy@hillinvestmentgroup.com. We’ll do our best to arrange it.