Is there another tech bubble?
Friday, November 28, 2025, Dan and Scott launched a badly needed podcast about reminding people of the most PRIMARY and BORING word in the world of finance — DIVERSIFICATION. Whether there is a technology, ChatGDP, Crypto, or AI bubble or not, I have been diversified since my own terrible losses 25 years ago during the last technology stock bubble and bear market, 2000 to 2002. Dan and Scott agree that we should all be diversified based on our willingness to take risks and our investment needs for retirement.
Without further ado, click here to listen to their podcast on diversification.
Most investors have heard this word before. Diversification is the primary word they used throughout the show. They offer several scenarios of what is going on with this rip-roaring stock market again this year. Valuations are high, and the modern-day major tech companies may be due for a repeat of the 2000-2002 tech bubble and crash. The other complication is what most people have heard is the “Magnificent Seven.” These companies include the following:
- Alphabet (parent company of Google) (GOOG, GOOGL)
- Amazon (AMZN)
- Apple (AAPL)
- Meta Platforms (parent company of Facebook, Instagram, WhatsApp) (META)
- Microsoft (MSFT)
- Nvidia (NVDA)
- Tesla (TSLA)
The concentration talked about on the financial media was also explained by Scott and Dan. The above listed companies are responsible for 41.8% of the S&P 500’s growth in the first three quarters of 2025. Dan and Scott discussed all the chit chat that has been filling the financial news, asking these questions: 1. First and foremost, are we in a tech bubble? and 2. Is your portfolio diversified? They thoroughly discussed the pros and cons of AI, including ChatGPT’s massive influence on the future of this latest exciting technology!
I will share my thoughts on what my good friends said. Here is my analysis. They talked about the S&P 500 index. I have the total stock market index (Vanguard’s Total Stock Market ETF), so this index follows the Russel 3000, which is more diverse than the S&P 500. Russel 3000 includes a staggering 2,500 more stocks, composed of mid- to small-cap companies (by market capitalization). Accordingly, the Magnificent Seven stocks are all large-cap stocks in the 100% large-cap S&P 500 (Standard & Poor’s), which accounted for approximately 27% of the Russell 3000 index’s market capitalization at the end of 2024, a lower concentration than the S&P 500.
I feel comfortable with the Russell 3000 equivalent in my VTI, the ticker symbol of Vanguard’s total stock market index. I have held this ETF, an exchange-traded fund, for as long as I have been retired, over 18 years now, and love it.
HOWEVER, as you can see in my portfolio, the VTI is only one small piece of the pie in the pie chart illustration. Dan and Scott suggested looking at your holdings and find out if you need to diversify. My stock allocation has grown to about 41% of my total portfolio. According to most investors, I am fine, but I am not most investors. I have lived with a ton of pain during the last tech bubble and crash when I lost a ton of money, and I never want to experience that again. So 41% might be a low stock allocation for many investors, but most of those investors are younger than me. I am at 78. I need to have more bond funds for investors younger than me.
My VTI has gained over $50,000 this year alone, and I might sell some of those stocks and add them to my Vanguard Wellesley fund. I want to add an income stream in that fund, and that is what it’s created for—income in retirement.
The point of this blog post and Scott and Dan’s podcast released on November 28, 2025 is DIVERSIFICATION.
when Mr. Bear Market hits your overly aggressive portfolio for your age and willingness to take stock market risks. I have lived that horror (but survived and painfully learned from it), but you have a choice right now. You know. Don’t DELAY! Diversify by listening to Dan and Scott’s podcast by 