AI Summary
5 min read🎙️ The Voices & The Context
- The Format: Casual podcast/radio show blending expert analysis, market updates, and listener Q&A on investing.
- The Key Players:
- Wes Moss: Investing advisor and host; passionate about dividends, charts, and long-term strategies; delivers data-heavy insights with enthusiasm.
- Krista: Co-host; keeps the flow light with banter and transitions to questions. Chemistry is playful and complementary—Wes geeks out on numbers, Krista adds relatable prompts.
- The Vibe: Educational and upbeat; informative for beginners with fun asides (e.g., apple jam debates), no intensity or sadness.
🗝️ Key Themes & Topics
The episode dives into market basics, behavioral pitfalls, and personalized advice via Q&A, emphasizing diversification and tax-smart saving amid shifting stock sizes.
- Topic 1: Large, Mid, and Small Cap Breakdown
Explains how company sizes have ballooned (S&P 500 median doubled to $35B in 10 years; mega caps like Microsoft at $3.5T). Large caps (S&P 500) crushed small caps over 3 years (80% vs. 25-40% returns), but small caps (under $5B) are catching up in 2026 (+6% YTD vs. +1.5%) and trade cheaper historically outperform.
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What you'll learn
- 1 (00:28) **Small vs. Large Cap Company Sizes and Performance**
- 2 (10:31) **Why Small Caps Could Catch Up**
- 3 (11:27) **HSA vs. Roth IRA Prioritization**
- 4 (13:57) **Dividend ETFs for Retirement Income**
- 5 (17:38) **Periodic Table of Investment Returns Chart**
- 6 (22:52) **Why Individual Investors Underperform the Market (Dalbar QAIB)**
- 7 (28:04) **Investing a $70K Settlement**
+ Full timestamped outline available in the app
Show Notes
Large Cap vs. Small Cap: Which Is Best? & Why Your Returns Don’t Match the Headlines
With the median S&P 500 company now valued at $35 billion and "Mega Caps" like Microsoft reaching the $3+ trillion mark, the scale of the market has reached levels that are difficult to even conceptualize. While large caps have dominated the last three years with returns, Wes highlights why investors shouldn't ignore small and mid-cap categories. With small caps currently catching up in 2026 and offering more attractive valuations, diversifying beyond the top 10 stocks in the S&P 500 is more critical than ever. Also, have you ever wondered why individual investors consistently underperform the broader market. While the S&P 500 has averaged a 13% return over the last decade, the average balanced investor has seen closer to 8%. Wes discusses the framework needed to stop chasing headlines and start building long-term wealth.
Plus, Christa shares your #AskWes questions and Wes gives his take. All this and more on the January 20, 2026, Ask an Advisor episode of the Clark Howard podcast.. Submit your questions at clark.com/ask.
We hope you enjoy our weekly Ask An Advisor episodes. Let us know what you think in the comments!
Learn more about Wes:
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