Sorta Random Sunday: When The Sopranos Caught FIRE

I have a confession to make. Until recently, I had never seen an episode of The Sopranos. This is way more embarrassing than admitting all of my financial illiteracy and mistakes from the recent past! Could The Sopranos have anything to do with FIRE?

But, much like improving my financial well-being, I am committed to fixing this egregious error.

So, I have been watching the series from start for the past few months with Selenid, who is on her second trip through.

And…it…is…amazing. I know I’m not saying anything new. But seriously, it’s so good. If you haven’t seen it, it’s worth getting HBO Max for the sole reason of binging it.

As if it couldn’t get any better…

I’m in the middle of season 4 as I write this. It’s a great season. I didn’t think it could get much better at all.

But then it did…

(Don’t worry! Any spoilers coming for anyone who hasn’t yet seen it are pretty mild and finance related.)

The Sopranos caught FIRE (kind of…well, not really…but still…)

In the beginning of the season, Tony’s wife Carmela starts hounding him about their finances.

She even brings up the idea of them investing in REITs. I mention the REITs because the majority of the other ideas she brings up are horrible including:

Whole life insurance
Individual stock picking
Active mutual fund investing

Her other big sticking point is wanting a trust…

…In case Tony…you know…gets whacked.

She wants an irrevocable trust. This would be smart since irrevocable trusts are protected from debtors or the government.

But, Tony doesn’t trust Carmela and fears losing things if they split, so they open a revocable trust. In the show, Carmela is super happy. But really this effectively does nothing for them. Not that their financial advisor shares this with them…