Should You Still Trust US Stocks? + Leaving Corporate America in Your 20s

What It Covers

Scott Galloway addresses three listener questions: whether a 20-plus year investment horizon changes the case for US versus global index funds, how a mid-twenties investment banker should approach leaving corporate America to start a business, and how his 2017 book "The Four" holds up a decade later given AI and big tech's evolution.

Key Questions Answered

• •Geographic Diversification: US equities outperformed global markets in 12 of 15 years from 2010–2024, the longest such streak on record, but the average regional dominance cycle runs only eight years. Vanguard now assigns a 70% probability that international stocks outperform US stocks over the next decade, with projected US returns of just 4–5% annually versus historical norms.
• •Long-Horizon Portfolio Construction: With a 20-plus year time horizon, allocate beyond a simple S&P 500 index fund, where 40% of exposure concentrates in just 10 companies. Layer in international growth funds, distressed equity, private equity, and venture capital at low fees. Younger investors can absorb illiquidity and volatility, making alternatives a viable addition unavailable to older investors.
• •Baby Boomer Business Acquisition: A concrete path to entrepreneurship involves buying small businesses from retiring baby boomers — landscaping, auto repair, appliance installation — who lack successors. Structure deals with partial cash upfront plus seller financing through a multi-year revenue royalty, effectively letting the seller fund their own retirement while the buyer acquires an operating business with existing cash flow.
• •Transferable IB Skills: Investment banking trains attention to detail, financial rigor, and high-output work habits that transfer directly to entrepreneurship. Rather than targeting a specific industry in the abstract, prioritize sectors where existing contacts, a mentor's operational experience, or an uncle's network already exist, since opportunistic entry beats theoretically optimal industry selection with no contextual advantage.
• •Big Tech Regulatory Lag: Social media launched on mobile around 2013, and historical precedent — tobacco took 30 years, opioids took 20 — suggests meaningful regulatory pushback arrives around 2033. Meanwhile, AI strengthens the largest incumbents rather than disrupting them, NVIDIA has emerged as critical infrastructure, and the original platform-dominance story has shifted decisively toward compute and AI infrastructure control.