Sound Investing

A  Giant Thank You!

In this interview on Vestory’s “ Talking Real Money ” podcast, Tom Cock and Paul Merriman discuss these four topics: The new book,  We’re Talking Millions! 12 Simple Ways To Supercharge Your Retirement by Paul and Rich Buck. The biggest mistakes people make when preparing for retirement and how to avoid them. Young investors: how to overcome robinhood fever: desire for making big pr...

This “Money Talks” event brought together Rick Ferri, Larry Swedroe and Paul Merriman to discuss personal finance and investing from their various perspectives. It was a free live online event hosted by Choose FI’s Community Director Jennifer Mah on Oct. 7, 2020. Due to length of the conversation, we are presenting it in two parts. Here are some of the diverse topics covered. You can access Part 1...

There is something of interest for every investor in this “Money Talks” event that brought together Rick Ferri, Larry Swedroe and Paul Merriman to discuss personal finance and investing from their various perspectives. It was a free live online event hosted by Choose FI’s Community Director Jennifer Mah on Oct. 7, 2020. Due to length of the conversation, we are presenting it in two parts. Here are...

In a live AAII webinar on Oct. 21, 2020, Chris Pedersen, Director of Research at The Merriman Financial Education Foundation , presented some very simple portfolios that achieve massive diversification and how to apply a variety of approaches during both working years and retirement. Following this presentation , Chris, Paul Merriman and Daryl Bahls, Director of Analytics, met (virtually...

“This is one of the most important presentations I have seen on the topic of building balanced portfolios.”  — Paul Merriman Chris Pedersen, Director of Research at The Merriman Financial Education Foundation, presented this live AAII webinar event on Oct. 21, 2020, discussing some very simple portfolios that achieve massive diversification across industries, geographies, stock...

Paul is joined by Chris Pedersen, Director of Research and Daryl Bahls, Director of Analytics for The Merriman Financial Education Foundation , to answer questions from viewers of the AAII Webinar, "Which Is The Best 1-,2-, 3- and 4 Fund Strategy?” that Paul presented Sept. 23, 2020. While the presentation explored returns of 11 portfolios, from 1 to 4 funds, the focus was on the Merriman 4-Fund C...

This is the second of three Q&A sessions with Paul Merriman, Chris Pedersen, Director of Research, and Daryl Bahls, Director of Analytics with The Merriman Financial Education Foundation . It is a follow-up to Paul's webinar, “ Which Is The Best 1-,2-, 3- and 4 Fund Strategy? ” sponsored by the American Association of Individual Investors (AAII) on Sept. 23, 2020.  At the e...

This Q&A session with Paul Merriman, Chris Pedersen and Daryl Bahls, is a follow-up to Paul's webinar, “Which Is The Best 1-,2-, 3- and 4 Fund Strategy?” sponsored by the American Association of Individual Investors (AAII) on Sept. 23, 2020. Following the presentation, Paul was joined by Chris and Daryl to address questions for 30 minutes. As there were many more questions...

In this live webinar, hosted by The American Association of Individual Investors (AAII) on Sept. 23, Paul Merriman compares 10 different simple strategies for constructing a portfolio using mutual funds or exchange-traded funds (ETFs). The strategies are favorites of the Bogleheads, Rick Ferri, Warren Buffett, John Bogle and Merriman. He provides a list of The Merriman Financial Education Fou...

Paul is interviewed by George Grombacher for George’s “Money Savage Podcast”, and talks about the importance of community, the positive influencers in our lives, and the luck of timing. You will learn more about Paul Merriman’s life journey and his commitment to educating investors, both do-it-yourself investors and those who hire a financial advisor, making sure they’re doing the right thing in y...

In this podcast Paul answers to a variety of comments and questions from his listeners and readers. Paul responds to a newsletter subscriber who unsubscribed in disgust because she felt he did not address the real ills of our society and the disconnect between Wall Street and Main Street. 3:30 Paul discusses his last MarketWatch  article, “ How to buy 10 years of retirement for $3650. ”...

"How to manage the biggest risks of investing” is the focus of this presentation Paul gave to Western Washington University graduates as part of a recent series. This podcast is also available as a video and Paul recommends that listeners review the slides before or after listening to the podcast. Topics include the pitfalls of selecting the wrong source of investment advice, creating un...

Over the years, Paul and his team have published numerous podcasts and articles about the impact of small investments for minors, especially newborn children and grandchildren. (See:  https://paulmerriman.com/turn-3000-into-50-million/ ). In this podcast Paul discusses a strategy of building an IRA for a minor starting from birth. The strategy assumes investing $365 (more or less) e...

Larry Swedroe, a respected voice for sound investing principles, just released a new edition of his 2015 book, "The Incredible Shrinking Alpha: How to be a successful Investor without picking winners" . Like all of Larry's books, this one answers a lot of the questions serious students of investing want to know. in this podcast, Paul reads portions from the book that answer some common questions P...

Paul Merriman talks with Paul Heys, long-time friend and author of  Spending Your Way to Wealth: Setting Your Compass Course to Steer in the Direction of True Wealth . They discuss what “normal" investors do, and the steps to becoming "Normal Plus," how to prevent the “spilling” of money that keep us from having what we want later in life, and the difference between the price a...

In this podcast, a continuation of  Part I , James Dahle, M.D., of  White Coat Investor  hosts  Paul Merriman  and Rick Ferri,  CFA , President of  The John C. Bogle Center for Financial Literacy  and host of the  Boglehead Podcas t, for a lively Zoom discussion of factor investing. In this part of the conversation, Paul and Rick share their o...

James Dahle, M.D., of White Coat Investor brought together Paul Merriman and Rick Ferri, CFA , President of The John C. Bogle Center for Financial Literacy and host of the Boglehead Podcas t, for a lively Zoom discussion of factor investing. The conversation starts with defining asset classes, total market investing and factor investing and continues with an examination of ‘is factor investing rea...

Paul begins the podcast with a response to a listener who thought the introduction to his new book ( shared in Paul's July 9 newsletter ), suggesting that each of 12 simple steps could be worth an additional million dollars, "read like a late night infomercial.” Paul not only takes the stand that each of the 12 steps can reasonably be worth an extra million dollars, but offers examples that h...

Why do investors find it difficult to deal with the reality of the random nature of investment returns? Paul gave a lot of thought to this question in preparation for an interview with Jim Dahle of  White Coat Investor  and Rick Ferri, President of  The John C. Bogle Center for Financial Literac y . On this podcast he shares his conclusions, including the likely possibility tha...

Paul tackles six topics from commodities to retirement savings, from first-time investing to current retirement investment strategies. A special thank you to Paul’s podcast listeners who responded to his survey question: "Podcasts or videos: which do you prefer?" Your listenership, and sharing this information — to help educate and empower others — is greatly appreciated! 1:   Why don’t your...

In this special presentation to the Bainbridge Community Foundation, June 2020, Paul provides insights into the past, present and future of investing. What are the most important lessons learned about investing in the last 50 years? How can we use them to make more money for our retirement? What 3 myths cost investors up to half their retirement savings? What three people changed investing forever...

On February 22, before the recent bear market and during the very early days of the Coronavirus, I was scheduled to speak at Vestory’s Annual Retiremeet.  I went a day early so I could interview two very good friends I'd worked with for more than 10 years, Tom Cock and Don MacDonald. The three of us used to do a weekly radio show together.  It was always fun and we had great guests...

In this podcast, Paul answers recent questions from his readers, video viewers and podcast listeners including how best to enter the market in these uncertain times, which equity asset classes to hold. small-cap value strategies and more. 1. In your book, “ First Time Investor: Grow and Protect Your Money, ” you write (page 49), “Don’t bother with target-date funds.”  In your video title...

On May 9, 2020 Chris Pedersen and Paul Merriman addressed the San Diego American Association of Individual Investors (AAII) via Zoom. Chris, director of research, presented “ 2 Funds for Life ” and Paul, founder and president of The Merriman Financial Education Foundation, presented “ The Ultimate Buy and Hold Strategy. ” After the presentations Daryl Bahls, director of analytics, joined Chris and...