Sound Investing

Paul Merriman responds to a podcast listener who wrote: “I am convinced your 4-Fund Combo is a portfolio I want to add to my portfolio. My question is, how confident are you in the past performance of these four asset classes from 1970-2019 AND how confident can we be about any performance?" Before digging into the specifics of the 4-Fund Portfolio, I re-read a 2015  MarketWatch  article...

In May, Paul Merriman, founder of The Merriman Financial Education Foundation, and Chris Pedersen, director of research, were guest presenters at two ChooseFI online events, via Facebook Live on May 9 and Zoom on May 16. On May 9 Chris and Paul made separate presentations: Paul on “12 Investment Decisions Guaranteed to Change Your Financial Future" and Chris on “2 Funds for Life.”  They were...

While it is easy to show young investors how to make an extra million dollars over the course of 50 years or more, it’s not so easy to do for retired investors looking at 10 to 30 more years. But there are ways! Here Paul suggests 10 different ways to add a million dollars or more to the portfolio of an investor near or in retirement. Paul references Fine Tuning Your Asset Allocations and Fixed an...

In this podcast (also watchable as a YouTube video), Paul Merriman, along with Director of Research Chris Pedersen and Chief Analyst Daryl Bahls get together on a Zoom call to answer additional questions submitted during the ChooseFI Facebook Live event, for which time did not permit on the original recording. The event was hosted by Jen Mah on May 9, 2020. Below are the list of questions. For an...

While the coronavirus pandemic has changed everyone’s life — and hopefully without illness or loss — for The Merriman Financial Education Foundation it has been a huge game changer, in a very good way. In this podcast Paul shares some new ways he’s able to serve more investors and he answers seven questions from his listeners and readers. 1. Can you discuss the funds to hold in different types of...

"Many people, including myself, tend to consider the bad things that might happen before considering the good outcome that is more likely to happen,” " says Paul Merriman. "That challenging state of mind requires having a "little house” plan... just in case the list of catastrophic events actually happens.  The massive loss of employment means a lot of people have experienced loss of emp...

For the past eight weeks, Paul focused on what he considers among the most important decisions an investor is likely to make in a lifetime. In this podcast he quickly reviews those key decisions through the articles, podcasts and tables that were recently created to help investors be the best they can be. And he discusses the topics contained in his website's “ Best Advice ”, which include: The Ul...

In discussing the latest Fixed Contribution Tables, Paul gives investors an opportunity to explore the differences between many of the various strategies that he, Chris Pedersen and Daryl Bahls have developed. In discussing the Tables, Paul first provides an overview for those in the early years of investing, and then a more thorough explanation for seasoned investors who want to dive deeper or wh...

This podcast introduces the Distribution and Contribution Tables for the 4-Fund Combo, plus Paul discusses how these results compare with the other equity asset classes on the  Fine Tuning, Distribution and Contribution tables. More than 60 new and updated tables are now available at  PaulMerriman.com , generously created by  Daryl Bahls . These tables are designed to help you decid...

One of the biggest financial decisions we make can be the choice of distribution strategy in retirement. In this podcast Paul compares the risks and returns of flexible and fixed distribution strategies, not just in terms of money available for retirement expenses but also for heirs and charities at the end of life. He compares results of 4 and 5 percent fixed and flexible distributions, usin...

From explaining how index funds are built to his opinion on how far the market will fall; from where to find resources for teaching highschoolers about personal finance to custodial accounts and rebalancing Target-Date funds, Paul answers 20 questions from his readers and listeners. Scan through and listen to those that interest you or tune in to the whole podcast for answers and insight...

When the market finally turns around and heads back up, what kind of portfolios are likely to perform better than the market in general?  In this podcast Paul shares what he calls the Comeback Portfolio.  During the discussion he uses some existing tables plus a couple of new tables to make his case.  For those who want to download the tables here are the links in order of use: Summary of 1, 15 an...

The two most important articles and podcasts  T he Merriman Financial Education Foundation produces each year are the " Ultimate Buy and Hold Strategy ” — which helps you determine what equity asset classes to hold in your portfolio — and  "Fine Tuning Your Asset Allocation ” — which shows how much you should own in bonds to control volatility. However, when it comes...

Focusing on small-cap value from every angle Paul knows, this podcast compares Price-to-Earnings ratios, Price-to-Book ratios, average size company and one-year and 40-year period returns.  Paul shares the latest academic research on small-cap value, comparison of risk and return for S&P vs. small-cap value asset classes, and the likely long-term impact of adding even a little small-cap v...

Paul shares writings and wisdom from two of his trusted Truth Tellers,  George Sisti  of  On Course Financial Planning  and Dr. Jim Dahle of  The White Coat Investor.   Both of these experts are focused on helping people be better  buy-and-hold investors .  George's blog post is titled “ Here We Go Again! ” and Jim’s blog post is “ Should I try to...

Do you want to have a better idea of the range — or returns and risks of loss — that different equity asset classes have generated over a long period of time?  In this podcast, Paul discusses 5 tables covering the S&P 500 , Worldwide Equity (50% U.S./50% International) , Worldwide Equity (70% U.S./30% International) , All Value (50% U.S./50% International) All Value (70% U.S./30% Internat...

The most important work we have done over the last 38 years has been to help investors identify the equity asset classes they should consider holding in their portfolio.  In this podcast, along with the  accompanying tables, Paul updates investors on the results of his  Ultimate Buy and Hold Strategy from 1970 through 2019 .  These tables are designed to help investors see the...

Paul was interviewed by  Rick Ferri , the host of  Bogleheads on Investing , on Feb. 3, 2020. During and after the recording, scores of questions and comments were written at the  Bogleheads chatroom . This podcast is Paul's reply to a number of the topics discussed with Rick and the questions and comments, broken into two sections. The first section focuses on the ba...

The new Callan Periodic Tables have been released and in this podcast Paul discusses 10 important lessons from the main table (2000-2019) and several other Callan tables he has not addressed before. Paul encourages listeners to review the tables (links below) and see how many important lessons you find, before you listen to the podcast. For those who find tables of numbers...

Can an employee convince his company’s 401k trustees to make changes?  It took 4 years for this one dedicated investor to do so and he won big. Hopefully, this story will inspire others to work this hard to change the financial futures for all 401k investors. 2:00 What is the lifetime cost of an expense ratio of .15% a year?  The answer is surprising. 6:50 In what kind of investment did...

Paul's recent podcast,  The Real Secret to Long-Term Investment Success , elicited many comments and questions at the Bogleheads forum (you can read the threads of conversation  here ) and from regular Sound Investing listeners. The following are questions addressed on this podcast. What does Paul think of the factor funds at Vanguard? 4:10 What impact do momentum, quality, and vola...

What’s the toughest challenge for many investors? Staying the course for the long term. In this podcast, Paul discusses what he considers "the most useful information for investors.” While adding new insights to his  Ultimate Buy and Hold Strategy ,  Fine Tuning Your Asset Allocation  and  Distributions in Retirement  articles and podcasts, Paul explores nine decades of re...

Paul discusses the comparative returns from the  Vanguard, DFA and Best-In-Class Portfolios for 2019 . He also responds to 12 questions from listeners and readers of  paulmerriman.com ’s podcasts, articles, videos, books and recommendations for mutual funds, ETFs, 401k’s, the Ultimate Buy-and-Hold Portfolio and more.  To learn more about comparative returns, take a look at the &nbsp...

In this podcast, Paul shares his thoughts for the coming year and answers investor questions. The S&P 500 has made 5% more than the portfolio you recommend.  Should I put it all in the S&P? 14:50 What do you think of the new Avantis ETFs?27:05 What do you think about structured notes?  In the answer I make reference to an article by Larry Swedroe:  31:34 https://alphaar...

Sign up for our bimonthly newsletter at  PaulMerriman.com  and join 30,000 savvy investors who value free financial education. You can download a free pdf copy of  We’re Talking Millions! 12 Ways to Supercharge Your Retirement  at  https://paulmerriman.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/Were-Talking-Millions.pdf We ask that you share it with family and friends! Paul was planni...