Sound Investing

We know the 8 year market is unlikely to go for much longer.  In this recording I made for PBS, I cover 10 ways to protect your hard earned gains from the coming bear market.  If you don’t have your defense in place maybe one of these 10 will feel right.  Of course young investors should be hoping …

Of course there is no such thing as a perfect investment, but what would it look like if all your investment wishes could come true? This podcast is from a series, “Financial Fitness After 50,” that Paul recorded for Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) in 2011 as a premium for those who donated to their local stations during that …

Joe Shaefer of Stanford Wealth Management, an old friend of more than 30 years, recently wrote an article for Seeking Alpha.  “Passive Index Investing is a Delusion” is an active manager’s view of investing in indexes.  In the podcast I address Joe’s views of why index investing is a losing strategy and why I think he is dead …

With all the speculation about the future of fiduciaries, I felt it was time to make some remarks about important differences between those inside and outside the world of commissions. But, as you’ll discover, even a fee-only fiduciary can give terrible advice.  Plus, having just spoken at a conference sponsored by a local DFA advisor, I thought it …

There are three huge decisions that will likely lead to reaching the “early retirement” goal. Paul discusses why these three decisions are key, and shares stories about those who have been successful in reaching their financial freedom goal. How important is it to have a spouse who has agreed to the challenges of being an aggressive saver?  How …

If you are one of the millions of people who are considering an insurance product as part of your retirement plan, listen to this! It is hard to believe that an insurance company would ever pay a 12% commission on a million dollar investment if the product promised everything a person could want in retirement, plus a cash …

There are a lot of questions about the upcoming changes of the Trump presidency, coupled with a cooperative Congress. Some experts are saying it’s time to get out of the market, while others are making lists of the reasons there is a bigger and longer bull market in the works. Paul shares how he thinks investors should position …

One of the biggest mistakes investors make is not to diversify sufficiently to virtually eliminate stock or company risk. Paul reads part of two important articles. In “Speculating versus investing: The buying of individual stocks,” Larry Swedroe discusses the reasons owning individual stocks is an approach that requires taking more risk without an additional return. He also lists …

Paul expresses three outrages, exposing the dirty tricks some advisors use to exaggerate their performance. He also corrects a mistake on his last podcast regarding mid-cap funds, and answers several questions from listeners: Is it time to get out of small cap funds and get into TIPS? What ETFs do you recommend to put the “Two-Fund Solution” to …

Paul reviews the returns of his recommended asset classes for the 1 and 15 years ending 2016. He also compares the most important factors of the DFA and Vanguard small cap value funds, as well as the returns of all the major asset classes for the two fund families. And he discusses how the small cap value ETFs …

This podcast is from the PBS show “Financial Fitness After 50,” Paul discusses 31 important ‘rules of the road’ to financial fitness. Understanding these lessons, investors are likely to ensure they enjoy a lifetime of investment success. The rules include many of the important investment decisions investors must make, as well as how to deal with the most …

This podcast is recorded from the 2011 CD collection recorded for the premium package for the “Financial Fitness After 50” PBS show.  There is lots of advice for first time investors, as well as retirees, but some of the biggest mistakes are made within a few years of retirement.  If even one of Paul’s warning keep you from …

Fellow Retirementor Ken Roberts always has a long list of questions for me on his Ken’s Bull and Bears Report.  In this interview Ken asks questions about stock performance in a growing economy, how to beat the market, the need for professional advisors, lessons learned from the Trump election, my favorite Bogle quotes and  how to be sure …

The most common question I get is focused on the likelihood of abnormally low future returns on stocks.  This is not only a common question today, it is one of the most common questions investors have after any difficult market period.  How can anyone possibly know what happens next?  There is always a list of reasons for the …

We are surrounded by people who lie. Experts say we lie on a regular basis, so the fact that our politicians, corporations and those trying to sell us something often lie should not be a surprise. Paul wants investors to search hard for the truth, not just by others but also lies we tell ourselves. He suggests a …

Warren Buffet, Peter Lynch, John Bogle and Ben Franklin and more… Paul discusses some of the most meaningful financial quotes and suggests that reviewing such quotes once a year may help you be more committed to and focused on the most important investment basics. This recording was produced for Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) as part of a 2011/12 pledge …

What will market do under President Trump? And 12 other important investment Q&A’s When Paul addressed members of the community in a seminar co-sponsored by the Bainbridge Community Foundation on Nov. 3, 2016, he was unable to answer all questions at the time but agreed to do so through this special podcast. Here are the questions addressed on …

Sam Marks from Invest Like a Boss planned a 30-minute interview, but he and Paul were having so much fun it lasted over an hour. Here is what Sam wrote about the interview: Paul Merriman is an internationally recognized authority on mutual funds, index investing, asset allocation modelling and buy-and-hold strategies. He has over …

The 2-fund value portfolio may offer higher returns How can young investors prudently reach for higher rates of return?  The most dependable approach is building a portfolio of all value ETFs or mutual funds. In the last podcast I focused on an all-value portfolio comprised of U.S. large and small-cap value asset classes.  But it even gets …

Examining 88 years of returns and risks of an all-value portfolio, Paul explains why young investors might legitimately consider a 100% all-value portfolio, while the combination of these asset classes should account for only a small part of a retiree’s portfolio. In the discussion of this 2-Fund Combo, Paul suggests a number of related and useful articles and podcasts, particularly …

Paul examines the difficult bear market of 1973-74, preparing investors for a long bear market struggle and demonstrating the value asset classes can hold up well on the way down, as well as bounce back strongly after the market turns around. For more on the subject, click here-http://theirrelevantinvestor.com/2016/05/04/the-worst-bear-market-that-nobody-ever-talks-about/

John Bogle and Burton Malkiel wrote an article for the Wall Street Journal titled “Turn on a Paradigm” in which they make the case for capitalization-weighted indexing over indexes focused on value and small-cap stocks. Paul offers his justification for adding small-cap and value to an equity portfolio, based on the academic research of Eugene Fama …

Paul discusses three current topics: 1.  Do you still believe in the Ultimate Equity Buy and Hold Strategy for someone close to retirement? 2. With the market selling at record levels, is it time to consider a bear market fund to defend against big loses? 3. How can the combination of a great short-term track record and …

In this interview with Jimmy Dot Direct & Stan The Annuity Man, Paul discusses the impact of an extra 1/2 percent, loss expectations with different combinations of stocks and bonds, and other topics important for both first-time investors to those getting ready for retirement. For those interested in immediate life annuities, get Stan’s free books on all types of …

Paul reviews Clements’ new book, “How to Think About Money,” highlighting key topics from each chapter and encouraging you to purchase this book for any first-time investor… reading it before passing it along. This informative book can motivate first-time investors to increase their savings rate, put more long-term savings into equites and stick to low-cost index funds. keywords: …