Sound Investing

This is the second presentation in the Boot Camp Series. Click for video . The first presentation (Stocks Vs. Bonds) will be available in the next two weeks. This presentation makes the case for diversifying a portfolio using multiple equity asset classes. Paul uses 4 set of tables to make his case: A1a: Ultimate Buy & Hold Equity Portfolio (50% US/50% Int'l)   A2a: Alternative Equity Port...

In this Podcast, Paul, Chris, and Daryl describe the Sound Investing Portfolios and their background, rationale, construction, and performance.    00:00 - Intro 02:00 - DFA Background 05:47 - Portfolio Rationale 11:45 - Allocations 14:11 - Backtesting & Comparisons 19:32 - Rewards of Diversification 28:42 - Differing Good Times 32:40 - 70/30 US/Int'l Portfolios 35:05 - Which Funds? 39:08 -...

In this insightful conversation, renowned financial expert Paul Merriman shares his wealth of knowledge and experience in investing. He discusses his journey from stockbroker to founding his own investment advisory firm, and eventually establishing the Merriman Financial Education Foundation. Paul delves into various topics, including: ✅ The importance of data-driven investing and understanding t...

The podcast starts with a brief history of the growth of the Merriman Financial Literacy Foundation.  From it’s small beginning in December 2012, it has produced over 1000 videos, articles and podcasts, published 6 books, spoken at many national conferences, underwritten a university class on investing for non finance majors at Western Washington University, produced portfolios for do it yourself...

In this first Q&A podcast of 2025, Paul, Daryl, and Chris discuss several listener questions and expand on Paul's rebuttal of Big ERN's recent criticisms of diversifying with small-cap value. 0:00 – Introduction 0:29  – Responding to Big ERN's critique 2:11 –  Small-cap value lumpsum vs. dollar-cost averaging 6:38 –  Daryl's take on SCV's premium persistence 8:46 –  Chris' take on SCV's premiu...

There has been a lot of anti small cap value articles and podcasts over the last several years.   I have been asked many times whether I think the small cap value premium is a thing of the past. In this podcast I have addressed the most commonly discussed criticisms of small cap value.  During the presentation I reference a blog entitled, " Small-Cap Value Stocks: Diversification or Di-WORSE-ficat...

On December 26, 2019 Paul recorded a podcast entitled,  “Could This Be the  #1 Reason to Invest in Index Funds?”    We were shocked to learn that over 1,000,000 investors opened the podcast.  In this podcast he addresses the topic again in “Could This Be the #1 Reason to Invest in Index Funds? Part 2” The podcast reviews the well established index advantages and adds one that may be the biggest re...

Paul, Daryl, and Chris discuss the risks of investing and life. Paul starts with an introduction and admission of his challenges managing risks related to diet and health.  He then gets Chris and Daryl to chime in with their definitions and perspectives on risk.  Daryl then shares a framework for evaluating risk from his days as a systems engineer.  The framework looks at risks in two dimensions:...

While I was at the Bogleheads conference in Minneapolis earlier this year, I had a lengthy interview with Paula Pant.  I enjoyed the interview and found lots of questions and comments under the YouTube presentation that I wanted to answer.  While I wrote short comments on the site, I decided many of the questions were worthy of more discussion. Here is a link to the  YouTube  interview and  podcas...

The podcast is dedicated to answering questions about:  Target date funds:  “Do you think someone that simply maxes out their retirement accounts with target date funds and total market funds will be “fine”? Selecting a distribution strategy:  What advice can you give to a DIY investor who is trying to decide what to do about how they access their money to live on and how much to take out? Buy and...

As this podcast is being released on Thanksgiving Day Paul begins by thanking those people who choose to follow the Foundation’s work, those who forward our articles, podcasts and videos to others, and those who donate time and money to the Foundation. He also addresses the challenges of living at three different homes (Bainbridge Island, Portland and Rancho Mirage) in 2024.  We know some donation...

Paul and Chris interview M1 Finance's CEO, Brian Barnes, and ask several listener questions. This is the follow-up to their previous M1 Finance 2024 update  podcast  and  YouTube video .   They start by asking Brian how and why he created the company. That's followed by a wide-ranging conversation that includes some interesting surprises, like Chris's realization that using M1's target-date pies i...

Paul mentions his upcoming presentation to the ⁠⁠L.A. Chapter of AAII⁠⁠ on November 16, 2024    10:30 to noon. Chris Pedersen and Daryl Bahls join Paul to answer your questions.  Paul opens the podcast with a brief introduction of the team and notes how thankful he is for their commitment to helping others. Paul mentions the huge moves small cap value funds made on November 6.  He follows that wit...

On November 16, 2024 Paul will speak to the L.A. Chapter of AAII via a Zoom presentation.  Here is the link:   2 Funds to Own Forever, and How to Invest in Small Caps In this podcast Paul addresses 4 major considerations when selecting a small cap value ETF.  His discussion compares the returns, along with 4 major factors, for AVUV, VBR, VB,, VIOV, DFSVX and DFSV. Is gold worthy of a place in our...

Watch the video here. Paul Merriman, a former wealth manager turned financial educator, joins us to share investing wisdom that could reshape how you think about your money. We kick things off talking about portfolio diversification. Paul suggests a simple four-fund strategy that includes large cap, small cap, and value stocks. He says this mix has historically beaten the S&P 500 with lower ri...

The  Marriage Kids and Money  Podcast is dedicated to helping you do just that. Each week, Andy Hill interviews personal finance experts, millionaire parents and financially independent couples to find out how they achieved their success. He then takes that information and breaks it down into digestible takeaways that will help you win with money. With over 400 episodes and counting,  Marriage Kid...

Investors need to get past marketing and sales pitches to know what they're getting when they invest.  Morningstar is a great place to get that depth. Paul and Chris describe how they each use the free Morningstar tools to evaluate mutual fund and ETF characteristics, such as: * Expense ratios * Liquidity and bid/ask spreads * Geographic focus * Value and size tilts * Financial characteristics * F...

Paul updates his list of reasons to use index funds plus comparing the handful of Vanguard Small Cap Value ETFs (VTWV, SLYV, VBR AND VIOV) with the newer Avantis and DFA small cap value ETFs.  He also makes the case that AVUS and DFAU total market funds are likely to produce better returns than VTSAX, VTI, VOO AND VFINX. He also discusses the 15 year returns of 6 each large cap growth, large cap v...

Chris & Paul walk through the changes to The Merriman Financial Education Foundation’s relationship with M1 Finance , including affiliate commissions, a new emphasis on accurate messaging, and improved pre-made portfolio shortcuts (M1 calls them Pies). The new Pies now include all of our Sound Investing equity portfolios, taxable and tax-deferred fixed-income portfolios, and 5-year increments...

In preparation for his presentation at the Bogleheads Conference Paul reread John Bogle’s “ The Little Book of Common Sense Investing” He has been recommending the book since 2007 but in 2017 Wiley published the updated and revised edition.  There is some terrific new material in the revised edition. Paul focuses on several topics from the book including Bogel’s statement that index funds are the...

I had an amazing conversation with David Baughier on the Forget About Money podcast! We discussed my 12 One-Million Dollar Ideas for building wealth, the power of starting early, and why index funds are a game-changer for long-term investing. We also covered the importance of diversification, the benefits of small-cap value stocks, and why sticking with a buy-and-hold strategy beats trying to time...

Paul starts the podcast with a discussion of his  ⁠special presentation⁠  to the graduating nurses from the College of Nursing at Texas A&M. This presentation was part of a Life Transitions Series. He discusses how he might be able to do a similar presentation for other groups of graduating college students, as well as  groups of investors who are trying to get the most from their company 401k...

Paul starts the podcast talking about the upcoming Boglehead Conference (Sept.27-29) in Minneapolis.  The following link lists the speakers and topics.   https://boglecenter.net/2024conference/ Q1:  Should I invest $300,000 inheritance all at once or dollar cost average? 02:23 Q2:  If SCV is such a great asset class why do the companies all have such low P/E ratios? 8:06 Q3:  Given that our Roth I...

Paul starts with a general discussion of the decision to trust recent returns or make investment based on longer term returns.  He uses AVUV and ARKK as two investments you could have made in September 2019.  In the discussion he references a video where arkk creator and fund manager predicts future arkk returns.  Q: #1:  Why should future results look like the past? 16:15 Q: #2  We are in mid 50s...

1.  My husband and I are moving to Fidelity to set up your Ultimate Buy and Hold Portfolio.  How do we make the change from our holdings to your portfolio?  Do I have to sell all of my holdings?  Plus we want to find an hourly advisor  to help.  Can you make a recommendation? 1:45   2. I have $1million in a money market fund.  Do you think it is time to start reducing the cash position and moving...