Sound Investing

Financial Feast Pod is a new podcast  focused on simplifying personal finance, with each segment dedicated to understanding and implementing the most important financial decisions.  In this podcast Zach and Kevin interview Chris Pedersen about “ 2 Funds for Life ”. Not only will you learn about  Chris’ book  but the hosts ask a lot of questions about the Foundation and Chris’ favorite food. Topics...

The podcast opens with a heads up on an exciting AAII presentation on October 11 at 6:30 EST.  Paul will make a one hour presentation on "The Case for Small Cap Value:  The Good, the Bad and the Ugly.” This presentation will include some interesting new tables that give a new perspective to this productive equity asset class. After Paul speaks, Chris’ presentation will focus on  2 Funds for L...

The podcast opens with Paul reading and discussing Ben Carlson’s recent article on the collapse of bonds, “Everything  & Everyone Underperforms Eventually.”    Paul references a  table of returns  that compares Short, Intermediate and  Long Term Treasures.   Paul also references a table of Fixed Income Returns during years with  S&P 500 loss.   The following  short article  is referenced i...

On July 22 Chris Pedersen spoke to the Orange County AAII Chapter.  This podcast, as well as one on  8/9/23 (20 Q&As)  and another on  8/2/23 (16 Q&As)  address questions that arose from the presentation.  This podcast covers a few more AAII questions plus other recent questions.  Topic 1:  What is the difference between investing today vs. 40 years ago?  And how  is  investing likely to b...

On July 22, 2023 Chris Pedersen addressed the Orange County Chapter of the American Association of Individual Investors.  At the end of his 2 hour presentation there were many unanswered questions. Our last  podcast  and  video  addressed 16 of those questions.  In this podcast Paul responds to 20 more of the AAII questions.  1.  How do you feel about using a balanced fund such as Vanguard Welling...

On July 22, 2023 Chris Pedersen gave a 2 hour online presentation to the Orange County Chapter of the American Association of Individual Investors (AAII).  The title was “Best In Class Fund Selection and Behavior.”  Over 650 people attended the presentation, a record turnout for our presentations.  The video will be available in the coming weeks.  While  Chris answered  many questions during his p...

Some of the worst investment advice I know happens to millions of investors each year. Between paying commissions, paying higher expenses,  paying more taxes, being less diversified, and sitting on too much cash, so-called experts encourage investors to hold investments that are built to make as much as 2 to 4 percent less PER YEAR.  Paul uses Tables  1  and  2   to show the impact of making an ex...

Paul announces Chris Pedersen’s upcoming AAII presentation on Saturday, July 22.  The 2 hour Zoom presentation will begin at 8:45 a.m.  Chris will discuss how portfolio asset allocation, fund selection and investor behavior impact the returns we get for the risk we take.  He’ll also show some practical approaches to help us all come closer to being best-in-class in all three of these areas.   The...

On this week's podcast Paul addressed a couple of very important questions: 1. Is there really such a thing as a buy and hold investor? 2. What can an investor do to improve their chances of staying the course through all market cycles? 3. Many of your portfolios don’t include international equities.  Should investors use portfolios that don’t include any international funds? The following lin...

While the industry generally agrees the most important investment decision is your choice of asset allocation, Paul makes the case that the choice between being a do it yourself investor vs. hiring a professional advisor is much more impactful over a lifetime. Paul discusses the many challenges of both decisions and finishes by showing DIY investors what they should do to be sure they address all...

Paul starts the podcast with an update on the Bogleheads Conference.  For those who want to see a sample of last years presentations here is a link to all of the 2022 presentations. https://boglecenter.net/bogleheads-university/ For those interested in 2023 Conference, including list of speakers:   https://boglecenter.net/conferences/ For this interested in exploring John Bogles archives: https://...

There is no question AI is a hot topic.  I have watched “end of the world” interviews with people who know a lot more than I do about AI.  In a  recent poll , noted in The New Yorker, half of A.I. scientists agreed that there was at least a ten-per-cent chance that the human race would be destroyed by A.I.”  I have also watched marketing people use Chat GPT to create very good marketing pieces.  ...

Paul starts the podcast encouraging listeners to check out the latest video where Chris, Daryl and Paul answer questions from readers, listeners and viewers regarding the article, podcast and video about the Sound Investing Portfolios 2023 Update.  The following are the links that were used in the video: Asset Class Index CAGR Comparison (1927-2023) Table H2 - Sound Investing Portfolios Performanc...

Paul starts the podcast with a brief discussion about the new “financial Literacy for All Students” project at Western Washington University (WWU).   The Merriman Financial Education Foundation, WWU, and Paul personally, are working together to make this project a reality in the next two to three years.  The main topic of the podcast focuses on the returns investors should expect in the future.  P...

"It’s good to learn from your mistakes.  It’s better to learn from other people’s mistakes.”  Warren Buffett There are easy choices in the investment process.  Much of the advice we offer is very simple and without much disagreement.  On the other hand there are choices that must come after a thoughtful understanding of long term historical results along with an understanding of your need for...

I have a number of things on my bucket list.  One is to get "We’re Talking Millions!” in the hands of a million young people.  It would seem an impossible challenge but I know it can be done.  One of the reasons I know it is possible is because one of our podcasts has been opened by 977,088 listeners.  Let’s see if we can take it to a million!   Paul has been writing articles about index fund...

Over the last 8 weeks Paul, Chris and Daryl have produced a series of podcasts and videos on 8 of the most important investment decisions investors make.  Along with these  podcasts  and  videos  Paul and Rich have written  Marketwatch articles  on the same topics.  As a part of the discussion of these important decisions Daryl has updated over 200 tables of hypothetical returns that are used to s...

Paul discusses ways a parent or grandparent might explain 2 Funds for Life to a young adult. In the discussion Paul suggests using the following tables to make a handful of important decisions. Tables 1-4 from his Follow the Math comments- Table 1 Table 2 Table 3 Table 4 Equity Index Returns (1928-2022) to compare the returns of major equity asset classes Table B13 to show what happens when you co...

If a retired investor has the ability to use a flexible distribution strategy it will likely produce one of the best financial outcomes in retirement. In this presentation Paul compares the difference in returns and risk between the fixed and flexible distribution strategies. The discussion compares returns and total distributions for two of the 9 sound investing portfolios. In the presentation he...

This podcast is Part 5 OF AN 8 PART series ON THE MOST IMPORTANT INVESTMENT DECISIONS. The discussion addresses the distribution tables that use a Fixed Distribution Strategy of 3, 4, 5 and 6 percent plus annual increases for inflation.  One set of distributions uses the S&P 500 as the equity position while the other uses the U.S. 4-Fund Portfolio (25% each of S&P 500, Large Cap Value, Sma...

This podcast is the 4th in a series of our series to help do it yourself investors build a lifetime investment strategy.   The  presentation uses the following tables: ⁠Table C1 - Fixed Contributions: S&P 500 Equity Portfolio⁠    ⁠Table C14 - Fixed Contributions: US 2-Fund Equity Portfolio⁠   ⁠ Table C11 - Fixed Contributions: US All Value Equity Portfolio⁠    ⁠ Table C8 - Fixed Contributions:...

This podcast is the third in a series of seven podcasts that are designed to help do it yourself investors learn how to maximize their return, minimize their risk and increase their peace of mind.  It will be beneficial to listen to  The Ultimate Buy and Hold   and  Sound Investing Portfolios: The History of Risk and Return  (link)  podcasts before listening to this podcast. In this podcast Paul d...

In this presentation Paul explores the risk and returns of 8 Sound Investing Portfolios and the S&P 500 for the period 1970 to 2022.   He references 2 sets of tables for portfolios built with all U.S. equity asset classes as well as worldwide portfolios that are 50% each U.S. and international  and 70% U.S. and 30% international. The goal is to help DIY investors understand the likely returns...

Each year Paul (with the many hours of dedicated work from Director of Analytics Daryl Bahls ) updates and  reviews the latest returns and important lessons from the Ultimate Buy and Hold Portfolio. In this review he references a series of tables including: Table A1-Ultimate Buy & Hold Equity Portfolio (50% US/50% Int’l) Table A2 - Alternative Equity Portfolio Tables (50% US/50% Int’l) Table A...

“Three Keys to Long Term Investment Success” was my presentation at the 9th Annual Retiremeet America Conference.  For those who wish to watch other presenters here is a link to the entire almost  6 hour video . 0:00 Welcome from Tom Cock and Don McDonald 13:17 "Financial Fysics" with Don McDonald 46:16 "Paying for Retirement" with Tom Cock 1:15:00 "The Value of a Financia...