In this review of 2021 investment results, Paul shares 10 lessons he thinks will be of interest to you following our advice. 1.  How many up and down days did the market produce and how that compares to longer-term profitable vs. losing periods? 2.  The market reached 70 new highs during the year.  Is that good news or bad? 3.  The biggest drawdown for the year was 5.1%.  How does that compare to past years? 4.  Commodities, oil and Bitcoin were among the big winners in 2021.  But why do the reported returns of the S&P and other equity asset classes understate their actual returns? 5. Paul focuses on a short report from Dimensional Funds:  When It’s Value vs. Growth, History is on Value’s Side https://www.dimensional.com/us-en/insights/when-its-value-versus-growth-history-is-on-values-side.  This study highlights the high volatility in the difference between these two asset classes.  Bottom line average advantage to value is more than 5%. 6.  Sometimes investing results can be hard to explain.  Paul reviews the 2021 small and large value and growth returns in U.S., international and emerging markets.  Investors may be surprised to see the huge differences from what might be considered similar asset classes. 7. In our Best In Class ETF recommendations  our Director of Research, Chris Pedersen, works hard to identify the ETFs that should be among the best.  Paul reviews the results of his recommendations compared to the returns of the average ETF in each equity asset class. 8.  Many investors struggle to make the decision Best In Class ETFs or all Vanguard all the time.  Paul compares the returns of the BIC ETFs portfolios (U.S. 4 Fund, Worldwide 4 Fund and Worldwide All Value and more) to similar portfolios with Vanguard ETFs.  Paul also compares BIC with similar DFA portfolios.  Investors have to decide whether those differences will be similar in the future or 2021 was an aberration. 9.  Many investors have chosen the Total Stock Market over the S&P 500.  Paul discusses the reasons their historic returns are almost the same and why the S&P 500 way outperformed the TMI in 2021. 10.  While equity is considered the gas for growth in a portfolio, bonds are considered the brakes.  Paul explains why he doesn’t recommend international bonds to stabilize a portfolio and why international bonds lost more money than U.S. bonds in 2021.

If you know anyone in their teens, you can make a significant difference in his or her life. We know that the earlier a person gets started saving and soundly investing, the more they will have for retirement and to leave to others. As a group, teenagers are at a phase where they are seeking independence, moving from childhood to adulthood, and are eager to exercise their freedom, which comes with increasing self-responsibility. Therefore, the best way to teach them about investing is to involve them in selecting and opening a long-term investment account. In this video/podcast discussion Paul suggests the young investor find a partner (parent, grandparent, uncle, aunt, godparent, etc.) to match $50 a year for 10 years. (This could be done with $10) and what that will mean to them over the years. This presentation includes a set of 24 tables that can be used to investigate many of the choices the investor has (see pdf below). Watch this as a video. For information on  Custodial Roth IRAs include a link to Schwab Custodial IRA https://www.schwab.com/ira/custodial-ira?src=SEM&ef_id=CjwKCAiA8bqOBhANEiwA-sIlN2MT3u5rQ88ibNnybVheXC-EFqyvlmYK1VsOqo8E_ofYodnmseoaYBoCBDEQAvD_BwE:G:s&s_kwcid=AL!5158!3!495093339246!p!!g!!custodial%20ira%20charles%20schwab!651813075!33944985558&keywordid=kwd-194438821700&gclid=CjwKCAiA8bqOBhANEiwA-sIlN2MT3u5rQ88ibNnybVheXC-EFqyvlmYK1VsOqo8E_ofYodnmseoaYBoCBDEQAvD_BwE and Fidelity Custodial IRA https://www.fidelity.com/learning-center/personal-finance/retirement/turbocharge-childs-retirement https://paulmerriman.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/01/100-per-year.pdf

Jacek Lempart, the Belguim-based host of System Trader “The craft of investing,” interviews Paul Merriman in this extraordinary in-depth conversation, unlike others you may have heard. It has been divided into two parts. You’ll learn: Who’s Paul, and what’s the story of his careers? How have markets changed over the years? Why is Paul a big fan of academic/scientific knowledge? What should we do to feel satisfied and have a happy life? How to adjust strategy so that it has an appropriate level of risk? Where’s the border between passive and active investing? A systematic approach to investing vs. discretionary The philosophy behind the Ultimate Buy & Hold portfolio? What does Paul think about holding a bit of cryptocurrency as another asset class? Gold and commodities

Jacek Lempart, the Belguim-based host of System Trader “The craft of investing,” interviews Paul Merriman in this extraordinary in-depth conversation, unlike others you may have heard. It has been divided into two parts.. You’ll learn: · Who’s Paul, and what’s the story of his careers? · How have markets changed over the years? · Why is Paul a big fan of academic/scientific knowledge? · What should we do to feel satisfied and have a happy life? · How to adjust strategy so that it has an appropriate level of risk? · Where’s the border between passive and active investing? · A systematic approach to investing vs. discretionary · The philosophy behind the Ultimate Buy & Hold portfolio? · What does Paul think about holding a bit of cryptocurrency as another asset class? · Gold and commodities

In this podcast, Paul makes the case for a multimillion dollar payoff if you decide to be a good Do-It-Yourself investor and do the necessary work. He considers this podcast one of his most important.  Using our Fine Tuning Tables and The Merriman Lifetime Investment Calculator, he shows 3 simple ways a conservative well-diversified portfolio, with a retirement portfolio worth only $500,000, would have produced an additional $2,000,000 over 30 years of retirement. To make his points, Paul references: - S&P 500 FTYAA Table - The U.S. 4-Fund FTYAA Table - These sample calculations from our Calculator - The 90-year study (Table 1) that evidences that investor patience leads to better returns. This podcast was recorded Dec. 12, 2021 by Paul in Mexico, as he and his wife, Zan, having sold their home in San Miguel de Allende, were in the last days of moving. Watch Craig's short video "Understand the effect of 1% using our Lifetime Investment Calculator" that goes along with this podcast.

This is a continuation of the conversation between Paul, Craig Appl, and Chris Pedersen who evaluated the evidence for We’re Talking Millions! using The Merriman Financial Education Foundation Lifetime Investment Calculator, Portfolio Visualizer, and Two Funds for Life back test. This part builds on Part 1, so we recommend that you view Part 1 before this. Download your free PDF copy of the book now to follow along. You can access the Lifetime Investment Calculator at this link, Part 1 reviewed steps 1 – 5 and Part 2 continues with steps 6-12. Save some money instead of spending it all. Start saving sooner instead of later. Invest your savings in stocks instead of bonds and cash. Invest in many stocks instead of only a few. Keep your expenses low. Choose index funds instead of actively managed funds. Include small-company stocks in your portfolio. Include values tocks in your portfolio. Don’t try to “time” the market or outwit it. Invest using dollar-cost averaging instead of waiting for the right time to invest. Keep your taxes low. Do all this in one simple step: Invest in a target date retirement fund.

About a year ago, we released the book, We’re Talking Millions! 12 Simple Ways to Supercharge Your Retirement. A few people have challenged the idea that each of the 12 simple steps, outlined in the book, can net you an additional million dollars. Paul, Craig Appl, and Chris Pedersen evaluate the evidence using The Merriman Financial Education Foundation Lifetime Investment Calculator, Portfolio Visualizer, and Two Funds for Life back tests in this two-part video series. Download your free PDF copy of the book now to follow along. You can access the Lifetime Investment Calculator at this link and the accompanying YouTube video here. Part 1 reviews steps 1 – 5 Save some money instead of spending it all. Start saving sooner instead of later. Invest your savings in stocks instead of bonds and cash. Invest in many stocks instead of only a few. Keep your expenses low.

An investment advisor and long time podcast listener recently wrote to Paul: “By any stretch of the imagination this market (S&P 500) is expensive. Back in 1987 you took your clients to cash or very near cash. Do you feel that that today is the same situation?  I’ve never market timed in my career, but today fells like the time to do it if there ever was a time.” Paul discusses what really happened in 1987. He follows that with sharing parts of two blogs by Ben Carlson, CFA and author of the blog, “A Wealth of Common Sense.” Paul also shares the latest predictions for 2022 from two of the most respected financial institutions in America. Hopefully, it will help investors deal with the question: is it time to sell? Happy Thanksgiving! Ben Carlson’s articles referenced in this podcast: "Two Things That Are Both True” "Perma Arguments”

In this lively conversation, Paul Merriman and Daryl Bahls interview Chris Pedersen – author of 2 Funds for Life – A quest for simple & effective investing strategies (Oct. 2021) and creator of the 2 Funds for Life strategies – about the simplicity and effectiveness of these strategies and the data that supports them. Below is a link to start reading the book for free. Questions discussed: · How did you get the title of “financial wizard”? · Is the book for young people? · What are some of the questions the book answers, and why should investors care about them? · What's a target-date fund, and why is it the foundation of the 2 Funds for Life strategies? · What's the gist of the 2 Funds for Life approach? · Why is small-cap value the best choice second fund for accumulators and retirees? · Is a target-date fund on its own enough?  How much more money did the 2 Fund for Life strategies make in the past? · Why does the book focus on "real" (after removing inflation) instead of "nominal" (including inflation) results? · How much deeper were the drawdowns (losses) for 2 Fund for Life strategies compared to a target-date fund? · Are 2 Fund for Life strategies more resilient after major market declines? · Why might investors need or want some of the deeper details in the book? START READING THE BOOK FOR FREE at our website: https://paulmerriman.com/2-funds-for-life-book/

Paul address the pros and cons of cryptocurrencies. He discusses his personal opinion after reading from several articles that do a good job of presenting the basics of cryptocurrencies. In this week’s Sound Investing newsletter, Paul expands on his views about cryptocurrency. Subscribe now — always free! — at https://paulmerriman.com/signup/ and get your free copy of We’re Talking Millions! 12 Simple Ways To Supercharge Your Retirement. Suggested links: https://www.freecodecamp.org/news/explain-bitcoin-like-im-five-73b4257ac833/ https://gen.medium.com/you-dont-understand-bitcoin-because-you-think-money-is-real-5aef45b8e952 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ggvlgNMr_NE Additional links to understand the basics of cryptocurrency from NGPF.org: https://www.ngpf.org/blog/investing/is-bitcoin-bad/ https://www.ngpf.org/blog/current-events/cryptocurrency-bitcoin-primer/ https://www.ngpf.org/blog/question-of-the-day/question-of-the-day-what-is-the-value-of-cryptocurrency-stolen-each-day-on-average/ https://app.nearpod.com/presentation?pin=DHIRS

Chris Pedersen talks with Ed Fulbright, CPA, on Ed’s “Mastering Your Money” podcast, about the 2 funds for life strategy he developed as Director of Research for The Merriman Financial Education Foundation, and his new book, 2 Funds for Life: a quest for simple and effective investing strategies.  Chris tells the story of how Paul Merriman’s meeting with Jack Bogle, the founder of Vanguard and father of index funds, led to his development of 2 funds for life. The challenge was to greatly simplify Merriman’s Ultimate Buy and Hold strategy so it is accessible to everyone. At the same time, keeping the simple strategy massively diversified and tilted toward maximizing return and minimizing risk, while adjusting for a lifetime so the risk is automatically reduced as people age. Chris also talks about the challenges of approaching retirement, some steps he took to minimize anxiety and transition to retirement, the best advice he received, and about risk and the importance knowing your own tolerance. Get your copy of 2 Funds for Life: a quest for simple and effective investing strategies. All profits from the sale of the book support the work of The Merriman Financial Education Foundation. This podcast is part of the educational offerings from The Merriman Financial Education Foundation, a registered 501(c)3.  If you found value in this podcast, here are five ways to support the podcast and our foundation: 1)    Leave a podcast review on your player of choice. 2)    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! 3)    Use our M1 Finance affiliate link to set up a brokerage account and use our portfolio suggestions. If you fund your account with a minimum of $1,000, our foundation will receive a one-time affiliate fee — at no cost to you — which helps support our financial education projects. 4)    Buy our latest books, We’re Talking Millions! 12 Simple Ways To Supercharge Your Retirement and 2 Funds for Life: A quest for simple & effective investing strategies, the profits from which help support our work. 5)   Consider making a tax-deductible donation to the Foundation to support our mission to provide financial education to investors at all stages of life.  Thank you!

In this podcast, Paul is joined by Daryl Bahls and Chris Pedersen to answer a variety of questions posed during the AAII Conference 360.  What mutual funds and ETFs do you personally own? Paul, Chris and Daryl share their individual approaches and holdings. Are there any good-to-excellent small cap newsletters Paul recommends?  In the answer Paul references http://hulbertratings.com/, the best source of newsletter results, and also the "Cabot Turnaround Newsletter" and "Nate’s Notes." Where can we get a list of small cap value funds and ETFs? In your distribution tables, by inflation adjusting the distributions but not the value of the portfolio holdings, doesn’t that mislead a potential investor? Where can we get the free copy of We’re Talking Millions!? What are the specific 4 funds you recommend an investor hold for life?  Paul includes mention of links to recommended funds or ETFs: https://paulmerriman.com/vanguard-tax-deferred-etf-portfolios/ https://paulmerriman.com/best-in-class-etf-recommendations/ https://paulmerriman.com/4-fund-portfolios/ When re-balancing the 2 Funds for Life, do you strictly look at the end-of-year value of each asset, or are there other criteria you recommend evaluating? My Schwab account rates my portfolio on risk vs. return.  Is this the ultimate way to measure how I am doing? If your account is taxable will using factor investing and rebalancing create a tax drag that overwhelms the better expected returns? Chris, which websites did your AAII panel on Factor Investing recommend for researching funds and learning about factor investing: https://paulmerriman.com/best-in-class-etf-recommendations/ https://www.portfoliovisualizer.com/ https://www.morningstar.com/ https://www.etf.com/ https://alphaarchitect.com/blog/ Daryl Bahls is Director of Analytics for The Merriman Financial Education Foundation and Chris Pedersen is Director of Research and author of the new book, 2 Funds for Life: A quest for simple & effective investing strategies available at Amazon and other online booksellers. You can watch Paul’s presentation Small-Cap Value presentation here. You can get your free copy of We’re Talking Millions! right here. The American Association of Individual Investors is an independent, nonprofit corporation formed for the purpose of assisting individuals in becoming effective managers of their own assets through programs of education, information and research. Learn More: https://www.aaii.com/membership/about-aaii You can join here starting at $2/month: https://invest.aaii.com/membership/

Cryptocurrencies, ARKK, inflation, market timing, Vanguard High Yield Bond Fund and emerging markets and mor This podcasts includes questions from a fellow advisor as well as questions from readers and listeners. Do you care that bond interest rates are below inflation and it seems that rates will stay below inflation over the next decade? Do you encourage investors to search for alternatives to bonds with higher expected returns? Do you think returns should be presented in real (after inflation) or nominal (no inflation) terms? Could an equity trend-following strategy be used as an alternative for bond funds? What advice do you give young investors on cryptocurrencies or stocks like GME or AMC? Many investors are convinced that investing in new rapidly growing companies (such as those ins the ARKK ETF) are superior to small cap value companies. Why choose the losers over the winners? Is a simple conventional 60:40 portfolio best for most investors? Why is your Ultimate Buy and Hold Portfolio underperforming the S&P 500 over the last 6 months? This answer explorers the winners and the losers over the last year. I’m disappointed in the recent 3 years of returns of emerging markets. Can you give me some historical perspective on the recent underperformance? Would an international small cap value fund be a good substitute for an emerging markets fund? What are the pros and cons of Vanguard’s High Yield Bond Fund and Total Bond Fund?

There can be big differences between asset class returns, as well as differences within asset classes. Why do some great funds look like dogs compared to their competitors?  How can there be over a 20% one year difference in return between two funds in the same asset class?  Paul examines these questions and recommends investors use the quilt chart constructed by Daryl Bahls to understand the randomness of short-term returns. He suggests reviewing any period of 10 to 20 years to see the movement from the best to worst from one year to the next. Link to Quilt Chart: https://paulmerriman.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/2020-Year-End-Podcast-Charts.pdf Article on 4 Fund Combo: https://paulmerriman.com/market-got-you-down-how-to-construct-a-comeback-portfolio/

In this podcast, Paul examines the outright lies made by industry leaders about the difference between index funds and active management.  They hope to skew your thinking to their advantage – not yours. Trillions of dollars in Americans' retirement savings are invested in large and small accounts managed by banks, brokerages, mutual funds, and insurance companies, which continue to fight the regulation of fiduciary responsibility. Whether your IRA or 401K will assure a safe retirement remains largely a gamble. In the documentary “The Retirement Gamble” – as true today as it was when made in 2013 – producers Martin Smith and Marcela Gaviria build on reporting from the groundbreaking series “Money, Power and Wall Street.” They reveal how fees, self-dealing, and kickbacks bring great profits to Wall Street while imperiling the prospects of a secure future for individuals. The documentary explores who has the consumer's best interests in mind, and whether there is a better way to manage our retirements. Paul’s book, Get Smart or Get Screwed: How To Select The Best and Get The Most From Your Financial Advisor, looks at why the brokerage industry is not serving your best interests and includes extensive lists of questions you should ask – and services you should receive – from an advisor. In particular, Chapter 16, which he reads in this podcast, addressing how not to “get screwed" by emotional appeals. Watch the Frontline Documentary:  “The Retirement Gamble”:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lkOQNPIsO-Q Get your copy of Get Smart or Get Screwed: How To Select The Best and Get The Most From Your Financial Advisor. It is available for sale at Amazon and other online booksellers, which supports the work of The Merriman Financial Education Foundation, or download a free copy. Here is what others have written about this book: “Excellent book especially for a DIY investor or someone just learning about personal finance… There is a plethora of bad investment advice out there in the world… It is difficult to sort through all the nonsense and to determine the true from the false… Fortunately, for Merriman's readers, he takes them by the hand and leads them through the jungle of nonsense out there in the world and explains how to avoid being taken in.” - DN “As a teacher of community-based investing classes, [I found it] a very useful book… I will definitely be adding it to my recommended reading list! I particularly liked the 2nd half of the book (chapters 11-16) that contains real-life examples of the bad practices and bad products you'll run across in your interactions with securities and annuities sales people. I had to follow the investment industry for years to learn about the various schemes and deceptions that need to be avoided. But you can gain all that knowledge in a week by reading (and rereading a few times) this part of the book.” – AP “This easy to read and easy to understand book is consistent with the other 4 books of Paul Merriman's that I have now read… What I have liked most about each of his books, although they may be written about different aspects of investing and in different words, is that they provide a consistent philosophy and recommendation on how to invest.” – DD Correction- Get Smart or Get Screwed was published in 2012 and not 2011.

Paul talks with Barbara Friedberg, financial writer and former investment portfolio manager, about his popular 4 fund combo and how and why to implement it. Among their discussion is how the 4 fund combo strategy outperformed the S&P 500 over the last 92 years. From 1928 through 2020 the Merriman 4-fund portfolio earned an average annual return of 11.7% versus the S&P 500 average return of 10.00%. [This podcast is also available as a video at:  https://youtu.be/vMFtJLAxFhI]. The Merriman Financial Education Foundation Four Fund Combo – - Small Cap Value - Small Cap Blend - Large Cap Value - S&P 500 Sign up for free at M-1 Finance and create your own 4 Fund Combo: https://m1finance.8bxp97.net/aXrzb (Affiliate Link – If you fund an account for $1,000 or more, The Merriman Financial Education Foundation receives a one-time affiliate fee.) Watch our M1 finance video tutorial with Chris Pedersen https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=02_KIRvBbmo Barbara A. Friedberg, MBA, is a former investment portfolio manager and university finance and investing instructor. She currently owns and manages two Investing websites: Robo-Advisor Pros https://www.roboadvisorpros.com/ and Barbara Friedberg Personal Finance https://barbarafriedbergpersonalfinance.com

Paul gives listeners a taste of what he will be discussing Sept. 25, 2021 at the Puget Sound Chapter of the American Association of Individual Investors (AAII) and at AAII’s virtual Annual Investor Conference Sept. 30 and Oct. 1. The title of the Puget Sound Chapter talk is, "The Ultimate Buy and Hold Strategy—on Steroids!” and for the Investor Conference it is, “20 Things You Should Know About Small Cap Value.” Below in the notes, Paul asks for your feedback. For those attending the Conference, Paul invites you to join him Oct. 1 at 8:30 a.m. for a special Plenary Session wherein he will receive the James Cloonan Award For Excellence In Investment Education. While in a recent podcast, S&P 500 vs. Small Cap Value NEW Fine Tuning Table, Paul discussed a new Fine Tuning Table — showing the year-by-year returns, along with the associated risk, of 11 combinations of the S&P 500 and a Small Cap Value index — in this podcast he continues that conversation, explaining how you can also put it to work during the accumulation and distributions period of your life. He introduces another new Fine Tuning Table that reflects an equity portfolio that is equally divided between the S&P 500 and SCV, along with multiple percentages of fixed income.  He also compares a Table of Fixed Contributions using the S&P 500 and S&P/SCV as well as Fixed Distribution Tables reflecting the S&P 500  and 50/50 S&P 500/SCV.   Paul asks a favor of his listeners.  Please let him know: What combination of S&P 500 and SCV would be comfortable for you? Send your response to [email protected] and please include your age and retired vs. non retired status. Many thanks to Daryl Bahls, our Director of Analytics for these and more than 150 tables prepared for The Merriman Financial Education Foundation to help you be a better investor.

In this podcast, Paul talks briefly about his upcoming  2-1/2-hour workshop, “The Ultimate Buy and Hold Strategy — on Steroids!” for the Puget Sound AAII Chapter on September 25, as well as the September 30-October 1 virtual AAII National Conference. For more information and to register for the Conference, click here. Paul answers the following questions from subscribers to his free newsletter: Have you done a study to compare the long-term returns of an All Blend vs. All Value Portfolio? Will an actively-managed small cap value fund produce enough premium to be worth the higher expense ratio? Are you considering adding a Monte Carlo simulator to your calculator?  What about the ability to test 2 Funds for Life? Which of your portfolios do you recommend for investors who want to “swing for the fences?” He discusses this article from Morningstar,  “Why Fund Returns Are Lower Than You Might Think,” which includes the results of the annual “Mind the Gap” study.  Closing this gap may add several million dollars to the lifetime return of your portfolio.  The study also address the impact of dollar cost averaging vs. lump sum investing. Finally, Paul considers a blog by Ben Carlson titled, "What Have the Stock Market Taught Us Since 2010?" which highlights the challenges of drawing conclusions from short periods of time.  Many investors have probably learned exactly the wrong lessons, and lessons about bear markets may be some of the most painful lessons.

In the podcast, Paul introduces a new Fine Tuning Table that compares different combinations of two equity funds (S&P 500 and Small Cap Value), providing the best way to look at the risk and return implications of combining these two great asset classes.  For over 20 years we have produced these tables representing combinations of an equity asset class, or equity portfolio, and different percentages of bonds. The first table (Table 3) we produced many years ago compared the S&P 500 with bonds. Paul points out many ways to use this new table as a learning tool. The lessons focus on the range of returns and risk exposure an investor is likely to experience, as well as the emotional hurdles each combination may create. These tables have been the best educational tool we have to help investors understand the long-term relationship between risk and return. On Friday, Oct. 1, 2021, Paul will make a 60-minute presentation at the AAII Virtual Investor Conference, “20 Things You Should Know About Small Cap Value Funds,” during which he will discuss this new Fine Tuning Table, along with many other important aspects of the small cap value asset class . Paul asks listeners to suggest additional lessons they get from their review of the Table.  HE intends to review these responses in preparation for his presentation on October 1.  Please send your comments to [email protected]. Paul also discusses the broad range of topics that will  be covered at the  Conference.  Not only will Paul and Chris Pedersen be presenting separate topics, each of them will be on panel discussions.  Chris, along with Larry Swedroe and Jack Vogel, will discuss  Factor Investing, and Paul, along with Christine Benz and Craig Israelsen, will discuss Retirement Investing. For information on the the AAII Virtual Investor Conference speakers and topics, and to register, go to: https://invest.aaii.com/conference/

In response to the continued discussion on the Bogleheads forum asking, “Why Does Anyone Listen to Paul Merriman?" Paul takes this opportunity to "share a wonderful teaching moment" from the comments of those who follow the work of John Bogle. Particularly, Paul considers the criticisms leveled against him regarding the recent performance of small-cap value funds, which he has been recommending for almost 30 years. While some Bogleheads counter that recommendation based on short-term returns, Paul reminds listeners even the idea of investing in any kind of common stock was once considered very unpopular. He cites Edgar Lawrence Smith’s best selling book, Common Stocks as Long Term Investments (1924), which promoted the then-surprising idea that stocks excel bonds over the long-term. Notes from This Podcast: Here is a link to the introduction from Edgar Lawrence Smith’s best seller, Common Stocks as Long Term Investments. Copyright 1928 (originally published 1924) Smith highlights the belief that bonds were chosen as a better solution than stocks.  Stocks were seen only as a speculation and Bonds as an investment.  Bonds were seen as the best choice for the long term and many large investment accounts did not include any stocks. I imagine those investors were as sure in their belief in bonds as the Bogleheads who disagree with SCV are in theirs. During the podcast Paul references Table 4 from the 90 Years study, Table 3a from the study comparing 11 portfolios including the Bogleheads, and the new Lifetime Investment Calculator .

Paul addresses a long thread on Bogleheads.org forum asking, "Why does anyone listen to Paul Merriman?" and recommends listeners follow the Bogleheads site for a variety of perspectives, and especially Rick Ferri’s excellent podcast interviews. Then, taking a detailed look at the latest return data on the 11 "No-Nonsense Portfolios,” he compares the annual and decade returns of the portfolios. Much of this discussion is focused on Table 3a but the other tables (links below) are for investors who want to dig deeper. Also, Paul shares early feedback on the newly-released interactive Lifetime Investment Calculator, developed by Craig Appl and generously donated to The Merriman Financial Education Foundation to help investors enter their own data, dive deeper into the recommended Merriman strategies, and get more value from the Foundation’s work. Check out the references and links in this podcast: Paul’s work is largely based on the academic research of Drs. Eugene Fama (https://www.chicagobooth.edu/faculty/directory/f/eugene-f-fama) and Kenneth French (http://mba.tuck.dartmouth.edu/pages/faculty/ken.french/curriculum_vitae.html).  You can also find out more about them on Wikipedia. "No-Nonsense Portfolios”: Table 1 Tables 2a and 2b Tables  3a and 3b Thanks to Daryl Bahls, Director of Analytics, for his creation of more than 150 historically-based tables. Lifetime Investment Calculator: https://paulmerriman.com/lifetime-investment-calculator/

The Merriman Financial Education Foundation Lifetime Investment Calculator is built from the 2021 fine tuning tables and includes enhancements like showing nominal vs. real returns, growth with contributions, fixed and flexible distributions. We don’t know the future, but the past contains many events that could happen again. The last 51 years include numerous wars, booms, busts, and periods of high and low inflation. We consider these last 51 years a sequence of returns and have chosen to loop through this 51 year sequence to support calculating up to 200 years of returns. The Merriman Educational Foundation creates numerous tables and charts, updated annually, to demonstrate the history of investment strategies, equity/fixed-income allocations, growth, and fixed/flexible distributions from 1970 until today. They are published at https://paulmerriman.com/ under “Best Advice.” We identified that the foundation’s community of individual investors, partner organizations, and stakeholders could benefit from an interactive version of these static assets. We built the Merriman Foundation Lifetime Investment Calculator to meet this need. The calculator aims to bring the annual Merriman Best Advice to life so that community members can enter their own analysis, dive deeper into the recommended Merriman strategies, and draw conclusions from the foundation’s work. The Merriman Financial Education Foundation Lifetime Investment Calculator is built from the 2021 fine tuning tables and includes enhancements like showing nominal vs. real returns, growth with contributions, fixed and flexible distributions. We don’t know the future, but the past contains many events that could happen again. The last 51 years include numerous wars, booms, busts, and periods of high and low inflation. We consider these last 51 years a sequence of returns and have chosen to loop through this 51 year sequence to support calculating up to 200 years of returns. Check out the The Merriman Financial Education Foundation Lifetime Investment Calculator at https://paulmerriman.com/lifetime-investment-calculator/ Watch Craig Appl’s videos showing how to use the calculator here.

In this podcast you’ll learn about a free online presentation for high school students and parents, the introduction of The Merriman Financial Education Foundation Lifetime Investment Calculator to be released Aug. 18, and the implications of investing in individual stocks. Paul begins with an invitation to an upcoming online presentation open to the public on August 16, 5-7 p.m. PT. What does the future hold for today’s high school students? Paul and Jeff Leinaweaver, a career exploration specialist, will deliver a two-hour on-line seminar on how Covid-19 is changing careers and education. They will discuss life-changing career decisions for the next generation, educational pursuits and financial options for now and in the future. Students and parents are encouraged to participate, as these decisions will impact the entire family. Sponsored by the Bainbridge Community Foundation. Register at:  https://tinyurl.com/k575wv29.  If you need help accessing the registration form, contact: [email protected] He continues with next week's important release of the new Merriman Foundation Lifetime Investment Calculator produced for our foundation by Craig Appl. This interactive calculator allows investors at any stage in life to evaluate the likely future of their present portfolio vs. other solutions that might represent less risk and better returns. Finally, Paul addresses the concerns of many investors who feel left out of the huge returns that have been generated by technology companies like Amazon, Microsoft, Netflix, Tesla and others. He examines the implications of building a portfolio of individual stocks that have produced these outsized returns and references the blogs of Ben Carlson ("A Wealth of Common Sense”). The following articles and graphs are mentioned in his podcast. https://awealthofcommonsense.com/2021/08/simple-explanations-for-complex-topics/ https://awealthofcommonsense.com/2021/03/owning-the-best-stocks-is-hard/ https://awealthofcommonsense.com/2021/03/owning-individual-stocks-vs-owning-the-stock-market/

In this podcast, Paul Merriman answers 10 questions recently submitted by his listeners and readers at paulmerriman.com. See additional links referenced below. What changes would you recommend to your 10-fund portfolio at retirement when you need the money to live on? 0:30 What should a late starter do to get caught up?  What do you recommend for investors who don’t have any experience?  I just turned 35 and I haven’t started saving for retirement. 3:45 Did I read that you and your wife not longer have any equities in your portfolio? I ask because I am 80 years old and am confused over what I thought you said and what you are saying now. 7:30 Should investments in a Roth IRA be in your tax-deferred portfolio?  You recommend VTMSX but Vanguard warns against using that fund inside a retirement account and recommends VSMAX. 9:30 Do you agree with many experts who say a lump sum investment is better than dollar cost averaging? 14:00 How should we prepare for a catastrophic market — all investments in government bonds directly or through Vanguard? 18:00 What do you think of using a simple 2-fund portfolio that is U.S. large-cap blend and small-cap value? 22:00 Which investments should I own in taxable accounts and which in tax-deferred or tax-free accounts? 24:15 What is your opinion of Northern Trust Mutual Funds? 26:00 What do you think of the combination of total market U.S. and International funds Tom Cock and Don McDonald reference in their "Talking Real Money" podcast? Plus some small-cap value?  28:30 For more about ROTH IRAs, see http://www.mypersonalfinancejourney.com/should-my-mutual-fund-be-held-in-roth/ For the new “no brainers” Table of Long-Term Results, visit this link. Click for Table 3a – No-Nonsense Portfolios for Sound Investing: Annual Returns

How much and what equity asset classes will investors choose for their portfolios? While this podcast is aimed at young investors, it also has implications for older investors who have a portion of their portfolio invested for younger heirs. Daryl Bahls has produced two new tables that give us a long-term view of the implications of the proportion of your portfolio that is committed to equites and the selection of equity asset class. One table titled, “Which 2 million dollar decision is right for you?” compares 6 different combinations of 90% bonds with 10% equities.  The equity combinations include 5% and 10% positions in the S&P 500, small-cap blend and small-cap value. Compared to an all bond portfolio, the lifetime impact of adding these 10% equity positions ranges from 2 to 10 million dollars. The second table, “Which 10 million dollar decision is right for you?” reflects the aggressive decision to invest in an all-equity portfolio with all or part of your portfolio.  In other words, you may only put 20% of you portfolio in equities but that position is left to grow without rebalancing. Paul suggests young investors think of investing as if you are starting a company that you want to grow over the long term. The following tables are also referenced during the podcast:  https://paulmerriman.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/06/2-4-fund-combo-2020.pdf Table 9 in this series of tables found at https://paulmerriman.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/02/Fine-Tuning-Tables-50-50-2020.pdf Get your free copy of We’re Talking Millions! 12 Simple Ways to Supercharge Your Retirement. Please share it widely!

Please note our free offer at the end of these podcast comments. In this podcast, Ed Fulbright, CPA, PFS, a fee-based advisor and host of Mastering Your Money™ radio show, talks with Paul Merriman about such topics related to financial freedom as: · Why is saving more important than spending? · What is the power of starting to invest early versus later? · Why are is small-cap so important to a person's portfolio? · What is the best advice you have ever received? · What do you want our listeners to remember? · Why are you giving away your latest book, We're Talking Millions! 12 Ways to Supercharge Your Retirement? Get your free copy of We’re Talking Millions! at: https://paulmerriman.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/Were-Talking-Millions.pdf

Don, Tom, and Paul Merriman get together again to discuss the pros and cons of owning stocks and the stock market.

Please take advantage of our free offer at the end of these podcast notes. The granddaddy of all investment decisions is the choice between stocks and bonds. While most investors know stocks make more than bonds, few know that even a small investment — as little as $25 dollars a month — can easily lead to the source of a million dollars in retirement and money left to others. This podcast explores the likely long-term term returns of stocks and bond, both before and after retirement.  Although Paul doesn’t comment on all the tables, he thinks investors will find all of them interesting.  Paul especially hopes you will take a look at Tables 1, 2, 3, 4 in this pdf, as well as Table 46. Get your free copy of We’re Talking Millions! 12 Simple Ways to Supercharge Your Retirement. Please share it widely!

Ever wonder why it’s fairly easy to plan something and much more difficult to stick with it? Inspired by a brief post on Seth Godin’s blog, about “Lines and curves,” Paul discusses this phenomena that sidetracks many sincere investors. (See Godin’s post below). He makes the case that the work he and his team do is like a ruler's "straight line," while the “curves” are what you have to deal with in real life as a ‘stay-the-course’ investor. Lines and curves  Working with a ruler is pretty straightforward. Just about anyone can extend a line, or fix something straight if it breaks. It’s on the line or it’s not. But curves? Curves are complex and hard to get right. It turns out that humans bring curves with them, wherever we go. This podcast is part of the educational offerings from The Merriman Financial Education Foundation, a registered 501(c)3.  If you found value in this podcast, here are five ways to support the podcast and our foundation: 1)     Leave a podcast review on your player of choice. 2)    Sign up for our biweekly newsletter at PaulMerriman.com and receive a free pdf copy of We’re Talking Millions! 12 Ways to Supercharge Your Retirement. 3)    Use our M1 Finance affiliate link to set up a brokerage account and use our portfolio suggestions. If you fund your account with a minimum of $1,000, our foundation will receive a one-time affiliate fee — at no cost to you — which helps support our financial education projects. 4)    Buy our latest book, We’re Talking Millions! 12 Simple Ways To Supercharge Your Retirement available at Amazon and other online outlets. 5)   Consider making a tax-deductible donation to the Foundation to support our mission to provide financial education to investors at all stages of life.  Thank you!

In this podcast, Paul makes the case that all 12 ways presented in his book, We’re Talking Millions! 12 Simple Ways to Supercharge Your Retirement, are EACH worth a million dollars or more.   It’s not just that an investor would make a million dollars, but that in each decision, or fork in the road, one fork would make an EXTRA million dollars more than the less productive path. Many people find this incredible, and Paul admits that most young investors would be very happy to make a million or two in total. But when his co-author, Richard Buck, with whom he has successfully and happily worked  for almost 30 years, confessed he personally found it a bit far-fetched, Paul felt pushed to the wall.  “I had to throw down the gauntlet, draw a line in the sand and commit myself to making Rich — and all the young investors I hope to reach with this information — understand once and for all why I believe this so strongly,” says Paul. In this 90 minutes, Paul walks you through all 12 ways, or forks in the road, so you fully understand (and can explain to others) how and why each way is really a $1 million (or more) decision. He explains the importance that small differences in returns make over a lifetime of investing. This table, “One-half percent difference over a lifetime” makes that difference very clear. In addition to the 12 ways, or decisions, Paul adds FIVE BONUS WAYS that will likely add another million to your  or your children’s or grandchildren’s future. Tune in to learn the whole truth of how and why these 12 Ways to Supercharge Your Retirement can mean well over $12 million additional dollars in your pocket over a lifetime.  And yes, that could come with only $6,000 a year invested over 40 years.  Get your FREE pdf of We’re Talking Millions! 12 Simple Ways To Supercharge Your Retirement and share it with all the people you know and care about. And if you find Paul’s comments unrealistic, please let him know why. He would like to share your position and his response in a future podcast.  Of course he won’t use your name so fire away to [email protected]

Paul, Tom and Don discuss the time frame over which investors should remain patient and how much return can reasonably be expected. They reference the article- “How Long is a Long Run?”, by Craig Israelsen.

The questions and topics in this podcast came out of the wonderful responses to the question posed to our free newsletter subscribers, "How we can keep you engaged?”Most of your studies offer returns over 30, 40, or more years.  For those of us who don’t have that kind of time, what can you tell us about the likely returns we should get?   In Paul’s response he references a terrific new article and study by Craig Israelsen, one of our Truth-Tellers.  His article, “How Long is a Long Run?”, offers the likely success of getting the historical returns for the next 5, 10, 15, 20, 25, 30 and 35 years.  Spoiler alert:  There’s good news and bad!  2:00 You and Larry Swedroe have convinced me to add small cap value to my portfolio.  Many retirement plans offer actively-managed small cap value funds with high expenses.  Do you have a hard cut-off on what level of expense is acceptable? 22:40 In your popular video, My Favorite 12 Vanguard Funds for Retirees, you recommend several actively-managed funds, including Wellington.  How can you recommend Wellington (VWLEX) when Vanguard offers Balanced Index Fund (VBIAX) with about the same balance of stocks and bonds?  28:05 You recommend a combination of short-term government bond fund, an intermediate bond fund and a TIPS fund for the bond portion of your portfolios.  Why not keep it simpler and just combine a total bond market fund like BND with a TIPS fund? 31:30 What advice or evidence can you offer to help investors who have started saving late in their career and are in danger of taking too much risk in an attempt to catch up? 35:20 I am 80 years old and never invested in the stock market.  I have used only CDs to build my retirement savings.  I now believe I need to add some equities to my portfolio.  What do you recommend I do to conservatively add equities and still sleep easy?  59:28 There are several links mentioned:  bankrate.com, stantheannuityman.com, and for this man’s children and grandchildren.  Download Paul's free books.

Warning: this podcast is geared for investors who like numbers.  It is focused on some of the best lessons from Paul's favorite book on investing. The Matrix Book 2021 is 100 pages (8 1/2 x 14) almost entirely dedicated to listing the annual returns of dozens of asset class, some from 1926 to 2020 and others starting where records of those asset classes were first tracked.  Those asset classes include U.S. and international large cap blend, large cap value, small cap blend, small cap value, commodities, short and long term U.S. and international corporate and government bonds and inflation. In most cases returns are listed for 1, 5, 10, 15, 20, 50 and 80 years. Topics: 1. How do the S&P 500 and Total Market Stock Indexes compare? 3:20 2. How have small cap blend (growth and value) and small cap value performed? 8:33 3. Not all indexes are the same.  How do the Russell and DFA index construction and returns differ? 11:00 4. Have recent small cap and value return premiums been as good as the past? 17:00 5. How have international asset performed? 19:56 6. How have emerging market performed? 22:00 7. How have bonds performed for the past 20 and 80 years? 23:35 8. How has inflation impacted returns over the past 20, 50 and 80 years? 25:30 9. Are commodities a good hedge against inflation? 27:52 10. What is the best investment to protect against inflation? 30:40 11. Which return is the most meaningful, before or after inflation? 33:17 12. What are the most important lessons from The Matrix Book 2021? 42:13 This podcast is part of the educational offerings from The Merriman Financial Education Foundation, a registered 501(c)3.  If you found value in this podcast, here are five ways to support the podcast and our foundation: 1)     Leave a podcast review on your player of choice. 2)    Sign up for our biweekly newsletter at PaulMerriman.com and receive a free pdf copy of We’re Talking Millions! 12 Ways to Supercharge Your Retirement. 3)    Use our M1 Finance affiliate link to set up a brokerage account and use our portfolio suggestions. If you fund your account with a minimum of $1,000, our foundation will receive a one-time affiliate fee — at no cost to you — which helps support our financial education projects. 4)    Buy our latest book, We’re Talking Millions! 12 Simple Ways To Supercharge Your Retirement available at Amazon and other online outlets. 5)   Consider making a tax-deductible donation to the Foundation to support our mission to provide financial education to investors at all stages of life.  Thank you!

In this episode of "Talking Real Money/Sound Investing,” Paul Merriman, Tom Cock and Don McDonald each bring a “common investor myth” that the three discuss. Paul’s myth: “We don’t believe in market timing.’" Tom’s myth: Rebalancing means beating the market and makes you more money. Don’s myth: "I’m entitled to a high rate of return on my investment." The conversation on myths starts at 1:35. Get for FREE: We’re Talking Millions! 12 Simple Ways to Supercharge Your Retirement by Paul Merriman and Richard Buck at paul merriman.com/signup Get for FREE: Financial Fysics: How Money and Investing Really Work by Don McDonald at talkingrealmoney.com/free Tom and Don at Vestory.com offer free help to all investors with no sales pitch, no obligation. This podcast is also available as a YouTube Video at- https://youtu.be/1Lzhkuk9QEQ

Paul takes you “behind-the-scenes” to the work he and his foundation have been doing this year along with what is upcoming, including Chris Pedersen’s new 2 Funds For Life book, Daryl Bahl’s new tables and an exciting calculator in development to construct your own situation using our tables of historical data. And he addresses some frequently asked questions from young, mid-career and retired investors. Topics and Q&A include: · Our surprising most-popular video · Expectations for the ETF project by Chris Pedersen · Buying 10 years of retirement $3,650 · Lump sum vs. dollar cost averaging · Lifetime investment strategies · Dreaming of winning the lottery · How to determine your glide path · Target date fund considerations Suggested reading: 101 Investment Decisions Guaranteed to Change Your Financial Future.) This podcast is part of the educational offerings from The Merriman Financial Education Foundation, a registered 501(c)3. If you found value in this podcast, here are five ways to support the podcast and our foundation: 1)  Leave a podcast review on your player of choice. 2)  Sign up for our biweekly newsletter at PaulMerriman.com and receive a free pdf copy of We’re Talking Millions! 12 Ways to Supercharge Your Retirement. 3) Use our M1 Finance affiliate link to set up a brokerage account and use our portfolio suggestions. If you fund your account with a minimum of $1,000, our foundation will receive a one-time affiliate fee — at no cost to you — which helps support our financial education projects. 4) Buy our latest book, We’re Talking Millions! 12 Simple Ways To Supercharge Your Retirement available at Amazon and other online outlets. 5) Consider making a tax-deductible donation to the Foundation to support our mission to provide financial education to investors at all stages of life. Thank you!

Today, on our joint Talking Real Money/Sound Investing podcast, Don and Paul Merriman discuss index funds and why they are the only way to build a decent portfolio. It's almost impossible to beat the market, so just be the market. Paul and Don show you: The best indexes to own based on science. Keeping costs low. The differences between funds and ETFs. How to maintain your long-term discipline. Visit Paul at paulmerriman.com

Welcome to another joint Talking Real Money/Sound Investing podcast. Today, Don, Paul, and Tom update you on the latest cryptocurrency news. Plus, with more than 10,000 mutual funds and ETFs available in the US, how do you choose the best ones for your portfolio?

In this engaging conversation with Romanian financial educator, writer, podcaster and YouTuber, Victor Vulpescu, Paul covers a wide variety of investor issues you likely may not have heard before in this way. He talks about his own life as “a series of opportunities and mistakes” and addresses the pitfalls of thinking “You only live once” and other ways investors trip themselves up with emotional-based decisions. They also cover such topics as: The up and downside of using leverage to reach your goals The importance of balance and habits The best time to invest Dollar cost averaging versus lump sum investing Market volatility and risk management Market timing and regrets When to rebalance your portfolio How to know when you have enough to retire And much more. According to Victor, although Romania's Main Stock Exchange was founded in 1882, only 1.5% of Romanians invest in the stock market, compared to 50% in the U.S.  He says Romanians are more comfortable buying apartment houses as they are perceived as less risky and less volatile. Additionally, with the availability of just ETFs in UCITS format, they have less investment options. However, Victor is committed to providing his fellow Romanians with sound investing information. In addition to Paul, Victor has recently interviewed Larry Swedroe, Meb Farber and Rick Ferri. He also offers an eBook and course for beginning investors and personal coaching. You can find all this at his website, translated from Romanian as “Intelligent Investor”: https://victorvulpescu.ro/ This “Sound Investing podcast is also available to watch as a video at this link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o9qxyLlam6c

Paul Merriman interviews Tim Ranzetta, President of Next Generation Personal Finance (NGPF.org), about his organization’s commitment to financial education for teachers and students, which is extraordinary. NGPF was created on the belief that financial literacy is the key to creating stable futures for the next generation. It promotes financial education in our public schools, and provides free engaging curriculum and professional development for any educator who is interested in the program, with an abundance of free resources for all. Learn about the results NGPF is tracking and the reasons not every student in the U.S. is being given access to this valuable, life-changing education. Discover the actions you can take to improve the financial future of your children, grandchildren and other young people (and educators) in your life and community. NGPF produced a video called “The Most Important Class You Never Had,” (watch on YouTube), which explains the critical impact of financial literacy on our lives — and how improving an understanding of finance during youth can change behavior into adulthood. NGPF focuses on helping students in grades 6-12. This interview is the final in the 2021 series of Financial Literacy Month events, “Take Control of Your Financial Future,” sponsored by The Merriman Financial Education Foundation, Bainbridge Community Foundation and Library U, a resource of the Bainbridge Public Library.

WELCOME TO SOMETHING NEW. After working together for many years, Paul Merriman, Tom Cock and Don McDonald are teaming up for a new audio/video podcast every two weeks. The audio podcasts will become a part of both the Talking Real Money and Sound Investing podcast feeds and the videos posted here and at paulmerriman.com. In this episode, Tom, Don, and Paul discuss cryptocurrencies in detail, exploring the pros and cons of these hot speculative vehicles.

Stan The Annuity Man®, by the title of this podcast, summarizes two key points of this conversation with Paul Merriman, as part of Stan’s “Fun With Annuities Podcast Celebrity Series.” Stan writes in his podcast notes, “I’d choose Paul Merriman advice over that of Warren Buffet.  Once you listen to this podcast, you will know why.” Meanwhile, Paul considers Stan “a Truth Tellers among financial educators.” They discuss: Making decisions that are in your individual best interest. Understanding what you’re trying to achieve and what you want to do with your investments in the market. Navigating the forks in the savings road. Finding your “good enough” return. Key Takeaways: To be a successful long-term investor, you have to shut out all of the noise. There is always a “good news list” and a “bad news list” for all market decisions. Stay in your lane — investing takes time. Every stock has reason to buy, and every stock has reason to sell. If they didn’t, there would be no trade. Connect with The Annuity Man: Website: TheAnnuityMan.com Email: [email protected]  Book: Owner’s Manuals YouTube: Stan The Annuity Man Fun With Annuities Podcast is hosted by America’s Annuity Agent®, Stan Haithcock, The Annuity Man®. Hear brutal annuity facts with no sales pitches from one of the top independent agents in the country, licensed in all 50 states. Author of 7 books, Stan dives deep on all annuity types and strategies. It’s fun, learning the contractual truths on how annuities actually work and if they’ll fit your personal retirement lifestyle. Listen or watch how you can be livin’ the reality, not the dream. Subscribe on YouTube, Libsyn, Stitcher, Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Amazon Podcasts, and Spotify. This podcast is part of the educational offerings from The Merriman Financial Education Foundation, a registered 501(c)3.  If you found value in this podcast, here are five ways to support the podcast and our foundation:

In this conversation, Paul Merriman talks with Rational Reminder Podcast hosts Benjamin Felix and Cameron Passmore, about how the right habits and investing approach can add millions to your retirement nest egg. Topics include: Paul’s investing philosophy, and how it’s been influenced by the work of Eugene Fama. Why Vanguard’s portfolio allocation ensures that clients have the smoothest possible emotional relationship with their investments. The benefits of simple vs. complex funds, and how simple funds fit with the preferences of many do-it-yourself investors. Why emotion — and not strategy — gets in the way of successful investing. The challenges of sticking to portfolios that are heavily weighted in small-cap value stocks. The difficulties in working with clients, and the role of financial advisors. Top habits and beliefs that lead to investing success; a key focus of his latest book, We’re Talking Millions. Target date glide paths. How Paul’s foundation educates investors. The relationship between money and a life well-lived. The Rational Reminder Podcast is a weekly podcast on sensible investing and financial decision-making for Canadians. Each week, hosts Benjamin Felix and Cameron Passmore, Portfolio Managers at PWL Capital, discuss topics related to personal finance, investing, behavior, and financial markets with the intention of making our listeners better, more rational investors. You can watch this interview on YouTube at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-SPAYhKKDDY

Paul Merriman interviews Larry Swedroe, renowned speaker and prolific writer on the science of investing, about his new, updated book, The Complete Guide to a Successful and Secure Retirement. But the discussion focuses on the validity of Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies, including the Dogecoin, the $36 billion dollar joke.  Larry wrote a blog about cryptocurrencies in 2017.  He stands by those statements. The interview also covers the following topics: investor challenges with markets at very high prices and lower expected future returns Historically low bond yields and low expected future returns Steps investors should take to live in a period of lower expected returns Additionally, Larry responds to questions from Paul and viewers about asset allocation, asset location for stocks and bonds, distribution limits, Roth conversions, considering Social Security as a bond, his own favorite asset allocation, future premiums for value and small cap asset classes, the importance of working with a fiduciary, the value of a family financial mission statement, how much to share with family members, reverse mortgages, the use of Monte Carlo studies, the role of annuities and many more important issues. Read Larry’s article, “How to Treat Social Security and Your Home in Your Financial Plan,” which addresses how investors should consider Social Security in regards to their equity/bond asset allocation. Paul strongly recommends the 2021 update of Larry’s book, The Complete Guide to a Successful and Secure Retirement, citing that investors will benefit from becoming aware of and avoiding at least 25 mistakes… every one of which is potentially  a life-changing move.   This conversation was part of a free series Financial Literacy Month presentations, “Taking Control of Your Financial Future,” co-sponsored by The Merriman Financial Education Foundation, the Bainbridge Community Foundation and Library U, a program of the Bainbridge Public Library.

Many of the risks we face in retirement are relatively under our control, while others are not. In this presentation Christine Benz https://www.morningstar.com/authors/30/christine-benz— Morningstar’s Director of Personal Finance, author of 30-Minute Money  Solutions: A Step-by-Step Guide to Managing Your Finances  and co-host of “The Long View” podcast — on which Paul Merriman was recently interviewed by Christine and Jeff Ptak — showed pre-retirees and retirees how to manage your portfolio and financial plan to protect against six very serious risks.  Those risks include retirement date risk, sequence of return risk, low-yield risk, inflation risk, health care and long-term care risk and longevity risk.  She also shared her favorite in-retirement mutual funds and exchange-traded funds (ETFs), and discussed her model bucket portfolios geared toward retirees. You might also enjoy: An index of Christine’s articles at Morningstar “Morningstar’s Benz: My journey from copy editor to fund analyst”.  A great story about Christine’s career. I think parents who wonder what their child is going to do in the future will find interesting Christine’s growth that came when she took a job for reasons most of us wouldn’t have considered. You can also follow Christine on Twitter

The world of investing had a wild ride in 2020, and is continuing into 2021. In this presentation, Paul Merriman explores the history and nature of stock market bubbles, long bull markets and short bear markets, day trading, hedge funds and the uncertainty that can accompany market bubbles. Issues covered include the good, the bad and the ugly about Robinhood, 4 free lunches of investing, whether Bitcoin is the “new gold,” how to invest in a bubble and much more. Click here for the slideshow materials. This is the first in a 5-part series of Financial Literacy Month Events on Bainbridge Island co-sponsored by The Merriman Financial Education Foundation in partnership with the Bainbridge Community Foundation and Library U, a program of the Bainbridge Public Library. Calling upon some of his favorite nationally renowned experts in their fields, Paul organized five free virtual events in April 2021 to help you better plan for your future. Presenters include Paul, Christine Benz of Morningstar, Larry Swedroe, author and director of research for Buckingham Asset Management and BAM Advisor Services, and Tim Ranzetta of NextGen Personal Finance. This podcast is part of the educational offerings from The Merriman Financial Education Foundation, a registered 501(c)3.  If you found value in this podcast, here are five ways to support the podcast and our foundation: 1)     Leave a podcast review on your player of choice. 2)    Sign up for our biweekly newsletter at PaulMerriman.com3)    Use our M1 Finance affiliate link to set up a brokerage account and use our portfolio suggestions. If you fund your account with a minimum of $1,000, our foundation will receive a one-time fee at no cost to you, which helps support our financial education projects. 4)    Buy our latest book, We’re Talking Millions! 12 Simple Ways To Supercharge Your Retirement available at Amazon and other online outlets. 5)  Consider making a tax-deductible donation to the Foundation to support our mission to provide financial education to investors.  Thank you!

Paul talks with Christine Benz and Jeff Ptak about his commitment to indexing, why he believes in small value stocks, the perils of performance-chasing, and more. They covered such topics as: Best ways to get young people to understand investment process How to get investment information to people who need it most Why Paul was attracted to index funds and DFA The future of the value premium The risk of value investors capitulating The pros and cons of 2 Funds for Life Why target date funds have more value The risk of bonds in a rising interest rate market Use of target date funds in retirement The value of an advisor Check out the extensive list of related articles and podcasts compiled by “The Long View” team at: https://www.morningstar.com/podcasts/the-long-view/103 Join Christine Benz Thursday April 8, 4:30-6 p.m. PT, via Zoom, for a special presentation, “Six Retirement Blind Spots and How to Fix Them”. RSVP by clicking here or email [email protected] with “Christine Benz”. This free presentation, the second in the series of five, is part of the Financial Literacy Month series, “Taking Control of Your Financial Future,” co-sponsored by The Merriman Financial Education Foundation, the Bainbridge Community Foundation and Library U, a program of the Bainbridge Public Library. The series is free and open to the public. Registration required. For more info, go to: https://paulmerriman.com/financial-literacy-month-events-on-bainbridge-island/ Click here to hear Paul’s brief recording about Christine’s presentation.

This podcast is a must for anyone within 5 years of retirement as Paul discusses the annual update on the comparison of fixed and flexible distributions in retirement. The tables are intended help you determine how much you need to retire and how much you can take out without the risk of running out of money before running out of life. Paul illustrates key points using Tables 10, 45, 11, 46, 12, 47, 49a, 57a, 58a and 59a. You may also find these two articles useful: How much should you take out of your portfolio when you retire? (fixed distributions) How do you know how much you can afford to withdraw from your retirement accounts? (flexible distributions) This podcast is part of the educational offerings from The Merriman Financial Education Foundation, a registered 501(c)3.  If you found value in this podcast, here are five ways to support the podcast and our foundation: 1)     Leave a podcast review on your player of choice. 2)    Sign up for our biweekly newsletter at PaulMerriman.com 3)    Use our M1 Finance affiliate link to set up a brokerage account and use our portfolio suggestions. If you fund your account with a minimum of $1,000, our foundation will receive a one-time fee at no cost to you, which helps support our financial education projects. 4)    Buy our latest book, We’re Talking Millions! 12 Simple Ways To Supercharge Your Retirement available at Amazon and other online outlets. 5)  Consider making a tax-deductible donation to the Foundation to support our mission to provide financial education to investors.  Thank you!

How much money can you take from your investments in retirement?  Planning for this “distribution" involves the biggest series of investment decisions of your lifetime. How much do you need to accumulate in order to retire without fear of running out of money before you run out of life? How much can you take out?  How much should you have in equities and how much in bonds?  Do you need to own any equities in order for your money to last a lifetime?  How much can you take out to maximize your goals of enjoying retirement and helping others, while making sure you are not a financial burden to others? This focus of this podcast is on helping those who plan to retire with “enough” money to meet their basic needs, without goals of spending large amounts beyond the basics. These are often people who would like to retire  A.S.A. P.  (In the next podcast Paul addresses those who intentionally save more than “needed” so they can spend more in retirement.) Paul recommends you review several Fine Tuning Tables, including Table 3 using the S&P 500, Table 4a using the 10-fund Ultimate Buy & Hold Portfolio, 6a using the Worldwide 4-Fund Portfolio and Table 7a All-Worldwide-Value Portfolio. These combinations of asset classes form the basis of the Fixed Distribution Tables: Table 10 uses a 3% initial distribution with combination of the S&P 500/bonds, Table 11 uses a 4% initial distribution with the S&P 500/bonds, Table 12 uses a 5% initial distribution with the S&P 500/bonds and Table 13 uses a 6% initial distribution with the S&P 500/bonds. Table 15a uses a 4% initial distribution with the 10-fund Ultimate Buy and Hold Portfolio, Table 23a does the same using the Worldwide 4-Fund Portfolio and Table 27a does the same thing using a Worldwide All-Value Portfolio.