This is the second podcast in a series of what Paul Merriman thinks are "the most important investment information” the Merriman Financial Education Foundation updates annually. Paul starts with a quick review of the previous podcast, The Ultimate Buy and Hold Strategy Update 2021 regarding the 10 equity asset classes.  For those who did not hear the previous, it will help to download 2 tables: Table 1a, which reflects returns of a 50/50 split between U.S. and international equity asset classes and Table 1b, which reflects the returns of a 70/30 split between U.S. and international equity asset classes.  From these two tables investors can easily compare the impact of adding 9 different equity asset classes to the S&P 500. The following is the MarketWatch article that discusses these portfolios. Paul moves on to the same 50/50 and 70/30 balance of U.S. and international, except the number of holdings are fewer... and in some cases creating higher returns due to the minimization of growth in the portfolio. See tables 2a and 2b. He makes the point that the original Ultimate Buy and Hold Strategy was not built to be the most profitable... but to exposed investors to similar risk as the S&P 500 along with meaningful high returns.  If higher returns without regard to risk were the only limit, the portfolio could have overweighted value more than it does. Paul then discusses the risk and return of two 4-Fund Combinations: The All U.S. and the 50/50 U.S. and International. Of particular note is that the returns and risk of the 4 Funds are almost the same as the 10-fund portfolios. This is not "earth shattering." as the exposure to small/large/value/growth is close to that in the 10-fund portfolios. After helping investors find an easier path to expected returns, the objective is changed to finding a way to get higher returns by eliminating most of the growth holdings.  In each case, these All-Value portfolios increase returns by .5% to 1% more. The impact on the total dollar growth is astounding for the All Small Cap Value portfolios, but likely beyond the risk tolerance for most investors.  However, that doesn’t mean there isn’t a place for a portion of the portfolio. The next podcast will focus on all of these different combinations of equity asset classes to see what happens to risk/return in an All-Equity portfolio as well as different combinations of equities and fixed income.

Paul Merriman discusses the 2021 updated Ultimate Buy and Hold Strategy, designed to show why the 10 equity asset classes should be part of a diversified portfolio. This new study uses an expanded base of returns so that all 10 equity asset classes are reflected in the 1970 to 2020 period. While the expansion of returns makes the returns more dependable, the results are virtually the same as with the previously limited data base. Every year since 2012, The Merriman Financial Education Foundation updates this UB&H Strategy as among its most important work. The 2021 study makes reference to two tables that listeners will want to review. They are the Worldwide Equity Portfolio Tables 50% US/50% Int’l and the Worldwide Equity Portfolio Tables 70% US/30% Int’l. 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!

In this fast-paced, fun and educational interview by Paula Pant — the self-described “writer and instigator” behind the weekly podcast, “Afford Anything” — Paul and Paula discuss: Meeting Vanguard founder John Bogle 2 Funds for Life What’s wrong with Target Funds? What’s different about investors today? Why should investors make more in future? Should you add internationals to your portfolio? What happens to bond portion of portfolio in 2 Funds? What should investors do with the market at historical highs? How can you know the risk you’re taking? As Paul commented, “It was the 300th podcast of “Afford Anything” and I can see why Paula is so popular… she’s a terrific interviewer and wonderful teacher! I like how, in the beginning of the podcast, she defined some terms to be used during discussion, including an explanation of asset allocation, and provided a powerful wrap-up at the end with “5 Key Takeaways.” Visit Paula Pants’ website for podcasts, blogs, community and her free book, Escape: https://affordanything.com/ 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!

Of the many mutual fund and ETF portfolios on our website, paulmerriman.com, which of the dozen-plus portfolios is most appropriate for you, given your risk tolerance and need for investment return? The goal of this lively discussion — with Paul Merriman, Chris Pedersen and Daryl Bahls — is to help you decide. Topics covered include: A short history of the Vanguard,Fidelity,T Rowe Price and Schwab portfolios — offered first on the Merriman Wealth Management website and moved to the website for The Merriman Financial Education Foundation. The Vanguard ETF Portfolio as well as the many Best-in-Class ETF portfolios, including the Ultimate Buy and Hold, U.S. 4 Fund Combo, Worldwide 4 Fund Combo, All Value, All Small Cap Value, and a series of 2 Funds for Life Portfolios. Regarding the Ultimate Buy and Hold Strategy, Paul discusses the use of the Fine Tuning Your Asset Allocation Tables to determine the best combination of stocks and bonds. Plus, those tables are used later in discussing the 4 Fund Combos. The many psychological considerations in selecting the right portfolio, explored by Daryl. A reminder of how patient a small-cap investor must be, by Chris, who also presents a new Tell Tale chart from 1928 to 2019. Consideration of the pros and cons of each of the ETF portfolios, by Chris. Watch video here.

Paul Merriman is amazed at the interest in GameStop. People he's known for years and never had an interest in the stock market are getting involved…. only emotionally for most, but for many both emotionally and financially. In this podcast, Paul explains the difference between going “long" and ‘short” in the market, and what drove him to buy GameStop when it was selling for under $10 a share. He addresses the problems with short selling and why the unit-of-return per unit return stinks. If people are happy to see hedge funds fail, they should be happy to learn that only about 5% of hedge funds stay in business for more than 10 years. The good news is GameStop is a major holding for Vanguard and DFA — over 9 million shares between them. Paul discusses the Grizzly Fund (GRZZX), which is one of the better performing short funds. Over last 15 years, a $1000 investment became worth $100, which is better than the average short fund where $1000 became worth $50. Why? The answer includes the long-term returns of short recommendations from "The Hulbert Financial Digest"’s study of newsletters. Questions & Answers How should I invest for the next 10 years?  Do you think 2 Funds for Life would be right for me? Paul answers and also references Chapter 10 of his book, Financial Fitness Forever. In our current low-interest-rate environment, do you think that will affect the ability of bonds to help counteract market downturns? Is it possible to include the inflation rate along with the return in the tables the foundation creates? Paul suggests a number of other data points that would be nice to have. Finally, Paul explores an investor's claim that he has done well since the mid-1980s. Was it luck or was it skill? 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:

Paul Merriman, founder and president of The Merriman Financial Education Foundation, Chris Pedersen, director of research, and Daryl Bahls, director of analytics, discuss the 2021 Best-in-Class ETFs  Paul starts the discussion with a short history of his commitment to providing mutual fund recommendations  He makes it clear that they are not CFPs, CFAs or registered investment advisors, and he notes that selecting the “best" ETFs has its limitations and is not a science. Chris then discusses the steps he takes to identify the final choice in each equity asset class, and why he chose several new ETFs, including his expectation for additional return. Chris, Daryl and Paul answer related questions including: Should I immediately switch old positions into the new recommendations? Should I hold the old positions and start a new portfolio at M1 Finance? Having started an account for a one-year-old child with a small-cap value fund, should I buy more small-cap value or put the next investment into another asset class? Why are you suggesting ETFs with higher expenses? Why have you eliminated the more risky emerging markets ETFs? To see the Powerpoint slides, click here. To watch the video click here.

Paul announces Chris Pedersen's Best In Class ETF Recommendations for 2021 and Paul’s updated Mutual Fund recommendations for Vanguard, Fidelity, T. Rowe Price and Schwab. In anticipation of next week’s Zoom call to discuss the new portfolios and fund recommendations, Paul Merriman, Chris Pedersen and Daryl Bahls are soliciting questions from you, our listeners. If you have questions related to this work, please submit them to [email protected] with subject line: ETF/MUTUAL FUND QUESTION. They will try to address them in next week’s recording. Paul answers these recent questions from our readers and listeners: How should I invest $160,000 for my 66-year-old mother who doesn’t need the money to live on? 12:28 What are the advantages and disadvantages of the Ultimate Buy and Hold Strategy and 2 Funds for Life for a 57 year old? 18:39 What is the most tax-efficient way to rebalance an All-Equity portfolio? 26:39 Should I pay off a mortgage or invest in my retirement accounts? 29:45 Why are your large-cap value index higher than the large-cap value at Vanguard? 33:12 How is having $300,000 at age 65 a million dollar advantage? 42:55 Why do you think index funds are better than owning an investment in real estate property? 48:45 I want to put money into a Roth IRA. Should I use your tax-deferred or taxable portfolio recommendations? 58:54 Don McDonald’s Talking Real Money Minute — “Cryptocurrency: yes or no?" Don McDonald, Co-Founder and co-host of the "Talking Real Money" podcast, produces the “Money Minutes” often featured on “Sound Investing” podcasts. Don also produced the soon-to-be-released audio version for our latest book, We’re Talking Millions!.

Paul introduces Don McDonald, Co-Founder of  Vestory Investment Advisory and co-host of "Talking Real Money" podcast, who will be producing “money minutes” for most of our podcasts. Don also produced the soon-to-be-released audio version for our latest book, We’re Talking Millions!. Paul discusses the upcoming Retiremeet America 2021 free online conference on Feb. 20, 8:00 a.m.-1:00 p.m. PT. See the list of speakers, topics, speaking times and registration form at https://retiremeet.com  Paul and David Booth, Co-Founder of Dimensional Fund Advisors, are keynoting the conference. Before addressing the Q&A's Paul discusses an article, “Deep Risk in the United States of America,” by Ben Carlson. Ben is on Paul’s list of Truth Tellers and highly recommends Ben's articles and podcasts at https://awealthofcommonsense.com/. Larry motivates Paul to discuss the question: What changes should a pre-retiree make to their portfolio when they have saved enough to retire, even though they are planning to work longer? 19:00 What asset allocation should I have when I reach retirement but don’t need the money to live on? 23:40 How would you suggest someone who is currently in cash get back into the market? 31:22 Don McDonald’s “Talking Real Money” — The risks in owning bonds With bond yields so low do you expect retirement returns to be significantly lower than in your tables?  38:57 In a recent newsletter we mentioned a presentation by Barry Schwartz, author of The Paradox of Choice. The focus of the presentation was what happens when people are offered too many choices. We linked to a college presentation that got into other topics not of interest to us.  Here is a shorter presentation and very popular TED Talk with over 15 million views: https://www.ted.com/talks/barry_schwartz_the_paradox_of_choice?language=en   45:10 In your 2012 book, First Time Investor, you were not in favor of target date funds. What has changed that you now recommend them? 60:40 Do you really think the S&P is going to beat Berkshire Hathaway over the next 10 years? 57:45 I know an investment advisor who made 29% a year over the last 2 years and he has all of his own money in the portfolio he wants me to use —individual stocks, not index funds. Is this investment philosophy a fool's errand and am I falling for a siren’s song? 1:06:35

This podcast addresses the most important investment lessons of 2020 from The Merriman Financial Education Foundation’s research team, Chris Pedersen and Daryl Bahls. In each case there is a table/chart/graph that helps illustrate the lesson. (See more below. Also, WATCH as a VIDEO). In this a year-end Zoom call, Chris discusses his recent studies on using “2 Funds for Life after 60” as well as the case for international diversification and how he has created additional past returns for international asset classes that are difficult to find. Paul discusses why he thinks the new book, We’re Talking Millions, has been well received. Each finished the discussion with what’s coming in 2021. For Daryl it is new studies on distributions and inflation. For Chris it is a new book on 2 Funds for Life, along with Best In Class ETF Portfolio updates. For Paul it is more presentations to high school and college students, a series of 5-minute videos, promoting the upcoming We’re Talking Millions audio book, and a major overhaul of his website. About The Charts Click here to access a pdf of the charts The first two Quilt Charts show the one year returns (1928-2019) for S&P 500, Large Cap Value, Small Cap Blend, Small Cap Value and 4 Fund Portfolio. Only 1 in 5 years produced expected premiums. The next two quilt charts show that the 10 and 20 year results become more dependable in achieving results. In 75% of the 20 year periods the ranking of results was as expected. The next 5 graphs show the relative strength of the S&P 500 vs. the 4 Fund, All Value and Small Cap Value Portfolios. All of the graphs show investors how very patient they must be to capture the better returns of the different portfolios. The worst case in each graph ran from 15 to 20 years of under-performance. The next five tables track the risk and returns of 11 super simple portfolios of 1 to 4 funds.  The good news is all but one of the portfolios had very fine returns. It was also noted that the best performers also had the biggest number of best and worst years. The Ultimate Buy and Hold Equity Portfolio didn’t produce many new lessons but the one it produced was interesting. After 50 years of performance the All Value Portfolio produced its first total return that was lower than the portfolio of all 10 asset classes. What Paul failed to note (but Daryl and Chris left in the table) was the 50-year result of the 4 Fund All U.S. Portfolio of 12.3%, just .3% less than the much more complex 10-fund Ultimate Buy and Hold Portfolio.

In this presentation Paul discusses the advantages of Vanguard, best cash management fund, best equity fund, best balanced funds, best bond funds and more at Vanguard. He also explains how retirees can buy a pension for the rest of their life and make more than 7% a year, most of it tax free. Paul mentions how investors can receive a free library of books on annuities from stantheannuityman.com/. This video is part of a series of educational events sponsored by The Merriman Financial Education Foundation and the Bainbridge Community Foundation. “Financial health is important to both individual and community well being,” says Jim Hopper, BCF executive director. “Charitable giving begins with confidence in your own financial position, and we’re pleased to offer these seminars to help islanders make sound decisions with their money at every stage of life. Investing in yourself and your community, they’re two sides of the same coin.” To learn more about the Bainbridge Community Center, visit their website or Facebook page. For the video of this presentation, click here. 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 if you are interested in setting up a brokerage account, using our portfolio suggestions. The Foundation will receive a one-time small fee at no cost to you. 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!

In this year-end holiday message for 2020, Paul speaks to the importance of financial education and sharing knowledge as a form of caring for yourself, your loved ones and future generations. In keeping with the of mission of The Merriman Financial Education Foundation, a free PDF of our latest book, We’re Talking Millions! 12 Simple Ways To Supercharge Your Retirement, will soon be available to teachers and students and to those who sign up for Paul’s free twice-a-month “Sound Investing” newsletter at https://paulmerriman.com/signup/. Sign up now for more details in our next newsletter! You can also watch this message on Paul's YouTube. 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 if you are interested in setting up a brokerage account, using our portfolio suggestions. The Foundation will receive a one-time small fee at no cost to you. 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!

Joe Saul-Sehy, of the award-winning podcast "Stacking Benjamins,” interviews Paul on the a wide variety of topics, such as: What was the key to your investing success? How do you bridge the gap between the spender and a saver in a relationship? Why did you started the latest book, We’re Talking Millions! 12 Simple Steps To Supercharge Your Retirement, with a discussion of inflation? What’s the impact of fixed vs. variable distributions? What’s the choice between stocks vs. real estate How is diversification a million dollar decision? What is the 10-million-dollar decision? What are the most important of the 12 investment decisions? A free PDF of the book is available to teachers and students. To learn more about this, sign up for Paul’s free twice-a-month newsletter at https://paulmerriman.com/signup/ Stacking Benjamins was named "Best Finance Podcast” by Kiplinger and won Best Business Podcast 2017 Academy of Podcasters Award and Plutus Award 2014, 2017, 2018.  You can hear the whole show at: StackingBenjamins.com/Paul-Merriman-978 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 if you are interested in setting up a brokerage account, using our portfolio suggestions. The Foundation will receive a one-time small fee at no cost to you. 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!

I’m very near retirement. What advice would you recommend? :46 What four Vanguard and Fidelity funds do you recommend for your 4-Fund Strategy?  (Recommendations are discussed in the article, “Don’t just default to the S&P 500: Consider the simple 4 funds”.) 6:04 How can a European use your 4-Fund Strategy? 7:42 How about using the 4-Fund Strategy in the U.K.? 11:49 Should I use an advisor or manage the portfolio myself?  Does DFA still have an advantage over Vanguard? 15:56 Can you recommend Vanguard ESG funds? 22:47 When are you going to update your Fidelity and Vanguard mutual fund recommendations? 23:40 Where can we park some profits?  25:00 Most of my nest egg is out of the market waiting for a large drop in the market. Do you expect the market to drop after the holidays? 29:57 We have been in a bull market in bonds for 40 years. But with rates so low that party is over. What investments do you suggest to replace longer duration bonds in most asset allocation plans? 35:00 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 if you are interested in setting up a brokerage account, using our portfolio suggestions. The Foundation will receive a one-time small fee at no cost to you. 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!

In this insightful interview by Doc G of Earn & Invest, authors Rich Buck and Paul Merriman talk about their new book, We’re Talking Millions: 12 Ways To Supercharge Your Retirement. They cover topics such as their long-time professional collaboration, simplicity in investing, risk, beating the market, portfolio recommendations and the magic of compound interest over time. Buy We’re Talking Millions: 12 Ways To Supercharge Your Retirement in Kindle or Amazon Print editions. (Soon to be available at other outlets and on Audible). Watch Paul’s video about the book. Visit the book’s website. Doc G was an internal medicine physician when he discovered the personal finance community through Dr. Jim Dahle’s “The White Coat Investor.” He left clinical practice to pursue his passion for deep conversations about money and life and has found the meaning of “enough” through the FIRE movement (Financial Independence Retire Early). 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 four 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 if you are interested in setting up a brokerage account, using our portfolio suggestions. The Foundation will receive a one-time small fee at no cost to you. 4)    Consider making a tax-deductible donation to the Foundation to support our mission to provide financial education to investors.  Thank you!

A  Giant Thank You!

In this interview on Vestory’s “Talking Real Money” podcast, Tom Cock and Paul Merriman discuss these four topics: The new book, We’re Talking Millions! 12 Simple Ways To Supercharge Your Retirement by Paul and Rich Buck. The biggest mistakes people make when preparing for retirement and how to avoid them. Young investors: how to overcome robinhood fever: desire for making big profits trading high tech or penny stocks. How to invest in a pandemic.  What seniors should do with their maturing CDs. We’re Talking Millions! 12 Simple Ways To Supercharge Your Retirement is available now at Kindle Pre-Sale. Both the print and Kindle versions will be available Dec. 1. If you purchase before Midnight (Pacific Time) on Dec. 2, you’ll receive an exclusive invitation to a special live Zoom Q&A event with the authors and special guests. Anyone subscribed to Paul’s Free twice-a-month newsletter at PaulMerriman.com before Dec. 1 will receive a free pdf of the book. However, your purchase helps support the work of The Merriman Financial Education Foundation. Your donations to our 501(c)(3) are greatly appreciated.

This “Money Talks” event brought together Rick Ferri, Larry Swedroe and Paul Merriman to discuss personal finance and investing from their various perspectives. It was a free live online event hosted by Choose FI’s Community Director Jennifer Mah on Oct. 7, 2020. Due to length of the conversation, we are presenting it in two parts. Here are some of the diverse topics covered. You can access Part 1 here for Video and here for Podcast. Rick discussed the 4 levels of getting to investment nirvana. Larry recommended anyone getting ready for retirement read Your Retirement Quest: 10 Secrets for Creating and Living a Fulfilling Retirement by Alan Spector and Keith Lawrence. Rick Ferri, CFA, is an investment analyst, adviser and author committed to helping DIYers. He is the president of the John C. Bogle Center for Financial Literacy, a frequent contributor to Bogleheads.org and host of the Boglehead podcast. Larry Swedroe is one of the most knowledgeable people I know about asset class selection and asset allocation, and the author of many acclaimed books including Your Complete Guide to a Successful and Secure Retirement 1st Edition by Larry Swedroe (Author), Kevin Grogan, Wise Investing Made Simple: Larry Swedroe's Tales to Enrich Your Future (Focused Investor), and his recent release of the 2nd edition of The Incredible Shrinking Alpha: How to be a successful investor without picking winners. This podcast is also available as a Video.

There is something of interest for every investor in this “Money Talks” event that brought together Rick Ferri, Larry Swedroe and Paul Merriman to discuss personal finance and investing from their various perspectives. It was a free live online event hosted by Choose FI’s Community Director Jennifer Mah on Oct. 7, 2020. Due to length of the conversation, we are presenting it in two parts. Here are some of the diverse topics covered. Part 2 will be broadcast next week. The topics covered were diverse and included: The difference between the desire, willingness and need to take risk How to build portfolios for retirees during a period of low interest Pros and cons of Monte Carlo studies When it makes sense to use advisors who charge by the hour Why understanding investors is more important than finding the best investment strategy Keys to retiring early How do you know when you have enough to retire? The pros and cons of investing in companies that pay dividends Why retirees depending on dividends should increase their exposure to stocks How to make smart tax-efficient moves How to you move from one strategy to another Pros and cons of target date funds Pros and cons of preferred stocks Which are best:  CDs or bond funds? What investments should be held in taxable and tax deferred accounts?

In a live AAII webinar on Oct. 21, 2020, Chris Pedersen, Director of Research at The Merriman Financial Education Foundation, presented some very simple portfolios that achieve massive diversification and how to apply a variety of approaches during both working years and retirement. Following this presentation, Chris, Paul Merriman and Daryl Bahls, Director of Analytics, met (virtually) to address additional questions received during the event. What withdrawal strategies do you recommend?  Should I take money equally or draw from the fund that has grown the most?  How do RMDs change things? How do you manage a do-it-yourself 2 Funds for Life portfolio using only a U.S. Total Market Fund and a U.S. small-cap-value fund? What percent of investors can sustain a strategy the means experiencing a 50% decline? Why did the Trev4 Portfolio do so much better in Chris’ presentation compared to Paul’s presentation? Why don’t you mention mid-cap funds? How can an investor determine what factors their stocks and bonds fall in to? How can an investor add some value and size factors to their portfolio without exposing them to too much risk? What mix of assets are suggested to a retiree with the goal of asset preservation that keeps up with inflation? In the Vanguard TDF example, why is there a disproportionately lower increase in return as you go up in the stock exposure? how much will taxes from rebalancing hurt my returns in a taxable account? To view the graphics from this Q&A session (thanks to Daryl Bahls), click here. See the original AAII presentation here.  For a free download of the original presentation slideshow (by Chris Pedersen),click here. This podcast is also available as a Video. 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 four 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 if you are interested in setting up a brokerage account, using our portfolio suggestions. The Foundation will receive a one-time small fee at no cost to you. 4)    Consider making a tax-deductible donation to the Foundation to support our mission to provide financial education to investors.  Thank you!

“This is one of the most important presentations I have seen on the topic of building balanced portfolios.” — Paul Merriman Chris Pedersen, Director of Research at The Merriman Financial Education Foundation, presented this live AAII webinar event on Oct. 21, 2020, discussing some very simple portfolios that achieve massive diversification across industries, geographies, stocks, bonds and various equity premium factors. By utilizing and augmenting target-date funds, investors can even adjust risk to age-appropriate levels. Chris compares past performance to more complex approaches and shows that complexity is not a necessity, and he also examines how these approaches apply to people accumulating during working years and withdrawing during retirement. In this podcast you’ll learn: New data on the "No-Nonsense portfolios" Paul discussed in his September 23 AAII presentation, including the impact of adding bonds to Paul’s all-equity results New data on 2 Funds for Life 5 ways to build a balanced portfolio New research on the factors that have led to higher long-term returns How adding factors to a portfolio will likely lead to more consistent returns Recommended mutual funds and ETFs for many of the No-Nonsense Portfolios What investors in the accumulation and distribution stages of life give up by using the "Simple and Effective Balanced Portfolios" Plus Chris answers some of the most important questions regarding the pros and cons of rebalancing,  the pros and cons of adding international funds, the best bonds for stability and growth and the best safe withdrawal rate for the most popular portfolios. In the coming weeks Chris, Daryl and Paul will respond to additional questions that there was not time to answer during the presentation. For a free download of the presentation, click here. This podcast is also available as a Video. 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 four 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 if you are interested in setting up a brokerage account, using our portfolio suggestions. The Foundation will receive a one-time small fee at no cost to you. 4)    Consider making a tax-deductible donation to the Foundation to support our mission to provide financial education to investors.  Thank you!

Paul is joined by Chris Pedersen, Director of Research and Daryl Bahls, Director of Analytics for The Merriman Financial Education Foundation, to answer questions from viewers of the AAII Webinar, "Which Is The Best 1-,2-, 3- and 4 Fund Strategy?” that Paul presented Sept. 23, 2020. While the presentation explored returns of 11 portfolios, from 1 to 4 funds, the focus was on the Merriman 4-Fund Combo.  See all URL links below. It is not necessary to watch or listen to the original presentation to appreciate this Q&A session, but it will likely be helpful. This is presented as both a podcast and a YouTube video. If you enjoy this, please like and share. Your engagement helps support our work…thank you! Download a free PDF of all slides in the original presentation: https://paulmerriman.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/QA-Podcast-1-Charts.pdf As the presentation included results for all 11 of what we call “No-Nonsense Portfolios,” several viewers wanted to know how the 10-fund Merriman Ultimate Buy and Hold Portfolio performed for the 1990-2019 period. In this Q&A we addressed that topic. The following questions are from the live event’s audience:  Will you be developing small portfolios that include international equity funds? Will you discuss your use of market timing, including how DFA uses market timing in their portfolio management? With only 10 years left until retirement, how appropriate will the 2 Funds for Life portfolio be? •  What is a safe withdrawal rate in retirement? What do you recommend for a 50- to 60-year-old who wants to retire now compared to one who is 60 to 70?  (The viewer adds he has a $3 million portfolio.) How can you recommend bond funds when they pay such little income? Do you like the Life Cycle Funds within the U.S. Government Thrift Savings Plan?  Would you recommend the Small Cap Fund in the TSP for your 2 Funds for Life Portfolio? Do you use equal weighted index funds in any of your 4-Fund Combo? Do you always recommend rebalancing your 4-Fund Combo? Where can I get a copy of your upcoming book, We’re Talking Millions! 12 ways to Supercharge Your Retirement? What do you think is the best formula for the percentage you have in stocks and bonds?  [See our Fine Tuning Tables and Distribution Tables] What is the biggest mistakes young investors make? I have fully funded my 401k and have more money to invest… should I put in taxable account or my wife’s 401(k)? What books do you recommend? Winning the Loser's Game by Charles Ellis A Random Walk Down Wall Street by Burton G. Malkiel Your Complete Guide to a Successful and Secure Retirement by Larry Swedroe Your Money and Your Brain by Jason Zweig Spending Your Way to Wealth by Paul Heys

This is the second of three Q&A sessions with Paul Merriman, Chris Pedersen, Director of Research, and Daryl Bahls, Director of Analytics with The Merriman Financial Education Foundation. It is a follow-up to Paul's webinar, “Which Is The Best 1-,2-, 3- and 4 Fund Strategy?” sponsored by the American Association of Individual Investors (AAII) on Sept. 23, 2020.  At the end of that presentation, Paul was joined by Chris and Daryl to address questions for 30 minutes. As there were many more questions than time permitted answering, this podcast — also available as a video — continues to address those audience questions. In this Q&A session, the three “conflict-free teachers” dive into these big topics: • Equity asset class selection • Comparing returns • Dollar-cost averaging • Sequence returns and risks in accumulation and distribution stages Questions addressed include: - Why don’t you include small and large growth in your recommendations? - Gold and commodities: why not? - What’s the value of adding international funds? - Does it matter whether you use Vanguard or Fidelity Funds? - Do you use Portfolio Visualizer to understand the factor weighing of your portfolio? - How do your “Best in Class” ETFs, that duplicate DFA’s, compete with Vanguard? - Which strategies are better when you consider tax implications of rebalancing? Paul answers this last question briefly, citing from and recommending DIYers read “Your Complete Guide to a Successful and Secure Retirement” by Larry Swedroe and Kevin Grogan. Click here to download the pdf presentation, with enormous thanks to Daryl Bahls, our Director of Analytics, for his insightful Tables. Find links to the various tables and strategies mentioned at: https://paulmerriman.com/pauls-important-advice/

This Q&A session with Paul Merriman, Chris Pedersen and Daryl Bahls, is a follow-up to Paul's webinar, “Which Is The Best 1-,2-, 3- and 4 Fund Strategy?” sponsored by the American Association of Individual Investors (AAII) on Sept. 23, 2020. Following the presentation, Paul was joined by Chris and Daryl to address questions for 30 minutes. As there were many more questions than time permitted answering, this podcast and video is the first of several that will address those audience questions. Paul begins this Q&A session with the 5 lessons he hoped viewers would learn during the AAII webinar, followed by questions regarding the study that compares the "11 No-Nonsense Portfolios".  That discussion includes: why the selection of the 11 portfolios? why didn’t the portfolios include any bonds? why the use of Dimensional Indexes? how were the indexes constructed? why the 30-year period? why the best and worst of the portfolios? how does the Tell-Tale chart work? PLUS, Daryl introduces a new table that compares the 4-Fund Portfolio to the S&P 500 from 1928 to 2019. Click here to download the pdf presentation, with enormous thanks to Daryl Bahls, our Director of Analytics, for his insightful Tables.

In this live webinar, hosted by The American Association of Individual Investors (AAII) on Sept. 23, Paul Merriman compares 10 different simple strategies for constructing a portfolio using mutual funds or exchange-traded funds (ETFs). The strategies are favorites of the Bogleheads, Rick Ferri, Warren Buffett, John Bogle and Merriman. He provides a list of The Merriman Financial Education Foundation’s recommended funds at Vanguard and Fidelity as well as the best-in-class ETFs to build these portfolios. He was joined by Chris Pedersen, the Foundation’s Director of Research and Daryl Bahls, our Director of Analytics for a Q&A session with the audience. Learn more at PaulMerriman.com Paul recommends podcast listeners watch the video of the presentation to take full advantage of the visuals. Watch it here on YouTube. If you’d like your own free pdf of the Powerpoint for this presentation, click here for an immediate download. 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 four 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 if you are interested in setting up a brokerage account, using our portfolio suggestions. The Foundation will receive a one-time small fee at no cost to you. 4)    Consider making a tax-deductible donation to the Foundation to support our mission to provide financial education to investors.  Thank you!

Paul is interviewed by George Grombacher for George’s “Money Savage Podcast”, and talks about the importance of community, the positive influencers in our lives, and the luck of timing. You will learn more about Paul Merriman’s life journey and his commitment to educating investors, both do-it-yourself investors and those who hire a financial advisor, making sure they’re doing the right thing in your best interest. For George’s “make a difference tip,” Paul offers two essential points that benefit every investor. One is the power of half-a-percent. 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 four 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 if you are interested in setting up a brokerage account, using our portfolio suggestions. The Foundation will receive a one-time small fee at no cost to you. 4)    Consider making a tax-deductible donation to the Foundation to support our mission to provide financial education to investors.  Thank you!

In this podcast Paul answers to a variety of comments and questions from his listeners and readers. Paul responds to a newsletter subscriber who unsubscribed in disgust because she felt he did not address the real ills of our society and the disconnect between Wall Street and Main Street. 3:30 Paul discusses his last MarketWatch article, “How to buy 10 years of retirement for $3650.”  This article had over 330,000 opens within days after after publication. 10:05 Will your Sept. 23rd AAII presentation be recorded?  The answer is Yes. The title is, "Which Is the Best 1-, 2-, 3- and 4-Fund Strategy?” You can register here: https://register.gotowebinar.com/register/8136639342311676944 21:25 Why are your returns on the S&P 500 so different from mine? 22:45 With a large amount of money to be invested in bonds, do you have any recommendation on the timing? 25:25 When will you be giving your financial literacy workshops on Bainbridge Island in 2021? I'm interested in visiting family there and would like to coordinate with your public presentations. 27:20 In this Marketwatch.comarticle, “How retirees should invest in a time of record-low interest rates," Mark Hulbert recommends investing 30% of your portfolio in annuities...Do you agree? Paul suggests several cases where single premium life annuities are appropriate and refers those interested to stantheannuityman.comfor free books on annuities. 28:50 Isn’t rebalancing just another form of market timing? 37:20 A Western Washington University graduate who heard Paul speak in 2018 asks, "What do you recommend?” in regard to his situation: “I’ve got student debt, my first job, just moved from home into an apartment and my $10,000 investment in GEVO is down to $7,000. I think it has a great future but I don’t want to lose all my money.” 41:05 What portfolios will you be comparing in your September 23rd AAII presentation? 46:55 Given current market conditions, and our plan to retire in the next 5 years, what fixed income or safe strategies do you recommend?  And what long-term fixed-income strategies do you recommend? 49:35 Could you compare the Vanguard Total Market Fund (VTSAX) with the Fidelity Zero Total Market Fund (FZROX)? 53:10 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 four 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 if you are interested in setting up a brokerage account, using our portfolio suggestions. The Foundation will receive a small fee at no cost to you. 4)    Consider making a tax-deductible donation to the Foundation to support our mission to provide financial education to investors.  Thank you!

"How to manage the biggest risks of investing” is the focus of this presentation Paul gave to Western Washington University graduates as part of a recent series. This podcast is also available as a video and Paul recommends that listeners review the slides before or after listening to the podcast. Topics include the pitfalls of selecting the wrong source of investment advice, creating unrealistic expectations, not taking advantage of diversification, not taking advantage of equity asset classes, not understanding the giant long-term losses from inflation, and not preparing for the normal bear markets that lead to substantial losses. View Video here. 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 four 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 if you are interested in setting up a brokerage account, using our portfolio suggestions. The Foundation will receive a small fee at no cost to you. 4)    Consider making a tax-deductible donation to the Foundation to support our mission to provide financial education to investors.  Thank you!

Over the years, Paul and his team have published numerous podcasts and articles about the impact of small investments for minors, especially newborn children and grandchildren. (See: https://paulmerriman.com/turn-3000-into-50-million/). In this podcast Paul discusses a strategy of building an IRA for a minor starting from birth. The strategy assumes investing $365 (more or less) each year over 10 years. He suggests a simple way to build The Ultimate Buy and Hold Equity Strategy over the 10 years. Examining the advantages and disadvantages, he compares the long-term returns at 8, 9, 10, 11 and 12 percent. He then adjusts those returns for inflation. Paul makes the case for using the Roth over the regular IRA or 401(k), as well as keeping the money in your name rather than a custodial account up to the time that the official gift is made. Also mentioned in this podcast is The Merriman Aggressive Target Date Portfolio (scroll to bottom of page). 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 four 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 if you are interested in setting up a brokerage account, using our portfolio suggestions. The Foundation will receive a small fee at no cost to you. 4)    Consider making a tax-deductible donation to the Foundation to support our mission to provide financial education to investors.  Thank you!

Larry Swedroe, a respected voice for sound investing principles, just released a new edition of his 2015 book, "The Incredible Shrinking Alpha: How to be a successful Investor without picking winners". Like all of Larry's books, this one answers a lot of the questions serious students of investing want to know. in this podcast, Paul reads portions from the book that answer some common questions Paul receives, giving insight into Larry’s common sense and well researched information. 1. For actively-managed funds, how long a track record is enough? This reading focuses on four real time stories that may lead you to conclude that no “real time” record is enough. 9:00 2. Do index funds produce better-than-average returns? In this reading of Larry’s book, he compares the 20-year performance of Vanguard and DFA funds  to actively-managed funds in the same asset class. 23:00 3. Do actively-managed funds perform better in bear markets? 29:19 4. How long should disciplined and long-term investors wait to deal with the recent underperformance of value and emerging market asset classes?  Larry poses 5 characteristics that the investment must continue to have to answer that question. 36:00 5. What if everyone indexed? 44:10 Mark your calendar for Paul's AAII Zoom presentation, Sept. 23, “Which is the best 1, 2, ,3 or 4 fund strategy?” In the presentation Paul will compare the long-term returns of 10 simple strategies, including from The Bogleheads, Rick Ferri, Warren Buffet, TrevH and, of course, our 4-Fund Combo. You don’t have to be an AAII member to attend.  Here is the registration link also available at  www.aaii.com/webinars. 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 four 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 if you are interested in setting up a brokerage account, using our portfolio suggestions. The Foundation will receive a small payment at no cost to you. 4)    Consider making a tax-deductible donation to the Foundation to support our mission to provide financial education to investors. Thank you!

Paul Merriman talks with Paul Heys, long-time friend and author of Spending Your Way to Wealth: Setting Your Compass Course to Steer in the Direction of True Wealth. They discuss what “normal" investors do, and the steps to becoming "Normal Plus," how to prevent the “spilling” of money that keep us from having what we want later in life, and the difference between the price and the value of anything. Young people will be shocked by the implications of future inflation, as Paul Heys shares what he sees in both the rear-view mirror and the road ahead. Spending Your Way to Wealth: Setting Your Compass Course to Steer in the Direction of True Wealthcan be purchased via this Amazon affiliate link by which The Merriman Financial Education Foundation may receive a small fee to help support its work, at no additional cost to you.

In this podcast, a continuation of Part I, James Dahle, M.D., of White Coat Investor hosts Paul Merriman and Rick Ferri, CFA, President of The John C. Bogle Center for Financial Literacy and host of the Boglehead Podcast, for a lively Zoom discussion of factor investing. In this part of the conversation, Paul and Rick share their opinions on tilting your portfolio to small and value and more. The interview starts at around 5:00. For notes and a full transcription from White Coat Investor, click here. The Merriman Financial Education Foundation thanks Jim Dahle and his team for making this recording available, along with notes and transcript to Sound Investing listeners. 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 four 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 if you are interested in setting up a brokerage account, using our portfolio suggestions. The Foundation will receive a small fee at no cost to you. 4)    Consider making a tax-deductible donation to the Foundation to support our mission to provide financial education to investors.  Thank you!

James Dahle, M.D., of White Coat Investor brought together Paul Merriman and Rick Ferri, CFA, President of The John C. Bogle Center for Financial Literacy and host of the Boglehead Podcast, for a lively Zoom discussion of factor investing. The conversation starts with defining asset classes, total market investing and factor investing and continues with an examination of ‘is factor investing real?’, US and international stocks vs. value and growth, the “FANG” phenomenon, and tilting a portfolio. For more notes and a full transcription from White Coat Investor, click here. The Merriman Financial Education Foundation thanks Jim Dahle and his team for making this recording available, along with notes and transcript to Sound Investing listeners. Part II of this conversation will be available to Sound Investing subscribers in the next few weeks. 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 four 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 if you are interested in setting up a brokerage account, using our portfolio suggestions. The Foundation will receive a small fee at no cost to you. 4)    Consider making a tax-deductible donation to the Foundation to support our mission to provide financial education to investors.  Thank you!

Paul begins the podcast with a response to a listener who thought the introduction to his new book (shared in Paul's July 9 newsletter), suggesting that each of 12 simple steps could be worth an additional million dollars, "read like a late night infomercial.” Paul not only takes the stand that each of the 12 steps can reasonably be worth an extra million dollars, but offers examples that have produced an extra $5 and $10 million. Paul explains about his current book naming contest and offers the winner an online meeting with him to help create a lifetime investment plan. Then he answers the following 10 questions: DFA U.S. Targeted Value fund (DFFVX) has underperformed other small cap value funds. Should I continue to hold? 33:00 I’m 52. Is the 70% target date fund/30% small cap value too risky? 35:20 I don’t have enough to get started, so what should I do to get started? 41:20 Is there ever a case where actively-managed funds make sense? 43:47 Have recent negative comments about index funds changed your commitment to them? 54:30 We have terminated our relationship with a Vanguard advisor.  Should we sell everything and move the proceeds into the funds we intend to buy? 56:39 I’m interested in studying the returns of small cap value.  Is there a source of returns that goes back beyond 1994? 58:05 Many respected experts hold a portion of their portfolio in gold. Is there any reason not to add a 5% position to my portfolio? 58:57 When should I take Social Security? 01:03:00 What do you recommend for a 33-year-old investor who wants to be more aggressive than the S&P 500? 01:05:11

Why do investors find it difficult to deal with the reality of the random nature of investment returns? Paul gave a lot of thought to this question in preparation for an interview with Jim Dahle of White Coat Investor and Rick Ferri, President of The John C. Bogle Center for Financial Literacy. On this podcast he shares his conclusions, including the likely possibility that it is the neat and tidy way we teach the history of returns. Paul focuses on the many decades of underperformance of the asset classes that most investors have in their portfolio. He draws on information from the 4 Fund Combo tables as well as the 9 Decades Study. The interview with Jim and Rick will be posted next month. 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 four 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 if you are interested in setting up a brokerage account, using our portfolio suggestions. The Foundation will receive a small payment at no cost to you. 4)    Consider making a tax-deductible donation to the Foundation to support our mission to provide financial education to investors. Thank you!

Paul tackles six topics from commodities to retirement savings, from first-time investing to current retirement investment strategies. A special thank you to Paul’s podcast listeners who responded to his survey question: "Podcasts or videos: which do you prefer?" Your listenership, and sharing this information — to help educate and empower others — is greatly appreciated! 1:  Why don’t your recommendations include commodities? 1:35 Paul’s comments focus on an article written by Dennis Tilley, Director of Alternative Investments for Merriman Wealth Management. http://www.merriman.com/advanced-portfolio-management/why-we-still-dont-favor-commodities/ 2:  How should a 24-year-old first-time investor best put $5000 to work? 16:15 Paul suggests he read The Ultimate Buy and Hold Strategy article, review the list of recommended Best In Class ETFs and listen to this “Best Investment Advice" podcast Paul recorded for university students. 3:  What funds do you recommend for the 4 Fund Combo? 28:40 Paul's recommendations include this article, “Market Got You Down? How to Construct a Comeback Portfolio 4:  Am I saving enough to retire with $2.5 to $4 million dollars? 29:40 Paul's answer includes reading this free chapter from Financial Fitness Forever. 5:  What do you have to say about the horrendous returns of the Four Fund Combo this year? 37:05 Paul recommends reviewing the normal losses in the Fine Tuning Tables. 6:  What are your thoughts about Jeremy Siegel’s recommendation for retired investors increasing their exposure to equities? 46:20 Join more than 25,000 savvy investors who subscribe to Paul Merriman’s FREE twice-a-month newsletter. Sign up now!

In this special presentation to the Bainbridge Community Foundation, June 2020, Paul provides insights into the past, present and future of investing. What are the most important lessons learned about investing in the last 50 years? How can we use them to make more money for our retirement? What 3 myths cost investors up to half their retirement savings? What three people changed investing forever? And much more. If you enjoy this podcast, please share. To see the slide show accompanying the video, click here. For the slideshow, "10 Simple Investment Decisions Guaranteed to Change Your Financial Future”, click here. Join 25,000 savvy investors who subscribe to Paul Merriman’s twice-a-month free newsletter at https://paulmerriman.com/signup/ Keywords: investing for retirement, stock market history, future of investing, bear markets, make more money, famous investors, investor success, financial independence, best investments, paul merriman podcast, sound investing

On February 22, before the recent bear market and during the very early days of the Coronavirus, I was scheduled to speak at Vestory’s Annual Retiremeet.  I went a day early so I could interview two very good friends I'd worked with for more than 10 years, Tom Cock and Don MacDonald. The three of us used to do a weekly radio show together.  It was always fun and we had great guests like John Bogle, Knight Kiplinger, Larry Swedroe, Scott Burns, Robert Kiyosaki and Joe Granville, to name a few. In 2009 Tom and Don left the Merriman firm to found Vestory  a registered investment advisory firm. In this podcast we discuss the challenges of helping the do-it-yourself investor.  While Don mentions the importance of staying in front of the investors on a regular basis, they felt one of the most difficult decisions for DIY investors is determining their risk tolerance. They offer an interesting risk tolerance test that I took. It has some very good questions. I suggest you give it a try as it is more specific than most. Questions I ask: How can you tell if you are working with a fiduciary? What do tell investors about expectations for long term returns? Why are stocks a good investment for the long term? How much should young people be investing? How can mutual funds offer funds without any expense? What do you look for in a good investment advisor? Don MacDonald is also author of Financial Fysics: How Money and Investing Really Work. For those who know Don’s outspoken mistrust of stock brokers, you will be shocked that I tricked him into saying something nice about stockbrokers. Tom and Don do a weekly radio/internet show, "Talking Real Money", as well as a daily podcast of the same name.  I hope you enjoy this podcast and check out their daily podcast. In fact, they have a call-in phone line where you can leave a question anytime. Give it a try: Call 855-935-TALK. Join more than 25,000 savvy investors who subscribe to our free twice-a-month newsletter at paulmerriman.com

In this podcast, Paul answers recent questions from his readers, video viewers and podcast listeners including how best to enter the market in these uncertain times, which equity asset classes to hold. small-cap value strategies and more. 1. In your book, “First Time Investor: Grow and Protect Your Money,” you write (page 49), “Don’t bother with target-date funds.”  In your video titled, “2 Funds for Life: A Simple Strategy to Maximize Your Retirement Investments,” you included target-date funds on your list of “The Three Greatest Investment Products.” Why have you changed your views on target-date funds? :30 In this answer Paul references an important new study from the Wharton Pension Research Council, “Target Date Funds and Portfolio Choice in 401(k) Plans.”  (For more on target date funds see Paul’s website, Best Advice, Target Date Funds) 2. What are you opinions of lower cost target date funds at Fidelity and Schwab? 20:15 3. I am 43 years old and have about $90K in a CD that matures at the end of the month and want to know: how would best get it into the market with so much uncertainty with the economy/covid/social unrest? I know it’s bad to time the market but… 2:10 4. I am 35 and have several hundred-thousand in retirement accounts and a few hundred-thousand in a taxable account. Which equity asset classes should I have in each portfolio? 35:54 5. In you Best-in-Class ETF recommendations, you have DLS for international small-cap value. I notice 31% of the fund is invested in Japanese companies. That seems very risky.  Please explain, why did you chose this fund? 40:46 6. Do you still recommend small-cap value for your strategy that turns $3000 into $50 million?  43:30 7.  For someone in a high tax bracket do you recommend a short-term tax-exempt or corporate bond fund? 52:30 8.  You mentioned you and your wife hold a portfolio of both U.S. and international stock funds in the equity part of your portfolio.  I would like to stick with a U.S.-only portfolio.  How much difference should there be in the portfolio returns of the 4-fund combo and the 10-fund Ultimate Buy and Hold Portfolio?  56:35 Note:  This article includes the ETFs and mutual funds we recommend for the 4-fund combo. Whether an #investor starting out or in #retirement, you’ll finds hundreds of articles, podcasts, Q&A’s, videos, #portfoliorecommendations, #freeebooks and much more at paulmerriman.com. Join more than 25,000 savvy investors by subscribing to Paul's free twice-a-month newsletter.

On May 9, 2020 Chris Pedersen and Paul Merriman addressed the San Diego American Association of Individual Investors (AAII) via Zoom. Chris, director of research, presented “2 Funds for Life” and Paul, founder and president of The Merriman Financial Education Foundation, presented “The Ultimate Buy and Hold Strategy.” After the presentations Daryl Bahls, director of analytics, joined Chris and Paul to respond to questions. Daryl also prepared Tables for the Q&A. When the meeting concluded there were a number of unanswered questions submitted by the attendees. The following are 12 of the 24 questions. The remaining 12 will be answered in a future podcast. Watch the video here- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rk3uMwD1Okc How do long term returns for small and large cap growth indexes compare to long term returns for small and large cap value indexes? 1:10 How do required minimum distributions fit into your distribution tables? 6:15 Am I right in assuming the 4 Fund Comboand Ultimate Buy and Hold strategies can be used at any age? 7:46 How does an investor put together a portfolio when their 401k does not have all of your recommended asset classes in either the 4 Fund Comboor the Ultimate Buy and Hold strategies? 15:12 I would like to move to the Ultimate Buy and Hold strategy.  Should I sell everything and just start over or dollar cost average over time? 20:40 I want to use the 2 Funds for Lifestrategy but I’m 62 and not sure it will have much impact. What do you suggest?  See the article, “Making The Most of Your Target Date Funds Before and During in Retirement”. 24:00 Instead of a Vanguard target date fund, what about building a portfolio of individual ETFs representing the Total U.S. Stock Index, international stock index, international and U.S. bond indexes?  See a new study from Wharton,Target Date Funds and Portfolio Choice in 401(k) Plans 29:50 What are your thoughts on an all-value portfolio that is 1/3 each large-cap value, small-cap value and international value asset classes? 38:00 Is there any magic in the way you have built up the 10 and 4 fund strategies? 40:25 Do you have any studies that assume taking a higher rate than the safe 4% distribution to allow me to delay drawing Social Security so I can maximize my Social Security payments? See Table. 44:05 What asset classes do you recommend for the bond portion of your portfolio?  The Vanguard Portfolios show the bond funds we recommended. See: Vanguard mutual fundsand Vanguard ETF portfolios. 51:02 With bond returns so low, has that altered your thinking on the percentage of the portfolio devoted to bonds? 54:49

Paul Merriman responds to a podcast listener who wrote: “I am convinced your 4-Fund Combo is a portfolio I want to add to my portfolio. My question is, how confident are you in the past performance of these four asset classes from 1970-2019 AND how confident can we be about any performance?" Before digging into the specifics of the 4-Fund Portfolio, I re-read a 2015 MarketWatch article (written with Rich Buck) entitled, 10 things you should know about portfolio performance. To help investors get a sense of how difficult it is to pin down future returns, I looked back at the period from 1928-1969 to see what an investor might learn about risk and return from these 4 asset classes. Questions to which I sought answers were: What were the nominal returns of the S&P 500 and 4-Fund Combo? What were inflation adjusted (real) returns? What were tax rates in 1969 compared to 2019? What were the 1929-1932 losses of the S&P 500 compared to the 4-Fund Combo? Is the commitment to build the portfolio for future income, build the portfolio for present income, or build the portfolio for family and charities after your death? I hope you will forward this link to friends and family, leave a comment or like at whatever site you are accessing this podcast, and support The Foundation in continuing our commitment to helping investors. If you’ve not yet subscribed to Paul’s free twice-a-month newsletter, why not do it now?

In May, Paul Merriman, founder of The Merriman Financial Education Foundation, and Chris Pedersen, director of research, were guest presenters at two ChooseFI online events, via Facebook Live on May 9 and Zoom on May 16. On May 9 Chris and Paul made separate presentations: Paul on “12 Investment Decisions Guaranteed to Change Your Financial Future" and Chris on “2 Funds for Life.”  They were joined by Chief Analyst Daryl Bahls to answer questions. In a recent video/podcast Paul, Chris and Daryl addressed 15 questions that had not been answered during the presentation. In this video/podcast the trio address 17 more questions from the two presentations. 1. During retirement should you take money from the  target date fund or the more risky small cap value fund? 2:34 2. My wife wants to know, why don’t you recommend mid-cap funds? 5:08 3. How should I invest RMDs if I don’t need the money to live on? 9:04 4. What is the best strategy for investing for my 4 children, ages 17, 5, 5 and 3? 11:47 5. Is the Vanguard High Yield (VWEAX) fund still a good retirement fund choice?  13:55 6. The media reports the stock market remains overvalued in spite of the recent crash. Why should I want to buy now if the the market is expected to drop even more? 16:36 7. Is there a reason REITS would not be part of the 4 Funds Strategy? 21:26 8. When do you think you will be updating the Best in Class ETFs for the Ultimate Buy and Hold? 23:57 9. Is the 4-Fund Strategy appropriate for a 60 year old investor? 27:00 10. If target date funds are funds of funds, does that mean they have two sets of fees? 32:38 11. When you say Vanguard is investor owned, what does that mean?  36:38 12. Is the comeback portfolio the same as the 4 fund combo? 40:00 13. Could you use a TDF plus the 4 Fund Combo instead of small cap value? How would that strategy likely perform? 41:16 14. Is the TDF based on retirement age or your life expectancy? 44:55 15. Given that  small caps may struggle for the foreseeable future (due to the recent pandemic) should one focus more on large caps or is this the time to rebalance more heavily towards small caps as they are selling at a larger discount. 47:57 16. In any of your distribution scenarios in retirement, are you withdrawing cash to cover 2-3 years of expenses or simply withdrawing cash for current year living expenses? 53:54 17. I am intrigued by your 4-fund portfolio However, my respectful criticism of that portfolio is that it does not have any international exposure. There is a contributor on the Boglehead's forum who has supposedly done a series of backtesting and shown that the following combo has an identical long term returns as the UBH portfolio. The holdings: US LGB + US SCV + Intl LGV + Intl SCB. What are your thoughts on this portfolio? 59:26

While it is easy to show young investors how to make an extra million dollars over the course of 50 years or more, it’s not so easy to do for retired investors looking at 10 to 30 more years. But there are ways! Here Paul suggests 10 different ways to add a million dollars or more to the portfolio of an investor near or in retirement. Paul references Fine Tuning Your Asset Allocations and Fixed and Flexible Distributions in Retirement. The following tables are part of the presentation: Table 1: Fine Tuning Your Asset Allocation: S&P 500 4-Fund Combo Equity Portfolio Table Fine Tuning Table: 4-Fund Combo Equity Portfolio Table 7:     Fixed Distribution Schedule S&P 500 ($30,000/yr + inflation) Table 8:     Fixed Distribution Schedule S&P 500 ($40,000/yr + inflation) Table 9:     Fixed Distribution Schedule S&P 500 ($50,000/yr + inflation) Table 8a:   End of Year Fixed Distribution Schedule S&P ($40,000/yr + inflation) Table 27:   Flexible Distribution Schedule S&P 500 (3%/yr + inflation) Table 28:   Flexible Distributions Schedule S&P 500 (4%/yr + inflation) Table 29:   Flexible Distributions Schedule S&P 500 (5%/yr + inflation)) Table 54:   Fixed Distributions Schedule 4-Fund Combo ($30,000/yr + inflation) Table 55:   Fixed Distributions Schedule 4-Fund Combo ($40,000/yr + inflation) Table 55a: End of Year Fixed Distribution Schedule ($40,000/yr + inflation) Table 58:   Flexible Distribution Schedule 4-Fund Combo (3%/yr) Table 59:   Flexible Distribution Schedule 4-Fund Combo (4%/yr) Table 60 Flexible Distribution Schedule 4-Fund Combo (5%/yr) Check out new videos at paulmerriman.com  including Paul’s “12 Million-Dollar Decisions Guaranteed to Change Your Financial Future” and Chris Pedersen's “Two Funds for Life in Pre and Post-Retirement”. AND subscribe to Paul’s free newsletter!

In this podcast (also watchable as a YouTube video), Paul Merriman, along with Director of Research Chris Pedersen and Chief Analyst Daryl Bahls get together on a Zoom call to answer additional questions submitted during the ChooseFI Facebook Live event, for which time did not permit on the original recording. The event was hosted by Jen Mah on May 9, 2020. Below are the list of questions. For an archive of hundreds of other investment-related questions and answers, see Ask Paul. What are the 2 funds you use in the 2 Funds for Life portfolio? 3:56 How do you think Vanguard Total Stock Market and Total Global Market will perform in the future? 7:10 For people taking early retirement, how does the possibility of a serious decline affect the sequence of risk returns?  (See Distributions). 9:34 You have many allocations of stocks and bonds setup as pies at M1 Finance. What’s an easy way for people to get started? (See M1 Finance and Our About M1 Finance). 21:00 What information on your website should help me determine what should be my distribution between equities and bonds? Is there a rule of thumb for specific ages? (See Fine-Tuning Your Asset Allocation). 25:14 What has been the long-term difference in returns for the 2 fund vs the 10 fund portfolios?  31:27 How much of your recommended portfolio is in international stocks? (See the Ultimate Buy and Hold strategy). 38:43 What are your thoughts on future returns for Small Cap Value? (For more on SCV, click here).  43:43 You mentioned the impact of setting aside $1/day for a child early on. Where is the best place to be doing this? 529s? UTMAs? Bank of Mom? (See “Turn $3,000 in $50 million”). 48:52 Is value's fall from grace related to the increase in the influence of mutual funds and ETF's? 55:27 If already retired, what target date fund do you choose? Do you choose the target date fund of the year you retired? (See Target Date Funds).  01:01 Your portfolios are used by many people to create their path to retirement. Do you suggest adjusting stock/bond allocations as you near retirement age, much like you would with a target date fund, or select one portfolio based on your risk tolerance and ride it out the entire way?” 01:04 Where to add a SCV fund for taxes? Taxable, tax deferred or tax free? 01:08:20 Momentum and Quality are additional factors that historically produced outsized returns. Did you consider adding to the Ultimate Buy and Hold portfolio index funds that track these factors? (See Best In Class article).  01:10:13 I would like to also do market timing with half of my investments. How do I find someone to do that for me?  (See Merriman Wealth Management and Camria Funds). 01:15:16

While the coronavirus pandemic has changed everyone’s life — and hopefully without illness or loss — for The Merriman Financial Education Foundation it has been a huge game changer, in a very good way. In this podcast Paul shares some new ways he’s able to serve more investors and he answers seven questions from his listeners and readers. 1. Can you discuss the funds to hold in different types of investments, like Roth and regular IRAs, 401ks and taxable accounts? 5:00 2. I have several accounts. Should I try to build your Ultimate Buy & Hold portfolio in each account or build it with 3 or 4 funds per account? 12:35 3. As a 28-year-old investor with a 40-year time horizon, why shouldn’t I put all my investments into more volatile funds, like U.S. and international small cap value and emerging markets, rather than all 10 asset classes in the Ultimate Buy and Hold Strategy? 15:20 4. Many academic studies, as well as your advice, show strong correlation between low expense ratios and mutual fund performance. Your mutual fund and ETF recommendations largely include funds with low expense ratios, however the "International Small Cap Value" asset class ETF (DLS) has a higher expense ratio (0.58%) than I would like. In order to minimize investment expenses, would you recommend substituting another similar investment with a lower expense ratio? I am considering international small cap (VSS - 0.11% ER) or Vanguard Total International Index Fund (VTSNX - 0.08% ER) as a substitute. 18:00 5. Why should we think that HISTORY is the best source of guidance for asset class allocation? Your recommendations for both the "Ultimate Buy and Hold" and the “Two Funds for Life" look to history for efficient asset class weightings. The other source that could be looked to is THE MARKET. It seems that The Market includes all the historical information, as well as the wisdom and knowledge of Paul Merriman, Warren Buffet, all the academic research, all the hedge fund managers, all the mathematicians with supercomputers, etc. Also, in some instances, The Market seems to give a more credible answer than History. For example, history shows bonds returned 6% annually, but the market shows bonds will return about 1.5% going forward.   23:05 6. How can you justify investing in a market that is highly likely to go down due to the coronavirus, coming recession, 30% unemployment, historically high P/E ratios and sky high debt? 37:50 7. What are the likely losses investors must expect in the market? 48:55 Mentioned in this podcast: "Your Complete Guide to a Successful & Secure Retirement by Larry Swedroe and Kevin Grogan Choose FI Seattle Zoom Meetup, Saturday May 16. link to Kelly Cannon’s list of topics Join 20,000+ savvy investors and receive Paul’s free twice-a-month newsletter. Sign up now Plus visit Paul's website for NEW VIDEOS: “12 Million-Dollar Decisions Guaranteed to Change Your Financial Future” and Chris Pedersen’s “Two Funds for Life”.

"Many people, including myself, tend to consider the bad things that might happen before considering the good outcome that is more likely to happen,” " says Paul Merriman. "That challenging state of mind requires having a "little house” plan... just in case the list of catastrophic events actually happens.  The massive loss of employment means a lot of people have experienced loss of employment for the first time in their life.  Even those who are retired, and have more than they likely need, have reason to consider what that “little house” plan looks like in retirement, as my wife and I recently discussed. On this podcast I touch on the long list of possible adjustments we can make if we have to reduce our retirement lifestyle.” Paul also talks about new tables, developed by Daryl Bahls, that make the numbers-heavy tables easier to use. Daryl’s Tables will be shared as part of a Free Zoom presentation. See details below. Free Zoom presentation Saturday, May 9, 9 a.m.-11 a.m. PDT, hosted by the San Diego Chapter of AAII. Paul Merriman and Chris Pedersen will address the two best buy and hold strategies they know, including 2 Funds for Life and the Ultimate Buy and Hold Strategy, as well as 12 million-dollar investment decisions. Daryl Bahls will join Paul and Chris to answer your questions.  For more information on this free webinar and to register, go to: https://www.aaii.com/chapters/Meeting?mtg=4817&chapterid=13 In another Free Zoom Event later in the day, May 9, 4 p.m.-7 p.m. EDT, with ChooseFI, Paul will present "12 Million Dollar Decisions Guaranteed to Change Your Financial Future," and Chris will present "Two Funds for Life”. Their sessions will be followed by Q&A. This event is live, free and open to all, hosted by Jennifer Mah of Choose FI (Financial Independence). For more info: https://www.facebook.com/events/249958663036416/ Join Paul Merriman in these Zoom events and join 20,000 savvy investors to receive his free twice-a-month newsletter. Go to paulmerriman.com

For the past eight weeks, Paul focused on what he considers among the most important decisions an investor is likely to make in a lifetime. In this podcast he quickly reviews those key decisions through the articles, podcasts and tables that were recently created to help investors be the best they can be. And he discusses the topics contained in his website's “Best Advice”, which include: The Ultimate Buy and Hold Strategy (2020 Update) Fine Tuning Your Asset Allocation (2020 Update) Distributions in Retirement (2020 Update) Fixed Contributions  Target Date Funds 4 Fund Combo All About Small Cap Value All Value Equity Portfolio Turn $3,000 Into $50 Million 90 Years of Performance  Get notified of PAUL’S FREE ZOOM SESSIONS by visiting  PaulMerriman.com and subscribing to Paul's free newsletter.

In discussing the latest Fixed Contribution Tables, Paul gives investors an opportunity to explore the differences between many of the various strategies that he, Chris Pedersen and Daryl Bahls have developed. In discussing the Tables, Paul first provides an overview for those in the early years of investing, and then a more thorough explanation for seasoned investors who want to dive deeper or who give guidance to first-time investors. The tables show the impact of regular monthly contributions (DCA) on different combinations of equity and fixed-income asset classes. These tables help investors see the long-term impact of adding value and small-cap asset classes to their portfolios, as well as staying the course during difficult markets. And, finally, the tables make the case for getting started as soon as possible. Paul references the following tables: Fine Tuning Tables Table 1- S&P 500 Table 2- Worldwide Equity (50% U.S./50% International) Table 3- Worldwide Equity (70% U.S./30% International) Table 4- All Value (50% U.S./50% International) Table 5- All Value (70% U.S./30% International) Table 6- Fine Tuning Table – US SCV Equity Portfolio 4-Fund Fine Tuning Table Fixed Contributions Tables 2020 Fixed Contributions – S&P 500 ($1K) 2020 Fixed Contributions – Worldwide (50-50) ($1K) 2020 Fixed Contributions – Worldwide (70-30) ($1K) 2020 Fixed Contributions – All Value (50-50) ($1K) 2020 Fixed Contributions – All Value (70-30) ($1K) 2020 Fixed Contributions – US SCV ($1K) 2020 Fixed Contributions – 4-Fund Combo ($1K) Be sure to check out Paul’s site for many more academically-researched tables and portfolio recommendations at paulmerriman.com and sign up for Paul’s free twice-a-month newsletter.

This podcast introduces the Distribution and Contribution Tables for the 4-Fund Combo, plus Paul discusses how these results compare with the other equity asset classes on the  Fine Tuning, Distribution and Contribution tables. More than 60 new and updated tables are now available at PaulMerriman.com, generously created by Daryl Bahls. These tables are designed to help you decide which  equity asset classes you should have, and .how much fixed income you should hold to both meet your need for return and stay within your risk tolerance.  Also the new tables help you compare the fixed and flexible distribution strategies using many different  rates of distributions. The challenge is to consider each of the pieces until you put it all together and find the one column that suggest you will meet your personal financial goals. When you find that column, you’ll know how much and which equity asset classes you should own, how much you’ll have in fixed income, how much you’ll have to spend in retirement, and how much you’ll likely leave to others. Follow along in the discussion of the 4-Fund Combo with links to: Contribution Tables: Table 47, Table 48, Table 50, Table 52 and Table 62 Check out all of Paul’s investment and retirement strategies and sign up for his free newsletter at paulmerriman.com