In the last podcast, Paul focused on accessing retirement distributions for those using fixed distributions with adjustments for inflation.  This approach is particularly suited for investors who retire without a lot of extra money saved.  If you have not listened to the last podcast, Paul strongly suggests you take the time to learn about the reasons he …

One of the most important decisions an investor will make is how much to take out of their investments in retirement. That, in conjunction with the right balance of equities and fixed income, can lead to smooth sailing or some rough seas during retirement.  In this podcast Paul compares using the S&P 500 equity asset class, a …

As promised to the more than 125 attendees of this Puget Sound chapter presentation, Paul answers the following 20 questions. Since many investors have the same or similar concerns, this podcast should be of interest and use to a broad range of investors, from first-time to well into retirement.  1.  If many people invest in small caps, …

This is the second of the four most important podcasts I do each year. For those who have listened to previous Fine Tuning Your Asset Allocation podcasts, this one is the best I’ve done. I normally discuss only the implications of investing in the worldwide equity portfolio, along with many combinations of fixed income. The purpose of this discussion …

The Ultimate Buy-and-Hold Portfolio Update 2017 Every year Paul updates his Ultimate Buy & Hold Portfolio. In this podcast he covers the original 50/50 U.S. and international equity asset classes, AND the recent all-value portfolio (find those tables here). What if you added each of the asset classes – that have …

The 2017 SPIVA Study – which measures the performance of actively managed funds against their relevant S&P Index benchmarks –is out and the facts are here for investors to see. In this podcast, Paul covers the highlights of the study. The answers to some most important investment questions are found in this report. Are actively or passively managed …

I am thrilled to introduce George Sisti  one of the smartest people in the field of personal financial planning, as well as asset allocation.  I think the best way to introduce George’s work is to share a couple of his recent articles. In the first, George discusses the possible impact of “Fake News” on an investors’ …

Are you daunted by the long list of Merriman Motif portfolios? In this podcast Paul explains why he offers so many portfolios and how investors may choose from among the offerings. The Fine Tuning Your Asset Allocation Tables that support each of the portfolios can be found here.

In a recent interview on Ken’s Bulls and Bears, Ken Roberts and Paul discuss a range of topics including the differences between the expected risk and return of small cap value mutual funds and ETFs, the steps that investors can take to invest for an early retirement, the most important facts that every investor should know and the …

In this podcast Paul reads and comments on a letter from a regular listener.  The letter discusses  what the investor is doing for her 3 children and the concerns she has when the children are old enough to cash out the proceeds.  The letter also offers some of the confusion she had when she first contacted Motif to open an …

The new Motif Investing portfolios – based on Paul’s Ultimate Buy-and-Hold portfolio strategies – have generated a lot of questions. Paul discusses whether it makes sense to move large accounts from Vanguard to Motif, what kind of investors will probably get the most out of Motif long term, the conflicts of interest now that Paul’s foundation is receiving …

Paul discusses the latest update of the Fine-Tuning Your Asset Allocation tables, which compare three different portfolio scenarios.  In this podcast he focuses on the Ultimate Buy-and-Hold All-Value Equity Portfolio. The “Fine-Tuning Tuning Your Asset Allocation” table – created and updated by Paul and Rich Buck for 15 years – allows investors to compare possible returns and likely risks of …

Paul talks with collaborator Chris Pedersen about the new Motif Investing portfolios they created based on Paul’s Ultimate Buy and Hold portfolio strategies and sound investing principles. These portfolios were created to make it simple and inexpensive for anyone with a minimum of $300 to get started investing now; and also for those more-seasoned investors to implement …

Paul explains why he’s excited to offer this new, easy, low-cost way to implement his Ultimate Buy and Hold portfolio recommendations, and invest wisely for the long term. To learn more about Paul’s “one-click-and-you-re-done” portfolios at Motif Investing, Click here.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

In this first of a 10-part CD series produced for the PBS Show, “Financial Fitness After 50” (2012), Paul discusses how to identify an advisor who will provide all the services you need to ensure you maximize the advantage of working with a professional. He’ll also show you how to tell if the advisor is working in your …

Over the last 3 years the S&P 500 has been the best performer of all the asset classes, as shown in the table of returns at https://paulmerriman.com/decade-returns/. That might easily lead investors to conclude that it’s a waste of extra risk to add the other asset classes to a portfolio (small cap, value and international). This …

Mastering Your Money™ is a 30-minute educational radio program designed to give individuals and business owners directions to turbo charge their ride on the Financial Freedom Highway. In this show, Ed Fulbright interviews Paul and digs deep into Paul’s How to turn $3000 into $50 million article and strategy. Ed’s moneyful.com interview can be also be …

This is part 2 of a 2 part podcast with Michael Port.  If you have not heard part 1, Paul suggests you listen to that podcast first.  In this 2 part podcast  you will hear Paul interviewed by Michael Port,  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michael_Port.  Michael Port is an author, speaker, small business marketing consultant, and public speaking teacher.   Michael is not a financial expert …

Paul considers this podcast, the best of his career.  In this 2 part podcast you will hear Paul interviewed by Michael Port,  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michael_Port.  Michael Port is an author, speaker, small business marketing consultant, and public speaking teacher.   Michael is not a financial expert but, as you will learn from the interview, he has taken the time to …

In this radio interview with Ken Roberts, of Ken’s Bulls and Bears, Paul and Ken discuss an array of essential investor questions and concerns, including the following: • Given that investors are at risk of responding emotionally to what’s going on in market, what should they do to keep their emotions in check? • What are the …

For 10 years, Paul had a weekly “Outrage of the Week” on his Seattle radio show. He says it was never a problem finding something that made him hopping mad. In this podcast, Paul explains his recent outrage about one of America’s most trusted insurance companies giving their employees the shaft. He also answers questions from his listeners …

How value stocks can keep you from outliving your money Paul explains the importance of adding value to your portfolio. The higher long-term returns of value stocks is not in question, but it is confusing to many investors as to why troubled and out-of-favor companies are expected to make more than great companies. To clarify this, Paul reads …

Do you know what common mistakes can cost retirees a fortune and lead to many sleepless nights? Recalling Warren Buffet’s quote about success – “To be a success you only have to do a very few things right, as long as you don’t do too many things wrong” – Paul lists 20 mistakes, along with specific advice how …