The Boldin Your Money Podcast Paul Merriman: Evidence Based Investing
May 28, 2026
Paul Merriman, a six-decade authority on index and evidence-based investing who left Wall Street to teach, shares practical investing ideas. He outlines why simple total-market and four-fund factor-aware mixes matter. He explains rebalancing, behavioral pitfalls, the case for small-cap value sleeves, and how automated, low-cost indexing can improve long-term results.
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Why Paul Left Wall Street Early
- Paul Merriman left Wall Street in his 20s after noticing firms prioritized trading activity and firm profits over long-term client outcomes.
- He recalls brokers being trained to sell frothy stocks and find a 'bigger fool' to avoid clients becoming the biggest loser, which drove his exit from the industry.
Modern Investing Is Uniquely Efficient
- Investing has never been more efficient: lower costs, better diversification, and improved tax opportunities make it easier for ordinary investors to capture market returns.
- Merriman highlights Roth IRAs, cheap index options, and broader access as forces shifting probabilities in favor of long-term investors.
Evidence Keeps Engineers Invested
- Engineers and quantitative thinkers stick with index investing because they understand historical evidence and probabilities, which helps them endure drawdowns.
- Merriman argues historical context teaches how deep drawdowns can be and why buying during lows matters.
