Sound Investing

In this interview with Ken Roberts, host of Ken’s Bulls and Bears Report, a weekly radio show in Reno, NV, Paul addresses questions and more: 1. Should investors believe the “experts” predictions of catastrophic future returns for the stock market? 2. What are the most important investment decisions that people have to make? 3. What are the biggest financial mistakes that retirees make? 4. What are the new tools your Foundation has developed to help people invest in equity funds? 5. What is the one asset class that every stock investor should own? 6. Is it really possible to invest successfully with just two funds? 7. Are there really 150 model portfolios that are performing well? 8. What are those 7 factors investors should be focused on in building their retirement portfolios? 9. How can the combo of S&P 500 and Small Cap Value be less risky than the S&P 500 itself? 10. What are your thoughts about the bear market we are in, and is this one of the worst bear markets ever? 11. Should people include cryptocurrencies in their portfolio? Call To Action! Here are a few simple ways to support the financial education work of The Merriman Financial Education Foundation, a registered 501(c)3. In so doing you help better the lives of individuals, families and communities, creating more opportunities for all. Subscribe to our weekly “Sound Investing” podcast, available on your favorite listening platforms and leave a review. Tell us what you think! Subscribe to our YouTube Channel, and hit the thumbs up, subscribe, leave a comment and share the link with your social media and friends. Use our M1 Finance affiliate link to set up a brokerage account and use our portfolio suggestions. If you fund your account with a minimum of $1,000, our foundation will receive a one-time affiliate fee —at no cost to you—which helps support our financial education projects. Follow us on Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn Buy our latest books, We’re Talking Millions! 12 Simple Ways To Supercharge Your Retirement and  2 Funds for Life: A quest for simple & effective investing strategies; all the profits help support our work. Support our mission by making a tax-deductible donation to the Foundation. Thank you!

Paul is interviewed by Jordon Grumet, MD., aka “Doc G,” personal finance expert, hospice doctor and host of the “Earn and Invest” podcast. They discuss Paul’s “7 Biggest Investment Decisions” and more, as Paul addresses these questions: Do investment strategies change over time? Is there a place for stock picking? How important is dividend investing? What are the best equity asset classes? How much does an additional 0.5% return matter? What is a modern “simple portfolio” and what is the premium? How much should you invest in each asset class? How much in equities vs. fixed income? How much to take in retirement distributions? How much to take out of retirement investments? How to select a lifetime glide path? All matters referenced in this podcast can be found at https://paulmerriman.com Paul recommends Jordon Grumet’s new book, Taking Stock: A Hospice Doctor's Advice on Financial Independence, Building Wealth, and Living a Regret-Free Life Call To Action! Here are a few simple ways to support the financial education work of The Merriman Financial Education Foundation, a registered 501(c)3. In so doing you help better the lives of individuals, families and communities, creating more opportunities for all. Subscribe to our weekly “Sound Investing” podcast, available on your favorite listening platforms and leave a review. Tell us what you think! Subscribe to our YouTube Channel, and hit the thumbs up, subscribe, leave a comment and share the link with your social media and friends. Use our M1 Finance affiliate link to set up a brokerage account and use our portfolio suggestions. If you fund your account with a minimum of $1,000, our foundation will receive a one-time affiliate fee —at no cost to you—which helps support our financial education projects. Follow us on Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn Buy our latest books, We’re Talking Millions! 12 Simple Ways To Supercharge Your Retirement and  2 Funds for Life: A quest for simple & effective investing strategies; all the profits help support our work. Support our mission by making a tax-deductible donation to the Foundation.

Tune in Sept. 17 at noon (eastern time) for a Zoom presentation and Q&A on “The 10 most important new lessons of the past 10 years,” as Paul Merriman addresses the Boston Bogleheads Chapter. See info below. In this broadcast, Paul, founder of The Merriman Financial Education Foundation, Chris Pedersen, Director of Research, and Daryl Bahls, Director of Analytics, answer a variety of questions from our listeners, viewers and readers. See links below. 1.  Can you compare 3 years of returns of your Vanguard ETF, Vanguard mutual fund and Best-In-Class (BIC) ETF recommendations?  Chris answers and discusses the likely reason for the BIC outperformance. 2.  Would it make sense to get rid of the small-cap blend fund and hold 1/3 each of large-cap blend, large-cap value and small-cap value? (The questioner notes that small-cap blend rarely outperforms small-cap value.)  Daryl answers this by discussing his findings by using the 1928-2019 Quilt Chart. 3.  What are the pros and cons of multi- and single-factor funds?  Chris responds. 4. Should micro-cap value be considered as a part of a diversified portfolio?  Daryl responds. 5.  Which is more risky, large-cap blend (S&P 500) or large-cap value?  Daryl responds. 6.  How should I manage investments during major declines? Chris and Daryl answer. Mark Your Calendar: Paul invites listeners to a Zoom presentation on Saturday, Sept. 17, 2022 at Noon (Eastern Time), sponsored by The Boston Bogleheads Chapter.  It’s free and open to the public.  As The Merriman Financial Education Foundation is in its 10th year of educating investors, Paul will focus most of the presentation on the "10 most important new lessons of the past 10 years,” followed by Q&As. Here is the zoom link for this meeting: https://us06web.zoom.us/j/89860498182?pwd=OVFZeWtKNGh2bTVGQUtzeUlPMGlOUT09 Meeting ID: 898 6049 8182 Passcode: 311045 Links: The Merriman Financial Education Foundation: https://paulmerriman.com/the-merriman-financial-education-foundation/ Vanguard ETF: https://paulmerriman.com/vanguard-tax-deferred-etf-portfolios/ Vanguard mutual fund: https://paulmerriman.com/vanguard-tax-deferred-etf-portfolios/ Best-In-Class (BIC) ETF recommendations: https://paulmerriman.com/best-in-class-etf-recommendations/ 1928-2019 Quilt Charts: https://paulmerriman.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/06/Sound-Investing-Portfolio-Quilt-Chart-1928-2021-V1.3-1.pdf Boston Bogleheads: https://www.bogleheads.org/blog/portfolio/boston-bogleheads/

In this podcast Paul invites listeners to an upcoming free event and addresses the following topics: •  Jeremy Grantham and Harry Dent have made bold predictions about catastrophic future returns. Should we take them seriously? •  How have the Vanguard and Best In Class ETF recommendations performed this year? •  Would investing in VTI give the same returns as the 4-Fund of Life portfolio? •  Is it too late to reduce your equity exposure if you can’t sleep at night? •  How accurate and meaningful are the Sound Investing charts showing returns that go back to 1928? Mark Your Calendar: Paul invites listeners to a Zoom presentation on Saturday, Sept. 17, 2022 at Noon (ET), sponsored by The Boston Bogleheads Chapter.  It’s free and open to the public. As The Merriman Financial Education Foundation is in its 10th year of educating investors, Paul will focus most of the presentation on the "10 most important new lessons of the past 10 years." Here is the Zoom link for this presentation: https://us06web.zoom.us/j/89860498182?pwd=OVFZeWtKNGh2bTVGQUtzeUlPMGlOUT09 Meeting ID: 898 6049 8182 Passcode: 311045 You Can Support Financial Education! Here are a few simple ways to support the financial education work of The Merriman Financial Education Foundation, a registered 501(c)3. In so doing you help better the lives of individuals, families and communities, creating more opportunities for all. Subscribe to our weekly “Sound Investing” podcast, available on your favorite listening platforms and leave a review. Tell us what you think! Subscribe to our YouTube Channel, and hit the thumbs up, subscribe, leave a comment and share the link with your social media and friends. Use our M1 Finance affiliate link to set up a brokerage account and use our portfolio suggestions. If you fund your account with a minimum of $1,000, our foundation will receive a one-time affiliate fee —at no cost to you—which helps support our financial education projects. Follow us on Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn Buy our latest books, We’re Talking Millions! 12 Simple Ways To Supercharge Your Retirement and 2 Funds for Life: A quest for simple & effective investing strategies; all the profits help support our work. Support our mission by making a tax-deductible donation to the Foundation. Thank you!

Enjoy this wide-ranging conversation between Rob Berger and Paul Merriman on Rob’s “Financial Freedom Show” (YouTube video channel) as they discuss these important investor topics: Timestamps  0:00 - Welcome to the Financial Freedom Show!  0:61 - Small Cap Value  20:44 - Other consistent funds 22:59 - Equity portfolio 27:00 - Deciding/4 fund strategy 30:13 - Links below/Quilt chart 45:19 - Stock vs Bond allocation/Market Timing 49:37 - Investing strategies/risk 50:50 - Retirement withdrawal strategy 53:14 - Challenge 55:23 - Glide Path 58:18 - Market Timer's strategy with the current market 1:00:59 - AVUV over VBR 1:08:10 - Measuring value 1:10:46 - Paul's Bond Portfolio 1:12:35 - REIT's 1:13:55 - Tired 1:15:21 - What's next for Paul 1:18:33 - Bogelheads conference 1:19:51 - Links below/Financial Freedom Recorded with a live Zoom audience, they also fielded questions. Some comments on Rob’s video page include: “My two favorite financial experts alive today discussing personal finance together. Perfect! Thank you both for your time, talent and wisdom.” “Rob, for the recent interviews you have done, this is my favorite! Paul is so passionate about his beliefs. I have been listening to Paul's podcast over the last 18 months. He has convinced me of the long term power of tilting your equity portfolio towards small cap value. I added the 10% tilt at the beginning of 2022.” “Great down to earth, easily explained info I can put to good use. Best guest to date!” Links to help investors: This link gives the case for the 10 U.S. and international equity asset classes: https://paulmerriman.com/ultimate-buy-and-hold-strategy/ This link shows 9 different ways to combine the 10 equity asset classes and the 52 year returns for each. https://paulmerriman.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/06/Sound-Investing-Portfolios.pdf This link provides data combining each of the 9 equity portfolios along with different percentages of fixed income: https://paulmerriman.com/fine-tuning-your-asset-allocation/ This link shows the impact of using the 9 portfolios and all the combinations of fixed income assuming an initial annual investment of $1,000 with a 3% annual increase on investment: https://paulmerriman.com/2021-fixed-contributions/ This link shows the impact of using the 9 different equity/fixed income as a source of fixed retirement distributions. Each years distribution is adjusted for inflation. Beginning distributions range from 3 to 6 percent: https://paulmerriman.com/2021-fixed-distributions/ This link shows the impact of annual distributions based on a percentage of assets, without inflation adjustment. Distributions range from 3 to 6 percent: https://paulmerriman.com/flexible-distributions-2021/ This link compares the annual to 20 year returns of 4 major U.S. asset classes: https://paulmerriman.com/90-years-of-evidence-shows-investor-patience-leads-to-better-returns/ This links to the Merriman Lifetime Investment Calculator. The calculator can be used for investors in both the accumulation and distribution periods of their investment life: https://paulmerriman.com/lifetime-investment-calculator/

Paul talks to retirees about the handful of decisions you can make that can either benefit you and your heirs or cost you millions. He covers: · Ways to make or lose .5% · The best combination of equity asset classes · Fixed and flexible distribution strategies · How to best analyze recommended strategies · And other major decisions and topics, like: When to take Social Security? How much and when to spend savings? Spending taxable vs tax deferred vs. tax free? When to pass risk to others? When to get professional help? Elder abuse, and more. This presentation was part of Financial Literacy Month 2022, co-sponsored by the Bainbridge Community Foundation and The Merriman Financial Education Foundation. Links: Slides show: https://paulmerriman.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/08/Bainbridge-Island-Final.pdf Bainbridge Community Foundation: https://bainbridgecf.org/ Paul’s Website: https://paulmerriman.com/ Paul’s YouTube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/c/PaulMerrimanSoundInvesting/videos Get your free copy of We’re Talking Millions! 12 Ways to Supercharge Your Retirement: In 2020, Paul’s presentation, “My Favorite 12 Vanguard Funds for Retirees,” became one of the most-watched on his YouTube channel. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L1ltcfD9CpE&t=42s You Can Support Financial Education! Here are a few simple ways to support the financial education work of The Merriman Financial Education Foundation, a registered 501(c)3. In so doing you help better the lives of individuals, families and communities, creating more opportunities for all. Subscribe to our weekly “Sound Investing” podcast, available on your favorite listening platforms and leave a review. Tell us what you think! Subscribe to our YouTube Channel, and hit the thumbs up, subscribe, leave a comment and share the link with your social media and friends. 3. Use our M1 Finance affiliate link to set up a brokerage account and use our portfolio suggestions. If you fund your account with a minimum of $1,000, our foundation will receive a one-time affiliate fee —at no cost to you—which helps support our financial education projects. Follow us on Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn Buy our latest books, We’re Talking Millions! 12 Simple Ways To Supercharge Your Retirement and 2 Funds for Life: A quest for simple & effective investing strategies; all the profits help support our work. Support our mission by making a tax-deductible donation to the Foundation. Thank you!

This video and podcast introduces the "Sound Investing Portfolio Fixed Allocation Configurator.” This new tool helps investors figure out how to implement the portfolios we analyze using different fund families. Chris Pedersen, Director of Research joins Paul Merriman to discuss Chris’ latest investor education project. The process is simple, involving four choices: portfolio strategy (e.g., Ultimate Buy and Hold, Worldwide 4-Fund, All-Value, etc.), account tax status, fixed income percentage, and fund family (e.g., Best-in-Class ETFs, Vanguard Mutual Funds, etc.).  Once selected, the configurator shows the required percentage investments in particular funds and several characteristics of the resulting portfolio, such as expense ratio and geographic distribution. Chris suggests this “configurator” could replace the older Custom ETF Calculator (not to be confused with our Lifetime Investment Calculator) and several of our pre-calculated mutual fund and ETF portfolios.  He also asks for feedback at info@paulmerriman.com. Together, they answer several listener questions: • Does active management ever make sense? Or are ALL people better off with an index fund-based strategy? • Is the 2 Fund Portfolio (half each S&P 500 and small cap value) really as good as the 10 fund Ultimate Buy and Hold Portfolio? • What advice do you have for a 73-year-old investor who is about to fire their advisor and become a do-it-yourself investor? • Do you suggest reinvesting dividends from your ETFs or do you save them to reinvest in other ETFs? • I am investing money for my mother in several ETFs.  What time of day do you suggest making the investment? Here are the links mentioned in the podcast. Portfolio Configurator Preview: https://bit.ly/3QL77tQ Long-Term Bond Returns Study: https://globalfinancialdata.com/four-centuries-of-stocks-and-bonds-in-retrospect The Merriman Financial Education Lifetime Investment Calculator: https://paulmerriman.com/lifetime-investment-calculator/

Paul presents, “The #1 Reason I Want Small Cap Value in Your Portfolio” with compelling evidence as to why SCV should be the one asset class you must own. This is further illuminated by the tables and charts shown in the video presentation and available in the slide show and handout. (links below). This presentation was recorded at the “Retiremeet 2022” conference, sponsored annually by our friends at Vestory and billed as “The Northwest’s Premier Retirement Event.” Click here for handout: https://7112649.fs1.hubspotusercontent-na1.net/hubfs/7112649/HAND OUT Paul Merriman Retiremeet-2022-Final.pdf Click here for the slide show: https://7112649.fs1.hubspotusercontent-na1.net/hubfs/7112649/PRESENTATION RETIREMEET PAUL MERRIMAN.pdf Learn more about to the event: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=as9D8TDZ0xI View all the event presentations: https://retiremeet.com/presentations To benefit from Vestory’s investment knowledge, sign up for their podcast at talkingrealmoney.com and their free monthly newsletter at realinvestingjournal.com. Call To Action! Here are a few simple ways to support the financial education work of The Merriman Financial Education Foundation, a registered 501(c)3. In so doing you help better the lives of individuals, families and  communities, creating more opportunities for all. Subscribe to our weekly “Sound Investing” podcast, available on your favorite listening platforms and leave a review. Tell us what you think! Subscribe to our YouTube Channel, and hit the thumbs up, subscribe, leave a comment and share the link with your social media and friends. Use our M1 Finance affiliate link to set up a brokerage account and use our portfolio suggestions. If you fund your account with a minimum of $1,000, our foundation will receive a one-time affiliate fee —at no cost to you—which helps support our financial education projects. Follow us on Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn Buy our latest books, We’re Talking Millions! 12 Simple Ways To Supercharge Your Retirement and 2 Funds for Life: A quest for simple & effective investing strategies; all the profits help support our work. Support our mission by making a tax-deductible donation to the Foundation. Thank you!

Are you seeking a simple but effective lifetime investment strategy? In this podcast and video, Katie Gatti, host of “Money With Katie,” interviews Chris Pedersen, Director of Research for The Merriman Financial Education Foundation and author of Two Funds For Life – A quest for simple & effective investing strategies.   Chris explains: • The Two Funds for Life strategies during accumulation and retirement stages • Addresses criticisms of target date funds • Explains why this two-fund strategy is well justified by deep historical analysis • Why it can be ideal for those looking for a simple but effective lifetime investment strategy From Katie’s Notes: The best part about living in 2022 is the fact that you don’t have to know anything about investing to be a successful investor thanks to products like Betterment (and financial technology more broadly). But what if you do want to manage your own investments? Then what? Before I learned about Paul Merriman and Chris Pedersen’s Two Funds for Life strategy, I never really knew what to tell people aside from do your research and best of luck to you, madam. So this week, I’m joined by Chris (who created the Two Funds for Life model) to talk about an amazing 80/20 solution for getting proper, low-cost diversification with only two funds (hence the name). Not only that, but the “rebalancing” is more or less taken care of for you. Chris’ Book, Two Funds For Life, provides a deep dive into the subject and is available at Amazon (https://amzn.to/3BxTFoM) and other online booksellers. For a simple explanation of the Two Funds for Life strategy, read We’re Talking Millions—12 Simple Ways to Supercharge Your Retirement. Available at Amazon, Audible, and as a free download on our website. Your purchase helps support our Foundation’s financial education outreach. Amazon print book: https://amzn.to/2KH36Kr Audible: https://www.audible.com/pd/Were-Talking-Millions-Audiobook/B094QSQ4QF?asin=B094QSQ4QF Free PDF AND/OR AUDIO BOOK: https://paulmerriman.com/signup/ Find out more about The Merriman Financial Education Foundation at: https://paulmerriman.com/the-merriman-financial-education-foundation/ Katie Gatti presents a weekly newsletter and blog on personal finance. Visit her site: https://moneywithkatie.com/. In January 2022, her blog and podcast brand, “Money with Katie,” was acquired by Business Insider's Morning Brew, https://www.morningbrew.com/contributor/moneywithkatie Read “Two Funds are better than one” by Katie Gatti at: https://www.morningbrew.com/money-scoop/stories/2022/04/19/two-funds-are-better-than-one

Paul addressed the AAII Los Angeles Chapter with “The Inside Story on the ‘150 Portfolios Better Than Yours’,” on June 18, 2022.  In 2014, Dr. James Dahle, of White Coat Investor, wrote a column titled, "150 Portfolios Better Than Yours." The article included a link to a list of almost every popular model portfolio, including recommendations from Vanguard, Warren Buffett, Ray Dalio, Betterment, and a host of others. The list is now over 200. In this presentation, Paul compares the range of returns from many of the portfolios, plus his own recommended portfolios (https://paulmerriman.com/portfolios/). The 52-year returns of the all-equity combinations ranged from less than 10% to over 14%. The study reviews the risks and returns of the portfolios. Paul explores six different risk measurements that can help investors select the best portfolio for their needs. In this presentation you’ll learn: · How to select the best equity asset classes to construct the best portfolio · How to build a diversified portfolio of equity asset classes · The best way to compare the long-term returns of your portfolio For the PowerPoint accompanying this video/podcast, go to: https://paulmerriman.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/07/150-Portfolios-Better-Than-Yours-AAII.pdf Learn more about the American Association of Individual Investors at www.aaii.com. AAII members: log into your online AAII Local Chapter Community at https://community.aaii.com. Click here for a direct link to the Los Angeles, CA online chapter community: https://community.aaii.com/communities/community-home?CommunityKey=2a40c785-42cd-4ce3-8c3f-458a13346a5f