Sound Investing

In October 2018, Paul and Chris Pedersen recorded a video that offers a new and significant advantage to standard Target Date Funds. Following the release of the YouTube video, “2 Funds for Life — A simple strategy to maximize your retirement investments,” Paul responded to many questions and decided to use this podcast to expand his answers to several of …

Are you aware of the many ways that mutual funds can legally and cleverly mislead investors?  An investor should be able to expect the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth but, in reality, mutual funds are marketed putting the best foot forward, like almost every other highly-profitable product. In this podcast, produced for the PBS Special, “Financial …

In a recent article and podcast on diversification, Paul noted that dollar cost averaging can be a form of timing diversification. It ensures that an investor will not put all his/her money in at the top of a market. It also ensures “picking up more shares when prices are lower and fewer shares when prices are higher.” Paul suggested that …

Paul addresses each of these questions which reflect some aspect of investor’s concerns related to risks and returns. How can people invest in a system that is destined to collapse under our massive national debt? What average yearly return do you expect for your different stock/bond Best-In-Class portfolios over the next 5 to 10 years? What do you expect …

Before discussing diversification, which is always about risk management, Paul Merriman presents the returns of the Best-In Class ETF portfolio  The goal of that portfolio was to recreate the DFA portfolio Paul holds in his own account. For the first half of 2019, the advantage goes to the B-I-C ETFs. Way to go Chris Pedersen!  Regarding diversification, Paul …

Paul Merriman answers questions about a wide variety of investor concerns: profitable focus funds, using a pension as a substitute for bonds, moving DFA funds to Vanguard, the impact of higher taxes on the market, performance of major asset classes besides the S&P 500, defensive investment strategies for a bear market, popular sector funds, the impact of saving …

In this lively interview with Ken Roberts, of Ken’s Bulls and Bears, Paul and Ken discuss a range of important investor topics for every stage of life, including Millennials on “FIRE”,  Best-in-Class ETFs, maximizing returns while minimizing risk, and retirement distributions. Comparing the use of fixed and variable distributions in retirement The FIRE movement (Financial Independence, Retire Early) How …

Why is it that what seems like a great year so far would have been fairly normal in past decades? 6:03 Paul discusses why it’s different now.  He also looks at how poorly the experts have misjudged the bond market this year, and answers the following questions from his readers and listeners: Why should I invest …

These timely questions were posed by investors following Paul’s recent presentation to the AAII Los Angeles Chapter. The first question is the most often asked over the past year.  See this table to compare the returns of some of the asset classes Paul discusses. 1.  Is the value premium dead? 2:15 2.  Should investors fear …

Do you want to minimize your risk of running out of money in retirement, while maximizing your distributions? In this podcast, Paul compares the risks and returns of fixed and flexible distribution strategies using the S&P 500.  He discusses why the flexible may be the greatest financial luxury one can have in retirement. To better understand …