Paul Merriman

Over the next nine months Paul plans to introduce podcast listeners to the work of his "Top 10 Truth Tellers.”  These are writers and/or podcasters who produce educational materials that Paul believes will help investors improve their long-term results. In this first of 10 introductions, Paul reads an article and “in the news” items that hopefully …

In this podcast, Paul addresses these questions from his listeners and readers. As investors age, how do they make the conversion from equities to fixed income? How does a saver make the transition to being a spender? Where can I find a professional, who bills by the hour, to help me evaluate my cost of living …

One of the biggest challenges for investors is developing reasonable expectations for future returns. Do you expect hot markets to continue to produce market-beating returns? Do you expect big bear markets to continue to rob investors of their life savings? If so, you are likely setting yourself up for disappointment. In this podcast Paul looks …

Along with this year's updated Fine Tuning Your Asset Allocation article and updated Fine Tuning Your Asset Allocation Table for the S&P 500,  Paul shares this "best lessons" podcast. He walks investors through the best and worst of returns, along with the corresponding worst losses over 6 different time frames. The case is clear: one decade does …

Just because an investment doesn’t work out as well as expected does not mean the investment decision was a mistake.  In this podcast Paul discusses the recent failure of evidence-based investing.  He questions the assumptions investors make about investments that have been successful over both short and long-term periods.  His comments are in response …

The annual Ultimate Buy-and-Hold Strategy article and podcast are among the most important pieces Paul and Rich produce (with a lot of help from Daryl Bahls in creating the updated tables). This podcast addresses topics not covered in the Marketwatch article.  Paul answers such questions as: Are returns reasonable? What is the impact of annual and monthly rebalancing? …

1. If I need income from my investments, am I better off investing in stocks paying a good dividend rather than bonds? 1:45 2. Is a 60% stocks/40% bonds balanced fund better than a target date fund? 11:35 3. How does VBIAX (Vanguard Balanced Fund) compare to the 

In this special podcast Paul interviews Chris Pedersen about the 2019 changes to the Best-In-Class ETF Portfolio recommendations. This will be helpful to those who want to understand the details of how Chris made the decisions to select the best in each asset class, changing many from the previous year. The discussion includes comparing …

What information is really meaningful to be a successful investor, especially in light of conflicting, enticing and scary reports? In this podcast, Paul asks and explores the questions: Will a list of 10 likely catastrophic events be enough to keep you out of the market?  Will a newsletter, produced by an ethical organization, likely give …

In this special podcast, Paul discusses his list of “A Dozen Million-Dollar Decisions.” This advice for college students was recorded this week for students at Western Washington University, Paul’s alma mater and where The Merriman Financial Education Foundation funds the development and presentation of Personal Investing 216, an accredited course since …

Or… Are you missing out on millions of dollars for your retirement? After deciding to save and invest, the most important investment decision of your life, in Paul’s opinion, is what this podcast addresses. Of the Millennials investing in 401k plans, nearly 25% are refusing to take the risk of investing in stocks (equities) and …

Paul addresses an array of topics and questions, including this year’s plans for the Merriman Financial Education Foundation, Millennial spending habits, best and worst of times in 10-year periods for the S&P 500 and small-cap value, market timing, and recommendations regarding risk assessment, 401k’s, index funds and owning small-cap-value funds in retirement. 1.  What are the …

Paul answers recent questions from readers and listeners: 9:29 1.  A young investor asks me to explain, how does compound interest work?  I referenced this article: Save $1,000 a year. Retire with millions 19:41 2.  Do you expect index funds to keep outperforming actively managed funds? 25:35 3. Most of your articles are focused on …

With the passing of 89-year-old John Bogle, many writers who have covered Bogle’s work wrote thoughtfully about his life and the impact as the creator of the first index mutual fund.  For 10 years, Tom Cock, Don McDonald and I interviewed him annually on our “Sound Investing” radio show on KVI in Seattle Washington. …

Paul analyzes the 20-year returns of 10 major equity- and fixed-income asset classes. What do we have to learn?  Returns can be totally unexpected but the relationship between asset classes remain the same as they have for almost 90 years. The table below allows investors to examine the year-by-year returns of large and small U.S. …