Paul Merriman

This Podcast is the first in a series intended to supplement what students are learning at Western Washington University's "Personal Finance" course funded by The Merriman Financial Education Foundation.  This information is especially for first-time investors, but Paul believes most investors will find value in listening to this series. While it's not easy to identify who's information is to be trusted, finding the wrong source of information may cost young investors millions of dollars over the course of their lives.  Included is a list of what Paul trusts to lead you to being a successful investor for the rest of your life. For more on this topic, read Paul's MarketWatch article.

Should you use an immediate life annuity (ILA)... or should you maintain control of your money by investing in stocks or bonds?  For many people, ILAs are the only way they can fund their retirement, as they have insufficient savings and/or investment knowledge. Paul discusses the ILA and explains how annuities are priced, plus the lowest cost places to shop. The surprise is how different the prices can be for exactly the same product.

One percent sounds like such a small amount. Yet, over time, it can make a huge difference in your financial security and retirement income. Paul explains how to maximize your return on investments and take advantage of this profound difference in your investment portfolio management.

For more than 30 years, Paul has been encouraging parents and grandparents to put a little aside each year for a child, with the intent of giving them a jump start on their retirement savings account.  In this podcast Paul walks listeners through the steps to turn a $1 dollar a day investment, over 16 years, into over $4,000,000. No gimmicks. No outrageous claims... just a little bit of money and a whole lot of time and patience.

Fine Tuning Your Asset Allocation 2014 Determine the right balance of equity and fixed income indexes in your portfolio! This podcast provides a quick review of how to use the new, updated Fine Tuning Table.   Plus, Paul discusses returns for 2013 in comparison to 1994, which was the last time bonds suffered a substantial loss. And he examines the reasons for the major difference between the S&P 500 and the worldwide equity approach he recommends. To get the most out of this podcast, we recommend you refer to the 2014 Fine Tuning Table and the MarketWatch article on Asset Allocation, in additon to the 2013 Fine Tuning Table and its related podcast.

The Hulbert Financial Digest is the only real record of the performance of financial newsletters. Having subscribed to Hulbert for over 20 years, Paul investigates the annual issue which reports the latest results, short and long term. In this podcast Paul discusses the best lessons from this annual issue and how his free recommendations compare with newsletters that charge for their advice. Paul also discuss why these results do not mirror the real results investors achieved.

In this second in a series of articles and podcasts addressing investment risk, Paul Merriman continues to expand upon the three concepts of risk: 1. Never take a risk that you don't get a premium for having taken. 2. Risk is not just about losing money, but also taking advantage of opportunities. 3. There is no risk in the past - we know what we should have done.  

Learn how to identify, understand and manage investment risk. In this series of three podcasts (and accompanying edited transcripts), Paul Merriman discusses more than 20 legitimate risks which have the possibility of doing real harm to your portfolio. In Part 1, Paul examines eight risks anyone can manage. Of all the risks, these are the easiest to understand and manage... and yet few investors do.

In this podcast Paul helps investors create reasonable expectations through a review of his portfolio recommendations in 2013.  He points out the winners and the losers that invariably were the outcome of proper diversification.  He also comments on his personal returns that he calls a "home run,"  and offers his recommendations for 2014 and beyond.

Paul offers his own "best advice" along with that of other well-known investment advisors, including Nobel prize-winning economists Robert Schiller and William Sharpe, William Bernstein, Charles Schwab, Joe Mansueto and others.

In this installment of the series, "Overcoming Three Hurdles to Saving and Investing for the Beginning Investor", Stacycontinues to look at the hurdle, "I lack the money", and recounts one of Paul's experiences where he suggested saving a dollar a day.  Stacy includes a 1-page download and suggests that regularly saving a little bit over a long time can help create a brighter financial future

In this podcast Paul discusses what he wrote about REITs in 2007 and reconfirms his recommendation to hold this asset class in our tax deferred portfolios.

Most of Paul's podcasts are based on facts but in this podcast he shares 30 plus minutes of the feelings he has about retiring to San Miguel de Allende, Mexico. Paul, and his wife, Zan, fell in love with San Miguel within 24 hours of landing in Mexico.  The trip started as an attempt to find a little sun and see something besides the ocean cities of Mexico.  The trip ended 10 days later with the decision to buy a home and eventually retire, at least part of the year, in San Miguel. In this rambling podcast Paul discusses the lifestyle, the beauty, the relationship and the costs of living in San Miguel.

In this sixth podcast in his series, Stacy continues addressing hurdle #2, "I lack the money", and suggests that by making rather than receiving interest payments, many people find themselves making someone else rich rather than themselves.  Stacy cites data that shows while many people's debt load is forcing them to make financial sacrifices, many of America's millionaires became wealthy by living below their means and shying away from debt.  Stacy offers steps to begin overcoming hurdle #2 and have more money at the end of the month to save and invest.

In this podcastPaul explains his decision to make a very different approach to rebalancing.  Many of the details he mentions can be found in his recent article on MarketWatch.com.  While the past does not guarantee the future, his recommendation could leave investors with an additional 1% a year, without taking significantly more risk.  Paul invites your comments and questions on this subject.  Thumbs up or thumbs down?