Shows / Sound Investing
Sound Investing
Weekly podcasts with Paul Merriman. Strategic planning for investing at every stage of life.
Episodes
- Sound Investing
10 important lessons from the 2020 Callan Periodic Tables
The new Callan Periodic Tables have been released and in this podcast Paul discusses 10 important lessons from the main table (2000-2019) and several other…
- Sound Investing
How did Paul Merriman make 30% a year for 30 years? and 10 more Q&A's
Can an employee convince his company’s 401k trustees to make changes? It took 4 years for this one dedicated investor to do so and he won big. Hopefully, this…
- Sound Investing
Paul answers questions from Bogleheads’ forum
Paul's recent podcast, The Real Secret to Long-Term Investment Success, elicited many comments and questions at the Bogleheads forum (you can read the threads…
- Sound Investing
The real secret to long-term investment success
What’s the toughest challenge for many investors? Staying the course for the long term. In this podcast, Paul discusses what he considers "the most useful…
- Sound Investing
Best in Class 2019 Returns plus 12 Q & A
Paul discusses the comparative returns from the Vanguard, DFA and Best-In-Class Portfolios for 2019. He also responds to 12 questions from listeners and…
- Sound Investing
Thoughts on 2020 and Q&A from Paul’s Listeners & Readers
In this podcast, Paul shares his thoughts for the coming year and answers investor questions. The S&P 500 has made 5% more than the portfolio you recommend…
Sound InvestingCould this be the #1 reason to use index funds?
Sign up for our bimonthly newsletter at PaulMerriman.com and join 30,000 savvy investors who value free financial education. You can download a free pdf copy…
- Sound Investing
Strategy update: How to turn $3000 into $50 million
Four years ago we wrote one of our most popular articles, "How To Turn $3000 into $50 million." This article, originally published at MarketWatch, has had over…
- Sound Investing
The Ultimate Buy & Hold vs. 2 Funds for Life
The most common question Paul receives these days is, "What is the best investment approach, The Ultimate Buy-and-Hold strategy or 2 Funds for Life?” The…
- Sound Investing
What are the odds we are going to have a bear market in the coming year?
In this interview with Ken Roberts, of Ken’s Bulls and Bears, the conversation covered many bear market-related topics such as: How big a loss should an…
- Sound Investing
20 Steps to Double Your Income During Your Retirement
This podcast is adapted from Financial Fitness After 50, created for PBS as part of a contributors’ package of DVDs, CDs and book in 2012. To watch the video…
- Sound Investing
Why doesn’t Vanguard add more small-cap value to its TDFs?… and 13 more Q&A
Paul addresses 14 questions from listeners and readers, but first he speaks to an interesting case of an investor who has greater trust in a bar of gold than a…
- Sound Investing
Is it time to add small cap and value to your portfolio?
This recent Marketwatch article, “This strategy beats a total stock market fund and gives you more diversification,” attracted almost 85,000 readers in its…
- Sound Investing
How to invest in a bear market
Paul shares bear market observations and advice from Sir John Templeton, Warren Buffet and Peter Lynch, as well as offering his own ideas. He starts the…
- Sound Investing
Lessons from teaching teachers, FIRE students and independent investors
Listen in as Paul shares insights from a special week of presentations to three very different groups interested in sound investing. On Wednesday, he addressed…
- Sound Investing
When should you fire an advisor? Plus, who to trust and how much is enough?
In this podcast, Paul addresses four different but related issues regarding the management of your investments. When should you fire an advisor? Paul discusses…
- Sound Investing
Which funds are best in a bear market: passively or actively-managed funds?
In this podcast Paul addresses questions from his investor listeners on managing risk, pensions, early retirement and more in the current market. Topic 1…
- Sound Investing
Why not own a growth index fund instead of the S&P 500?
The podcast addresses five different topics from our readers and listeners. It starts with a discussion of the likely future returns of growth vs. value. I…
- Sound Investing
Facts and fictions of small-cap-value returns – Part II
In last week’s podcast, I responded to some recent controversies about small-cap-value returns. I examined and shared my findings of a study that looked at the…
- Sound Investing
Facts and fictions of small-cap-value returns Part 1
Some controversy and concern seems to have risen about small-cap-value returns. While on vacation in Europe recently, I used the early morning hours to…
- Sound Investing
Financial Independence Retire Early (Part 2)
In this sequel to Part 1, Paul and Ed Fulbright of Fulbright & Fulbright, CPA, PA, continue their conversation about the growing interest in the Financial…
- Sound Investing
Financial Independence Retire Early (Part 1)
Financial Independence Retire Early (Part 1) Paul joins Ed Fulbright of Fulbright & Fulbright, CPA, PA, on his weekly educational radio program, Mastering Your…
- Sound Investing
Target Date Funds: America’s #1 Retirement Investment
This podcast is the audio-only version of the video, Target Date Funds: America’s #1 Retirement Investment, in which Paul illuminates why Target Date Funds are…
- Sound Investing
Are These Two Funds the Only Ones You Need for Life?
In this interview — with Joe Andersen, CFP and “Big Al Clopine, CPA of Pure Financial Advisors, Inc. on their podcast, “Your Money Your Wealth” — Paul makes…
- Sound Investing
How to avoid the big mistakes pre-retirees make
How to avoid the big mistakes pre-retirees make Paul addresses the huge decisions facing investors in the final push to meet their retirement goals, about 10…
- Sound Investing
Talking Real Money
Paul joins old friend and Vestory advisor, Tom Cock, on Tom’s Seattle radio show, “Talking Real Money”, which begins with addressing the need for emergency…
- Sound Investing
Understanding the 2 Funds for Life strategy
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…
- Sound Investing
21 things mutual funds won’t tell you
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…
- Sound Investing
Is dollar cost averaging the best approach? And what’s the future of small-cap value index funds?
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…
- Sound Investing
7 Q&A’s on Expected Risk and Return in Today’s Market
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…
- Sound Investing
20 things you should know about diversification
Before discussing diversification, which is always about risk management, Paul Merriman presents the returns of the Best-In Class ETF portfolio The goal of…
- Sound Investing
Tax rates, presidents, record economic growth
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…
- Sound Investing
Making the best of your financial future
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…
- Sound Investing
How is the stock market doing? (First half of 2019)
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…
- Sound Investing
Is the value premium dead? And 9 more answers to investors’ questions
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…
- Sound Investing
Flexible distributions in retirement: The ultimate strategy
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…
- Sound Investing
Explaining the Ultimate Buy-and-Hold Portfolio
This recent interview with Jonathan and Brad of ChooseFi.com is both an excellent starting point for new investors and a refresher for seasoned investors as…
- Sound Investing
10 things you need to know about fixed distributions- 2019 update
For more than 15 years Paul has updated his discussion of fixed and variable distribution strategies. In this podcast he discusses the pros and cons of fixed…
- Sound Investing
Answers to 12 Questions from AAII investors
Paul addresses questions raised during his recent presentations to more than 200 AAII members in Madison and Milwaukee. Also, he recounts an exciting meeting…
- Sound Investing
Performance: What should you plan on for the future?
Whether you are saving for retirement or already retired, establishing a reasonable expectation for future returns is one of the most difficult planning…
- Sound Investing
The biggest risk of all for investors plus 12 Q&A’s
Do you know that only 31% of Americans believe they will have enough money to enjoy a comfortable life in retirement? Or how about this: 60% of Millennials…
- Sound Investing
Why investing has never been easier or more profitable
Investing has never been easier or more likely to help investors achieve their long-term returns. When I started investing, most of an investor’s gains were…
- Sound Investing
Top 10 Truth Tellers: George Sisti
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…
- Sound Investing
Q&A for DIY and Professionally-Advised Investors
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…
- Sound Investing
How realistic are your expectations for future returns?
One of the biggest challenges for investors is developing reasonable expectations for future returns. Do you expect hot markets to continue to produce…
- Sound Investing
What every investor should learn from the Fine-Tuning Tables
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…
- Sound Investing
Is it time for Bitcoin, value and small caps to be the big winners?
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…
- Sound Investing
10 more things you need to know about the Ultimate Buy and Hold Strategy
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…
- Sound Investing
Are you better off investing in bonds or stocks paying dividends?
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…
- Sound Investing
Best-in-Class ETF Portfolio Recommendations: 2019 Update
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…
- Sound Investing
What successful investors know about performance in risky times
What information is really meaningful to be a successful investor, especially in light of conflicting, enticing and scary reports? In this podcast, Paul asks…
- Sound Investing
Paul’s best investment advice for first time investors
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…
- Sound Investing
The Most Important Investment Decision of Your Life
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…
- Sound Investing
8 Q&A, from upcoming events and Millennial spending to investor recommendations
Paul addresses an array of topics and questions, including this year’s plans for the Merriman Financial Education Foundation, Millennial spending habits, best…
- Sound Investing
Advice for new, mid-career and retired investors: 8 Q&A’s
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…
- Sound Investing
How John Bogle changed my life… and yours too!
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…
- Sound Investing
What do you know about the past and future returns of your investments?
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…
- Sound Investing
Is it time to make changes to your portfolio? And 9 other Q&A’s.
1.Vanguard founder Jack Bogle says it’s time to play it safe. Should we be making changes to our portfolios or stay the course? :40 2. Did active managers beat…
- Sound Investing
Paul Merriman’s 2018 in Review
Not all of the numbers are in, but enough are to discuss the returns of 2018. Of course a single year is not indicative of much, but it is often a test of our…
- Sound Investing
How far will the market fall? and 6 more Q&A
Paul answers some recent questions from readers and listeners. How far is the market likely to fall? How has your market timing system worked in this market…