Shows / Sound Investing
Sound Investing
Weekly podcasts with Paul Merriman. Strategic planning for investing at every stage of life.
Episodes
- Sound Investing
What’s wrong with target date funds?
Target-Date Funds are the most important financial product since mutual funds were first offered in 1924. With pensions a thing of the past, target-date funds…
- Sound Investing
How to Avoid the 20 Most Common Investment Mistakes Retirees Make
Warren Buffett says, “You only have to do a very few things right in your life, so long as you don’t do too many things wrong.” Yes, there are only a few…
- Sound Investing
15 Risks of Managing Your Money
Risk is not limited to the pain of a big bear market. Sometime a risk can be a mistake of omission rather than commission. Join Paul to learn about 15 real…
- Sound Investing
20 Steps to Double Income During Retirement
Even a couple of the 20 steps will give you more money to enjoy life in retirement and will increase what you leave to children and charities. Watch this…
- Sound Investing
20 Money-Losing Myths
Risk is not limited to the pain of a big bear market. Sometime risk can be a mistake of omission rather than commission. Join Paul to learn about 15 real…
- Sound Investing
10 Investment Guarantees Every Investor Should Know
This piece was produced for my 2012 “Financial Fitness After 50” PBS contributors premium package. Investors are challenged by what forces are controllable and…
- Sound Investing
How did the Best-in-Class ETF portfolio do?
Paul compares the asset class returns of his recommendations with the average returns of the same asset class funds. An understanding of the last 9 months may…
- Sound Investing
Evidence that could derail the value vs. growth debate
“When I see a title that addresses the value vs. growth issue, you’ve got my attention,” says Paul. “A new article by Dr. Craig L. Israelsen titled, This piece…
- Sound Investing
22 Ways to get more from your 401(k) and IRA
Even just one idea from these 22, could greatly increase the money you will have for retirement. This recording is from the PBS Special Paul created in 2011…
- Sound Investing
Our 401k Project and answers to investor questions
In this fun conversation between two old friends and colleagues, Tom Cock of Vestory.com and Paul discuss their 401k Project, John Bogel, and answers to…
- Sound Investing
The case for the Total Stock Market Index and more
The Case for the Total Stock Market Index and more Paul begins this podcast with a response to this article by Alex Bryan, director of Passive Strategies…
- Sound Investing
How to Prepare for a Bear Market
In this conversation with Rob Berger of Doughroller.net, Paul discusses how to handle a bear market. How can we stick to our investment plan when our…
- Sound Investing
The 4 Most Common investment Questions
Paul addresses the 4 most common questions he receives from readers and listeners: Will indexing work as well in the future as in the past? Will small cap and…
- Sound Investing
Q&A with Ken Roberts of Ken’s Bulls & Bears
Paul speaks with Ken Roberts in this episode of “Ken’s Bulls and Bears,” as they answer listeners’ questions: 7:55- How important are the expenses I pay on my…
- Sound Investing
50 Facts Every Investor Should Know
In just 50-minutes, Paul covers 50 of the most important investment ideas, each of which should lead to better returns, less risk and greater peace of mind…
- Sound Investing
Beyond Buffet: Everything You Need to Know about Value Investing
Paul shares the latest research on how to combine value portfolios with other asset classes to produce low-risk portfolios appropriate for those saving toward…
- Sound Investing
Asset allocation, market timing and private equity long-term returns
This podcast covers three topics which are the source of many questions. Asset allocation starts with a recent interview from Vanguard titled, “Strategies for…
- Sound Investing
Rebalancing, financial facts over 70, new Callan Tables and more
Covering a lot of ground in this podcast, Paul discusses rebalancing your portfolio, an AARP article on “What to expect in your 70s and beyond,” the new Callan…
- Sound Investing
14 Q&A’s for Sound Investing listeners
Paul answers 14 questions recently posed to his email account, info@paulmerriman.com. Given the amount of email Paul receives, he again asks that you keep your…
- Sound Investing
Why picking stocks is only slightly better than playing the lottery
PLUS a new index study and 6-month and 15-year returns for DFA and Vanguard Paul’s MarketWatch.com article, “Why picking stocks is only slightly better than…
- Sound Investing
10 lessons from meeting with John “Jack” Bogle
Paul recently met for 90-minutes with Jack Bogle, founder of the Vanguard Family of Funds. Paul reflects on the main topics of the meeting, including what…
- Sound Investing
Getting the most out of your 401k
What’s wrong with 401k’s and what can investors do to improve the outcome? Paul poses answers to these questions plus tells the story behind his suggested 401k…
- Sound Investing
Invest now or wait for the next correction
In this first-ever interview by Paul for his weekly podcast, he speaks with blogger and columnist Rob Berger of doughroller.net about some of the most…
- Sound Investing
Flexible retirement distributions 2017 update
In the last podcast, Paul focused on accessing retirement distributions for those using fixed distributions with adjustments for inflation. This approach is…
- Sound Investing
Taking fixed distributions in retirement 2017 update
One of the most important decisions an investor will make is how much to take out of their investments in retirement. That, in conjunction with the right…
- Sound Investing
Q&A from AAII presentation, May 20, 2017
As promised to the more than 125 attendees of this Puget Sound chapter presentation, Paul answers the following 20 questions. Since many investors have the…
- Sound Investing
May 2017 Update of Fine Tuning Your Asset Allocation
This is the second of the four most important podcasts I do each year. For those who have listened to previous Fine Tuning Your Asset Allocation podcasts, this…
- Sound Investing
The Ultimate Buy & Hold Portfolio Update 2017
The Ultimate Buy-and-Hold Portfolio Update 2017 Every year Paul updates his Ultimate Buy & Hold Portfolio. In this podcast he covers the original 50/50 U.S…
- Sound Investing
The truth about mutual fund performance
The 2017 SPIVA Study – which measures the performance of actively managed funds against their relevant S&P Index benchmarks –is out and the facts are here for…
- Sound Investing
How financial “Fake News” can ruin your financial future.
I am thrilled to introduce George Sisti one of the smartest people in the field of personal financial planning, as well as asset allocation. I think the best…
- Sound Investing
How to select the best Motif portfolio for you.
Are you daunted by the long list of Merriman Motif portfolios? In this podcast Paul explains why he offers so many portfolios and how investors may choose from…
- Sound Investing
Risk, return and most important investor lessons
In a recent interview on Ken’s Bulls and Bears, Ken Roberts and Paul discuss a range of topics including the differences between the expected risk and return…
- Sound Investing
Motif Investing and the Tale of Two Emails
In this podcast Paul reads and comments on a letter from a regular listener. The letter discusses what the investor is doing for her 3 children and the…
- Sound Investing
Motif Investing Q & A
The new Motif Investing portfolios – based on Paul’s Ultimate Buy-and-Hold portfolio strategies – have generated a lot of questions. Paul discusses whether it…
- Sound Investing
2017 Update: Fine-Tuning Your Asset Allocations
Paul discusses the latest update of the Fine-Tuning Your Asset Allocation tables, which compare three different portfolio scenarios. In this podcast he focuses…
- Sound Investing
Understand one-click Ultimate Buy and Hold portfolios at Motif Investing
Paul talks with collaborator Chris Pedersen about the new Motif Investing portfolios they created based on Paul’s Ultimate Buy and Hold portfolio strategies…
- Sound Investing
Introducing the The Best, Easiest, Lowest-Cost Way To Invest
Paul explains why he’s excited to offer this new, easy, low-cost way to implement his Ultimate Buy and Hold portfolio recommendations, and invest wisely for…
- Sound Investing
10 ways to protect your investments from the next bear market.
We know the 8 year market is unlikely to go for much longer. In this recording I made for PBS, I cover 10 ways to protect your hard earned gains from the…
- Sound Investing
The Perfect Investment
Of course there is no such thing as a perfect investment, but what would it look like if all your investment wishes could come true? This podcast is from a…
- Sound Investing
Is passive indexing a delusion?
Joe Shaefer of Stanford Wealth Management, an old friend of more than 30 years, recently wrote an article for Seeking Alpha. “Passive Index Investing is a…
- Sound Investing
Finding a fiduciary, plus Vanguard vs. DFA
With all the speculation about the future of fiduciaries, I felt it was time to make some remarks about important differences between those inside and outside…
- Sound Investing
Three decisions to reach your “early retirement” goal
There are three huge decisions that will likely lead to reaching the “early retirement” goal. Paul discusses why these three decisions are key, and shares…
- Sound Investing
The biggest investment mistake I know (“Outrage of the Year #1”)
If you are one of the millions of people who are considering an insurance product as part of your retirement plan, listen to this! It is hard to believe that…
- Sound Investing
How to invest during a Trump Presidency and more
There are a lot of questions about the upcoming changes of the Trump presidency, coupled with a cooperative Congress. Some experts are saying it’s time to get…
- Sound Investing
Investing vs. Speculating: The case for diversification
One of the biggest mistakes investors make is not to diversify sufficiently to virtually eliminate stock or company risk. Paul reads part of two important…
- Sound Investing
Outrages, Q&A’s, a correction and a coming attraction
Paul expresses three outrages, exposing the dirty tricks some advisors use to exaggerate their performance. He also corrects a mistake on his last podcast…
- Sound Investing
What worked and what didn’t in 2016
Paul reviews the returns of his recommended asset classes for the 1 and 15 years ending 2016. He also compares the most important factors of the DFA and…
- Sound Investing
31 important rules of financial fitness
This podcast is from the PBS show “Financial Fitness After 50,” Paul discusses 31 important ‘rules of the road’ to financial fitness. Understanding these…
- Sound Investing
How to Avoid the Big Mistakes Pre-Retirees Make
This podcast is recorded from the 2011 CD collection recorded for the premium package for the “Financial Fitness After 50” PBS show. There is lots of advice…
- Sound Investing
Ken Roberts’ Bulls and Bears – A Radio Interview with Paul Merriman 12-5-16
Fellow Retirementor Ken Roberts always has a long list of questions for me on his Ken’s Bull and Bears Report. In this interview Ken asks questions about stock…
- Sound Investing
The Death of Equities
The most common question I get is focused on the likelihood of abnormally low future returns on stocks. This is not only a common question today, it is one of…
- Sound Investing
How to make a million dollars with your smartphone
We are surrounded by people who lie. Experts say we lie on a regular basis, so the fact that our politicians, corporations and those trying to sell us…
- Sound Investing
Lessons From the World’s Most Famous Investors
Warren Buffet, Peter Lynch, John Bogle and Ben Franklin and more… Paul discusses some of the most meaningful financial quotes and suggests that reviewing such…
- Sound Investing
What will the market do under President Trump?
What will market do under President Trump? And 12 other important investment Q&A’s When Paul addressed members of the community in a seminar co-sponsored by…
- Sound Investing
Paul Merriman: 12 Investment Decisions Guaranteed to Change Your Financial Future
Sam Marks from Invest Like a Boss planned a 30-minute interview, but he and Paul were having so much fun it lasted over an hour. Here is what Sam wrote about…
- Sound Investing
The ultimate all value equity portfolio
The 2-fund value portfolio may offer higher returns How can young investors prudently reach for higher rates of return? The most dependable approach is…
- Sound Investing
This 2 fund solution leaves the S&P 500 in the dust
Examining 88 years of returns and risks of an all-value portfolio, Paul explains why young investors might legitimately consider a 100% all-value portfolio…
- Sound Investing
The worst bear market that nobody ever talks about
Paul examines the difficult bear market of 1973-74, preparing investors for a long bear market struggle and demonstrating the value asset classes can hold up…
- Sound Investing
Is John Bogle the best source of investment advice?
John Bogle and Burton Malkiel wrote an article for the Wall Street Journal titled “Turn on a Paradigm” in which they make the case for capitalization-weighted…
- Sound Investing
How to defend against bear market losses and other questions
Paul discusses three current topics: 1. Do you still believe in the Ultimate Equity Buy and Hold Strategy for someone close to retirement? 2. With the market…