I interviewed Stan Haithcock, the expert I depend on when I have questions about annuities. We will dig into single premium life annuities (SPIA), multiple-year guaranteed annuities (MYGA) and other insurance products that are often over sold and over priced. What is the truth and how can you get what you need at the right price? Join me and Stan as he answers my questions and yours. Stan Haithcock, also known as "Stan the Annuity Man" is recognized as one of the top independent annuity...

Join Christine Benz, Director of Personal Finance and Retirement Planning at Morningstar, for answers to seven of the biggest questions facing those entering or in retirement. Financial literacy is empowering—yet good, practical education about financial management is too often out of reach for people, especially those with limited incomes. Former BCF Board member Paul Merriman—founder of The Merriman Financial Education Foundation—has dedicated his retirement to providing free education for...

Financial literacy is empowering—yet good, practical education about financial management is too often out of reach for people, especially those with limited incomes. Former BCF Board member Paul Merriman—founder of The Merriman Financial Education Foundation—has dedicated his retirement to providing free education for all ages about how to secure a more stable financial future.   On behalf of BCF, every year Paul organizes free virtual events with speakers who are nationally renowned...

Today, we bring you an exclusive conversation between two investment gurus, JL Collins and Paul Merriman. They debate the secrets of building wealth, focusing on investment strategies, index funds, and the potential power of small-cap companies. If you're looking to sharpen your investment acumen, this episode is full of knowledge and insights! Join us as we navigate through the crucial aspects of long-term investing, risk management, and the dynamics of the S&P 500 and Total Stock...

So, you've chosen to be a buy-and-hold investor following one of Paul's Sound Investing portfolios.  Now, the question is, what to buy?  It's time to become a knowledgeable shopper. Chris Pedersen describes the attributes that make an ETF or mutual fund more or less suited to implementing the portfolios we've discussed.  He then shows how to use Morningstar and Portfolio Visualizer to evaluate funds and points to the Best-in-Class recommended funds he's chosen. Finally, he demonstrates how...

Chris Pedersen shows how to automate investing with simple 2-fund portfolios.  He discusses how target-date funds work and how to combine them with small-cap value funds to achieve results similar to more complicated portfolios.  He highlights the 2 Funds for Life fine-tuning table in the Portfolio Configurator and shows how it can be used to set expectations based on different allocations. He also shows how 2 Funds for Life approaches can be compared to Sound Investing portfolios using the...

In this podcast Paul addresses the advantage of using a Flexible Distribution strategy.  He starts by mentioning the earlier podcasts that focused on the Sound Investing Portfolios, Fine Tuning Your Asset Allocation Tables and Fixed Distribution Tables D1.4, D1.5, D9.4 and D9.5.He then focuses on  Flexible Distribution  Tables F1.4, F1.5, F1.6, F9.5 and F9.6.The following are links for listeners who want to review all the Fine Tuning Tables, all the Fixed Distribution Tables and all the...

The move from the accumulation to distribution period of an investors lifetime includes some very important decisions. What asset allocation between equities and fixed income? What combination of equity asset classes in the equity portion, as well as fixed income asset classes? What amount of distribution will be made annually? Will the payments be monthly, quarterly or annually? Will payments be adjusted for inflation and how often? Will the distributions be based on a fixed...

In segment #5 of the 2024 Book Camp Series Paul applies all of the first 4 segments lessons to putting the portfolios to work by making a regular monthly investment into several of the Sound Investing Portfolios. For those coming to the series for the first time Paul suggests listening to the first 4 segments. #1 Stocks vs. Bonds: The $10 Million Decision #2 The Ultimate Buy and Hold Portfolio 2024 Update #3 Sound Investing Portfolios: 2024 Update #4 Fine Tuning Asset Allocation 2024...

In the previous three podcasts we have addressed the long term decision between investing in stocks vs. bonds, what equity asset classes you might use in building your equity portfolio and how to combine the different equity asset classes to build the best portfolio for your different investments. The purpose of each of the Boot Camp Series is to address some of the most important investment decisions.  In this podcast I discuss the question of how much fixed income an investor should  hold...

In this podcast Paul addresses the construction, returns and risks of the Sound Investing Portfolios. Table H1a lists the 9 Sound Investing Portfolios and includes percentages of each of the asset classes included in each portfolio.Table  H2a lists the risk and return data for each portfolio.  The table compares profitable  years, unprofitable years, decade returns and total return of a $10,000 investment. Table H3a lists the portfolios annual return for each year for the period...

Paul recommends new listeners listen to the previous podcast on ⁠Equities vs. Bonds⁠ prior to this podcast.  The purpose of this annual update is to remind investors of the power of equity asset class diversification.  Paul makes the case for the 10 equity asset class portfolio that he introduced over 25 years ago.  During the presentation he uses Tables A1a and A2a.  A1a shows the series of portfolios, starting with the S&P 500 on its own, and then the results of adding 9 other asset...

This podcast is the first in the series of 8 to 10 podcasts, videos and articles that will be found under Bootcamp and Best advice. In this podcast Paul discusses the biggest investment decision of an investor's lifetime:  Invest in stocks or bonds.  He reviews the  long term risk and return for both important asset classes.  In each case there is a set of 3 tables that reflect the returns from 1928 to 2023.  In Tables J1a and J2a he compares the annualized return for the entire period as...

Join Paul and Chris for this podcast/video they recorded. During the conversation Paul  mentions Chris’ free copy of  “2 Funds for Life”  and a fascinating interview with Professor Scott Cederburg on Rational Reminder.  Cederburg is an advocate for a lifetime portfolio of all equities.  The following are the topics and questions they discussed:   What does an investor do if a small cap value fund is not available in their 401(K)?  Does a small cap blend fund, that is available, have the...

Paul looks at the guaranteed advantages of 10 different investment decisions.  He also challenges one of the oldest claims about our expectations for returns.  During the presentation he discusses the important differences between investment success and investor success.  He encourages all listeners to get the free pdf of Paul Heys book, “Spending Your Way to Wealth(s).” 

In the process of looking for a document I  came across a group of questions that had been hidden away in my saved documents.  The good news is the list included some great questions.  The bad news is I'm not sure which presentation generated the questions.  1.  What are the best investments to make and what milestones should an investor reach? 2.  Do you recommend a solo 401k or SEP IRA for a single employee LLC that will never have employees?  Recommended reading from Truth-Teller Jim...

In this podcast Paul discusses ten million dollar mistakes investors make, along with the mistake that is the biggest reason he believes most investors fail to achieve the return they deserve.  As part of his presentation he references the following two tables. Table 1 and Table 2.  D1.3 D1.4 Paul reminds listeners to forward copies of our 3 free books.

Paul, Chris, and Daryl are back together for the first time in 2024.  The podcast starts with Chris demonstrating a new and improved Portfolio Configurator, which adds the 2 Funds for Life portfolios. Now, investors can see how the equity portion of Sound Investing Portfolios, like the Ultimate Buy and Hold or Four Fund Combos, compare to various 2 Funds for Life approaches.   Next, they discuss the question "Which backtested portfolio has the highest return per unit of risk, and shouldn't...

Trust is the key for most investors to stay the course for the long term.  I formed a lasting trust in the academic work of Drs. Fama and French when I attended a 2 or 3 day workshop at Dimensional Fund Advisors in 1994.  That trust led our firm to use the DFA funds since the mid 90s.  While I believe there are a lot of people who find our long term studies helpful, I’m not sure that all of those people understand that almost all of our studies that go back to 1928 are based on the work of...

In this podcast Paul starts by recommending, “Episode 285:  A Year In Review" a podcast/video. In Paul’s review of 2023 returns he compares Chris’ Best In Class ETF recommendations with similar Vanguard ETFs and the average return in each equity asset class.  He also gives returns for the most popular portfolios including, Ultimate Buy and Hold, 2 Fund U.S., 4 Fund U.S. and 4 Fund WW. Using an article from Ben Carlson  Paul is able to find even more reasons 2024 should be a very...

In the last podcast of the year Paul discusses the many important projects Chris Pedersen, Daryl Bahls and he will explore in 2024. He then addresses a question from a listener:  Why not all equities forever?  The question is the focus of a wonderful interview with  Scott Cederburg, Associate Professor of Finance at the University of Arizona.  Scott is the guest of Truth-Teller Ben Felix and Cameron Passmore on their podcast, Rational Reminder. In this podcast...

Paul Merriman and Chris Pedersen introduce the 2 Funds for Life Fine Tuning table and describe how it can be used by investors of all ages to evaluate various combinations of target-date and small-cap value funds.   Historically, these combinations have produced higher returns and higher safe withdrawal rates with only modest increases in risk compared to the target-date fund alone.  The table provides investors a way to see what these differences have been in the past for target-date funds...

Paul wishes to warn podcast listeners that this podcast contains a lot of important numbers from the following 4 tables.  The torrent of numbers can be irritating but these are some of the most important aspects of risk and return we should know.Paul asks that investors email him with questions about the tables.  [email protected] In this podcast Paul introduces a new way to understand and compare the likely risk and return of equity asset classes. The biggest challenge for first time...

The biggest challenge of educating first time investors is reaching them with our educational materials. One of the best ways to reach young investors is through young podcasters who have loyal audiences of these first time investors.  Jose and his podcast, Slow Brew Finance is a great example.  It is available both as an audio  and video podcast.  During the presentation Paul mentions a table of returns for the S&P, U.S. large cap value, small cap blend and small cap value. Here is the...