Time is indeed young investors' biggest asset. Warren Buffett calls this the snowball effect. "All one needs is some wet snow and a really long hill"

In This Edition
Where in the world is Jeff?
The Importance of Keeping Investing Simple
YouTube Testimonial

Where in the world is Jeff?

From time to time one of you will ask what my son, Jeff, is doing. Old timers will likely remember that Jeff was my right hand person in building our investment management firm.

Jeff is now retired, at age 60, and living in Israel. He, and his wife (Jamie) and youngest child (Shaya), live in Zikhron Ya'akov Jeff is busy taking photos and for those who are interested here is a link to his latest photos. For those who are really interested you can sign up to get his latest and greatest photos. https://www.merriman-cohen.com/

Latest Podcast- The Importance of Keeping Investing Simple

In the coming weeks, I’ll be starting what I believe may be one of the most important projects of my career—a project with one goal:

That every investor who follows our work will know how to invest for the rest of their life.

A few days ago, at our holiday party at home, I was given a coffee cup. Inside the rim it said, “Keep it simple.”
Fortunately, it didn’t say “Keep it simple, stupid.”
But the message was clear—and it’s a good one.

Simple is powerful.
Simple is what works.
But simple isn’t always easy when we’re making decisions that must last a lifetime.

When we invest in a broadly diversified portfolio of equities, we know two things.

Over long periods of time, returns of around 10% are possible.
And we also know there will be terrible periods.

But with hundreds or thousands of companies, we don’t have to worry about going broke.

Still, investing presents forks in the road.

One fork is whether to invest in individual companies, especially private ones. I’ve done that four times. Three ended in total losses. One worked—and turned into millions.

But that’s not a long term strategy that is likely to work.

And I could never recommend that anyone build their long-term future on one company—or even a few.

The alternative is owning entire asset classes.

U.S. and international.
Large and small.
Growth and value.

Four core equity asset classes—diversified across thousands of companies.

You don’t have to know which company will win.
You just have to own the market.

And here’s where simplicity really shines.

You could put 20% of your equity portfolio into small-cap value,
and 80% into a total market index.

Leave it alone for 40 years.

Historically, that simple decision may have added about 1% per year—without forecasting, trading, or complexity.

You can automate it.
You don’t even have to rebalance if you don’t want to.

Could you speculate elsewhere? Sure.

Private companies.
IPOs.
Cryptocurrency.

But my responsibility is to tell you what the academic community believes.

And they do not consider cryptocurrency an investment.
They consider it speculation.

My role isn’t to entertain—it’s to help you control what you can control.

Your saving discipline.
Your asset allocation.
Your glide path.
And your ability to stay the course.

Remember—this is your money building your future.

I hope you’ve had a wonderful holiday season.

Next week, I’ll be reviewing what we learned in 2025—and what those lessons may mean for 2026 and beyond.

Thank you, and happy holidays to you and your family.

YouTube Testimonial

"Recently found Mr. Merriman in a joint interview with JL Collins and have since been reviewing his website. What a fantastic resource for diy investors like me! I have been adjusting my 401k every 3 months based on returns for years, but now I’m ready to stick to the 4-fund international plan outlined on his site. Thank you so much for all your hard work, Paul!!" @jacobpace9239

Download FREE Book!

The Importance of Keeping Investing Simple

Follow Me On TikTok

Supercharge Your Retirement with Paul Merriman

On YouTube, click More below the video.

Scroll down to find the chapters—these break the video up into sections for easier navigation.

How to retire with more money and greater peace of mind

In This EditionWhere in the world is Jeff?The Importance of Keeping Investing SimpleYouTube Testimonial

In This Edition
Where in the world is Jeff?
The Importance of Keeping Investing Simple
YouTube Testimonial

Happy Holidays from All Your Friends at our Foundation