“Investors often compare the stock market to a casino, but that analogy never made sense to me. In an actual casino the house has the edge, so the longer you plan, the higher your probability of losing. The stock market is the opposite… the win rate in the stock market increases the longer you play.”

— Ben Carlson, Risk & Reward

In This Edition

→ Celebrating Three Bens Who Can Change an Investor’s Financial Future

→ Introducing the New paulmerriman.com

→ Introducing the Sound Investing App

→ Latest Podcast: Best-in-Class Fund ETF Recommendations

→ Viewers React to the Larry Swedroe Interview

Feature Article

Celebrating Three Bens Who Can Change an Investor’s Financial Future

Most experts agree on one hard truth: we are often our own biggest obstacle to reaching our financial goals. The good news is that great teachers can help us overcome that—and three of the best all happen to share the same first name.

1. Benjamin Franklin

Franklin gave us timeless wisdom: “An investment in knowledge pays the best interest.” The data backs him up. According to the National Center for Education Statistics, median annual income rises dramatically with education—from roughly $48,000 for high school graduates to over $80,000 for college graduates, and even higher for advanced degrees. Education doesn’t just increase income—it reduces unemployment and opens doors for a lifetime.

2. Ben Carlson

Ben Carlson reminds us that knowledge alone isn’t enough—we must also manage our behavior. His new book, Risk & Reward: How to Handle Market Volatility and Build Long-Term Wealth (available for preorder; releases May 11, 2026), is one of the best guides I’ve seen for preparing investors to stay the course through both good and bad markets.

Great stories, great history, and practical lessons that could add meaningful returns over a lifetime. I strongly encourage you to pick up a copy.

3. Ben Felix

Ben Felix continues to deliver some of the clearest, evidence-based investing education available online. His work helps investors understand the “why” behind smart decisions—especially for those using diversified, factor-based strategies. His new video offers a short history of the Vanguard and DFA approaches to indexing.

The Takeaway

Three Bens. Three perspectives. One powerful message:
Learn, think clearly, and stay disciplined—and your financial future can change forever.

Disclosure: Our Foundation is an Amazon affiliate, which means we receive a very small amount from purchases made through our links. This helps us continue providing free financial education.

Just Launched

Introducing the New paulmerriman.com

We’re thrilled to unveil the brand-new paulmerriman.com—redesigned from the ground up to make our free financial education easier to find, easier to use, and easier to share. The new site brings everything together in one clear, welcoming home: our Boot Camp series, Truth Teller resources, podcasts, articles, free books, and tools to help you build and protect your wealth.

Whether you’re just starting out or fine-tuning your retirement plan, you’ll find a clearer path to the lessons that matter most. We’d love to hear what you think—your feedback helps us keep improving.

Explore the New Site

Now Available on iPhone

Introducing the Sound Investing App

We’re excited to announce that the Sound Investing app is now available on the App Store. Designed to put our free financial education right in your pocket, the app brings together our Boot Camp lessons, Sound Investing podcast, recommended portfolios, and key data tables — all in one easy-to-navigate place.

Whether you’re commuting, traveling, or simply prefer learning on your phone, Sound Investing makes it easier than ever to keep building your investing knowledge wherever you are.

Download on the App Store

Currently available for iPhone. Android coming next week!

Latest Podcast

Best-in-Class Fund Family Recommendations

Sound Investing Podcast

In this week’s episode, Paul and Chris introduce the new Avantis and DFA Best-in-Class fund family recommendations and talk about the shift away from evaluating and recommending à la carte choices from multiple fund providers. They emphasize that the quality and breadth of the offerings from Avantis and DFA have reached a point where it’s better and more sustainable to recommend these fund families than to continually change recommendations among funds that are increasingly close in expected performance.

Listen to This Episode

Resources Mentioned

→ Updated BIC ETF Recommendations

→ Portfolio Configurator

From Our Community

Viewers React to the Larry Swedroe Interview

If you missed it, Paul’s recent conversation with Larry Swedroe drew rave reviews. Here’s what viewers had to say—and you can watch the full interview here.

“What a dynamic guest. There were 300 lessons in this video. Thank you, Mr. Swedroe!”

— Paul Merriman

“What an amazing lesson in factor-based, rational investing! A must for every long-term investor! Great thanks to the two legends.”

— YouTube viewer

From Paul Merriman

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