"The stock market is a device for transferring money from the impatient to the patient." - Warren Buffett

In This Edition
Truth Teller- Ben Felix
Latest Podcast- AAII Q&A Series (Part 3 of 3)
Testimonial

One of the million dollar decisions first time investors will make is who they select as their source of investment education. While I would like people to include Chris Pedersen, Daryl Bahls and me on their list of trusted teachers, one of my goals for 2026 is to make sure investors who follow our work, will find other teachers to build their investing expertise.

If I had to pick one source of long term guidance for general investment education, my vote goes to Ben Felix. Like our Foundation, Ben and his firm base their teachings on the academic community, rather than Wall Street. The following 2 videos are good examples of Ben’s work.

The first is an example of his work that you would share with a first time investor who needs to understand the most important investment beliefs that will lead them to taking most of the most important million dollar decisions.

In the second video Ben interviews Hendrick Bessembinder, one of the academics I believe all investors should use as a source of important investment history. The interview is over an hour and worth every second.

I hope you will watch them both. If you find time I hope you will watch a third video in which Ben, along with his partner Cameron Passmore interview me for over an hour. The video was recorded over 4 years ago and the online comments gave me high confidence that our work was headed in the right direction. If you go to the Youtube page you will see they offer the interview as one recording or split up into short form videos for those interested in specific topics.

Here are the notes for my interview with Ben and Cameron Passmore:

It takes only a handful of smart choices to convert regular savings into a secure future. Today we welcome famed financial educator Paul Merriman onto the show to discuss how the right habits and investing approach can add millions to your retirement nest egg. After chatting about his personal and professional background, we dive into Paul’s investing philosophy and how it’s been influenced by the work of Eugene Fama.

A significant theme in this episode, we then talk about why Vanguard’s portfolio allocation ensures that clients have the smoothest possible emotional relationship with their investments. This leads to a discussion on the benefits of simple versus complex funds and how simple funds fit with the preferences of many do-it-yourself investors. Linked to this, Paul explains why it’s emotion and not strategy that gets in the way of successful investing before exploring the challenges of sticking to portfolios that are heavily weighted in small-cap value stocks.

Reflecting on his career as an advisor, we ask Paul about his difficulties in working with clients as well as the role of financial advisors. Later, Paul unpacks some of the top habits and beliefs that lead to investing success; a key focus of his new book, We’re Talking Millions. We wrap up our conversation by touching on target date glide paths, how Paul’s foundation educates investors, and the relationship between money and a life well-lived. With such an illustrious career in financial education, tune in to benefit from Paul’s investing advice.

Latest Podcast- AAII Q&A Series (Part 3 of 3)

Over the last couple of weeks, I’ve been recording a series of Q&As that came out of a presentation I gave in November for the American Association of Individual Investors — AAII.

At the end of that nearly two-hour talk, I promised that I’d do a podcast answering every single question that came in. Well… there were 36 questions. That’s a little too much for one episode, so we broke them into three parts.

This is Part 3 — the final 12 questions. If you haven’t heard Parts 1 and 2 yet, we’ll link those in the show notes so you can catch up.

Before we jump in, I just want to say: I’m a huge fan of AAII. I started teaching their local chapters way back in 1984, and over the years I think I’ve presented to just about every chapter in the country — sometimes in person, sometimes by Zoom — but always to people who are genuinely committed to learning how investing works.

If you’ve never checked out AAII, I’ll include a link in the notes for a low-cost trial membership. Take a look around and see if it’s a resource that fits your investing journey.

Alright — let’s get to the last 12.

Will you develop strategies using the equal-weighted S&P 500? 01:44
Can you recommend advisors who follow your strategy? 07:20
Should I move mutual funds to ETFs in taxable accounts despite taxes? 11:26
With markets at highs, should I keep dollar-cost averaging or rebalance? 16:17
What portfolio fits 10 years to retire and 20–30 years of decumulation? 24:08
Will the configurator shift to only Avantis/DFA funds in 2026? 30:37
What does “inflation-adjusted fixed withdrawals” mean? 33:56
How should I invest an inheritance for kids/grandkids ages 2–45? 38:21
Ultimate Buy-and-Hold vs. two- or four-fund strategies — which is better? 49:03
Should political conditions change retirement portfolio decisions? 59:12
How do I find a fee-based/hourly advisor (Rhode Island question)? 1:05:56
Should very conservative 91-year-olds move beyond bonds and cash? 1:13:28

Part 1 of the AAII Q&A Series

Part 2 of the AAII Q&A Series

⁠⁠AAII trial membership offer (the ~$2 first month deal) ⁠

⁠Boot Camp series hub⁠ ⁠

Fine-Tuning Your Asset Allocation table / lesson⁠

⁠Sound Investing / portfolio decade return tables⁠ ⁠

Fixed vs. Variable Withdrawal episode/article⁠ ⁠

H-2A table referenced in Q9
Chris Pedersen Boot Camp presentation (Two-Fund for Life) ⁠⁠

Garrett Planning Network advisor directory ⁠

HelloNectarine hourly advisor platform⁠
⁠PlanVision / Mark Zoril reference

Youtube Testimonial

"The three amigos! Always great and I appreciate you three!
Daryl, at some point you or Paul mentioned that you’d do some digging on no rebalancing over a lifetime: the return, the risk, the implications. That’s my vote for a future episode. Again, I appreciate each one of you!"

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Latest Podcast- AAII Q&A Series (Part 3 of 3)

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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 EditionTruth Teller- Ben FelixLatest Podcast- AAII Q&A Series (Part 3 of 3)Testimonial

In This Edition
Truth Teller- Ben Felix
Latest Podcast- AAII Q&A Series (Part 3 of 3)
Testimonial

Million dollar decision