"The future- If there was a website you could visit to find out what the future held, how often would you visit it? We do that with the weather, sometimes daily. People are drawn to breaking news and social media buzz because they have an urge to know the now, which is a bit like the future, except it already happened. One alternative is to spend that time and energy inventing the future instead. There are countless things we can do today to change tomorrow." Seth Godin

In This Edition
2 Funds for Life Calculator Beta Now Available!
Latest Podcast- The Merriman Financial Education Foundation: Plans, Priorities & Lessons for 2026
Testimonial

2 Funds for Life Calculator Beta Now Available!

We’re excited to announce the release of the 2 Funds for Life Calculator, developed by Chris Pedersen to help investors explore the powerful impact of adding small-cap value to a target-date fund. This interactive web-based tool lets you customize key variables—like your age, retirement date, and contribution amount—to project future savings, risk levels, and portfolio longevity. Even a modest allocation to small-cap value can enhance long-term results, improving both portfolio resilience and potential retirement income.

Chris designed the calculator to mirror the Two-Fund for Life strategies outlined in his book, including both fixed and scaling allocation approaches. Users can create custom backtests, model contributions that adjust for inflation, and compare outcomes to the S&P 500 or traditional target-date funds. Whether you’re just starting to invest or refining your retirement plan, this beta tool offers a simple, hands-on way to see how small tweaks today could make a big difference tomorrow.

Watch the video here.

Latest Podcast- The Merriman Financial Education Foundation: Plans, Priorities & Lessons for 2026

Paul Merriman welcomes back Chris Patterson, Director of Research, and Daryl Balls, Director of Analytics, for another thoughtful roundtable discussion. These three “underpaid volunteers” reflect on how far the Merriman Financial Education Foundation has come — and where it’s headed next. Together, they cover everything from new educational tools to a data-driven look at one of the most common investor questions: Has small-cap value lost its punch?

The episode revisits this hot topic with evidence from decades of historical data, including several key Merriman Tables that illustrate why small-cap value (SCV) continues to deserve a place in long-term portfolios.

📊 Quilt Chart: Year-by-Year Performance of the Major Asset Classes
Created by Daryl Balls, this visual “quilt” shows how the four major U.S. equity asset classes — large-cap blend, large-cap value, small-cap blend, and small-cap value — have rotated in and out of favor since 1928. The randomness of short-term returns underscores the importance of diversification and patience. Despite long stretches of average performance, small-cap value’s cumulative results remain powerful.
➡️ ⁠View the Quilt Chart on PaulMerriman.com⁠

📈 Table G-1b: Fine-Tuning Table — S&P 500 vs U.S. SCV Equity Portfolio Outperformance
Prepared by Daryl Balls, this 54-year comparison (1970–2024) demonstrates how small-cap value has consistently outperformed the S&P 500 over time. The two rightmost columns — highlighting rolling 15-year and 20-year outperformance — are especially compelling, showing that even after periods of apparent weakness, SCV regains its strength.
➡️ ⁠Explore Table G-1b: Fine-Tuning S&P vs SCV⁠

📉 Tables B1, H2, H2A, and D1.4: Core Bootcamp Comparisons
From the Foundation’s Sound Investing Bootcamp series, these tables reveal how diversified equity portfolios have performed versus the S&P 500, both in accumulation and distribution phases. They help investors see that broad diversification — especially adding small-cap value — historically improves returns and risk-adjusted outcomes.
⁠Table B1:⁠ All-Equity Portfolio Returns by Asset Class (1928–2024)

⁠Table H2:⁠ 60/40 Portfolio Distribution Outcomes (1970–2024)⁠

Table H2A:⁠ All-Equity Portfolio Distribution Outcomes (1970–2024)⁠

Table D1.4:⁠ Historical Equity Premiums and Drawdowns
➡️ ⁠See all Bootcamp Tables⁠

Why Small-Cap Value Still Packs a Punch
Paul, Chris, and Daryl explain that small-cap value premiums come in bursts — often following years of average performance. As Paul notes, SCV has had multiple 15- to 20-year stretches of breaking even with the S&P 500, followed by explosive 3- to 10-year “catch-up” periods that deliver outsized gains. The data in ⁠Table G-1b⁠ makes this clear: over 54 years, SCV continues to deliver a meaningful performance edge.
As Daryl reminds listeners, “those two columns on the right are powerful.” They show that long-term investors who remain patient — and maintain a disciplined exposure to small-cap value — have been well rewarded.

Educational Takeaways
Patience is the premium. Factor returns are unpredictable year to year, but history rewards persistence.

Diversification is defense. Combining S&P 500 with small-cap value reduces regret during both booms and busts.

Data over drama. The Foundation’s free tools, calculators, and tables are designed to help you make rational, informed choices for the long term.

🎧 Listen now on Spotify or ⁠YouTube⁠ to hear Paul, Chris, and Daryl discuss new tools like the ⁠Two Funds for Life Calculator⁠, updates to the ⁠Best-in-Class ETF Recommendations⁠, and their vision for the next generation of financial education.

Youtube Testimonial- The biggest mistakes beginner investors make—and how to avoid them

Paul, Chris , and Daryl and all of their amazing free info they give away on youtube are a gift to investors of any age , but especially younger folks

The Merriman Financial Education Foundation: Plans, Priorities & Lessons for 2026

How to retire with more money and greater peace of mind

In This Edition2 Funds for Life Calculator Beta Now Available!Latest Podcast- The Merriman Financial Education Foundation: Plans, Priorities & Lessons for 2026Testimonial

In This Edition
2 Funds for Life Calculator Beta Now Available!
Latest Podcast- The Merriman Financial Education Foundation: Plans, Priorities & Lessons for 2026
Testimonial

New- 2 Funds for Life Calculator Beta Now Available!