“If you spend 13 minutes a year on economics, you’ve wasted 10 minutes.” Peter Lynch

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Strategies for Financial Success
It’s Deja Vu all over again!
Latest Podcast
Testimonial

Strategies for Financial Success

Presented by Kitsap Bank, WWU alum and nationally recognized investment educator Paul Merriman

Thursday, October 2, 2025 | 5:30 – 7:15 p.m.
Olympic College, Building A, 1600 Chester Ave., Bremerton , WA
Free and open to the public In-person and virtual attendance options available.
Register Now

One lucky attendee will walk away with a $1,000 prize, and everyone who joins will gain the tools to turn that same $1,000 into $1 million through wise, long-term investing.

Whether you’re just getting started or looking to build a stronger foundation, Paul Merriman will walk you through simple, time-tested strategies to grow your financial future.

What You’ll Learn

How to make smart financial decisions, even on a student budget
Why long-term investing beats short-term trading
How compound interest and low-cost funds build wealth over time
What role artificial intelligence plays in financial planning

Who Should Attend

College students preparing for life after graduation
Parents and families planning for the future
Community members interested in investing wisely and confidently

Learn more about the Merriman Financial Literacy Program here.

Brought to you by Kitsap Bank, Western Washington University and the Merriman Financial Literacy Program

It’s Deja Vu all over again!

So what do we do when everyone knows there is a bubble? Read this recent Ben Carlson column for the details on the bubble everyone knows is here or is coming.

Is the bubble the fact that over 35% of the value of the S&P 500 is in 7 companies? Or is the bubble the 7.7 trillion dollars in money market funds? Or is the bubble the value of Bitcoin at over $100,000?

I’m feeling a lot like I felt at the end of 1999. What part of technology and the future don’t you understand? Markets are priced based on the future not the past. Right!

At the end of the 1995-1999 bull market the compound rate of return of the S&P was 28.5% and investors were planning on another decade of the same.

Our clients were not thrilled with our all equity return of 11%. Their view of the future was to find another advisor. Well we know how that turned out. For the next decade the S&P 500 lost 1% a year and our broadly diversified portfolio compounded at over 7%.

It isn’t any different today. It’s never any different. If your strategy is a multi equity asset class portfolio you aer stuck with less than the best and better than the worst. When we look at the wonderful quilt chart that Daryl Bahls built for us several years ago we see that multi equity asset class return in somewhere in the middle.

Am I a broken record. No. Do I know a better way? Always. Am I tempted to overload the portfolio to one equity asset class? Not at all but I do understand the desire for investors to get onboard for some easy money— or serious market correction.

I’ve been following markets since 1963 and I have always been aware of many reasons to buy or sell the market. There have always been services that lean to the bullish or bearish predictions.

Do I think Bitcoin is going to a million? No, but it could. What would its P/E ratio be at a million? Exactly what it is now— infinity!

Remember a 5 cent piece of bubble gum today will sell for 2.3 trillion billion dollars in 2000 years at a 3% compound rate of inflation.

Latest Podcast- The Final Chapter: S&P 500 vs. 60/40 vs. Four-Fund Strategy

This episode concludes our four-part series on two “radical” portfolio choices—investing all-equity for life versus adopting a more balanced 60% equities / 40% bonds approach. In this final session, Paul goes beyond the S&P 500 to examine the U.S. Four-Fund strategy (large-cap blend, small-cap blend, large-cap value, small-cap value).

The goal? To see whether spreading risk across more equity asset classes can deliver higher returns with similar risk compared to relying solely on the S&P 500.

Key Tables to Review
Paul highlights the following critical tables from the Bootcamp series:

Table B1 - Fine Tuning Table: S&P 500 Equity Portfolio

Table B4 - Fine Tuning Table: US 4-Fund Equity Portfolio
Table C4 - Fixed Contributions ($1,000/yr): US 4-Fund Equity Portfolio
Table D4.4 - Fixed Distributions (Conservative-$40,000/yr): US 4-Fund Equity Portfolio
Table H2 – Sound Investing Portfolios (100% Equity)
Table H2A – Sound Investing Portfolios (60/40)
Table D1.4 – Fixed Distributions ($40k + inflation)

Lessons for Investors

Risk vs. Reward: Diversification improved long-term results with little added downside.
Distribution Matters: In retirement, portfolio structure determined whether investors ended with $6 million or nearly $20 million.
Numbers Over Stories: While investing stories capture attention, the tables show the long-term reality.

For deeper study, explore all the Bootcamp tables and supporting resources at paulmerriman.com.

Youtube Testimonial

I watch a TON of investment-related Youtube content (and yes, I've filtered out the "bad" ones over time as I got more awareness). This was one of the most informative, thought-provoking, and useful content I've seen.

This comment was regarding Paul’s interview with Paula Pant.

The Final Chapter: S&P 500 vs. 60/40 vs. Four-Fund Strategy

Lifecycle Investing : The Ages of the Investor

How to retire with more money and greater peace of mind

In This EditionStrategies for Financial SuccessIt’s Deja Vu all over again!Latest PodcastTestimonial

In This Edition
Strategies for Financial Success
It’s Deja Vu all over again!
Latest Podcast
Testimonial