"Success does not depend upon the brilliance of your plan, but upon the consistency of your actions."

— Lee Colan

In This Edition

→A Conversation with Larry Swedroe

→A Truth Teller Worth Following: Rob Berger

→Latest Podcast — Paul Merriman on Managing $1.6 Billion But Never His Own Money

→Testimonial

→In Case You Missed It — Ben's Podcast on Factor Investing

→In Case You Missed It — Best in Class ETF Recommendations 2026

Financial Literacy Series — Episode 1

A Conversation with Larry Swedroe

Tuesday, April 8th · 4:30 PM PST

Larry Swedroe is our guest for the first of the Financial Literacy Series. I hope you will join Larry and me for a discussion of some of the biggest decisions an investor will make.

Below is a partial list of questions — from our followers and from my own list. There is still time to add yours!

Join Us Live

Tuesday, April 8th at 4:30 PM PST — Sign up to reserve your spot and submit your question.

Questions for Larry — View Full List (PDF) →

→ Why is it so hard, even for professionals, to beat the market?
→ Why is it important to understand the difference between risk and uncertainty?
→ What are the biggest behavioral mistakes investors make?
→ If you could give one rule to survive a bear market, what would it be?
→ What do most investors get wrong about diversification?
→ What is the single most important lesson an investor has to learn?
+ 10 more questions in the full PDF →

📚 Larry's Book

Enrich Your Future: The Keys to Successful Investing — Larry's essential guide to making smarter financial decisions. Referenced throughout our conversation.

Get It on Amazon →

Truth Teller Series

A Truth Teller Worth Following:
Rob Berger

One of the most important services we provide is identifying what I call "Truth Tellers" — educators whose work is built around helping you make better financial decisions, without conflicts of interest.

Rob Berger is one of those voices. Each week he curates a thoughtful collection of articles, videos, and tools to help investors cut through the noise. This week alone his newsletter pointed me to resources on passkeys, AI tax tools, and the timeless truth that simple investing beats complexity.

In a world where the financial industry is constantly trying to sell you something, Rob is doing something different: he's doing the homework for you.

From Rob's Newsletter — March 29, 2026 — View Full List (PDF) →

3 Things:
→ What the Heck are Passkeys? (Oblivious Investor)
→ Which AI Calculates Taxes Correctly? (The Finance Buff)
→ Index Funds Aren't Boring (Money Changes Everything)

+ Many more articles, tools & resources in the full PDF →

Featured Podcast

Paul Merriman on Managing $1.6 Billion
But Never His Own Money

At 82 years old, I still work. Not because I have to, but because I want to.

I joined Brian Herriot and Kirby Denison on The Time Freedom Podcast to talk about exactly that. But we ended up covering a lot more than I expected.

🎙️ Listen to the Episode →

Here's something that might surprise you: I managed money for thousands of people over 30 years and built a firm to $1.6 billion under management. And I have never once managed my own money.

Why? Because I know myself too well. When the market drops, I would second-guess everything. I'd probably hesitate to put more money in, even though that's exactly what I teach people to do. So I let someone else handle it. I don't even check how I did last year.

We also got into my disagreement with John Bogle. I had the privilege of sitting with him for about 90 minutes earlier in my career. Bogle preached Enough — it's even the title of one of his books.

I respectfully disagree. I believe the goal should be more than enough. Because life gets in the way. Bad things happen. And they often happen during retirement, when you have the least ability to recover. If you stop working the moment you have just enough, you're one bad year away from trouble.

📚 🎧 Book Pre-Order

Brian's book Time Freedom is available for pre-order! Pre-order and get the audiobook free — instant access today, paper copy in September. Normally that takes three copies, but for my listeners, just one.

timefreedombook.com | Code: PAUL

In Case You Missed It — From Last Week

🎙️ Ben's Podcast on Factor Investing

A link we meant to include last week — Ben's excellent episode on factor investing from the Rational Reminder Podcast. Well worth your time.

Listen Now →

📊 Best in Class ETF Recommendations 2026

Our updated DFA and Avantis ETF recommendations for 2026 — the funds we believe give investors the best chance at long-term success.

View Recommendations →

Coming Next Week

Special Report: M1 Finance & Fidelity Basket Portfolios

Next week we'll be taking a deep dive into M1 Finance and Fidelity Basket Portfolios — two powerful tools that give investors more control over how they build and manage their portfolios. Don't miss it!

"Thank you so much for all the work that you do. I plan to teach my husband and extended family everything I have learned!"

— G.H.

From Paul Merriman

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A Conversation with Larry Swedroe

A Truth Teller Worth Following:Rob Berger

Paul Merriman on Managing $1.6 BillionBut Never His Own Money

Special Report: M1 Finance & Fidelity Basket Portfolios

Resources & Ways to Connect

A Truth Teller Worth Following:
Rob Berger

Paul Merriman on Managing $1.6 Billion
But Never His Own Money