"When you have won the retirement game, stop playing it with the money you need to pay the rent and groceries.” — The Four Pillars of Investing William J. Bernstein

In This Edition

Good News and Bad News
Bootcamp 2025
Retiremeet
Truth Teller Dr. Jim Dahle,
Latest Podcast
Testimonial

When there is good news and bad news my nature has always been to prefer hearing the bad news first. So here is the bad news. As much as I’d love to attend Retiremeet and be a part of the fun and make one of the most interesting presentations of my career, I won’t be able to make it. Due to some health complications, my doctor has advised me to sit this one out.

The good news, however, is that Chris Pederson will be there to do what I would love to be doing. Not only will he be covering the diversification topic, but he’ll have the chance to meet with those who follow his work. It’s the perfect time to ask him any questions you may have! Plus there's a good chance Daryl Bahls will be there as well.

Bootcamp 2025

We are about to start the 2025 Boot Camp series. This will take about 90 days to complete. Our small band of volunteers (Daryl Bahls, Chris Pedersen, Rich Buck and Craig Appl) will start addressing some of the most important investment decisions you will make in your lifetime. By the way, Daryl had a very nice article written about his life and his commitment to helping others.

We will not only be opening our Boot Camp pages to address more topics, we will also be addressing questions and comments from readers, listeners and viewers. And we will start adding information on Boot Camp topics from our Truth Tellers.

If you would like to learn more please listen to this weeks podcast.

Retiremeet 2025

Gain Confidence in Your Retirement Plan

Attend In-Person or Virtually

Join leading experts at Retiremeet 2025 to gain confidence in navigating retirement’s complexities. Learn how to build a consistent income, steer clear of common investment mistakes, and make the most of Medicare benefits—all while protecting your financial future from cyber threats. Prepare for a secure, well-planned retirement.

Don’t miss inspiring talks from Tom & Don of Talking Real Money, along with many other notable speakers. Each attendee receives a full day of education on critical retirement topics from leading experts, breakfast and lunch, and a commemorative program filled with timely articles.

Truth Teller Dr. Jim Dahle, White Coast Investor Founder

The End Matters Most: Compound Interest at Its Finest

Compound interest was once called “the eighth wonder of the world,” and a critical part of the financial training I give my children is convincing them that they'd rather earn interest than pay it. However, I've been impressed lately with the importance of getting to the end of any time period when it comes to compound interest. Let me explain.

Latest Podcast Introduction to Bootcamp

The podcast starts with a brief history of the growth of the Merriman Financial Literacy Foundation. From it’s small beginning in December 2012, it has produced over 1000 videos, articles and podcasts, published 6 books, spoken at many national conferences, underwritten a university class on investing for non finance majors at Western Washington University, produced portfolios for do it yourself investors, produced recommended mutual funds and ETFs to build the portfolios. Most recently there is a new effort to give every Western student a meaningful exposure to personal finance. This is being done under the Merriman Financial Literacy Program at Western.

Two years ago we introduced the Merriman Boot Camp. The purpose of the project is to help investors make the best financial decisions. In the podcast Paul discusses 14 of those decisions and how we are enlarging our educational efforts. He also notes that the Boot Camp pages will also contain a new Q&A section on each topic as well as additional information from our list of Truth Tellers.

Testimonial

"I love the content! Recently watched the whole Bootcamp series, it was fantastic." @paulshepherd2289

Introduction to Bootcamp

Which total market fund is best for long-term investors?

Why should small cap value make higher returns?

In This Edition Good News and Bad NewsBootcamp 2025RetiremeetTruth Teller Dr. Jim Dahle, Latest PodcastTestimonial

In This Edition

Good News and Bad News
Bootcamp 2025
Retiremeet
Truth Teller Dr. Jim Dahle,
Latest Podcast
Testimonial

Good News and Bad News!