"The biggest risk facing investors is not short-term volatility but, rather, the risk of not earning a sufficient return on their capital as it accumulates." – Jack Bogle

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I Need Your Help!
Let the Good Times Roll But…⁠
Giving Tuesday- December 3, 2024
Latest Podcast
Testimonial

I Need Your Help!

Next week is going to be very special for me and I hope better than average for students and teachers who will join one of my 3 presentations.

The first two presentations will be for students in Personal Finance 215 ( 2 hours) and students in Personal Investing 216 (1 hour). The third presentation is to a group of the deans, officers and other administrators at Western. The reason for the meeting is to update them on the progress of the Merriman Financial Literacy Program.

Join Paul at the ⁠⁠⁠L.A. Chapter of AAII⁠⁠⁠ on November 16, 2024

10:30 am to noon.

"2 Funds to Own Forever, and How to Invest in Small Caps"

CLICK HERE FOR MEETING DETAILS AND TO REGISTER

During my presentation to the deans, administrators and hopefully, President Subah Randhawa, I will address the short and long term benefits this education will have on our students.

This is where I need your help. Below is the list of obvious potential benefits. What I would like from you is to think outside the box and give me some additional potential benefits. Many of these benefits will impact these young people as students and others will come as they expand their world of finance.

Better debt management
Better budgeting capabilities
Better credit card management
Save earlier
Save more
Invest more intelligently
Better tax management
Reduced financial stress
More likely to work with spouse on financial projects
More likely to have similar financial goals with spouse
More likely to tell the truth to spouse
Modeling better financial behaviors for children
More likely to find better mortgage rate
Less likely to be defrauded
More likely to be able to guide others in the family and at work
More likely to take advantage of company match
More likely to live within their means
More likely to have reasonable return expectations for investments
Less likely to be manipulated by Wall Street
More likely to invest in index funds
More likely to invest in target date funds
Financial decisions more likely to be made logically rather than emotionally
More likely to maintain a connection with WWU (iGrad)
More likely to have appropriate auto, health and life insurance
More likely to have a financial plan for major purchases
More likely to retire younger, retire with more to spend and/or leave more to children and charities

Bottom line: A financially literate person is more likely to save, spend, and manage their finances more responsibly. We can help students move in this direction before they are ready to create their consumer habits as an adult..

Thanks for your input. I will report back in the next two weeks to let you know how it went.

Let the Good Times Roll But…

As you all know I start my reading with Ben Carlson each morning. I think the following two articles are worth reading. When I read these kind of articles I always remind myself how we (my wife and I) have addressed the risk during the good times and bad. During the last 11 years ( I’m now officially 81) we have remained 50% in equities and 50% bonds in the buy and hold portion of our portfolio. The assumption is at any time the market could go down 30% to 50% and we want to limit our losses to no more than 25% during that decline. That’s it! That would be a big loss at our ages but that’s the risk we are willing to take in the hopes that the portfolio will continue to grow at a modest rate over the rest of our lives—not for us but for others.

30% Up Years in the Stock Market
3% Stock Market Returns For the Next Decade?

Giving Tuesday- December 3, 2024

As we approach this special day of giving, we invite you to support the Merriman Financial Education Foundation. Your contribution is vital in empowering individuals with the financial knowledge they need to succeed.

Financial education is essential for building a secure future, and your donations help us provide crucial resources, workshops, and support to those in need. Together, we can make a difference in fostering a more financially literate community.

Join us this Giving Tuesday to invest in the future of financial education. Every donation, no matter the size, brings us one step closer to our mission. Let’s make a lasting impact together!
Donate now and be a part of the change!

https://donate.paulmerriman.com

Latest Podcast- Can we count on AVUV high performance in the future?

Paul mentions his upcoming presentation to the ⁠⁠⁠L.A. Chapter of AAII⁠⁠⁠ on November 16, 2024 10:30 to noon.

Chris Pedersen and Daryl Bahls join Paul to answer your questions. Paul opens the podcast with a brief introduction of the team and notes how thankful he is for their commitment to helping others.

Paul mentions the huge moves small cap value funds made on November 6. He follows that with a comparison of the 5 year returns of AVUV and 3 Vanguard small cap value funds (VBR, VIOV and VTWV). AVUV compound rate of returns were 3 plus percent higher than the Vanguard funds. Paul’s questions: What caused the higher returns and are they likely to be similar in the future?

Chris responds with a lengthy discussion of the systematic approach that AVUV uses and Paul reads what AVUV says about their systematic approach.

Chris compares the DFA small cap value fund (DFSV) with AVUV. Chris also talks about a relative ranking he wants add to his Best In Class recommendations next year.

Chris discusses the quality factor of AVUV vs. funds that build their small cap value portfolio using the Russell 2000 Small Cap Value Index. He introduced a new term: rich minus weak ratio.Paul and Chris discuss the question: Is AVUV and actively managed fund?

Question: JL Collins recommends VTI (Total Market Index) and Warren Buffett recommends VOO (S&P 500). Which do we recommend? Chris notes the important differences between VTI and AVUS and suggests a likely extra .5% return from AVUS.

For those who want to own only total market funds, the group discusses the possibilities of replacing both VIT(U.S. Total Market) and VXUS (International Total Market) with total market indexes that favor slightly smaller companies with a slightly more value tilt.

Paul references Ben Carlson’s article about, ⁠⁠⁠“Some Things I Don’t Believe About Investing.”⁠⁠ ⁠

Chris, Daryl and Paul weigh in on things they don’t believe about investing.Chris ends with some important comments about how we are likely helping investors.

⁠Watch video here.

Testimonials

"We know that small cap value will be a bumpy ride. Fortunately in recent times, the bumps have been upward. Roughly 25-30% of my and my kids' retirement portfolios are in small cap value (AVUV), and I have you and your colleagues, Mr. Merriman, to thank for it."

WEBINAR PROGRAM will start
at 9:00 am PT

LAST DAY TO PURCHASE ADMISSION IS
THE EVENING BEFORE THE PROGRAM FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 15 AT 6 PM

4 reasons your index funds failed you

Can we count on AVUV high performance in the future?

In This Edition I Need Your Help!Let the Good Times Roll But…⁠Giving Tuesday- December 3, 2024Latest PodcastTestimonial

In This Edition

I Need Your Help!
Let the Good Times Roll But…⁠
Giving Tuesday- December 3, 2024
Latest Podcast
Testimonial