Sound Investing

Paul Merriman sits down with Larry Swedroe — author of 22 books and one of the most respected voices in evidence-based investing — for a conversation that covers everything from the five factors that actually matter to why Bitcoin might go to zero.
Larry explains why judging your investment decisions by their outcomes is one of the most dangerous mistakes you can make, lays out the academic criteria he uses to separate real factor premiums from data mining, and reveals that he's made only three tactical moves in 30 years of investing. He and Paul use three eye-opening slides to show why chasing recent winners almost guarantees you'll underperform.
They also dig into why growth stocks don't deliver the returns most people expect (hint: the growth rate is already in the price), why traditional index funds are "dumb traders" bleeding money to hedge funds, and how AI will make markets harder to beat — not easier.
The audience Q&A covers emerging markets, the updated "Larry Portfolio," crypto, private equity, and which fund families Larry actually trusts with his own money.
Part of the Spring Financial Education Series hosted by the Bainbridge Community Foundation in partnership with the Merriman Financial Education Foundation.

LINKS & RESOURCES:  
"Enrich Your Future" — Larry Swedroe  
"Your Complete Guide to Factor-Based Investing" — Larry Swedroe & Andrew Berkin  
"Your Complete Guide to a Successful and Secure Retirement" — Larry Swedroe  Larry Swedroe on Substack: https://larryswedroe.substack.com  
The Hidden Flaw in Style Index Funds
The Hidden Costs of Index Replication: What Every Investor Needs to Know About
Adverse Effects of Index Replication
Watch the video here.
Coming up in this series: Christine Benz (Morningstar), Mike Piper, and Bill Bernstein.

A special thanks to Professor Bunnell who teaches a  finance class at Bentley University.  He recommended his students tune into the interview.  I hope it motivated them to get a copy of Larry’s latest book. Enrich Your Future: The Keys to Successful Investing 1st Edition.   I would place a very large bet that it will make a huge difference in their financial future. By the way, to the best of my knowledge Bentley is the only university I know that requires a Personal Finance class to graduate.

Paul Merriman sits down with Mark Zoril, founder of PlanVision, in the first episode of a new series spotlighting affordable financial planning options for do-it-yourself investors.
Mark built PlanVision in 2012 around a simple premise: investing isn't as complicated as the financial services industry makes it seem, and technology makes it possible to deliver thoughtful, unbiased financial advice at a price almost anyone can afford.
In this episode you'll learn:
What you get for $489 in the first year — including access to the eMoney financial planning platform and one-on-one advisor sessions
How the $8/month ongoing subscription works, and when it makes sense to stay on vs. cancel
Why PlanVision has no commissions, no affiliate links, no insurance sales, and no conflicts of interest
How the firm handles complex situations: Roth conversions, Social Security timing, 529s, pension vs. lump sum, and tax planning (with a CPA on staff)
What PlanVision will and won't do — no estate planning, no market timing, no gold hedging strategies
How they serve expats in over 180 countries
What happens when a client passes away and a surviving spouse needs guidance
Mark's own investing philosophy — and why he puts his own money in a Vanguard target date fund
How PlanVision works with clients who follow Paul Merriman’s, Rick Ferri's, Larry Swedroe's, or any other multi-equity asset class  indexing philosophy
Links mentioned:
PlanVision website
PlanVision testimonials
Rob Berger interview with Mark Zoril (expat investing, 60+ min)
Stan the Annuity Man
Bogleheads PlanVision comments

Watch the full video on YouTube

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.
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 and 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.
📚🎧 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

Q&A Highlights
How does a 4-fund portfolio compare to a 10-fund portfolio?

What is the best way to invest for a child’s future?

Is it too late to use a diversified strategy like the 10-fund portfolio at age 50?

Can I create and test my own custom portfolio using your tools?

How should I invest during periods of inflation or uncertainty?

What are some recommended fund options available at Schwab?

Is a portfolio combining large-cap value and small-cap blend a good approach?

Are there good alternatives to intermediate-term bonds?

Who are some trustworthy voices in personal finance and investing?

What is your opinion on separately managed accounts (SMAs)?

Key Takeaway
Long-term investment success is driven by asset allocation, discipline, and consistency—not complexity. A simple, well-structured portfolio that you can maintain through market cycles is often the most effective approach.

Listen to the individual questions here.

Paul Merriman is dedicated to helping do-it-yourself investors build portfolios they can stick with for life. In this episode, he shares what he believes is the closest thing to a perfect long-term equity strategy he's ever seen.
Paul traces the evolution of index investing — from John Bogle's cap-weighted S&P 500 funds to the academic research of Fama and French, whose factor-based work showed that small cap value, large cap value, and other equity asset classes have historically outperformed the broad market over time.
For years, the best factor-based funds from Dimensional Fund Advisors (DFA) were only available through select advisors. That changed when Avantis launched its ETF lineup in 2019, followed by DFA's own ETFs — putting institutional-quality, factor-based investing within reach of every self-directed investor.
Paul introduces a recommended ETF list spanning 10 equity asset classes across both fund families, explains the key differences between DFA and Avantis, and makes the case for owning both. He also covers where to buy them and why Fidelity's fractional shares make it easy to start with any dollar amount.
Key topics: Factor-based vs. traditional index funds · Accessing DFA and Avantis ETFs · The case for owning both · Simplifying rebalancing with M1 Finance
The Q&A Paul references was recorded separately.