Paul Merriman: 7 Things You Should Be Doing With Your Retirement Portfolio

About Fun With Annuities Episode #104

Paul Merriman’s 60-year legacy of helping people with their money is unmatched.  His “tell the truth” passionate approach should be the benchmark for all financial advisors and is the obvious foundation for the current march to all things fiduciary.

Talking to Paul is always a joy to me and a gift to my listeners and viewers.  Whether he talks about a specific portfolio or his passion for helping young people be better investors, it’s inspiring, motivating, educational, and uplifting.

This podcast was absolute gold and should be replayed repeatedly if you are serious about your money.  Paul went over the seven things you need to do right now with your portfolio.  Some are no-brainers, and some are new.  The good news is that they all are free.  Everything on Paul’s site is free.  The detailed portfolio recommendations are free.  The weekly newsletter and PDF download of his latest book are free.  Paul Merriman is a true “financial advice philanthropist.”  He truly wants to help you be a better investor.

We discussed that young people believe crypto-currency is safer than the S&P 500. How much damage will damage to young people’s financial future? Paul weighs in with his take and possible solution to this crisis.

According to Paul, investing has never been easier. Investing has never been more efficient. Paul covers the unfortunate bad news. We also discussed that there are “many very good people who are doing bad things to the people who trust the good people. In other words, some bad advisors are giving bad advice. Paul and I weigh in heavily on this tragic topic.

Paul Merriman is a “national treasure.”  I am having a ball and celebrating every extra day. Enjoy the podcast.

"You don’t have to be Warren Buffet to get exceptional returns; you just need to be in the types of asset classes that have historically paid the premium - it’s not about the price you pay, it’s about the value you get." —  Paul Merriman.

Brief Bio on Co-host: Paul Merriman

Paul Merriman is a personal finance powerhouse, even in his retirement. He is a nationally recognized authority on mutual funds, index investing, asset allocation, and both buy-and-hold and active management strategies. He is the total package and a celebrity co-host that you can learn a lot from. He is currently retired from Merriman Wealth Management, the investment advisory firm he founded in 1983, and has spent his whole career – and retirement - dedicated to educating investors, young and old, through weekly articles at Marketwatch.com, and via free eBooks, podcasts, and videos.

Like me, Paul believes that everyone should have access to the information and tools that can help them make informed decisions. It’s been his lifelong commitment, one that he supported through the creation of  The Merriman Financial Education Foundation in 2013, a non-profit foundation dedicated to providing comprehensive (free of charge) financial education to investors. The Foundation site has built a library of over 700 articles, podcasts, and videos. The Foundation has also created dozens of do-it-yourself portfolios at Vanguard, Fidelity, Schwab, and others.

If you want to know what Paul is up to, I encourage you to follow him on social media including Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn.

In this episode, The Annuity Man and Paul Merriman discuss:

• The seven big things you need to know about investment
• Putting children on a glide path
• Avoiding market-timing
• Investing is simple

Key Takeaways:

• Figure out a way to identify what equity asset classes you should have and figure out how to put them together.
• Everyone needs a glide path, and in theory, it starts when a child is born. Parents and grandparents must immediately take steps to put their children on a glide path - all equities while they’re young and more fixed income as they get older.
• Don’t panic. If you want to be a successful long-term investor, you have to stay the course. Don’t market time; you might be able to avoid losses short-term, but you will pay the price in the long term.
• Investing is simple, but it takes faith in the system. It is easy to set it and forget it if you can keep your hands off the trigger. Winning in investing means thinking defensively, not aggressively.

Fun With Annuities® Podcast is hosted by America’s Annuity Agent®, Stan Haithcock, The Annuity Man®. Hear brutal annuity facts with no sales pitches from the top independent agent in the country, licensed in all 50 states. Author of 7 books, Stan dives deep on all annuity types and strategies. It’s fun, learning the contractual truths on how annuities actually work and if they’ll fit your personal retirement lifestyle.

Listen in on how you can be livin’ the reality, not the dream®. Listen and subscribe on Libsyn, Stitcher,Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Amazon Podcasts, and Spotify.