Sound Investing

Joe Shaefer of Stanford Wealth Management, an old friend of more than 30 years, recently wrote an article for Seeking Alpha.  “Passive Index Investing is a Delusion” is an active manager’s view of investing in indexes.  In the podcast I address Joe’s views of why index investing is a losing strategy and why I think he is dead …

With all the speculation about the future of fiduciaries, I felt it was time to make some remarks about important differences between those inside and outside the world of commissions. But, as you’ll discover, even a fee-only fiduciary can give terrible advice.  Plus, having just spoken at a conference sponsored by a local DFA advisor, I thought it …

There are three huge decisions that will likely lead to reaching the “early retirement” goal. Paul discusses why these three decisions are key, and shares stories about those who have been successful in reaching their financial freedom goal. How important is it to have a spouse who has agreed to the challenges of being an aggressive saver?  How …

If you are one of the millions of people who are considering an insurance product as part of your retirement plan, listen to this! It is hard to believe that an insurance company would ever pay a 12% commission on a million dollar investment if the product promised everything a person could want in retirement, plus a cash …

There are a lot of questions about the upcoming changes of the Trump presidency, coupled with a cooperative Congress. Some experts are saying it’s time to get out of the market, while others are making lists of the reasons there is a bigger and longer bull market in the works. Paul shares how he thinks investors should position …

One of the biggest mistakes investors make is not to diversify sufficiently to virtually eliminate stock or company risk. Paul reads part of two important articles. In “Speculating versus investing: The buying of individual stocks,” Larry Swedroe discusses the reasons owning individual stocks is an approach that requires taking more risk without an additional return. He also lists …

Paul expresses three outrages, exposing the dirty tricks some advisors use to exaggerate their performance. He also corrects a mistake on his last podcast regarding mid-cap funds, and answers several questions from listeners: Is it time to get out of small cap funds and get into TIPS? What ETFs do you recommend to put the “Two-Fund Solution” to …

Paul reviews the returns of his recommended asset classes for the 1 and 15 years ending 2016. He also compares the most important factors of the DFA and Vanguard small cap value funds, as well as the returns of all the major asset classes for the two fund families. And he discusses how the small cap value ETFs …

This podcast is from the PBS show “Financial Fitness After 50,” Paul discusses 31 important ‘rules of the road’ to financial fitness. Understanding these lessons, investors are likely to ensure they enjoy a lifetime of investment success. The rules include many of the important investment decisions investors must make, as well as how to deal with the most …

This podcast is recorded from the 2011 CD collection recorded for the premium package for the “Financial Fitness After 50” PBS show.  There is lots of advice for first time investors, as well as retirees, but some of the biggest mistakes are made within a few years of retirement.  If even one of Paul’s warning keep you from …