The Lifelong Process of Financial Education

Paul Merriman is a nationally recognized authority on mutual funds, index investing, and asset allocation. He founded Merriman Wealth Management in 1983, retired from the firm in 2012, and created the Merriman Financial Education Foundation. Everything he does is dedicated to providing investors of all ages with information and tools to make informed decisions for their own best interests.

Today, Paul joins the show to reflect on early financial lessons he learned, discuss the current state of financial education, and share the top three decisions everyone must make in their financial lives.

📺 Watch on YouTube

https://youtu.be/MFHHT8oOnUs

Key Takeaways

00:47 – Jonathan introduces today’s guest, Paul Merriman, who joins the show to share his background in finance and the scarcity mindset he developed while growing up

07:15 – Paul reflects on early experiences that shaped his money story

11:25 – Paul’s career journey

17:22 – The state of financial education today

22:08 – How to make others understand that financial education is a lifelong process

27:46 – The FIRE (Financial Independence, Retire Early) movement and other financial advice

31:25 – Indicators of misleading financial advice

33:46 – A life changing experience

39:39 – The top three decisions everyone must make in their financial lives

45:38 – Paul’s thoughts on the 1% advisor fee

54:30 – One place Paul has visited that had a profound impact on him and the one question Paul would want to know the answer to

58:50 – Jonathan thanks Paul for joining the show and lets listeners know where to connect with him

Tweetable Quotes

“I don’t know why, but I started selling when I was eleven years old. And I kept selling from selling Christmas cards at eleven to selling in the record shop when I was in high school, selling in the clothing store. I have always enjoyed facing the public and I feel like I’ve always had something worthwhile to sell. And so, while others may see selling as a lowly profession, I’ve always found it to be wonderful because really it’s just another form of teaching as far as I’m concerned.” (03:54) (Paul)

“It’s amazing how much great information is being laid at the feet of young people. And there’s a lot more of that great information coming. On the other hand, there is an abundance of really bad advice that is available for free. The price is not what it costs to get the education. The price is gonna come when you get the education and those amazing investments don’t work out.” (17:39) (Paul)

“We all say that the best strategy is the one that you will use for the rest of your life. Now, you want it to be a good strategy. We don’t want you to be in cryptocurrency for the rest of your life. But, chasing performance is just not a winning strategy.” (35:40) (Paul)

“As a matter of fact, if you look at what is behind successful investing, it’s almost all about being a contrarian and doing the opposite.” (48:35) (Paul)

“Generally speaking, even though investment advisors are gonna make a good living, it’s not about making the big sale to get money right now, because they’re looking for a lifetime commitment. The salesperson who gets a commission can get rich right now for a few minutes worth of work. It doesn’t work that way with investment advisors. If you don’t like me after six months, I’m outta there.” (54:01) (Paul)