Boot Camp 9 - 2 Funds for Life & Target Date Funds @PaulMerrimanSoundInvesting

Uploaded May 2026 | Updated September 2026, 2 weeks ago

Chris and Paul explain what target-date funds are and do, and how to augment them with some small-cap value to get the broad diversification benefits of the other Sound Investing portfolios. They describe several approaches and tools investors can use to determine what might be best for them.

CHAPTERS
00:00 Intro
03:03 Target-Date Funds
07:00 Glide Paths
15:17 TDF Backtesting
19:55 TDF Weaknesses
26:20 "Easy" 2FFL
34:46 "Moderate 2FFL
37:48 "Aggressive" 2FFL
41:00 Customizer
52:15 Calculator
61:07 Books
66:00 Outro

LINKS:
Wharton “Target Date Funds & Portfolio Choice in 401(k) Plans: papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=3535910

Morningstar “2026 Target-Date Fund Landscape”- bit.ly/439sr4o

Chris' Tables of 2 Funds for Life and Target Date Funds (PDF) irp.cdn-website.com/6b78c197/files/uploaded/2026+Target-Date+Fund+and+2FFL+%282%29.pdf

Merriman Aggressive Target-Date Glide Path Calculator: paulmerriman.com/custom-merriman-target-date-allocation-calculator

Merriman 2 Funds for Life Calculator: paulmerriman.com/two-funds-for-life-calculator

Boot Camp 9 - 2 Funds for Life & Target Date Funds

Keeping More of What You Earn- Mike Piper and Paul Merriman

$Automating Your Portfolio: M1 Finance vs. Fidelity Basket Portfolios In what may be the final episode of the 2026 Boot Camp series, Paul Merriman sits down with Chris Pedersen and Daryl Bahls to tackle the last fork in the road every investor faces: automation. After all the boot camp decisions — stocks versus bonds, which equity asset classes, how much fixed income, how to handle contributions and withdrawals — the final question is how much of the day-to-day management you should hand off to a tool, and which tool is right for you. Chris walks through how M1 Finance “pies” let buy-and-hold investors put their portfolios on autopilot: automated contributions, on-the-fly rebalancing as new money comes in, fractional shares, and one-button rebalancing. He explains the pre-configured Merriman portfolios — the Ultimate Buy and Hold, Worldwide and US Four-Fund, All Value, All Small Cap Value, and the Aggressive Target Date glide path in five-year increments — and an important limitation: once you grab a pie, there’s no live link back to the source, so website updates won’t change your account. Paul then makes the case for Fidelity’s Basket Portfolios as an alternative, especially for anyone uneasy about moving large sums to a younger company. He covers the flat $4.99-per-month fee regardless of account size, eligible account types, the TFLO short-term Treasury workaround for holding cash, and why Fidelity may fit investors already in the Fidelity ecosystem. The team compares trading windows, account minimums and how each firm counts the $10,000 threshold, and Daryl shares that M1 has grown from about $1 billion in 2020 to roughly $12.5 billion in assets under management. The conversation closes with practical guidance on mixing and matching Sound Investing portfolios, the question everyone’s asking — “how long do I have to wait for small cap value?” — a reminder not to flail or chase recent performance, why the 10-fund Ultimate Buy and Hold strategy still stands, and a clear explanation of the move from AVUS to AVLC and where AVSC fits. Timestamps- 00:00 - Intro 03:10 - M1 Finance 13:45 - Fidelity Baskets 24:27 - Portfolio Combos 29:55 - When to Change Allocations 42:44 - AVLC vs. AVUS 45:15 - Outro LINKS Sound Investing Portfolio Pies - https://www.paulmerriman.com/m1-finance M1 Finance Pie Tutorial (Mobile App) - https://youtu.be/BiTEORYXxoM M1 Finance Pie Tutorial (Web Interface) - https://youtu.be/KMHnUMWl-KQ?list=TLPQMTIwNTIwMjZTsJy3X2pITA Boot Camp 9 page- https://[paulmerriman.com/m1-finance-fidelity$

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