Uploaded August 2026 | Updated September 2026, 2 weeks ago
Paul and Chris reflect on Paul's recent discussion with Rick Ferri. Paul adds information he wished he'd included, and Chris reacts to Paul and Rick's positions. Together, they discuss the behavioral, trust, and performance benefits and trade-offs of seeking meaningful diversification by adding Small-Cap Value to a portfolio.
CHAPTERS
00:00:00 Intro
00:02:50 Chris' 30k Foot View
00:06:16 Mid-caps?
00:10:40 Tot. Mkt. vs. S&P 500
00:20:15 Trust and Change
00:25:45 Table G1b
00:28:50 VT vs. AVGE
00:42:20 Dollar-Cost-Averaging
00:52:00 Paul's Grandson's Question
00:53:08 Gold funds
00:59:40 Travel plans
01:02:20 Outro
Table G1b — Fine Tuning Table: S&P 500 vs. US Small Cap Value
irp.cdn-website.com/6b78c197/files/uploaded/Table+G1b+-+Fine+Tuning+Table+-+S-P+500+vs+US+SCV+Equity+Portfolio+-+Out-Performance.pdf
Paul and Chris reflect on Paul's recent discussion with Rick Ferri. Paul adds information he wished he'd included, and Chris reacts to Paul and Rick's positions. Together, they discuss the behavioral, trust, and performance benefits and trade-offs of seeking meaningful diversification by adding Small-Cap Value to a portfolio.
CHAPTERS
00:00:00 Intro
00:02:50 Chris' 30k Foot View
00:06:16 Mid-caps?
00:10:40 Tot. Mkt. vs. S&P 500
00:20:15 Trust and Change
00:25:45 Table G1b
00:28:50 VT vs. AVGE
00:42:20 Dollar-Cost-Averaging
00:52:00 Paul's Grandson's Question
00:53:08 Gold funds
00:59:40 Travel plans
01:02:20 Outro
Table G1b — Fine Tuning Table: S&P 500 vs. US Small Cap Value
irp.cdn-website.com/6b78c197/files/uploaded/Table+G1b+-+Fine+Tuning+Table+-+S-P+500+vs+US+SCV+Equity+Portfolio+-+Out-Performance.pdf



![The Four Fund Portfolio Yields Higher Returns
Paul talks with Barbara Friedberg (https://barbarafriedbergpersonalfinance.com/), financial writer and former investment portfolio manager, about his popular 4 fund combo and how and why to implement it. Among their discussion is how the 4 fund combo (https://paulmerriman.com/4-fund-combo/) strategy outperformed the S&P 500 over the last 92 years. From 1928 through 2020 the Merriman 4-fund portfolio earned an average annual return of 11.7% versus the S&P 500 average return of 10.00%.
[This video is also available as a video at: https://paulmerriman.com/the-four-fund-portfolio-yields-higher-returns/].
The Merriman Financial Education Foundation Four Fund Combo –
- Small Cap Value
- Small Cap Blend
- Large Cap Value
- S&P 500
Sign up for free at M-1 Finance and create your own 4 Fund Combo: https://m1finance.8bxp97.net/aXrzb
(Affiliate Link – If you fund an account for $1,000 or more, The Merriman Financial Education Foundation receives a one-time affiliate fee.)
Watch our M1 finance video tutorial with Chris Pedersen
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=02_KIRvBbmo
Barbara A. Friedberg, MBA, is a former investment portfolio manager and university finance and investing instructor. She currently owns and manages two Investing websites: Robo-Advisor Pros https://www.roboadvisorpros.com/ and Barbara Friedberg Personal Finance
https://barbarafriedbergpersonalfinance.com The Four Fund Portfolio Yields Higher Returns](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/vMFtJLAxFhI/mqdefault.jpg)






