Uploaded October 2021 | Updated September 2026, 2 weeks ago
What motivates a successful man in his late seventies to spend his retirement educating DIY investors? If you want to know more about Paul Merriman, watch this video. John Bajkowski, president of the American Association of Individual Investors, introduces Paul and explains the Cloonan Award.
Established In 2013, the award was named after James Cloonan who founded the nonprofit AAII in 1978. “The Cloonan Award is presented to individuals who have made significant advances and contributions in the area of individual investor education, in the spirit of Cloonan’s educational mission.”
In accepting the award, Paul talks about the changes on Wall Street that have allowed for empowered individual investors, the challenges of motivating people to take informed risks, and the work of The Merriman Financial Education Foundation, “to educate investors of all ages," which he founded in 2012 after retiring as founder of Merriman Wealth Management in 1983. Paul touches upon numerous projects and plugs the great education work of others, like Next Gen Personal Finance (NGPF.org) for students and teachers. He concludes with, "I learn every day from many other truth tellers... I’m having fun and I hope you’re having fun and learning something from our work. And I hope know you know that we are open to learning new ways to help you get a better education." Past recipients include such investment luminaries as Charles Schwab, Bruce Johnstone, founder of Fidelity Investments, and John “Jack” Bogle, founder of The Vanguard Group.
This presentation first appeared at AAII's successful Investor Conference 360, a virtual event that brought individual investors and 25+ financial experts together for 3 days of education and insights. Since 1978, AAII has helped millions of individuals build their investment wealth through programs of education, publications, software and grassroots meetings.
The American Association of Individual Investors (AAII) is an independent, nonprofit corporation formed for the purpose of assisting individuals in becoming effective managers of their own assets through programs of education, information and research.
To learn more about AAII, click here: aaii.com/join
The Merriman Financial Education Foundation: paulmerriman.com/the-merriman-financial-education-foundation
Become a more savvy investor! Access free books, hundreds of weekly podcasts and WSJ’s MarketWatch articles, plus recommended portfolios, ETFs and mutual funds, and much more at paulmerriman.com
This video is part of the educational offerings from The Merriman Financial Education Foundation, a registered 501(c)3. If you found value in this video, here are four ways to support these videos and our foundation:
1) Hit the thumbs up, subscribe and share the link with your social media and friends.
2) Sign up for our biweekly newsletter at PaulMerriman.com
3) Use our M1 Finance affiliate link if you are interested in setting up a brokerage account, using our portfolio suggestions. The Foundation will receive a one-time small fee at no cost to you. m1finance.8bxp97.net/aXrzb
4) Consider making a tax-deductible donation to the Foundation (paulmerriman.com/donate/) to support our mission to provide financial education to investors. Thank you!
What motivates a successful man in his late seventies to spend his retirement educating DIY investors? If you want to know more about Paul Merriman, watch this video. John Bajkowski, president of the American Association of Individual Investors, introduces Paul and explains the Cloonan Award.
Established In 2013, the award was named after James Cloonan who founded the nonprofit AAII in 1978. “The Cloonan Award is presented to individuals who have made significant advances and contributions in the area of individual investor education, in the spirit of Cloonan’s educational mission.”
In accepting the award, Paul talks about the changes on Wall Street that have allowed for empowered individual investors, the challenges of motivating people to take informed risks, and the work of The Merriman Financial Education Foundation, “to educate investors of all ages," which he founded in 2012 after retiring as founder of Merriman Wealth Management in 1983. Paul touches upon numerous projects and plugs the great education work of others, like Next Gen Personal Finance (NGPF.org) for students and teachers. He concludes with, "I learn every day from many other truth tellers... I’m having fun and I hope you’re having fun and learning something from our work. And I hope know you know that we are open to learning new ways to help you get a better education." Past recipients include such investment luminaries as Charles Schwab, Bruce Johnstone, founder of Fidelity Investments, and John “Jack” Bogle, founder of The Vanguard Group.
This presentation first appeared at AAII's successful Investor Conference 360, a virtual event that brought individual investors and 25+ financial experts together for 3 days of education and insights. Since 1978, AAII has helped millions of individuals build their investment wealth through programs of education, publications, software and grassroots meetings.
The American Association of Individual Investors (AAII) is an independent, nonprofit corporation formed for the purpose of assisting individuals in becoming effective managers of their own assets through programs of education, information and research.
To learn more about AAII, click here: aaii.com/join
The Merriman Financial Education Foundation: paulmerriman.com/the-merriman-financial-education-foundation
Become a more savvy investor! Access free books, hundreds of weekly podcasts and WSJ’s MarketWatch articles, plus recommended portfolios, ETFs and mutual funds, and much more at paulmerriman.com
This video is part of the educational offerings from The Merriman Financial Education Foundation, a registered 501(c)3. If you found value in this video, here are four ways to support these videos and our foundation:
1) Hit the thumbs up, subscribe and share the link with your social media and friends.
2) Sign up for our biweekly newsletter at PaulMerriman.com
3) Use our M1 Finance affiliate link if you are interested in setting up a brokerage account, using our portfolio suggestions. The Foundation will receive a one-time small fee at no cost to you. m1finance.8bxp97.net/aXrzb
4) Consider making a tax-deductible donation to the Foundation (paulmerriman.com/donate/) to support our mission to provide financial education to investors. Thank you!
