Uploaded November 2021 | Updated September 2026, 2 weeks ago
In this lively conversation, Paul Merriman and Daryl Bahls interview Chris Pedersen – author of 2 Funds for Life – A quest for simple & effective investing strategies (Oct. 2021) and creator of the 2 Funds for Life strategies – about the simplicity and effectiveness of these strategies and the data that supports them. Below is a link to start reading the book for free.
Questions discussed:
· How did you get the title of “financial wizard”?
· Is the book for young people?
· What are some of the questions the book answers, and why should investors care about them?
· What's a target-date fund, and why is it the foundation of the 2 Funds for Life strategies?
· What's the gist of the 2 Funds for Life approach?
· Why is small-cap value the best choice second fund for accumulators and retirees?
· Is a target-date fund on its own enough? How much more money did the 2 Fund for Life strategies make in the past?
· Why does the book focus on "real" (after removing inflation) instead of "nominal" (including inflation) results?
· How much deeper were the drawdowns (losses) for 2 Fund for Life strategies compared to a target-date fund?
· Are 2 Fund for Life strategies more resilient after major market declines?
· Why might investors need or want some of the deeper details in the book?
START READING THE BOOK FOR FREE at our website: paulmerriman.com/2-funds-for-life-book
For more videos, podcasts, articles, tables and Q&A about the 2 Funds for Life strategies: paulmerriman.com/2-funds-for-life
Paul Merriman, financial educator and author, is founder and president of The Merriman Financial Education Foundation, (paulmerriman.com/the-merriman-financial-education-foundation/) providing free financial education to investors of all ages. Daryl Bahls is Director of Analytics and creator of 100’s of tables to help investors make better decisions and Chris Pedersen is Director of Research. None receive financial compensation for their work with the Foundation.
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!
In this lively conversation, Paul Merriman and Daryl Bahls interview Chris Pedersen – author of 2 Funds for Life – A quest for simple & effective investing strategies (Oct. 2021) and creator of the 2 Funds for Life strategies – about the simplicity and effectiveness of these strategies and the data that supports them. Below is a link to start reading the book for free.
Questions discussed:
· How did you get the title of “financial wizard”?
· Is the book for young people?
· What are some of the questions the book answers, and why should investors care about them?
· What's a target-date fund, and why is it the foundation of the 2 Funds for Life strategies?
· What's the gist of the 2 Funds for Life approach?
· Why is small-cap value the best choice second fund for accumulators and retirees?
· Is a target-date fund on its own enough? How much more money did the 2 Fund for Life strategies make in the past?
· Why does the book focus on "real" (after removing inflation) instead of "nominal" (including inflation) results?
· How much deeper were the drawdowns (losses) for 2 Fund for Life strategies compared to a target-date fund?
· Are 2 Fund for Life strategies more resilient after major market declines?
· Why might investors need or want some of the deeper details in the book?
START READING THE BOOK FOR FREE at our website: paulmerriman.com/2-funds-for-life-book
For more videos, podcasts, articles, tables and Q&A about the 2 Funds for Life strategies: paulmerriman.com/2-funds-for-life
Paul Merriman, financial educator and author, is founder and president of The Merriman Financial Education Foundation, (paulmerriman.com/the-merriman-financial-education-foundation/) providing free financial education to investors of all ages. Daryl Bahls is Director of Analytics and creator of 100’s of tables to help investors make better decisions and Chris Pedersen is Director of Research. None receive financial compensation for their work with the Foundation.
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!
