Uploaded October 2025 | Updated September 2026, 2 weeks ago
Paul, Daryl, and Chris are back together to discuss plans, priorities, investing lessons, and listener questions. In this lively roundtable, the trio opens up about what’s next for The Merriman Financial Education Foundation—from simplifying tools like Best-in-Class ETFs and Two Funds for Life, to making the website and Boot Camp Series easier to navigate for new learners.
They also share candid insights about long-term investing, the patience it takes to stick with small-cap value, and the legacy they hope to leave through programs like the Merriman Financial Literacy Initiative at Western Washington University.
Listeners will hear how Chris and Daryl’s analytical engineering backgrounds continue to shape the Foundation’s data-driven resources and calculators, and how Paul’s lifelong focus on financial education and behavioral discipline remains the cornerstone of their mission.
Featured Tables and Charts
📊 Quilt Chart: Year-by-Year Performance of the Major Asset Classes
Created by Daryl Balls, this visual “quilt” shows how the four major U.S. equity asset classes — large-cap blend, large-cap value, small-cap blend, and small-cap value — have rotated in and out of favor since 1928. The randomness of short-term returns underscores the importance of diversification and patience. Despite long stretches of average performance, small-cap value’s cumulative results remain powerful.
➡️ View the Quilt Chart on PaulMerriman.com (irp.cdn-website.com/6b78c197/files/uploaded/(K)_Quilt_Charts_(1928-2024)_-_2024_Returns_(1).pdf)
📈 Table G-1b: Fine-Tuning Table — S&P 500 vs U.S. SCV Equity Portfolio Outperformance
Prepared by Daryl Balls, this 54-year comparison (1970–2024) demonstrates how small-cap value has consistently outperformed the S&P 500 over time. The two rightmost columns — highlighting rolling 15-year and 20-year outperformance — are especially compelling, showing that even after periods of apparent weakness, SCV regains its strength.
➡️ Explore Table G-1b: Fine-Tuning S&P vs SCV (irp.cdn-website.com/6b78c197/files/uploaded/G1B.pdf)
📉 Tables B1, H2, H2A, and D1.4: Core Bootcamp Comparisons
From the Foundation’s Sound Investing Bootcamp series, these tables reveal how diversified equity portfolios have performed versus the S&P 500, both in accumulation and distribution phases. They help investors see that broad diversification — especially adding small-cap value — historically improves returns and risk-adjusted outcomes.
Table B1: All-Equity Portfolio Returns by Asset Class (1928–2024) (irp.cdn-website.com/6b78c197/files/uploaded/FTYAA-B1.pdf)
Table H2: 60/40 Portfolio Distribution Outcomes (1970–2024) (irp.cdn-website.com/6b78c197/files/uploaded/h2.pdf)
Table H2A: All-Equity Portfolio Distribution Outcomes (1970–2024) (irp.cdn-website.com/6b78c197/files/uploaded/H2a-soundinvesting-1119f9ad.pdf)
Table D1.4: Historical Equity Premiums and Drawdowns
(irp.cdn-website.com/6b78c197/files/uploaded/2025-Fixed_Distribution_Tables_50-50-8d2e9e91.jpg)
➡️ See all Bootcamp Tables (paulmerriman.com/bootcamp-tables-2025)
00:00 - Intro
02:50 - Who do we serve?
09:11 - Content organization
14:15 - Daryl's next projects
17:19 - Chris's next projects
23:31 - Lasting lessons for DIY B&H
25:19 - Western WA University
27:31 - Puget Sound AAII 11/8
28:45 - Has SCV "lost its punch?"
38:25 - Too big for DIY?
40:45 - Market timing
46:20 - Chris's bad timing story
49:22 -- Daryl's one mistake
52:45 - Outro
Visit paulmerriman.com for free calculators, articles, and videos designed to help you make the most of your financial future.
Paul, Daryl, and Chris are back together to discuss plans, priorities, investing lessons, and listener questions. In this lively roundtable, the trio opens up about what’s next for The Merriman Financial Education Foundation—from simplifying tools like Best-in-Class ETFs and Two Funds for Life, to making the website and Boot Camp Series easier to navigate for new learners.
They also share candid insights about long-term investing, the patience it takes to stick with small-cap value, and the legacy they hope to leave through programs like the Merriman Financial Literacy Initiative at Western Washington University.
Listeners will hear how Chris and Daryl’s analytical engineering backgrounds continue to shape the Foundation’s data-driven resources and calculators, and how Paul’s lifelong focus on financial education and behavioral discipline remains the cornerstone of their mission.
Featured Tables and Charts
📊 Quilt Chart: Year-by-Year Performance of the Major Asset Classes
Created by Daryl Balls, this visual “quilt” shows how the four major U.S. equity asset classes — large-cap blend, large-cap value, small-cap blend, and small-cap value — have rotated in and out of favor since 1928. The randomness of short-term returns underscores the importance of diversification and patience. Despite long stretches of average performance, small-cap value’s cumulative results remain powerful.
➡️ View the Quilt Chart on PaulMerriman.com (irp.cdn-website.com/6b78c197/files/uploaded/(K)_Quilt_Charts_(1928-2024)_-_2024_Returns_(1).pdf)
📈 Table G-1b: Fine-Tuning Table — S&P 500 vs U.S. SCV Equity Portfolio Outperformance
Prepared by Daryl Balls, this 54-year comparison (1970–2024) demonstrates how small-cap value has consistently outperformed the S&P 500 over time. The two rightmost columns — highlighting rolling 15-year and 20-year outperformance — are especially compelling, showing that even after periods of apparent weakness, SCV regains its strength.
➡️ Explore Table G-1b: Fine-Tuning S&P vs SCV (irp.cdn-website.com/6b78c197/files/uploaded/G1B.pdf)
📉 Tables B1, H2, H2A, and D1.4: Core Bootcamp Comparisons
From the Foundation’s Sound Investing Bootcamp series, these tables reveal how diversified equity portfolios have performed versus the S&P 500, both in accumulation and distribution phases. They help investors see that broad diversification — especially adding small-cap value — historically improves returns and risk-adjusted outcomes.
Table B1: All-Equity Portfolio Returns by Asset Class (1928–2024) (irp.cdn-website.com/6b78c197/files/uploaded/FTYAA-B1.pdf)
Table H2: 60/40 Portfolio Distribution Outcomes (1970–2024) (irp.cdn-website.com/6b78c197/files/uploaded/h2.pdf)
Table H2A: All-Equity Portfolio Distribution Outcomes (1970–2024) (irp.cdn-website.com/6b78c197/files/uploaded/H2a-soundinvesting-1119f9ad.pdf)
Table D1.4: Historical Equity Premiums and Drawdowns
(irp.cdn-website.com/6b78c197/files/uploaded/2025-Fixed_Distribution_Tables_50-50-8d2e9e91.jpg)
➡️ See all Bootcamp Tables (paulmerriman.com/bootcamp-tables-2025)
00:00 - Intro
02:50 - Who do we serve?
09:11 - Content organization
14:15 - Daryl's next projects
17:19 - Chris's next projects
23:31 - Lasting lessons for DIY B&H
25:19 - Western WA University
27:31 - Puget Sound AAII 11/8
28:45 - Has SCV "lost its punch?"
38:25 - Too big for DIY?
40:45 - Market timing
46:20 - Chris's bad timing story
49:22 -- Daryl's one mistake
52:45 - Outro
Visit paulmerriman.com for free calculators, articles, and videos designed to help you make the most of your financial future.
