Paul A. Merriman is a financial educator and advisor on mutual funds, index investing, asset allocation and both buy-and-hold and active management strategies. He is founder of Merriman, LLC. As an author and speaker, he has led investor workshops, hosted the weekly radio program and, later, podcasts, "Sound Investing", and has been a featured guest on local, regional and national television shows. Merriman also wrote for his website FundAdvice.com, which was cited by MarketWatch. Merriman retired from Merriman, LLC in 2011 and formed Regalo LLC to support the PBS project "Financial Fitness After 50" and the "How To Invest" series of print and eBooks addressing specific aspects of investing. He donates all profits from his retirement projects to educational non-profit organizations.
Early life
Although he was born in Coronado, California, Merriman was raised in Wenatchee, Washington. He began his financial career in the 1960s working as a broker for a major Wall Street firm. However, he soon concluded that Wall Street was burdened with too many conflicts of interest and decided to help small companies raise venture capital. In 1979, he became president and chairman of a public manufacturing company in the Pacific Northwest. He retired in 1982 to create the independent investment management firm bearing his name.
Merriman, LLC
After founding the investment advisory firm of Merriman in 1983, Merriman served as President and Chairman of the Board until 2011. The Seattle-based firm manages more than $1.5 billion for more than 2,000 households throughout the United States.
FundAdvice.com
As part of Merriman's outreach, he became publisher of FundAdvice.com with the firm. Originally started as "Fund Exchange", a monthly printed newsletter in 1983, Merriman continued as publisher of the online newsletter with Richard Buck as managing editor until 2011. This Web site was identified by Forbes as one of the best online resources for investors from 2001 to 2003.
Books & Publications
Financial Fitness Forever: 5 Steps to More Money, Less Risk, and More Peace of Mind
Written with Richard Buck and published by McGraw-Hill in 2011, the book was also packaged with the Financial Fitness Kit as a fundraiser for PBS. Addressing the financial fallout of recent years, Merriman offers a framework guaranteed to return even the most struggling portfolio to prime health. He raises five critical questions and provides detailed answers, based on commonsense strategies, to secure personal finances now and in the future.
Live It Up Without Outliving Your Money!: Getting the Most From Your Investments in Retirement
Published by Wiley in 2005 as "Live It Up Without Outliving Your Money!: 10 Steps To A Perfect Portfolio", Merriman completely revised the 2008 edition. Based on his experience in the financial services sector since the mid-1960s, including more than 30 years as an investment advisor and money manager, this book motivates readers to take the first steps to change their financial situation; presents multiple strategies for withdrawing money during retirement; and exposes the marketing tricks perpetrated by financial institutions. It also includes added focus on newer issues such as exchange-traded funds, real estate investment trusts, estate planning, IRA withdrawals, and updated allocation strategies.
Other Projects
Sound Investing
Sound Investing began as a weekly radio show associated with Merriman LLC, airing for more than 10 years on KVI AM 570, until Merriman began podcasting the show in 2000. "Sound Investing,” was named by Money magazine as "the best money podcast" in 2008. Beginning June 2012, Sound Investing podcasts are produced solely by Paul Merriman, unaffiliated with Merriman LLC through iTunes.
Financial Fitness After 50
"Financial Fitness After 50" is a television program that was produced exclusively for Public Broadcasting Service as a fundraiser for PBS stations in 2011. The kit promoted by the program includes "Financial Fitness Forever!”, a 5 DVD collection designed exclusively for PBS contributors, a 6 CD collection of money management topics, and a 100 page Workbook that includes "100 Investment Decisions Guaranteed To Change Your Financial Future" and Paul's recommendations for the nation’s largest 401 plans and U.S. government's Thrift Savings Plan.
Speaker
Paul Merriman has been widely quoted in national publications and has spoken to many local chapters of the American Association of Individual Investors. Twice he has been a featured guest speaker at Harvard University’s Investor Psychology Conference, and also twice presented a keynote address to the annual meeting of the Technical Personal Financial Planning Conference. He was given a distinguished alumni award from his alma mater.
Industry Expert
Merriman has been interviewed as a special weekly guest by Louis Rukeyser, Wall Street Week, on Nightly Business Report with Paul Kangas, and with nationally syndicated TV and radio financial advisors Ken and Daria Dolan. He has been a guest on CNBC, CNN Money, Financial News Network, and has been covered by Paul Farrell, columnist with MarketWatch Lazy Portfolios. Merriman was one of eight experts featured in Farrell's daily updates and in his book "The Lazy Person's Guide To Investing."
Teacher
From 1985 to 2007, Merriman taught members of the Michigan Association of Certified Public Accountants. He also taught thousands of seminars and workshops to CPA societies, The Money Show, the American Association of Individual Investors, and to various legal groups providing continuing education credits for lawyers, Boeing engineers and management, Weyehaeuser managers, Bill Donoghue's Mutual Fund Superstars, and high school programs.
Video Producer
Merriman wrote, produced and presented a financial education series for Bainbridge Island public television. Recently, Merriman created, wrote and produced a 33-part 193-minute series called How To Get The Most From Your Investments In Retirement.
