Merriman investment philosophy

As a firm, we are committed to giving sound investment advice to all investors, whether or not they are our clients. We believe the best way to maximize long-term investment returns is to use passive, low-cost, tax-efficient vehicles in a carefully chosen mix of asset classes. We use this approach in the accounts we manage for clients and also in our recommendations to do-it-yourself investors.

With the intense volatility the markets are experiencing, and economic news looking negative, many investors have been asking if they should sell their equity funds and move to the sidelines until the economic news gets better. History tells us that would most likely be a bad decision that could force investors to miss out on sizeable gains.

Even if you are completely capable of handling all your own affairs, having trusted advisors can be more valuable than you might think.

I once received a phone call from the daughter of one of my clients, asking me how much money her father had in his account. Of course I declined to provide that information, but I was curious about the reason behind her question.

By Tom Cock

As published in Horizon Air Magazine

A financial adviser I know told me she was once on her knees rooting through a file cabinet of records at the home of an elderly client when she came upon some old mutual-fund statements.
“Do you still own these funds?” she asked her client and his wife.
“I’m not sure,” said the man. “We’ll have to call and find out.”
It turned out they did own the funds, which were in a couple of
long-forgotten accounts worth about $300,000.That was a lucky break for the couple. Unfortunately, some people never get their finances in order well enough to ensure that they always know what they own and that their heirs will find those assets.

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We hear the question quite often from clients and other investors. “Is this a good time to get into the market?” You might think any good financial advisor could answer that question without breaking a sweat. But the question isn’t as simple as it might seem.

I owe a great debt to many other authors and teachers who have helped me understand investing. One of my favorites is John Bogle, founder and former chief executive officer of the Vanguard Mutual Fund Group.

I recommend John’s “The Little Book of Common Sense Investing” to anybody interested in successful long-term investing through index funds. I quote this book often because it does a great job of teaching simple lessons that are invaluable to any investor who wants to rise above mediocrity.

Today I offer four lessons from John’s book, with permission from John Wiley & Sons, the publisher of “The Little Book of Common Sense Investing” (and publisher of my own book, “Live It Up without Outliving Your Money!”).

Lesson One: Control what you can. Investing involves many facets, most of which are beyond the control and even the influence of us common investors. But one thing you can control, at least to a great extent, is how much you pay for somebody to manage your money for you. Expenses, in other words. Index funds are much less expensive to buy and to own than actively managed funds.