The biggest mistakes beginner investors make—and how to avoid them (Paul Merriman)

In this practical and inspiring ETFatlas podcast episode, host Jack Lempart welcomes Paul Merriman for a return conversation focused on the biggest mistakes beginner investors make—and how to avoid them.

The discussion reveals why most investing errors are emotional, not technical. Paul emphasizes that successful investing is usually simple, though almost never easy.

Paul Merriman draws on decades of experience as an educator, advisor, and founder of the Merriman Financial Education Foundation to spotlight key pitfalls:

• Trusting the wrong advice
• Starting too late with investing
• Letting emotions drive decisions
• Chasing recent performance

Paul’s conversation goes further, sharing actionable tips:

• How defensive investing and diversification protect you from major mistakes
• Practical ways to automate good habits and avoid behavioral biases
• Insights from both US and European market examples

You’ll also hear why academic research has shaped today’s best investment practices. Paul strongly advocates:

• Automating decisions wherever possible
• Broad diversification
• Maintaining discipline during market turbulence

Listeners receive clear advice on keeping investing simple, avoiding high fees, and building portfolios designed to withstand uncertainty.

The episode closes with tips for further reading—including free educational resources and helpful links—to support every investor’s learning journey.


Agenda

• Paul Merriman’s journey from stockbroker to financial educator and foundation founder​
• Introduction to the most costly mistakes for beginners and how they can affect lifetime wealth​
• Why trusting the wrong advice is potentially the biggest error investors make​
• The importance of choosing academically sound, evidence-based sources over industry “experts” or neighbors​
• Analysis of how starting too late in investing can dramatically reduce future wealth​
• The emotional traps beginners face and the impact of behavioral biases on decision-making​
• The problem of performance chasing and recency bias in investment choices​
• Automating investments and the value of regular, disciplined contributions​
• Why diversification is considered “the only free lunch” in investing by experts​
• Advantages of keeping portfolios simple with solutions like target-date funds and low-cost ETFs​
• Examples illustrating the massive impact of investment fees over decades​
• The difference between defensive and offensive strategies in long-term market success​
• Real-world lessons from market history, including US, Europe, and Japan​
• How to avoid paralysis from choice overwhelm in a landscape of thousands of ETFs​

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