ETFatlas: Mastering the Craft of Investing

About ETFatlas: Mastering the Craft of Investing

Welcome to ETFatlas, where investing meets intelligence. Through expert interviews and actionable insights, we're charting the course for your investment success. Join us as we master the craft of investing together. Powered by ETFatlas.com (https://etfatlas.com)

Publisher

Jack Lempart

Category

business

Language

en

Explicit

No

First episode

25 Jan 2025

Latest episode

6 Sept 2026

Latest episodes

20 episodes in the feed.

1. 

   6 Sept 2026

   Myths and Mistakes in Investing (Paul Merriman)

   Most of what people believe about investing is wrong, and the wrong beliefs are expensive. Paul Merriman, founder of The Merriman Financial Education Foundation, has spent sixty years around markets and more than forty of them teaching people how to invest. He opens this conversation with Jack Lempart by naming his own biggest mistake: a scarcity mindset that has kept him fifty-fifty in stocks at eighty-two, when by his own reckoning he should probably be fully invested. From there the myths come apart one by one, with numbers attached: why the casino comparison runs exactly backwards, what a hundred dollars a month from a first paycheck compounds into (about three million dollars at eight percent, and thirty-seven million at the twelve percent Paul says is possible in small cap value), and why only about one active manager in ten or twenty beats the index over the long run with no way to spot them in advance. Paul also explains what actually sits inside an ETF once you stop treating the wrapper as the product, why a half-US, half-international portfolio changed when the returns arrived rather than how large they were, and why the small cap value premium has gone missing four times in roughly a century for stretches averaging seventeen years. This is an episode for anyone who has ever said "it's a bad time to invest", "I don't have enough to start" or "I'm not smart enough for this", and for the experienced investor quietly losing faith in a lagging strategy. It ends with the one thing Merriman asks you to do tomorrow morning with your coffee: list what you can actually control, and automate everything you can. Agenda Sixty years, one persistent mistake, and the casino myth. Paul's own scarcity mindset, and why the odds comparison with a casino is backwards. "I don't have enough" and "I'm not smart enough". A hundred dollars a month, a thirteen-year-old doing compounding math, and what the Mensa investment club proves about IQ and returns. "It's a bad time to invest", and star managers versus the index. Why waiting feels smart and costs so much, what the scoreboard says about active funds, and Bill Miller's fifteen good years followed by a terrible decade. Inside the ETF wrapper, and the home bias question. The bottle versus its contents (which index, how many stocks, costs, reconstitution), why half-US and half-international changed the timing rather than the total, and the top ten names sitting in a quarter of a cap-weighted world fund. Small cap value, factor funerals, and one thing to do tomorrow. Seventeen-year droughts, where the premium actually comes from, and the single action for tomorrow morning. powered by ETFatlas.com (https://etfatlas.com)

2. 

   27 Feb 2026

   The ETF Playbook: Simple Rules for Long‑Term Investors (Dan Malone)

   In this in‑depth conversation, Irish financial educator Dan shares his journey from auditing global funds at PwC to building Honest.ie, a platform devoted to independent personal‑finance education. Drawing on his background as a chartered accountant and tax adviser, Dan explains how he translates complex financial ideas into simple, actionable advice for ordinary people. The discussion covers everything from budgeting, debt, and housing decisions to ETF investing, pensions, and tax efficiency. Dan also opens up about what “honesty” means in practice — staying free from product bias while building trusted tools and educational content. Listeners learn how to create a simple, lasting financial system, avoid common behavioural traps, and take advantage of pensions as a powerful wealth‑building tool. Throughout, he argues that independence, transparency, and consistency matter more than chasing the next market trend. powered by ETFatlas.com (https://etfatlas.com)

3. 

   6 Feb 2026

   F‑You Money, Freedom, and the Simple Path to Wealth (JL Collins)

   This in‑depth conversation with JL Collins traces his journey from early lessons watching his self‑employed father struggle, through his own decision in his twenties to live on half his income and relentlessly invest the rest. Jack and JL unpack the core ideas behind The Simple Path to Wealth: F‑You Money as the foundation of freedom, the power of very high savings rates, and why a single broad US index fund like VTSAX (or its ETF twin VTI) sits at the center of his philosophy. They explore contested topics such as concentrating in US stocks versus global diversification, whether two asset classes (stocks and bonds) are really enough, and why JL remains skeptical of gold, real estate empires, and complex alternative strategies. Drawing on stories from Pathfinders, JL shares real‑world examples of late starters and ordinary earners who reached financial independence far faster than they thought possible, simply by committing to the path and letting compounding work. The episode closes with a deep dive into the 4% rule, withdrawal strategies in retirement, and JL’s broader views on lifestyle inflation, defining “enough”, and what he hopes his legacy will be for future generations of investors. powered by ETFatlas.com (https://etfatlas.com)

Who has been a guest on ETFatlas: Mastering the Craft of Investing

Names identified in recent episode analyses. Showing up to five guests.

• Larry Swedroe
• William Bengen
• Eric Balchunas
• Paul Merriman
• Robert Carver

Reach and audience

Public platform figures. Ratings count people who left a rating, not total listeners.

Apple Podcasts (US)

5.0 / 5

1 ratings

Spotify

5.0 / 5

4 ratings

Podcast Authority Score: 7 / 100

A composite of feed quality, social presence, YouTube performance and engagement. Read the methodology.

Quality

13

Social presence

0

YouTube

0

Engagement

0

Contact ETFatlas: Mastering the Craft of Investing

Guest appearances

Books guests

Based on episode analysis; this does not confirm that the show is currently accepting guests.

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