Bill Bernstein: 50 Years of Investing Wisdom
About this episode
Paul Merriman interviews Bill Bernstein about 50 years of investing wisdom and various investment strategies.
In this interview from the 2026 Bainbridge Community Foundation Annual Financial Education Series, Paul sits down with Bill Bernstein — neurologist, financial historian, and author of The Four Pillars of Investing and If You Can — for a wide-ranging conversation drawn from 50-plus years of investing experience. Bill explains why you're only rewarded for taking risk in well-regulated markets (and why crypto doesn't qualify), how today's market echoes the late 1990s, why the "reverse glide path" makes sense the older you get, and what the Bessembinder research really tells us about the cost of trying to pick winners. Paul and Bill also debate withdrawal strategies, the case against long bonds, and whether tilted small-value investing still works once "the bozos know about it." A masterclass in evidence-based investing from one of the most respected voices in the field. CHAPTERS 00:00 Intro from Matt Longmire, Bainbridge Community Foundation 02:50 Welcoming Bill Bernstein 03:50 Why The Four Pillars of Investing belongs on every DIY investor's shelf 05:50 Risk vs. reward — and why Bitcoin doesn't qualify 08:30 How many asset classes do you really need? 11:50 Where today's market…
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