Stuff Happens: Perspective From Ben Carlson's Risk and Reward
About this episode
Paul Merriman discusses the importance of maintaining discipline in investing, drawing insights from Ben Carlson's book 'Risk and Reward'.
The hardest part of investing isn't choosing funds — it's building a set of beliefs strong enough to keep you disciplined when the market, the news, and your own emotions all conspire to pull you off course. In this episode, Paul sets aside the usual fine-tuning tables and turns to one of his favorite books, Ben Carlson's Risk and Reward. Table by table, Ben makes the same point in a dozen different ways: the bad stuff is normal, it's happened before, and it will happen again. The goal isn't to avoid it — it's to expect it, so you can stay the course. Along the way, Paul walks through: • The 10 worst days, months, and years in market history — and how the market behaved 1, 5, and 10 years later • Why bonds turn a 43% stock loss into something far gentler, and why a simple 60/40 has never had a losing 20-year period • How stocks actually perform before, during, and after a recession (the average is a gain) • The "dead cat bounces" of 2000–2002 and why three years of false hope wear investors down • What a century of international returns says about putting all your eggs in one basket • The most quietly important number in…
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