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Are you worried about your retirement accounts, your 401k, your IRA, your Roth accounts, the tariffs have you down? Does the volatility in the market have you down? Are you worried about what to do with your money? Well, here to talk with me about that and other things is Doctor Preston Cherry. He's the author of a new book called Wealth in the Key of Life, and he's also the CEO of Concurrent Wealth Management. Preston, welcome.

Uh, nice to see you again, Bob. Lots to talk about.

Oh, a lot to talk about. So let's start with where I began, which is a lot of folks are nervous about their retirement accounts, and I'll just start by this very short story, which is I serve as the trustee of our town's retirement fund. It's a fund that will, uh, create the pensions for firemen and policemen and DPW workers, and I have to say folks are a little bit worried about their pensions at the moment.As there are many other people who are worried about whether their 401k will become a 201k. Well, what advice do you have for folks?

Well, that's very valid, number one.And so, uh, folks are worried about, like you said, where these tariffs are gonna do their pockets and, and their pocketbooks and their portfolios. I mean, so how do people grocery shop and how people prepare for retirement, right? And I, I think proximity to, to retirement, either 4 or 5 years before or 4 or 5 years out is very important, Bob. Uh, you mentioned yourYour pension fund, and, you know, it has several, you know, million in it, it's a nice chunk of change there. And for those near term pension folks, they're gonna get their checks. And, and so pensions have a longer time horizon. So those folks that are 1015, 20 years out, OK, uh, uh, worrying about the funds coming down to.Say you know, uh, uh, a, a lesser amount, then yes, I mean, because that's just like Social Security, right? Social Security right now is paying out fully, it's a pay as you go. And those folks that are in retirement, they're, they're having their Social Security checks now. That said, you uh the surplus is about to run out and are we gonna get, the question is, are we gonna get uh 70, 80, 90% cents on the dollar. Now for those, if thisUh, you know, tariff activity and economic activity happens 234 years in a row, then yes, that could severely impact those that are expecting their pension checks, say, you know, 57, 10 years

out. Yeah. So, for folks who have a 401k, it's not a pension, it's a defined contribution plan. What they put in is what they'll get out, uh, and, and they're worried about the effective tariffs on their retirement accounts. They're worried about the market volatility.They worry about the possibility of a recession and some even say stagflation. For those folks, what's your advice?

Well, preserve and protect that, but, but don't panic. I mean that, I know that's hard to do because, you know, when we have these shocks to the system, uh, we have, you know, financial crisis.com, right? uh uh uh geopolitical risks and wars. These shock COVID, these are shocks to the system and folks always ask, what's different this time?And this time, we have uh self-induced uncertainty, and that's a little harder to swallow, um, because when you talk about geopolitical risk, whether it be war or economical or political risk inside the uh the borders of the country, uh, those tend to happen in market cycles, and they are true, uh, economic and market cycle and they are true unexpected uncertainty.When folks say, you know, in many categories, but, but this is a pill hard to swallow, which is why are you bringing stuff on yourself?And, and for those folks, this is what feels different this time. However, same uh principles, which is not to panic because an outright sell out of the market tends to miss those, uh, 10 best days of, of the market and, and, and that helps preserve your portfolio, helps with, uh, you know, outliving your income as well, because as we saw last week, or in the week before, uh, there was a lot of red on the board.For about 4 days and then as soon as the administration announced a pause, there was a 12% day in the market the next day. Nobody could have predicted that. However, if you remain, stay invested in the market with adjustments, we'll talk about that in a minute, but if you not panic sell all the way out, then at least some of your portfolio is exposed to the market during those recovery days and periods after, uh, long, long-term shocks.

Yeah, so after long-term shocks, I think people also need to have a long term horizon. So when I think about the, the 2000 debacle, it took, I think, six years for the market to recover the large caps and even longer for the small caps. Uh, also with 08, I think, I forget the exact period of time, but it took a couple 3 years for the market to recover from '08. And, and likewise 2020, right, we've had a, a faster recovery, I think in the 2020s, the COVID era.But nonetheless, um, if we look to the, the 2000s, which sometimes people refer to as the lost decade, uh, there is this notion that you do have to have a long-term time horizon, the market may not recover, um, uh, for some period of time. But if you have a long term time horizon, you can withstand these long-term shocks.

Yes, and you know, uh, bear markets, we haven't gotten there yet, but we're, we're probably going into one. They, they tend to last 18 to 24 months and then uh have the, actually bear markets are a little bit shorter, and then the recovery periods to get there, uh, are about like you said, 10, uh 2 years, something like that, right?Uh, so, what, what, what, you have to have cushion in your portfolio, so not panic, and then we have another couple, I love alliteration, you know, preserve and protect. Here's another one, slight pivots, slight pivots in your portfolio. There is nothing wrong with uh making tactical shifts and raising some cash.In order to help smooth out the sideways or bumpy ride in the economy for the next 6 to 18 months perhaps, uh, in order to have some cash at the ready.That way you can not, uh, you know, severely affect your lifestyle now, uh, either, you know, in your high income years or whatever income years you are, those 4 or 5 years before retirement, or those 4 or 5 years after retirement, have some cash on hand, so you don't pull out everything out of your portfolio and pan Excel and have that what's left to experience the recovery when it does happen. Right.

So if the analogy is you're a pilot in a fighter jet right now and the plane is going down.Uh, it doesn't mean it's gonna hit the ground and don't push the ejector seat. Stay in the plane. It it might get a little bumpy and rocky, but, uh, you, you should be able to pull out of this decline.

Yeah, yes, you know, and, and two, it's also to, uh, if you're using an air fighter analogy, if you do eject, right, uh, there is a high survival rate.

As long as the parachute works,

right? There's aparachute work, right? And that parachute, Bob is having some of that cash.Available in your, uh, in your, your brokerage or your savings, your high yield savings account, all that in order to help protect your other portfolio. Also too, it, it's a good time to uh perhaps uh shift the allocations in your or readjust them. So doing some rebalancing in your portfolios, also too raw conversions for those that wantTo, uh, you know, pay taxes on a lower portfolio amount and also tax loss harvesting for those brokerage accounts, not the retirement accounts, but those brokerage accounts, uh, uh, showing, you know, pocketing those type of losses and the offset gains when, uh, when the market and the economy is doing well. Here's another thing as I close, which is, uh, it is.When your portfolio is up and the economy is doing well, I asked folks, please take those some of those games, not all of them, but some of them in your uh taxable brokerage accounts, because it feels good to win a little bit. So now, during these times where, yes, uh folks are uh are losing and, and they need to be affirmed about those feelings, then, uh, hopefully you won't be uh avoided in going ahead and trimming those losses because you have offsetting.Uh, you know, losses and gains. Yeah.

President, it's refreshing to hear you talk because so often we talk to people and they'll say, oh, stick to your plan, whatever that plan may be. But you seem to be suggesting it's OK to tinker and, and make some tactical moves to take advantage of the opportunities and avoid the risks that might be there.

Yeah, absolutely, absolutely. I mean, if you, if somebody came to you and and and it was thunderstorming and lightning outside and they were like, you know, uh, don't worry about this umbrella or anything like that. Just keep walking down the street, right? You don't have any rain boots or anything like that. That would sound crazy, right? You know, so.So, somebody, if somebody folks, hey, you know what, here's some rain boots, here's an umbrella a little bit, right? That way you can keep walking down the street, uh with a little bit of protection, right? And uh, and hopefully the rain will subside. And I, and I'll say this too, uh, not everything has to be worrisome, uh, if you, if folks do have the opportunity to, you know, perhaps buy some positions on sale, enter the market, uh.Uh right now, then that's also suggested as well. It depends on all your, what you, what your positions are and your life cycle, your life stage, your risk capacity, all that. Uh, however, I, I was just in New York the other day and there was a sale at, at, at Gap. I love my wife loves Baby Gap and uh Baby Gap is not, it's not cheap. It used to be cheap when I was young, but my point about it is there was a big sale. And so, yes, we take advantage of sales and other stuff.So this, uh, could be an opportunity to take, uh, buy some stuff on sale on the market as well.

So one thing that we know is that many young workers, middle-aged workers are saving for retirement with their employer's 401k, and they're using Target date funds where they may not have the same advantage to sort of make tactical moves because the managers making these moves on their behalf. Any thoughts about what folks who own Target Day funds ought to be doing besides biting their fingernails?

Sure. I mean, you can reduce your exposure to Target Day funds again, if you're in that pocket. And that, that's that 3 to 5 years before retirement or 3 to 5 years after. And if you're in 3 to 5 years before retirement,That, uh, target date fund is probably already making the adjustments to, you know, out of the market just naturally, you know, the way Target dates fund, right, take some risk off the table. So instead of a, say, 80, 20, you know, equities to, to, to, to fixed income, 70, 30, 60, 40%, or perhaps your target date fund is already at 50/50.Uh, so my, my advice for those or my suggestion for those that are, uh, nearing retirement is to check the, the actual target date. I know that's that sounds cliche, but check that target date because that target date is going to match how that fund is uh adjusting the equity of fixed income ratio on your portfolio. For those that are 20s, 30s, well, you have, you have what the greatest gift on earth at your.At your exposure, which is time, right? And uh for, for most of those folks, again, depending on your individual situation and all that, uh, because you have time, it, you could probably just keep that target date fund and and it's overexplo or and it's heightened exposure to equities.

All right. uh Preston, we have to take a short break and when we come back, I promise we're going to talk about the very thing that I wanted to talk about as well, which is your new book, which is called Wealth in the Key of Life. Don't go away.Welcome back to Decoding Retirement. I'm talking to Preston Cherry. He is the author of a new book called Wealth in the Key of Life. He's also the CEO of Concurrent Wealth Management. He's in Green Bay right now, and, uh, I'm guessing you're a Packers fan, right, Preston?

Well, yeah, Packers and, and the Chiefs. So, so hometown is Houston, Birthtown is Kansas City, uh, livetown is the Packers, and you know the, uh, historical, uh, Super Bowl battle back in Super Bowl 1 and 2 with the Packers and the Chiefs. It's one

of, I think I was all of maybe 10 years old when I watched the very first uh game in '67, which was a fantastic.Game from memory if memory serves.

Packers won. And then the Chiefs won the next one, I think.

Yeah, so, all right, President, let's talk about your new book. We, uh, you have a number of sort of sayings in the book, one of which is called the 6 Alignment System, which frames how people can improve their relationship with money and goodness knows lots of people could stand to do that. Tell us more about that.

Yeah, sure. Uh, you know, everybody needs a system, uh, an approach, and, and I, I, I'm a fan of being giving yourself grace during your life and money journey, and compassion, right? Cause if you open up the heart, Bob, then you open up the mind. There people the order of operations is know the person and then enter in the process so people can start progressing on their journey wherever that life's course is. So the 6A alignment system is a framework for that.Which is, you know, admitting where you are out in your journey, wherever it is, right? It doesn't necessarily have to be from a trial or or somewhere that you're suffering. It could be from a high point as well, like going into retirement, right? So admitting where you are, acknowledge what you're feeling at that time, very important.Uh, how do you feel? Do you have regret, shame, judgment, uh, wanna be better, uh, whatever it may be. And that's kind of like cleaning the palate, uh, where, where you're doing a little wine tasting, you gotta take a swig of water between, right? And that's, that's that process of just, uh, going through that. Then you prepared yourself now to take action.And that's the fun part. Now you say, OK, my palate is clean, now I can go forward. And then the last part is align, aspire, achieve, align your life and money, and have them work as partners, right? And then, what are your aspirations? How do you, how does your retirement look like for you, right? How does your, for Gen X, how is your high income life look like right now and, and talking about the sandwich generation? How does that look? or is your aspirations? And then go about achieving them, and, and have the permission.To prosper, Bob, you know, a lot of folks say, you know, I'm looking left, I'm looking right, I'm looking at the Jonah, I'm looking, uh, you know, what everybody else is doing. My dad always says, keep your blinders on, son, look straight, right? And go about. You have the permission to thrive and prosper the way you want,

right? Um.Precedent, is it hard work to do this? I mean, it takes, it sounds like, you know, it doesn't like happen naturally, right?

It doesn't, but you know it takes courage. I, I, I call it the sea of seas. So you have courage, uh, commitment, consistency, and then compounding. And the the other one is, is compassion, right? And if you have this approach, uh, it's, it's progress, not perfection, and if you go to, just, just start.Just start, and that's, that's the courage. Give yourself some grace, that's the compassion part. And then once you commit with some consistency, then the return on life, return on your investments and portfolio, and then also your return on all aspects of financial planning, by the way, whether it be a state, insurance, tax, whatever it may be, right? Those healthy decisions that are aligned with your life and money start compounding over time and you start seeing the change in your finances and in your, uh, your well-being overall.

Yeah, a journey of what, uh, 10,000 miles starts with the first step, something like that.

Every time, every time. And I, I'm not a promoter of being cherry on top, I guess that's pun intended for, for my last name, butBut to your point, not everything is easy, but it can be uh somewhat enjoyable and uh along the way, and this is what I mean, there's award days, Bob, and then there's reward days, all right? If there let's take a retirement, for example, the day that you retire, right, that's an award. That's like, that's like creating a music album and that was the process. The process is the reward.That is, you get to be in the journey, and then when you, you end up on Billboard or whatever award it is, and that award day, you get an award for the process. So the point about it is, is, yes, it can be challenging at times, but if you look at it through, you know, I get the opportunity to design a life that I want, life and money, then I'm being rewarded for being in the process. So,

all right, so press it in the book, you have the 6 A's, you mentioned the 4 C's, you also have the 4 Ts. Tell us about that.

As you can see, I love alliteration, right? I love alliteration and trial, triumph, transition and transformation. Uh, money doesn't always have to be, uh, from trial and trauma. That said, investigating your relationship with money, by, past, present, and future will help flush out those trials and it will also help, uh, analyze and to look through a lens of your triumphant moments, those milestone moments in life where there be a, a new.a new career, right? They could be have some stocks, has a windfall right coming into your pocket, or, or retirement, uh a childbirth, or grandchildren, whatever it may be. Those are triumph for moments. Then it's like, OK, what do I wanna do next? Because see, retirees sometimes have a, a hard time imagining themselves in retirement and not only will not live fully.In their retirement as far as life well-being, they won't take advantage of their money either, right? So it's a willingness to transition, that's the other key to the next stage, whatever it may be, and then uh transform, transform the way that you are living into your ideal life. All right? Make that transformation. I'll end with this, is that Michael Jackson had a famous song, Man in the Mirror, so Person in the mirror, if you wanna look at it like that. It said, and at the end of the song, Bobby said,Make that change, right? And, and that's that, uh, that's for that's that transformation I'm talkingabout.

Yeah.So Preston, uh, you have a certified financial planner designation as do I, but you also have another designation called the Certified Financial Therapist, and the merging of these two, knowledge designations makes for, I think, a unique experience for you. Uh, tell us how you are able to sort of influence the perspective of, of people having a truly successful retirement, given those two designations.

Yes, absolutely, you know, uh, people have to see.Themselves in their financial plan, and if they don't, then there's no stick to stick to it to the plan, right? And this is why it always goes back to the, the people centered process and people are like, oh, that's cliche. I well that doesn't mean anything. But you know what, if you don't, then people won't even start the plan, won't commit to a plan, won't enjoy the the prospering of the plan, right? And I always say, if folks can see their preferences.Their life stage, which is points, right? Their purpose, and then the, their, their financial plan will then prosper, all right? So more peace, more alliteration, but if folks can, uh, rarely are folks asked, you know, about themselves and to see themselves, investigate themselves, discover, and I, I get this question often, Bob, is, you know what? I've never been asked that, or, you know, thank you for asking.Because then now people see their their feelings turn into find the numbers of finances, and then now you can flourish.

Yeah. So, uh, Preston, talk about maybe about how you've helped uh people apply the principles of your book in their real lives to achieve a satisfying retirement. We, you know, here at Decoding retirement, we're we're always fond of asking our guests to provide some actual advice. So this is my request here.

Absolutely. So I had one client one time and uh they, they said, well, they happen to have like $8 million into their, to their name, right? And this was liquid assets, Bob. So I don't know about you, but I, I think I can make $8 million worth, all right.Right? And then the question was, uh, I'm gonna uh work a couple more years and then they said we're gonna retire, but they were like, you know what, how about working one more year at a shot at a 50/50 $5 million payout. Now, mind you, they're gonna get a bonus the next two years, right? With about, for about $500,000 in equity stock compensation. That's another million dollars if you work 2 years. Well, it was a 50/50 shot and probablythat they were gonna get this magical payout from the company that was gonna be bought, right? So, the, the question is, is, what does that third year mean to you, right? And, and you wanna get to living life, you're in your mid-50s. I mean, you could go out and, you know, transition, transform, right da da da.And so we talked through that for uh several months. It took about 6. And uh what happened is that the person ended up retiring after 2 years, and that payout never happened because this is a client I had for about 3 years, right? And they called me back and they said that payout never happened, by the way. And I said, how did you feel about it if they would have paid out anyway?They said, you know what, that, that last year wasn't worth it. You know, so that's 11 way of aligning your, your life, ideal life design with your finances and asking a question like, what is that fifty-fifty payout mean to you? Does it mean more? Do you value it more than getting into, getting on with the getting on now and enjoying the life that you've uh saved and invest for?

Yeah.Uh, President, I really have enjoyed chatting with you. I'm afraid we've run out of time, but I really want to thank you for sharing your knowledge and wisdom with us and talking about your book. I know we didn't get to all the chapters, and, but I'll, I'll invite you to come back on a future episode and we can maybe talk about the four Z's or the four Y's or whatever other acronyms that you have in the book.

Uh, all good. Thank you for having me. And the book aligns with Stevie Wonder's Songs in the Key of Life for those music lovers.

Yeah. Well, that wraps up this episode of Decoding Retirement. We hope we provided you with some actionable advice to help you better plan for a live in retirement. And don't forget, for the latest retirement news and analysis, check out yahoo Finance.com.

This content was not intended to be financial advice and should not be used as a substitute for professional financial services.