One of my co-workers that I respect a lot depends on Nick Wolf, CFP, Adams Wealth Partners, to manage his retirement account. Their website...
https://davidadamsfinancialplanning.com/
He encouraged me to contact Nick's office, and make an appointment.
December 2, 2025, we met for an hour.
My brain works better by writing things down. What follows is a small portion of what we discussed.
We talked first about the email questions I'd answered and returned. Then we talked in great detail about goals, things we can control, and things we can't.
Nick had lots of questions, and presented different scenarios: Life expectancy, retirement income, expenses.
There are lots of moving parts to a good retirement conversation.
Risk tolerance and how we handle a drop in the market is important.
I think how we deal with a bad day, or a bad month, can either ensure, or derail retirement goals.
Being a baseball guy, I think a market setback is kind of like a bean ball... It hurts, but it's gonna happen. Do you take your ball and bat and go home? Or stay with it, and finish the game?
A good coach can help you prepare, and deal with a bean ball.
After talking with Nick, I thought a lot about the four times we have taken one in the ribs on our retirement plan. Below, I researched some details, and describe each event...
1. Marlboro Friday. April 2, 1993.
Retirement account loss = thirty percent.
Time to recover = about two years
In 1993, I'd been an employee of Kraft Foods, for six years.
The first bean ball to hit our retirement account. Phillip Morris announced a 20% price drop on the price of their cigarettes. Generics were eating into profits, and Phillip Morris at this point had enough. The stock market responded with the selling of consumer goods companies. Since Phillip Morris started it, the day is known as Marlboro Friday.
A good Investopedia article with more details -
https://www.investopedia.com/terms/m/marlborofriday.asp
2. 9-11-2001 Terrorist Attacks
Retirement account loss = twenty percent
Time to recover = about one year
Stock market recovery took about a year, but the damage was done. The "Global War on Terror" would last 20 years. A Brown University study from 2021, describes the cost of the GWOT: 900,000 lives lost, and 8 trillion dollars spent.
https://www.brown.edu/news/2021-09-01/costsofwar
Our country was vulnerable. The stock market closed for a week. The longest since the Great Depression in 1929. People were here that hate the USA enough to die trying to destroy us. We lost our innocence, and trust for each other.
3. 2008 - The Great Recession
Retirement account loss = fifty percent
Time to recover = four years
The 1990's and 2000's are known for debt and excess. Everybody wanted some of the pie. Bank deregulation, and Federal government pressure to relax lending rules weakened the system. Loans were made to people that couldn't pay.
43, George "Dubya" Bush inherited the decades long mess, including a housing mortgage bubble, and rising consumer debt. In 2008, before leaving office, he got the 700 billion dollar TARP passed. Some economists say this may have prevented a full blown Depression.
https://home.treasury.gov/data/troubled-asset-relief-program
The Great Recession was in motion when 44, Barak Obama took office. Loans defaulted, Something had to give. Big banks, and Automotive companies took the federal bail out money. Dodd Frank passed, and new rules were put into place for banks and the stock market.
https://www.investopedia.com/terms/d/dodd-frank-financial-regulatory-reform-bill.asp
In 2010, 800 billion more in federal money was available with the passing of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act.
https://www.investopedia.com/terms/a/american-recovery-and-reinvestment-act.asp
Investopedia article describes the 2008 Great Recession...
https://www.investopedia.com/terms/g/great-recession.asp
4. 2020 Covid Pandemic
Retirement account loss = 40 percent
Time to recover = five months
Shutdowns. Stay at home orders. Masks. We lost our freedom. We also lost over a million vulnerable Americans to this terrible virus.
Government stimulus checks became the norm. The 40% drop in stocks corrected by September. The way we move and shop changed. Amazon, Door Dash, and similar companies thrived. People that could, worked from home. The brick and mortar retailers that are left, are still recovering.
An investopedia article...
https://www.investopedia.com/investing-lessons-learned-from-the-pandemic-5200463
One event I didn't list, happenned at the beginning of my working life...
Black Monday. October 19, 1987.
Retirement account loss = 35 percent
Time to recover = two years
The 80's got a brake check.
I had been at my first real job at Kraft Foods for six months. This is when I started a 401k retirement account. If anything, we benefitted from Black Monday, and the two year recovery. We had no account balance to lose, and began our investing journey with a 35 percent discount.
Investopedia article about Black Monday...
https://www.investopedia.com/ask/answers/042115/what-caused-black-monday-stock-market-crash-1987.asp
It's important to know that every decline, (so far!) has been followed by recoveries, and more gains in the stock market.
Still, the market reacts to cause, and sometimes no cause. Also, it shows how non-linear the growth is. The Rule of 72 is math, not a straight growth line.
https://www.investopedia.com/terms/r/ruleof72.asp
Anyone remember 2022? At year end, we were down 19%. Possible causes?? Good ole high inflation, rising interest rates, and tighter monetary policy. Also, on February 24, 2022, Russia started a war, because they wanted part of Ukraine back, for old times sake.
No matter what levers 46, Joe Biden's team pulled, or didn't pull, a shaky, stubborn stock market remained.
All through our meeting, Nick encouraged me to stop him and ask questions. And he was happy to go back, explain, and clarify.
Our time went by quickly.
I left the meeting...
Encouraged that we have done some right things to get us to this point.
Challenged to make small changes, and keep investing.
Motivated to keep learning and take some of the mystery out of the next chapter, and the unknowns.
Excited about the future, and the possibility of working with, and trusting a professional on something this important.
Time well spent.
You should consider doing the same.
Nick's bio and contact information -
https://davidadamsfinancialplanning.com/team/nick-wolf/
A link to make an appointment -
https://davidadamsfinancialplanning.com/make-an-appointment/
A Financial Coach can help limit risk, and explain unknowns.
You can't get out of the way of a bean ball, any more than your retirement account can avoid a setback.
With a good coach, you can be prepared. You will already know:
It will happen.
It will hurt.
You won't panic and quit.
The game goes on with or without you.
You prepared for this.
Why play the game? Because it's the best game going.
For most of us, mutual funds give us the best chance to retire with some dignity. It takes time, dollar cost averaging, and sticking to a plan.
https://www.investopedia.com/terms/d/dollarcostaveraging.asp
Shout out to Dave Ramsey.
https://www.ramseysolutions.com
Long before I met with Nick Wolf, I was getting a daily dose of Dave Ramsey on the radio. His first book, Financial Peace, provided the framework for a solid plan. The updated version is, The Total Money Makeover. Buy it here...
https://store.ramseysolutions.com/money/books/the-total-money-makeover-by-dave-ramsey/#
Dave's advice got us this far. Now we are blessed to need Nick's advice.
photo credits - google search