Guest: Dr. Preston Cherry, AFC®, CFT-I™, CFP®, Ph.D., an entrepreneur, coach and speaker. Dr. Cherry is the creator of the Life Money Balance™ approach and founder of Concurrent Financial Planning. His new book is Wealth in the Key of Life: Finding Your Financial Harmony.

In a Nutshell: “Songs in the Key of Life” is one of Stevie Wonder’s most famous albums. In a similar vein, Dr. Preston Cherry wants people to find that kind of harmony between their money, their values, and their lives. And advisors who can help folks create a financial life that really sings are going to connect more deeply with clients and empower them to live — and plan — with more intention.

On today’s show, Dr. Preston Cherry and I discuss his new book and his unique perspective on how to bring purpose, balance, a “permission to prosper” and a little bit of rhythm to your financial planning process.

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Dr. Preston Cherry and I discuss:

  • How Stevie Wonder’s creative process inspired Dr. Cherry’s book.
  • The experiences that taught Dr. Cherry how to live an “aspirational life” and how he’s translated them into teaching and financial planning.
  • How “financial socialization” as children shapes the financial decisions we make as adults.
  • Why Dr. Cherry believes that money is more than just a tool.
  • Finding harmony between wealth and wellbeing.
  • How an advisor can help couples stay on the same financial page.
  • Why “Gain a permission to prosper” is the key insight Dr Cherry wants readers to come away with after reading his book.

Quotes:

Dr. Preston Cherry on the “money talks” that shaped his childhood understanding of money, wealth, and reslience:

“ We had money talks about saving and investing. Our family wasn’t exposed to a lot of stock market investing. My mom was 18. My dad was 21. So they were coming up as my sister and I were coming up. They weren’t college educated. They were learning as they went. And so kudos to them for stocking away 20% of their savings in 401(k)s and actually wanting to learn. Those were good lessons. ‘Resilient’ is an SEO word, but ‘roll and adapt’ is the non-SEO word that we talked about in our home. You got to be able to roll and adapt. If money’s going good, fine. I think it was 1989 Christmas, and we had gifts flowing out the dang door. We were tripping over gifts. And then, two or three years later, my pops lost his job. And Christmas was just okay, but we always remembered what the spiritual essence was about. We also said that doesn’t define us either, as far as the material items are concerned. Material items are good, and we enjoyed them in our household when we had them. But at the same time, if we didn’t, okay, cool, let’s keep it moving. Let’s roll and adapt.”

Dr. Preston Cherry on finding financial harmony:

“Financial harmony is bringing together wealth and wellbeing. I got sick of hearing, ‘What is true wealth?’ Everybody’s saying that now. If you peel back the onion all the way back to the Latin meaning of ‘wealth,’ it’s ‘the amount,’ ‘the abundance of.’ You can have an abundance of time. You can have abundance of life. But what is the modern meaning of wealth? ‘Wealth’ is dollars. And ‘wellbeing’ is domains. So mixing up the two is where I think we lose a little perspective. And how you find the harmony between the two is let your life lead your money, not your money lead your life. When you go through a process to investigate your ideal life, what you value most, alignment gives your money assignments. And this is where you have your wealth, your dollars, investing in your wellbeing and you can purchase more units of that wellbeing. It’s okay to have a healthy relationship with dollars, because you, as an individual, are saying ‘I am building up my wealth in order to invest in the wellbeing areas that matter to me and my household.'”

Dr. Preston Cherry on building your “moat”:

“ There is an aspirational part of us, of human beings. We want to be accepted, to be loved, to be surrounded by family and friends. There is self-esteem. These are traits that are inside all of us. And we’re trying to reach this higher order of self and enjoyment elements. All of those are part of the whole makeup of a person in three domains: life-centered utility, money-psychology utility, and lifestyle utility. You invest in these and it’s your choice and preference what matters to you most. Grasp a hold of what that meaning is to you. Once you’ve done the work, it builds a moat around you. You can have social pressure from one side about what you should be doing or what you are doing and you’re judged for it. And the moat is a boundary, and a permission to say, ‘This is my preference.’ It’s preference, purpose. And if you have a plan, then you’re good to go. This is a form of financial harmony. You’re using your wealth to fund your wellbeing as you see fit. And it is a moat if you’ve done the work.”

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