Business Innovators Radio - Interview with Dave Barr Founder of Barr Asset Management Discussing Achieving Peace of Mind in Retirement

Episode Date: June 11, 2025

Born and raised in Fort Wayne, Indiana, Dave Barr moved to Washington State in his late 20s and is the Founder/CEO of Barr Asset Management. Dave started his career in the financial industry at age 24 working in an agency and then transitioned as an independent practitioner in his 30s. His entry into the field began with a desire to do proper planning & financial management for himself. This led to the thought that perhaps others could use some help as well.Dave has served clients, their families and their businesses since 1980. His professional acumen has led clients to describe him with words such as: “integrity”, “kind & caring”, “sound & timely advice” and “a man that I’d trust daily with my personal checking account”. Although a solo practitioner, Dave believes that Barr Asset Management must be bigger than, more than just himself. As a result, his professional development has been enhanced by a collaboration with other advisors across the United States:Dave is a Registered Investment Advisor representative holding a Series 65 license which allows him to manage investments and provide one-stop financial services to his clients across the Pacific Northwest and several other regions in the U.S. Early in his career, Dave received the Chartered Life Underwriter (CLU) designation conferred by The American College and is currently enrolled in studies for the Chartered Financial Consultant (ChFC) designation.Dave and his wife, Sarah have been married for 30 years, they have 10 children and, presently, 14 grandchildren. Much of their life revolves around spending time with and enjoying their family. They attend New Heights Church in Richland, WA where Dave also serves as an elder. Additionally, Dave enjoys trekking to the outdoors to backpack, camp, fish & hunt.Learn more: http://www.retirewithbam.com/Investment advisory services offered through Tucker Asset Management LLC, an SEC Registered Investment Advisor. Barr Asset Management and Tucker Asset Management are unaffiliated entities.Influential Entrepreneurs with Mike Saundershttps://businessinnovatorsradio.com/influential-entrepreneurs-with-mike-saunders/Source: https://businessinnovatorsradio.com/interview-with-dave-barr-founder-of-barr-asset-management-discussing-achieving-peace-of-mind-in-retirement

Welcome to influential entrepreneurs, bringing you interviews with elite business leaders and experts, sharing tips and strategies for elevating your business to the next level. Here's your host, Mike Saunders. Hello and welcome to this episode of Influential Entrepreneurs. This is Mike Saunders, the authority positioning coach. Today we have back with us Dave Barr, who's the founder of Barr asset management, and we'll be talking about achieving peace of mind in retirement. Dave, welcome back to the program.

Hi, Mike. Thanks for having me again. You're welcome. You know, I think that probably if you were to do like a Gallup poll or some national survey, peace of mind is something that everyone would check the box and go, yeah, sign me up for an extra helping of that. And I know that many times when you hear peace of mind and, you know, retirement planning or stock market or portfolio, those tend to not go together. So where do you start when you're talking to your clients, helping them understand some of the decisions they need to make so that they end up gaining that peace of mind regarding their financial future?

Well, to quote someone greater than me, everyone knows Warren Buffett or at least knows his name. And he said, you know, there's two rules for investing. First rule is never lose any money. And the second rule is don't forget rule number one. And as easy as it rolls off the tongue, it's not as easy to accomplish, if you will, in the investment markets. So we work at strategizing with people according to their unique needs. And some people can handle the ups and downs in the market. Others cannot.

But certainly when you get to retirement, when you get to retirement, time and age, your opportunity for corrections, if you will, making course corrections are less than they were when you're working and earning and saving money. You get one chance at retirement and you need to get it right. It doesn't mean that you can't make course corrections within that time. I call them adjustments, but huge course corrections are difficult to do. Yeah, you don't want to be turning on a dime making a 90-degree turn, but if you need to change a degree or two here and there. That's not going to, you know, tip, tip the boat over. Right. Exactly. You know, you mentioned something about Warren Buffett, of course, and, you know, I think maybe I'm wrong here, but I've heard this quote or maybe it's attributed to him where he says, put your eggs all in one basket and then watch that basket.

And that doesn't mean put all your eggs or your money in one stock, but it just means watch where your money is. Watch it, test it, make sure that all of your assumptions are correct. But let's talk a little bit about something that would disrupt a piece of mind in retirement, which is money in the market and the risk and volatility that that brings. And my uneducated opinion, you would know better with 40 plus years in the industry. When you're in your 20s and 30s, if you have a little bit of risk and volatility, you have plenty of time for it to come back and recover. but at a certain age, you need to start throttling back going, you know what?

I don't have as much runway as I used to before retirement. Now I need to really, really address and tamp down that risk and volatility. How do you address that with your clients? So being in the market is still an option after retirement, but probably not to the extent that you were before. It is, unless you're quite wealthy. but for those of us regular folks, throttling back, as you put it, is probably a real good idea.

There are instruments that allow you to have guaranteed returns and guaranteed safety of your capital, your principal, going forward into retirement. Returns are somewhat lower, and yet you don't have to worry about market volatility and then trying to gain back your money within a certain period of time because you don't have the time luxury, if you will. Time is not necessarily on your side in retirement.

So, yeah, picking those strategies, those instruments that can produce guarantees for you is very important. You know, it reminds me of the old fable about the tortoise and the hair. You know, like, hey, that rabbit is spritting off down the road. He's going to win the race. But then he gets tired or does it? distracted or whatever, lost, and then the tortoise is just steady plotting. Well, yeah, you might have a certain financial tool that might not have as much of a glitzy rate of return that you might

think. But man, if it's guaranteed and never going to lose money, that steady plotting is a really solid, attractive proposition, I would suspect. Yes, you're right. There's a verse in the Bible, which I can't quote the reference right now, but it says, he who gathers money, little by little watches it grow. And that's a truth for sure. And also, yeah, yeah, I couldn't agree more. I mean, it's just making wise decision. And there's wisdom in a multitude of counselors, you know.

So don't just think that you heard something at the water cooler about what your friend did with their money and then go Google it and set that up for you and think that it's going to work because they might have a whole different set of standards. So I think that's really, really powerful to think about is that. risk and volatility might be fine and palatable up to a certain age. And then at another age, and again, we're not mentioning ages because it's going to be different for some people. You know, some people might go, you know what, I'm good to go until I'm whatever, but you

need to keep that in mind and start making that shift into some of those safer products. Another thing that I would think would have impact peace of mind negatively would be not planning properly for how to deal with the taxes. Because I think most people get out of college, get a job. They sign a bunch of papers in HR, and a bunch of them were about their 401K, and they just go sign, sign, sign. They don't know what they set up, but they just know that money's going into a 401k, and they don't know about allocations and all that.

But all of a sudden, you know, when you start planning for retirement, that money that has grown over a few decades has never been taxed. And now it needs to start getting taxed. And that's a misconception people have is, oh, I've got X number of dollars in this big old 401k, I'm good to go. Well, about probably 35% of that's going to go up and smoke because it's taxes or more, you know. What do you help your clients understand with that?

Sure. So the rate at which it gets taxed, of course, is variable per individual retiree, but you make a good point. When you're working and earning, here's something else that goes along with your life, that life period when you're working and earning. Your taxes are offset by typically your kids. You get a tax deduction for them. Your mortgage is usually buying your house on time, so you get a mortgage interest deduction,

and your retirement plan, your 401K contributions. All of those come off your income, and then you get taxed on the remainder. When you get to retirement, now your income may be less. The contention is, by the financial community is when you're in retirement, you'll be in a lower tax bracket. Perhaps we don't know.

But you won't have the kids as a tax deduction. They're gone and grown. Hopefully, the mortgage interest deduction has gone away. Hopefully. Your home is paid off. And you're not putting money into your 401K plan anymore. You're taking money out. So you may not be in as low a tax bracket.

as you are expecting to be. And once again, the fact that retirement is whatever two or three decades away, you don't know what the tax law is going to be. We don't know that. We can't know that because we've got a Congress that changes every so often. And they do things that they don't ask us about. You know, the only thing costed in life seems to be changed. You know, so it's like you said, you know, who cares who's in office, what Congress is in office?

there's always going to be shifting around and balance of power and one new person is going to come in and their, you know, a wheelhouse is going to be something different than someone else. So things are going to change. So I think that's a big piece to keep in mind. Let's think about something here when you think about clarity and planning. In your experience, what are some of the key components of the retirement plan that gives people peace of mind so that they can really, you know, hang their hands. hat on, you know what, I feel comfortable and confident. So let's, I'm stealing this phrase, but let's keep the main thing, the main thing. Yeah.

What is that main thing? The main thing is having enough money to live on. Yeah. Supporting your lifestyle. Then you go from there. So you have to find out, okay, what does your, you know, you presumably people are living in a budget, hopefully they are. throughout their working years.

That doesn't change when you get to retirement. It perhaps even needs to be heightened. But what is your budget require? What do you need for housing? And hopefully your housing is paid for, but you're still going to have real estate taxes. If you rent, then you do have that cost. You have your dwelling insurance.

You have your transportation cost deal. You have grocery costs. Let's find out what your monthly, as they put it, your monthly nut is to crack. And that's the main thing. So we got to find a way to guarantee that that's coming in, a combination of Social Security, pension. If you have it, there's not too many pensions anymore, but some folks do. And then money from your assets that you've accumulated.

Yeah. Yeah, that's, you know, it's in a sports analogy, it reminds me of how people talk about football coaching. You know, let's just get the blocking and tackling taking care of. We don't need to worry about the fancy plays, the statute. of Liberty plays. Let's just block and tackle. You know, and I think that's what you just said. Let's keep the main thing to main thing. Can I have enough money to actually exist, to pay, you know, my main bills to eat? And I think that's the kind of thing that once you get that, you know, taking care of,

then we can go, let's take that big cruise and some of the extra things. But what are some of the unknowns that people don't tend to plan for? Like, we don't know if health care costs are going to go up down or all around, but there's going to be. be some of those unknown expenses? What are some of those that people should be considering so that they have peace of mind of retirement? So some of it is, not necessarily an unknown, but how does it fit? So taking Social Security, when should I do that? There's a school of thought that says, take it as soon as you can get it. It's a lower amount, but take it as soon as you get it. There's another school thought says, no, wait until you're 70. That's when it gets to be the highest amount.

There's a crossover period where you're, when it's a break even, and we talk about that. But that's not an unknown per se, but it's how do we apply that to ourselves, which is unknown, if you will, as far as the results go. Frankly, everybody has a, if I use the analogy of a bucket, everybody has a retirement bucket. You come to retirement with that bucket, but you know what? It's got holes in. There's patches on it. Yeah. There's holes in it.

Your retirement bucket has holes. And the question I ask is, would you like me to tell you about the holes in your bucket? Or would you just prefer to discover them on your own as you go along? And again, everyone is so unique that their unknowns may be just unique to them. A relative that lives in a distance, who's going to need care, if you will. Grandchildren that you want to see that are at a distance. You know, that costs money to do that sort of thing. So it can be a number of things.

But sometimes it's, you at least need to articulate what they could be, you know, like the holes in the bucket. I'd rather know what they are or what they could be, you know, like, like for instance, you know, taking care of your car. You know, I know that if you don't change your oil pretty frequently, your engine could seize up. So I want to know that that could be a problem. and what am I going to do about it?

I'm just going to make sure I change the oil frequently. So I want to know what holes in those buckets could be so that if I put some little safety valves in place, it's probably not going to be as bad as it could be. And that's, I think, the benefit that someone gets working with a professional like yourself to kind of go, hey, here's some things to think about. Because sometimes we're too close to the forest to see the trees, right? Yes, you know, what you're referring to there,

is what we always call an emergency fund. You know, stuff comes up. Life happens. So, yeah, auto repairs, home repairs. You know, you might get a surprise that your real estate taxes went up 20%. That happens with great regularity anymore. I know. Yeah.

It's happened to us literally just last year. And you could send in your appeal and get ready to get the denial back. So you could try. But anyway. So I know that you've mentioned before, you know, like guaranteed income sources like pensions, annuities, things like that. There's all kinds of options. But how important are those to create peace of mind?

And then where does that fit into your overall strategy, you know, that you're recommending to your clients? Well, when you know, Mike, when you know that you have a secure, a specific, definite amount of money coming in every month, then you know how to plan. regardless of how much it is, whether it's large or small, you know how to plan. Social Security for most folks is the only inflation protected source of income that they have. Now, it may not be keep up with the rate of inflation, but it does have an inflation factor in it. Pensions don't typically have that. And if you're depending on your market-based investment portfolio to do the same,

thing. You just better choose well or have someone who can help you choose well. And no one has a crystal ball on that either. But yes, having a definite amount, a specific amount that you know is coming in every month to meet certain needs. Then you know how to plan. That takes a lot of heat off of you emotionally. Yeah, 100%. And I would also think that once you kind of get the plan in place and and you started to kind of every year go along and double check in, okay, yeah, we're moving in the right direction. And people kind of check off in their mind, okay, things are moving in the right direction. That kind of gives you that peace of mind.

For some people, peace of mind in retirement isn't only about money. It starts merging into legacy and purpose and freedom of lifestyle. How do you help your clients kind of address that and maybe rediscover meaning in that new chapter of their life? because now they've got a lot more time. And I think that now this is something where now you start layering in legacy and it really can bring some great options to people. Right, it does.

You know, the longer person lives, this is my contention and this is what I believe I've seen, is that the longer person lives, the more legacy becomes important to them. Everybody wants to leave their mark. They want to let the people, that whom they love in this life know that they love it. It isn't so much that they themselves don't want to be forgotten. They just want to know that the people they leave behind were remembered by them. And so legacy is a big thing for many folks, not for everyone, but for many folks.

And of course, longevity affects that. If the longer you live, the less you may have to leave. Well, in specific, I have known people who said, you know what, I've got a certain amount of assets that I've got to have. There's another amount of assets that I might have to get into, but I don't know. Let's take some of that, and they've actually purchased life insurance. Yes, you can purchase life insurance in your older ages. You can do so if your health is such that you can qualify for it. And that's a way to increase or produce legacy that wouldn't otherwise be possible for folks. So just not trying to sell life insurance here.

I'm just saying that's an instrument that can be used and it has been used successfully by many. Yeah, you know, I think I think that's a good point. And yeah, we're not pushing this product, that product. But there's actually tools and products that will help you achieve those kind of things. But it's the concept. You know, when you start thinking about, you know, giving back, you know, like. like, hey, I've accumulated, God's been good. I want to give back.

And that might mean give back in time. That might mean give back in, you know, dollars to a nonprofit or a charity or a mission, things like that. So I think that that is, you start shifting that mindset. And I think that that legacy then brings in decisions that now you need to start making that involves money, right? Because when you start thinking, I've got enough money to retire and I've got enough money to get through retirement plus some.

You know, if I live to be 130, I've got plenty of money. Well, now you start thinking about legacy. How about passing that along to your family? Because now all of a sudden, you're getting into helping the next generation. And that's an exciting time. Right. Yes, it is. It's, you know, I love to have those conversations because it's, then, you know,

we're getting beyond ourselves now. What we're saying is there's something this life isn't all just about me. It's about others as well. And everybody has somebody that they love. And everybody is someone that they want to leave something to. So yeah, that's a blessing to be able to do that. Yeah. Well, I tell you, Dave, this has been really exciting.

If you could give one piece of advice to someone that's five years out from retirement who wants peace, not panic. What would that be? Well, I would begin by saying something that has nothing to do with the financial, but it has more to do with what we just were speaking about. And that is have a plan for what your retirement is going to look like, not in terms of the things you buy, but the things that you do. As an example, I have clients who volunteer their time every week at a food bank and helping those who are less fortunate. I think volunteer work can be a great thing. You may want to continue on working, producing some income for yourself on a part-time

basis, but have a plan for what that's going to look like. I don't know if you've ever experienced this, Mike, but I had a vacation once that I planned out and it was going to be great. And I can tell you when they say getting there is half the fun. That's actually inaccurate. In that case, getting there was all the fun. The vacation was a disaster. So a little bit better planning.

At least I was visualizing what it was going to be. It didn't turn out the way I thought, so I didn't plan quite so well. But I would encourage people to say, what does this look like? Goals and activity cure boredom. So let's... I love it.

Yeah. Awesome, Dave. Well, once again, just great, great. ideas and strategies. If someone is interested in learning a little bit more about what you do and how you do it, what's the best way they can reach out and connect with you? So the best way would be our website, retire with bam, BAM, BAM.com. That's bar asset management.

So retire with BAM and that's got a contact page and it's our phone number and you can get a hold of us there. So we would welcome your call and look forward to speaking with you then. Excellent. Well, Dave, thank you so much for coming back on. It's been a real pleasure talking with you today. Mike, thank you for having me again. Enjoyed our conversation.

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