VESTED Summer 2022

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Cancer Survivors Talk New Normal

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Joe Dworetzky A Lawyer’s Big Leap PLUS Making 80 the New 60 Cultivating Confident Humility Living Through a Late-Life Crisis Seen and Heard

SUMMER 2022

At CAPTRUST, we believe we have a profound responsibility to share our success with those less fortunate than we are. One way we do that is through the activities of the CAPTRUST Community Foundation, our in-house, employee-run charitable foundation. Its mission is to enrich the lives of children in communities we serve. The foundation, a registered 501(c)(3) charity, was formally organized in 2007 to provide our employees with opportunities to participate as a group in community outreach efforts and to offer their time, passion, and financial support as a way to give back.

can’t use up creativity. The more you use, “ You the more you have. ” Maya Angelou

We invite you to like the CAPTRUST Community Foundation on Facebook.

captrustcommunityfoundation.org | Toll Free 855.649.0943 4208 Six Forks Road, Suite 1700 | Raleigh, NC 27609

LETTER FROM THE CEO

DEAR FRIENDS,

PUBLISHER

Just when we thought things might be returning to normal, we have run into a new set of challenges: the Russian invasion of Ukraine, a (thankfully less severe) new variant of COVID-19, and a concerning rise in inflation. While the markets may be grappling with these issues for a while, we remain optimistic about the U.S. economy and a return to normal life. I hope these rising prices won’t keep you from enjoying your summer vacation.

This issue’s Second Act hero is Joe Dworetzky. After a 35-year career as an attorney in Philadelphia, a job he found both stimulating and challenging, he started over as a journalist and political cartoonist in a new city. His story of never letting go of his original passions— even decades later—should be a lesson for all of us.

This issue also features a wide range of other topics, including: • life lessons learned by cancer survivors; • what to do if you experience a late-life crisis; • how past geopolitical events have impacted the financial markets;

J. Fielding Miller Chief Executive Officer EDITOR John Curry Editor-in-Chief

EDITORIAL ADVISORY BOARD

anyone who’s interested in staying vibrant as they age.

Lastly, in this issue’s investment feature, Senior Director of Portfolio Management and Investment Committee member Jim Underwood writes about cultivating a mindset of confident humility as an investor and offers a few guiding principles that he—and CAPTRUST’s investment team—live by.

• one family’s story of fighting to keep gospel music alive in Harlem; and

As always, we appreciate your article ideas, reactions, and feedback. Please keep them coming.

• rock climbing as a surprisingly safe way to stay fit and socially connected.

All the best,

This issue’s must-read feature, “Making 80 the New 60” by newcomer contributor Gary Stern, looks at what it takes to stay healthy and mentally acute into your 80s and beyond. He calls upon expert voices to offer practical tips and guidance for

Volume 8, Issue 2 | Summer 2022

Jeremy Altfeder Vice President, Financial Advisor

Ted Lew Vice President, Financial Advisor

Buck Beam Senior Vice President, Financial Advisor

Cara McAuley Manager, Advisor Group

Kathleen Carlson Vice President, Financial Advisor

Greg Middleton Senior Director, Advisor Group

Mark Chamberlain Principal, Financial Advisor

Steven Morton Principal, Financial Advisor

Catherine Currin Senior Associate, Advisor Group

Kathy Waters Senior Financial Advisor

Mike Gray Principal, Financial Advisor

Edward Welch Managing Principal, Head of Wealth Management

ART DIRECTION AND MARKETING Lonzetta Allen Associate Art Director Jennifer Mastrapasqua Art Director

Elizabeth Altman Distribution Manager Kaylin Nuñez Graphic Designer

WITH THE ASSISTANCE OF

J. FIELDING MILLER CAPTRUST Chief Executive Officer

Azul Photography Raleigh, NC

Worth Higgins & Associates Richmond, VA

Gabrielle Burke Pittsburgh, PA

Getty Images Seattle, WA

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CONTENT AND CONTRIBUTORS

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8

18

27

JOHN CURRY

NANCI HELLMICH

JEANNE LEE

As chief marketing officer, John Curry is responsible for all areas of strategic marketing and branding for CAPTRUST. In the industry since 1986, Curry has served in senior management roles with firms such as ProShares and AllianceBernstein and has experience in the area of strategic marketing, including product development and design, market research, branding, and sales campaign management.

Nanci Hellmich, an awardwinning multimedia reporter, covered personal finance, retirement, nutrition, and health for USA TODAY for more than 30 years. She now enjoys writing for AARP, encore.org, and other organizations. She has been named a top online influencer on weight loss and nutrition. Hellmich has appeared on numerous television shows, including NBC’s TODAY show.

Jeanne Lee is a freelance writer living in a lovely college town in Ohio. She has written about consumer and business topics for 20 years, including stints at Fortune and Money. Her work has appeared in publications like USA Today, Fortune Small Business, and Health. She loves thinking about ways for people to hack their finances, and she daydreams of paying off her mortgage before she has to pay for college for her two boys.

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Features 4

Columns

CANCER SURVIVORS TALK NEW NORMAL

15

PASSION PURSUITS

33

MONEY MINDSET

JOE DWORETZKY: A LAWYER’S BIG LEAP

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GLEANINGS

36

LASTING LEGACY

24

EXPERT ANGLE

Living Through a Late-Life Crisis

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CLIENT CONVERSATIONS

MARKET REWIND

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CAPTRUST HAPPENINGS

by Kim Painter

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Learning the Ropes

by Jeanne Lee

by Nanci Hellmich

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27

MAKING 80 THE NEW 60

by Gary Stern

CULTIVATING CONFIDENT HUMILITY

Master the Disaster

by John Curry

Seen and Heard

by Jeanne Lee

by Kim Painter

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by Jim Underwood

KIM PAINTER

GARY STERN

JIM UNDERWOOD

Kim Painter is a freelance writer specializing in health, wellness, and retirement lifestyles. She was a USA TODAY staffer and contributor for many years, working as a reporter, columnist, and blogger. She now writes for AARP and other outlets.

She lives in McLean, Virginia, where she practices what she preaches: wearing sunscreen, eating kale, and getting at least 10,000 steps a day.

Gary Stern is a New York City—based freelancer who has covered several specialties. He has written for The New York Times and has covered finance and investing for Fortune.com, Investor’s Business Daily, and Institutional Investor. He is currently a columnist for Forbes.com’s Food & Drink and has been an arts stringer for Reuters and the Chicago Tribune.

Jim Underwood is a member of CAPTRUST’s Investment Committee and leads the firm’s Portfolio Management team. He has a Bachelor of Science degree in finance from Auburn University and a Master of Business Administration degree from the University of Alabama at Birmingham. Underwood is a CFA charterholder with more than 20 years of investing experience.

All publication rights reserved. None of the material in this publication may be reproduced in any form without the express written permission of CAPTRUST: 919.870.6822. ©2022 CAPTRUST Financial Advisors. The opinions expressed in this magazine are subject to change without notice. This material has been prepared or is distributed solely for informational purposes and is not a solicitation or an offer to buy any security or instrument or to participate in any trading strategy. CAPTRUST does not render legal, accounting, or tax advice. If you require such advice, you should contact the appropriate legal, accounting, or tax advisor. The information and statistics in this report are from sources believed to be reliable but are not warranted by CAPTRUST Financial Advisors to be accurate or complete.

Performance data depicts historical performance and is not meant to predict future results.

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CANCER SURVIVORS TALK NEW NORMAL

by Kim Painter

In the years before she was diagnosed with breast cancer, Samantha Harris was a literal “picture of health on the cover of dozens of health and fitness magazines,” she says. She saw herself as a happy, positive person, gliding through life as the mother of two young daughters, a contented wife, and a successful TV personality best known for cohosting Entertainment Tonight and Dancing with the Stars.

For a brief, dark period, she says, everything changed. She suffered crushing anxiety over her diagnosis, her difficult treatment decisions, and her family’s future.

Eight years later, Harris, 48, is in a much brighter place, enjoying a new career as a certified health coach and a life that is “more productive, more energetic, and happier” than ever, she says. Harris is one of nearly 17 million cancer survivors living in the U.S., according to the American Cancer Society (ACS). Those millions

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include recently diagnosed patients and people many months or years past diagnosis. The number is expanding as the population grows and ages and as early detection and better treatment extends survival for more people with cancer, the ACS says.

Not everyone emerges from a cancer diagnosis feeling as well, physically and mentally, as Harris does. Cancer survivors are a diverse group, medically, psychologically, and otherwise, says Laura Makaroff, the ACS’s senior vice president for prevention

and early detection. She says that some people complete initial treatment, get a clean bill of health, and never look back. Others have lingering health effects from chemotherapy, radiation, surgery, or other treatments. Some need ongoing treatment to keep cancer at bay or prevent recurrences. And many struggle with the mental health fallout of what’s often a life-threatening experience.

“It’s common for people who’ve been through an active cancer experience to have some anxiety or worry or concern about what the future will look like,” Makaroff says. “It’s a pretty intense experience … so getting support for mental health and mental well-being is so important.” The bottom line is that finding a new normal takes time and is different for everyone.

Here are stories of survivors and how they found their way forward in the years after a cancer diagnosis.

Samantha Harris: Learning to Ride the Waves Fear, anxiety, a loss of control. Harris says she endured waves of despair in the early days after her cancer diagnosis. “I knew I couldn’t keep feeling that way,” she says. So, she says, she started looking for the light.

As she went through a double mastectomy and breast reconstruction, she focused on the good in her situation, including the strong support of friends and family. She started focusing on ways she could improve her health as a survivor.

Her goal was not only to prevent a recurrence but also to ward off other health problems. She also wanted to be an example for others, including her daughters.

While she’d always stayed thin on a low-fat and low-sugar diet, she learned that she felt better on a diet rich in healthy fats, from foods like nuts, seeds, and avocados, and plenty of organic greens, berries, and other fruits and vegetables. She looked for ways to cut toxins from foods, makeup, and household products. She revamped her workouts, learning to adapt her moves to her changed body. She found ways to improve her relationships and reduce stress.

“I made sweeping changes with one tiny, small step at a time,” says Harris, who lives in Los Angeles with her husband and two daughters, now 11 and 14. As a certified health coach and fitness trainer, she helps other people make those kinds of changes through her subscriber community at yourhealthiesthealthy.com. Many of her clients are fellow cancer survivors.

For the most part, she says, cancer is “in the rearview mirror.”

The most disruptive remaining reminders, she says, are night sweats caused by tamoxifen, a medication she will take for two more years to prevent recurrences. But, she says, she’s learned to deal with them, like everything else about her cancer.

Living well after cancer, she says, means “learning to ride the waves.”

“

It’s common for people who’ve been through an active cancer experience to have some anxiety or worry or concern about what the future will look like. It’s a pretty intense experience … so getting support for mental health and mental well-being is so important.

Laura Makaroff

”

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Paul Brands: Cancer Is Now Part of My Life Paul Brands, 66, is a retired human resources professional who enjoys traveling with his wife, spending time with his grown sons, golfing, and working as an executive coach. Outwardly, he says, he’s living much the same life he expected to live before he was diagnosed with prostate cancer and then kidney cancer at age 63.

Surgery cured his kidney cancer, caught on a scan he had after he was diagnosed with prostate cancer. His prostate cancer, found early thanks to a routine test for a prostate-specific antigen, was successfully treated with radiation and hormone injections.

Brands says he’s much more likely to notice and brood a bit when he sees news reports about someone famous and young dying of cancer. He feels the most intense anxiety, he says, when he has an upcoming scan to check for cancer recurrences.

“You would not know if you saw me that I’m a cancer survivor,” says Brands (not his real name), who lives in Charleston, South Carolina. But, he says, cancer did change him. For one thing, he says, he has a greater appreciation for life. The idea that “life is short, so you should enjoy it” has real meaning for him now.

The flip side of that awareness is a heightened sense of mortality. Brands says he’s much more likely to notice and brood a bit when he sees news reports about someone famous and young dying of cancer. He feels the most intense anxiety, he says, when he has an upcoming scan to check for cancer recurrences.

He repeatedly envisions the scene in which his doctor calls him in from the waiting room after a scan, “and my life could be changed in that one second.” But he also says that he relishes the “adrenaline rush” and gratitude he feels after every clean scan.

For the most part, he says, he focuses on positive feelings. “I was healthy. I am healthy. It was an episode in my life, and I’m probably going to be OK.” But, he says, “Cancer is now a part of my life … for the rest of my life.”

Lisa Masteller: I Was Just So Low Lisa Masteller had just finished the last of four rounds of chemotherapy for breast cancer when she hit an emotional low point. “I was done,” she says. “I was just so low.” Alone in her bedroom one morning in Raleigh, North Carolina, she appealed to God: “I just pretty much had a desperate talk with God. And I said, ‘God, I don’t know what the heck to do with my life.’”

Masteller today

Masteller says she saw God’s hand in what happened the next day when she was offered a big role in a project that got her back to work as a designer. She had her first meeting with her new clients while still bald from treatment.

That job, she says, was a crucial part of her healing. “That catapulted me into real life with real problems and challenges that I had to face. It was a huge gift,” says Masteller, now 53 and continuing to run her business, Sassafras Studios. But Masteller says that bouncing back from cancer isn’t a one-time thing. It’s a process, one she is still working through, nearly seven years after finishing chemotherapy and five subsequent surgeries.

Over the years, she says, she’s struggled with body image as she’s adapted to her reconstructed breasts and grappled with her weight. It’s a bit higher than she’d like because of a medication she takes to prevent cancer recurrence. Her husband, three 6

Summer | 2022

Masteller holding her certificate of chemotherapy completion

grown children, and three grandchildren help her to stay grounded and grateful, she says.

But, she says, she also now sees a therapist to help her deal with the fallout from cancer and other challenges, including childhood memories of losing her father to cancer.

Masteller says she does not struggle with fear of recurrence. She has always felt confident, she says, that her cancer “was going to be part of the story but not the end of the story.”

Jay Middleton and his family

Jay Middleton: You Have to Adapt A decade ago, Jay Middleton underwent major surgery for stage-three esophageal cancer, a disease that his doctors said he had a 7 percent chance of surviving. In the aftermath of the surgery, which involved the removal of most of his esophagus and a third of his stomach, he had to use a feeding tube for several weeks. He remembers it as a “challenging” experience.

But the retired insurance sales representative and Navy veteran from Ocean Isle, North Carolina, also remembers the day that the feeding tube came out. He was with his wife in Florida and insisted on going out with friends to a restaurant where, instead of settling for applesauce or Jell-O as a first meal, he ordered a dozen raw oysters.

Tips for Cancer Survivors from the American Cancer Society •

Be aware of fear, uncertainty, and other uncomfortable feelings, and share them with a trusted friend or counselor. Consider whether an in-person or online support group is right for you.

•

Look for meaning in life. For some people, formal religion and spirituality bring solace. Some find insight through meditating, practicing gratitude, helping others, or spending time in nature.

•

Stay as physically healthy as possible, avoid smoking, limit alcohol, stay active, and eat a healthy diet with more fruits and vegetables and less red and processed meat. Stay up to date with health screenings, including any extra tests recommended by your medical team.

•

When you leave initial cancer care, make sure you get a treatment summary describing all the treatments you’ve had and a survivorship care plan that helps you and your providers map your care going forward. More information is available at cancer.org/survivorshipcareplans.

As he slurped them down, he says, “My friends were looking at me like, are you crazy?” I said, “No, I’m celebrating.”

Middleton, 74, says he’s managed to maintain his joy for life ever since. He travels, volunteers at his church, and has helped raise money to fight cancer. He also rides a motorcycle and, as a Vietnam veteran, participates in the Rolling Thunder veterans’ organization.

The father of two and grandfather of three says he’s grateful for his family, his friends, his faith community, and his medical providers. “It’s not that I didn’t appreciate life before,” he says. “But I certainly do appreciate it more now.”

Cancer changes lives, he says, “but you have to adapt to it.” In his case, that means eating less than he’d like and giving up spicy foods because of his altered digestive tract. For years, it meant showing up for follow-up scans, at three-month and then six-month and then one-year intervals.

At his last appointment, his oncologist told him he didn’t need to come back. “That was a great relief,” he says. But every day, he says, brings something to celebrate, even if it’s just “being glad to see the sun come up.”

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SECOND ACT

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A LAWYER’S BIG LEAP In 1972, 21-year-old Joe Dworetzky sauntered into the American Express office in Bogotá, Colombia, to see if he had any mail. He’d been hitchhiking around Latin America that fractious year, paying witness to unstable governments and relishing the worldly sense of freedom experienced by untethered college graduates. The clerk handed him something he’d never before received: a Western Union cable from his father. Oh my God, Dworetzky thought to himself. “This is really going to be bad.”

“I opened it, and it said that I’d been admitted to Villanova Law School, which was a huge surprise to me since I hadn’t applied,” he says.

Dworetzky, who is now a second-career journalist for the Bay City News Foundation and a social and political cartoonist, had been telling people he was going to be a writer. And indeed, he had been writing since the age of about 16. There was just one problem. He was prolific and enthusiastic when it came to first sentences. After that, though, Dworetzky suffered from a lack of follow-through. He’d never actually written something that had an ending.

Dworetzky had no interest in going to law school. He didn’t know anything about it. He didn’t even know any lawyers. His father had asked him to take the LSAT before he left the country and, receiving Joe’s score in the mail, had taken it upon himself to fill out an application on his son’s behalf—essays and signature included.

Dworetzky didn’t give the offer much thought. He quickly wrote his father a note that said nope, not happening, and continued his travels. But by 1973, when he finally made his way back to Philadelphia, the thought of staying in one place and focusing on something interesting had gained some appeal. He agreed to try law school. For one week.

Many people who embark on a second career eventually look back and realize they never felt truly fulfilled in pursuit of the first. Their hearts were never fully in it, or they felt too afraid to go after their real passions. But Dworetzky loved his first go-round as a lawyer. From that very first week of law school, he found the work stimulating and challenging, and he was exceptionally good at it.

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A Little Tickle Dworetzky worked as an attorney for 35 years, specializing in insolvency and enjoying the kind of illustrious career that likely raised some eyebrows when he eventually rearranged his resume to put journalism experience at the top. But the itch to write was always present: a little tickle just under the surface that Dworetzky was able to scratch by representing authors and other artists pro bono, serving as a reader for a novelist friend, and continuing to dabble in fiction writing during his free time.

“I still wasn’t really finishing things,” Dworetzky remembers. “I was getting them started and thinking big thoughts about them but wasn’t really doing the hard work of making them come together.”

Then, one day, Dworetzky did something different. He finished a story.

“Everything changed when, instead of just a fragment of something, I had a complete story and then another and another,” he says. “And I didn’t do anything with them. I didn’t send them out to be published and didn’t really even show many of them to people, but it changed how I felt about my ability to tell a story.”

Soon, stories were filling up a three-ring binder, and Dworetzky had an even bigger idea. By then, he had four children. He wanted to 10

Summer | 2022

write a book that would allow him to speak to them—to say things he knew they couldn’t really process if the words were coming out of their father’s mouth in real time.

He started waking up at five in the morning to write until seven, when the routines and obligations of the day could no longer proceed without his attention. It took more than a year of drafting and even longer to edit, but finally, Dworetzky had a published young adult novel he was proud of.

Kirkus Reviews reviewed Nine Digits, which Dworetzky wrote under a nom de plume. “A quote on the novel’s back cover compares it to Norton Juster’s 1961 classic The Phantom Tollbooth, and … Duret’s book really does begin to approach the witty, imaginative, and accessible brilliance of that genre-busting work.” The book’s success coincided with a major life change for Dworetzky, whose wife was offered an exciting professional opportunity in the San Francisco Bay Area. The couple and their two younger children moved across the country to start over on a new coast.

Dworetzky allowed the fresh start to extend beyond his geography.

He agreed to stay on with his law firm to continue ongoing work but carved out most of his days for writing. For the first time in his life, he was free to write full time—and he wanted to.

Starting Over He began sending his writing out, navigating a brand-new world of solo creative work in San Francisco. At nearly 60 years old, he was starting over.

“I didn’t really have many friends out here.

I didn’t know anybody,” Dworetzky says.

“So, it was like really starting at the very bottom of the ladder. A new discipline, a new city. No structured support.”

The social capital he’d built as a lawyer in Philadelphia, where he had a large network of friends and acquaintances to call upon for various things—support, validation, distraction—was replaced by an unencumbered sense of freedom but also with a sense of aloneness and a large measure of rejection. Instead of feeling secure and confident each morning, hardly having to think about how to get things done, Dworetzky now felt unsure. He got up every day, went to his desk, and tried to figure out how to tell a story in a way that would interest other people and satisfy himself.

“You’re in your head a lot,” he says. “You’re solving issues that nobody else knows about.

They don’t make any sense to anybody. And so, you’re really just doing it yourself, and that isolation I thought was challenging.”

But instead of letting the uncertainty best him, Dworetzky began joining writers’ groups and seeking out the company and counsel of other authors. With all the diligence and determination with which he had thrown himself into the study and practice of law, Dworetzky embarked on a serious quest to become a professional writer.

For Dworetzky, writing was not a side hustle or a pastime. “I’ve always been terrified that people would think of my writing as a hobby,” he says. “I’ve always had very ambitious ideas for what I could do as a writer.” He told himself, if he was actually going to make a career switch at an age when many of his compatriots were wrapping up their professional pursuits, he had to go all in.

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At the same time, Dworetzky was letting himself have fun with a far less staid pursuit. In working with an illustrator for Nine Digits, he had struggled to communicate the exact look and feel of the drawings to accompany the text. He started playing around with illustrating his own short stories. To enforce a bit of discipline, he committed to completing a drawing and posting it on his website every day.

Dworetzky says that at first, his drawings were not that good. “In fact, they were so bad that I started putting a little line of text into the drawing, almost like a T-shirt kind of slogan, which I thought would distract a little bit from how bad the drawing was,” he says.

“I had probably been doing it for three or four months before it occurred to me: Hey, this is a cartoon.”

His cartoons weren’t nearly as bad as he thought. An editor at SF Weekly, an indie print newspaper in San Francisco, took interest in them, and soon Dworetzky was supplying three cartoons a week for publication.

Armed with Ambition He got more serious about the medium as he moved into political cartooning, and later he was accepted as a fellow at Stanford University’s Distinguished Careers Institute, a non-degree-conferring experience for highly accomplished mid-life professionals who want to deepen their knowledge in a field or expose themselves to a new one.

At Stanford, Dworetzky found the community he’d been craving. The narrative and sports writing courses he took also opened his eyes to the possibility of combining his interests in writing and cartooning with his experience as a lawyer and with the arts. A career as a journalist seemed to hit a sweet spot.

After finishing the program, Dworetzky felt he had only scratched the surface of the training he’d need to be a working journalist. So, at 68 years old, he got an internship.

Dworetzky started learning to write like a journalist as an intern on the Los Angeles Times’ Metro desk. For one assignment, he shadowed a wildlife ecologist with the National Park Service who was evaluating the health of red-legged frog populations following a devastating wildfire.

“We hiked around and talked for a long time,” says Dworetzky.

“That story ended up running on the front page, which seemed to me like the greatest thing in the world. Here I am talking to people, and they’re talking to me, which is great fun, and then I’m trying to translate this into a narrative that would be interesting to other people. And now look: All these people are seeing this story.”

On the side of that burned canyon with his notebook, Dworetzky felt it. He was right where he was supposed to be: “It just seemed to me that this is the greatest thing ever. And I’ve had that feeling pretty much throughout the journalism I’ve done.”

“

That story ended up running on the front page, which seemed to me like the greatest thing in the world. Here I am talking to people, and they’re talking to me, which is great fun, and then I’m trying to translate this into a narrative that would be interesting to other people.

Joe Dworetzky

In the fall, Dworetzky walked into another classroom with a bunch of twentysomethings.

He was a new master’s student at Stanford’s journalism school.

Plenty of his classmates were more than a decade younger than Dworetzky’s first two children; he was three times as old as the youngest person in his graduate school class 12

Summer | 2022

”

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and twice as old as the oldest. But Dworetzky was pleasantly surprised to find that the kids in his program were as interested in getting to know him as he was in building relationships with them, and they shared a drive and a passion. “I found a bunch of people who just want to be friends,” he says. “And that really was amazing to me and great fun.”

Out of 300 Distinguished Careers Institute alumni, Dworetzky is the only one to go on to earn a master’s degree from Stanford. He wrote and cartooned for the Stanford Daily, and after graduating, Dworetzky got an internship at Local News Matters, a community nonprofit newsroom that provides local news focused on the Bay Area to regional newswires reaching up to 8 million readers. He was soon offered a full-time position reporting on legal affairs, arts, and culture. He continues to post social and political cartoons to its website, Bay City Sketchbook.

Doing Work That Matters “It is a bit of a surprise to me to be working full time,” he says. “I’m now 70. And I make this joke all the time, but I do believe I’m the oldest cub reporter in the United States.” Despite the deadlines and the demands of being an early-career journalist, Dworetzky doesn’t miss the lawyer life. He’s doing work that matters—not just to his clients but to himself.

Dworetzky finally tells people that he is a writer. “I didn’t do that until pretty recently,” he says. “But I do think of myself that way. And that’s a change.” He’s relishing the opportunities to keep learning and exploring. And he has no intention of sitting down and looking back just yet. “I have a long ways to go,” Dworetzky says. “I have ambitious ideas about the work I’ll do.”

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Dworetzky’s journalism is collected at authory.com/ JoeDworetzky. His fiction and other creative writing can be found at www.joedworetzky.com.

Dworetzky occasionally posts cartoons to Instagram and Twitter. @joedworetzky @joefaces

PASSION PURSUITS

LEARNING The

All ages can do it, and if you try it, you might get hooked.

Tom Weaver was 63 when he accidentally stumbled into a life-changing new passion that he had never expected to try: indoor rock climbing. On a family trip, the Iowa resident laid eyes on a 50foot climbing tower inside an REI store in Minnesota. Surprising himself and his wife, he instinctively turned to his young granddaughters and dared them: “I’ll do it if you will!”

“We were all shocked, except our granddaughters. They just said, ‘OK,’ in unison,” says Weaver. By throwing down the gauntlet—not only to the girls, but to himself—there was no option to back out. So he buckled into a climbing harness and started climbing, grabbing onto the color-coded plastic handholds and footholds on the wall.

The funny thing is, Weaver was terrified of heights.

“I would never have tried it if I hadn’t been so unwilling to chicken out in front of my granddaughters after my reckless dare,” he says. But, by the time the REI staffer holding his rope had belayed him safely to the floor, Weaver’s fear turned into a flood of exhilaration and accomplishment.

Once a niche pursuit, rock climbing has become all the rage, culminating in the sport making its debut on the world stage at

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the Tokyo Olympics last summer. In recent years, TV shows like American Ninja Warrior and documentaries like The Dawn Wall and Free Solo have raised the profile of climbing and made celebrities out of some amazing elite climbers. One of the most famous is Alex Honnold, who in 2017 ascended the 2,900-foot sheer rock face of Yosemite National Park’s El Capitan without any ropes.

Stupendous feats like Honnold’s, and the lightning-quick speedclimbing competitions from the Olympics (worth a watch on YouTube), can make rock climbing seem like the exclusive domain of the near-superhuman. That’s why it can be surprising to learn that almost anybody can enjoy a version of this adrenalinepumping activity.

Indoor rock climbing, in a gym with proper safety equipment, is the very opposite of death defying. In fact, it’s a wonderful activity for almost anybody, young or old.

Non-repetitive Exercise A safe yet challenging activity that’s easy on the joints, rock climbing offers mental and physical stimulation through the need for continual problem solving in a variety of situations. Lifting weights, participating in aerobics classes, or going to the gym can all get old and routine. Not so with rock climbing.

“There are so many reasons why people fall off a fitness routine, and boredom is one of them. But climbing appeals to the child in you,” says Jon Meyer, chief technology officer at CAPTRUST, who has been an avid indoor rock climber for about eight years.

“It’s like climbing on the jungle gym, a more adult version of the playground.”

As your skills improve, it never gets boring because the routes are often changed around, and there’s always another challenge to try.

Safe Thrills

Strengthening

Indoor rock climbing is very safe. In fact, the injury rate for participants in indoor climbing gyms stands at less than 1 percent of activities like tennis, basketball, and bicycling.

Climbing builds total body endurance, flexibility, and core strength. Many rock climbers who stick with it find that as their overall strength improves, many of the aches and pains associated with aging start to slip away.

Researchers in Germany, tracking 515,337 climbing gym visits over five years (participants aged eight to 80), recorded only 0.020 injuries per thousand hours of participation, according to the journal Wilderness & Environmental Medicine. That’s a significantly lower rate of injury than for many common activities, such as running (which had 3.6 injuries per thousand participation hours), training in a gym (3.1), bicycling (2.0), or even walking (1.2), according to the International Journal of Sports Medicine.

In particular, top-rope climbing is even safer, registering only 0.005 injuries per thousand hours in the German study. In this climbing style, common for beginner and intermediate-level climbers in gyms, the climber’s harness is roped through an anchor at the top of the route and then through one or more carabiners to the belayer (the person who holds the rope). If the climber should fall, the belayer can easily stop the fall with the rope system.

Indoor rock climbing is a fun and interactive activity that provides an excellent path to wellness for older adults. Here’s a look at more of the health benefits of rock climbing.

Indoor rock climbing is very safe. In fact, the injury rate for participants in indoor climbing gyms stands at less than 1 percent of activities like tennis, basketball, and bicycling.

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Adam Cork, 41, started rock climbing five years ago as a fun couples activity to do with his wife, Ericka. They both fell in love with climbing and find it makes them more adventurous. Before climbing, he was sometimes plagued by sciatica from an old sports injury that frequently had him in physical therapy.

“I had sciatic pain running down my leg for years,” says Cork, a project manager in institutional client services with CAPTRUST. “In climbing, you use your upper body to take the weight off your back. You’re always moving your core. With the amount of core work involved, I cured my back with climbing.”

Fall Prevention Balance and center-of-gravity awareness is a major part of climbing.

“Climbers get a lot of very effective balancing practice right at the edge of their ability to balance. They also gain significant core, hip flexor, and leg strength, all of which help to prevent falls in their everyday life,” says Weaver.

Cognitive Workout Standing at the bottom of the route and looking up, climbers face a mental puzzle of figuring out how to approach the handholds, and which is the best way to go.

“People think rock climbing is not an intellectual sport, but it becomes an obsession. How do I move my body to solve this puzzle?” says Cork.

“It’s cognitively relaxing,” says Meyer, 53. “All you can think about is the wall, the spatial relationships, and putting your body in different positions.”

Social Benefits Conquering challenges in the company of others is a quick route to new friendships, especially considering the powerful trust that builds between a climber and a belayer. Climbing is also a rare activity that is naturally intergenerational.

“A benefit for older people is just being around a bunch of twentysomethings who are climbing,” says Meyer. “To have a conversation and drink up the energy of younger people is a real positive.”

For Weaver, at the time he scaled the REI climbing tower, he was not in good physical shape. He was overweight, plagued by asthma, and had swollen finger joints. Although he had been trying to get healthier, he found it too boring to work out with weights or gym machines.

But his rock-climbing experience was different. After the rush he felt, Weaver pushed aside his fear of heights and signed up for a beginner class at a climbing gym. Unlike other exercises, climbing was engaging and motivating. He met other people. He had so much fun that he kept at it and soon began trying more difficult climbs.

Life Changing The more he climbed, the better he got. The more weight he lost, the stronger he got and the more his joint strength improved. He ended up 60 pounds lighter, with strong fingers that were free from pain and a resting heart rate that was down to 60, from 80 in previous years. Endurance, balance, and flexibility all greatly improved.

Weaver says discovering indoor rock climbing changed his life for the better, and he was inspired to share the gift. He has encouraged and taught many other older adults to try the sport. As something of a climbing evangelist, he enjoys being there to witness the transformation that occurs when people, especially formerly sedentary people, get into an activity they never imagined themselves trying.

“In a sudden adrenaline-fueled rush, they realize that they still possess surprising reserves of power and courage. It’s hard to overstate how powerful and emotional this is for folks between 50 and 80 years old who may have never had a similar experience,” says Weaver.

For thrill seekers of any age, trying an unusual and new activity— especially something that makes you feel a little bit of fear—can add something to your spirit that wasn’t there before.

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MAKING 80 THE NEW 60

by Gary Stern

When Dana Gibson was feted at her 80th birthday party, several people attested to how she operates more like a 60-year-old than an 80-year-old. She travels extensively—though her exploring the wilds of Guatemala may have slowed down—attends Broadway plays and cultural events, plays tennis several times a week, hikes, volunteers at a church, is as active as many millennials, and looks 20 years younger than her age.

What is even better? She is not alone. Gone are the days of seniors relegated to sitting on porches, swinging life away. There is a major demographic transformation underway, and it is a phenomenon acknowledged by more than just the medical community.

Unlike several decades ago, seniors living into their 80s has become commonplace. The Internet is replete with lists of influential over-80s who are still going strong: activist Jane Fonda (84), director Clint Eastwood (91), singer Joan Baez (81), and actress Rita Moreno (90).

In fact, in the past two years, two octogenarians helped lead the country amid the COVID-19 pandemic and the political crisis surrounding the January 6 insurrection: Anthony Fauci, immunologist and director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, and Nancy Pelosi, speaker of the House of Representatives. Both are 81 years old.

So what is the secret sauce to operating like a 60-year-old when you’re 20 years older? A great deal of it has to do with choice.

Make Good Choices Experts in longevity attest to the fact that staying healthy into one’s 80s depends on making the right dietary choices, exercising, avoiding undue risks, and, of course, having a good genetic base.

But becoming a fit octogenarian starts way back in a person’s life, says S. Jay Olshansky, a professor at the School of Public Health at the University of Illinois at Chicago who specializes in aging. High school students, for example, acquire bad habits that shorten their lives,

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such as smoking, excessive drinking, steady drug use, or eating too much and becoming obese.

Andrew Steele, a physicist and author of Ageless: The New Science of Getting Older Without Getting Old, agrees. “Not smoking is the single most important thing you can do. Smoking can knock off 10 years of your expectancy,” he says.

And then, of course, not eating too much, avoiding obesity, and getting regular exercise all heighten the chances of living longer.

Keep It Moving Olshansky says it is critical to keep the blood flow moving. “Our body is [made up] of components that deteriorate when they’re not being used,” he says.

If you stop using your muscles, your body won’t waste the energy it needs to take care of them. Instead, your body will start to break your muscles down, which causes them to decrease in size and strength. The amount of time it takes for your muscles to atrophy depends on your age, fitness level, and cause of atrophy. If your muscle atrophy is due to disuse, the process can start within two to three weeks of when you stop using your muscles.

“

The seniors who forget things are having a difficult time with the blood flow in their brain and making synaptic connections.

S. Jay Olshansky

”

The good news is that disuse atrophy can be treated with regular exercise and better nutrition. Your healthcare provider may recommend physical therapy or an exercise plan. Even if you can’t actively move certain joints in your body, you can do still exercises wearing a splint or brace.

The mind also operates more efficiently when it has sufficient blood flow, Olshansky says. “The seniors who forget things are having a difficult time with the blood flow in their brain and making synaptic connections.”

Steele says more exercise also helps to sustain an active mind. “When you’re running, and your heart is beating in your chest, and you’re improving your cardiovascular muscles, you’re improving your mental health,” says Steele.

Avoid Isolation People in their 80s who are thriving have several things in common, including a lifetime of healthful and nurturing environments, access to medical care, education, meaningful relationships, physical activity, nutrition, and engagement with people, says Linda Fried, dean of the Mailman School of Public Health at the Columbia University Medical Center in New York City. Avoiding isolation is a key ingredient, she says.

Fried’s research shows that older adults are prone to three specific kinds of loneliness. The first is brought on by a lack of intergenerational contact. “We need all age groups to interact to create meaningful lives,” Fried says.

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Second, aging adults tend to feel lonely when they aren’t able to contribute to society. While others might bond with colleagues or schoolmates, the elderly are not likely to have such outlets. And finally, aging adults are prone to what Fried calls an existential loneliness, or the sense that life lacks meaning or purpose.

Health experts from silversneakers.com share four compelling reasons older adults should keep seeing their doctors at least once a year.

Older adults can take mental stock of the extent to which they feel lonely or socially isolated. Am I feeling left out? To what extent are my relationships supportive? Then, they should consider what underlies any problems. Why don’t I get together with friends? Why have I lost touch with people I once spoke with?

“Frequently, health issues can be silent— and not noticed by the patient—until fairly late in the course of illness,” says Susan Besser, M.D., a primary care physician at Mercy Medical Center in Baltimore. “Having regular, periodic doctor’s visits helps to catch potential health problems when they are early in the process.”

You might spot silent symptoms.

Find a Passion Operating like a person 20 years younger requires finding your passion. People in their 70s are faced with a choice, says Michael Brickey, a psychologist based in Columbus, Ohio, who wrote The 52 Baby Steps to Grow Young. They can sit in front of the TV and stagnate or learn how to play bridge, swim, or line dance or can join Toastmasters and learn to give speeches, he says.

At age 76, Brickey has started to garden and learn about plants and soil. For him, gardening brings “a sense of purpose and joy and a sense of accomplishment.” Other people might find a passion in music, reading, Bible study, bike riding, making art, or pets. One way you know you’ve hit a passion is when you get so absorbed that you lose track of time and are totally immersed, says Brickey.

Monitor, Monitor, Monitor As they age, people need to start protecting and monitoring their bodies, says Olshansky, who is 68 years old. He stopped running eight years ago and started walking because “knees and hips are hinges that don’t last forever.”

To stay fit at age 80, Olshansky’s advice is monitor, monitor, monitor. In his personal life, he sees his primary care physician, dermatologist, and eye doctor regularly for checkups that help monitor the body parts that tend to fail between 60 and 80, he says. By analogy, he says automobiles with 60,000 to 80,000 miles must be treated more carefully and brought in for repairs more often than cars with 20,000 miles.

You won’t forget about important screenings.

When and how often you need certain screenings depend on a variety of factors, including your age and personal risk profile.

A yearly physical is a great time to discuss these with your doctor: •

blood tests for cholesterol, lipid, and triglyceride levels

•

a colonoscopy

•

a gynecological exam and mammogram for women or a prostate screening for men

You’ll stay on top of immunizations.

Vaccines are important throughout your life, and there are a few that are specifically recommended for older adults. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says that seniors should get vaccinated against pneumonia and shingles, and everyone needs a flu shot once a year. You might also be due for a tetanus and diphtheria booster; you need one every 10 years. Also, be sure to talk with your doctor about the COVID-19 vaccines and follow-up boosters.

You’ll get your health questions addressed.

Even if you’re pretty healthy, a checkup is a chance to have a one-on-one with a medical expert, so why not take advantage of it? Whether you’re considering making some changes to your diet, wondering if you should do more strength training, or debating if a supplement your friend recommended is worthwhile, now’s the time to get some solid advice.

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Social and Economic Changes Steele, who lives in Slough, a suburb of London, says that “huge social and economic changes, such as conquering infectious diseases and creation of antibiotics,” contribute to people living longer and staying healthy.

In the next few years, there will be breakthrough medications and pills that will help intervene in the aging process and help slow the process of aging, Olshansky says.

According to The Washington Post, leading the list of candidates is metformin, a longtime treatment for type 2 diabetes, and rapamycin, a chemotherapy agent and immunosuppressant. Scientists also are studying a class of compounds known as senolytics, which attack senescent cells in the body that tend to proliferate with age. Senescent cells damage healthy cells around them, contributing to multiple age-related diseases.

Staying youthful and active into your 80s depends on “a mixture of genetic luck, consciousness, having passions, and developing the belief and coping skills that give you a thoughtful outlook,” says Brickey.

Super Agers Olshansky refers to people who are physically active and mentally sharp at age 80 and super agers. “These folks all come from a family history of exceptional longevity,” says Olshansky. “They all look younger for their age.” What you’re seeing is a signal indicating that the biological rate of aging is occurring at a slower rate, he says. “They have, in short, won the genetic lottery.”

Staying youthful and active into your 80s depends on “a mixture of genetic luck, consciousness, having passions, and developing the belief and coping skills that give you a thoughtful outlook,” says Brickey.

Fit and Mentally Acute at 80

•

Sleeping eight hours a day contributes to living the longest possible life. If a person’s sleep is interrupted, it disrupts the ability to get through the day. Mindfulness training and meditation can help turn things around, and sleep medications can also be useful, although they have side effects.

•

Staying socially connected and interacting with others, such as having supportive friends and family, inspires longevity.

•

Being intellectually engaged, from reading to learning new languages or a new musical instrument, keeps the brain nimble and active.

•

One other factor that you’re born with, genetics, serves as another major influence and determiner.

Staying healthy, fit, and mentally acute at age 80 requires a panoply of different things, explained Art Kramer, a professor of psychology and director of the Center for Cognitive & Brain Health at Northeastern University in Boston, Massachusetts. He enumerated the factors below for consideration: •

•

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Making positive lifestyle choices, including staying physically active, as opposed to being sedentary and sitting on a couch for most of the day. A JAMA Internal Medicine study from 2002 noted that simply adding 10 minutes of exercise, including rapid walking, swimming, or bicycling, to their routines would save 110,000 deaths annually in the U.S. Diet plays a crucial role. For example, consider following a Mediterranean diet, replete with vegetables and fruits, and avoid fatty meat.

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GLEANINGS

RANDOM GLEANINGS While making the Summer 2022 issue of VESTED, we came across some interesting factoids too good not to share.

IN THE LATE 1880s,

CARTOONING IN THE U.S. began during the colonial period and dealt with political

rock climbing became a sport in England. Its popularity grew after adventurer Walter Parry Haskett Smith made the first successful climb of the Napes Needle. Following his successful climb, others decided to attempt the climb.

and public issues. Benjamin Franklin is credited with creating the first American political cartoon.

According to the National Cancer Institute, there are an estimated 17 million cancer survivors living in the U.S. today. This has increased from a mere 3 million in 1971. The increase may be attributed to improved detection methods and treatments.

“Just One Look” Doris Troy’s 1963 hit was featured in a popular commercial for Pepsi starring supermodel Cindy Crawford (1992) and appeared in movies, including Mermaids (1990), The Flamingo Kid (1984), and Buster (1988).

TIME IN THE MARKET MATTERS

“

A human being would certainly not grow to be 70 or 80 years old if this longevity had no meaning for the species. The afternoon of human life must also have a significance of its own and cannot be merely a pitiful appendage to life’s morning.

”

Carl Jung, Swiss psychiatrist and psychoanalyst

11.84%

The annualized return for U.S. stocks, as measured by the S&P 500 Index (not including dividends), from 1987 through 2021 was 11.84 percent. If you missed the ten best return days during that period, your return would have fallen to 9.3 percent. Missing the 30 best return days, your annualized return would have fallen to 6.19 percent.

Finally, missing the best 50 days over this time period would bring the annualized return down to 3.76 percent, a full 8.08 percentage points lower than if you had remained in the market throughout this period.

Sources: Morningstar, CAPTRUST Research

9.30%

6.19% 3.76%

All Days

Excluding 10 Best Days

Excluding 30 Best Days

Excluding 50 Best Days

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EXPERT ANGLE

LIVING THROUGH A LATE-LIFE CRISIS

by Kim Painter

Not long ago, David Shapiro lived a dream come true. The professor from Seattle spent a year teaching philosophy to children in India as a Fulbright scholar.

“It was an incredible experience, the apotheosis of my career goals,” says Shapiro, a tenured professor of philosophy at Cascadia College and an adjunct lecturer at the University of Washington.

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But when it was over, he says, he felt a huge letdown. “I felt like, What’s next? I’ve done it all. I’ve reached the summit. And now it’s all just downhill.” Shapiro, 65, says he experienced a late-life crisis.

As Shapiro and his coauthor Richard Leider wrote in their recent book Who Do You Want to Be When You Get Old?, the late-life crisis differs from the better-known mid-life crisis—and not just because it happens at a later age. “Whereas the mid-life crisis is typically about the loss of opportunities, the late-life crisis is more about the loss of relevance,” say Shapiro and Leider.

It’s a crisis, they write, “characterized by dissatisfaction; a loss of identity; an expectations gap; and the feeling that life has peaked, so it’s all downhill from here.”

While the mid-life crisis has been a topic of debate among social scientists for many decades, the idea of a late-life crisis is newer and less studied. One small study in the UK found that one-third of older adults reported such a crisis in their 60s. The researchers, led by psychologist Oliver Robinson of the University of Greenwich, found that bereavement and life-threatening illnesses were common triggers. But so was retirement. The common denominator, the researchers wrote, was “a sense of loss.”

Shapiro says he emerged from his crisis with the help of a mentor: Leider, who is a well-known life coach, author, and speaker, and the founder of Inventure - The Purpose Company.

He also emerged with his own new sense of purpose, which

While the mid-life crisis has been a topic of debate among social scientists for many decades, the idea of a late-life crisis is newer and less studied.

included writing the book, the latest of six that he and Leider have authored together.

If you are in a late-life crisis—or fear you could be headed for one—Shapiro and Leider have some advice.

Recognize Early Signs We all have days when we wonder, is this all there is? But a late-life crisis is different because it lingers. It may begin gradually or suddenly. For example, Shapiro says, a new retiree suddenly may realize that he or she literally has “no reason to wake up in the morning.” Or perhaps “one day you can’t do the yoga pose that you did yesterday or take that hike that you always took,” he says, and you instantly feel old and decrepit. The death of a loved one, a friend, or even a pet can shake your world, making you painfully aware of your own mortality.

Or there may not be a big triggering event. “It can be a kind of creeping crisis that sort of sneaks up on you as well,” Shapiro says.

Signs of Late-Life Crisis Ask yourself these questions. If you come up with a lot of yes answers, you may be having a late-life crisis: Do you ...

• • • • •

Find yourself looking in the mirror and thinking, who is this person?

Feel reluctant to tell people your age or compare yourself with others your age (and worry that you don’t measure up)?

Avoid discussing with your loved ones what you would like for them after you are gone?

Often feel down or detached from activities that once gave you pleasure?

Feel bored or stuck in your personal relationships?

Source: Who Do You Want to Be When You Grow Old? The Path of Purposeful Aging

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Who’s Most Vulnerable Not surprisingly, people who build their identities around their jobs can be especially vulnerable to a crisis after retirement.

“When we no longer have that what—Oh, I’m a college professor, or an accountant, or an executive—the question of who I am emerges more strongly,” Shapiro says. “When the container of one’s job is no longer containing us, many people feel a loss of identity and a sense of what’s my purpose in the world?’’

Isolation can trigger or worsen a late-life crisis. That’s one reason that people who move during retirement can be vulnerable.

“People with stronger community connections and stronger friendships are less likely to suffer,” Shapiro says.

Also vulnerable, he says, are people who “feel less of a connection to something larger than themselves.” That something can be a traditional religious sense of “the divine,” he says, or “something more like a connection to the divine through nature.” Some people feel that connection when they pray; others find it while meditating or walking through a forest.

Look to the Past While it might seem counterintuitive, Shapiro says, looking to your past—not to lament, but to learn—can help. “We encourage people who find themselves experiencing a late-life crisis to delve into their past, not in a nostalgic way, but rather in an investigative way and see what you can learn.”

Previously in your life, when have you found yourself in similar situations, what have you done? What sort of connections have you made earlier in life that are meaningful? How can you rediscover and retell the stories of your life in a way that addresses the crisis you are experiencing?

The idea is not to look to what you “could have, should have, would have done” differently but to look at the wisdom you gained, Shapiro says. He and Leider urge people to pursue the kind of self-reflection that leads to action, not the kind of selfabsorption that leads to more despair.

For many people, writing about past and current challenges in a journal can be helpful. If you don’t like to write, use a voice recorder instead.

Connect across Generations Just as young adults benefit from mentors, older adults can benefit from getting to know “paragons of elder virtue” living meaningful lives, Shapiro says. Make an effort to seek them out in your community. Try to connect with younger people too. Spending time with people of multiple generations can build a “sense of connection

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“

When the container of one’s job is no longer containing us, many people feel a loss of identity and a sense of what’s my purpose in the world?

David Shapiro

”

over time” that puts your life into a broader context, Shapiro says.

Grandchildren, he says, very much count.

Just Do It Once you have some ideas for pursuing a life of greater purpose, take a first step or two. “It can sound a little glib to say, just start meditating, start journaling, start volunteering,” Shapiro says, but “taking the first step is the hardest part.” If you are struggling, try enlisting a friend to explore new pursuits with you and keep you accountable.

Keep Asking Questions In your journal, or in conversation with your peers or mentors, try asking yourself some of these questions, Leider and Shapiro suggest: Why do I get up in the morning? What are my core values? How can I grow a little bit today? Am I living a default life—one that just happened to me—or a life of my choosing that reflects my core values? If not, how can I move toward that vision?

How do I want to be remembered?

Who Do You Want to Be When You Grow Old? With a focus on growing whole through developing a sense of purpose in later life, Who Do You Want to Be When You Grow Old? celebrates the experience of aging with inspiring stories, real-world practices, and provocative questions. Framed by a long conversation between two old friends, the book reconceives aging as a liberating experience that enables us to become more authentically the people we were always meant to be with each passing year.

INVESTMENT FEATURE

by Jim Underwood

“I don’t know” is often the difference between success and failure in the investment world.

Unfortunately, these three words are rarely heard across the investment industry, which is built on the illusion of certainty. However, it is important to remember that how investors approach things that are unknowable is far more important than anything that can be known.

Investing requires making judgments about the future. But from where we stand today, the future consists of a range of possibilities. Elroy Dimson’s popular definition of risk—more things can happen than will happen— encapsulates this idea very well.

To deal with this uncertainty, most investors look backward to plot a forward course, connecting the historical dots to create a forward-looking story. However, we would caution that while this historical knowledge is 27

valuable in making decisions about the future, it likely raises confidence more than predictive abilities.

Nobel Prize-winning psychologist Daniel Kahneman explains, “Confidence is a feeling, one determined mostly by the coherence of the story … even when the evidence for the story is sparse and unreliable.”

Because we enjoy the benefit of hindsight, we can weave together a forward-looking story that provides perfect clarity, giving us high conviction. However, that story may be based off a single path, providing a limited or, worse, a misleading picture. This is a very dangerous combination in the world of investing.

So how does CAPTRUST position for the future while acknowledging the ubiquitous disclaimer that past performance may not be indicative of future results? First and foremost, we approach all decisions with a mindset of confident humility. We have views and opinions—often strong opinions—but we acknowledge that we also have biases and limited information. We incorporate these views within a framework of guiding principles that surround how we think, how we act, and how we react.

1. Wisdom over Knowledge Words are no match for an experience. A child who burns his hand will undoubtedly have a better understanding of the painful consequences of touching a hot stove than a child only warned by a parent. It is impossible to fully learn from others’ experiences because lessons learned from words lack the emotional weight carried by experiences.

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“

Confidence is a feeling, one determined mostly by the coherence of the story … even when the evidence for the story is sparse and unreliable.

Daniel Kahneman

”

The source of wisdom is often pain, and unfortunately, there are scars behind all these principles. Similarly, investing can only be learned by putting capital to work and experiencing the consequences of the decisions you make in an effort to grow capital.

There is absolutely no way to simulate this learning. Real confidence—or “true intuitive expertise” as Kahneman describes it—stems from prolonged experience with quality feedback on mistakes. In the investment world, that feedback most frequently comes in the form of financial losses.

The smartest investors are not the most knowledgeable but, rather, the ones who know the limits of their knowledge because the market humbles them every day.

Inexperienced intelligence is a breeding ground for overconfidence because you have not learned what you do not know.

2. Comprehensive over Complicated Most extreme investment errors occur when investors take simple concepts and add complexity. Financial experts can mathematically

prove certain strategies have a high probability of success, but the complexity incorporated into these strategies frequently ends in catastrophe.

Gilbert Keith (G.K.) Chesterton, famed English writer, perfectly captured this fundamental risk in his book Orthodoxy when he stated, “Life is not an illogicality; yet it is a trap for logicians. It looks just a little more mathematical and regular than it is; its exactitude is obvious, but its inexactitude is hidden; its wildness lies in wait.”

A ship that has its center of gravity above the water line can sail smoothly for years but suddenly capsize in rough seas. That’s what complexity and leverage can do to a simple investment strategy.

Do not mistake complexity for comprehensiveness. Portfolios should be constructed utilizing understandable components combined to provide comprehensive exposure to a diversified set of economic return drivers (economic growth, real interest rates, inflation, credit, liquidity, currency, etc.).

3. Predictable over Surprise Investing is an emotional roller coaster, and no one is spared from the ride. We all have bouts of anxiety and excitement, patience and impatience, and fear and greed.

Successful investors find ways to control these emotions by managing their expectations. Psychologists theorize that surprises have a greater emotional impact than expected outcomes, especially negative surprises. This is called decision affect theory.

A ship that has its center of gravity above the water line can sail smoothly for years but suddenly capsize in rough seas. That’s what complexity and leverage can do to a simple investment strategy.

There is a downside to every investment. Acknowledging and defining this downside is critical in constructing portfolios. Understanding the risk associated can help an investor manage emotions. For your investment advisor, explaining the risk affords the opportunity to provide proactive education. Conversely, reactive explanations should always trigger an immediate review, whether the outcome was better or worse than expected.

Predictable outcomes allow for proactive education, which builds investor confidence.

Conversely, surprises require reactive explanations, which can erode confidence.

4. Preparing over Predicting Few people would ever find a guiding investment principle from the movie Roadhouse, starring Patrick Swayze. However, one line in the movie captures a critical element of how we approach the future. After one of the countless bar fights, Swayze’s character was asked if he ever lost a fight. His response: “A man looking for a fight is not as prepared as a man who is ready for one.”

Being prepared for multiple outcomes is suboptimal because the eventual path will always outperform the aggregate collection of potential paths. So why is positioning so important? Because it protects you from what you do not or cannot see.

In a blog post titled “Risk Is What You Don’t See,” published in January 2020, Morgan Housel noted, “How risky something is depends on whether its target is prepared for it.

A big event people have time to prepare for can be handled without much fuss. A smaller one out of the blue can be deadly.”

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Portfolio positioning should emphasize out-planning the market by preparing portfolios for the future rather than attempting to outsmart the market with short-term market-timing predictions.

5. Probability over Magnitude Napoleon Bonaparte once said, “The greatest danger occurs at the moment of victory.” This “danger” is caused by successful outcomes raising confidence and higher confidence resulting in a new definition of “victory.”

Investors are notorious for constantly changing their definitions of success. When outcomes are better than expected, they rarely dial risk back and increase the probability of success. Rather, they move the victory bar higher and overconfidently continue down their paths, focused on what can go right without stopping to question what can go wrong. However, as mentioned previously, investing is an emotional roller coaster, and like a roller coaster, the slow grind higher can often be followed by a sudden terrifying freefall.

Investing is an emotional roller coaster, and like a roller coaster, the slow grind higher can often be followed by a sudden terrifying freefall.

It is critical for investors to clearly define what success looks like in their portfolios. It is even more critical for investors to stop the game and celebrate if they are fortunate to be able to declare victory.

Though, being content with your definition of success while watching others run the score up often requires a herculean effort.

Every decision should have a clear definition of success, and the focus should be on maximizing the probability of success, not the magnitude of success.

6. Net over Gross Every investment decision contains multiple layers of costs.

While the direct financial costs are most obvious, the emotional costs are often the most expensive. The financial cost of 30

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investing in stocks depends on the approach, but every equity investor pays the emotional price: volatility.

Portfolios typically represent historical sacrifices—trips not taken, cars not purchased, experiences not experienced—in the hope of a better future that includes retirement, a child’s education, or support of charitable causes. Consequently, witnessing those portfolios decline in value has a high emotional price. Unfortunately, it is impossible to know whether this emotional price is too high until after you’ve paid it. The cost associated with turning a potentially temporary decline into a permanent loss because the emotional price was too high can be exponentially higher than a management fee, but they are all costs.

Investment success can only be measured over time, net of all costs, including direct costs (e.g., transaction and management fees), indirect or frictional costs (e.g., timing and taxes), and often most impactful, emotional costs.

7. Portfolio over Pieces The 2006 USA Basketball roster included numerous NBA AllStars—LeBron James, Dwyane Wade, Chris Paul, etc.—and was led by legendary coach Mike Krzyzewski. This collection of the best of the best was the overwhelming favorite to bring home the championship. Despite the dramatic talent advantage, the U.S. lost to Greece, a team with no NBA players, in the semifinal. Countless examples exist in which teams with dramatic talent advantages are defeated by less-skilled players who play as a team rather than a collection of individuals.

Portfolios are similar. Far too often, investors focus on the individual pieces, trying to populate every portfolio position with the absolute best investment option in a certain asset class.

However, like in sports, in which the better team has a collection of complementary players, portfolios should be constructed with complementary pieces to ensure appropriate diversification. Some pieces are for offense; other pieces are for defense. At times, a specialist may be needed to capture a specific opportunity.

When it comes to investing, it’s difficult to make definitive statements because the landscape is always evolving. However, there is one phenomenon that we are confident will always prevail: cycles.

If everything in a portfolio is performing well at the same time, my greatest concern is how that portfolio will perform as the cycle turns.

An optimal portfolio is not necessarily a collection of the best individual pieces. Rather, it’s a collection of the right individual pieces.

The most important piece to the success equation must also be factored in. That piece is time.

8. Committee over Individual We believe that CAPTRUST has a unique but extremely powerful competitive advantage. Over the course of our history, we have folded in more than four dozen successful firms. While we all share a common culture, each firm took a different path to success. As a result, we all have our unique scars of wisdom.

CAPTRUST is not a firm of firms. Rather, we are one unified practice. Under the CAPTRUST umbrella, we benefit greatly from this diversification of wisdom, increasing the confidence in our collective decisions.

None of us are better than all of us.

These nine guiding principles help shape how we think, how we act, and how we react. However, the most important piece to the success equation must also be factored in. That piece is time.

9. Time Horizon over Everything Else Leo Tolstoy famously said, “The two most powerful warriors are patience and time.” From an investment perspective, the importance of time cannot be overstated. Time can be an investor’s biggest risk and biggest risk reducer. Too much time can provide financial challenges; too little time can and has been a major source of permanent value destruction. Time is not diversifiable, and what you do with it often defines investment success.

A physician friend of mine once told me that a doctor’s primary job is often to buy enough time to let the body heal itself. The application to investing is obvious. Appropriately diversified portfolios may experience bouts of weakness, but with sufficient time, our confidence is high they will recover.

Understanding how time impacts the risk profile of an investment decision ensures proper alignment between investment and portfolio time horizons.

There are no silver bullets, magic formulas, or crystal balls that can eliminate uncertainty about the future. All we can do is create a context for thinking, establish a framework for acting, be disciplined with our reactions, and allow time to heal any short-term wounds.

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MARKET REWIND

RISING RATES AND WAR CHALLENGE MARKET Coming into 2022, U.S. stocks had posted strong returns over the prior three years. This remarkable run included two years where investors captured returns greater than 25 percent with only a few short-lived periods of market volatility. This year, investors are grappling with volatility driven by new macroeconomic concerns, including persistent inflation, the war in Ukraine, and the risk of a Federal Reserve policy mistake that sends the economy into recession.

• U.S. stocks have posted losses for the year-to-date period as investors grapple with inflation and the Fed’s policy response. More recently, corporate earnings have raised concerns about consumer spending.

• International developed and emerging market stocks have posted similar results. Emerging market stocks have been hampered by slower economic growth in China stemming from recent strict COVID-19 lockdowns.

• Bonds stabilized in May as expectations about the Fed’s inflation-fighting actions eased somewhat, but they remain in negative territory for the year.

• Like other interest-rate-sensitive assets, public real estate has struggled this year.

• Commodities are the standout performer as oil prices remain elevated due to the war in Ukraine. A pledge among European Union leaders to curb Russian oil imports could keep prices elevated in the near term.

MARKET INDEX PERFORMANCE (as of 6.01.2022)

U.S. Small-Cap Stocks

Real Estate

U.S. Large-Cap Stocks

Emerging Markets Stocks

Developed International Stocks

U.S. Bonds

Commodities 32.4%

25.5%

-4.6%

-6.5%

-7.5%

-14.2% -16.6%

-5.8%

-6.9% -12.8%

-11.7%

-5.9% -11.0%

-8.9%

Q1 2022

YTD 2022

LOOKING FORWARD Greater clarity on the Federal Reserve’s expected path forward has narrowed the range of potential outcomes slightly, but policy risks remain high. Markets face an economic tug-of-war with COVID-19 lockdowns and the war in Ukraine creating supply uncertainty while the Fed and other central banks attempt a soft landing that reins in inflation without causing a recession.

Offsetting these headwinds, U.S. consumer balance sheets remain strong following several years of asset price gains, stimulus programs, and wage gains. Despite rising recession fears, analysts continue to increase their 2022 and 2023 projections for corporate revenue and earnings. Lastly, valuations for stocks have become more reasonable following the recent sell-off.

Asset class returns are represented by the following indexes: Bloomberg U.S. Aggregate Bond Index (U.S. bonds), S&P 500 Index (U.S. large-cap stocks), Russell 2000® (U.S. small-cap stocks), MSCI EAFE Index (international developed market stocks), MSCI Emerging Market Index (emerging market stocks), Dow Jones U.S. Real Estate Index (real estate), and Bloomberg Commodity Index (commodities).

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MONEY MINDSET

MASTER THE DISASTER

by John Curry

After a long buildup on the Ukrainian border, Russian troops invaded Ukraine in late February, sparking a regional war and unleashing a major humanitarian crisis. The world responded with economic sanctions against Russia, humanitarian support for Ukrainian refugees, and money and arms for the Ukrainian defense.

In the process, investors were challenged to absorb yet another set of inputs into their already complex market views. This included a post-COVID-19 inflation surge driven by rising energy prices and supply chain issues and the likelihood of rising interest rates in the U.S. and abroad.

Markets react when a new uncertainty arises, and market participants need time to recalibrate as they seek to understand the practical impacts of a new reality. This is true of all markets: stock and bond markets around the world as well as currency and commodity markets. The uncertainty could be political, economic, natural, or geopolitical, like Russian troops invading Ukraine.

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History Doesn’t Repeat While no two geopolitical events are the same, the past can sometimes offer clues about the present or future. Mark Twain reportedly said, “History doesn’t repeat itself, but it often rhymes.” Assuming that’s true, what can past geopolitical events and their impacts on the capital markets, specifically the stock market, tell us about what’s going on today?

Looking at a litany of geopolitical events starting with World War II and running up through the Russian bombing of Syria in 2017, a total of 31 events, we see a wide range of short-term stock market impacts. For example, U.S. stocks fell in the one-month period following the German invasion of France (May 1940) and the U.S. embassy bombings in Africa (August 1998). They rose following John F. Kennedy’s assassination (November 1962) and at the beginning of the Gulf War (January 1991).

Meanwhile, one month after the Japanese bombing of Pearl Harbor (December 1941), Kent State shootings (May 1970), and 9/11 attacks (September 2001), U.S. stocks had barely budged.

After one month, on average, these events tend to be stock market nonevents, with a mean return of 0.1 percent. But what about the longer term? Looking at the same roster of events, after six months and one year, the stock market is positive 81 percent and 84 percent of the time, with average returns of 7.5 percent and 16.3 percent.

The Big Picture Why does this happen? A negative surprise on top of an expensive market could be the catalyst for an immediate market pullback, resulting in more pain than the event alone would dictate, says CAPTRUST Senior Director and Portfolio Manager Jim Underwood. But while these geopolitical events may be significant in many ways, they are not all surprises. To the extent that the markets anticipate them, their impact may already be baked into market prices by the time the event occurs.

“The financial markets are remarkable in their ability to foresee negative and positive events,” says CAPTRUST Principal and Financial Advisor Justin Pawl. “I don’t think that the stock market trading higher, on average, six months and 12 months later is that unusual given that markets tend to appreciate over time.” This is especially true following a sharp selloff.

“Of course, these events don’t happen in isolation, and preexisting conditions will have an impact on the market both before and after the event,” says Pawl. Where are we in the business cycle, and where are macroeconomic factors like job growth, corporate earnings, and interest rates trending? And are stocks overvalued or undervalued at the time of the event?

Today, investor emotions are running high, given the many uncertainties associated with Federal Reserve interest rate decisions in the face of seemingly persistent inflation. Now, blend in a war in Ukraine and a spike in oil prices. This could explain the recent bout of volatility we are experiencing. Regardless, it can be difficult to untangle what’s causing market behavior, positive or negative.

It’s Different This Time Often, when we are in the middle of a market selloff driven by a geopolitical event or some other cause, it’s hard to find perspective and make good decisions, including the

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While these geopolitical events may be significant in many ways, they are not all surprises. To the extent that the markets anticipate them, their impact may already be baked into market prices by the time the event occurs.

decision to do nothing. Because history only rhymes, it can make us feel like it really is different this time.

“I have a general assumption the market will break about once a decade, but because it typically breaks in new and unpredictable ways, the financial fear feels different every time,” say Underwood. “Add in a physical fear—like COVID-19 or the threat of a broader-scale war—and the emotional reaction can be significantly higher.”

Once we’re in a fearful state, these feelings can be further fueled by two behavioral biases: recency bias and confirmation bias. “Recency bias comes into play as investors focus on the immediate negative impact of the event and project its effects into the future,” says Pawl. “Often, the immediate reaction overstates the longevity and, therefore, the magnitude of the negative impact.” What may turn out to be a short period of volatility turns into a potential market meltdown in our minds.

Confirmation bias—the tendency to pay more attention to information that confirms existing beliefs—only makes matters worse. “Its impact is likely more prominent than ever due to the availability of information via the Internet and 24/7 news cycles,” says Pawl. “The Internet is a wonderful technology that serves many useful purposes in modern society, providing a platform to disseminate different ideas on countless topics; however, with that variety of views, we can always find information that supports our personal stance, thus reinforcing it.” That’s not helpful during times of heightened anxiety.

“

Professional investors are not immune to emotional responses, but successful investors have a firm understanding of how these emotions translate into behavioral biases that impact their decisionmaking processes.

Justin Pawl

”

A Bias Toward Action Amid one of our turbulent periods, because we also suffer from action bias—the tendency to favor action over inaction (even if there’s no evidence that it will lead to a better outcome)—we are tempted to act. That may mean selling our worst- or bestperforming holdings or going to cash. That’s not wise should the selloff turn into a market rally, as history suggests.

“The best line of defense is recognizing that these emotions and associated behavioral biases are pervasive,” says Pawl. “Professional investors are not immune to emotional responses, but successful investors have a firm understanding of how these emotions translate into behavioral biases that impact their decision-making processes.”

What can individual investors do? “Beyond the normal risk management tools, including diversification and maintaining plenty of liquidity, from an emotional perspective, the best way to manage emotions is to write down why you are taking risks,” says Underwood. “Friedrich Nietzsche said, ‘He who has a why to live for can bear almost any how.’ I love that quote and feel if an investor can define why they are taking a risk, they can get through just about any adversity,” he says.

The decisions made during these brief periods of anxiety can have a disproportionate impact on long-term results, so it’s important to get through them. “I tell investors who adopt a risk profile that feels right but who fail to define why they are taking a risk that they will inevitably experience a moment when it feels very wrong,” says Underwood. “In that moment, there will be nothing keeping their emotions from turning a temporary decline into a permanent loss.”

“Fortunately, investors are not confronted with these environments very often,” says Underwood.

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LASTING LEGACY

Seen And Heard

by Jeanne Lee

Playwright and theater producer Vy Higginsen grew up in a classic Harlem brownstone near the famed Apollo Theater, where legends like Billie Holiday, Sarah Vaughan, and Ella Fitzgerald got their starts. Higginsen’s father was a Baptist minister, and her older sister, Doris, sang in the church choir, but Doris was drawn to R&B and pop tunes.

Their mother disapproved of Doris going to clubs and magnetizing audiences with her rich and expressive voice. But the music found a way to be heard.

As a teenager, Doris got a job as an Apollo usherette, sang at Amateur Night, won, and eventually got discovered by the Godfather of Soul, James Brown. And that’s how “music from the church ended up on the Apollo stage,” says Higginsen.

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Taking the stage name Doris Troy, she had a top 10 hit in 1963 with the love song “Just One Look.” The next year, the British group The Hollies covered her song, and her reputation continued to grow. The sisters moved to London together, where they rubbed shoulders with Elton John, The Beatles, and The Rolling Stones in the 1960s and 1970s. Troy impressed The Beatles so much that she got signed by Apple Records and made a solo album produced by George Harrison. Later, she became a backup

singer who contributed vocals for The Rolling Stones’ “(I Can’t Get No) Satisfaction,” Pink Floyd’s The Dark Side of the Moon, and Carly Simon’s “You’re So Vain.” Though Troy died in 2004, her voice is familiar to millions who might not know her name.

Higginsen was moved to write down her sister’s story in the 1983 runaway hit Mama, I Want to Sing! She felt it reflected the journeys of a swath of African American artists who similarly grew up with gospel music in their churches and who carried this musical legacy into popular American culture to become stars in the ’50s, ’60s, and ’70s.

The gospel musical ran for eight years at Harlem’s Heckscher Theater, breaking records, establishing an American classic, and helping preserve the legacy of Black music by acting as a major employer of African American singers and performers throughout its time. Later, it toured nationally and abroad; it is approaching its 40th anniversary next year.

“When we tell the story of Mama, I Want to Sing!, it’s a metaphor for anything anyone ever wanted to do that got blocked or pushed aside or that was not valued or was considered not good enough. All the things that sometimes happen to young people—or to a culture—that it’s felt that your contribution is valueless, unless you’re seen and heard,” Higginsen says.

Mama Foundation for the Arts After the success of Mama, I Want to Sing!, Higginsen was moved to give back to her community and work with young people. Her idea for the Mama Foundation for the Arts came when her daughter, a very musical child, was not receiving music education at school.

Gospel for Teens performing

“The whole thing started because music was taken out of the school system,” says Higginsen. She and her husband tried enrolling their daughter in a music school where she could learn singing, but the fit just wasn’t right.

“They were teaching classical music, but we felt that she needed to sing the music of gospel, jazz, and R&B,” she says.

It dawned on Higginsen that many talented African American children had no options for musical education other than expensive private lessons. The realization that many young Black singers she met were unable to sing gospel told her that the musical heritage was in danger of being lost. So she started a small Saturday singing group with a few students.

Black music history and Black music matter because it is American music. “It’s really important to teach this art form. We don’t want this music to ever die.

Backstage at a Gospel for Teens performance

“You can’t forget those ancestors whose voices paved the way,” says Higginsen. “Knowing that 37

Higginsen backstage with a young singer at a Gospel for Teens performance and celebrating that, we present, we preserve, we promote, and we teach the history and legacy of African American music and its relationship to American history.”

We sometimes forget that Black people were not allowed to read or write, she says. “It was punishable by death. But they were allowed to sing, and through their incredible genius, they used the music as a code to communicate. If someone said, ‘Down by the riverside,’ they knew that meant ‘We’re getting out of here.’”

With her daughter, Ahmaya Knoelle Higginsen, she cofounded the Mama Foundation for the Arts in 2006 to mentor the next generation of Black singers and preserve the musical arts of gospel, jazz, and R&B. Gospel for Teens, their free Saturday program for teenage boys and girls to learn singing and performing, is training young singers to this day.

Lifting Up the Music and Young People In a decade and a half, the Gospel for Teens Choir has grown from a small weekend gathering into a mighty force in the world. Teens from New York, New Jersey, and surrounding areas have received this unique opportunity to be supported, learn to find their voices, perform in front of audiences, and be seen and heard.

Each fall, Higginsen signs up a new class of kids. They audition for the choir, but they don’t need to read music or have singing experience to join. “If you can carry a tune, we help you develop your own voice,” she says.

“When you come to our school on a Saturday, you’re not going to look at a piece of paper,” says Higginsen. “It will be call-andresponse. You’ll learn the harmony by ear. It’s the best thing that can happen to young people.”

“This is one of the most underrated teaching styles,” she says, noting that the requirement to be able to read music has historically excluded talented Black performers from participating in the music business.

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A Gospel for Teens performance

“We use total ear training, breathing, harmony, pitch, and control.

You’ve got to learn by listening, harmonizing, and blending, and you can’t look at the music. That style of learning—ear training—is often not acknowledged or appreciated.”

These days, Higginsen basks in the successes of students she has nurtured. Though the inspiration for Mama Foundation for the Arts was to save Black musical heritage, the program has saved many a young person along the way.

She says an astonishing 87 percent of the young people who go through the Gospel for Teens program go on to higher education and careers in the entertainment industry or the arts. With Mama, I Want to Sing! celebrating its 40th anniversary next year, Higginsen’s vision is to keep expanding Mama Foundation for the Arts by adding more staff; finding a larger space to house the students and music masters; expanding to more genres of African American music, such as hip-hop; and continuing to showcase the music.

Mama Foundation for the Arts The mission of Mama Foundation for the Arts is to uplift the Black musical treasures of gospel, jazz, and R&B and to heal and inspire through the power of collective music-making. Since 1999, the Mama Foundation has been working to establish itself as a thriving and sustainable Harlem legacy institution where an intergenerational and interracial community is invited to be seen and be heard in the fullness of their experience—their voices, their stories, and their hearts.

149 West 126th Street Harlem, New York 10027 mamafoundation.org 212.280.1045

CLIENT CONVERSATIONS CLIENT CONVERSATIONS

READER Q & A In this installment of Client Conversations, we look at the benefits

?

of naming a trusted contact for your investment accounts and the prospect of stagflation in the U.S. economy.

What’s a trusted contact? Should I name one for my investment accounts?

A

Extra layers of security are excellent words to live by in these uncertain times. One easy step to take is adding a trusted contact person to your investment accounts. You may have received an email request from CAPTRUST to do just that, whether on a new account or one you’ve had for a while. So what in the world is a trusted contact, and should you have one?

A trusted contact is simply a person you authorize your investment firm to get in touch with in case of any difficulty reaching you or suspicion of potential fraud or financial abuse affecting your account. This person could be a spouse, a relative, a professional like your attorney or accountant, or any reliable person of your choosing over age 18.

Financial exploitation and fraud is rampant, and older Americans were scammed out of $1 billion in 2020, according to a report from the Federal Bureau of Investigation. As part of an effort to safeguard financial accounts, the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) introduced a rule in 2018 requiring financial institutions to ask clients to establish a trusted contact. Note that while a financial institution is required to ask you for this information, the choice is yours whether or not to provide a trusted contact.

If it’s not required, should you bother? In this age of identity theft and synthetic identity fraud, both FINRA and the Securities and Exchange 39

Commission’s Office of Investor Education recommend that you designate a trusted contact for your accounts.

Imagine that your financial advisor has repeatedly tried to reach you without success for an urgent matter regarding your accounts. By having preauthorization to reach out to your established trusted contact, your advisor would have greater ability to help in a variety of situations, such as: •

You’re on vacation.

•

You’re having health issues or are in the hospital.

•

You’ve been displaced by a fire or natural disaster.

•

You’re a victim of identity theft.

Adding a trusted contact is a bit like turning on two-factor authentication on your phone—an extra step that might make all the difference in protecting your account from fraud or scams.

As you can see, the trusted contact should be someone who is able to reach you easily to convey a message. This person might need to confirm your health status, confirm the identity of someone with power of attorney for your account, or confirm the identity of an executor or trustee who is working on your affairs.

A trusted contact is not the same as a power of attorney. The trusted contact does not have any authority to: •

make trades or execute transactions;

•

act on your behalf; or

•

engage in activity on your account.

You’d have to separately authorize this person to allow any such actions. However, the financial institution does have the ability to place a temporary hold on disbursements from the account if financial exploitation is suspected.

Adding a trusted contact is a bit like turning on two-factor authentication on your phone—an extra step that might make all the difference in protecting your account from fraud or scams.

I have been hearing about stagflation. What is it, and is it something to be concerned about?

A

Stagflation is about as fun as it sounds, especially if you remember the 1970s, with its steep oil prices, runaway inflation, and terrible joblessness. No investor wants to suffer through that again, but the Federal Reserve’s coming actions to curb inflation that’s the highest it’s been in many years are causing some anxiety about the potential for stagflation.

The Fed has signaled that it will act aggressively by raising interest rates to get control over inflation, which has been over 8 percent over the past 12 months. Its goal is to raise rates just the right amount to shrink consumer demand somewhat, gently tapping the brakes on the economy and tamping down inflation. But this maneuver will be hard to get perfect. If the Fed overshoots and cools the economy too much, it could trigger a recession and many lost jobs.

With the blunt instruments it has, the Fed can only try to rein in demand; it has no tools available to increase the supply side of the equation. A series of external blows—COVID-19 lockdowns, global supply chain problems, and the war in Ukraine—have

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severely limited the supply of some goods, which is why prices are going up.

Unfortunately, the Fed can’t control whether any more supply-side shocks, like more pandemic lockdowns, are still to come. Further supply-side problems could cause prices to continue to rise and trigger stagflation.

However, we are not in a period of stagflation yet. The technical definition of stagflation involves the triple threat of: •

elevated inflation;

•

slowing economic growth; and

•

high unemployment.

Unemployment currently is nowhere near high. In fact, the opposite is true.

Because of the extraordinarily tight labor market, the current economy doesn’t meet the criteria for stagflation.

Unemployment currently is nowhere near high. In fact, the opposite is true. Because of the extraordinarily tight labor market, the current economy doesn’t meet the criteria for stagflation. Companies everywhere are having great difficulty hiring enough workers, as evidenced by the Great Resignation and rising wages.

The fact that there are unfilled jobs in the system gives the Fed some latitude. The perfect scenario would be for the Fed to slow the economy at just the right pace to remove six million excess jobs, relieving wage inflation, and bringing down price inflation. The danger is, if Fed actions remove too many jobs, rising unemployment could result.

These uncertainties have driven the stock market down some 15 to 30 percent in various sectors. For investors, it’s certainly challenging to position your portfolio for stagflation. The best approach is to make sure you’ve got ample liquidity to let the market work through this period of volatility. The key to success is to buy enough time with your liquidity bucket to ensure that you are not forced to turn a temporary decline into a permanent loss. You don’t want to have to sell until you identify a good time to exit.

As always, diversification is your friend. Stay patient and try to keep emotion out of your investment decisions. Reactive emotional decisions can erase decades of good decisions, wreaking havoc on a sound financial plan.

If you have a question for the VESTED team, we’d love to hear from you and see if we can help.

Please send your questions to us at VESTEDmagazine@captrust.com.

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CAPTRUST HAPPENINGS

GIVING BACK

The Green Chair Project hosted a pillow fight, and CAPTRUST donated 1,066 pillows. Vickey Collins, Lorry DeSantis, and Cheryl Wickham packing up the pillows.

Charity of Choice and National Grants Each year, the CAPTRUST Community Foundation (CCF) selects a Charity of Choice and five organizations to receive national grants. The chosen 501(c)(3) organizations’ core missions must align with the CCF’s mission to enrich the lives of children in the communities we serve. The CCF collects applications from charitable organizations throughout the country, and each qualified applicant goes through a stringent vetting process. For 2022, the CCF selected The Green Chair Project, a nonprofit organization that reuses donated furnishings for people facing the challenges of homelessness, crisis, or disaster as the Charity of Choice, receiving a $100,000 grant.

Additionally, the CCF announced five national grant recipients, each receiving a $25,000 grant: Communities In Schools of Wake County, Families Together, Kinetic Kids, Sunrise Day Camps Association, and Table NC.

Giving Back in Texas Lisa Miller and Julia Gavrilov from CAPTRUST Austin hosted local women business owners at the Seedling Foundation Fab Five Gala. Additionally, CAPTRUST served as an underwriter for the Texas Women for the Arts Annual Champion of the Arts dinner in San Antonio. Christina Lecholop and Lisa Miller attended the event (pictured above).

100GREAT in Akron CAPTRUST Akron Financial Advisor Steve Wilt and the CAPTRUST Community Foundation contributed to the Kevin Love Fund to raise funds and promote awareness for mental health. Wilt also participated in a 60-day push-up challenge with 100GREAT to train the mind, body, and soul to do more push-ups than the participant ever thought possible. It incorporated not only push-ups but also mental health awareness tools and meditation. More than 900 people joined the challenge from five continents. The entire event raised $175,000, which was distributed among several charities, including the Kevin Love Fund, LIVIN, and the Crisis Text Line.

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CAPTRUST GROWTH Over the past several months, CAPTRUST added several new colleagues to its ranks and opened one new regional office.

Warren, New Jersey Portfolio Evaluations, Inc. (PEI) became part of CAPTRUST in January. PEI was established in 1992 and is led by Co-Founders and Partners Attila Toth, Michael Sasso, and Rich Torbinski. The team brings to CAPTRUST more than $107 billion in assets and several hundred clients, along with 31 additional colleagues.

NEW COLLEAGUES Jennifer Brands

Dawn McPherson

Scott Mulvaney

CAPTRUST welcomed Jennifer Brands in March, and she currently serves as a director within the Investment Group, responsible for oversight of the firm’s technology infrastructure, its client reporting systems, and its operational processes. Prior to joining CAPTRUST, Brands worked in institutional sales and marketing support at Prudential Investments. She resides in New Jersey.

Dawn McPherson joined CAPTRUST from Mariner Wealth Advisors. As director of retirement plan consulting, she is responsible for developing consulting services to address the needs of CAPTRUST’s clients, overseeing ERISA technical issues and retirement industry trends, and ensuring that CAPTRUST continues to stay ahead of developments within the retirement plan arena. McPherson resides in Kansas City.

CAPTRUST welcomed Scott Mulvaney to its Doylestown, Pennsylvania, office in January as a vice president and financial advisor. Mulvaney is responsible for providing retirement plan advisory services to corporate fiduciaries and delivering education, guidance, and advice to their employees to improve their financial lives and help them retire successfully.

Greg Schott

Jennifer Wertheim

CAPTRUST welcomed Greg Schott in May to the firm’s Tampa office. Schott is charged with providing retirement plan advisory services to corporate and nonprofit defined contribution plan sponsors. Schott joined CAPTRUST with over 25 years of experience.

CAPTRUST welcomed Jennifer Wertheim to its Phoenix, Arizona, office in December, and she currently serves as a director of tax in the firm’s National Tax Services group. Wertheim works closely with clients and their financial advisors to provide holistic and comprehensive tax services as part of their overall wealth management team.

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CAPTRUST RECOGNITION Barron’s Honors 20 Advisor Teams We are pleased to announce that 20 CAPTRUST institutional advisor teams have been named among Barron’s 2022 Top 100 Institutional Consulting Teams.

This list recognizes the nation’s top teams specializing in investment consulting for defined contribution and defined benefit plans, endowments, and foundations.

The CAPTRUST teams and their lead advisors ranked as follows: #2 – Team New York/Boston, led by Michael Volo, Jeffery Levy, and Michael Sanders #10 – Team Allentown, led by Jim Edwards, Wes Schantz, and Jeff Loehwing #12 – Team Schott, led by Stephen Schott #25 – Team Doylestown, led by Chris Kulick, Paul Schaffer, Scott Wertheim, and Sean Teesdale #27 – Team Bailey, led by Eric Bailey #28 – Team Stanicek, led by Jason Stanicek #29 – Team Atlanta, led by Philly Jones, Evan Melcher, Zack Sadler, and Drew McCorkle #33 – Team Dallas, led by John Pickett and Travis Whitten #34 – Team Strickland, led by Jon Strickland #37 – Team Esch, led by Dan Esch #39 – Team Strodel, led by Jim Strodel #41 – Team Schmitt, led by Barry Schmitt #50 – Team Birmingham, led by Paul Owen, Phil Anderson, and Beau Williams #55 – Team South Michigan, led by Dori Drayton and Susan Shoemaker #56 – Team Wilt, led by Steve Wilt #60 – Team Des Moines, led by Jean Duffy and Andrew Shimp #69 – Team Eskamani, led by Shaun Eskamani #70 – Team DiGiacomo, led by Dan DiGiacomo #81 – Team Pratico, led by Mike Pratico #84 – Team Medlin, led by Mark Medlin

WOMEN'S STOCK PITCH AND LEADERSHIP SUMMIT CAPTRUST’s Beryl Ball, Mike Vogelzang, and Ellen Shaer represented the firm as a proud supporter of the sixth annual William & Mary Women’s Stock Pitch & Leadership Summit in March. Hosted by the Raymond A. Mason School of Business at William & Mary, the summit boasted two full afternoons of leadership development and professional networking with alumni and industry professionals from all areas of business.

REGIONAL OFFICE ACCOLADES Business Alabama: #1

Crain’s Cleveland Business: #2

Birmingham Business Journal: #1

Phoenix Business Journal: #5

Charlotte Business Journal: #2

San Antonio Business Journal: #3

2022 Financial Planners & Investment Advisory Firms 2022 Birmingham Area Investment Brokers

2022 Charlotte-Area Wealth Management Firms

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2022 Investment Advisers

2022 Largest Investment Advisers

2022 Largest Financial Planning Firms

CAPTRUST RECOGNITION Excellence Award The Excellence Award is a way for CAPTRUST associates to recognize coworkers who consistently perform at the highest levels and exemplify the firm’s culture. Award winners represent an elite group whose attitudes and performance positively impact CAPTRUST’s clients and the firm more broadly.

Kara Johnson Consultant, Human Resources

Becky Madore Senior Hospitality Associate, Administrative Professionals

Rob Thomas Client Management Consultant, Institutional Client Service

Top DC Honor from NAPA

Power List

In March, the National Association of Plan Advisors (NAPA) recognized CAPTRUST on the list for 2021 Top Defined Contribution (DC) Advisor Teams. The Top DC Advisor Teams online list highlights the nation’s leading retirement plan advisory firms. This year’s list includes more than 27 CAPTRUST teams:

CAPTRUST CEO Fielding Miller was named to Business North Carolina’s 2022 Power List in May. The annual list features the state’s most influential leaders covering key industries.

PLANADVISER Honors CAPTRUST as Top Retirement Plan Advisers

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CAPTRUST Akron

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CAPTRUST Houston

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CAPTRUST Alabama

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CAPTRUST Lake Mary

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CAPTRUST Allentown

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CAPTRUST Los Angeles

PLANADVISER included 11 CAPTRUST advisors to its 2022 list of Top Retirement Plan Advisers. The list is compiled based on the value of qualified plan assets under advisement and the number of total plans.

Congratulations to:

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CAPTRUST Atlanta

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CAPTRUST Minneapolis

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Jean Duffy | Des Moines, IA

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CAPTRUST Austin

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CAPTRUST New York

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Daniel Esch | Minneapolis, MN

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CAPTRUST Boston

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CAPTRUST Phoenix

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Shaun Eskamani | Raleigh, NC

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CAPTRUST Charlotte

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CAPTRUST Portland

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Tim Irvin | New York, NY

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CAPTRUST Chesterton

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CAPTRUST Raleigh

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Paul Owen | Birmingham, AL

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CAPTRUST Clarkston

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CAPTRUST Richmond

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Joey Payne | Lexington, KY

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CAPTRUST Dallas

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CAPTRUST Sacramento

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John Pickett | Dallas, TX

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CAPTRUST Des Moines

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CAPTRUST Santa Barbara

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Jan Rezler | New York, NY

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CAPTRUST Doylestown

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CAPTRUST South Michigan

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Barry Schmitt | Richmond, VA

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CAPTRUST Greenwich

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CAPTRUST Tampa

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Jason Stanicek | Raleigh, NC

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CAPTRUST Harrisonburg

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Jim Strodel | Charlotte, NC

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We know that investors are looking for experienced and trusted advisors who can provide wealth management services that are focused on their unique circumstances and tailored to their goals.

Caty S. Bragg, CFP® Vice President, Financial Advisor Birmingham, AL Beau K. Williams, CFA® Senior, Financial Advisor Birmingham, AL

John P. Maloney, CFA® Principal, Financial Advisor Birmingham, AL Donald Lutomski, CFA®, CMA Principal, Financial Advisor Birmingham, AL

In more than 30 years of acting as a fiduciary to some of the country’s biggest retirement plans, we have gained valuable insights that we can apply to your wealth planning and investment challenges.

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captrust.com | 919.870.6822 | Toll Free 800.216.0645 | 4208 Six Forks Road, Suite 1700 | Raleigh, NC 27609

Summer | 2022