Adams Financial Concepts Webinar - Don't Confuse the Unfamiliar with the Improbable

In this powerful workshop, Michael Adams of Adams Financial Concepts connects one of the most consequential days in U.S. history—**Pearl Harbor, December 7, 1941**—to the way investors misread risk today. Using the surprise attack on Pearl Harbor, the Great Recession, and the inflation waves of the *1960s–1970s stagflation era**, Mike shows how focusing on the *wrong threats can be financially devastating… and how to prepare your portfolio for what most investors still aren’t watching.

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What you’ll learn in this video

*“Don’t confuse the unfamiliar with the improbable”* – what it really means for your money
How U.S. leaders misjudged Pearl Harbor by fearing *sabotage* instead of *naval attack*
Why investors keep looking for “the next Great Recession” and miss emerging risks
The difference between *demand-pull inflation* and *cost-push inflation*
Why the 1960–1980 period of *stagflation* (high inflation + high unemployment) was so brutal
Parallels between the *1960s–70s* and today’s economy (jobs, inflation, consumer spending, inventories)
Why there may be *no perfect hiding place* in a deep stagflationary recession
How focusing on long-term growth businesses can still build wealth through difficult decades
A real-life client story (“Alma”) showing how disciplined investing can transform retirement

Key themes & topics covered

*Pearl Harbor & Risk Perception*

How U.S. planners feared internal sabotage from Japanese Americans instead of carrier-based attack
How ships packed stem-to-stern and planes wingtip-to-wingtip made Pearl Harbor an easy target
The lesson: Just because a risk is unfamiliar doesn’t mean it’s unlikely.

*Secular Bull Markets & False Comparisons*

Why the post-2009 *secular bull market* doesn’t look like the pre-2008 world
Why the brief COVID downturn (162 days) can mislead investors into expecting the wrong kind of crisis

*Inflation: Demand-Pull vs Cost-Push*

**Demand-pull inflation**: too many dollars chasing too few goods (stimulus, pandemic reopening, used car prices, etc.)
**Cost-push inflation**: rising wages and input costs (grain shock, oil shock, 1960s–70s experience)
Why raising rates alone may tame demand-pull but is often not enough for cost-push inflation

*Stagflation: The Silent Threat*

What stagflation looked like in the 1970s:

~10% unemployment
Double-digit inflation
A decade+ of stock market returns just struggling to keep up with the *Consumer Price Index (CPI)*
Example price changes from 1960–1992 (stamps, Coke, milk, eggs) vs the post-1990s period
How long it took – roughly *32 years* – for the S&P 500 to catch up with inflation in that era

*Signals vs Noise in Today’s Markets*

Why headlines about car loan defaults, student loans, or credit cards are not the same as a housing-driven crisis
How to weigh *scale**, **historical context**, and **math* instead of reacting to fear-based narratives
What rising inventories, shifting consumer behavior, and job trends may be signaling now

*Real Client Case Study: Alma*

A 65-year-old professional who thought she’d work for life
Started with under $1 million, took substantial income, paid off her condo, and still saw her portfolio grow
How long-term, growth-oriented investing can leave you better prepared for difficult economic regimes
The contrast between AFC results vs a “typical advisor” path and what that means for retirement freedom
(Past performance is not a guarantee of future results.)

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Why this matters for your financial future

Stagflation is *slow**, subtle, and easy to dismiss—until it isn’t. Like Pearl Harbor, the real danger is assuming, *“That can’t happen here,” simply because we haven’t seen it recently.

Mike’s message:

*Don’t prepare only for the last crisis.*
*Don’t mistake unfamiliar risks for impossible risks.*
Structure your portfolio so that, whether we enter stagflation or not, you’re aiming to have **more money than you need**, not less.

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Watch next / Stay connected

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Long-term investing
Risk management and economic cycles
Retirement planning and portfolio strategy

📩 Want to talk with Mike about your own situation?
Connect with him @ [email protected]

📺 Catch past workshops and replays on our YouTube channel, available *24/7* so you can learn at your own pace.

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Suggested hashtags

#Investing #Stagflation #Inflation #PearlHarbor #FinancialPlanning #RetirementPlanning #StockMarket #Economy #WealthBuilding #RiskManagement