When I sat down with Matt Jackson to talk about investments, what he said made a lot of sense.

In a nutshell, he told me that there are two types of investment people out there. There are the investment firm types that sell set products that are risky, but could offer high yield. There are also the insurance types that sell set products that are usually very safe, but lack some of the upside potential that the risky money has.

Both sides of the coin offer things that can be of interest to us, but since many of us trust one person or firm with our money, regular people like me are usually either invested in one side or the other.

On one side is what some people term as safe money. These include retirement IRAs and commodities like gold, silver, copper, platinum, and other precious metals. They can, and do, fluctuate, but don't have nearly the volatility of the stock market.

That's the other side of the coin — risky money. A lot can be earned, but if the economy crashes and burns like it did in 2008, a third or worse could just disappear.

Both sides have great, trusted, talented, educated professionals that adhere to their fiduciary duties and deserve every iota of trust that is given them by their clients. Both require special certifications in order to work with the firms that handle the products they offer.

The problem comes in, Matt told me, when we consider the fact that these people often only see one side of a coin. It's the yin, but no yang. Day without night. It's the old one two, but lacking either the one, or the two. It's peanut butter with no jelly.

What I learned in the hour that I spent with Matt was that a good plan with a full, two-sided view of the importance of playing it safe and taking calculated risks, with a solid safety net, is how he believes in investing.

Since that's his game plan, he has the needed certifications to handle both your so called safe money and your risky money. There are very few financial people out there that play both sides of the ball. Reminds me of an old joke I just made up.

What do you call a person who is both an offensive and defensive coordinator?
Coach.

The safety net that Matt works with is called Assetlock, and it allows you to choose the threshold of risk you are willing to take. After the money is placed, you decide where you'd exit if things go sideways. So, for example, say you're in for $100,000 and a crash occurs, and you've told Matt and Assetlock that you are only willing to lose 10 percent. Once the crash takes your assets to $90,000, you're out and you keep your $90k.

If you earn money, and it goes up to $200,000, the same crash happens, you keep all but the 10 percent. So, you walk away from the crash with $180,000.

There is a lot of protection software out there that doesn't change the dollar amount as your money goes up. Watch the video on their website. It does a better job of explaining it than I do.

Overall, I appreciated the offensive plus defensive approach that Matt and Solid Wealth Advisors take because it is rooted in common sense, and we all know that a little common sense can be much more valuable than cents.

Solid Wealth Advisors are TRI-102.5's Local Financial Expert and can help you build and protect wealth. They are located at 2020 Lowe St. Suite 202 Fort Collins, Colorado. For more information, visit www.solidwealthadvisors.com or call 970-229-1616.

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