0:01

Welcome to the Josh

0:01

Bolton show. Die interesting and

0:06

inspiring conversations. And now

0:06

your host, Josh Bolton. Yeah,

0:17

that's that's true. But you're

0:17

Steve AI. It's crazy how fast

0:21

it's learning, especially

0:21

knowledge it can have compared

0:25

to one human. It's daunting.

0:28

It is daunting in and

0:28

it's it's one of those things

0:31

that I think it's it's both

0:31

fascinating, but also very scary

0:34

at the same time. And a lot of

0:34

individuals out there that

0:39

obviously there are the polar

0:39

opposite. And individuals that

0:42

are at either end of the

0:42

spectrum, I think are going to

0:45

have a rude awakening, because

0:45

even those that are 100%, for AI

0:49

are going to come to realize

0:49

that hey, it's Yeah, well, it's

0:52

great. It really diminishes that

0:52

human impact. And so fewer and

0:56

fewer or rather, more and more

0:56

people are going to have a

0:59

harder and harder time holding

0:59

on to the things that they've

1:03

been the way that they've been

1:03

able to add value into the world

1:06

historically, because of what AI

1:06

is, is going to be positioned to

1:10

do.

1:12

Absolutely. I mean,

1:12

in certain aspects, it's going

1:15

to be great, but I always joke

1:15

with people, like certain jobs,

1:19

like air conditioning, air

1:19

conditioning repairman and

1:21

techs, and like janitors and

1:21

stuff like that. Currently, I

1:25

don't see an AI smart enough to

1:25

clean a toilet. It could figure

1:29

out like calculus level trading

1:29

stuff, but clean a toilet, I

1:33

don't see that happening, at

1:33

least in the next 10 years.

1:35

Probably not. And same

1:35

thing with some of the other

1:38

trades jobs. So it's

1:38

fascinating, because then the

1:41

question becomes even with young

1:41

adults, what should they do

1:44

when, when it comes to the

1:44

decisions that they make, and

1:48

trade jobs, funny enough to just

1:48

the way that that you

1:52

articulated it, are probably

1:52

going to be coming back in

1:56

vogue, as several industries get

1:56

disrupted by AI and robotics and

2:02

automation in general.

2:04

But from your

2:04

perspective, as a financial

2:07

planner, is AI very helpful tool

2:07

for you to help your clients.

2:12

For us, a lot of what

2:12

we do were more on the wealth

2:15

strategy side, the company name

2:15

is fairly deseeding.

2:19

Unfortunately, it was where we

2:19

started. And our intention was

2:22

really to work with financial

2:22

advisors until it was actually

2:26

some of our clients who

2:26

understand the industry from the

2:29

inside out, brought it to our

2:29

attention that financial

2:33

advisors that are perhaps not

2:33

acting in the highest level of

2:37

integrity, as many individuals

2:37

will blame the the industry,

2:40

unfortunately, are probably not

2:40

going to be the people that

2:44

while they could benefit from

2:44

what we had to deliver, it's the

2:49

individual that ultimately ends

2:49

up leaving so much money on the

2:52

table, because historically, the

2:52

Financial Services is not

2:56

incentivized to necessarily

2:56

operate in the in the always in

3:00

the best interest of the client,

3:00

even for those that deem

3:03

themselves to be fiduciaries. So

3:03

then kind of coming back to AI.

3:08

I think AI definitely has its

3:08

place when we're talking about

3:11

the lower end financial

3:11

products, think of, you know, so

3:14

many platforms out there that

3:14

will sell life insurance and

3:17

things like that, for a quick,

3:17

cheap way to do certain things

3:21

that that are inexpensive. Yes.

3:21

But when it comes to true

3:26

strategy, and the ability to

3:26

look at not only what is

3:31

happening today, but more

3:31

importantly, what is the trying

3:34

the client trying to achieve in

3:34

the long run, and being able to

3:38

work backwards and forwards to

3:38

not only devise that plan, but

3:42

then make sure we take a boat

3:42

along the way. And course

3:44

correct. AI is probably going to

3:44

it's I don't I can't say that at

3:50

some point in time. It won't get

3:50

there. But it certainly I don't

3:53

see it in the very, very near

3:53

future, just because it's so at

3:56

least what we do is so hyper

3:56

specialized.

3:59

Yeah. And you have

3:59

to know all the complexities of

4:02

the tax rules to this to that to

4:02

and me like you said, AI if it

4:08

may eventually get there, but at

4:08

least not within the next 10

4:10

years.

4:11

Oh, my God. Josh, you

4:11

do? You brought up a topic

4:14

yesterday, I had a conversation

4:14

with, frankly, multiple CPAs.

4:17

And it's just, it's just, I'm in

4:17

awe, you're right. They you

4:23

would think that every single

4:23

CPA would understand the tax

4:25

code forwards and backwards.

4:25

Unfortunately, they know, most

4:29

individuals know a sub sliver of

4:29

what really is available to the

4:32

client. And a great example for

4:32

people that are listening and

4:37

are wondering what do you mean,

4:37

we were working with multiple

4:42

CPAs for multiple of our clients

4:42

and a couple of the CPAs last

4:47

week Thursday, asked them a

4:47

question of, Hey, are you

4:50

familiar with this particular

4:50

tax code? It's a very specific

4:54

tax code that has very specific

4:54

applications. And it's not we're

4:58

not approaching it from a tax

4:58

sale. savings, it's truly a

5:01

business need. And not all

5:01

businesses need it. And not all

5:06

businesses should implement it.

5:06

But for those that need it, it

5:09

ultimately also becomes a huge

5:09

tax advantage. And the response

5:13

for both of them was No, keep in

5:13

mind, this was last Thursday,

5:17

yesterday, which yesterday was

5:17

Wednesday. I'm on a call with

5:22

Sid CPA and a couple of other

5:22

tax experts. And the CPAs trying

5:27

to push back to say, well, I

5:27

don't think this is gonna work.

5:30

And I don't I can't stand behind

5:30

it, because and he had all these

5:33

reasons. IRS doesn't like these

5:33

transactions. And, and, you

5:37

know, it could potentially put

5:37

the client at risk for an audit

5:40

and this and that, and the other

5:40

night, just last week, you had

5:44

no idea that this tax code

5:44

actually existed. So how can we

5:48

go from it? We don't know that

5:48

you don't know that it exists to

5:52

making such a hardcore statement

5:52

as to it's not going to be

5:56

applicable? Because it said, Are

5:56

you afraid of something? Because

6:00

the reality is, the tax code was

6:00

written to be implemented in

6:04

situations where it's applicable

6:04

not to be taken advantage of? So

6:08

if the client has the business

6:08

need? Why would you direct him

6:12

away from it? Unless there's

6:12

something else that you've got

6:15

that maybe I should know about?

6:15

And he came back and he said,

6:20

you know, you know, you're right, you're right, the business, he should be there.

6:22

I'm like, we're basically, the

6:26

clients get shot in the foot

6:26

every single day. And sometimes

6:30

they're shooting themselves in

6:30

the foot because they don't work

6:32

with a team of experts that

6:32

actually know what's happening.

6:35

And well, we're talking about

6:35

high net worth and high income

6:38

individuals. Consequently, the

6:38

types of individuals and clients

6:42

that we serve, I mean, we can

6:42

talk about potentially hundreds

6:46

of 1000s of dollars being left

6:46

to chance year over a year.

6:50

That's a lot of money, it adds

6:50

up to big, big 10 bucks over a

6:53

long haul. So I'm sorry, you

6:53

said CPA and, and I got

6:57

transport for the back to my

6:57

conversations yesterday.

7:01

It's very

7:01

important, especially for the

7:04

financial planning. I've had a

7:04

lot of tax people come on and

7:08

threaten tax strategists. And

7:08

all of them say the same thing

7:11

like when in doubt, ask like

7:11

three CPAs? The same question to

7:16

like, you can ask them a simple question. They're not going to like Bill you. And if you get

7:18

three different answers, then

7:21

you have a problem kind of

7:21

thing. But if you have to answer

7:23

the same, might want to go with

7:23

the two that said to correctly.

7:26

Correct. Correct.

7:26

Always ask questions. That's

7:29

what I tell clients all the

7:29

time. If, when in doubt. And

7:32

even if not in doubt, if you

7:32

have a question, ask it. Don't

7:36

assume don't just jump at the

7:36

conclusion and assume because

7:39

you saw something on Google or

7:39

someone some friend told you

7:43

something at some dinner party,

7:43

please don't do that. It could

7:46

potentially jeopardize certain

7:46

things in your financial

7:49

outlook.

7:51

Yeah, most

7:51

definitely. Especially like, if

7:54

you're, your business is pulling

7:54

in hundreds of 1000s of dollars

7:58

a month, you would definitely

7:58

need to call someone like you

8:00

can be like, Okay, what do I do?

8:00

Because I'm pulling handle a lot

8:02

of money. Who do I call? Exactly,

8:04

exactly. And that's the

8:04

power part of what we do is to

8:06

make sure that we understand

8:06

where the client's financial

8:11

team is, poke and pry and really

8:11

help the client understand what

8:14

are the questions that they

8:14

should even be asking, because

8:16

our job is not to say, hey, we

8:16

need to displace your team. Not

8:20

at all, we need to make sure

8:20

that if they are coming with an

8:23

open mindset, then we we bring

8:23

everybody and we all work

8:27

together. If they don't, then

8:27

the client needs to be in that

8:30

driver's seat to understand

8:30

that, hey, maybe they have

8:33

different options, but they have

8:33

also have to have the conviction

8:36

that, okay, we need to make

8:36

changes. And without that

8:39

conviction being there, it just

8:39

creates a lot of mess, as you

8:43

can probably imagine.

8:44

Yeah, yeah, it

8:44

does. So I'm just curious. You

8:49

mentioned earlier you like sit

8:49

down and ask questions to your

8:51

client, let's just say

8:51

hypothetically, I'm a new client

8:53

for you. What would be the

8:53

onboarding process?

8:57

So the onboarding

8:57

process for our clients is one

9:00

that is as everything we do very

9:00

customized to them. First and

9:04

foremost, we understand what is

9:04

it that the clients even trying

9:07

to achieve? We don't want to

9:07

take clients on that we are not

9:11

a good fit for and vice versa.

9:11

So once we get past that, the

9:16

one of the very first questions,

9:16

one of the very first sessions

9:18

that we're going to have is

9:18

going to be a session to say it,

9:21

where we're going to talk about,

9:21

okay, what is it that we're

9:24

trying to achieve? What is it

9:24

that they're trying to achieve,

9:27

specifically for the short term

9:27

for the long term for, you know,

9:31

an address any questions that

9:31

they might have? And then based

9:35

on that we, the approach that we

9:35

take is grounded into three

9:38

pillars of, of the type of work

9:38

that we do, and sometimes they

9:42

transcend. So to give you an

9:42

example, the very first pillar

9:46

we talked a little bit about

9:46

CPAs and taxes. What we're

9:49

finding is that a lot of high

9:49

net worth and high income. Think

9:52

of doctors think of executives

9:52

in corporate America, think of

9:55

successful business owners,

9:55

pilots, you name it, they end up

9:59

leaving a lot of money. Due to

9:59

taxes, or they perhaps pay more

10:03

in taxes than they should? Why?

10:03

Because they don't have the

10:06

right level of support from

10:06

their existing financial team.

10:10

So when we come in, we start

10:10

understanding what are some of

10:13

the strategies that historically

10:13

has, they've been able to take

10:18

advantage of or they've been

10:18

able to implement for

10:20

themselves? And then we ask the

10:20

question of okay, we try to

10:23

understand what does that

10:23

strategy look like from a tax

10:27

perspective, and what we find

10:27

when we're looking at Josh, is

10:31

that most individuals don't

10:31

actually have a tax strategy.

10:36

Funny enough, most of them, they

10:36

might think that they have a tax

10:40

strategy, but it's really just a

10:40

meeting to say, Okay, here's

10:43

what we think is gonna happen,

10:43

and we're going to file taxes.

10:45

Next thing, you know, taxes get

10:45

fired. And so we try to

10:50

understand from a tax

10:50

perspective once again, and then

10:53

the other thing that those are

10:53

the taxes primarily for the

10:56

current year, right for the

10:56

current filing year, then we

11:00

start asking the question of

11:00

okay, when we look at building

11:03

wealth, consequently, this is

11:03

also also our second pillar.

11:06

What are different ways in which

11:06

people invest? And I know I've

11:10

noticed on your show, you've

11:10

got, you know, a lot of

11:12

individuals that feel very

11:12

passionate about the specific

11:15

solutions that they individually

11:15

offer. So when we start

11:20

transcending all of those

11:20

different things, right, from

11:23

all of those individuals that

11:23

that someone can listen to

11:27

clients inherently will be

11:27

confused. Because then the

11:31

question is, okay, does that

11:31

strategy apply to me? Well, what

11:34

about the other strategy? What

11:34

about the other strategy, and

11:36

there is no way to truly

11:36

decipher. So what we do with our

11:39

clients, we want to give them

11:39

the empowerment so that they

11:43

understand what are the

11:43

different options, whether it be

11:47

Securities and Investment

11:47

investing in the market, whether

11:50

it be life insurance, cash,

11:50

accumulating life insurance

11:53

products, whether it be non

11:53

traditional investments, that

11:56

most financial even advisors

11:56

don't touch? One A good example

12:01

is real estate. What if people

12:01

want to invest in real estate

12:04

dude, have you heard a financial

12:04

person ever seen? Absolutely,

12:08

let me count the ways as to how

12:08

that could be beneficial. It

12:12

doesn't happen. Right? So what

12:12

we do is we understand what is

12:17

in what is in most alignment,

12:17

what are the different

12:20

strategies that are most aligned

12:20

to what the client is trying to

12:23

achieve. Because what that then

12:23

gives us is an opportunity

12:27

through the fact that the client

12:27

understands what their options

12:30

are. Now, they can actually help

12:30

guide and steer their ultimately

12:35

financial goals and their wealth

12:35

creation efforts. It's funny

12:39

yesterday at the conference, Mel

12:39

Abraham actually said he said,

12:44

one of the things you shouldn't

12:44

do is let somebody else drive

12:47

your financial car. So why is it

12:47

that so? I have passionate about

12:52

and let's say that it's it's the

12:52

we're dealing with the end of

12:57

the year, we're dealing with the

12:57

playoffs, and you have been

13:00

exceeding seat tickets. But you

13:00

know, you really would just

13:04

prefer for somebody else to, to

13:04

just do it for you to just enjoy

13:08

the experience for you. Would

13:08

you ever in a million years,

13:13

just give those tickets away to

13:13

somebody else? And just have the

13:16

expectation that somehow

13:16

vicariously you're going to live

13:19

through the experience? What had

13:19

ever happened?

13:24

Know? Exactly. So I use that analogy,

13:24

because people are like, Oh, my

13:28

God, I never thought about it

13:28

that way. So again, when that

13:31

pillar of understanding what are

13:31

the different options is

13:33

critical, because it ultimately,

13:33

individuals end up not just

13:39

saving a lot of money, but also

13:39

making more money because the

13:42

way that they grow their wealth

13:42

is in alignment to their goals.

13:45

It's in alignment, alignment to

13:45

who they are. And then last but

13:48

not least, we're gonna come back

13:48

around. And we asked the

13:52

question of as part of our third

13:52

pillar, what does what about the

13:56

exit strategy, whether it be an

13:56

individual that's looking at

13:59

retirement down the road, or it

13:59

be someone that is looking at

14:03

potentially divesting a business

14:03

owner looking at divesting

14:06

selling or possibly taking his

14:06

his or her company public? What

14:10

does that exit strategy look

14:10

like? And what are some of the

14:14

things that the considerations

14:14

that we need to think about and

14:17

take into consideration for

14:17

today, considering we're talking

14:20

about taxes? We're talking about

14:20

ways to manage capital invest,

14:25

build wealth, and are there any

14:25

discrepancies that we need to

14:28

make sure that we address and so

14:28

once we kind of go through just

14:32

an understanding of where folks

14:32

are, across those different

14:35

pillars, then what we know is

14:35

we're going to start looking at

14:39

a domino effect. It's near the

14:39

interior end. So a lot of

14:43

clients that have come on and

14:43

and we onboard them in the last

14:48

couple of months. The biggest

14:48

area of focus for them was

14:51

taxes. They said we need to

14:51

focus on taxes. So we focused on

14:55

taxes. And then because this is

14:55

very flexible, our approach or

14:58

methodology is very flat.

14:58

Trouble, then we're going to

15:01

catch everything up on the back

15:01

end, when it comes to really

15:06

after we roll into the new year.

15:06

So I hope that gave you a little

15:08

bit of, of an understanding of

15:08

not just the onboarding, but

15:11

also our overall approach and

15:11

the different the different

15:14

pillars that we we implement in

15:14

our conversations and in our

15:19

work with our clients.

15:21

That was very well.

15:21

So wow, that was very well put

15:26

in especially like the

15:26

complexities of the how to

15:29

implement the task to your

15:29

business. And a lot of I've

15:33

recently heard it with my

15:33

guests. But the exit strategy,

15:35

I'm still realizing that's a big

15:35

gap. Entrepreneurs keep missing

15:39

100% Not only do they

15:39

do they mess up on and they miss

15:44

out on when it actually comes

15:44

time to exit. But a lot of

15:48

companies and a lot of business

15:48

owners suffer losses, Frank Klee

15:53

because they're not able to

15:53

demand as much money for their

15:56

company, at the onset or at

15:56

during the sales process,

16:00

because they didn't know things

16:00

that they should have known

16:02

ahead of time, in terms of from

16:02

an operations, perspective,

16:05

optimization, etc. But the other

16:05

thing is also on the tax side, I

16:09

cannot tell you how many clients

16:09

have come to us, asking us about

16:13

transactions that they've done

16:13

in years past with companies to

16:16

say, hey, can we still, funnily

16:16

enough, go right back to cut

16:20

taxes? Can we still optimize our

16:20

our exit? From a tax standpoint?

16:27

Where was your team when you

16:27

exit it 710 years ago,

16:31

unfortunately, that costs

16:31

individuals, in many cases,

16:36

millions of dollars. And then

16:36

the other thing is, on the

16:39

personal note, especially when

16:39

we're dealing with business

16:42

owners, many of them put

16:42

everything that they have into

16:45

the company. And if we're

16:45

running into a situation where a

16:49

COVID happens, or some sort of

16:49

national international pandemic

16:53

takes place, and the world is in

16:53

chaos, now we've put all of our

16:57

eggs in the basket of the

16:57

business, not to say that we

17:00

shouldn't invest in the

17:00

business. That's absolutely a

17:03

given. But we have to also

17:03

figure out how do we pay

17:07

ourselves? How do we start

17:07

separating that those risk

17:11

compartments and the ways that

17:11

our business is structured, in

17:14

order to make sure that God

17:14

forbid, something happens, we

17:18

don't lose our minds over the

17:18

fact that our businesses are not

17:21

structured in a way that offer

17:21

us some protection that

17:25

ultimately will allow us to have

17:25

a peaceful life and be able to

17:28

sleep at night with as much

17:28

peace as we can. Because we know

17:32

that we're good. We've we've got

17:32

our ducks in a row.

17:36

Now 100% Yeah, that's the biggest one I've noticed. Well, I do martial arts

17:38

out in Upland, California. And

17:43

there was a entrepreneur

17:43

starting the restaurant like no

17:46

franchising. He did it all on

17:46

his own. And he got a loan and

17:50

everything. And he started it

17:50

early 2019. And then, while

17:56

COVID Hit it, he did not survive

17:56

at all. Right? Good. No, go

18:04

ahead. Go ahead. All right, and

18:04

He put all his eggs in the

18:07

basket. So he's like, I'm

18:07

ruined, because he's like, I

18:09

don't know what to do. Now.

18:11

On the contrary,

18:11

though, when we're working with

18:14

business business owners, when

18:14

we're looking at things

18:17

strategically, growing your

18:17

business always is always always

18:23

assumed and implies a lot of

18:23

risk take taking, right. But

18:26

that's exactly why your your

18:26

example is so critical. That's

18:30

it, it's a great example. And a

18:30

lot of our listeners may say,

18:33

Well, we're not going to see

18:33

another COVID. It may not be

18:37

COVID, and he might be something

18:37

else. But the beautiful and the

18:40

reality is even if there's

18:40

nothing else, the reality is

18:43

that having that peace, to know

18:43

that worse comes to worse, we

18:47

should always be prepared for

18:47

that, that are our assets and

18:52

our liabilities and are riskier

18:52

business endeavors are protected

18:58

and vice versa, our safe assets

18:58

are protected from those risky

19:02

endeavors is huge, because

19:02

ultimately for most of us, it's

19:05

not just us, it's our families.

19:05

It's it's our neighbors, it's

19:08

our lifestyle. It's so there's

19:08

so much at stake that just,

19:11

frankly, we shouldn't take it

19:11

for granted, and we shouldn't

19:14

play with it. And people

19:14

shouldn't play with that.

19:17

No, it's like

19:17

playing with fire. You get like

19:20

touch it every so often, and I

19:20

get hurt. But if you keep doing

19:22

it too long enough, you're gonna burn yourself.

19:24

Most likely.

19:24

Absolutely. Yeah.

19:28

That's awesome. Is there

19:28

anything in particular that I

19:31

might have missed? Getting up to

19:31

this point that you want to go

19:35

over? I'm not really I just, I'm here

19:36

to answer your questions that

19:40

you have, you know, your

19:40

audience much better than I do.

19:43

I've listened I've looked

19:43

through some of your podcasts

19:46

and it seems like you have a

19:46

good mix of, of information,

19:49

which is wonderful. But yeah,

19:49

you know some of the needs that

19:53

your audience has, so let's

19:53

let's address them.

19:57

I want to go over

19:57

specifically the You touched on

20:00

the both the tax part and the

20:00

exit strategy. How does the like

20:04

having certain vendors affect

20:04

you with the taxes and selling

20:08

your business?

20:09

When you say vendors,

20:09

what specifically? Are you

20:11

referring to?

20:13

I guess like

20:13

suppliers, contracts with

20:17

certain companies that will

20:17

produce your material kind of

20:20

thing like that.

20:21

I mean, at that point,

20:21

it's I think part of it is going

20:24

to be negotiations right,

20:24

negotiating those terms. And

20:26

I'm, I'm a huge proponent for

20:26

know who your vendors are, know

20:30

what the possibilities are. Ask

20:30

questions. A lot of people will

20:34

say no. And I know this doesn't

20:34

directly address your question.

20:38

But a lot of people will say,

20:38

No, I just know my vendor,

20:41

they're not going to, they're

20:41

not going to give me a price

20:44

break. They're already giving me

20:44

the best price break. And I'll

20:47

never forget years ago, I was

20:47

working with in collaboration

20:51

with someone that was doing real

20:51

estate investments in the

20:54

Atlanta area. And he had a

20:54

relationship with a company with

20:58

a vendor company that was

20:58

providing cabinets. And he came

21:02

to me and he said, exactly that,

21:02

right, we have the best price,

21:06

they gave us the lowest price.

21:06

And my job was to intervene for

21:10

one of our clients. So I went to

21:10

the supplier and I said, Hey, I

21:13

know that you guys have a

21:13

wonderful relationship, you guys

21:16

clearly have done an amazing

21:16

job. Just out of curiosity, what

21:20

would it take for my client to

21:20

actually be able to get perhaps

21:23

even just a little bit more in

21:23

terms of a discount, like a

21:25

10 15%? I know you guys are

21:25

already strapped for margins,

21:28

and all of that, is there any

21:28

way we could potentially make

21:31

that happen? And sure, long and

21:31

behold, we were able to give our

21:35

clients an additional to get

21:35

them at additional 10%. And

21:41

which was huge. That is that

21:41

right? Especially when you're

21:45

dealing with multiple houses,

21:45

multiple rental units, multiple

21:49

apartments, or men complexes,

21:49

it's huge, it really adds up.

21:54

And I'll never forget this, this

21:54

he was this particular gentleman

21:57

was actually a real estate

21:57

mentor in the area. And he said,

22:03

you know, most individuals that

22:03

I work with, if they ever get a

22:07

hold of my vendor list, they end

22:07

up messing up relationships, and

22:11

immediately looked at a mess,

22:11

what kind of people do you work

22:14

with? Right? You don't let me

22:14

you don't want to put people in

22:18

a situation where they're gonna

22:18

mess up the relationship. So

22:20

vendors, first and foremost,

22:20

know your terms, know the terms

22:24

of those agreements, be nice, be

22:24

nice, you won't be in a nice

22:28

individual, add value back to

22:28

them. And then you can always

22:32

revisit and ask questions on how

22:32

can you work better with them.

22:35

When it comes to taxes,

22:35

obviously, it's going to be the

22:39

cost of materials, or the cost

22:39

of whatever it is that you're

22:42

purchasing from that vendor,

22:42

then most likely is going to go

22:45

against your taxes. So working

22:45

with one vendor or another, may

22:49

not necessarily make a

22:49

difference, especially if it's

22:52

in the same industry. Now, if

22:52

you're looking at different

22:55

industries, and you're thinking

22:55

now, from the perspective of

22:58

hey, maybe I want to invest

22:58

money, and there's a question of

23:02

if I'm investing, we're

23:02

particularly we're talking about

23:04

individuals that are investing

23:04

hundreds and millions of

23:07

dollars, hundreds of 1000s of

23:07

dollars in millions. What would

23:11

that look like? Are there any

23:11

tax advantages? Now we can have

23:15

a different conversation, we

23:15

don't want to start out by just

23:17

saying, Hey, we just want to

23:17

maximize minimize our taxes,

23:20

although there are some

23:20

situations where people

23:22

genuinely are leaving

23:22

opportunities on the table. But

23:26

oftentimes there are

23:26

opportunities to actually grow a

23:30

portfolio and see huge tax

23:30

benefits on the back end. What

23:34

are those opportunities? There

23:34

are a ton of opportunities.

23:37

Unfortunately, some of those

23:37

strategies are not necessarily

23:41

being spoken about out there

23:41

because they are reserved for

23:44

some of the Uber wealthy. So credit investor and higher.

23:46

Exactly. So why

23:49

should Why is it It baffles me

23:49

every day that individuals are

23:54

putting themselves on this

23:54

little island or dollar island

23:58

where they'll say, Well, I'm not

23:58

an accredited investor. I'm not

24:01

I have not I don't have

24:01

experience, maybe I'm not

24:04

sitting on $3 million, or on a

24:04

million dollar million you just

24:08

whatever that some in their mind

24:08

is. And because of that don't

24:12

qualify when we tell clients is

24:12

if you already fit that high

24:17

income high, high higher net

24:17

worth individual look at where

24:20

you're at in terms of the rest

24:20

of the population. Are you in

24:23

the top 1% Up 5% Beautiful thing

24:23

is Hello, you have a ton of

24:29

opportunities at your disposal

24:29

opportunities that

24:31

unfortunately, the industry

24:31

isn't speaking about. So it's a

24:35

matter of again, finding the

24:35

right team, having the right

24:38

people in your quarter, having

24:38

the right quarterback team,

24:40

right to make sure that you not

24:40

only have access to those

24:44

opportunities, but somebody that

24:44

can help you decipher through

24:47

and figure out are they even the

24:47

right opportunities for you and

24:50

then be able to go from there.

24:52

Yeah, that's very

24:52

good point is especially as I've

24:55

like talked to different real

24:55

estate investors. I won I I was

25:00

trying to book an art dealer,

25:00

but he flaked out on me. But all

25:05

of them told me like when you

25:05

make that $200,000 a year for

25:08

like two years and consistently,

25:08

they're like, you're technically

25:10

an accredited investor. And I'm

25:10

like, But what about taxes? Like

25:14

if they take off the 40k? For

25:14

taxes, he's like, no, like, you

25:19

earn $2,000 $200,000. That's

25:19

what the IRS sees. So you're an

25:23

accredited investor, and it

25:23

might, Oh, wow. And that's where

25:27

I was asking him like, then what

25:27

can I do and he's like, really

25:31

just his imagination. At that

25:31

point, you want to invest in one

25:34

pot down the street, go for it,

25:34

and one invests in the farm up

25:38

in Northern California, go for

25:38

it, you want invest in my

25:41

apartment syndication, go for

25:41

it. I was like, Oh, that kind of

25:45

sucks that I have to kind of

25:45

exclude from the big boys club.

25:50

He mentioned up handling that

25:50

does a good job for you. He

25:54

said, If you form an LLC, or

25:54

like a holding company, and have

25:58

people invest in it, then he can

25:58

go out as an accredited

26:03

investor. Is that true?

26:05

I was just gonna say

26:05

there are different ways. And

26:07

again, this is where a lot of

26:07

people have very big

26:09

limitations, because they're,

26:09

again, they're putting

26:13

themselves sadly on an island.

26:13

And they don't do it

26:15

intentionally. What I found is

26:15

that, Josh, when they're looking

26:20

at themselves, and they look at

26:20

themselves in the mirror,

26:22

similar to what you said, right?

26:22

I'm not part of the big boys

26:25

club. Why would you say that?

26:25

Because if you were to think

26:29

about it, even with a syndicate,

26:29

for example, or other types of,

26:33

of creative deal structures and

26:33

different investments, there can

26:37

be partnerships that can be

26:37

formed. And it's not just you or

26:41

the individual, it can be done

26:41

together. Now, I do have to

26:44

caution people, especially

26:44

syndicates and other types of

26:49

kind of creative ways to bring

26:49

people together have popped up

26:53

like mushrooms the last several

26:53

years. And while the while the,

26:57

the industry was doing

26:57

wonderful, everybody was making

27:01

money. But one of the things

27:01

that I caution, and I urge my

27:06

clients to be very vigilant

27:06

about is to make sure that

27:08

whenever they choose to work

27:08

with someone, that that someone

27:12

or those companies that they

27:12

choose to work with, have

27:15

trajectory, have they gone

27:15

through 2008 2009? Have they

27:18

gone through some sort of a

27:18

major financial bubble? Because

27:22

the reality is there's not one

27:22

economist that I've heard to say

27:26

the next year, for example, is

27:26

going to be a bed of roses, or

27:28

maybe even the next two years.

27:28

So if we're dealing with

27:31

individuals who don't have the

27:31

right level of liquidity, who

27:35

don't have the right level of

27:35

experience, implementing and

27:39

managing some of those projects,

27:39

I've already heard of many, many

27:43

individuals that really just in

27:43

the last six year, sorry, six

27:46

months. They've lost all of the

27:46

investments that they've made,

27:50

and some of those some of those

27:50

deals. So it's not to say that

27:53

the deals are not right. But we

27:53

need to make sure that we have

27:56

once again, it goes right back

27:56

to the team. Who is that team?

28:00

Do we trust them? Ultimately, if

28:00

if the there is a likelihood

28:04

that you're going to lose all of

28:04

their money, don't just look at

28:06

the promise, you're potentially

28:06

going to lose all of their all

28:10

of your money? Are you okay with

28:10

that? And a lot of the time

28:13

people will say, Oh, yeah,

28:13

absolutely. I know, I'm taking a

28:16

calculated risk. Okay. Then

28:16

let's also think about, if let's

28:20

play devil's advocate, you get a

28:20

call and all the money's gone?

28:24

What will that do to your life?

28:24

What will that do to your mental

28:27

psyche? What will that do to

28:27

your family? Well, I don't know

28:30

that I could bear it. Well, if

28:30

you don't think you could bear

28:33

it. But at the onset, you said,

28:33

Absolutely, you know, because

28:36

you've taken calculated risks,

28:36

the answer is probably somewhere

28:40

in the middle. So we really need

28:40

to just make sure that when

28:43

we're working, and we do it all

28:43

the time when we're working with

28:46

clients, we approach it even

28:46

from just the the psychological

28:50

perspective of how like, what

28:50

are those impacts? What how

28:53

could they potentially impact

28:53

life in an in an alternative way

28:57

other than what we're hoping to,

28:57

or perhaps having desired?

29:03

Now, it's a very,

29:03

very valid point, because the

29:06

only thing I even winced about

29:06

the properties failing is I, one

29:11

of my buddies, he got his whole

29:11

retirement life savings,

29:15

everything dumped into a, his

29:15

best friend's project and he

29:19

just blew up. And, and he's

29:19

just, he's like, sitting there,

29:23

like, I'm gonna have to work

29:23

till I die now.

29:26

We've had clients

29:26

honestly, that we took on, I'll

29:30

never forget we have, we have a

29:30

couple of CPAs. Actually, that

29:33

came to us years ago. And it was

29:33

the same thing because of what

29:37

happened in 2008 2009. Some of

29:37

them some individuals have also

29:41

experienced the adversity of

29:41

going through through divorces

29:45

and family situations that

29:45

frankly robbed him of a ton of

29:49

their wealth, for one reason or

29:49

another. And they had that same

29:52

perspective. We're going to have

29:52

to work until really the last

29:55

days. So part of what we do

29:55

remember I was telling you about

29:58

that working things backwards is

29:58

We have to people shouldn't have

30:02

to live with that feeling. And

30:02

the reality is I tell people,

30:06

there's you shouldn't

30:06

procrastinate they shouldn't

30:09

procrastinate. Like in general,

30:09

it's better to start getting

30:12

your questions as there sooner

30:12

rather than later. So that you

30:17

don't get so close to retirement

30:17

are so close to the point where

30:19

you're starting to think about

30:19

how will those those income

30:23

streams that perhaps you've

30:23

you've geared up for? How are

30:26

they going to, to reward you,

30:26

when the time comes for you to

30:31

start taking and reaping those

30:31

benefits? The sooner we look at

30:35

those, and the sooner we look at

30:35

what else can we do to optimize,

30:38

the better off clients are, the

30:38

better off individuals are, but

30:41

sadly, number one, they risk it

30:41

all, they put all of their eggs

30:45

in one basket. And the other

30:45

thing that happens is oftentimes

30:49

people will not really think

30:49

about it, because it's still

30:53

five or 10 or 15 years, some

30:53

cases even 20 years away, I

30:56

mean, for somebody that's in

30:56

their 40s, very seldomly, that

31:00

is someone in their 40s really

31:00

thinking about, hey, oh, my

31:03

gosh, and 20 years, I'm gonna

31:03

retire, I just lost 30% of my

31:06

portfolio, but I think I'm

31:06

hoping it'll come back and I'll

31:09

be fine. It'll recuperate by

31:09

then. Well, if we're looking at

31:13

what history tells us, the money

31:13

that you've lost is the is the

31:17

money is the is the the worst

31:17

money for you to have lost. And

31:21

the money that we haven't lost

31:21

is the best money we've ever

31:24

made. Right. And so again, it

31:24

kind of goes to to the risk

31:27

profile, when we're talking

31:27

also, from a tax perspective, a

31:31

lot of high income individuals,

31:31

particularly those that are

31:34

executives, or that have, for

31:34

example, 401 k Ira kind of

31:39

accounts or pension type of

31:39

account with their companies.

31:43

Many times they don't know that

31:43

they can actually minimize their

31:47

taxes on the back end, by

31:47

contributing, for example, to

31:50

Roth accounts, because

31:50

historically in their mind, and

31:54

it's not like the the investment

31:54

company would have told them

31:58

this because they shouldn't

31:58

have. But in their mind, they

32:01

think that I'm making too much

32:01

money to qualify for that.

32:06

So I want to say

32:06

there is the the 160k a year, if

32:11

they are pulling in 200 Plus, I

32:11

think I will correct me from for

32:15

when they get tapped out if

32:15

they're making 200 a year.

32:18

It is if it's if

32:18

they're over $200,000 and change

32:22

per year, for a family filing

32:22

jointly married filing jointly,

32:27

they tap out if they were to

32:27

invest on the IRA site. But if

32:34

they have access to a 401 K,

32:34

they can contribute towards that

32:39

in a Roth account, especially

32:39

that Roth account was set up in

32:42

years past. Right. So a lot of

32:42

individuals, I mean, I can't

32:48

tell you how many, one of the

32:48

worst situations that I've seen

32:52

was with pilots, and make too

32:52

much money. So you haven't put

32:58

anything you have nothing in

32:58

what I call the text, never

33:00

bucket, because you had this

33:00

perception and you make too much

33:04

money. And then of course, we

33:04

validated with the CPA that they

33:07

could have been they should

33:07

have, but they did it. And then

33:11

they go through and they want to

33:11

do conversions and different

33:14

things like that. And it's

33:14

costing them a ton of money,

33:16

because now they make more money

33:16

than they did before. And a lot

33:20

of people also have this

33:20

misconception that you know

33:22

what, by the time I retire, I'm

33:22

going to actually be in a lower

33:25

tax bracket. But just being in a

33:25

lower tax bracket doesn't

33:29

necessarily mean that you're

33:29

going to pay less in taxes. And

33:34

for people that want to rewind

33:34

and listen to that, again, it's

33:38

a huge misconception, I'm going

33:38

to be paying I'm going to be in

33:41

a lower tax bracket. But again,

33:41

that does not equate to, they're

33:45

going to be paying less in

33:45

taxes. So then a big thing of

33:49

that strategy needs to be again,

33:49

looking backwards and forwards

33:52

is we want to minimize our tax

33:52

exposure today. But is that

33:56

going to potentially hurt us in

33:56

the future, especially if taxes

33:59

end up going higher, or as they

33:59

go continue to go higher? And so

34:04

it's very, very important for

34:04

people to realize that it's not

34:07

just about that today. And it's

34:07

not just about the tomorrow.

34:10

It's about how do we make sure

34:10

that whatever we do for today

34:14

does not counter intuitively

34:14

impact what it is that we're

34:17

trying to achieve for the future

34:17

and vice versa.

34:21

Oh, 100% Yeah. So

34:21

like for me, especially talking

34:24

to awesome people like you on

34:24

the show. I didn't realize like

34:28

I could have been optimizing

34:28

back in when I was 20. But to be

34:31

honest, when I was 20 I was just

34:31

partying and going to college

34:34

and drinking. I wasn't thinking

34:34

about saving for a Roth account.

34:38

Many people aren't

34:38

right. Most people aren't in and

34:41

I have. We don't really work

34:41

with a whole lot of clients in

34:44

their 20s. As a matter of fact,

34:44

I took one of the last clients

34:47

that I took that he's in his 20s

34:47

was because I had worked with

34:52

his parents and he just, it's a

34:52

mindset. He came to us and he

34:56

said I know you work with mom

34:56

and dad. You do You what you did

35:01

for them. And the peace of mind

35:01

that you gave them is so amazing

35:05

to see. I know, I'm young, I

35:05

know I don't make as much money

35:09

as most of your clients do. But

35:09

would you please take me on as a

35:12

client? So we sat down, we

35:12

analyzed, we kind of went

35:15

through, here's like, here's the

35:15

deal. It's a mindset. So we're

35:18

gonna go through this, but you

35:18

have to really challenge

35:21

yourself to elevate your your

35:21

game to take your game to the

35:25

next level as we work together,

35:25

because you have access to all

35:28

this amazing insight, all these

35:28

amazing insights. Are you ready

35:31

to do that? And he was he

35:31

surprised us he he hunkered

35:35

down, he got it done. And, and

35:35

he's one of our super success

35:40

stories when it comes to

35:40

individuals in their 20s. But to

35:43

your point, most people in their

35:43

20s, they just want to have fun.

35:46

They they finally had legal

35:46

legal age. And, you know, it's

35:50

all about the friends and the

35:50

booze. And then when they get

35:53

they get into their 30s. It's

35:53

like, oh my gosh, if I could

35:57

have if I could just go back.

36:01

Yeah, and that was

36:01

a big one for me. Just talking

36:05

to people, but the big thing

36:05

I've learned, especially like I

36:10

said, talking to us, and people

36:10

like you, it's never too late.

36:13

Now, you might not be able to

36:13

optimize as well, but you're

36:15

never too late for anything.

36:18

That is so true. That

36:18

is true. But again, it goes back

36:20

to people need to understand

36:20

that it's a it's a give and

36:24

take, were in their 20s, setting

36:24

aside 150 $200 a month, maybe a

36:31

little bit more would have

36:31

gotten them to a really kind of

36:34

good place in retirement, if

36:34

they stick with it. By the time

36:38

time during that their 30s, that

36:38

number is going to more than

36:42

double, in some cases triple.

36:42

And by the time they get into

36:44

their 40s, it's definitely going

36:44

to at least triple if not

36:48

quadruple. And so arguably a lot

36:48

of people will say yes, but I'm

36:51

going to be making more money.

36:51

What many folks don't really sit

36:55

down to think about is that as

36:55

we make more money. So during

37:01

our expenses, so do are the

37:01

games that we like to buy, so do

37:05

the toys that we like to buy the

37:05

the the vacations that we take.

37:09

And so I call that the the the

37:09

wealth pie or the income pie. As

37:16

that pie is kind of segmented,

37:16

right about 50% of the income

37:21

that comes in goes to life

37:21

expenses, etc. About 25% goes to

37:25

taxes, plus or minus, obviously,

37:25

these are very rough numbers.

37:30

And then the other stuff goes to

37:30

that for most people. And if

37:33

we're looking at the whole pie,

37:33

very few individuals actually

37:36

lived a sliver, a tiny little

37:36

sliver to where they paid

37:40

themselves. And so they will

37:40

say, well, as my income grows,

37:44

I'm gonna pay myself more, what

37:44

ends up happening is that that

37:48

sliver continues to stay low,

37:48

because that half of the pie

37:51

that's focused on life expenses

37:51

will continue to grow, taxes

37:55

grow commensurate even more,

37:55

obviously, there are income, and

37:59

that that the debt will continue

37:59

to accumulate, if not at the

38:02

same perhaps in many cases even

38:02

faster, right. So that tiny

38:06

little sliver of actually

38:06

setting money aside in a way

38:08

that's truly meaningful,

38:08

continues to be diminished and

38:12

be very small. And so one of the

38:12

things that because of the

38:16

strategy that we have is we

38:16

focus on how can we get more

38:19

savings coming from reducing our

38:19

tax exposure, based on what's

38:23

available on the tax code,

38:23

figuring out what that looks

38:27

like? And then what are the

38:27

areas in our personal stent that

38:31

we can not sacrifice, but

38:31

redeploy in a way that's

38:35

meaningful to us and will

38:35

actually continue to help us

38:38

truly build wealth.

38:40

Now, it's a very

38:40

good point. Yeah, that's,

38:44

especially for me, because I'm

38:44

always just thinking how you're

38:46

saying like the percentage of

38:46

the richest man in Babylon came

38:49

to mind where it's like you, you

38:49

pay yourself 10% That's like the

38:52

minimum. And it's so funny,

38:52

because people asked me to like,

38:55

what are two, five, we're

38:55

willing to read two books, what

38:57

are the two books we should read

38:57

him, like, Think and Grow Rich

39:00

and richest man in Babylon? You

39:00

can read those two, I'm like,

39:04

those two will give you the foundation, if you want to read more great. If not, that's

39:06

enough. You'll figure it out

39:08

from there.

39:10

As long as it as you

39:10

implement some of these items,

39:12

some of the ideas that are in

39:12

the books, both of them are

39:14

amazing books, for sure.

39:14

Definitely, highly recommend

39:18

myself, but you gotta get in

39:18

there and do some of this stuff.

39:22

And as you're implementing it,

39:22

right, as you're setting aside

39:24

that 10% 15%, whatever that

39:24

looks like, then the question

39:29

comes in, okay, where does that

39:29

money go? And that's exactly

39:32

that takes us back to some of

39:32

those pillars we were talking

39:34

about previously, because it

39:34

makes a world of difference. How

39:38

the money grows, peace of mind,

39:38

all of that so that we can,

39:42

people can focus on thinking

39:42

grow rich, and how to continue

39:45

to change their mindset. They

39:45

need to have the backing they

39:49

need to have the support because

39:49

they're seeing the money grow in

39:51

order for them to change the

39:51

mindset. It's going to be very

39:54

hard for people to do that. If

39:54

they put their money in next

39:57

thing you know, they've lost 50%

39:57

Now the money Sit goes

40:00

backwards, right? So books are

40:00

great, but we need to sometimes

40:04

I tell my clients and I tell

40:04

individuals, we need to be able

40:06

to read in between the lines.

40:06

And that's where your team of

40:10

experts should come in to say,

40:10

Oh, you read that book. That's

40:12

wonderful. What are let's figure

40:12

out what are the in between the

40:16

lines for you specifically,

40:16

because those in between the

40:18

lines are going to be very

40:18

different, very small nuances

40:21

that are applicable in different

40:21

ways, based on the individual

40:24

situation.

40:26

Yeah, yeah. It's,

40:26

it is the biggest one I, I

40:30

chuckled to myself. It's not

40:30

like actually haha, funny, but

40:33

it's like the we talk in general

40:33

sense. But there's no sense.

40:37

There's general events, but

40:37

there's no general direction for

40:43

one person you have, you have to

40:43

cater each path to the person,

40:46

my whatever you want to call it

40:46

is like there's a million ways

40:50

to the top of the mountain,

40:50

which one you're going to take

40:53

kind of thing 100% 100%?

40:55

Well, one of the, one

40:55

of the one of those paths that I

41:01

I oftentimes will tell people to

41:01

really think about is this idea

41:05

of taxes, right? There are so

41:05

many books out there that will

41:08

tell you just invest all of your

41:08

money in IRAs, and 401, Ks and

41:14

basically, in retirement type of

41:14

accounts, that are traditional

41:19

accounts, because it helps you

41:19

minimize your taxes and you're

41:21

going to your money is going to

41:21

grow so much faster. And almost

41:25

in every single one of those

41:25

books, there's going to be the

41:28

sliver of discussion, or the

41:28

innuendos that will tell you and

41:32

if you get to a point where you

41:32

want to basically then convert

41:35

somehow your retirement so that

41:35

you'll have a tax free

41:38

retirement, here's what you can

41:38

do to to go through these

41:41

backdoor conversions and things

41:41

like that? And if if those

41:45

people that are reading those

41:45

books that are just kind of just

41:49

absorbing it, because the book

41:49

says it, where to think about

41:52

it, Hey, was that book written

41:52

for me? Or was it written for

41:56

the individual that just is

41:56

extra bump, that extra mindset

41:59

shift so that they can start

41:59

saving money? Which one, which

42:03

of those categories Am I in?

42:03

Because if we don't work things

42:06

backwards, and those conversions

42:06

end up costing us more down the

42:10

road? Because we're in higher

42:10

tax brackets, or we end up

42:13

paying more taxes? Have we truly

42:13

gotten more out of that

42:18

equation? Or are we ending up in

42:18

a situation where it's costing

42:22

us? Oh, people go, Oh, my gosh,

42:22

I never thought about it that

42:26

way? Well, those books cannot

42:26

address every person situation

42:29

100% customized from the get go,

42:29

can it can they

42:34

know? And? No, it

42:34

can't. It's more like generally

42:38

speaking, you could do this kind

42:38

of thing without getting like a

42:42

like financial advisors, like we

42:42

can say, you can generally do

42:46

this, but like, if you know what

42:46

they're talking about, like that

42:49

is a terrible idea. Don't do

42:49

that?

42:52

Well, and oftentimes we

42:52

have to this is where

42:54

unfortunately, it comes from

42:54

individuals that are in the

42:58

financial services industry,

42:58

that are different sides. And

43:02

they will tell you that many of

43:02

them are tired because they

43:05

focus again on what they focus

43:05

on. So somebody will tell you,

43:09

that's a terrible idea. And

43:09

other person will tell you this

43:11

is a great idea. And when you're

43:11

looking at what is it that truly

43:15

they're representing their

43:15

companies, oftentimes we're

43:18

going to be representing those

43:18

ideas that they're a huge

43:21

proponent of. And it takes us

43:21

right back to the very first

43:25

part of our conversation. What

43:25

is the right in between? Is

43:29

there an in between? Or is there

43:29

a silver bullet for everyone?

43:33

And we know that silver bullets

43:33

really don't exist? So if they

43:37

don't exist, then what are the

43:37

things that we need to do to

43:40

establish that solid baseline

43:40

and then go from there?

43:44

Definitely sounds

43:44

like everyone needs to call you

43:46

on tech. Because I'm sitting

43:46

here just like, wow, this is so

43:50

much good stuff. I will say, I

43:50

looks like our time is about to

43:56

go up. I got three going out

43:56

questions for you. Sure. So

44:01

other than work, what have you

44:01

been doing to keep yourself busy

44:04

during these COVID times?

44:08

Oh, my goodness, that's

44:08

a great question. personal

44:11

improvement is one of the things

44:11

that I focus on a lot, just on

44:15

different different from

44:15

different aspects, whether it's

44:18

being part of masterminds with

44:18

individuals that even though we

44:22

were in a lockdown and COVID

44:22

situation, we were still able to

44:25

interact and, and just continue

44:25

that mindset. And what I will

44:29

tell you is that those

44:29

individuals that that we did

44:32

that with those that were

44:32

serious about their businesses,

44:36

they actually ended up seeing

44:36

huge advancement and

44:39

advancements in their business

44:39

versus regression. So there was

44:42

it was a great, not a great time

44:42

but a great time to see them to

44:46

see those. Spending time with

44:46

family was also huge. It was it

44:51

was very interesting at the very

44:51

very onset. My daughter came to

44:55

me she said Mom, this whole

44:55

lockdown situation is going to

44:59

either make make or break

44:59

families? And I thought I mean,

45:02

she was very young. And I said,

45:02

What do you mean? She said, I

45:06

can only imagine the families

45:06

that have a hard time handling

45:10

each other, right? They're

45:10

probably at each other's throats

45:13

being stuck in the house for

45:13

weeks and days and months on

45:17

end, versus the families that

45:17

want more time together, it

45:20

gives them an opportunity to

45:20

actually do that. So we got to

45:22

spend a lot of amazing time as

45:22

part of the family and just

45:27

really continuing on with, with

45:27

looking if not from a business

45:31

perspective. But what does life

45:31

truly mean? And how do we

45:35

approach life in general from a

45:35

stance where, again, we live

45:39

with no regrets. But we have

45:39

that peace because we know that

45:43

we're doing what we're supposed

45:43

to be doing, whether it's for

45:45

business or for job, or just in

45:45

our personal life.

45:50

Oh, 100% Yeah, I've

45:50

just from the stories I've heard

45:54

offhandedly from co workers, how

45:54

to COVID lockdowns during 2020

45:59

and 2021. Destroyed families,

45:59

because they were already kind

46:04

of like tolerating each other,

46:04

but they were gone for eight

46:07

hours out of the whole day. So

46:07

they could just like, do the

46:10

thing. The amount of divorces

46:10

I've heard, I'm like, wow,

46:14

that's painful.

46:16

It is very painful. And

46:16

those families, I see some of

46:20

them on the aftermath. And many

46:20

of them have left on bad terms.

46:26

Others have left on really good

46:26

terms. And I have all the

46:28

appreciation for the families

46:28

that even though they ended up

46:31

separating, and divorces ended

46:31

up being there, at least or

46:35

focused on their children, for

46:35

those that do have children to

46:38

say, Listen, I mean, just

46:38

because we're not no longer in

46:40

that relationship, we can still

46:40

be human beings and just just

46:44

add positivity to the world,

46:44

even though we're not. We're not

46:48

together anymore. Right? And I

46:48

just have, I have a lot of

46:51

friends who have been in that

46:51

situation, I have so much regard

46:54

for them.

46:55

That's awesome. So

46:55

second question, people inspired

46:59

by you want to take action want

46:59

to go down a similar path, what

47:02

are some tips, tricks or advice

47:02

you'd give them to start down a

47:06

similar path you are on right now.

47:10

They have to have the

47:10

right mentors. Number one,

47:13

mentors are very important. And

47:13

when I say they have to have the

47:15

right mentors is very good. I've

47:15

always been blessed to have

47:19

amazing mentors, both in my

47:19

corporate career days, as well

47:23

as when I became a business

47:23

owner. But I can also tell you

47:27

that I've had to fire mentors,

47:27

literally. And that leads me to

47:32

the second point, which is you

47:32

have to act from a place of

47:35

integrity. Don't think about the

47:35

money for me for many years. It

47:39

was not it was it was one of

47:39

those things where I want I just

47:42

wanted to help people. And I was

47:42

driven by by the joy and the

47:46

tears and the happiness and the

47:46

overcoming the sadness of people

47:51

had done the wrong thing in the

47:51

past. And they finally had a

47:54

better, more clear, more defined

47:54

path forward. It was those

47:59

amazing emotions and devalued

47:59

that I knew we were delivering

48:02

to clients that were driving me

48:02

and we're driving our team. But

48:05

there are so many individuals,

48:05

especially in financial

48:07

services, that it's all about

48:07

the bottom line. It's about the

48:10

numbers. It's about the metrics,

48:10

it's about the everything else

48:14

in external that puts pressure

48:14

on their ultimate success

48:18

factors and how it is that they

48:18

show up in the world. And my

48:21

guidance would be if you do

48:21

that, sooner or later is going

48:24

to catch up. So find good

48:24

mentors, act from a place of

48:28

integrity, figure out your own

48:28

way of adding value without

48:32

adding cost to the clients

48:32

bottom line. And if you can do

48:36

that, then you're going to be

48:36

genuine and the clients will

48:40

will see that that genuine side

48:40

of you and they will trust.

48:45

That was really

48:45

good. I have to say, the way you

48:47

summarize that and just put a

48:47

bow on it. Wow. Probably one of

48:51

the best ones I've gotten yet.

48:53

Thank you.

48:55

You're welcome. So

48:55

third question, final question,

48:58

the third. Where can everyone

48:58

contact you as

49:03

well, I think you're

49:03

probably going to be including

49:06

some of those links in the

49:06

summary notes. But for

49:10

individuals that would like to

49:10

learn more, they can certainly

49:14

go to our website, www dot

49:14

empowered financial planner.com.

49:19

And for those that would like to

49:19

understand more about what we

49:21

do, and just overall my

49:21

philosophy and and the things

49:24

that we've seen our big blind

49:24

spots and pitfalls and

49:28

individuals approaches to

49:28

building wealth, they can do so

49:31

by going to www dot empowered

49:31

financial planner.com forward

49:36

slash pitfalls. It's a quick

49:36

read, that folks can go through,

49:40

it'll give them some idea of

49:40

what maybe is playing against

49:45

what it is that they're trying

49:45

to achieve and the approach that

49:48

they're taking, and maybe some

49:48

of the things that they can look

49:51

at doing things differently. And

49:51

then of course, on social media,

49:55

either under the company name or

49:55

under yuneisia Paret

49:59

you Wonderful it's been an

49:59

absolute honor and a pleasure to

50:02

have you on likewise Josh it was so much fun

50:03

being here with you today thank

50:07

you