Never Too Late To Build Wealth

A pink slip at 63 could have been the end of the story. For David Nassief, it became the start of a comeback: from stalled interviews and age bias to a commission-only sales role, a flood of rejection, and then a breakthrough that paid more than his old salary. The real turning point wasn’t a hot stock or a risky bet. It was a one-page wealth compass—nine steps on one side, timeless principles on the other—that he reviewed for two minutes a week. With that simple system, he saved more, paid less in fees, and invested in broad, low-cost index funds that owned nearly every public company on the planet. Six years later, he crossed into seven figures.

We unpack the nuts and bolts of that plan: why global index funds beat most active strategies over time, how to turn market dips into a buying opportunity, and the compounding magic that let his portfolio double three times without chasing crypto or timing the market. David breaks down fee drag with a vivid “termite costs” example, showing how a 1% advisory fee plus fund expenses can eat millions over a career. He also shares his Three Cs of conflicts—interest, information gaps, and responsibility—so you can spot biased advice, bridge knowledge gaps, and take ownership of your financial decisions.

If you’re in your 50s or 60s and feel like you started late, you’ll hear a practical path forward: raise your saving rate, simplify your investments, automate contributions, and let volatility work for you. If you’re earlier in your career or a parent teaching money basics, you’ll get clear, simple rules that compound into confidence. No hype. No guessing. Just a calm, weekly check-in that keeps you on course and immune to shiny distractions.

Grab David’s free One-Page Wealth Compass at onepagewealthcompass.com, then come back and tell us what step you’ll tackle first. If this conversation helped you rethink money, share with a friend, and leave a quick review to help others find the show.

More on David Nassief at the following links.

Free PDF: www.onepagewealthcompass.com
Book: https://www.amazon.com/One-Page-Wealth-Compass-Nearly-Millionaire-ebook/dp/B0G5JPX17R

Thank you for listening!

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Transcript

Welcome And David’s Turning Point

SPEAKER_00 0:00

Good day, everyone. This is Nicole Ellis McGregor, the founder of the Overcomer's Approach podcast, where I meet with different people from different walks of life, different experiences, and different journeys. But the overarching theme is that no matter what we face in life, we almost have the ability to overcome everything. And that's why I'm so glad to have my guest here, David Nassiv, who is a real life turnaround experience. He had it started out pretty rocky, and he was fired at 63 from an 18-year corporation position with virtually no retirement savings, no job prospects, and the chilling realization that his career was effectively over. Out of desperation, he charted a completely new direction in both his career and personal finances. His unique and simple one-page wealth compass guided him to a seven-figure financial freedom and under six years. Now, in his book, One Page Wealth Compass, he shares his exact compass along with hope and practical steps he wished he had known decades earlier. He is here to show us how it's never too late to navigate safely to financial freedom. David, all I could say is, wow, I am so happy to have you here. I'm so interested in getting to this discussion of how you were able to turn it around after being fired at 63 years old with almost no retirement savings, and you reached financial freedom, and you are giving us a roadmap and a blueprint of that. Tell me how did it start? Yes. Thank you.

Fired At 63 And Hitting Bottom

SPEAKER_01 1:37

Well, first of all, I'm thrilled to be here with you, Nicole. I'm excited about your program and your whole topic of overcoming because it's such a it's a it's part of life. You know, we all have obstacles and some bigger than others, but uh we all have them. But just to give you a background on what happened is um, as you said, I was 63 and just got fired after 18 years with the same company. I tell you, I would not wish that day in anybody. When I did the math, I figured if we drained all of our savings and all of our retirement, we would be broke by 65. You know how most people at 65, it's okay, it's time to rest and enjoy life. No, we would be in the opposite. We'd be like, what's gonna happen now? Well, but the but the hardest part of it with Nicole was driving home thinking, how am I gonna tell my wife Mary? We've been married for 30 years, and she did not deserve the mess I just threw our life into. So, anyways, after several months of dead-end job search, that my heart wasn't in it. I just did not want to go back to the corporate world, but I figured I had no other choice. But I was getting nowhere and nothing. I mean, people I'm interview people, and it's like I I know they are thinking, listen, we could hire somebody half your age for a third of the money you're making. Why would we hire you? You know, or they say questions like, Now, how can someone like yourself bring ingenuity to our organization? It's like, how can somebody your your age come up with anything ingenious? So, anyways, they were nice and polite about it, but I just so, anyways, after that, I just said, you know, I need to do something different. And so I took a huge risk. And I went to work as an independent sales agent on straight commission, no salary, no safety net. And I tell you, Nicole, the first months were brutal. Cold calls, constant rejection, rookie mistakes. I mean, I was getting no, no, no, no. It's just a barrage of them. But looking back on that, I realized that all that rejection was helping me build the resistance I needed to have the mental muscles to push through this thing. After 10 months of grinding, I hit an incredible milestone. I was suddenly making more money than my good paying corporate salary. And for a second, for just a brief moment, I thought, we made it. But then I realized, wait a minute, we didn't make nothing. I said, We're making good money, but we're still not investing, we're still not saving. And that's what I did for 40 years, and look where it got me. I said, I gotta do something different. And so I couldn't waste time with a bunch of investment theories and all this kind of so I dug deep. I read 21 books, listened to 13 financial podcasts consistently, read blogs and articles, and finally I distilled it all down into one piece of paper. I said, I gotta simplify this for me because I don't have time to be an investment expert because I got to run my you know agency. And so I got down and I had a set it and forget it approach. Six years later, at 69, we achieved what I thought was impossible from absolutely terrified of being broke to a seven-figure portfolio and real financial freedom. Nicole, I now know it is never too late to rewrite your story because if I can pull that off at 63, anybody can with the right direction. And I truly believe that I know it's true.

SPEAKER_00 4:41

Yes, that is so empowering. I think too, like you, I think what really hits me at first that you had to push through. You had to push through the discomfort, you have to you had to push through the painful part of like this isn't looking like this is not feeling good. Um you stayed the course, and then what motivated you to really hone in, focus in on the 20, you know, 21 books and you know, financial literacy, like that's you just focused on that. That was like your mission. What what was the motivating? I mean, I'm sure we know what the motivating factor is, but give me more clarity and like how did you zero internet? How did you bring yourself to that much discipline? Yeah.

Reinventing As A Commission Sales Agent

SPEAKER_01 5:22

Well, well, it's actually out of desperation so much because I knew my runway was short. I mean, I was 63, not 33 or 23. And so I had made a lot of mistakes for 40 years, and I just didn't have the luxury anymore. I just did not have the luxury anymore, and I couldn't trust just there's so much advice out there that's just so conflicting, and so you know, they have ulterior motives to make their commissions and all that kind of thing, and they're giving you this. And I just I couldn't play that game anymore. I did not have time. So I heard a story. Let me I'll just share with you real briefly. I heard a story that inspired the whole thing. And um scientists at the Max Planck Institute did an experiment. They placed people in the center of a dense German forest and told them to walk in a straight line to the edge. Now, these were confident and capable people, but when the clouds covered the sun, the GPS tracking showed they were starting to gradually walk in circular motion. Some of them were ending up right back where they began, and yet every one of them was absolutely convinced they were walking in a perfectly straight line. Nicole, that is me for 40 years. I was working hard, doing what I thought was the right thing, and ultimately just ending up back in the same place where I was. And that was just, I couldn't do that anymore. I says, David, I'm not gonna get a physical compass, we know, but but I can get a one-page compass where all my good ideas that I get from these books and these studies and all kinds of I can put them on one piece because you know, you get good ideas, then you forget about them. I says, I can't do that now. I gotta keep it on one piece. And for every week, for two minutes, I just do a quick review of that one page, and it just kept me focused on boring, unsexy, proven principles that work, and that made a huge difference.

SPEAKER_00 7:07

Yes, I love it. Tell me more about the one-page wealth compass and how that changed everything. I know you said you narrowed it, narrowed it down. Yeah. But tell me how how did that process happen and how did you were able to articulate that?

SPEAKER_01 7:19

Yeah. Well, well, because a lot of these people who, these gurus and these advisors, they got these steps talking thing. And I was, I did the math on a lot of them, and and they were just not quite right and they were costing a lot of money. So what I did in my research is I questioned everything. I didn't take anyone's and I did the math, which is really important part of it. And I came up with, I'll just show it to you really because it's not the serious thing. It's a one one side has the nine steps, okay, for financial freedom. So you can know how do I do the other side has guiding principles because you know how sometimes you get something on left field or some shiny object and you go, Oh, that's really good. And it's not really part of the steps, you're not what you're doing. Well, you go to your guiding principles and go, wait a minute, that really violates this really important rule. And so it just keeps you focused. And let's just say, Nicole, you're on like the get out of the debt step right here, and you go, I need more information than just this piece right here. Then it tells you, go to chapter four, and then you say, Oh, okay, and then you find out, oh, this is how I get out of debt, and there's different ways to do it, whatever fits my personality, my situation better. And so this is like the 30,000-foot view in the book, and the book is like the map that tells you turn right, turn left. You know, and so and so together they make a powerful, and I've never seen it done this way before, but sometimes you just need that 30,000-foot view to to to review on a for a couple minutes a week, and then when you get off course or you have a problem, then you go to the map and say, Okay, let's look at this issue. Does that make sense what I'm saying?

Studying Finance And Building The Compass

SPEAKER_00 8:44

It makes complete sense. I, you know, and I think what I hear you say, because I think just going back to the financial gurus, like there's a lot out there, and you just and it's so much information, it could be overwhelming. And I think you know, there are some that I do listen to, and and I and I'm one of those people I need practical, I and I need I I need to keep it simple for me, make it practical, and then I can master what I need to do. I love the fact that you have guiding principles because I think that's something that has to be at the forefront as you know, as you work through the financial literacy part and empowerment and and you know exactly what you want to do, especially when when time is limited. Like you said, you know, we not 30, you know, it's the double the age, and like what does it look like in the end part? And then you have a a wife, you know, and I think when we have what spouses and families or whatever your family dynamic is, you're also thinking about how can you create legacy for your for your family or for your spouse or whatever that is. So I think you know, our motivations and our values fall so much in line in you know how we can get out of debt and move forward in life. Tell me a little bit more how you doubled your portfolio three times in six years. Like, what did that look like?

SPEAKER_01 9:53

Well, that first of all, let me say this, okay? Okay, I was not day trading, chasing crypto, or trying to hunt the market, I was actually doing the opposite of that. I was doing something so boring it would put you to sleep. I found a simple investment approach. And the crazy thing, Nicole, is when the market was down, I was thrilled. When other people are panicking and selling, I was buying more shares of discount prices. My only regret was the market wasn't down more during that six-year period because I would have much rather been buying it cheap. But what but here's what really surprised me was the math. Okay. And that is this there's a thing called the rule of 72. And what it says is if you're making, say, a 10% return on your money, then in 7.2 years, your money will double. Well, once I started my compass and started following it, my first double occurred in by the way, 7.2 years is about 86 months. My first double occurred in 30 months, my second double only 13, and my third one 29 for an average of 24 months, which is way less than half the expected time. But the secret wasn't just the returns, Nicole, because my returns were good, but they weren't like you know wild, wild. These are I'm in fairly conservative investments. My first thing I was doing was I was saving a good percent of my income consistently every month. That's the foundation. Secondly, I was putting it in the right kind of investments, which is low-cost index funds, not these expensive funds that cause all these fees and all that kind of thing. And the third thing is I was using market volatility to work for me instead of against me. I didn't I got out of the trap of buying high and selling low, which so many people end up doing, okay? And I ended that cycle. So many people do the opposite. When they're panicked, like I am in the short time, they either get in high-risk stuff and it ends up bad, or they're so conservative that they're actually getting behind every year because they can't even keep up with inflation. Yeah, I found an approach with my compass to build wealth twice as fast, but this is the important part, with half the risk, with half the risk. And if you want, I could tell you a little bit about the kind of investment so people kind of understand this is not risky stuff. That's the opposite. I only have two investments. That's all I have. They're they're what I call index funds. Okay. And one of them, I own every stock that's publicly traded in the United States, a little tiny slice of every stock. Okay. And then and so and so I get to really when the market's good, it's it's it's just it's a solid thing. It's very different to fight. The other is what I own is every stock outside the United States that's not part of the United States. So when you look at both of my only two things, I own literally every stock on the planet. So for me to go out of go bankrupt or go go broke, the whole planet would have to collapse the financial markets. And that's probably not gonna happen in my lifetime. And if it did, I I think we'd be worried more about that money than it's just on that point of life. Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 12:46

You know, no, that that is so good. I I love your analogy. I think you said when when when the market gets a little volatile, people get a little nervous, they you know, they they they get you know, they they get very, very concerned. But you seen it as a definite opportunity.

SPEAKER_02 12:59

Oh, yeah.

SPEAKER_00 13:00

Yeah, and um, and and you know, and you were okay with that, and you kind of let that work for you. Um, or you did let it work, it wasn't even kind of no, I didn't you don't, you know, and I think you said index funds, or you said you okay.

The One-Page Wealth Compass Explained

SPEAKER_01 13:14

Yeah, index funds. And can I can I tell about the the whole thing about the market? Just picture yourself somebody going into a department store and they have this big sale 50 off. They go, Oh, I don't want to pay 50 off. Well, somebody wants going back to full retail. That's why I want to buy the thing. No one would do that, that'd be crazy. But they do that with the stock market all the time when it comes to investments. Like, as our brains shift in the and the backwards or thinking is backwards. Well, what when we're out buying products, we have normal brains, but when we get investments, our brains just get weird on us. And I don't get why I was that way too for 40 years, so I can't, you know, fight fingers.

SPEAKER_00 13:47

Yeah, no, I completely understand. I think, and I think that's part of some somewhat it's kind of like human nature, you know. I think you're looking for safety and you're a little concerned, not really trusting your intuition and instinct, which I think you that's I think I feel like that's a part of that too. And I think, you know, and then when it's kind of has a domino effect, like you said, that study where people were they thought they were walking, you know, but they were really walking in a circle. And I think it's so contagious that people just kind of start doing it when it's really not working for them and it's not ideal. So I love the fact, I love the fact that you brought that study up because I I do do there's some truth to that. And then I love the fact that you said you only it's only like two investments. I think some people get really just caught up into like you know, so many other things and make thinking that it's really bigger. I think you really got focused and honed in and on what worked for you. Yeah, um, and and that just brings clarity and like inspiration uh for for me, because I think sometimes people get really overwhelmed with just all the options that are out there, like you said, and all the information. Um, and then if you just really focus and hone in, and like you said, and don't um when all the hype starts, you know, just kind of you know, whatever you have to do. And I love the fact that you have like the guiding principles to kind of help people support them as they walk through this. What do you think the biggest mistake people make when they're making this decision? Yeah, what do you think?

SPEAKER_01 15:10

What do you think this one is dangerous? It's dangerous. They are paying tiny termite-sized fees that are quietly inflicting termite-like destruction on their portfolio. So let me explain what I mean. Okay. You got two people, A and B, both just got out of college or whatever, they're 25, they're starting their career, whatever they did, and they they're gonna work for 40 years, like most people, and they decide to put um$1,000 a month in their investments in their, you know, for retirement, whatever. And person A invests in a low-cost index fund at a 0.03% expense ratio. Person B goes to an advisor who charges a full 1%, which is standard, and they put him in an active fund with a 5.75 upfront load and a 0.66 ongoing management fee, which is not uncommon. Right now, we go 40 years, and all of a sudden, at the end of the 40 years, we look at based on historical returns. Person A has a portfolio of$8.5 million. Person B has a portfolio of$4.2 million. Same contributions every month, same market conditions. The only difference is the fees. And the fees created a$4.3 million difference. That's not high risk investing, that's not bad timing, that's not crazy. That is simply fees quietly eating away month after month, year after year. And here's the assumption we assume they never got a raise. Yeah, we factored in normal raises, that 4.3 difference would have even been bigger. But here's the tragedy of the whole thing, Nicole. Person B probably feels like, oh, I got great service. My advisor, I just he's such a good guy, and we went golfing one time, and he's just a really decent person. Little did he realize he did the equivalent of funding someone else's retirement with half of his own retirement. And I am not saying I'm against advisors, but what I'm against is products that enrich Wall Street at the expense of their clients' portfolio. And I'm embarrassed to admit to you something, Nicole. I'm gonna say it publicly on your thing. For 40 years, I never questioned fees. I thought those are the rules of the game. That's way up. I later, I later understood the rules we don't question can cost us the most. In that person B's situation, it cost them 4.3 million dollars. That is not small change, even though it seems like a 1% what's what or whatever that is.

Doubling The Portfolio Three Times

SPEAKER_00 17:42

But it adds up, and it when you what I love the fact that you made I I love when people make like these analogies with real life and versus what you're well, it's all real life, but when you said the termites, because termites can cause damage to your home. I mean, like little tiny, tiny, tiny things could cause major destruction. And I think you you know, you stated with the fees, like we don't question it, like we don't question it at all. It's just how it's supposed to go. Why you're investing in someone else's portfolio, their legacy, their future, and you're getting hurt in the end. How do people do you feel like so they could be kind of more, you know, and I know you have it in your book as well. How do you how do you think people can shoot should they question those fees? When when should they question those fees? Or they should do should they really read the information or what what what what is your suggestion so people navigate around that?

SPEAKER_01 18:35

Yeah, I'll be honest. I would I wish I could say, Nicole, I'm the kind of person that reads all the fine praise and write down the details that I kind of have a degree in a law or whatever, but that that's not true. Okay. What I believe in is keeping it simple. I mean real simple. And and in the 21 books I read and all the podcasts and things, I understood that the world, the the Wall Street group, wants you to think actively managed funds which have higher fees, they are the best because you've got wise investors making decisions for you and all that kind of thing. But all the data, all the research, all the unbiased historical facts show that index funds are the absolutely best long-term investments. Sure, it's kind of like you know, some people say, Oh, why index funds? You're just getting the market return. I want to do better than average market return. That sounds so nice when in a little saying, but in real life, it's like the tortoise in the hair. Yes, I agree. Active funds, some years are gonna really look like superstars, you're gonna feel like a fool. But over a 10-year, 20-year, 30-year period, oh my gosh, the the consistent um tortoise beats beats them 98% of the time, 99% of the time. And unless, unless your active manager is a vampire, yes, when he dies or retires, you don't know what the next guy's gonna do. He may have the terrible attack record compared to the hit guy. So that's why I say I don't have to worry about the small print, I don't have to worry about is my active, is my manager really a good guy? Did he just retire? I have what it's just we just buy the market and it's simple.

SPEAKER_00 20:15

Yeah, and I love that because it's like it's consistency, is everything, and then the framework stays consistent. So, like you said, whoever leaves, whoever comes, whoever goes, you're just consistent in what and in what you're focused on and doing because we don't know if the next person is gonna be it could be different. What's their motivating factors? We don't we have no idea, and so I think our primary goal is to save ourselves, you know, right and be thinking of that as the priority. Um, and so I love the fact that you that you said that, you know, like the consistency and like and just to really trust in that. I I I love the fact that you stated that because I think, like you said, keeping it simple, keeping it simple. Yes, there's something to be said for that. What would you say for people in their 50s and 60s that feel like it's too late? You know, it's too late. They they've kind of probably, and I, and I, you know, I'm you know, I'm in that 50s age range. And I some of my kid, Nicole. I wish I was back to my 50s. I'm 72 now. So don't say where you're at too. So I want to be able to tell the story as well pay it forward. But some of my colleagues are starting to, they're in corporate America, their jobs are being eliminated, you know, things are getting kind of rocky, a little scary, and they have all this wealth of knowledge and experience. People are coming in and they're streamlining, you know. We have AI, we have a lot of competing factors, and I don't want people to get fearful on that because I see volatility as an opportunity, no matter what circumstance. I love the fact that you said that. Um, what would you say to those people? You know, what yeah, what, yeah.

Why Index Funds And Global Diversification

SPEAKER_01 21:53

Well, first of all, saying it's too late is a lie. I'm living proof of that. Okay, so that's let's take that out of the picture right now. But and I'm not Saying people should do what I did and start their own business. I am not saying there's a lot of good corporate jobs and people love the corporate. I'm not against the corporate environment. No, I'm I'm it wasn't for me personally, but starting your own business may not be for other people. I'm just saying I don't care if you have your own business or you work for a corporation or something in between. I'm just saying get your own foundation solid. Wherever you're generating income from, get it solid. Don't don't assume someone's gonna take care of you at 65 when it's time to retire. Because I will tell you, there is nobody there to take care of you. There is nobody there to take care of you. That is so true. And if you think the government's gonna take care of you, I I don't care what party you're and I'm not political at all. It's not gonna do it. Okay, it's not and I'm not saying that's bad for anybody. I'm just saying you need to take charge, you need to be responsible. And when I when I realized that I got focused, and that one page compass helped me stay focused, like I said, on boring, unsexy, proven principles that work. And I didn't have to worry about the new shiny object that was people were trying to convince me of. And here's the result, Nicole, and this is uh still amazes me to this day. My portfolio increases were getting so it's exponential growth after you know, because the compounding builds on the compound and it keeps getting bigger. Now, now, most of my years, I am my portfolio growth is greater than my gross, not my net, my gross annual income. And when that happens, it stops feeling like catching up and starts feeling a lot more like real financial freedom. And that you can do that whether you work for a corporation or whether you work for yourself or whether you're some other combination of the thing.

SPEAKER_00 23:44

Yes. Uh I love the fact that you said that the foundation is everything. And like you said, no matter if you're in corporate America, there are good corporate jobs out there still. There is, there is, and there are entrepreneurs, and sometimes that is not for everybody, but I I know some entrepreneurs they they could not in their mind, in for their own values and their own self-worth, they they could not do it and they jumped and made the leap and they're doing it. Um, so I love the fact that you brought that up because that that's a real truth. What do you think? And I also meet people who um who who strategically do well with finances and they're not, you know, they're blue-collar workers. I mean, there's some teachers, and I don't even know if that's blue collar, but you know, if there's teachers, police officers, you know, there's people that I know construction workers, and then there's people who are high profile, like athletes, you know, or influencers, and they're broke. But yeah, and I'm and so what we see is not necessarily wealth, you know, it's sometimes things are that are very loud, we just don't know. But you know, behind closed doors, it's another story. Why do you think some of those people, you know, in those jobs that just uh are are becoming millionaires? What are they doing different? What what what what what what do you think that is?

SPEAKER_01 24:58

Well, let me address that, but let me also say there's a lie out there that says that I'm not making enough money, I'll never get rich. You know, I don't I don't make as much as the pro athletes, or I don't make as much as the movie stars, or I don't make as much as the doctors, and I'm just making a normal income, maybe even a below average income. So I I might as well give up now because there's that is a total lie. Let me give you some stats that show what I'm talking about. The NBA, the National Basketball Association, the average player, average, makes over$10 million a year. I didn't say$10 million in their life, Nicole. I said in a single year they make over$10 million. But after five years of retirement, 60% of them are broke, according to the Netflix documentary broke. And the NFL is even worse. The NFL, after only two years of retirement, 78% are either bankrupt or in serious financial stress. That's according to Sports Illustrated. Now compare that to Dale Schroeder, a basketball-loving carpenter who earned a modest income his entire life, yet he chose to live on less than he earned and invest the difference. He ended up with a$3 million portfolio. That is more than most NBA and NFL players at the when the when they're getting when they're ready to retire or whatever. That's right. He made a modest income. Here's what I discovered in my search and my development of the One Page World Compass. Okay, making money is different from building wealth.

SPEAKER_02 26:32

Yes.

SPEAKER_01 26:33

The athletes, the movie stars, the doctors, they know how to make money very well, but they didn't know how to build wealth in this in that example. I'm just giving you. But yet, Dale Schroeder, who made great wealth, wasn't that great at making money, you know? If you have to pick one of the two, I pick building wealth, to be honest with you. Because the making money just slips through your fingers so quickly if you don't have a system, if you don't have an approach that works. Yes, yes.

Buying The Dip And Beating Fear

SPEAKER_00 26:59

Like you said, if you don't have a system, if you don't have an approach that works, it could all just slip through your hands and be gone. Um, for those people who have lost it all, and for those that are building wealth, what do you think some of those key critical elements or that made the difference between those that made 10 million a year and they have lost it all, and those that are building wealth? What do you think was like their primary focus or some key decisions that you think they made?

The Hidden Cost Of Fees

SPEAKER_01 27:28

Well, one is I think they they made the smart investment first, and that's the smartest investment you can make is in knowledge. Yeah. Um, and and that's I think Benjamin Franklin said that the wisest investment you can make is in knowledge. And I believe that that's where before I started investing, I read the 21 books, I read you know 13 listeners because I says, I can't just because you want to, just because you're sincere, just because you're a good person, I'm sorry, that's all good. I'm happy for you there. But that doesn't have anything to do with you making building wealth. That really doesn't. You have to have the knowledge. And the let me give you an obstacle that a lot of the athletes and and doctors and other people have the problem. And it's what I call the three C's of conflicts. Okay. Out there, there is so much conflicting information. The first C is what I call conflict of interest. Obviously, that's when somebody's paycheck greatly influences the advice they give you. For example, a realtor wants to close the deal, so he creates fear of missing out, gets a$15,000 commission check, even if it though it may not be the right house for the person, or the student loan advisor is getting paid to give out student loans, gets you an amount in a debt, and takes you decades. There are literally decades to pay it off. Okay. I'm not saying these are bad people, but I'm just saying you can't just trust because that they don't have a conflict of interest and just go along with what they're saying. You have to question it and do a little bit of a little bit of research. The second, the second C is conflict of information gap. Let me give you a non-financial example of that, Nicole. When I was 55, I went to the doctors and I got a blood test. And he says, David, you have high cholesterol. 235, you could get a stroke. We need to get you on statins right away. And I said, Okay, but let me first go and do a little research. He goes, No, no. And he told me a story about his father, how he died of high cholesterol or whatever stroke. And if he only had statins back then, he would have been, and he was almost in tears in the office. And I said, Well, I that's very touching, and I respect that, but I didn't need to know my own research. And he was not happy. I went home, did the research, found out that lifestyle, how you eat, how you exercise, all has a big impact. I did a 180-degree turn on how I ate, how I worked out. 90 days later, I went back, got a new blood test. My cholesterol went from 235 to 175. Anything under 200 is good. Okay. I was so excited to tell the doctor my fine. And when I went to his office after I got the results, he didn't want to hear it. He says it was stupid. He says, You're just on some kind of fad thing, and you should stand and said the only way to do it. And I said, but it worked. He goes, I don't want to hear it. He said it was a fad. I am now 72. You know what my cholesterol is now? 165. It's even less. So what a fad that was. Okay. I'm saying that the doctor, I'm not saying he was a crook or unethical. I'm just saying he had an information gap. What he was taught in medical school, which is a knife or drugs, are the only solution. There's more information out there today, and we don't have to just do that. And that's a conflict of information gap. Not necessarily a bad person, but just somebody who doesn't have the full picture. And the third C is conflict of responsibility. This is when you assume the other person did the research and they assume you did it. I knew a guy who was an investment, a good decent person, okay. But he got this new investment he was so excited about, and he got people in his church involved in in investing in it. And they and everything was happy and all that. And here's the problem, though. The people in the church assume he did the research. He assumed the guy offering the investment did the research, and nobody did the research. Everybody lost money and everybody lost friendships. That was a shame. I'm here to tell you that a person's paycheck is a powerful manipulator of the truth. Yes. And we have to understand, no one's there looking out for you. You have to understand there are three C's. That's why that's a my compass. You have to have you have to understand three C's. And sometimes the most dangerous ones aren't the conflict of interest, they're the ones that are innocent, like the conflict of information. You know, because the person's sincere and genuine, they don't even know themselves. Like that doctor was sincere with me, but he didn't understand it. So I'm you've got to be in charge of that, not someone else.

SPEAKER_00 31:36

Yeah. I like the fact that you said that we have to be our own really our strongest advocate. We have to lead, you know, our lives. We have to be looking out for for ourselves. We're number one, you know, not that we don't we bring everybody into, you know, we want to be in partnership with people, but we want to use it wisely. I think people have their own motivating factors, you know, why they're trying to make the commission, why they want to make the check. And that's not a bad thing because we live in this enterprise, you know, where entrepreneurship and and and all that is great. But just I think you said knowledge was really a key thing. And I love the fact that you said that. Um, I know we're about to close down here in a couple of minutes, but this is so great. I'd like to ask a couple other questions. Sure. Um, I know we talked about the tell-in and like, you know, people figuring this out later in life, but people um we I want to talk about the youth, how they can be more prepared. How soon should people really start having this discussion with their children or or their you know, kids? What's your thoughts on that?

SPEAKER_01 32:35

I don't think it's ever too early to start talking to your kids about it. The first person you have to talk to yourself about is yourself. You have to be there, but you know, but but I I think that the sooner the better. And some kids get zero financial advice from their parents, and they make such expensive mistakes in the beginning that they pay sometimes decades to recover from it. And and that's not a legacy you want to leave your family. I'd say first thing is the parent needs to get their own self-educated on the right stuff, and then just as your child grows and develops, give them what they can understand at their level, whatever age that they're they're at. And I think that's one of the best gifts you can give, more than money, I believe, is correct principles, correct teachings, correct guidance in that area. And you you gotta first though understand it before you can teach someone else because some parents are teaching them the wrong. You gotta be careful doing it innocently. I'm not saying they're being mean, they're not bad parents.

SPEAKER_00 33:29

No, no, I could, I totally can't relate to that. I mean, I'm I'm on the I didn't really grow up with financial literacy. I kind of figured it out. I had to hit my head a couple of times, you know, uh in my early 20s, you know, figured it out, you know, had to navigate my way myself out of that. Um, and I just pay it forward, the knowledge that I have, you know, um, and that's why I do the podcast because I really want people to be empowered and make wise decisions. And I think, like you said, um, these paychecks that we get, or whether it's through entrepreneurship, whether it's our jobs, are really powerful tools to have. And and how we save and invest that money is a critical part. We just don't spend it. You know, there's things that we can do with our money to make it work for us, compound interest, all those things that you mentioned are really good segues to building financial independence and empowerment. And so I love that. If people want to purchase your book or see your services or acquire and find out more about what services you offer, what website can they go to to purchase the book and find other information?

SPEAKER_01 34:26

Sure. Well, I'd like to give all of your listeners a gift, okay? And it's on my website. And I'd like to give you the secret sauce, the actual one-page compass that I used from when I was 63 and got me to 69. And then I still use it today. I still use it today. And you can get it for free. No, no, no strains, no costs. If you just go to onepagewealthcompass.com, yes, and the first thing you're gonna see is get the free PDF, one page, put your email in there, you'll get it instantly. You'll also get my free newsletter. I am not there's nothing to buy on the site. There is a link to an Amazon book if you want the book. The book goes beautifully with with the with the compass, but get the compass first, see if it's what you make sense to you. Then if it does, then get the get the detailed map to go with it, and you've got that you've got the whole package right there. And that's what I would recommend. Um, if they want more information. And uh, there's also a blog there, they can get I I write articles and stuff like that. So it's all free. That's a kind of stuff that's free too.

SPEAKER_00 35:18

Awesome, David. Well, this has been an inspiring conversation. You give us hope, it's never too late. Um, you gave them some great tools and then free information, you cannot lose with that. Um, and then if they want to purchase a book, there's a connection to that as well. I'll make sure that that information is in my narrative to the podcast. David, thank you for this time this morning. I greatly, greatly, greatly appreciate it. And I know my listeners will as well. Thank you very much.

SPEAKER_01 35:44

Thank you, Nicole. I've enjoyed every minute of it. I appreciate you. Thank you.