Elevate Springfield featuring Matthew Hutton: Elevating Through the Power of Planning, Education, and Strategy

Summary

In this conversation, Matthew Hutton, a partner and lead financial planner at Navigator Wealth Strategies, shares insights into the complexities of financial planning for business owners. He discusses his background, the formation of Navigator Wealth Strategies, and the importance of understanding the intersection of personal and business finances. Matthew emphasizes the need for business owners to have a clear exit strategy and the common pitfalls they face, such as viewing their business as their sole retirement plan. He also highlights the importance of education in financial planning and offers advice for new entrepreneurs. The conversation concludes with details about an upcoming seminar aimed at helping business owners enhance their efficiency and planning for the future.

Takeaways

• He emphasizes that a successful business is not a retirement plan.
• Many business owners lack a true exit strategy for their businesses.
• Education is crucial for clients to understand their financial plans.
• Business owners often have a coordination problem rather than a finance problem.
• It's important for business owners to know their numbers and understand their margins.
• Matthew encourages new entrepreneurs to seek guidance early on.
• The upcoming seminar will focus on helping business owners work on their business, not just in it.
• Community support is vital for local businesses to thrive.
• Planning for the future is essential for business sustainability.

Transcript

SPEAKER_02 0:00

Welcome to Elevate Springfield, where we will dive into strategies and stories that help you rise to your full potential. Each episode, we'll talk about how you can take intentional steps to elevate your life and your business while making a meaningful impact on those around you. Along the way, we're gonna bring in the change makers from our community that are already elevating. We'll bring the actionable strategies, you bring the discipline and follow through, and together we can elevate Springfield. Alright, let's go, Springfield. Time to 10X your life, your business, all of it. Time to crush those goals, time to get after it. Let's go. You are listening to the Elevate Springfield Podcast. Robert Farrell here, certified 10x coach, speaker, and mentor here to bring you actionable strategies. You bring the discipline and follow through, and together we're gonna Elevate Springfield. We're coming to you again from beautiful downtown Springfield in the Big Dog Construction Studio. Hey, we've got so much going on in Springfield right now. Make sure you are participating. Get out there, network with folks, be a part of the community, support local businesses, support local nonprofits, and let's go, we can all grow together. So, hey, another great episode for you today. We're gonna get right to our guest after the break. Hey Springfield, when it comes to reliable, high-quality roofing, you don't want to leave things to chance. That's why you should reach out to Acosta Angeli Ruffing, your local roofing expert serving Springfield and surrounding communities. From quick dependable repairs to full replacement, from residential to commercial, they are your trusted pros. Call them today at 217-993-2748 or visit their website to book your free quote and inspection. Don't wait. A little leak now could lead to major damage later. Trust the local experts, protect your home, and get peace of mind with Acosta Angeli Roofing. All right, and we are back. Hey, joining me in the studio now, Matthew Hutton from Navigator Wealth Strategies. Matthew, how are you doing today, man? I'm doing well. How are you doing? I'm great. Appreciate you coming to downtown Springfield and hanging out with me for a little bit. Absolutely appreciate you having me. Yeah, absolutely. So we've had your business partner in, Brandon, right? Not too awful long ago. We're gonna get into Navigator and what you do with all that and everything, but first let's learn a little bit about Matthew, man. Tell us a little about your background.

SPEAKER_01 2:41

Yeah, I appreciate that. So I am uh a partner in the lead financial planner here at Navigator Wealth Strategies and uh a little bit about my background. So I come from a financial planning family. My parents are financial planners out in Southern California. Okay. Uh and that's really what got me into the industry. Got my undergrad at McKendry University, just outside of St. Louis, actually, BBA in economics and finance on that. Moved to Southern California to start working in financial planning, got my MBA in financial planning there under Dr. Samantha Basou and Dr. Harry Starn. Um, they're a couple of pioneers in the financial planning industry. And uh then became a financial planner, did that for a while. Was at an RIA there for high net worth individuals, did some high net worth financial planning.

SPEAKER_02 3:23

Or just for for clarity's sake, there, RIA for folks that know what that is.

SPEAKER_01 3:26

So registered investment advisor.

SPEAKER_02 3:28

There you go.

SPEAKER_01 3:28

Okay, independent. Gotcha. Okay. Uh yeah. So we were really uh catered towards just uh people with tax issues, money and tax issues is really what it came down to. So did that, uh, loved it. My girlfriend at the time was uh girl I dated in high school. And uh we made that official. She moved out, we got married, and so we were out there for a while, but had our first kid and decided that we wanted to move back. So sold off that portion and moved back to central Illinois, where I did uh financial planning for service members uh for quite some time, for a couple of years, met a lot of great people. I'd always kind of wanted to serve, uh, but had that football scholarship out of out of high school. So because of that, um, didn't uh get a chance to serve. So that was kind of my way of you know serving those who served, I guess. Yeah, actually, which was awesome. But uh after a while, it just wasn't super challenging. So started working for Regions Bank as a corporate bank manager, took over a couple of the branches here, uh revitalized them. Uh, they were actually in the bottom quartile in the country and took them to the top 10% in the country. Oh, nice. Uh, two different branches over four years, three years of those, we were in the top 10, and then uh decided to get back to what I know and love, and that's financial planning and helping people.

SPEAKER_02 4:38

There you go. So you said football scholarship. Did you grow up around here in Springfield or where'd you grow up?

SPEAKER_01 4:43

Uh child of two lives. Uh so split house situation. So my dad lives locally in Riverton and my mom, Southern California. So about every eight years of my life, I went back and forth. So played football at Riverton, and that's where I got the scholarship to go to McKendry there. Okay.

SPEAKER_02 4:59

So you guys said, Did you have any runs while you were at Riverton or at McKendry? Any good football runs?

SPEAKER_01 5:04

Actually, we were divisional champions my junior year in college. So I've got a pretty big ring that I never even wear anymore. But but yeah, it's got it's got some bling with it.

SPEAKER_02 5:14

Okay, there you go. So what was your favorite part about playing football?

SPEAKER_01 5:17

Hitting people.

SPEAKER_02 5:18

Yeah. Let's be honest. Yeah, when you're on the line.

SPEAKER_01 5:20

I mean, that's what you're doing. You're hitting people all the time. Yeah. It was a it was a good aggression release. Yeah, put it that way.

SPEAKER_02 5:26

So what'd you do, tackle or guard or what?

SPEAKER_01 5:28

Uh I was actually an offensive center. Okay, nice.

SPEAKER_02 5:31

Heck yeah.

SPEAKER_01 5:31

Long snap too. I my arms are not long enough for it. So that was never my forte, but I'm trying to train my kids up on it.

SPEAKER_02 5:38

So we'll see. All right. So Southern California, where'd you say whereabouts in Southern California?

SPEAKER_01 5:43

Yeah, Westlake Village. Thousand Oaks Westlake Village. Most people know it is Ventura County.

SPEAKER_02 5:47

Okay.

SPEAKER_01 5:47

Yeah. Um, is uh where we were at. So about 45 minutes northwest of LA. Mm-hmm. So kind of up the coast.

SPEAKER_02 5:54

Okay. All right. Spent your time out there, got that master's degree and everything. What'd you love about California, about that area compared to here, man?

SPEAKER_01 6:01

Oh, I mean, I could literally go to the beach in the morning and be snowboarding in the afternoon. So where we lived was actually rated the number one place to live in the country. Oh, really? Um based on industry. So, like if you've ever heard of the company Amgen, like they're there. Yeah. Um, so yeah, it was just based on proximity to all the things. We were two hours from the high desert to go off-roading, three hours from the mountains and Big Bear to go snowboarding and about 45 minutes from the beach. So literally everything was within driving distance. Come on.

SPEAKER_02 6:30

I know love that. Oh, don't remind me. Don't remind me. I'm sure you get out there here and there still. Yeah. Yeah. Still have family out there. So I'm sure you're out there quite a bit.

SPEAKER_01 6:38

I take advantage of it. We'll put it that way. I would too. I would too. For sure.

SPEAKER_02 6:42

So all right. Well, get back into the the planning part, financial planning part. So navigator wealth strategies. Tell us how that came about.

SPEAKER_01 6:49

Yeah. So uh Brandon had a very successful practice, and my other partner, Ryan Kaiser, who's not been on the podcast yet. So Ryan ran Corner Cornerstone Financial right here off of Monroe for a while. And Brandon had a Wellman Financial Services. Uh, well, when they were looking to bring me on, management was trying to find the best fit for me. And uh I just kind of gravitated towards both of them. And even though they both had very successful practices locally at the time, they weren't really doing a whole lot together at that point. And so kind of putting me in the mix became kind of the glue that brought them together. And then it just kind of seemed silly to have two big offices when we could make one. And sure, all three of us are certified financial planners and have the same uh education focus and mentality towards uh client servicing and just really making sure that we put clients first and you know, get them what they pay for. So, because of that, we decided to join forces and uh build navigator well strategies.

SPEAKER_02 7:42

Love it, love it. So we were talking before we went on air here that you work with a lot of business owners, all right. So tell us what you do for business owners.

SPEAKER_01 7:51

Yeah. So uh business owners have their own level of complexity. It's kind of like if you go to a CPA. You know, if you talk to any CPA, they can do taxes for anybody, right? But uh there's just more tax levers to throw for individuals who are business owners. So too for financial planning. So there's just more opportunity for me to assist in affecting beneficial change in the life of a business owner. And with that, I can just generate more benefit over time by helping them. So my job as a financial planner is to essentially go in, analyze their entire personal life, their business life, how those things intersect and how one supports the other, identify all the strengths, challenges, opportunities, and threats that might be, you know, imminent or on the horizon, and then develop roadmaps on how to get around them or mitigate them or transfer that risk. And that comes in many different forms. And I would say that most people don't realize that they've got issues or they've got these little things that are quietly eroding their efficiency or their wealth, but they're just not aware of it. Right. And until somebody points it out to them, they're not going to be.

SPEAKER_02 9:00

So you're talking about the opportunities, threats. You probably look out for pitfalls that people might be falling into, right? So, what are some of those things that people might not think of that they might be falling into this pitfall that they shouldn't be?

SPEAKER_01 9:12

Yeah. Right off the bat, the the line I love to hear from business owners, hey, I appreciate it, but I'm fine. Uh-huh. Like it's like, okay, yeah, absolutely. I know you're fine. I completely understand you're fine. And if you, you know, if we never have another conversation, you're likely going to be fine. But the fact of the matter is, a successful business is not a retirement plan. Right. And most people look at it that way. And I would say the biggest pitfall is people forget what they got into business for. Business owners become their business. It's their identity. So because of that, they don't know how to separate the two. So things like investing, they automatically invest in themselves. You know, they forget, you know, am I working to work or am I working for a lifestyle? Is this business supporting my lifestyle? And nine times out of ten, the answer is no.

SPEAKER_02 9:56

Right.

SPEAKER_01 9:57

They're making money, but if the business fell away tomorrow, they don't have anything to show for it.

SPEAKER_02 10:01

Right.

SPEAKER_01 10:01

And that's a problem.

SPEAKER_02 10:02

Right. And if they weren't a part of it anymore, you know, I think a lot of people fall into that trap of, hey, it's not really a business, it's you. It's you're doing this. Without your blood, sweat, and tears, there is no business.

SPEAKER_01 10:16

Absolutely. There's nothing proprietary. There's like if you're gone, this doesn't exist.

SPEAKER_02 10:20

Right.

SPEAKER_01 10:20

And that's why one of the first questions I ask a small business owner is walk me through what happens on day one when you hang up the keys for the last time. They're like, well, what do you mean? Well, what happens next? The fact of the matter is, the average individual spends more time planning for a single week family vacation than they do for 30 years of retirement. Throw that on top of business succession, forget about it. Right. Yeah. And people just don't think about it. And I think the problem is no plan is not a plan. Right. You know, these things are going to happen. And we can stick our or we can bury our head in the sand. You know, we can try to put it out of our mind, but it's coming. Yeah. So you can either prepare for it and transition gracefully and hopefully have that thing that you built that you're so passionate about support your lifestyle and be something that you pass on to your family or whatever the case may be, or we can just wait and see. Right. And wait and see is never really a good plan.

SPEAKER_02 11:11

No, because like I said, it's going to happen regardless. And not to sound crass, it's whether whether you die tomorrow or 30 years down the road, you just can't do it anymore. At some point, it's over for you personally as part of that business. So do you find that most of the businesses that you work with don't have a true exit strategy?

SPEAKER_01 11:30

I would say 95% of the business owners that I have actually had true in-depth conversations about their business planning, they at most have an idea of what they want to happen, but they do not have a strategic roadmap on how to get there. And the one that's even more concerning is, you know, being in central Illinois, we're very family-oriented. That's a great part of living in the Midwest is it's not just about building something for themselves. It's building something that they can pass down to their children. But they haven't really thought of what that looks like. Because to your point, if they've built something that is dependent on them and it is more than enough to sustain their needs, when they leave, there's no cash flow for the kids. Right. Which means that the kids either have to scale the business very rapidly, in which case, if that was possible, why didn't it already happen? Right. Or the parents will not have the cash they need in retirement because they didn't essentially build the plane better from the ground up. They waited until landing and are keeping it together with, you know, duct tape and paper clips. Sure.

SPEAKER_02 12:31

Sure. So where do you start with them? If you're working with a business and they have nothing planned, nothing at all, where do you start advising them on what to do?

SPEAKER_01 12:39

Yeah, a great question. Uh what's it all for? Okay. Uh as a financial planner, every decision is completely guided. The north star for every decision is based on a client's goals. So what do you want to happen? Okay. And then once we know what we want to happen, we can identify all of the life happening events that can take place given a person's stage in life, uh, given, you know, the the industry they're in, um, given different constraints, you know, based on demographics or localities, or we identify those things. And then we say, okay, if one of those happens, what happens to you in your business? Okay. So essentially we stress test it.

SPEAKER_03 13:18

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 13:18

Say, all right, if you pass tomorrow, what happens? Not just from a finance standpoint, but who steps in? Right. You know, who's going to run the day to day? How are you going to overcome that likely income lull, right, during the transition period? What have you put in place to make sure this happens? So we stress test things and find out, like, all right, what are our gaps? Shine that flashlight on it. Here's the problem. We found it. What can we do? And we're always looking to either mitigate that risk. So make it as small and as least impactful as possible. Sure. Transfer that risk. If we can get rid of it, great. And if we can mitigate it, we will. If we can transfer it without sacrificing achieving our other goals, also great. And some of them we just have to kind of take a wait and see. We're aware of it, we're monitoring it. And if there, you know, another opportunity arises later on to again mitigate it or transfer it, that's what we're gonna do. Okay. So it just kind of depends.

SPEAKER_02 14:11

So when you say transfer that risk for anybody out there, what would be an example of that?

SPEAKER_01 14:15

If they're Yeah. So uh one thing which, especially kind of new business owners starting up, right? They're they're so focused on the cash flow aspect, which I completely understand. Cash flow is king, right? Your your biggest asset is not your investment portfolio, it's your ability to create income. Right. Right. Because without that, nothing else matters. So I I totally understand where they're coming from. Uh, where they're like, well, I don't want to get, I don't want to get disability insurance, you know, because it's gonna cost me X percent a year, right? I understand. I understand it, it's scary. It's scary to have to pay for something that you may never need. But the fact of the matter is, I mean, it's kind of sad to say, but you know, it's cheaper to die than it is to become disabled. Right. Right. That just means we have more medical costs and the expenses don't go away.

SPEAKER_02 14:59

So and they stack in a hurry. Right.

SPEAKER_01 15:01

And they absolutely do. And so it's like, all right, well, we need to look at ways to mitigate or transfer that risk. So certain things like insurances. Now, me personally, I don't sell disability insurance. It's it's not my job.

SPEAKER_03 15:13

Right.

SPEAKER_01 15:13

Um, but it's my job to put my client in front of the right person to get the adequate level of risk transference in order to meet their needs. So there's a lot of things that I can be a one-stop shop on, but a lot of my job is coordinating with the professionals in my client's life that are pre-existing to make sure that everybody's on the same team and everybody's rowing the boat in the same direction.

SPEAKER_02 15:36

Sure. You feel like a lot of your role is education too with your clients, right?

SPEAKER_01 15:41

Absolutely. And I love it. Uh, like Brandon said, you know, he he was intending to be a teacher. Uh-huh. That was one thing that we connected on early. Uh, we both have an education foundation. Um, we believe in the value of education. It's that whole teach Amanda Fish concept.

SPEAKER_02 15:55

Of course.

SPEAKER_01 15:55

Right. So I've actually got uh a client that uh we were talking about investments. And when we first started going over his financial plan, he had no understanding of what I was talking about. But now every time he comes into my office, every meeting, we start off with a big smile on his face, I'll refer to something, and then he'll talk about one of the investments in that's in the portfolio and be like, this. I'm like, yes, that. And then so it's awesome. It's awesome because I see that he's getting it, you know, and he's hungry for more. And every single meeting, he's getting a little bit more knowledgeable about what we're doing. My job is trust, right? If my clients don't trust me to guide them on the right path, they shouldn't be working with me, quite honestly, because they're not going to listen. And the value that I bring is not in returns or lowered risk. It's it's that ongoing guidance to make sure that uh they have the best possibility of getting from where they are to where they want to be. It's just easier for those who know the way. Right. So that's kind of the focus.

SPEAKER_02 16:54

Yeah. And I would say, I mean, a lot of folks are probably a little overwhelmed by all the terms and all the jargon that's used and everything. So having you being able to educate them on that is very helpful, I would imagine.

SPEAKER_01 17:05

Yeah. I mean, it's it's hard to balance all those things, you know, as business owners. Like, let's be honest, it's just like kids, right? There's there's no manual on how to be a business owner. There's plenty of books, right? But there's there's not, you know, a book that says, hey, you will build a dining industry like this. You know, that doesn't exist. So every business owner at a certain point in their career is faking it until they make it, right? I have a vision, I have the drive, I'm gonna make it happen. That's why so many small businesses fail, but that's why so many succeed. Right. So this is one more hat that requires specialization that they can't be expected to wear because they're balancing too many things. So it's my job to essentially educate them, provide them understanding of those things, and then coordinate the people in their life to make sure that everybody's working to help them achieve the goals that they envision.

SPEAKER_02 17:56

Early on, especially in that entrepreneurial journey, you're you're wearing every single hat, every single one of them. You know, and you can't be an expert in every single one of those hats. So that's where you come to people like you.

SPEAKER_01 18:08

Yeah. And it it cracks me up because uh with the advent of like Chat GPT and all these AI things, and you know, people like, I don't need, I don't need investment management. It's like, yeah, at some point in life, you may not. You know, the way, the way things are going, you know, who knows? Right. I can't tell you. But the one thing that any AI system's not gonna be able to do is tell you exactly how interconnected all the decisions that you make are without you prompting it to. That's our job, right? Is to say, hey, like this decision has 12 different ripple effects. And if we make that move on the board, six others are gonna go left, right, and sideways. This is what that does. Right. You know, a system is never going to do that for you. It takes an understanding. And what I always say is, it's my job to help my clients see the forest for the trees. Right. Um, because without that understanding, you're never gonna make your way through it.

SPEAKER_02 18:57

What's an example of that as a business owner, you know, does X, but might not realize that it, like you said, has this ripple effect six ways this way?

SPEAKER_01 19:07

Yeah. So one I can't go into in with depth, but I would say the the biggest one is the the way they're kind of managing their tax burdens. So, you know, I'm not a CPA, but as a CFP, we're trained in all the finance disciplines. And there's certain tax levers that businesses throw, which saves them a lot of money now, but they don't understand what that can do to them later. And especially more pointedly, when it comes to business succession and exit planning. And all of those things are interconnected. And the last thing you want to do is be in really high tax brackets and and really lose a lot of money to tax burdens in the year that you're trying to get rid of your business and keep as much money as possible because that business was meant to sustain you for the next 30 years. And if you're not even aware that all of these things that you've been doing are creating a tax time bomb, how are you supposed to diffuse it? Right.

SPEAKER_02 19:57

Exactly.

SPEAKER_01 19:58

So it's my job to say, hey, this is what we're building, this is what likely is going to happen. Let's work with your CPA to find a more balanced strategy to get to where we need to go a little bit more efficiently.

SPEAKER_02 20:07

Absolutely. So, you know, I know there's a lot of entrepreneurs that listen to the show. Maybe they're really early on, they're in their first or second year. Any tips, words of advice for them out there?

SPEAKER_01 20:16

Yeah, know your numbers. I've actually I've taken on a few new small businesses that great people. I love working with them. Again, that drives there, right? And I I much prefer to help somebody build a plane from the ground up while it's on the ground. Right. But you would be surprised the amount of business owners that work in the business more than they work on the business. So I would say knowing your numbers, making sure that you understand what your margins are, making sure you understand what it's gonna take to hit economies of scale. In other words, where costs start to decrease the more you do. Because if you are just putting in more and more work and you're not increasing profitability above that certain margin, you're gonna get burnt out. So making sure that you have your business structured in a way to maximize the most amount of time that you put into it. Because again, at the end of the day, the job or the profession or the business you're building is really designed to support your lifestyle. But if your lifestyle is only the business, what are we doing?

SPEAKER_02 21:11

Right. Right. So would it be beneficial for somebody if they're just starting a business to come have a conversation and get some input from you guys?

SPEAKER_01 21:20

Yeah, absolutely. I'm always open to helping people and, you know, giving insight. And I'm never going to turn somebody away, right? I I'm very into the, you know, the karma aspect of things where it's like, hey, put put good stuff out there, good stuff's gonna come back. So they may be a little premature for fully sitting down and doing a business plan, but that's not gonna stop me from doing that analysis, that Scott analysis that I referred to earlier, and and making sure that they kind of start on the right foot. And then my hope is that down the road they're gonna circle back when they are in a position and I'm gonna be able to help them get the rest of the way.

SPEAKER_02 21:56

There you go. Well, speaking of helping people out and educating, you've got to invent. Coming up before too long here, where you're going to be doing some of just that, right?

SPEAKER_01 22:03

Some of that. Yeah, absolutely. So yeah, I've got a seminar coming up on uh August 26th at 545. I've partnered with uh Pappos Cafe. We're gonna have it over there. So really, yeah, the the title of the seminar is, you know, are you working too much in your business and not enough on your business? And really, I've just worked with quite a few of the business owners in this area and really within the Midwest, and they're all doing the same things. They're all not identifying these shortfalls and these threats in their business. And they're all fine. You know, then that's the thing. I'm fine. Right. It's like, yeah, I know you're fine. The individuals that I work with, they're all successful. That's that's why we're working together. But it's not about being successful. It's about making sure that what you're building is supporting what you want and your lifestyle in the most efficient way possible. And then you understand all of the pieces of that and how that's going to be passed on. And there's so many things that business owners can do to increase that efficiency. They're just not aware of it. So, really, the goal of this seminar is to essentially shine that flashlight and say, hey, out of all of you in this room, I would bet 99% of you are likely not doing this. And this, if you do employ it, this could be a benefit that could really not only benefit you, but grow your business, help your employees, help yourself, help with a transition into retirement, help you pass this on to your kids more efficiently, whatever your goals are. There's so many different opportunities that the average business owner is not educated or aware of that they're missing out on it. And if they just had the knowledge of it, they would consider it and then likely get the benefit from it. Right. So that's what the whole point is. It's just completely educational.

SPEAKER_02 23:38

I love it. I love it. And Papo's is a great place to do it. Absolutely. Great food, great drinks.

SPEAKER_01 23:43

So I'm excited for that too.

SPEAKER_02 23:44

There you go. Yeah, I was just out at the well, for local first, we were out at the West Side Market for that last one. Just got a great facility over there and had fun time. That they do. So you ever been out to the West Side Market out there?

SPEAKER_01 23:55

So Sundays are rough for me, but I I mean to. Celeste and Brennan are good friends of mine. So yeah, I uh I mean to get over there and I will. I will. I will. Uh but uh yeah, I gotta put it on the calendar. But I I follow it and I see all the stuff and they're doing great things out there.

SPEAKER_02 24:09

Oh yeah, yeah, no doubt about it. So now anything else people should expect that night for the seminar?

SPEAKER_01 24:14

Yeah. Uh so there is a Facebook invite out there or a Facebook event, I should say. So you can go get the information on there. It's gonna start at 5 45 is when doors open. Uh, I'll start around six. It's only gonna take about an hour. Really, the goal is just to kind of start the juices going, get people some awareness of some of the things that they could potentially benefit from. And then I can point them in the right direction towards resources on how to get the answers that they need. Uh, and then if they want more specific advice, uh, of course, I'll be available for questions and consultations and things like that. But really, I just I want small business owners to understand that there's there's a way to do it a little bit better. And unless there's a forum for that where somebody's talking about it, right, uh, business owners are just too busy, right? Right. So they just don't make time for it. So I really hope that that they make time to come out for this.

SPEAKER_02 25:04

Well, and like the the comment that you made, a lot of them will say, Hey, I'm fine. Well, yes, great. I am sure everybody's fine, but we could be extraordinary. We could be we could put systems in place to be great instead of just fine. How about that?

SPEAKER_01 25:16

You're doing everything in your business to increase efficiency, increase profitability. Why would you not invest in the roadmap to accomplish that?

SPEAKER_02 25:24

Right.

SPEAKER_01 25:24

You know, it just it's kind of counterintuitive. But I think the the big aspect of things is if something happens to you tomorrow, what's next?

SPEAKER_02 25:32

Right.

SPEAKER_01 25:32

What does you know, if you're even if your spouse is in the business, they don't do the things you do. What's next?

SPEAKER_02 25:37

Right.

SPEAKER_01 25:38

If you're gonna sell the business, what's next? If you're gonna pass to your kids, what's next? And I think if people really reflect on it, they're gonna be like, I don't actually know. Right. And that's the problem.

SPEAKER_02 25:48

Yeah. I mean, anybody out there, like right now, I'm the executor for my uncle's estate, so I'm taking care of all his stuff, and that's just all on the personal side. So you start looking at what happens to a business after somebody passes, that's that times 10, you know, on what to do.

SPEAKER_01 26:02

Absolutely. And and one thing that I'm pretty passionate about, and I've actually got quite a few clients who, you know, not just business, but agricultural business clients. Okay. So there are, uh unfortunately, most people don't know this, which I can't go into too much detail on, but uh so Illinois has some pretty significantly low exemptions when it comes to when you die and you leave money on your family. They're very restrictive. Most people aren't aware of that because they're aware of the federal restrictions, the federal limits, which are really high, which the average person may never reach. The Illinois one is significantly lower and it hasn't changed in a really long time. And they're probably not planning on changing it.

SPEAKER_03 26:41

Right.

SPEAKER_01 26:42

So I wish I could get into it, but the point is without planning, multi-generational agricultural businesses can be lost. And, you know, their great uncle's state plan that was put into place 30 years ago may not have changed with the times enough, and they may not know what the implications are of what is in place. And so part of my job is to review that and then work with their existing attorney or the next attorney to make sure that their family has the best shot at keeping what they have. Right. Um, so yeah, it's it's crazy. And unfortunately, there's a lot of lot of multi-generational farms and and agricultural businesses in the Midwest specifically that are being lost in Illinois, mainly, uh, just because of those restrictive exemptions because proper planning's not being done.

SPEAKER_02 27:27

Wow. Wow. I might have to get into that a little more on another episode or something. Uh, that's a good topic.

SPEAKER_01 27:32

Yeah, it's crazy. So yeah, we'll just have to get an estate planner in here and we can bounce you. We can get it, we can get it done. Absolutely.

SPEAKER_02 27:37

That'd be fun. Well, you involved in any organizations, associations here?

SPEAKER_01 27:41

Uh yeah. So I'm uh currently a member of the JCs. So I've done that for a year now. It's a great organization. Um so uh we're part of the Chamber of Commerce here, the Chatham Chamber and the Springfield Chamber. Thinking about joining the Sherman Chamber because that's actually where I live. Um so just kind of got that local stuff going on.

SPEAKER_02 27:58

There you go. What do you do with the JCs?

SPEAKER_01 28:00

So we just put on like the the Sweet Corden Festival. Uh that just happened. Um and really it's just kind of different events, community building, things like that.

SPEAKER_02 28:07

Yeah. No, we just had Dave and Nick in from JC talking about the sweet corn festival and everything. So I was just wondering if you're doing the same thing with that or what? So very cool. We've talked a lot of business stuff. Let's flip over to the personal side a little bit. And what do you do to elevate your life personally?

SPEAKER_01 28:21

I'm a bit of an adrenaline junkie, to be honest. Um motorcycles, jet skis that are way too overpowered. I'm a big snowboarder, wakeboarder. Uh, have gotten an electric skateboard that I'm probably gonna kill myself on. Yeah, man. It goes like 30 miles an hour. So yeah, it's it's quick. That's quick. That's scooting on a skateboard. It is, it is. Uh, but to me, it's like snowboarding on land. You know, coming from Southern California, it was great to be able to hop up on the mountain and do some runs. And but now being landlocked in the middle of the Midwest, it doesn't, you know, afford a lot of opportunity. So same kind of motion, same kind of thing. Unfortunately, when you wipe out, it hurts a little bit more.

SPEAKER_02 28:57

I bet it does. I bet it does. Take a high-powered jet ski out on Lake Springfield, do you?

SPEAKER_01 29:02

Yeah, yeah. So recently got one of those. It's a blast. My boys love it. But uh yeah, I'm a big boater, just haven't uh made the jump to actually buy such a depreciable asset. So you know the jet ski is a little lower cost of entry to get out on the water. So it's fun. My boys love it. It's just something to do during the summer.

SPEAKER_02 29:20

So you ever break out the old cleats ever and play some football here and there, some weekend flag football or something?

SPEAKER_01 29:26

You know, I don't. I'm getting old uh and falling apart quicker than I'd like. But actually, the I thought about there's a local rugby team and they were trying to get me to come out for a while. And I've still kind of kicked, kicked that around because it would really be fun to get back out on the on the grass and get a little aggression out again. But I would say that now as I get older, I'm just realizing how much longer it takes to heal on things. And uh, you know, I I put my body through a fair bit of punishment over the years between high school and college football. So yeah, so we'll see.

SPEAKER_02 29:58

There you go. Thought I saw one of your posts recently. Might not even meet recently more. Did you do like a tough mutter or something? Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 30:04

Yeah, yeah. Yeah. We did a tough mutter a couple years ago. That was a blast. Highly recommend it for team building. Yeah. Um definitely need a team though. It's a great event. Uh so Ryan, Brandon, and I, we've uh done like the Lincoln Halves, we've done tough mutters, uh, you know, some shorter sprints, things like that. It's good to get out and work the body just like you work the mind.

SPEAKER_02 30:22

So absolutely. Let's uh close with these last couple of things. Let's give the audience a piece of advice. One on the personal side, one on the professional side to help them elevate their life or business.

SPEAKER_01 30:32

Okay. Yeah. So I would say on the personal side, it's just today you're here, someday you want to be there. And then the path is easiest for those who know the way. So, you know, life is not just going to happen. Life needs to be intentional. The more intentional you are about identifying your goals, understanding what options you have to get from where you are to where you want to be, the greater probability you're gonna have in succeeding. So, you know, it I just can't be can't be overstated how important it is to know where you want to go and then work towards achieving it rather than just wandering around and hoping we end up where we want to be.

SPEAKER_02 31:06

Right. So gotta have a target. That's right. Then we'll find out a path to get there.

SPEAKER_01 31:13

Exactly.

SPEAKER_02 31:14

See, you get it.

SPEAKER_01 31:14

Um, so on the professional side, I would say make sure that you are doing it for a reason. Okay. And if you truly love working and you love what you do, great, right? You know, if you love what you do, you never work a day in your life. That's what they say. But there may come a day when you can't do what you love anymore. What happens next? Okay. It doesn't have to be your plan A, but you better have it as plan C. Right. So understanding what needs to happen to make sure that what you've built supports your life and your life supports what matters most to you is important and might be the most important thing. So understanding what that looks like. And then most importantly, what's the plan for it and how is it coordinated? Because I would sit down and you pay a lot of professionals, right, in your life that support your business. If you put them all at the same table, would they all have the same plan for you? Because the answer nine times out of ten is no.

SPEAKER_02 32:08

Right.

SPEAKER_01 32:08

Right. So make sure everybody's on the same page.

SPEAKER_02 32:11

Absolutely. And is there anything we can do community-wide, help all of us here elevate Springfield and the surrounding communities?

SPEAKER_01 32:17

I mean, support local, you know, the people around you, the community, uh, making sure that you're investing in your business, utilizing other local businesses that are, you know, homegrown. That's a way to scale together, right? All boats rise. And the more we support each other, the more we utilize each other's services, the more successful we'll all be because we're going to keep the money local. Come on.

SPEAKER_02 32:39

Love it. Love it. Well, all you business owners out there, if you don't have a plan, call this man up. So tell them uh where they can find you, all the good stuff about the events and everything.

SPEAKER_01 32:49

Yeah, just to recap, uh, we've got that business owner seminar at Papo's coming up on uh August 26th at 5 45 p.m. Our office, Navigator Wealth Strategies, is located just off of Toronto Road, just past the old hen house. Everybody seems to know that. Um, so that, and you can always visit us at NavigatorWellstrategies.com just to learn a little bit more about us and our service offerings. And uh yeah, don't be shy. If you need help, we're here to help. There you go.

SPEAKER_02 33:15

Appreciate you spending some time with me today, man. Appreciate you having me. All right. Well, we're gonna let Matt get back to elevating Springfield. But for the rest of you, we'll be right back. Looking for expert tree care with hometown integrity, look no further than Sangamon Tree Service. They're your trusted local pros, delivering quality workmanship, exceptional customer service, and fair, honest pricing every time. Whether it's trimming, removal, or storm cleanup, their team brings professionalism and care to every job, big or small. Call the name your neighbors trust, Sangaman Tree Service, or visit them today at SangamentreeService.com. Sangaman Tree Service, rooted in quality, built on trust. Looking for personalized insurance with hometown care, David Hilst, American Family Insurance Agent's here to help you protect what matters most: your family, your home, and your dreams. Whether it's auto, home, life, business, David and his team are proud to serve the Springfield community with trusted advice and reliable coverage. Local service, real relationships, peace of mind. Call today or stop by their office. They can build your dream protection plan together. Call 217-726-6343. Well, thank you for joining us today, everybody. Appreciate you making us a part of your day. Hey, don't forget while you're out on social, check ours out. You can check my personal one out at RobertFarrell at everywhere. Check out those Elevate Springfield pages, those big dog business coaching pages as well. Check us out over on YouTube. Give us a subscribe, give us a like or a follow on any of those channels. We would certainly appreciate it. So, hey, take what you learned today. You bring the discipline and follow through and together. That's right, y'all. We're gonna elevate Springfield. Be great.

SPEAKER_00 35:10

When I first walked into Shudokan Karate Club, I was just looking for a way to get stronger. But what I found was so much better. Here we train in traditional karate, the real stuff. Passed down through generations. Every punch, every karata has purpose. I've learned self discipline, confidence, and how to protect myself. Not just in class, but in real life. It's not about being aggressive, it's about being prepared. This is more than a club, it's a way of life. Join us at Shudo Khan. Traditional, powerful, real.