Pairs Well With... Financial Freedom: A Conversation with Todd Tauzin, Wealth Management Advisor

Reinvention sounds exciting until you ask the quiet question underneath it: can I actually afford the life I want to build? Career pivots, empty nests, second acts, and starting over after surprises all get harder when your finances stay fuzzy. The episode centers on financial clarity as a skill, not a wealth level, and argues that confidence comes from knowing what your money is for, what season you are in, and what trade-offs you are willing to make. That clarity turns money from background noise into a usable tool, especially during major life transitions where uncertainty tends to spike.

In this episode we sit down with Wealth Management Advisor, Todd Tauzin of Tauzin Wealth Management to talk about financial clarity, not stock predictions. Todd breaks down why a simple, connected financial plan matters more than reacting to headlines, and how “guardrails” can keep market volatility, inflation, and world events from driving your day-to-day decisions. We dig into the red zone before retirement, the two big risks people hate most once paychecks stop, and how retirement planning is really about freedom to choose, not a date on the calendar.

We also talk candidly about why many women still feel less confident around long-term financial planning even while controlling more household financial decisions than ever. Todd shares what clients are really asking for: to be heard, to avoid jargon, and to build a plan based on their goals rather than a product pitch. We cover longevity risk, the emotional weight money carries, long-term care realities, and the basics that still work like paying yourself first, living within your means, and building habits that survive modern spending traps.

If you want a calmer relationship with money and a clearer path to your next season, this one is for you. Subscribe, share with a friend navigating a transition, and leave a review, what would “freedom” look like in your life?

To connect with Todd Tauzin and Tauzin Wealth Management, start here: https://www.tauzinwealthmanagement.com/

Social media Links to Tauzin Wealth Management: 

 Instagram : https://www.instagram.com/tauzinwealthmanagement

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/tauzin-wealth-management/

 Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/tauzinwealthmanagement

🔗 Stay connected with Pairs Well With…
Follow us on Instagram: @PairsWellWithPodcast and Watch us on YouTube: @PairsWellWith...Podcast.

Have a story or guest idea? Email us at: PairsWellWithPodcast@gmail.com 

🎧 New episodes every month—subscribe, rate, and share if you enjoy the show!

Disclaimer:
The content of this podcast is for informational and entertainment purposes only. Although your hosts are attorneys, Pairs Well With… does not provide legal, medical, financial, or professional advice. Listening to this podcast does not create an attorney-client relationship. Always seek the advice of qualified professionals regarding any specific questions or concerns you may have.

Transcript

Reinvention Needs Financial Clarity

Speaker 2 0:14

We've been talking a lot this season about reinvention. New chapters, empty nests, second acts, transitions we planned for, and transitions that we didn't plan for. Underneath it all, the big question is: can I really actually afford the life I want to build? If you're thinking about change and you haven't looked at your finances clearly, that's guessing. And guessing is no way to go.

Speaker 1 0:37

Because whether we're talking about leaving a job, sending kids to college, starting something new, or just asking, what do I want the next 20 years to look like? Money is part of the equation. And here's what we've noticed so many capable, accomplished women and men feel confident in every area of life except one.

Speaker 2 0:57

That's very interesting because data tells the different story. Women are now the primary financial decision makers in the majority of the households in America. They're projected to control trillions more wealth, and over the next few decades, many of us will manage finances along at some point in our life if we haven't already. The issue isn't about ability, but about clarity.

Speaker 1 1:19

Because clarity isn't about being wealthy. It's not about net worth, and it's not about outperforming anyone. Clarity is knowing what your money is for, what season of life you're in, what your trade-offs are, and whether your future feels supported instead of uncertain. Clarity is fewer question marks about your future. Which is exactly why we wanted today's guest, Todd Tozen of Tozin Wealth Management on the show. Not because he's going to tell you what to buy or what the market's doing, but because his entire philosophy is built around something we care deeply about here: clarity over complexity, confidence over overwhelm, purpose over accumulation.

Speaker 2 1:59

We're at a moment culturally where women are building wealth, running businesses, and yet many still say they feel unsure when it comes to long-term planning. The disconnect is worth talking about.

Speaker 1 2:11

So today's conversation is not about stock tips, it's about what pairs well with your financial life: confidence, clarity, values, preparation, and freedom.

Speaker 2 2:22

If you ever felt like money was louder than you want it to be or quieter than you wanted it to be, this episode will resonate with you. Let's get into

Why Plans Beat Market Predictions

Speaker 2 2:32

it. Today's guest, Todd Tauzin, has spent decades helping families think long-term about their financial planning, not just about returns, but about steadiness, relationships, and what money means to support. Todd, we're so glad you're here. We want to start with this. This isn't about stock predictions. We're interested in something deeper. How wealth actually supports clarity and confidence as you move through life. What does that framing look like?

Speaker 3 2:59

That sounds great. I think if, you know, the markets, with the markets, you have no control over life or what's going on in the world. But when you have a clear plan that gives you the confidence, helps you through life transitions. What what I've learned is money when it's paired with clarity, confidence, and purpose, that you're in such a much better place than and not worrying about what's going on in the rest of the world.

Speaker 1 3:29

Well, Todd Tauzin, welcome to Pairs Well With. We're so happy that you joined us today. And we're looking forward to our conversation. What you just talked about, I think there's a great distinction there. We talk a lot on our podcast about transitions and pivots and life changes. And in those life transitions, it seems like money and financial issues seem to be louder. Even for people who feel capable in a lot of areas of their life, they don't always feel capable when it comes to money and life transitions. So how do you feel like that plays into what you do for them?

Speaker 3 4:10

If you have clarity and a purpose, it helps you through those life transitions. It's it's kind of like if you're making decisions in isolation without having a plan or having someone to share that with, that can create just a lot of chaos in your life. And what we've learned, if we have a clear plan that, like we said earlier, was regardless of what's going on in the world, if it's a 9-11 or if there's a pandemic going on in the world or there's a war in Ukraine, that regardless, if that if you have a clear plan that gives you that backstop, gives you the guardrails, that you are in such a good place to give you that confidence that you need to know that you're going to be okay regardless of what's going on.

Speaker 2 4:57

That's a good point, talking about the chaos that's surrounding us, but not letting the chaos come into your world and having a plan in place.

The Red Zone Before Retirement

Speaker 2 5:06

So what does that look like to have financial clarity in someone's life?

Speaker 3 5:10

What we see mostly is some people call it the red zone, but it's that critical time in life that 10 years before transition, 10 years before, you know, most of us are focused on retirement. I think sometimes retirement is a bad word, but you having the freedom to choose. And so does your plan say that you need to work another three years, or like yesterday I was meeting with someone and they had the opportunity to retire three years earlier. They probably won't choose to do that. But giving them that choice and that clarity to do that, so the plan, it needs to be one of our taglines is make the complicated simple, because it can be with all the chaos, it can be, we were talking about markets earlier, it can be a lot of investment speak or planning, and it can be very complicated, but being very simple, but also having enough depth that regardless of what's going on, the two biggest things we find that people despise the most once they quit working. If you think about it, you've been working since 25, you if you work to 65, that's 40 years of getting a paycheck every two weeks. It's just, it's ingrained in you. You know, you're used to that habit of getting a paycheck. And so now you have this accumulation of money that has to replace that with the largest risk, the biggest risk being longevity. And so the two biggest risks that we find that people that come in during that time of transition or retirement are taxes and market volatility. But if we have a plan, a clear plan that is simple but also provides enough depth to handle that, that, you know, regardless if they will live to 100 or 105, that they're in a great place.

Speaker 2 7:01

And there's a lot of people living a lot longer these days.

Speaker 3 7:04

I mean, I was reading a statistic the other day that a 60-year-old female, healthy female, has a nearly a 90% chance of living to 90. And that's improving at 2% a year. Wow. That's that's that is a lot. So by having a plan, you know, when we talked about isolation earlier, of having a plan and just saying, oh, I'm gonna be okay, but had sitting down with someone and having a clear plan. And I think one thing a plan isn't is just your investment statements. It's kind of like this building. When we built this building, we didn't go out and order a bunch of two by fours or concrete without first going to the architect and going through plans until we were 100% happy, hey, this is the plan we want. And unfortunately, what we find this may not be your listeners, but they have a lot of buckets. They have retirement buckets, their cash, their investments, their insurance, but they aren't talking to each other. And so that's really what a plan does helps everything, that loud noise make it quieter so that everything can work together.

Speaker 2 8:13

Which is very important for women because men, you know, for women, particularly middle-aged women looking to transition, you know, we've been the providers and in survival mode for so long, but we're looking for what you referenced earlier, that freedom and getting your time back and having the confidence to step out and be able to do those things.

Speaker 3 8:30

It's interesting, guys l love a plan. But and females really gravitate to a plan, but uh females will stay on a plan. Where guys, I mean most some of them will, but in six months something hot and new is got their attention and they're off the plan and chasing it. And you know, I'm guilty of that as a guy, but women are the best at staying on a plan and being loyal and sticking to it, and the big thing, and you just said it, the financial security part, knowing that they're gonna be secure. Yeah.

Speaker 1 9:07

This sort of ties into something that we talked a lot about, and that's the difference between how women deal with business and opening businesses and making transitions differently than men do, and you just touched on the fact that women that you see might handle the structure of a plan better than men do, or differently, at least. What do you think is the issue with women though, who, as Serena said earlier, have this wealth now in their lives. They control a greater part of financial decision making for their families, and yet they lack the confidence to really do something for their financial futures or even their financial presence. They just

Why Women Still Feel Uncertain

Speaker 1 9:53

lack that confidence when it comes to money and financial planning.

Speaker 3 9:57

I think that's a great question. I find that it's probably more about do I have enough? Am I gonna be heard? Is somebody gonna have speak that that I'm not gonna understand? They're gonna talk over me. That's what I find. You know, the second opinions we get where people are with another advisor for 10, 15, and 20 years, what they're looking for is someone that's gonna listen to them and help create a plan that's their goals, not someone else's. That's not product driven, that's based on what their goals are, that's gonna give them that financial security.

Speaker 1 10:33

And how do you help women and men and and whoever might be trying to educate themselves about their financial future, their financial present? How do you help them develop those goals? Because it seems to be a big, lofty thing that you would have to pursue. Like, what is my financial goal? If you just had to save that. I mean, obviously everybody would say, well, I want to be rich, I want to be retired, I want to live on an island, I want to do whatever I might want to do. But how do you go about educating somebody about what their goals could be, should be, would be if they did X, Y, and Z?

Speaker 3 11:14

The hardest thing is to get people to come in and sit down and have a conversation. Either they're afraid or that that word, that procrastination, you know, we can't get our time back. You know, and so just have a conversation with someone that you can find that's not gonna have a product conversation with you, it's gonna find out right away. We all are people, we all put our pants on the same way. We have all started that conversation, and I've had to do it. And it's probably like as an attorney getting your wills done. I find more attorneys that haven't had their own wills done. Same thing as financial advisors. So I had to go out ten years ago, hire somebody outside my firm because I knew I wanted a fresh lens, someone to look at it and say, you know, are you on track? You're not on track, and then every year engage with them. And so I think it's real simple is that finding someone that you're comfortable with that's gonna listen, that it's just like counseling that you can sit down with and have a conversation and find out, you know, what does life look like? When your kids go to school, what position you want to be in. It could be a conversation with someone helping them pay their debt down. Because debt is the easiest thing to say. You know, I'm gonna kick the can down the road. I'm just gonna pay the minimum on my credit card bills. And so if we can get people and help people to really understand what's important to them and let them see a path that is really not that hard, that that's gonna give them that clarity and confidence and then purpose to move past their credit cards onto planning for a bigger future for them.

Speaker 2 12:57

And engaging in that, even if it's not the perfect engagement, and you don't develop that first plan immediately, but you have to take that first step. And this comes up in a lot of our conversations about transitions and pivots. You have to take the first step and just, you know, feeling safe with someone. And so I think that that's probably something that y'all bring here as a boutique investment firm is it's a welcoming feel when you come in. It's not intimidating. I've met a number of your staff in here today, and they're all very engaging and conversational, and so that has to make people feel welcome and confident when they come in and they sit down to have those conversations with y'all.

Speaker 3 13:36

Well, thank you. I think we've really worked hard on building a client experience where people feel at home. And that's that is important. And what we don't want to do is have a phone call with someone and then send them a bunch of forms and spreadsheets for them to fill out because how is that helpful? Because a lot of times, one, they're gonna procrastinate or two, they don't know. They just need clarity. Sit down and help them figure it out on their own.

Speaker 2 14:03

How do you drill down to what's important with a person when they first come in and sit down with you about what's important financially to them? How how do you get to the bottom of that?

Speaker 3 14:12

I think if you start small, it it's hard for me to see five years, ten years, and twenty years. I kind of know what that picture looks like, but if you can talk to someone in the next year, two years, three years, thirty-six months, and say thirty-six months from today, what is your life has to happen for you to feel great, successful, regardless if you think that's gonna happen or not. What what is that goal that you know with clarity that I would love for this to happen? And then backing into it and helping them get there, taking baby steps, have a good friend that runs the marathons, he's 62 years old, and he's been running his whole life. I would love to do that. And it sounds treacherous sometimes, but really I think the high of it, but you know what, there's probably at my stage of life, I'm probably not going to get there, but I could, but I have to learn to run a mile first and having those small conversations. But it it really comes down to instead of retirement, what does freedom look like? At what age would you like to be in a position to say, these are the things that I want to accomplish when I'm not working anymore? When I'm not really working, when I'm doing something else. Retirement, if you look back before the 1900s, retirement is such a new word. And then diving deeper into, you know, I think people think in retirement that they're gonna spend less. And what we find in retirement that there's necessity dollars, that's to pay your mortgage or to pay the light bill, to cable bill, I call that stay home and eat peanut butter and jelly sandwiches. And then there's the lifestyle dollars. In retirement, if we're talking about retirement, we find there's three stages. And our plans, we plan to age 100 because we want to be as conservative as we can. And so during retirement, it's kind of funny. We call them the go years, that's from 60 to late 70s, then we call it the slower years, or ages like 78 to age 88 to 90, and then the no-go years. Yeah. And so really planning through those stages and making sure our buckets are working together to accomplish that for you. So to answer your question, it really is having a conversation. And you don't have to know all the answers. It's just it's kind of like this building. We started at 10,000 feet with a plan, a blueprint, and then over six months we got 200 feet. Yeah. So it's not about being perfect. I think that's what I'm saying.

Speaker 2 16:52

Right.

Speaker 3 16:52

You we don't have to be perfect.

Speaker 1 16:54

Have perfection, but have movement.

Speaker 3 16:56

Yeah, movement.

Speaker 1 16:58

And when that client comes in for the first time and engages with you, do you feel like that gives them some sort of agency over their financial planning and financial future?

Speaker 3 17:11

Yeah, I hope so. That would be a waste of their time and and ours. And so when they either it's on a Zoom meeting for the first time or prefer they be here, they want them to leave that I am excited about the next steps. You know, I'm ready to get them. As soon as I get the email, I want to send over my information so that we can start that process. Yeah. Yeah, I'm ready to take action. That's really the goal at the end of the meeting is it for them when they get in their car to feel so good about the next steps.

Speaker 1 17:44

And where does the confidence come in, the client confidence come in? Does it come from the outcomes that they realize or from understanding their options or something else?

Speaker 3 17:56

I don't want to downplay returns because you know, money, if you look at cash over time, if you just put money in the bank over 25 years, it's two percent. Inflation is over three percent. So the biggest risk there is losing money. So having your money invested properly, that it's working together for your plan is really important. But I think the most important thing, since we can't control a lot of that, we can just design that into the plan. That is to give you the confidence to know that whatever your goals are, can we meet those goals or do we need to pivot? And this happens a lot. If if someone wants to retire at 63 and it's not realistic, I'd rather we I would rather know. So now when I go to work and need to work to age 67, I'm working with a little bit more purpose and there's a lot more meaning to it. So I think for your question, I think that's really giving them clarity about they may not quit working at 67, or they may start doing a podcast like the two of you. So many people are not retiring, they're going into doing something else that they're more passionate about. They're burned out at what they're doing. And they've been doing it for 35, 40 years. I think we all have a little of that. Right. Well, amen to that.

Speaker 1 19:23

And being able to have some confidence that you can afford to do that.

Speaker 3 19:31

That's right.

Speaker 1 19:31

Is really the luxury of it all. And you know, part of what we've talked about is people getting their head out of the sand about where they are financially and really coming to terms with no matter what age they are, I gotta take a look at this because I'm not gonna be able to open up a store or a gallery or start a podcast or vacation wherever I want to go if I don't start it now. No matter when that date is, right? I mean, it's not too late. You you've gotta you gotta make a plan though.

Speaker 3 20:04

Yeah, you said it earlier, but I think that's the biggest hesitation. Do I have enough to sit down to have a conversation? And we've all started the same place.

Speaker 1 20:13

And is there an answer for that?

Speaker 3 20:16

There's not. There's there's really it's wherever you are. Wherever you are. I was meeting with a lady yesterday. You know, on average, my average client is new client, is it's kind of crazy. We just looked at this as 58 years old.

Speaker 2 20:28

Wow, that seems late.

Speaker 3 20:30

It does, right? And it's not that they have they have a lot of buckets of money, but it's kind of like we getting your wills done, it's that procrastination. A plan is not, as I said this earlier, just not your investment statements. It's looking, having a clear plan. And so I find that once you've raised your children, that's about that age, they're finished with school, and you're saying, I'm ready. My wife and I are ready to focus on, or me and my partner are ready to focus on on us. But yesterday I was meeting with a lady in Austin, and she's 40, really successful. And she says, You know, I think I'm on track. And I asked her what keeps her up at night. She said, wondering if I'm gonna be okay. And so, really, what that told me is she wanted guardrails to say, Hey, where am I? Everybody wanted some level of accountability of knowing their own accountability of, hey, am I on track? And so that's what she was looking for.

Money Emotions And Longevity Planning

Speaker 2 21:32

And so you mentioned she said, uh, am I gonna be okay? There's a lot of emotional weight around money. Some of it is learned behaviors from seeing the way that your parents handle finances. Sometimes it comes through tragedies that occur during life or just unexpected events. So, how do you help clients work through grappling with the emotional weight around money?

Speaker 3 21:54

If you think about life, to me, the most important thing in life are relationships and with your family, the People you work with, it seems in my experience, the biggest thing that can hinder those relationships is money. And when money isn't properly used as a tool, I wouldn't say money is a god or it controls you instead of you controlling it. And it's just a tool. And so probably all of us have been in a place where money controlled you. At least I have. And so when you can have someone to work with, and we were talking about the conversation earlier, sit down and have those conversations and help turn it so that you're in more control of it. So it's really not as big of a deal. I don't know if I'm answering your question.

Speaker 1 22:35

Yeah, yeah, no, you are.

Speaker 3 22:36

I find that with my daughter. My daughter's twenty-seven, and I've been talking to her about guardrails and saving even saving a hundred dollars a month.

Speaker 22:46

Yeah.

Speaker 3 22:46

You know, getting in a position of being in a habit. It's so habit-related. Yes. And developing good, strong habits.

Speaker 2 22:55

So referencing back something you mentioned earlier about longevity, we know now that women on average live five to seven years longer than their partners. And so you may have experienced dealing with finances alone as a young person or maybe after you went through a divorce. But it it's most likely that a lot of women will deal with financial decisions by themselves after the loss of a partner. So how does that play into financial planning?

Speaker 3 23:21

Yeah, I think it's it's really important. There's an interesting st statistic recently that 80% of women will handle or work on their finances alone due to divorce or widowed or just life circumstances. So being able to have a plan that addresses longevity, you know, when the biggest risk for longevity is is care. I mean, unfortunately those things happen where females are about a 70% chance that that will happen to them at some part, and that's, you know, eight, ten, or twelve thousand dollars a month, and most of them, you know, have beautiful homes. They want a choice to stay home, to have choices. And so having a plan that gives them the choices to put them in control. If something were to happen to them, that they're in a great place. But but longevity, my mom's eighty-six, and you know, I think what I've learned is in your sixties you tend to spend more, in your seventies a little bit less, in your eighties a little bit less, but you may have financially enough money. But my experience in living this with my parents, even though they have a plan and they have enough money, that you always feel like you're gonna run out of money, that the check's gonna bounce at the bank. People used to say that to me. I want to live long enough where the check, I'm gonna die when the check bounces at the bank. That's terrible, isn't it? You know, your assets are going like this. And so I will just tell you that in your mid-80s, and we have a lot of clients that are in that 80s, that you know, the biggest thing we can do is continue to instill confidence in them that everything's gonna be okay. You know, and so having a plan, creating a plan if you're 40, 50, or 60 for those days, because we can't go back to work. You aren't gonna run down the capital when you're 85 or 90. We hope not, right?

Speaker 25:14

I hope not.

Speaker 3 25:17

Right, so we are going back to work. So, but that is a tangible question, is just it's very similar to earlier, is finding out what's important to you and sitting down and developing a plan that covers not only the risk of running out of money, but all your risk.

Speaker 1 25:37

Yeah.

Speaker 3 25:37

And talking about it. So those are really not so much risk, they're opportunities for you.

Involving Spouses And Educating Kids

Speaker 1 25:43

And Todd, talk a little bit about how important it is to engage both members of the couple in a financial plan when you meet with a couple together. Because I would think, just based upon what I know anecdotally about women I've come across in my life and career, when something big happens, like divorce or death, or husband loses a job, a wife loses a job, it seems to me that the women in the scenario are blindsided a lot of times about what their financial situation is. And then they are left scrambling to sort of pick up pieces or figure out a new plan for themselves because they weren't involved in the beginning. Can you talk a little bit about the involvement of both spouses and why that's important and what our listeners could potentially do to engage more in that process?

Speaker 3 26:45

You know, it is such a disservice to us if we have a relationship with, and I've experienced this three times last year, where two of the spouses we had a relationship with and one we didn't. And it's already gonna be when someone dies and we're all gonna that's gonna happen. Both of these gentlemen died early. That if we have a relationship with the family and the spouse, it's already gonna be difficult. You know, but it's but there's so much more clarity. If we do not have a relationship with the spouse or the family, it's disaster for everybody. You know, everybody's gonna freeze up, nothing's gonna happen, and there's a lot of decisions that need to be made. So when we're talking about, and we can talk about more, something more than death in a minute, but it is really important that for us that we have both partners here. That is by the third meeting, we we want or we request that both partners be here for them to engage. Because this really doesn't put our team and them and trying to if we want to serve and help them, we can't do that. So I I I think it's we're working really hard to our clients to not only know their their spouse, but also their children, so that there's continuity in planning. So it's something like this, when it does happen, that their values and their goals continue and so that the plan continues on, because then what is all that time we spend on doing it, and then it unravels. So so we we work in the last 24 months we worked really hard, not only to have the spouse, but also to make sure we're involving in educational meetings about finances with the children.

Speaker 2 28:39

And you know, there's there's no age too young, I would presume. I mean, in particular, you know, the age and stage that we are in life. Our children are out of the house. I've got two grown working. Well they're drifting. They're drifting. Um but I've got two that have their own their own homes. And and I've coached them through their life about saving and planning for the future, but I've never really pushed them to start working with a financial planner.

Speaker 3 29:06

Yeah. I mean, I am a financial planner, and my daughter had to have a conversation with someone else to realize, like, oh, I need to talk to my dad. So, but we really, if they're 12 years old, 18, or 32, is to have them in for an education meeting and just talk about finances 101. Really, for them, it's the value of time. You know, taking the value they have such a long runway, our runway is shorter. We still have a long runway, but not this long. And so it just it helps them in life and puts them in control. So, but back to the spouses, I think it's critical. It's really important. I mean, there's a nasty word called probate, in that if if we don't get a handle on that and have everybody at the pebble and have clarity around it, they're talking about chaos.

Speaker 2 29:57

Yeah. And money divides a lot of families.

Speaker 3 29:59

It does, doesn't it? Yeah. And it's just a tool, and it's really sad that you can have relationships that that can fall apart because of that.

Speaker 1 30:09

Because of it, yeah. You definitely don't want that. Talking about the kids' situation, it seems to me that younger people are staying younger. As as we talk about older people staying alive longer, they don't really launch careers maybe till their early 30s. So I wonder if that hesitation around getting control over financial planning, whether you see the impacts of that decision making. Like Terene and I were talking before the show about the fact that we both started working when we were 15 years old. I mean, my first job was Baskin Robbins. What about you?

Speaker 2 30:49

My first job was uh lifeguard at the country club.

Speaker 1 30:52

Yeah, so I mean, I remember, and I've still got it, my first paycheck was like $9.68. I think I made like $1.65 an hour. And I was so happy. And then and my mom was in banking at the time, and I remember getting the check, and there was like the stub that said five dollars, whatever you know all the things that was not. What happened? But I remember her saying, you know, you gotta pay yourself first. That was like always her mantra. No matter how much money you take, you gotta pay yourself first, meaning you need to put some money in savings. And you know, I've tried to teach that to to Ellie, my daughter, to say, when you make something, save a little bit because you're gonna always wanna go back. I wonder, because you know, at 15 I knew that I was gonna be out of the house, at least at the time college was over. But now I don't think at 15 kids think they're gonna be out of the house until they're 30. You know. Do you have any sense of of the impact of that sort of extension of of youth and what that has on financial planning for this next generation?

Speaker 3 31:55

Yeah, I think it definitely builds I hate to use this word entitlement, right? Or addressing the responsibility of it and maturity.

Speaker 32:04

Yeah.

Speaker 3 32:05

And so definitely we've talked about this, if we can help a child create a budget and even looking at like subscriptions. Like I mean, they before they know it, they go, really? That is what that cost, you know, bringing a reality and then having the parents say, you know, it it doesn't have to be all or nothing, but maybe we start letting them pay their own car insurance and their own cell phone for six months, and then start cutting back on those other expenses to create some responsibility, and that really, you know, gives them a greater sense of clarity and confidence, and we talk about purpose in their own life. So they know those Amazon packages just don't show up.

Speaker 1 32:50

Right. Somebody's paying for it. Right. I mean, it is so easy now, and I feel like that's one of the hesitations that not only women, but I'm sure men have too about saving anything, because not only is life very expensive, but it's so easy now just to spend everything that you have, you know, and feel like well, I don't have anything left over, and it's so easy to spend. So, you know, all of a sudden you're you're using a card, you're not using cash anymore. So you used to be able to have all your cash and you would know how much you had left at the end of the day.

Speaker 2 33:24

Now it's just this you just put it off that close to the end of the- You don't even have to click the side of your phone.

Speaker 1 33:33

That's right. And all of a sudden you're buying a 495 coffee. Yeah, you know, or you're buying a 1999 whatever it is off of Amazon that, you know, makes it a lot of people.

Speaker 3 33:42

Before you know that you've spent $200 for the day. Yeah.

Speaker 33:45

Yeah.

Speaker 3 33:46

It's just and I think you brought up a good point of making it simple, right? Saving 10% of your income, getting it back to because that's how the parents got there. Yeah. You know, and that's probably what's been missed.

Speaker 1 33:59

Yeah, and I think it's because it's easier to A, ignore it, B, because you want things now in that whole instant gratification. And unless you have a plan for doing that, like I think when you start a job in your career and maybe they start taking out your 401k or doing something like that, you've got like a forced way of making sure that you taking out 5% or whatever it is that you want to take out. You don't even know that money's there because it's just taken out. But a lot of people don't have that luxury of a 401k, you know, so they've got to physically ensure that they they do that every time. And I do sense that that maybe is getting lost in the next generations of not being in the habit, like you said, of doing that.

Speaker 2 34:49

The discipline behind it.

Speaker 3 34:51

The discipline, yeah. If they don't set a separate account up, and sometimes that account could be deferred to spending, right? But to at least get them in the habit of putting money into those accounts that's you know, it's got some guardrails on it, it's protected.

Speaker 1 35:06

We used to have a Christmas club. Oh, yeah, remember the Christmas club account. I know, that was my first savings account. You just put a little money in there throughout the year, and then at December you get Christmas covered.

Speaker 3 35:20

We had a layaway.

Speaker 1 35:21

Yeah, and we had a layway. That's right. That's right.

Speaker 2 35:23

I remember that. Well, so you took a big leap this year and built a new building.

Legacy Values And Finding Your Number

Speaker 2 35:29

And so at this point in your career, what made you decide to do that?

Speaker 3 35:33

My dad was an advisor for 51 years. And I grew up in Bozier City, and he was such a inspiration or meant a lot to me in my life. And he died three years ago due to Alzheimer's. And and I had been thinking about this for about ten years, but after he passed away and circumstances changed that there were a couple of reasons. One, I wanted to build something that honored him. And so we built this building, his name's on it. I read something recently that your name will be remembered for two or three generations. So that's eighty to a hundred years. But if your name is on something you remember longer.

Speaker 36:19

Oh wow, yeah.

Speaker 3 36:20

And so that was really important to me because the goal for me is to build a firm. Eventually I won't be here, but that will last at least two hundred years to serve us when we're 70, 80, 90, and 100. So we can have a team of advisors that are here that are 30, 40, 50 years old to serve them. So really it came down to honor my dad, the client experience. And really, you met met my team. Yes, they you know they spend more time here than they do anywhere else. We all do. And so creating an environment for them that felt home, that they felt good about it, and they had a lot of purpose in being here and serving our clients. So really we work hard on creating a client experience, and that's after honoring my dad, is really something that people feel comfortable to come have a conversation. So thank you for asking.

Speaker 2 37:18

Well, a lot of times people look at money and the way that values drive money, but what about the other way around? How does money drive values in some instances?

Speaker 3 37:29

When you go from not having a lot of money to having a lot of money quickly, if you don't have that stable base, you can be humble pretty quick, you know. And so I think you really see it when it happens, what the values are. And it's probably a shock to your system, like well, I've come from here to here, but it happens, you know, there are a lot of businesses being sold, or unfortunately people dying and with proceeds that they weren't expecting that they were going to receive or didn't know. And how do I handle that? And so, and as I said earlier, money is just a tool. And really finding out going back to what your values are, what's important to you, if it's making sure you're secure, leaving a legacy, or making sure that you can sleep at night and not worry about it. Yeah, probably the biggest question I like to ask people what, especially on our age group, what keeps you up at night? And most of the people thinking about, do I have enough when they think about what keeps you up at night financially? Do I have enough? Am I on track? But really, what's my number?

Speaker 2 38:39

That's a my husband and I discuss that all the time. Yeah, what's your number? How do you figure out what your number is?

Speaker 3 38:45

Yeah, so that's that's really what we do in a plan.

Speaker 2 38:47

Yeah.

Speaker 3 38:47

We help them determine really what their number is, and that's really what the plan does.

Speaker 2 38:54

And as you said earlier, it it's not set in stone. And you can decide five years from now, no, I want my number bigger, or in three years say, I'll live with a smaller number. That's right. You know, having flexibility.

Speaker 39:05

Yeah.

Speaker 2 39:05

And that's something that the clarity and the flexibility is what y'all can bring to the table for your clients.

Speaker 3 39:11

And probably I would say 60% of the plans we run initially for someone in our age group. You know, it's kind of a wish list of their 58. Hey, I want to retire at 60.

Speaker 39:24

Yeah.

Speaker 3 39:24

But really, in reality, we probably need to retire at 66 or 7. So probably a higher percentage of those if we need to work a little bit longer because there's some red in there where we haven't met our number. But it gives them the clarity for those next three or four or five years to know that hey, I'm going to hit my number. And I know that at this age I can stop if I want to.

Speaker 2 39:46

Yeah.

Speaker 3 39:47

Have the freedom to choose.

Speaker 2 39:48

Freedom is the number one key.

Speaker 3 39:50

Freedom, yeah. Freedom to choose.

Speaker 2 39:52

So And seeing a light at the end of the tunnel of how you've spent the majority of your life, of your adult life, you know.

Speaker 1 39:59

So Todd, if financial planning is working the way that it should, how does someone's life feel generally?

Speaker 3 40:07

I think

Purpose After Work And Final Takeaways

Speaker 3 40:08

you always have some level of uncertainty about things, but it definitely gives you that clarity and confidence and purpose. Purpose of knowing that you can do things in life and not worry about it. If I want to go to Orlando and take my grandchildren on a Disney cruise or whatever it may be, or take them to Baskin Robbins, you know that, hey, I don't have to worry about it. And what we what we find in retirement is that when you were working and the air conditioner went out, you didn't worry about it. Right? That's $15,000, which is a lot. I'm gonna fix that. But when you're in retirement and those things happen, we find that that's where a little bit of uncertainty. It keeps you up at night and coming back to the plan and go, it doesn't matter, everything's gonna be okay. It is important, but everything is gonna be okay, giving you that clarity that everything's gonna be fine.

Speaker 1 41:03

I would think there's a calmness too that overcomes you, knowing I've got this goal in mind and I can work towards this goal, however, I'm gonna do that, and maybe I can adjust the goal if I'm burned out at work. Maybe I decide I I don't need to have X, Y, and Z when I'm 65 or whatever. Life's a trade-off. So having that financial plan working allows me, like you said, the freedom to do those kinds of things.

Speaker 3 41:34

Yeah, and work gives most of us a lot of purpose. It's about impact, it's bigger than you. And so we do find a good amount of plans are run where someone thought they were wanting to retire to a certain age, and they get to that age and they go, you know what, I want to teach school. It's gonna be a lot less money, but we can figure it out by basically by them quitting saving and just letting their money grow and living on their teacher income and maybe a little bit of their investments, and they feel so good about it. They have such a purpose and what they're doing. And so I think it's it's not about little days of sitting at home with the Budweiser watching the football game, it's developing options.

Speaker 1 42:15

I think that's what that longevity does for generational growth and like knocking on wood and everything else, but giving you another purpose. So maybe you spend 35 years in your career and you want to find purpose elsewhere. It doesn't it doesn't mean just like you said, getting your lazy boy's hair and slogging back the beer. You know what I mean? Which could have been, you know, a couple of generations ago, that's really the only options that there were. And now there are so many more options.

Speaker 3 42:45

I mean, you remember in your twenties and you looked at 60 year olds and you went, God, they look old. Oh, I don't guess. And so that's why you would feel really that's what the plan is about. Yeah. So that you can have purpose and continue to do what you want to do in life and and with the people that you love.

Speaker 2 43:09

So you've been doing this now for 38 years, and in that 38 years, what have you learned most about people and approaching financial planning?

Speaker 3 43:22

I think relationships, I think I said earlier, the most important asset. And that is if it's with your family, your spouse, Christ, or your children. We talk a lot about relationship capital and and really learning in life. Part of it is the financial planning, but part of it is how to utilize that relationship capital so you feel good about it. And so really getting a clear understanding on that. And when I started, I wasn't a very good problem solver. You know, I was twenty two years old and going meetings and sweat. You know, I just I wasn't So green at what I did, but 38 years later, which is crazy to think, but the problem solving and the conversations and being able to sit with somebody and help them in a 30 minute, 60-minute, or 90-minute conversation, I feel really good and get clarity. That's what I think I've learned. I'm I'm not I'm definitely not the master of my craft, but I strive to be, because this is kind of like my mission field, this is where God has me, and I love doing it. And so those are things that I continue to work on to get better at being a problem solver.

Speaker 1 44:38

What's the best life advice you've ever been given?

Speaker 3 44:42

To pay yourself first and live within your means. You know, our parents were all recession children, and they taught that to us. They taught us to do that and to work hard, house with equity. And that's we're in a different generation now. And so really financially, the best part of live within your means, save first, pay yourself first.

Speaker 1 45:04

Well, I think we could all learn from that. I think it's time was advice. It was advice I was given and tried to follow and instill in younger people that I've mentored and raised. So I totally agree with that.

Speaker 2 45:17

I think that go through phases like where I'm hyper focused on it, and then if things will be going well, and I'll be like, ah, you know, I can get a little loose, and then you get it, you gotta drill down again and get really focused. I just went through all my subscriptions recently and I was like, what am I paying? What am I paying for this? You know, you're paying double. Yes. You're right.

Speaker 3 45:35

Oh my god, Bendora twice.

Speaker 2 45:38

I mean I had two Amazon accounts. I was like, two Amazon accounts.

Speaker 3 45:43

You know, that that brings you asked earlier about when we talked about people are hesitant to have a conversation, but also we aren't robots. You know, go through different stages, and I think we all go through different stages in life, and nothing not every minute, every day is perfect or the way we planned it. Life is up and down every minute, and it's I think part of planning is not only it's not planning for the highs, you know, that's great, but planning for the lows.

Speaker 2 46:16

Yeah.

Speaker 3 46:17

To give you that buffer.

Speaker 1 46:19

That's good advice right there for sure. Todd, this has been a great conversation. Thank you so much. I think our listeners are gonna learn a lot, enjoy hearing your expertise, and just begin having thoughts in their heads about what to do next in their lives if they don't have a financial plan and what they might be able to do even if they take a first step, like what we've been telling them pretty much every episode seems to circle back to that, right?

Speaker 2 46:49

Yeah, yeah. The next the next first step is coming again. That's really yeah.

Speaker 3 46:53

I want to commend the two of you. I mean, that at this stage in life and where you are that that you both decided like, you know, eight months ago or something to start this and look at look at the success you've had, but really look at the impact. I mean, the people that are listening. My daughter was listening the other day and she texted me.

unknown 47:14

I love it.

Speaker 3 47:15

I love it. And so, but look at the people you're reaching, and there's so much depth to it. So my hat's off to you. I'm honored to be here. Thank you for having me.

Speaker 1 47:23

Well, thanks very much for that. We've had a fun time. It's been good. Yeah. And we have to do rapid fire. Okay, go ahead.

Speaker 2 47:32

So this is never in the script. Um, and at the end, I will give you a couple of phrases and you say the first thing that comes to mind.

Speaker 1 47:40

Pairs well with a long, busy work week, and at the end of the week, when you sit down and deciding what to order at the restaurant or bar.

Speaker 3 47:52

Yeah, a great glass of red wine.

Speaker 2 47:55

We definitely need to have yellow over then. All right, I'll give you one more. Pairs well with legacy versus newness. Legacy versus newness. I mean, because you're building on your dad's legacy, but you build a brand new building.

Speaker 3 48:11

Yeah, that's good. So foundation.

Speaker 2 48:15

That's a great word. You have to have both.

Speaker 3 48:17

Yeah, so I'll show you this. Well, dear still. So this is this is when when the floor they when they put the the pad down, and so it was on a Friday. I came over here and I got three bottles of this dirt. Oh wow so that 100, 200 years from today, we have what is this all based on? And it's like anything, right? It's you have to have a strong foundation. So that's great. And it's not perfect. It's still gonna have some cracks in it, and things are gonna happen, the pipes are gonna back up, but you know what? It was built with purpose. So purpose built. So that's awesome. Yeah.

Speaker 1 48:59

All right, I've got one more rapid fire. Investing, is it more like sitting in a deer stand or going out duck hunting?

Speaker 3 49:11

Yeah, I think it's more duck hunting.

Speaker 1 49:12

Is it?

Speaker 3 49:13

Yeah. I think it's you know, when you're when you're when you're deer hunting, and here's one, we talked about isolation.

Speaker 49:19

Yeah.

Speaker 3 49:20

When you're in a deer stand, you're isolated. When you're duck hunting, what I love about bird hunting, it's about the fellowship. You're with others. You may not kill anything, but you've spent a lot of time at the end of the day. You've heard some great stories and had some great fellowship, and you're gonna remember that.

Speaker 2 49:35

Yeah, that is good. I like that.

Speaker 3 49:38

Great question.

Speaker 2 49:39

Oh no, that was good.

unknown 49:41

Thanks.

Speaker 2 49:42

Well, thanks again.

Speaker 3 49:44

Thank you, ladies.

Speaker 2 49:44

Thank you so much.

Speaker 3 49:45

Thank you so much. Thank you for having me. Cash, thank you for joining us.

Speaker 2 49:48

I know, right, Cash, thank you. To our listeners, thanks for joining us again. Pairs Well with it was a blessing today to visit Todd Tauzin and learn about financial stability in your life. So the show notes will have links to this episode and to Todd's firm so you can learn more about financial planners and what they can assist you with moving forward. And we'll see you next time on Pairs Well With. The content of this podcast is for informational and entertainment purposes only. Although your hosts are attorneys, pairs well with does not provide legal, medical, financial, or professional advice. Listening to this podcast does not create an attorney client relationship. Always seek the advice of qualified professionals regarding any specific questions or concerns you may have.