The Legacy & Wealth Podcast

The Wealth Expert: Most Rich Men Know Nothing About Money

• Mitchel Clark — The Standard • Season 1 • Episode 7

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Financial Expert and Owner of Stratum Ridge, Brandon Gerfen shares a powerful journey from a difficult childhood and military service to managing investments and advising high-net-worth clients. This conversation explores the mindset shifts, financial frameworks, and life lessons that shape men who are building wealth while protecting what matters most.

Brandon Gerfen is a wealth and investment manager with over a decade of experience in the financial industry. He began his career at JPMorgan Chase, quickly rising through the ranks before moving into private wealth management and helping grow a registered investment advisory firm managing billions in assets. After years of advising affluent clients and business owners, Brandon recently launched his own investment firm. His background also includes over a decade of service in the United States Marine Corps, including deployments overseas, which helped shape the discipline and perspective he brings to business and leadership.


In this episode, we discuss:

• How a challenging childhood and unstable home environment shaped Brandon’s drive and resilience
 • The lessons the Marine Corps teaches about discipline, leadership, and responsibility
 • Why many high earners with millions still don’t understand how money actually works
 • The difference between earning money and managing wealth effectively
 • The importance of structure and clarity when building a financial plan
 • Why stability and consistency are often the defining traits of successful individuals
 • The emotional side of money, family expectations, and helping others financially
 • How high-net-worth individuals invest differently once they gain access to private markets

The Legacy & Wealth Podcast, hosted by Mitchell Clark and presented by The Standard, features conversations with entrepreneurs, executives, and high-performing men who are building wealth, leadership, and legacy. Each episode explores the strategies, lessons, and experiences behind success while addressing the responsibility that comes with leadership, family, and long-term impact.


Timestamps:
00:00 Introduction and opening discussion on money and entitlement
01:00 Introduction to the Legacy & Wealth Podcast
01:20 Brandon Gerfen’s current role as a wealth and investment manager
02:00 Career journey from JPMorgan to building his own firm
07:40 Brandon’s early life and difficult childhood environment
14:30 Joining the Marine Corps and lessons from military service
18:40 Deployments to Iraq and Afghanistan
20:50 Searching for camaraderie and brotherhood after the military
21:30 Why Brandon joined The Standard
25:30 Financial advising principles and helping clients plan their future
33:20 Common traits among high-net-worth individuals
36:30 The difference between entrepreneurs and intrapreneurs
40:20 Income levels and the point where lifestyle satisfaction plateaus
43:00 Investment strategies for clients with $10M+ net worth
48:50 Emotional decisions around helping family with money
52:30 The philosophy of saving, spending, and long-term freedom

SPEAKER_00

You'd be surprised at the amount of people who have three, five, seven, ten million dollars that don't know anything about money. The first time you do something or give somebody something, they're grateful. They feel, oh, this is a gift. Maybe even the second time, right? By the third time, it becomes an expectation. And by the fourth time, they feel like they deserve it and they're entitled to it.

SPEAKER_01

A lot of the work ethic and things you developed explain, was that instilled to you a childhood? Did you have to learn that lesson later on?

SPEAKER_00

My mom and dad were heavy alcohol, heavy drug addict multiple times seeing my dad get arrested after beating my mom up. She's black and blue. Let's go from chronological because this is a really crazy story you've had. Afghanistan was super cold because I was there in the middle of the winter, so it was brutal. I'm there three hours and I'm walking back in my can and we watch an army guy get hit with a mortar. Yeah.

SPEAKER_01

And what people don't realize is Welcome to the Legacy and Wealth Podcast, a show for proven high-earning men who value wealth, character, and a lasting legacy. Brought to you by the Standard, a private membership community for high performers. My name is Mitchell Clark, and today I'm joined by fellow Standard member Brandon Gurfin. Thanks, man. Thanks for having me. No worries. Uh let's get right into it. The first question I have for you is how do you currently make money right now?

SPEAKER_00

I am a wealth and investment manager. Um about six or seven months ago, I left and and started my own firm. So that's exciting.

SPEAKER_01

Okay. So pretty recently.

SPEAKER_00

Yeah, yeah, yeah, for sure. Okay. I've been in the industry for over a decade now. Um, started with one of the biggest wealth managers in the world. Uh, then I went a little bit smaller and helped build up an RIA to managing about our RIA, I should say, uh registered investment advisor that manages now close to three billion dollars. They were about two and a half when I left. Um, before I got where when I first got there, they were about 700 million. So a lot of growth, a lot of experience gained there, a lot of knowledge to now get out there and do my own thing.

SPEAKER_01

What were the companies who you work for?

SPEAKER_00

I used to work for JP Morgan. Um obviously. That's the that's the big big daddy of them all, right? They manage a lot of people don't know this, they manage about 40% of the world's billionaires, about half of the world's wealth overall flows through JP Morgan one way or another. It's pretty crazy. So I know that. Um then I then from there I went to I went the smaller route. I actually, I should say I had a small stint at Ed Jones. That was about 10 months kind of right as COVID hit. Um then I, you know, the people at uh Trade and Wealth, they found me, said Jeff wants to have a conversation. I flew out to Arizona. He said I've been wanting to get into Texas for a long time. Um he was thinking about moving in Plano, and I said, Well, we should probably start in Frisco first, and it was kind of off to the races. Okay.

SPEAKER_01

So what made you want to get into that field? I I know we're a little familiar with each other. You had a military background, which we'll get into, but what made you want to go into this sector or did it kind of happen by chance?

SPEAKER_00

Um it happened a little bit by chance. Um what I'll say is I I was in after I got out of the military, I did nothing but rental real estate for myself for about three years. Uh a friend of mine said, Brandon, you know, I'm I really need some help with my oil field company. We're really starting to grow. Can you come in and help me manage the day-to-day operations and those things? And so went there, helped him grow his company. Um mutually beneficial. It was just our thing. I oil field wasn't really my thing. We decided to part ways. Um, you know, his c his company's still successful. Um then I got into all the while still managing rental properties and fixing those up and doing those things, right? But then I got into car sales, um, where I ran into a branch manager for Chase Bank. Um, and I had applied at Chase before because I have a friend who works there as a as a branch manager. And um, when I previously applied, they you know they weren't interested. But for whatever reason, new market director come in, new people came in, and then she recommended me to their boss, the market director. And so that's kind of how I fell into finance, um, so to speak. But you know, everybody knows who Chase Bank is, and so that's why you look at this where I want to work.

SPEAKER_01

Okay. So then from there, um so what made you you went into Chase? Now, JP Organ owns Chase. Is that what's okay? Gotcha. Okay. So how long did you kind of make that climb? So you start off kind of entry level. What roles did you fill at JP Morgan before you went on to the next thing?

SPEAKER_00

Yeah, it actually didn't take me very long. And I think we talked a little bit about this. Yeah, you know, trials and tribulations really have not followed me into my career life while I may have experienced them earlier on. But um my career, I've been very fortunate. Uh, so I went into chase not really knowing anything other than how to be somewhat of a salesperson, I guess you could say. But really, all of sales is just listening to people developing a relationship and finding a need to meet or finding something that meets that need, right? So um what I'll say is uh I was there for about three months, and my boss is the branch manager, his boss is the market director, and then his boss is the regional director. The regional director calls down and said, Hey, who's the Brandon Gurfin guy? He is absolutely destroying all of our other personal bankers in the region. Um, I think we should get him securities licensed. So I went and got securities license about three months in. That takes, you know, a three-month or so process to get licensed. So that's all I did. Studied every day in the office while trying to still help clients. But my main objective was kind of get securities licenses. That's how I went into that. And then honestly, I did that role for six months, and it was kind of the same story. Um, so then they moved me to what's called a private client banker role, which is you only deal with, I shouldn't say only you primarily deal with highly affluent people. So at Chase, what they categorized that was that you had to have a quarter million dollars or above at the time to work with a have a dedicated private client banker. And so then you develop a relationship with the private client advisor pretty close, and you guys become a team in assisting and helping those clients. And that's really where I started to truly learn um about the entire investment world.

SPEAKER_01

Okay. That's a really cool story. So you went from JP Morgan, what was the second company?

SPEAKER_00

Uh Trade and Wealth would be the would be the next kind of main stop. Uh, so I I should say this from at while I was at JP Morgan from becoming a private client banker, then I went to become a branch manager and I did that for a couple of years. Okay. Um, which a branch manager is not a licensed or a securities position. And then I kind of really realized that probably being in the security side was really where I felt more called to be, helping people with investments. Um, so then I go to to Trajan. They find me, and I was there for about four and a half years or so. Total time at that chase, I should say, was um was about five years, and then I did just about another five years at Trajan. So a little over 10 years in the industry, and um and now I'm off doing my own thing.

SPEAKER_01

What and what does that mean doing your own thing? Do you manage other people's wealth as your own kind of independent contractor, or how does that work?

SPEAKER_00

Yeah, so say say similar. Um, so I have uh access to investments in public markets, private markets, insurances. So I'll sit down with a client, figure out what they need. But in as terms as doing my own thing, it's yes, so someone will come in, we'll sit down and have what I call a discovery meeting where I'll do a bunch of figuring out what's truly important to them. Then how can I help them plan for what they're trying to accomplish? And then how can I manage their investments to make sure that those goals are accomplished?

SPEAKER_01

Okay, that's a lot of stuff to do right after a military career. So let's go from chronological, because this is a really crazy story you've had. There's not a lot of people that are able to pull off like all these, and also I believe you and your wife are also managing like a health clinic on the side. So there's not a lot of people that are able to do all these different things in life. So let's go back. Um, a lot of the work ethic and things you developed, explain, was that instilled to you at childhood? Did you have to learn that lesson later on? Like, how did you kind of what was your formative years like?

SPEAKER_00

Uh oh, so we're going way back again. We'll go way more than we'll go way back. I would say to answer your question directly, the who I became as kind of who I became, who I am now is who I became in the military, okay. Right in the Marines. So um formative years. Uh I I told you I wouldn't try to sugarcoat it too much, so I'll try to be as transparent as possible here to make sure that people truly understand. Um we moved around a ton. Um, we did not have a place that I feel like where most people have and say, This is my childhood, right? So it was Florida, Missouri, Illinois, wherever you want to say it, and then multiple places inside of there. Yeah. What I came later to realize was that a lot of those times is because we just couldn't afford to live there. We couldn't afford the rent. So we was either skipping in the middle of the night or we're getting evicted, or we didn't know. Um, and I didn't know any of that, right? Um, as a kid. I think the first time that I I really remembered that is uh probably fifth grade. I was waking my parents, woke me and my sisters up, middle of the night. It's like, hey, we're gonna go on a trip. And we're like, okay. So then I look around and our whole apartment's empty. There's boxes and stuff like that. And then we jump in a car. And you know, it was just another thing where we had got evicted. We just couldn't afford to.

SPEAKER_01

Was it both parents or were you in a single parent household?

SPEAKER_00

On and off. So I will say, um, I am fortunately unfortunate, right? You could you could say that um I I try to think of things in a in the best positive light as possible, just because you know it's it's been proven that it makes sense and uh or it's better for people to have a father in the home. And so I did have one. Um the down part about that was is that my mom and dad were heavy alcohol, heavy drug addicts, all of that stuff, and they really probably were not good for each other multiple times. Seeing my dad get arrested after beating my mom up, she's black and blue, um, bloody. She, but she's done the same thing. Don't get me wrong, she fought back, and sure. I've seen my dad bloodied as well. Um, and it was probably that happened till I was about 12 or 13, and then after that kind of stopped, I they one, they just got older, two really felt like okay, Brandon probably is gonna start stepping up here, and a couple of times I got in his face, but luckily we've never had to come to blows. But um and on.

SPEAKER_01

So you kind of held them accountable a little bit once you were big enough to I I think so.

SPEAKER_00

I think they they they just I think it also is some of the hard drug usage stopped, and they just did not do those things anymore. As far as the fighting.

SPEAKER_01

Yeah, no, the reason I asked, uh we we talked a little bit. I have a little bit of a similar experience, although mine was mostly a single parent household. Um, I remember for the first 10 years, um, my so I was born out of wedlock, and my mom married a man who was also like very psychologically abusive and abusive in other ways, but they were together for a few years and they would yell and fight and all those sorts of things. When they got divorced, now granted, I stayed in the same home for probably about 10 years. Yeah, but then after they got divorced, um I yeah, it was just me, my mom, brother, and sister, and we went from like a home to an apartment to eventually um we had to go to Section 8 housing. The last like I think my entire teenage years was mostly in Section 8 housing. So I get that. I I I know sometimes a lot has to do with you know single family households. Sometimes you just have two parents that just can't get their stuff together.

SPEAKER_00

So I I I mean, I I say that my dad was in and out of the house, not that he would have another relationship or anything like that. It was just he would just disappear from what I can recall thinking about it. But yeah, I don't know if Section 8 wasn't around when we were kids, but yeah, I clearly remember it was probably about the same time our teenage years. I was I was fortunate enough that from my um eighth grade year to my senior year, we were finally able to be in the same house. Okay. And so um I but that was when we and it was a true like Section 8 housing, the landlord didn't care. Um, and so it was it's one of those things, like you know, it's my mom's voucher, dad's not really supposed to be staying there because they're supposed to take his income in, but he's on and off working. Yeah, play that income game, yeah.

SPEAKER_01

So essentially, let's get into that just because selfishly speaking, I grew up in Section 8 housing, and it was weird because like you said, you you have to keep like if you are making an income, you can have to keep it a secret, otherwise they could kick you out of it. Yeah, um, they also have some very peculiar personalities that tend to live within these areas. So, what was that like?

SPEAKER_00

Um as a what I'll say is as a kid, I I I've made you make some of your best friends going through that when they can relate and they're also struggling.

SPEAKER_02

Okay.

SPEAKER_00

And so I have some very close friends who I'm still close with to this day, um, but really only two that I talk to, and we had probably uh seven, eight of us. The problem is the majority of those friends and then loose acquaintances, they go the other way. There's really only three of us who've made it out, quote unquote, because of that lifestyle. It's just a perpetual habit. Yeah. And so again, I'm grateful for the military. Um, that same time, right? One of those friends is he's coming to stay with me because he's having issues with his mom, his mom, whatever. And um, but I think that um I very fortunate to have developed some of those friendships because that's what really gets you through. That's really cool.

SPEAKER_01

I I'm trying to remember. I did have some friends, I don't keep up with them now, but I did have some like very loosely called them friends, people I hung out with in that area. Um, I remember my mom, uh, there's a a family friend that lived in that area. Like my my sister and brother had some friends, and their dad was like a single dad, and I had my mom, and they were kind of like the mom and dad of the neighborhood. Like all the kids would get together and either eat dinner over there or over with us or whatever, which was really good. There's an odd sense of community there. Sure. But what I've also seen is in those areas, you tend to either have um people that are like actively just dodging work, like they clearly can, but they're just not otherwise, they would lose all their benefits. You had some people that like through disease or disability or something, they have to have that.

SPEAKER_02

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01

Um, we also got a lot of refugees there too, um, from Nigeria of all places, or you know, in a multiple different areas, but you tend to have a pretty positive attitude about you know the formative years and all that. So going to the Marines, was that right out of high school, or what did that process look like?

SPEAKER_00

Yeah. So I joined um my junior going into my senior year that summer, and you there's the late entry program, as you may or may not know, right? Yeah. Um, in in that, uh, I was there for about 11 months or so, but basically right after about four days after I turned 18, I was in boot camp. So um it was great. I mean, it's probably the time of your life. Yeah. I mean, honestly, it yeah, I again I'm I've worked very hard to become and look at things in a positive light because there's so much negativity that I could take from all of that. You focus on the negative, you're gonna find it. You focus on the positive, you're gonna find it, right? That's what they say. So the Marines, I will say uh again, I it's kind of weird. I'm not as close to some of the Marines that I served with that I wish I was. Um, but that's also life. We're still, hey, you're always I'm always a phone call away if you need me, but we're not always picking up the phone, we're not always helping, you know, we're not always around, I guess, because a lot of them, as you could guess, we still we served in San Diego. Yeah, most of them stay in San Diego. It's a beautiful place to live. Yeah.

SPEAKER_01

Um that tends to happen with a lot of service members, wherever they kind of end up retiring as their last duty station is where they tend to just stay.

SPEAKER_00

Yeah, then you start you start building a family, you do what many things, right? So and you're familiar with it then. And then and then for us, a lot of those guys, like that's where they started their adult, that's where they started their real life.

SPEAKER_01

Yeah, right. This is the first time in your life you have money, you have some some autonomy after basic training. For sure. Um, maybe a little too much autonomy on the weekends, but yeah, you start making your own like real choices. And yeah.

SPEAKER_00

Yeah. So uh what what I'll say about uh about the Marines and the military in general is it gives you it, it's not real life at the same time. Yeah, you don't deal with some of the things that you deal with as you get out as a civilian. Now, civilians will look and they'll say, Hey, the military's I I don't think I could ever do that. And maybe you couldn't, but I also know military members who really couldn't make it as a civilian if they didn't stay in for 20 plus years. And I'm sure you know the same thing, yeah, right. And so I I think that there's just some things and different ways of looking at life that military members have an advantage of over civilians who never served, and vice versa.

SPEAKER_01

Yeah, I think the military does provide like a bubble. So it's like it's challenging, it's hard, but there's also a certain level that you know you're gonna be taken care of. Like you do your 20 years, you get your pension. Like you'll Well, you used to. My little brothers have now. They changed it.

SPEAKER_00

Now it's a 401k system, you know.

SPEAKER_01

Um the blended retirements, or it was blended, it might not be blended anymore.

SPEAKER_00

It I don't know the all the ins and outs. All I know is that you can stay in now for 20 plus years and not have a pension, which I thought was kind of asinine. You already don't pay them while they're there, might as well give them a pension. That's a good thing I got out.

SPEAKER_01

Well, no, that's that's true. But even still, um, like while you're in, like I remember I got like basic housing allowance things to if you really needed a place to crash, like there's housing on base and that sort of stuff. Like there's they got they have good things in place to kind of make sure that the personal life is taken care of so you can focus on that.

SPEAKER_00

While you're in, I don't have yeah, nothing. I still think everybody should reserve. I still think everybody should spend some time in the military to I can't believe they got rid of that. That that's blowing my mind right now. Yeah.

SPEAKER_01

How long are you in the Marine Corps for? 11 years. Eleven years, and then reserves for some time after.

SPEAKER_00

Oh, yeah, sorry. So I I did I was in active duty for about five and a half years, and then I did okay another five and a half, six years in the reserves.

SPEAKER_01

So let's talk about like some of the highlights there. So you are basic training, um, you know, combat deployments. Let's talk, let's let's get right into like what people do in the service. So yeah, g give me everything.

SPEAKER_00

Yeah, highlights. Um, I was stationed in San Diego, it was my duty station, and I loved every minute of it, right?

SPEAKER_01

But oh, what a terrible place to be stationed. Yeah, right. So I went to the case. Is that where the SEALs train? Yeah, yeah, for sure.

SPEAKER_00

Coronado, just a few miles south of us. Um so went to basic training, MCRD San Diego. Um from there, you get 10 days leave or whatever to go back home and spend time with family and friends and try to recruit some people and you know, tell them how great your life is now that it's changed, even though you don't really know anything, all of that sort of stuff, right? Um April of 07 was my first deployment to Iraq. So we were on probably about a uh seven-month, I know the Army does the deployments a little bit different, but we did a seven-month cycle where we would be um in country, um, meaning overseas, I should say, not in not in garrison. Yes, yeah, yeah. So you you knew, but yeah, you know, for the other people that don't know. They know. No, good clarification. Yeah, yeah, yeah. In country is you're you're overseas fighting somewhere, right? So we would do seven months wherever we were deployed to, back for 10 months, and then turn around and deploy again. Um yeah, and so and so then I was back in Afghanistan, and Afghanistan was a little bit different. One, I mean, Iraq was super hot because I was in the middle of the summer, and then Afghanistan was super cold because I was there in the middle of the winter. So it was brutal, which people don't think about. Um, but it was a completely different battle to fight. So I was there for maybe like three hours, and then um I'm coming back into my cans, which we stayed in at the time because they didn't have barracks or anything built there, right? Um, is basically an empty field that they turned into an airbase, right, at the time. And so uh, you know, I'm I'm there three hours and I'm walking back in my can and we watch an army guy get hit um with a mortar. Yeah, and what people don't realize is they put some really nasty stuff down those mortar tubes to try to make it happen, right? So, you know, that same deployment where we lost one of our officers, not because he was on a movement with us, but he went and if you're a pilot, you have to go spend some time in a groundside unit and learn how to call in airstrike so that you can listen when it happens. And so, so then uh the the group that he was at that winded up getting hit, and um, he was the first one we lost, and the only one of my somewhat close people um that was ever lost, kind of actually in country, believe it or not, which is pretty crazy. So very fortunate for that.

SPEAKER_01

Um so what made you uh uh join the standard? What attracted you to it?

SPEAKER_00

Yeah, I think I think the what you're always searching for after the military or someone like me is is you're looking for a place that you can truly have that camaraderie, right? Someone who you know has your back. I've always been a people person, so I always bet on people, um, whether in in in business or in life. Um and so I've I I met a couple of guys um after and just feel like this is kind of it is it I'm not gonna sit here and lie and say it's the same thing as the military, because absolutely not. We're probably none of us are gonna deploy overseas to a war-torn country together. Um, but it is a very good feeling to realize and know that you can pick up the phone and somebody has your back.

SPEAKER_02

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00

And so I think that's what I was looking for. I was honestly, most as most people, I'm sure you were, you see it, you click an ad, you click an ad, or however you came across it, and then you have to have a conversation with somebody, and you're like, this guy is just trying to sell me something. But again, you take a risk, right? You're never gonna know if you don't take that risk. And so um, I joined and I I never looked back, right? We've had a ton of events since I've been in, and I've loved everyone that I've been to and connected with a lot of great guys. So So what are some of the things, some of the best things you've kind of gotten out of that? Yeah, I I think really it's it's gonna sound it's not a tangible thing. Relationship is the best thing that I've gotten out of it. Help with um business idea skills that I don't have. I can always reach out to someone who does have that skill. Sure. And there's other guys willing to help. There, there's guys in the standard still in the same industry. Yeah. Some of them younger, some of them older or similar experience than me. And we can share ideas, but then I also will sit here and mentor somebody who's a little bit younger than me, looking at, okay, Brandon, what's next? I'm at a big, I'm at a big corporation. Do you think I should make a move? I'm like, well, let's talk through it. Where are you at? You know, so it's it just depends. I I will say I don't is you guys may laugh, you may cut it. I don't know. But I will say I don't think that there's a better advisor than me in the standard, but but I will say that um what I think the standard provides that you can't get from an occupation or can't get from other uh things in life is that you can always find a business coach kind of anywhere. Yeah, there are a diamond dozen, yeah. And great ones too, sure. Right. But the problem is we don't ever ask or look for help in the other areas that we focus on in the standard. I'm very fortunate that our relationship pillar, I don't need help with that. Me and my wife are great, we've always been great. Um, she's my best friend, and so I'm very fortunate. And so then I that's something that I can pass on outside of the business is like, okay, here's where you're at in life. They're looking for a partner, they have a partner, they're struggling. Yeah. And then I can say, hey, here's my experience. Take it for what it's worth. Here's what we do that's been successful for us. And it's the same thing, right? If we're looking at physical or I shouldn't say I don't need help in the relational period, I think my marriage is very strong. Yes. What the the relationship uh pillar that I needed to work on was finding like-minded men who want to focus on the same things I want to focus on. And part of that's me, right? It's I have my priority is my wife and kids, and I love spending time with my wife and kids, right? I'm never looking for an excuse to get out of the house. Yeah. Um, and I enjoy all of that time. So it's I'm working all day, they get the best of me all night, right? Why would why would I give that to anybody else?

SPEAKER_01

I'm in the same boat. I um I joined shortly after we had our son. Okay. And I I noticed with a lot of people that were on me, once they started having kids, that was kind of like when they try to let their life settle down the most. And I didn't, I didn't want to let off the steam. I felt like I still had a lot of really good years ahead of me, and I wanted to make sure that I didn't let my my foot off the pedal. So if you want to connect with high performers like today's and previous guests, I want to invite you to apply to join the standard. We are a private membership community that improves the health, wealth, and relationships for six-figure earners who perform at the highest level physically, emotionally, spiritually, socially, and financially. What we offer is simple. We will give you a vetted local brotherhood of men on your level or above. We will give you a customized plan to build true generational wealth. We will give you a personal liaison to achieve all of your goals. If you are tired of being the most successful person in your circle, frustrated with always pouring into others and not having anyone to pour into you, or you want to have conversations like the ones you're hearing today in person on a weekly basis with fellow higher performers, go to thestandardmen.com to apply. That's thestandardmen.com. Hit the link in the description below. Now back to the episode. But since we do have the best advisor in the entire group here, let's dig into that a little bit because you have a lot of experience in the business sector that I think a lot of people can glean from. So let's rewind it back a little bit. Let's go JP Morgan and kind of start with their first. So you got your securities and now you're working, you know, with more private customers one-on-one. Yeah. Tell me a little bit about like what are some businesses that you've worked with, what are some high net worth individuals you worked with, and what were some strategies that you you kind of implemented into them to help them grow, either personally or with their business.

SPEAKER_00

Yeah, it really depends on on kind of what stage of life they were in, right? I've had clients that have 75 million, and you would never guess by looking at them. Um, kind of my biggest just personal. He's got 75 million sitting around in his personal investments, and it's crazy to me, right? Let's get on a plane, let's go to Vegas, let's do these things. And but you would never guess. They're always in jeans and a polo, yeah, right, or jeans and a t-shirt. It's just a country bumpkin who happened to understand things and and um and and here's what I I figured out what it is really. It's it's mostly pattern recognition. Okay, and then learning out how to learning how to utilize those patterns. So, what I'll say, what I do, is I like to provide clarity. So I'll provide a a it it it the products, what I do, the SP 500, you can get an ETF or a mutual fund or an individual stock anywhere on the street. That's not going to make you different. That's all commoditized. What I think makes you a great advisor is providing structure and clarity to a person when they don't know what's next. They don't know what to do. So I can bring it to them and simplify it and say, okay, here's the next actionable step. Just do the next right thing, right? I think that's a quote from Frozen or something, right? Just do just as I have little girls, right? So it's some of those things are pretty powerful, right? Yeah, that's true. It's just do the next right thing. But when you don't know what that is, where are you gonna go? Who are you gonna rely on, right?

SPEAKER_01

Give me a specific example. I mean, not necessarily like specific names, but tell me about a client and kind of what you did to work with them to grow. Like give it, give us a tangible example.

SPEAKER_00

Yeah, so I I have a uh one client that comes to mind is it's a husband and wife, I should say a household, not one client, but um, she was a little bit younger than he was. They really were not actually what you would consider retirement age, they were both late 50s, early 60s, but she had a degenerative muscle disease, and she knew that she would not be able to work until they retired, um, uh or she would not be able to work until typical retirement age and still enjoy life. And so then they're like, here's our stuff, right? And they're just pushing all of these statements along the table and they just don't understand most of it, right? What a lot of people go through life is that now they do the, they do what they think is the right thing. It's the message that we've all heard: put money in your 401k, um, make sure you invest at least what they match, kind of all that stuff that's now become commonplace to us, but they don't really know what that means and they don't know what the output is. And that's there's no plan in place for that. It's just investments, it's just stuff and things. And so what I did is I came alongside them and I analyzed everything kind of where it's at, but it's always analyzed against again, a non-physical or tangible benchmark. I I could sit here and say, Yeah, I can outperform the SP 500 by, you know, two to three percent on average, and and people will love that. Or the you know, in the early in 2010 to 2020, I can say, hey, I outperformed it by six, seven percent every single year. Sure. And everyone's happy. The reality is though, those are just numbers on a paper. They don't actually matter. But when I can link it and say, hey, guess what? You guys can afford to retire, right? And you can afford to look at any number of things, but here's what we need to do for the next three years. And so it's I ran through all of their expenses and all of the things they like to do today. And then I said, you can continue to do that and live that lifestyle if you really want, but you can't do it and retire. So, what's more important to you? Do you want all these toys? Do you need all of these things? And then just walk them through it and say, okay, let's start spending a little bit less, let's give ourselves a ramp down period. Because I always, and it's one of my favorite questions. I ask me, if if I came to you next week when we met and said you could retire tomorrow, when you would you actually retire? Because when I first meet them, it's like, when do you want to retire? They're like, yesterday. Okay. Now that I know you a little bit and we've talked through, if I tell you you're good to retire, when would you actually retire? Yeah. And then like, oh, I don't really know. Right. And then we start thinking about things. So then we we come from the planning process. If this is this is kind of as tangible as I can give you, I could sit here and tell you, here's the investment selections we made and all those things, but that's not really relatable.

SPEAKER_01

Well, it sounds like, like, yeah, you you can put things in different areas, they give you better return and all those things, but those are just uh methods of reaching a goal. But if you're all just the tools, yeah. Right, right. They're just the tools. If you haven't identified the goal and where, like how exactly you want to structure your life, I know that's I read a book called uh I think Retire with Zero. No, Dy Dying with Zero. Died with Zero? Died with Zero, yeah. Yeah. Um I'll fully subscribe to it just because I want to leave something to my kids. But there was some interesting points in there. It's like, listen, if I gave you $10 million today and you could retire today, would you just like what sit on a beach in Mexico waiting to die? Or what like what would you you still want to live a life of purpose afterwards? I think what people are chasing after is freedom. They sure, yeah, they they get to do what they want to do, or at least to a higher extent than they used to, and kind of building so that's that's kind of how like me and my wife are orienting our financial goals. It's like, I'm not trying to stop working. I just want to, if I don't want to work on a Friday or just take off at noon and just go to the park with my kid, yeah. I want I want that freedom. Right. So do you see that a lot with your like how what's your kind of philosophy when you're talking to them about these things?

SPEAKER_00

Yeah, like even hearing you say that, like, yeah, that that's a great idea and a great goal and a great way to think about things. Yeah. Um, but how are you gonna get there? Sure. Right. The how is where I come in for most people is I can provide you kind of a step-by-step, or let's say a framework, and then we can continue to mold that framework. So life changes. You don't know what your life's gonna look like tomorrow, let alone 10 years from now. Maybe tomorrow. Maybe a guy like you, you know what's going on tomorrow and next week, and those things. Sure, sure. But in reality, we don't know what life's like in five years and 10 years from now. So nothing that we put in place in day one is stagnant. Everything's living and breathing, and it's going to continue to change as life tells us we need to change it. Right. And so, but the overall structure is set, right? You've built the layer upon layer upon layer of this financial plan, and your goal is, you know, some I want to leave to my kids, and then their kids grow up to be jerks for whatever reason, the bad experiences. Like, I don't want to leave it to my kids, I want to leave something to Cherry. Or a lot of times, and I sometimes you have to convince people of this, but you earned it. Let that last check bounce. We don't care if the funeral home can't cash that check. That's true. Uh somewhat jokingly, right? Obviously, I want all business owners to be successful in those things. But in reality, if if I can make let you be happy and let money not hold you back from living the lifestyle that you deserve, that's kind of my goal.

SPEAKER_01

Well, that sounds like that's probably like I want to say the average persons, but the more everyday experience from the people that you were managing, what were some of the most high net worth people that you worked with? And what did they do to kind of get to that level? Like, does your strategy change? Like, what were the conversations with them like?

SPEAKER_00

Yeah, it depends on level of intellect around kind of overall life, overall, but then also around money. You'd be surprised at the amount of people who have three, five, seven, ten million dollars that don't know anything about money. Isn't that funny? Yeah, they're they're they know how to earn money, but they're not good with money. Does that make sense? So it's it's you're a you're a great salesman for a health insurance organization, or you've been a doctor or an engineer, whatever. That are typically great paying careers, um, but you never had to learn about money.

SPEAKER_01

What did you see some trends on whether or not there's a lot of correlations, like whether it's more engineers or doctors or business owners, or did it just kind of depend on like what was a single trait that you saw with your clientele that tended to have the highest income levels? Was there a single trait that defined them? Stability?

SPEAKER_00

Okay. Explain that. If I could put that, so most people that have found success continue to do the same thing over and over again. Sounds boring. It very boring, very boring life, right? Everyone thinks about and and gets um enticed by everything that you see on social media. But if you can put a plan in place, a structure in place, um, an environment is the best way to put it, um, willpower and decision making and emotions don't have to come into it at all. You just continue to do the same thing. So they're continuing to do the same thing, boring, simple life over and over again, whether it's savings are boring for them, or it's it's looks boring to you on the outside, but they really happen to enjoy what they do. Yeah. Um, I've seen it on the other end of the spectrum. It's not, it can't be career-driven either, because I've seen doctors who make three-quarters of a million dollars a year and don't have anything saved for retirement. That's crazy.

SPEAKER_01

I actually know a doctor, I'm in medical device sales, and he was a colorectal surgeon, but colorectal surgeons are also general surgeons. Um, and so he took just a ton of call. And I remember um his nurse practitioner, sorry, his physician assistant was telling me like one year, like a few years ago, he had made like seven, eight hundred thousand dollars. Yeah. And this this doctor was like in his 70s. I'm just like, man, and he was still doing it. Yeah, and still going after it. But I I mean, he did just because he loved doing what he's doing. But at the same point, you know, he's like, Well, I never really thought about retirement and now I gotta actually start focusing and thinking about it. I'm like, you made seven, like I you gotta think about it now. So it there is definitely a correlation where just because you're high earning doesn't necessarily mean that you have a good game plan to do with the money once it comes in. He probably spent it all on cars and I don't know.

SPEAKER_00

I don't know what he spent it on. What I will say is a couple of my biggest, I should say lar people with the most amount invested and saved happen to be business owners. Okay. Right? They've built and built for whatever reason, it could be a concrete company, could be a bank, right? It's like, well, if they're an owner and they started a bank, then why do they need you as the investment advisor? It's it's a weird world, right? They need somebody that they can trust. And a lot of times you don't want to be working side by side and have somebody know exactly what's going on with your finances. Does it help having an objective set of eyes on it? That's yeah, for sure. Yeah, for sure, right? Then it's well, I don't have to put this in the stock and I don't have to do whatever, whatever, you know. Um, C-suite is a great place to be. You don't always have to be an entrepreneur, you can be an entrepreneur. A lot of people don't know what the term is, but it's really the entrepreneurial mindset, but inside somebody else's system.

SPEAKER_01

That's kind of been a little bit of a buzzword that hasn't been, I mean, everyone wants to like own their own business and be Mark Zuckerberg, but I I have heard this term entrepreneur. Yeah, yeah. What exactly is that? To the best of your ability, can you describe what that means?

SPEAKER_00

Yeah, I think an entrepreneur is kind of you have you always have the desire to create something, um, but you're creating something for yourself. You have this innate desire or this innate thing, and you're thinking that I can do this better than anybody else. Right. Well, sorry. Going back to my comment.

SPEAKER_01

Well, I'll say, I guess what's the term? Intrapreneur. Intrapreneur, intrapreneur, yeah.

SPEAKER_00

Yeah, it's very similar, but you like the stability of a system or a paycheck. Um, but you and you enjoy creating value, okay, but you're creating value inside of somebody else's system. And I think you could still be rewarded for that if you're at the right place. Um, you can go in and help develop systems and and create ideas and have those things. And great companies of this world allow that to happen.

SPEAKER_01

So it would it be an example be like, let's say there's like a smaller company and they need like a chief commercial officer or something, and they're willing to give you equity to build. Sure. So it's like, in a sense, you own a part of the business and what you do does matter for you, yeah, but you're still within like kind of a corporate setting, essentially.

SPEAKER_00

And and you know, honestly, what I found is that it most people, I shouldn't say most people, people who are good at what they do and really enjoy what they do, the money becomes less important as you start making money. Um, let's say you're a six-figure, you make $150, $250, $300,000. When you go from 300 to 400, that doesn't give you the same satisfaction of getting to that first hundred or $150, honestly. Um but what I will say is the recognition is what they need.

SPEAKER_01

Okay.

SPEAKER_00

Okay. And so if you're building a company, you can recognize somebody's talent and you want to keep them, their value then is hey, I see in how hard you're working, I recognize you, not only with here's some more money, but it's I truly value and appreciate you. And I value you so much that I know things about you. So here's a gift for your 12-year-old kid who loves baseball. You guys are going to the next Rangers game on me. Don't worry about it, right? That's a monetary example, but it could also be, hey, why don't you bring your kid down to the office? Let's have a good time, or you know, let's bring, you know, you and your spouse, let's go out for dinner, let's hang out. And then you just show them that you value them as a human being. And for a lot of entrepreneurs, that's actually why they continue to do that, because they found a place where they continue to have value. Okay. And then they see their ideas implemented into the business, whether they get ownership or not.

unknown

Okay.

SPEAKER_00

They just know and have some ideas that I helped create this inside of this company. I helped make this organism great. Okay. Organization. Organization great.

SPEAKER_01

No, no, no. Organism, whatever you want to call it. Yeah, yeah. Okay. So you're talking a little bit about like people you're working with at the 100,000, 200,000, 300,000. I mean, at what point I heard this statistic a long time ago that like anything over like 75k doesn't add anything to your happiness, which I called, I called bull crap on. I'm like, no, I was pretty happy moving from 75 to like 150. That was I was super happy about that. Where do you see like a real, like not drop off, but kind of plateau in those income levels?

SPEAKER_00

I I think that um for most people, uh once you get to, and this is somewhat biased, I guess, but and it's also mathematical, right? You remember probably growing up that that goal you had always kind of set for yourself was $100,000 or so. Well, in today's world, due to inflation, those sorts of things, in order to live that same $100,000 lifestyle in the 90s, you have to make like $240,000 today. But everybody who earned $100,000 looked a lot, looked real happy in the 90s. But um, so I would say you get to $250,000, depending on your mindset and those things. You can afford to take your family on vacation. You can typically afford to fly first class depending on how many kids you have, and then have a three, four, five, seven-day vacation, whatever's important to you at about 250. But there can still be some stressors there if you're not living right, as far as here's my debt, I have some vices, whatever they may be. Um, or you really bought a bigger house than you needed, you just didn't make the right idea there. And so now you have a $7,000 a month mortgage or whatever the case may be. It's like, you know, because the mortgage banker is going to tell you you can buy afford a million-dollar house once you make $250. You probably shouldn't have to afford the house because you want to be able to enjoy that. And what I what I found is, and this is kind of getting off the subject a little bit, the house is not important. A lot of people think it is, but that big house or that beautiful house or that beautiful car, that the home is not important because of what it looks like. The home is important because of what happened there. I can now have this bigger home. I can host my friends and we can have a good time. Yeah. Or I raised my kids there and they had their own room and they were able to do it.

SPEAKER_01

I think a lot of people don't know what actually makes them happy. So they're spending money on things, kind of hoping that's going to satisfy this need. And that's something me and my wife talk about frequently. Like, what are the things that bring us the most joy? The bougiest thing that makes me happy is my lifetime membership at the gym. I love it. I love it. But outside of that, I mean, really just getting the chance to go hang out with friends on the weekend, go to parties. Like my wife's out with some friends right now, just having the time of her life with her kid. You know, it's it's it doesn't, you know, the cost of going out to eat, right? Yeah, having a home, make sure the the air conditioner is running once you know summer hits here in Texas. That's a huge standard of living here. And it gets expensive. Yeah. But um let so question for you. So, you know, and again, we're talking about those. What is what's probably the highest net worth guy that you've had that you've consulted for? And how does like the wealth management game change once let's say once you're at like okay, if you have like a guy in his 40s or 50s that's learned really well, he's coming in with like 10, 20 million. Yeah, nice.

SPEAKER_00

What does that how does that strategy change dealing with that kind of from an investment perspective? He just has more things that he's allowed to invest in or capable to invest in, not by my eyes, but the government's eyes, right? And so there's only about 4,000 companies that are traded on the public market today. And there's something like 80,000 companies or a couple hundred thousand companies in the in the in the US, right? That actually are raising money you can invest and buy ownership in. So once you get into the private markets of the world, um that is where the investment strategy starts to shift. So just to give you an example, because it's what most people understand and realize based on today's news cycle, you know, the SpaceX and XAI merger that's gonna be once that goes public at $1.5 trillion, it's it started at zero. Remember. Well, uh, you know, virtually, yeah, virtually zero. Elon, all that didn't have any value when it was created. Well, who who received all of that from zero to one point five trillion dollar value? The private market investor did. And so if you don't have somebody who's has access to those types of investments, um then you're just getting the same type of commoditized stuff that everybody else is getting. So what I'll say is some you have to have somebody who looks at the whole picture of every avenue that's possible. Um, not saying that that has to be me, whoever it is, but I would say that's kind of the biggest opportunity that shifts depending on net worth. Now, something did just pass the house that people will now start to be able to test out to be considered accredited investors and get access to some of those private market deals, which I think is going to be a great thing for them, unless they meet a shady character, then it can be a bad thing. So some of that, some of that stuff um you just have to still really closely pay attention to. But the the investment strategy um for somebody like that, what I'll say is is you just have to provide clarity for what they're trying to accomplish. What's the next one?

SPEAKER_01

What are they trying to accomplish? Because imagine putting food on the table is no longer a concern. Yeah, yeah, yeah. So is it more about like a legacy or are they trying to like do what are they doing with that money at that point?

SPEAKER_00

A lot a lot of it comes to legacy planning, right? Okay. Because as as the rules are written today, they can pass somewhere around $12 million on without paying any estate taxes, right? Okay. If he's in his 40s, realistically, if or he or she, if they're not spending any money, they're gonna be over that $12 million in a pretty quick hurry. So then you have to start doing some advanced planning and play the taxation game because of the rules that are there. But overall, from an investment standpoint, you look at well, it how much growth do you need to seek? How much preservation are we looking at? How much do you want to pass on to the children? What's important? And then you have to coach them emotionally, is really what a lot of what I do is. And so it's you sit back and make a rational decision based on the facts that are presented, not the emotion that you feel in the times. Do you have any examples of a more emotionally driven conversation you have with a client? Yeah, for sure. One the the very first one that comes to mind is he has he's now in his early, late 60s, early 70s. Uh I should 69 when I met him, has about a million, million and a half dollars, but he's not he can't afford to retire. Like, well, that's crazy. So then I look at what he's spending on his regular basis, his monthly inflow and outflow. You would think he could afford to retire, but he can't. He still has to get on a plane and go consult and make money because he always wants to help somebody in the family, whoever it is, could be a sister, could be a brother, could be a kid, a distant cousin that knows that now, hey, you've made it. And a lot of people have a hard time getting over that and saying, Well, I made it, so now I need to help them. It's like, well, you really have to think about this from the logical perspective. Um, and sometimes they can take that criticism and sometimes they can't, but I'm not gonna sugarcoat it and tell them that everything's good to go, and it's really not.

SPEAKER_01

Since we don't, we're not putting names out there. Did he take that to heart? Did what did he end up doing?

SPEAKER_00

Um it we continued to have conversations for about a year. Anytime something came up, hey, here's what's going on. You know, I know I said I'd cut it off and these that sort of thing, but then they he is not a client of mine right now, um, just because of that. I I don't think he doesn't want to have a relationship. We still have a pretty decent, somewhat acquaintance, I guess you could call it, that uh we still talk from time to time, but you know, he always knows what my answer is gonna be. Okay. You gotta cut that person off.

SPEAKER_01

Yeah, I know that's a hard conversation some people struggle with. I feel in a lot of people's lives that are they look at you as the bank to go to if they ever run into financial problems. I'm also having some issues in this category where I've contemplated cutting some people off because I feel like the only reason they ever come out and call me or contact me is whenever they need cash on it. Yeah. And it's it's difficult because the people that like call and ask may very well need it at the moment. But you know, when it shows itself as a habit, it's it's tough because you usually it's family or close friends or and you feel, given the success that you have, that you you owe them something. I don't know. It's a very uh complex emotional response. And I know you've gone through that too. How do you deal with that? Or how do you kind of coach other people to deal with those relationships and when to give and maybe when not to give and where to draw those boundaries?

SPEAKER_00

Yeah, there's a couple of things that a couple of ways that I answer this question. The first one is is is somewhat anecdotal. Um, and I and I heard this somewhere, so it's not my original quote, but um, it's the first time you do something or give somebody something, they're grateful. They feel, oh, this is a gift. Uh, maybe even the second time, right? By the third time, it becomes an expectation. And by the fourth time, they feel like they deserve it and they're entitled to it. And so you have to be careful there as you're giving to somebody. I I would say the the difficult part is you have you have to look at it from a couple of different angles. The first part is do I truly want to cut this person off if I can afford it? I think if you're generally, you know, us uh as men, right? It becomes if we're going to help, if if we have the ability to help, we're going to help. However, when it starts to become at your detriment, that becomes an issue. Or if you feel like it's detrimental to them. The easiest way to do it is you look at it and say, okay, monetarily can I afford this? And if you can, continue to do it. If it's not hurting you and it's not hurting them. That's the best way that I that I feel about it. I can roll over and sleep at night because I'm continuing to help this person. Even though I know they're horrible with money, they'll continue to make bad decisions. It's the same way that I would feel if I give some somebody on the street who needs money and I give them 20 bucks. Are they gonna spend on alcohol? Are they gonna spend on drugs? Maybe. That's not my issue. Sure. Right. I'm I what they do with the money is their problem. So that's how I would say it. The second part, though, is you have to realize if it is an issue, you have to be open and honest and transparent, as as transparent as you can be with that person. Not to say, hey, I can't afford this or it doesn't make sense. If you can't afford it, tell them you can't afford it, right? You don't let your pride and ego kind of out of the way. It's sometimes it feels good for that person to look up to you and saying, oh, they've made it, they can help me, those sorts of things. Yeah. But again, by that fourth or fifth time, they're feeling entitled to that, that you should help them and you have to or you should give be giving them money. So um, other than that, it's really just a conversation. And it has to come from a place of love, not spite. So before you get to the spitefulness of the giving, that's when you need to have that conversation and then just work it into a budget. I can't give you money every time you ask, but I'm gonna give you a hundred bucks a month because that's what I can afford. And then you're still helping that person, right? Or 50 bucks or 25, whatever the number is.

SPEAKER_01

Well, in one thing that comes to mind with me is like, could I afford to give it? Yeah, absolutely I could. But I'm also trying to build generational wealth for myself too. Like I'm trying to set up a future for me and my so yeah, it's like, yeah.

SPEAKER_00

Well, okay, let me let me ask you a question there then.

SPEAKER_01

Okay. To put it back on you. What is generational wealth? Something. Let me, you know what? I'll rephrase it even better. I'm trying to set up a future for myself where I don't have to, I don't have to do work that I don't want to do, right? So every dollar coming out of my account, even if I'm spending on myself, if I go get like a drink or if I go out to eat, yeah, that $50 is $50 that's not compounding over time that leads to this point where I could go sit on a beach in Mexico. Yeah. And so that goes with giving, that goes with, so every, every dollar I spend is like an opportunity cost for freedom. Every time I pay for something, even a mortgage, that's a little bit my freedom that I'm giving away. Okay. So that's the way I view it. But maybe I don't know, that I could also be kind of a victim of my own mindset too. I don't know.

SPEAKER_00

Yeah, you could be. I think that, you know, um, and Morgan Housel's a great resource for people who want to read the book, Psychology of Money, same as ever, is actually it's a second book's follow up phenomenal. And then third, the art of spending money that he just came out with last year, not to give him a plug, but it great resources there, right? Um he views money the same way. Like once it's saved in a savings account, it's already spent. Okay, right. So he doesn't, he it can't come back out for something else. That money's already spent because that's for my future self. So you're thinking about it the same way. Like I have this freedom. I think where our our viewpoints may be a little bit different, it's yes, but what are you sacrificing for that future, right? Are not let's say it's it's not gonna be your kids because we're always gonna do everything we can for our kids, probably. Yeah, let's say it's it's a sibling, right? If your sibling's gonna go hungry tonight, or your niece or nephew's gonna go hungry tonight, is that fifty dollars really worth it? Yeah, no, that's a good point. It's it's a you you always have to play that game. And can I sleep at night better knowing that I help that person? And if the answer is yes, that's that's a good thing. But if it becomes a the habitual thing, like I think we're talking about not one-off scenarios, sure. You just you one, you have to build another budget if it's really that important to you, or two, you have to have the conversation cut it off.

SPEAKER_01

Okay. No, that's I that's pretty practical advice because I I know a lot of people that are doing well are all like you you are the bank that they go to, yeah. And they'll and they know you'll be good for it, and you want to help and you want to be, but there's it's always been a bit tough for me on how do I make that cutoff because in the past I would just say yes all the time. And this is kind of the first year where that happened, and I said, I'm I'm sorry. No, and actually, one gut check for me was what if it was a different person? So I have like, well, it's siblings, right? If if one asked, let's say you say siblings, let's say it's just like there's two people, and one's asking for it, and another one's asking for it. I could say no to one, and I was like, well, if the other guy is asking, so one person that I'm saying no to, I know they don't do well with it. I know if I give it to them, they're just gonna ask me for the same thing the next month and there's an entitledness to it. But the other person, if they asked me for it, I give it to them in a heartbeat. Yeah, because they wouldn't ask me for it. And if they did, they would pay it back to me as soon as they they have like a responsibility towards that money.

SPEAKER_00

Yeah, that makes sense.

SPEAKER_01

So I yeah, that was one way I thought about doing that, but which kind of goes into the entitlement that we were talking about, which is my biggest fear that my kid, because you you and I grew up under Section 8 housing, we the military was like our way out, like there's there's a lot we sacrificed to kind of get to this point. And one fear that I have is that my child won't understand that and they'll grow a little entitled to that. I don't know if you have that fear, or what are your thoughts about how to negotiate that?

SPEAKER_00

Uh uh, what do you ask? And are you how do I ensure that my kids don't live the same life, or how do I teach them?

SPEAKER_01

Yeah, like how how are you gonna instill values in them where they're gonna value money or not even just money, but the legacy the same way? Like basically that your kids don't end up being trust fund babies.

SPEAKER_00

Yeah, I think it's it's very important to educate them that there's so much more to life than money. And I'm I'm going through this right now because I have a 20-year-old who's in college, or actually 19, but he's in college, and right now he's of that mindset that he's chasing the dollar. How do I make money? Okay, what's next? How do I do that? And so I've tried to um it's difficult. I had them when I was younger, obviously, those sorts of things. But what I'll say is um I didn't you have to be open and have the conversations with them and not try to shelter them or hide them from that life, right? A good example of this is a buddy of mine. He still lives north of Chicago. Um, and he's driving his daughter through where he where we grew up and where we spent time. And she's like, Daddy, I thought this was only in movies. I didn't realize this was a real place. And so what I would say is you don't want to shelter them from how you grew up and say, here's what it's like without money, here's the life that I lived, and now I've worked hard for this. Because, but what's important to me is not this dollar amount. What's important to me is that I can afford to take you out to the mall and get the new shoes because that provides you with the feeling that you really enjoy it. Um, and and then instill other gifts in them, right? I think even for kids, five love languages is a huge one too for them to really truly understand. And you can understand as a parent, but like me, I love giving gifts, but I hate receiving gifts. Like, don't buy me anything. I'm the same way. There's nothing I probably because it's our money anyway, right? Like if I want something, I'm gonna buy it.

SPEAKER_01

No, I had this exact conversation around Christmas when I was like, What can I get you? I'm like, we share the same account. Whatever you get me, I could just buy myself. But yeah, but then it but then it became the thought that counted because she got me. I um I have a a deep love of theology. Okay, and there's she she noticed that where I was asking a lot of questions about like the difference between like Catholicism and Protestant and all these different things. And she got me this like really old book by a guy named Thomas Aquinas. Yeah, and it's it was like $20, but just the thought, I was like, I would never get this for myself, and I love it.

SPEAKER_00

And I I read it, yeah. Yeah, so um so what I would say is remove the mystery of money. Okay, I think things that are mysterious we're generally inclined toward and want to know more and seek after and seek not. Same thing, you probably your study of theology. There's so much unknown in the theological world that there's something to chase after. Sure. And so if you remove that mystery and you teach them generally about okay, here's what you need to know about money, here's what's important, stuff that they don't teach in school, which I think they're starting to come with to some finance courses here in Texas, which is awesome. Um but it's it's remove the mystery and teach them that here's what money is, but really the value of life is not money or how much money you can make. It's here's what actually makes you happy. And the same thing, the comment I made earlier about the house and those sorts of things. So teach them how to create value for other people. The money will come on its own.

SPEAKER_01

Okay. Well, since we're talking about, you know, legacy, and I know that's a big thing within the standard that's been a big theme at the end of last year, is like, how do you want to be remembered and all that? So to you, since you've seen like you're helping a lot of other people deal with their legacies.

SPEAKER_00

Yeah, for sure.

SPEAKER_01

How do you how what does legacy mean to you personally? Like what legacy do you want to leave behind?

SPEAKER_00

I I I think I may answer this different than other people if you ask the question. I think legacy for me is is leaving making our kids better than we were. Right. Um, I I sometimes I struggle. I go back and forth. I I want to be successful, and I I have this challenge that I've kind of had and opposed to some some of the guys here in the standard is you have a couple of goals you need to reach in your life. The first one is you got to get to a point where you're making a million dollars. The second one, you got to get to a point where you're paying somebody a million dollars. If you can afford to pay somebody a million dollars, it means you're making a lot more than a million, right? And the third is get to a point where you're giving away a million dollars a year, right? To whatever cause or purpose that you truly believe in. Okay. But I will say at the same time, I'm selfish, not in any manner that I think is a negative thing. I just don't want to spend my energy on things that I cannot control or make a difference in. Yeah. I'm not gonna get tied up over politics. I'm not gonna get tied up over whatever crazy thing you see on social media. It just, it's it's irrelevant in the grand scheme of things. I have no control over it. So I'm gonna focus on controlling what I can control. The advice that I like to give people is if that means a lot to you, what are you going to do to get into a position where you can make a difference? What are some things you think you can make a difference with in today? Yeah. Uh the it's all family. Okay. That's the only thing that I can control. Right. I I say that. Family and clients, right? The first thing is make sure I'm raising good children, make sure they're enjoying life and having a happy life where they don't have to stress about all of these things. They always know where their next meal is coming from, they always know they have a place to lay there on their heads. Yeah, the opportunity to live out of abundance as opposed to scarcity. For sure. Yeah. The next part of that would be okay, now let's extend this out to family, but not just any family. I have people in my life that I refuse to help in any manner. I shouldn't say in any manner. I'll continue to give them advice as long as they want to listen. But if they don't implement it, it comes to a point where it's like, okay, we're not having a conversation anymore. But then there is other family who's continuing to work hard. I have very close family that's in Mexico that he makes 400 bucks a month, and groceries are almost the same price that they are now here in the US. And he has three kids. And so I'll still help them in a monetary fashion. We'll still have a conversation and do those things. But I just I'm going to um affect people that I can affect and talk about and mentor people who I come into contact with. Take everything I say with a grain of salt. This may not be the answer for you, but here's what I've seen. Sure. And just try to be a positive influence on people in general. Um, that's where I think that I can make the most difference today. Now, I could run for office one day, some local office or those sorts of things. Don't really have a necessary desire to unless I feel like people are not honoring and living up to what they said they would do. But, you know, regardless of who's president, and this is just my experience, doesn't really matter. President Gurfin. Yeah, President Gurfin. No, you heard it first here. I've I I would say is in the military as an example while you were in. I I don't can't remember the exact times you were in, but in my military career, I served under multiple presidents on both sides of the aisle. My day-to-day life hasn't changed. I've been out now. I got out in uh 2016, so I've been out for a decade now. Doesn't matter.

unknown

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00

My life hasn't changed day to day. Yeah, I am for I I know that I'm fortunate to say that. Some people's lives have changed because of who's in office, but I don't really think that that's the office's thing. That's people listening to unreliable sources and getting agitated. And then all of that trouble that's coming is not actually coming from the source that's deemed for it to be coming from.

SPEAKER_01

Yeah, no, that's a good point where it doesn't, and even if it is coming from the system, it might not necessarily be like the guy who's in office. Sometimes, I mean, the government's so huge. Yeah, there's multiple actors that are at play. For sure. All right. Well, so at the end of your life, how would you personally want to be remembered?

SPEAKER_00

Um, as a great father, those are really the people um who've mattered to me most, is my children, great husband. After that, um, great friend, charitable, caring. Um I I guess to give those kind of buzzwords would be the best way that I could say like this is who he was, just as a person who he is. And I I think I I live that way generally now, so I don't see that it would be an issue. But maybe if it continues to grow and that network is, you know, I don't I don't necessarily need 3,000 or 5,000 or 10,000 people at my funeral when I pass. Um, it's really only the people who have had a a an effect on my life.

SPEAKER_01

Okay. Well, from what little I've known of you in the past year, I would definitely say you're living up to that expectation. So I'll just I try for sure. No, you do. You I you know, I've I've talked with you a few times outside of this, and there's there's a there's a genuine sincerity that's come from this. You're not you're not fronting. Um, you're you're giving pretty real stuff and you're pretty transparent. And I that's that's a little bit rare. I think in the in a world where a lot of people are trying to act or pretend to be something, I want to say pretend, but they're kind of fronting a certain image, uh authenticity goes a long way. But look, man, for people that want to you know get plugged in with you now that you're on your own and you're running your own, you know, investment, uh is how do you how would you describe your business?

SPEAKER_00

Yeah, um investment advisory services is kind of what it is. So it's a it's a um a registered investment advisor. So really anything investment management related, planning related, financial related. I have a guy here in the standard who we're close friends, but he's also has become a client and he says I'm his everything finance guy. Nice. So I like to look at it as okay, we're gonna start off and and figure out where you're at from a from a financial perspective. Um, build that framework. So it could be it could be estate and legacy management, it could be insurance. What what do you need there? How do we need to protect it? So we want to take the time to have everything in place that's going to give you a peace of mind.

SPEAKER_01

So for people that want to look into that more, they need someone to kind of take a look at their life. How can they find you?

SPEAKER_00

Yeah. So you can find me at um personally Brandon Gurfin. My my Facebook page is just my name.

SPEAKER_02

Okay.

SPEAKER_00

The business side of that is also Brandon Gurfin, Fiduciary Advisor. Um, website for the new company, Strathamridge.com. You can reach me at Brandon Brandon at Stratom Ridge. You can email info at Shratham Ridge. Okay. Um, it it'll all come to me.

SPEAKER_01

Okay.

SPEAKER_00

Yep.

SPEAKER_01

Well, look, man, I really appreciate this conversation. Uh, I wish you the best and I'll see you here in the future. Yeah, for sure.