This is another episode of Ready for Retirement . I'm your host , james Canole , and I'm here to teach you how to get the most out of life with your money . And now on to the episode how it operates and what this podcast is going to become . This specific podcast you and me , root Talks , as we're calling it , which people can find on my podcast , your podcast , our Root Financial YouTube channel we're going to start answering questions directly from the community , from the collective here on this podcast .
Speaker 1So a couple of things . Number one , if you're not already in the Root Collective , it is now free . It did not start that way , but we made the decision to say how do we make this as accessible and available to as many people as possible ? We make it free . So awesome traction happening there , lots of great people joining . If you're listening not already in there , join the root collective . We'll have a link in the show notes here . And then , secondly , we're going to be pulling some of your questions and once a week we're going to address those on this podcast here . So , Ari , what is our question , pulled directly from the Root Collective for ?
Speaker 2today . So our question for today and , just as James said , there's going to be a Root channel inside of the Collective . So if you're wondering where do I go put my question or my comment , you'll be able to click in there very easily and you will see it right when you join if you're not already enrolled . The question comes from and this is an actual client who uses a pseudonym
. Goes by George Darcy , and this was in relation to a post we put out talking about the intersection of fun and service .
Speaker 2We had a media day where James , our head of culture , josh , and our amazing marketing team that helps us do everything that we do we were talking about hey , we're going to do this as long as we're having fun , and he said the following thank you for sharing this . Seeing the fun in our advisor is both a magnet drawing us as clients in , but it also spreads from the advisor to the client and , hopefully , back to the advisor . Though relatively still young , the firm has weathered some significant fluctuations in the market . Fun is especially important during market downturns . How do you take something that can be super serious and emotionally draining and keep the fun times going , because to me , that's when we need it most .
So I think we need to start by defining fun , but before that , I'm going to tell a story . It was five years ago now , which is wild to think . Five years ago was 2020 . And at the beginning of 2020 , february 2020 specifically , there started to be this news about this thing called COVID happening . It started out just okay , whatever , there's this thing going on , and okay , now it's spreading and okay , now we should be worried . Okay , now there's full blown shutdowns and it was insane . And it wasn't just insane in one regard . It was insane in every regard everything from jobs being lost to markets cratering , to people getting sick and passing , to all these horrible things . And I remember that was an incredibly .
Speaker 1Leading up to that and through that and beyond that were some very heavy conversations . So , to this individual's point , that was not what I would consider to be fun , but I do remember this . I remember thinking , okay , I have no idea how long this is going to last . Nobody has any idea how long this is going to last . This could be something that's a few weeks , a few months , a few years anybody's guess at this point . And I do remember that I realized the importance of taking care of myself in that moment , as selfish as that sounds , but I'm saying , I'm going to . I'm about to have eight to nine hours of just talking to clients all day about their concerns , about their fears about their portfolio , about their retirement . I need to make sure that I'm getting up . I'm meditating , I'm praying , I'm exercising . I'm doing all these things so I could go into the day feeling fresh , feeling ready , so that I could be the best support system , I could be the best guide , I could be the best coach and advisor to my clients .
Speaker 1And I remember the first day , the first few days , my wife and I we went down to the beach and we just did a workout because gyms were shut down . You can go , couldn't go to the gym , it was closed . You couldn't go do a lot of things , they shut down . We went down to the beach and we're just doing pushups and burpees and sit-ups and I would run and jump in the ocean . It's like , okay , at least the day starts right .
Speaker 1I now feel like I'm clear , I'm mentally available to go have these tough conversations and navigate these conversations with clients and in a regard that was fun . It was almost like this preparing for battle , in a way Like okay , you got to prepare . You have to be able to put yourself in a position mentally to where people who are relying on you can rely on you . And I say that because at one point they closed the beaches down . As absurd as it sounds like we had a lifeguard come to us there's nobody on the beach , we're just working out . But they said , hey , you can't be on the beach , okay , we can't go to the gym , we can't go to some common places we might work out , we can't even work out on the beach .
Speaker 1I remember the next few days I just didn't work out , didn't do anything in the morning , roll Like . By lunchtime I was like I'm about to , I don't want to do this Like this is . I am so beyond fatigued , so beyond exhausted that it just wasn't something . I felt like I could show up and provide the best level of advice to my clients . Thankfully , after that we're able to start doing some workouts again , just some outdoor park areas .
Speaker 1But I remember looking back on that and saying the importance of advisors being rested and recovered and enjoying their work and having purposeful work . Like it sounds like oh , fun , cool , you're running around and flying kites and playing ping pong and having these like . That's not what we're talking about with fun . We're talking about doing meaningful work with people we love doing it with
for clients . We love serving , growing , expanding learning For the growth-minded individual , like all of our advisors are . That is fun .
Speaker 1Now , yes , we also want to have fun people . We also do want to have aspects of this that are just you're laughing , you're connecting . That is all healthy , but it's not just because we want to come to we don't want it to . To have laughter be the end goal , to have connection be the end goal , to have fun be the end goal . We do that because that creates healthy individuals , that creates healthy teams , so that when the next bear market comes and that is a heavy load to carry and you do have a lot of clients who are relying on you and you do have a lot of we have to show up as our best .
Speaker 1Show up as our best If we're just focused on I don't know if we're not focused on that and we're already kind of feeling a little burned out or a little bit at our wits end or a little bit overworked , and then that happens . I don't want to be a client of that advisor who's feeling that way , because I've been that advisor before and it was tough and thankfully I didn't last very long and I was really able to course correct on that . But I think , as we talk about having fun recovering , performing the same way with athletes like you have to train , you have to rest , you have to recover so that you can be your best on game day . We view this as game day . When we're working with clients , when there's a bear market , that's game day . And if we haven't done the right things ahead of that , we as a team might not be fully prepared to be able to serve our clients the best possible way through those downturns .
Speaker 2Yeah , Two things . Number one I never told you this , James , but I was the lifeguard that kicked you off the beach . That , no , I wasn't . But the , in all seriousness , like fun . When I play soccer , it's fun to be prepared . We train during the week . Other teams don't that we'll play against , but it's fun feeling prepared . And that big anxiety of , oh my gosh , if I retire and markets go down , it's not if it's when , and when they do go down , we are going to be ready .
Speaker 2So , for those who have not seen it , I posted a video talking where it's James and our head of culture talking about we're going to do this thing here at root help clients manage their money . As long as it's fun and this is what we mean by fun it's that we are going to serve you in those times where it is difficult . Maybe there's a job loss , Maybe , you know , there was a divorce , maybe a parents no longer with us . Those are not easy times and we are not thinking rationally when that occurs and that's why it's , you know , truly a partnership here . So , going back to fun , fun to us is being prepared . So , James , love that story .
Speaker 2Another comment that I just want to reference that was left once again in the collective in the same thread here . So I posted this video
and these are the comments that we're referencing . This comes very similar from someone who's not a client but is very active in this collective . So in case you hear us say community or collective , root , collective is what we call this community . He says what does that intersection look like in a bear market ? How do you exude fun at the intersection when people are scared , Tension is high ? How do you lean into wins , celebrate avoiding pitfalls , champion security both for your clients and your team .
Speaker 1I think we all have those relationships where it's easy for things to be good when everything externally is good . It's easy to get along when everything externally is good . And then the second something goes wrong if that relationship isn't built upon something healthy , some level of trust , some level of depth , some level of trust there . As soon as something goes wrong , that relationship sours , that relationship tears apart , that relationship ends . And so , yeah , is there going to be a bear market ? A hundred percent , there's going to be a bear market , statistically speaking , one out of every four or five years . There's going to be a bear market when we are working with our clients , when we're working with our team in the healthy times .
Speaker 1How do you prepare for the hard times ? Part of that is developing healthy relationships , both internally as a team and externally with clients . The way that you do that is by the things that we're talking about . The things that we're talking about are , by the way , I love your sports analogy , like it's probably you love soccer , it's you've told me this before . It's fun for you to do drills and things that people might look at . And the answer to that is that's not fun . It is fun because it's for this purpose of me getting to be able to play the game that I love , being able to do the thing that I love Running , stretching , working out . You don't actually love working out , but you love it because it allows you to play soccer at a much higher level , so that's kind of like it's fun for you to train because of what that enables . Same thing here .
Speaker 1We want this to be a fun place so that we can develop healthy relationships with each other and with clients , so that when the day of testing comes which isn't just a bear market , by the way , that's some external event that impacts all of us .
Speaker 1But , as you mentioned , it could be the death of a loved one , it could be a divorce , it could be unexpected job loss , it could be your stock options all of a sudden are worth nothing because company like there's all of these things that are going to be anywhere from small traumas to large traumas over the course of your lifetime .
Speaker 1If your relationship with your advisor is just built on that surface level , hey , when things are good , we're good , but the second things aren't good , we're not good anymore because we haven't developed that environment , we haven't created that trust . That's not healthy , and so this isn't you know , when we're talking about fun and service , that's awesome , but that's not us being , you know , heads in the cloud , just totally ambivalent to all the or unaware of all the potential down Like we know that stuff's going to happen . We've gone through that stuff . This is how we can best prepare for it the next time it comes around is build healthy relationships , build healthy habits , enjoy the work that you're doing , enjoy who you're doing it with , and when things get tested , you're going to be a whole lot better off in that situation you otherwise would have been .
Speaker 2It reminds me
a few things , but you said the biggest word there is , which is trust , and it's hard to find a new advisor and trust them . And people will ask me and I'll often take the first call with people that reach out how do I know I'm going to trust my advisor ? And I said after the first meeting , you won't . And after the second you also won't . And after the third you might a little bit , but you still won't , because you haven't really gone through it with them . It's like when you're in a relationship and things are going well and then , all of a sudden , there's a conflict . That's when you really get to see is it you versus them or is it you both versus the problem ? And the goal here is to make sure you never run out of money and that you live a life that's complete with fulfillment and purpose and everything you've dreamed and more . Okay , well , that's not going to occur unless there are some difficult conversations . How much do you want to leave to children ? Is there a goal to retire early ? And is it going to be weird , since you haven't been home for 30 years and you're going to have to redate your spouse ? What's that going to be like ? It's weird when people are not getting emotional in our meetings and that's different . So the point here is regarding trust .
Speaker 2Many of you that are reaching out to work with Root you have seen our videos maybe three , four , five , maybe 50 .
Speaker 2Maybe you've watched us for a year or listened to us for many years and you go . Yeah , it just feels different . I have a friend and they're my advisor . I've had them for 20 years , but I feel like I haven't gotten to the depth of conversations that it appears your advisors are having with clients and I'll say , yeah , that's how it works , like we are really going deep , and if that's not the case like we're not doing our job well , we could not talk about fun . I could not post a video easily about how we have fun at work and if it was looked at in a way without intent , it would look like , kind of , when you think of a tech company that's growing , when you think of a startup , you think , like you said , ping pong , bocce ball that that's not what we're doing . What we're doing is trying to make it so that you guys can go . Oh , I see there's intentionality behind how you build trust . So love that you've brought up trust and surface level , because those are things that we take serious yeah .
Speaker 1Awesome . Well , anything else , ari , I know these were both questions . As we mentioned , these are in the Root Collective , so if you're wondering what that is , again , check out the link in the show notes . Join the collective . It's completely free . Ask questions there . This is what this Root Talks is going to be all about , but anything else you want to add to today's conversation ?
Speaker 2No other than I am a junior lifeguard , so I actually would never have had the authority to kick you off the beach , and I wouldn't have even if I could .
Speaker 1Awesome . Well , thank you , Ari , and for everyone listening . Thanks for listening . Join the collective . We'll see you in there and we'll see you all on the next episode .
Speaker 2See ya .
The information presented is for educational purposes only and is not intended as an offer or solicitation for the sale or purchase of any specific securities , investments or investment strategies . Investments involve risk and are not guaranteed . Any mention of rates of return are historical and illustrative in nature and are not a guarantee of future returns .
Speaker 2Past performance does not guarantee future performance Viewers are encouraged to seek advice from a qualified tax , legal or investment advisor professional to determine whether any information presented may be suitable for their specific situation construed as investment , tax , legal or other financial advice .
Speaker 1It is for informational purposes only . Thank you for listening to another episode of the Ready for Retirement podcast . If you want to see how Root Financial can help you implement the techniques I discussed in this podcast , then go to rootfinancialpartnerscom and click start here , where you can schedule a call with one of our advisors . We work with clients all over the country and we love the opportunity to speak with you about your goals and how we might be able to help . And please remember , nothing we discuss in this podcast is intended to serve as advice . You should always consult a financial , legal or tax professional who's familiar with your unique circumstances before making any financial decisions . We'll see you next time .