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#151 - From Infantry Officer to Fee-Only Advisor with Geoffrey Schaefer · Only Fee-Only

• 0:04
  SPEAKER_01: What's up everyone?
• 0:06
  SPEAKER_01: Welcome back to the OnlyFe Only podcast.
• 0:08
  SPEAKER_01: And as always, thanks for being here.
• 0:10
  SPEAKER_01: In this episode, we talked to Jeffrey Schaefer, who is a wealth advisor at Energy Private Wealth.
• 0:16
  SPEAKER_01: And he was also at another firm before that.
• 0:19
  SPEAKER_01: And before that, he was actually an infantry officer in the U.S.
• 0:23
  SPEAKER_01: military.
• 0:24
  SPEAKER_01: So really cool story.
• 0:26
  SPEAKER_01: Had so many amazing things to say when talking about how he does financial planning with his clients, how he changed his conversation, what it looks like from start to finish, and just what his journey's been like in the the only space.
• 0:38
  SPEAKER_01: So every time we get to talk to Jeff, it's a great experience, and this was no different.
• 0:43
  SPEAKER_01: Enjoy this podcast with Jeffrey Schaefer on the OnlyFe-only podcast.
• 0:49
  SPEAKER_00: How's it going, everyone?
• 0:50
  SPEAKER_00: Welcome to another episode of the OnlyFee Only Podcast.
• 0:54
  SPEAKER_00: I'm Peter Cheravolo.
• 0:56
  SPEAKER_00: I'm here with my co-host Brock Buckles.
• 0:58
  SPEAKER_00: And today we're really excited to have Jeff Schaefer on from Intergy Private Wealth.
• 1:03
  SPEAKER_00: Can't wait for him to come on and share his story and how he's serving his clients.
• 1:07
  SPEAKER_00: So, Jeff, welcome to the show, man.
• 1:09
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, thank you.
• 1:10
  SPEAKER_02: Thank you guys for having me.
• 1:12
  SPEAKER_00: You bet.
• 1:13
  SPEAKER_00: So um we're also gonna dive into everything about you, but let's get a little bit of a background before we get started kind of who you're currently serving and the firm that you're at.
• 1:22
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
• 1:23
  SPEAKER_02: Um I'm at Intro G Private Wealth.
• 1:25
  SPEAKER_02: I'm one of the one of the partners, just three uh planning partners here.
• 1:29
  SPEAKER_02: Um, and we've been an independent firm for uh almost four years.
• 1:32
  SPEAKER_02: Now we broke away from a larger firm where we work together as much as you could in that environment.
• 1:38
  SPEAKER_02: Um, but we've been independent uh for four years, which has been awesome.
• 1:42
  SPEAKER_02: Uh and we serve um a lot of young families, a lot of retirees.
• 1:47
  SPEAKER_02: Uh we serve uh folks that run small businesses.
• 1:51
  SPEAKER_02: Um so each one of the the planners here kind of have their own um maybe niche and community that they that they work in specifically.
• 2:00
  SPEAKER_02: Uh, but then we all work together collectively as a team to to serve and plan and and back up uh the planees of those clients, which is great.
• 2:08
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, that's awesome, man.
• 2:10
  SPEAKER_01: So tell us about you.
• 2:11
  SPEAKER_01: Like, how did you even get interested in this?
• 2:13
  SPEAKER_01: Was it like something when you were growing up, you're like, I'm gonna be a financial planner, or you know, went to college.
• 2:19
  SPEAKER_01: I know you're in Colorado Springs now, but kind of how what led you down that path, man?
• 2:24
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, absolutely.
• 2:25
  SPEAKER_02: Uh no, no one, I don't think anyone ever dreams of being a financial planner when they were five.
• 2:31
  SPEAKER_02: Um so I even you know, we hang out with my my younger kids' friends, and they have like, you know, doctors and pilots and all these awesome, like, oh yeah, I'm like, what's your dad do?
• 2:41
  SPEAKER_02: He's like, he's a financial planner, and that just means he has a really flexible schedule, which is great.
• 2:45
  SPEAKER_02: Um so no, I never never dreamed of doing it as a kid.
• 2:48
  SPEAKER_02: Uh and went to college not knowing what I was, you know, what I wanted to do at all.
• 2:54
  SPEAKER_02: Um I thought maybe some teaching or coaching was was in there somewhere.
• 2:58
  SPEAKER_02: I had a desire to do that.
• 3:00
  SPEAKER_02: Um but then uh after my first year, I just took Gen Eds.
• 3:05
  SPEAKER_02: I was one of those college kids that for a semester and a half just kept doing all the 101s until something clicked.
• 3:10
  SPEAKER_02: And then uh Mr.
• 3:12
  SPEAKER_02: Greg at Oral Roberts University taught me accounting 101, and it was like a light came down from heaven, and like, oh money, look, it makes sense, debits and credits.
• 3:21
  SPEAKER_02: Uh I get it.
• 3:23
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
• 3:23
  SPEAKER_02: So that was that was awesome.
• 3:24
  SPEAKER_02: That's when I knew that that finance was something that I wanted to get into.
• 3:28
  SPEAKER_02: Um and then just pursuing that degree in that path uh that led me to get into the human side of finance.
• 3:36
  SPEAKER_02: Um, you know, depreciation schedules aren't aren't my thing necessarily.
• 3:41
  SPEAKER_02: They're they're important and I get it and they're great, and I'm thankful that we have accounts that do that for our clients.
• 3:46
  SPEAKER_02: But I wanted to just work with people.
• 3:48
  SPEAKER_02: Um, the teaching and coaching maybe came out a little bit in that or so finance directed, but wanted to be with people.
• 3:56
  SPEAKER_02: So had a flight due to detour where I joined the army for a few years.
• 4:00
  SPEAKER_01: Uh so um So how did that I had we had to dig into that for a second because like you're interested in finance, you're doing all this stuff, you're talking to your college professor, the light bulb clicks on, you're like, I'm gonna go into the U.S.
• 4:13
  SPEAKER_01: Army and be an infantry officer.
• 4:15
  SPEAKER_01: Like, how did that yeah?
• 4:18
  SPEAKER_02: That's a good question.
• 4:19
  SPEAKER_02: It's funny too.
• 4:20
  SPEAKER_02: Um, because the Army doesn't care really what you want to do.
• 4:23
  SPEAKER_02: So infantry officer wasn't really high on my list.
• 4:26
  unknown: Okay.
• 4:26
  SPEAKER_02: Um, I was I married my my wife, my last year college, she was graduated, so we were I was in the reserves at that time um in an ROTC program, which is just training to become an officer, basically.
• 4:38
  SPEAKER_02: Um and I had finance officer uh at the top of my list, so ideally I could serve because I had a desire to serve the country in some way.
• 4:48
  SPEAKER_02: Um and I was like, ah, finance, we'll put those things together and maybe it'll work.
• 4:51
  SPEAKER_02: And uh, you know, however, the list got scrubbed out, they're like, no, Jeff, you're gonna be an infantry officer.
• 4:58
  SPEAKER_02: This is much better for you.
• 4:59
  SPEAKER_02: And I was like, all right.
• 5:00
  SPEAKER_02: I mean, it was very disappointing at the time, but uh I mean, looking back, I uh would never want to repeat being an infantry officer, those those years of doing that, but wouldn't want to change a thing either.
• 5:12
  SPEAKER_02: Um great community.
• 5:14
  SPEAKER_02: Uh grew a lot personally, learned uh a lot of different people can exist in the world.
• 5:19
  SPEAKER_02: The army does that, they expose you to a lot of different people.
• 5:22
  SPEAKER_01: Uh yeah, it's like a world within a world, right?
• 5:24
  SPEAKER_01: I mean, pretty much.
• 5:26
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, yeah, yeah.
• 5:26
  SPEAKER_02: Completely, completely.
• 5:28
  SPEAKER_02: Um, but a world that's made up of such different people, but that that work together so uniquely, which is cool.
• 5:34
  SPEAKER_02: So um, so yeah, I had that detour where that was a few years.
• 5:39
  SPEAKER_02: Um and then when I got out, my wife and I settled back in Colorado um and uh started the financial planning journey from there.
• 5:50
  SPEAKER_02: Very cool.
• 5:51
  SPEAKER_00: So, right after um the army, I mean, what was the first financial planning or insurance job that you had?
• 5:58
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, I worked for a big uh insurance broker dealer.
• 6:01
  SPEAKER_02: Um and uh that that had plenty of pros and cons.
• 6:07
  SPEAKER_02: Um I know you you talked to a lot of breakaway financial planners, so there's a lot of warehouse banks, insurance broker dealers that that that break away, and it's uh it's very thematic, it's a lot of the same thing.
• 6:18
  SPEAKER_02: They um you get a lot of the you know Kool-Aid, if you will, a lot of like this is how it's done.
• 6:24
  SPEAKER_00: Oh yeah.
• 6:25
  SPEAKER_02: And then you become a CFP, which for me that was about a year and a half after I started in the industry.
• 6:30
  SPEAKER_02: I earned my CFP, so that first six months was just kind of like working, doing whatever I was told.
• 6:36
  SPEAKER_02: And then after that, you you start learning, um, and then you start trying to make things match up, you know, like hey, I just learned all this, like this is how retirement planning works and insurance planning works, and then this is how I'm supposed to do it here.
• 6:49
  SPEAKER_02: And then you start trying to ask a lot of questions.
• 6:51
  SPEAKER_02: Can you help me?
• 6:53
  SPEAKER_02: Uh, you know, if I'm supposed to act for the client and this is how it's supposed to be done, then why is it this way?
• 6:57
  SPEAKER_02: Um and you know, it's it's kind of like just you know, just keep going, just keep going.
• 7:02
  SPEAKER_02: This is the way, you know, type type thing.
• 7:05
  SPEAKER_02: Um and a big company like that, I mean, all the big ones are the same.
• 7:08
  SPEAKER_02: They they they equip you with all the best tools, technology, any capability you need is truly there, but it all points back to the products that that that insurance company or bank supports.
• 7:20
  SPEAKER_02: It's all about that, right?
• 7:21
  SPEAKER_02: It's uh so for for years uh of growing and learning, it was just working that ecosystem, but slowly getting agitated by the fact that this is a great planning tool pointing back to the same thing over and over again.
• 7:34
  SPEAKER_02: When the person I'm talking to, Brock Peter, they don't need this at all.
• 7:37
  SPEAKER_02: Like this is not what they want, this is not why they're engaging me.
• 7:40
  SPEAKER_02: So um, so yeah, that that was a huge, you know, probably longer than I wanted to take, but it everything happens for a reason.
• 7:49
  SPEAKER_01: So yeah, you you can appreciate it now, right?
• 7:52
  SPEAKER_01: I mean, it was I I'm a firm believer, honestly, Jeff, that like all of us are exactly where we're supposed to be right now.
• 7:59
  SPEAKER_01: And had it not been for some of those experiences that might have like sucked a little bit more at the time, right?
• 8:04
  SPEAKER_01: Like, I wasn't planning on being an infantry officer, I wasn't planning on joining a firm like this.
• 8:08
  SPEAKER_01: I I like their planning tools, uh, but the ecosystem all pointed back to the same product.
• 8:13
  SPEAKER_01: It's like you wouldn't be able to have that experience, serve your clients in the same way and be doing what you're doing now had you not gone through all of that stuff in the past.
• 8:21
  SPEAKER_02: So yeah, yeah, absolutely.
• 8:23
  SPEAKER_02: That's true.
• 8:23
  SPEAKER_02: And we're you know, you're you get a bigger perspective on life.
• 8:27
  SPEAKER_02: Uh, you know, you you um you make your own mistakes.
• 8:31
  SPEAKER_02: Like one mistake in that in that season was um in a in a sales production culture, it's a little weird because you're never quite enough.
• 8:40
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, you're you're only as good as the last week's report, and that wasn't even good enough.
• 8:44
  SPEAKER_02: So it's this constant striving, this constant um what doesn't feel like it at the time, but it's just a degradation of your own value is what is what's really occurring, which is just this constant need to produce, achieve, learn, uh, be the most technically proficient.
• 9:01
  SPEAKER_02: And what in in hindsight, looking back, I I lost a lot in that because the the most important part of personal financial planning is the human relationship, and not you know, if I can explain to you what the standard deviation of your current portfolio means in three sentences or less, because really you don't care about that anyway.
• 9:20
  SPEAKER_02: Like but in in that you know, one one thing that I learned that I'm thankful, even though it sucks to you know look back and say, ah, Jeff, you know, come on, man.
• 9:28
  SPEAKER_02: But uh it it it's about people and it's about relationships and and and math and where it all fits and money carlo, that all matters like a lot, but only as much as it relates to us as people and individuals and relationships and the values that we hold, right?
• 9:44
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, yeah.
• 9:45
  SPEAKER_02: So yeah.
• 9:46
  SPEAKER_01: No, that's that's totally relatable.
• 9:48
  SPEAKER_01: I mean, I remember for sure earlier in my career, I was at a firm that pushed products for sure.
• 9:53
  SPEAKER_01: Um, and a lot of the time, like that feeling in your mind of like, I know what these people need, I know what they're asking of me.
• 10:02
  SPEAKER_01: They've told me what their goals are personally, professionally, and financially.
• 10:07
  SPEAKER_01: Um, and now I'm now in my mind, I'm also feeling the pressure from the other side of the table of like, yeah, I get I get that you know what they need or you think you know what they need, but like, here's what you need to do, and here's what you need to go push, and here's what is gonna make it good for you from our side of the table.
• 10:24
  SPEAKER_01: So yeah, no, definitely understand that, man.
• 10:27
  SPEAKER_01: So like leaving that environment and coming in, you said it's kind of like a almost like a shell shock, right?
• 10:33
  SPEAKER_01: Because you're like, holy cow, now I'm doing this.
• 10:35
  SPEAKER_01: This is a different approach that we're taking.
• 10:37
  SPEAKER_01: So, one of the what are the things that you really take pride in now or that have really been like game changers um with kind of what you're doing now that you just didn't feel in the last last part?
• 10:47
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
• 10:48
  SPEAKER_02: Um I mean, in in really simplistic terms, everything, right?
• 10:53
  SPEAKER_02: Which is which is awesome.
• 10:55
  SPEAKER_02: Uh but we're uh being able to tell clients that the only people that pay us is them is incredibly valuable.
• 11:04
  SPEAKER_02: Um because everyone wonders what's in it for everybody, right?
• 11:07
  SPEAKER_02: So every time I have to say you need two million dollars of term life insurance, and uh I I will not receive any comments, I don't even care.
• 11:19
  SPEAKER_02: Like here's here's Brock and Peter, like the BC brokerage is awesome.
• 11:22
  SPEAKER_02: But if you want to call up USA or State Farm, I don't even care, right?
• 11:25
  SPEAKER_02: Just get two million dollars of level 20.
• 11:27
  SPEAKER_02: Right.
• 11:27
  SPEAKER_02: Um and the the the cost that you paid me was for my advice for this plan, and how you go implement it is up to you.
• 11:34
  SPEAKER_02: But you don't have to, you know, to be able to tell clients, you don't have to second guess everything that I'm saying because it has a commission attached to it or you know, some label that that Jeff's affiliated with that gets paid.
• 11:47
  SPEAKER_02: So that that piece is huge.
• 11:49
  SPEAKER_02: And then on the independent side, it's um I mean the the kind of the world is out there for you.
• 11:54
  SPEAKER_02: If there's a a problem while we don't lead with products, a product can help fill a problem that exists in the client's plan.
• 12:02
  SPEAKER_02: Sure.
• 12:03
  SPEAKER_02: Um and we can go we can go fill it.
• 12:05
  SPEAKER_02: It doesn't matter where it's at in the world, who's offering it.
• 12:09
  SPEAKER_02: Um you can go tap into different custodians, every mutual fund, every bank, securities back line of credit, whoever you want to go through.
• 12:17
  SPEAKER_02: Like it doesn't really matter.
• 12:18
  SPEAKER_02: Um here's the fact pattern, here's what we need to do, and and we can go do that for you.
• 12:24
  SPEAKER_02: So just that that open-endedness.
• 12:26
  SPEAKER_02: And then culturally, um there's not a weekly number.
• 12:31
  SPEAKER_02: Like uh like everyone on our team is very confident in what they do, they're very good and proficient what they do, and we value that and support that.
• 12:40
  SPEAKER_02: Um so you know, just showing up and saying, hey, our team is really great at what they do.
• 12:46
  SPEAKER_02: And some months, if it was sales oriented, would be like ridiculous.
• 12:50
  SPEAKER_02: Wow, this is crazy.
• 12:51
  SPEAKER_02: You know, we had this many fee-based plans and this much AUM growth, whatever it is.
• 12:56
  SPEAKER_02: Um and then sometimes it's like, you know what?
• 12:59
  SPEAKER_02: It was a good summer, right?
• 13:00
  SPEAKER_02: I still value everything that we do.
• 13:02
  SPEAKER_02: We're still uh we didn't lose any value as planners, we're still technically proficient, we're great at what we do, we're kind, we're empathetic, like that's what really matters.
• 13:09
  SPEAKER_02: So that that culture of just not having to uh prove yourself, not we want to do our best for our clients, but not have to strive and strive and strive to some endless goal, right?
• 13:22
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, I think that's a critical point.
• 13:25
  SPEAKER_00: And it's like why a reason why the fee-only business is kind of such a good business model, too, with the recurring revenue, right?
• 13:31
  SPEAKER_00: Because in a lot of other models, it's always just kind of eat what you kill.
• 13:35
  SPEAKER_00: It might not be as recurring revenue, so it's hard to build a sustainable business.
• 13:39
  SPEAKER_00: It's just the model that it is.
• 13:41
  SPEAKER_00: Um, so kind of, I mean, I know you mentioned that there's three partners at the firm.
• 13:45
  SPEAKER_00: What's the dynamic look like?
• 13:47
  SPEAKER_00: Um, you know, I know you mentioned maybe you know, one partner works with a specific niche, kind of, you know, what's that look like?
• 13:55
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, um we all serve our clients individually, uh, but support the firm as a team.
• 14:02
  SPEAKER_02: Um so a relationship with Jeff is usually a relationship with Jeff, right?
• 14:07
  SPEAKER_02: Like we work with Energy Private Wealth and Jeff's our financial planner.
• 14:11
  SPEAKER_02: Um, but that doesn't mean that you won't talk to two or three other people at the firm throughout the course of the year for uh a new account or connect you with a professional um recommendation or to move money or what you know, whatever, whatever may be.
• 14:25
  SPEAKER_02: And then there's also a collaborative piece there too.
• 14:28
  SPEAKER_02: Like on the back end, clients may not even know this is happening, but hey, we need to um, you know, whatever, figure out some portfolio issue for clients.
• 14:39
  SPEAKER_02: We're solving for X amount of yield because they they want a yield-based portfolio for whatever reason.
• 14:43
  SPEAKER_02: Great.
• 14:44
  SPEAKER_02: Look, let's collaborate.
• 14:44
  SPEAKER_02: This is what we have, this is how we can change it.
• 14:47
  SPEAKER_02: Um so I'd say we serve all our clients uh individually as visors, but there's a team-based approach to supporting that ongoing, and that's really the goal long term is to have um kind of a tiered uh generation.
• 15:01
  SPEAKER_02: I'm 10 years younger than the other two planners, give or take.
• 15:05
  SPEAKER_02: Um and we're gonna bring on advisors that are uh 10 years younger than me.
• 15:11
  SPEAKER_02: Uh because what we're starting to find is that we work with a lot of clients' parents and we work with a lot of clients' kids.
• 15:16
  SPEAKER_02: So this is becoming over time uh multi-generational in the way that we work with clients.
• 15:21
  SPEAKER_02: So we're trying to make our business model um multi-generational.
• 15:25
  SPEAKER_02: So one day it won't be uh, you know, two 65-year-old advisors and one 58-year-old that are just old and hanging on for dear life, right?
• 15:33
  SPEAKER_02: Sure.
• 15:34
  SPEAKER_02: It's gonna be 65, 58, 47, 22, all you know, CFP supported by a great team.
• 15:41
  SPEAKER_02: Um we're hopefully a family that's that we're planning for on the multi-generational front.
• 15:46
  SPEAKER_02: It's not even any different to them, right?
• 15:47
  SPEAKER_02: It's just something that um that they're used to.
• 15:51
  SPEAKER_02: Hey, there's multi-generational advisors, and we're a multi-generational family, and this is this is awesome.
• 15:55
  SPEAKER_02: We feel cared for at every single juncture of these wealth transfers, these planning conversations.
• 16:01
  SPEAKER_02: Um so that that's kind of the trajectory of our firm is that we want to have like a tiered multi-generational service model to how we how we grow.
• 16:10
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, no, that's really cool.
• 16:12
  SPEAKER_01: And behind the scenes, is there is there like a dynamic?
• 16:14
  SPEAKER_01: Because I know there's obviously like everybody kind of has their different goals, they have their their their clients, but is there like, you know, Jeff's in charge of marketing, so and so's in charge of this, or is it you guys just kind of make those decisions together, or what does that look like?
• 16:28
  SPEAKER_01: Because I know you know there's a lot of planners out there that are doing their solo practices or thinking about merging with somebody else or starting with somebody else.
• 16:36
  SPEAKER_01: And along with serving clients, oftentimes there are other things in the background that are going on.
• 16:41
  SPEAKER_01: So do you guys have that you've hired for that, or what's that look like?
• 16:44
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, we we all take some um of that on our plates as far as um HR, payroll, investment management, uh, investment committee, uh marketing.
• 16:55
  SPEAKER_02: Some and then a lot of it is offloaded too.
• 16:57
  SPEAKER_02: Our team is awesome, our team does so much um for us.
• 17:01
  SPEAKER_02: So we have uh a lot of great, awesome, just some of the best people on earth working with us, which is awesome.
• 17:09
  SPEAKER_02: And then we have some outsourced as well.
• 17:11
  SPEAKER_02: So um we're I know this is this is different for for everybody, and you guys have talked to so many feeling planners, everyone runs it so different.
• 17:19
  SPEAKER_02: You can have something small and you can do a lot and have a really good business.
• 17:24
  SPEAKER_02: Um we we like serving and helping as many people as we can, and to do that um we have found it valuable to kind of offload because if I look at okay, I could take the group of clients adjusters, could I go and make more money with the same fee schedule somewhere else?
• 17:42
  SPEAKER_02: Yes, but then I'm doing all the HR as well and the compliance and everything that's currently off my plate now that we have spread out between you know a wealth of riches and knowledge and resources, right?
• 17:56
  SPEAKER_02: Sure.
• 17:56
  SPEAKER_02: So um we have taken a lot of the roles of the team and kind of divvy it out, and it's it's ebbed and flowed over time too, because like, hey Jeff, you know, you're kind of not the you know best fit for HR or compliance or whatever it is.
• 18:10
  SPEAKER_02: So maybe you know you just stick in this lane and we'll we'll do this for someone else, right?
• 18:14
  SPEAKER_02: So we sure we've been comfortable with adjusting that over time as well.
• 18:18
  SPEAKER_02: That's good.
• 18:19
  SPEAKER_01: Uh you you have to know what you're better at, right?
• 18:22
  SPEAKER_01: Like I always say, you know, there there's things that I should absolutely not be doing, right?
• 18:27
  SPEAKER_01: That that Peter is way better than me, and I'm totally okay saying that.
• 18:32
  SPEAKER_01: And I want everyone to hear that because you should talk to him, not me, you're gonna get a better answer.
• 18:36
  SPEAKER_01: Um, but not and and I think I think you know, there's early on, sometimes there's this thing where it's like, well, I feel like I need to oversee everything.
• 18:44
  SPEAKER_01: It's like, no, just like understand who fits in the right place and where they should be, and that's the best way to do it.
• 18:50
  SPEAKER_01: Um, but transitioning, man, over to kind of like the client-facing side, what is kind of your approach there?
• 18:57
  SPEAKER_01: Like, I know some advisors kind of like to dive right into the numbers and get into it.
• 19:01
  SPEAKER_01: Some advisors that we've talked to, they don't even talk about the numbers in the first conversation, right?
• 19:06
  SPEAKER_01: It's just like, what do you want in life?
• 19:08
  SPEAKER_01: Like, what are your uh ideally, what are your goals?
• 19:10
  SPEAKER_01: And then they'll send an intake form to kind of get the numbers after that.
• 19:13
  SPEAKER_01: Like, what's your process with clients to see if they're the right fit for entergy?
• 19:50
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
• 19:51
  SPEAKER_02: Um we we're 100% referral based.
• 19:56
  SPEAKER_02: Uh, so everyone is not, I shouldn't say everyone, can't say 100% either, 98.9, whatever percent referral based, right?
• 20:03
  SPEAKER_02: Um, so everyone that comes through the door usually is a referral of someone else.
• 20:08
  SPEAKER_02: Um which helps so much just with understanding value alignment, um, what we're after in planning, because if they if the client referring sees value, then they're referring based on that value.
• 20:21
  SPEAKER_02: So sometimes that value filter is is very low because it's already it's already passed through, right?
• 20:28
  SPEAKER_02: Um I do think that financial planning is more human than than math.
• 20:34
  SPEAKER_02: Um I think if it was math, we'd all just get our CFAs and do spreadsheets all day, and it would make sense.
• 20:41
  SPEAKER_02: But there's a there's a nuanced point where spreadsheets meet life, and that's where a financial planner can really show their value, I believe.
• 20:50
  SPEAKER_02: Because this is what the math says, this is what the tax brackets say, and I understand that, and this is what you tell me you want, and there's an impasse there.
• 20:56
  SPEAKER_02: So we have to understand do you want the most tax efficient plan in your life?
• 21:01
  SPEAKER_02: Because my job is not to give you the most tax-efficient plan, it's to help your money support your values, right?
• 21:06
  SPEAKER_02: Yep.
• 21:06
  SPEAKER_02: Um, so uh the values-based stuff is super important.
• 21:11
  SPEAKER_02: Sometimes clients don't want to talk about it, they're they're reluctant.
• 21:14
  SPEAKER_02: I came to you because here's my portfolio, here's the problems.
• 21:16
  SPEAKER_02: You know, I'm angry, blah, blah, blah.
• 21:18
  SPEAKER_01: Manage my investments.
• 21:19
  SPEAKER_01: That's what I hired.
• 21:20
  SPEAKER_02: What do you, you know, what are you doing for?
• 21:21
  SPEAKER_02: And if you can't talk them down from that, that's when you you might see that it's not a fit.
• 21:24
  SPEAKER_02: Like, oh, you know, high high fees, not up to the SP.
• 21:29
  SPEAKER_02: Okay, both of those are reasonable objections that we can talk about.
• 21:32
  SPEAKER_02: Here's how I would view those two things.
• 21:33
  SPEAKER_02: Let's talk through those.
• 21:34
  SPEAKER_02: Um, but if you're still fixated on that, you're not really planning focused, you just want someone to do something that's unrealistic for you, which we won't we won't take part in, you know, like we can't, that's not gonna work.
• 21:45
  SPEAKER_02: So um, yeah, I I I love when clients tell me what they care about, uh, even more than goals, because goals are great, but sometimes goals can just sound like a mountain house in five years, and that's actually kind of empty.
• 21:58
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
• 21:59
  SPEAKER_02: Um, but when you hear, like, well, I really like to ski with my kids on the weekend, right?
• 22:05
  SPEAKER_02: And we go every single weekend, I would love by the time they're in middle school to be able to just have one place where we could go and take their friends and spend time together every long weekend, and that's why I want that.
• 22:14
  SPEAKER_02: Okay, well, now we're talking.
• 22:16
  SPEAKER_02: Now, like you have something in your life that matters to you that it probably doesn't make sense to go buy a mountain condo, and you're like mathematically, you're not gonna rent it out and make any money, like the HOA there is enough to eat away all your profit.
• 22:27
  SPEAKER_02: Like, this is crazy.
• 22:29
  SPEAKER_02: But your family and time with your family doing things you love.
• 22:33
  SPEAKER_02: Matters to you.
• 22:34
  SPEAKER_02: And now I understand what you're saying a little more when it comes to planning.
• 22:37
  SPEAKER_02: I can help frame your question a little better because we have that mutual understanding.
• 22:42
  SPEAKER_02: So I do 100% think that value should lead it.
• 22:46
  SPEAKER_02: It's sometimes the hard part is getting getting clients to understand that I'm not chat GPT for their, you know, their investment portfolio or whatever it may be, right?
• 22:58
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
• 22:58
  SPEAKER_01: And there's a there's a big difference too between like even I remember growing up, you would always people pear people say, my investment guy, right?
• 23:07
  SPEAKER_01: Like it's like it was always my investment guy, my investment guy.
• 23:10
  SPEAKER_01: And now it's like you actually hear people talking about their financial planners.
• 23:13
  SPEAKER_01: And I feel like some people are still stuck in that mindset of like this is my investment guy, and I'm all the other stuff that's going on in my life financially.
• 23:20
  SPEAKER_01: I'm just gonna continue to do it as I always have.
• 23:23
  SPEAKER_01: Right.
• 23:23
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, it's it's definitely a uh a switch in the brain.
• 23:27
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, for sure.
• 23:28
  SPEAKER_02: And it's you know, we for a lot of our clients, we do manage a chunk of their wealth, so it is something where it's like congruent, but when that becomes the focal point, like if the first time, the first thing you ever see in a meeting is hey, here's the the 12ing 12 months, right?
• 23:42
  SPEAKER_02: That's just so unhealthy.
• 23:45
  SPEAKER_02: It's more like, hey, last time you told me about the trip you're gonna take to go see your first grandkid, right?
• 23:53
  SPEAKER_02: And you told me that you really wanted to give more.
• 23:55
  SPEAKER_02: Tell me how those two things went this year, right?
• 23:58
  SPEAKER_02: That's leading with what you value, and then okay, look, here's how your money can continue to do those things, not here's all the money you made.
• 24:05
  SPEAKER_02: Oh, what what did you care about again?
• 24:07
  SPEAKER_02: Like one more time.
• 24:07
  SPEAKER_02: Can you can again?
• 24:09
  SPEAKER_02: Right.
• 24:09
  SPEAKER_02: So um money is just a tool, and I you see it a lot with with with first meetings where people come in, um, and there's there's two two extremes.
• 24:20
  SPEAKER_02: One is maybe a lot of debt, maybe it's a a young person, younger person out of college, maybe they have a good job or whatever it is, or maybe they just made some mistakes, whatever, a lot of debt, trying to figure things out.
• 24:29
  SPEAKER_02: And there's a lot of shame and guilt and embarrassment.
• 24:31
  SPEAKER_02: Like it's tough for them to talk about.
• 24:33
  SPEAKER_02: Like, you know, people are shocked that a financial planner's like I've seen$400,000 of student loans before.
• 24:39
  SPEAKER_02: Like, I'm not afraid by a number like that.
• 24:41
  SPEAKER_02: Okay.
• 24:42
  SPEAKER_02: Cool, we'll make a plan.
• 24:43
  SPEAKER_02: Like, this is not a big deal.
• 24:44
  SPEAKER_02: And then the other side, there's like a there's like an arrogance might be too strong of a term, but hey, I've accumulated three million dollars and I'm 38.
• 24:53
  SPEAKER_02: Right?
• 24:53
  SPEAKER_02: This is really this is awesome.
• 24:54
  SPEAKER_02: And then neither of those things are defining, you know, neither of those things mean anything for who you are as a person and what you value.
• 25:01
  SPEAKER_02: Right.
• 25:01
  SPEAKER_02: And I hope that like through what how we work together, I can make those things just facts that we're planning around, and then really support what you care about around that with your cash flow, with your insurance, with your retirement planning, where the that's not the thing that that matters.
• 25:17
  SPEAKER_02: It's it's like a value that you have, really.
• 25:20
  SPEAKER_00: So anyways.
• 25:23
  SPEAKER_00: So what are maybe some interesting parts about the multi-generational market or you know, working just kind of with parents and children?
• 25:30
  SPEAKER_00: Like what are some key conversations that you're having and maybe how that dynamic will work with recruiting younger uh CFPs eventually, too?
• 25:39
  SPEAKER_00: Um, it's fun, it's a lot of fun to be able to do life with clients.
• 25:45
  SPEAKER_02: I know over the course of the decade we've we've got to see uh I've got to see I mean my partners have been doing it for 16 and 17 years, but I've got to see a lot of um weddings, um a lot of kids, grandkids come along.
• 26:00
  SPEAKER_02: So it's just it's fun.
• 26:02
  SPEAKER_02: I'm I'm living life and my my family's growing and I get to hop on more with these clients and do the same thing.
• 26:09
  SPEAKER_02: So that the the multi-generation I would describe as a joy just to be able to see all that unfold, and it gives also great perspective as I'm talking to younger and older clients.
• 26:24
  SPEAKER_02: Because I know I know dad's balance sheet and I know your balance sheet.
• 26:28
  SPEAKER_02: I I know both.
• 26:29
  SPEAKER_02: And you're both looking at each other's situation so differently.
• 26:32
  SPEAKER_02: And this is crazy, right?
• 26:34
  SPEAKER_02: This is the dad, you know, I I know he's loaded and he's just like not, you know, blah blah blah blah.
• 26:39
  SPEAKER_02: Like, oh wow, that's frustrating, you know.
• 26:42
  SPEAKER_02: Tell me more, and then you know, you look at the dad's perspective, but you get to see these things and it it develops um maybe an empathy and open-mindedness that you have because you understand the facts of both.
• 26:51
  SPEAKER_02: Like, here's here's dad's problem, here's son's problem.
• 26:55
  SPEAKER_02: Not even problem, but here's just the what they're going through.
• 26:58
  SPEAKER_02: Um, but just human nature uh and the empathy to step into that and say, like, ah, that's frustrating.
• 27:04
  SPEAKER_02: Like, yeah, I like I I know your dad, you gotta talk to him, he's a good guy.
• 27:08
  SPEAKER_02: Like, I these are this is the same relationship, but different for this conversation.
• 27:11
  SPEAKER_02: But I get to understand where where everyone's coming from, and um, and that's awesome.
• 27:16
  SPEAKER_02: So if we're bringing on new advisors, I I don't know how they would not want to be a part of that if they value people and value family, um, which are probably two of our biggest values as a firm.
• 27:27
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, then uh they're gonna be like, oh, you work with parents, grandparents, kids.
• 27:31
  SPEAKER_02: We'll we'll love to do that too, right?
• 27:33
  SPEAKER_02: That sounds like an awesome place to be.
• 27:35
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
• 27:36
  SPEAKER_00: And that scenario is dad loaded.
• 27:39
  SPEAKER_02: Dad was fine, but uh, you know, when you're maybe 27, your idea floated at a different point in life.
• 27:47
  SPEAKER_02: Like yeah, exactly.
• 27:49
  SPEAKER_02: Like hey hey, he still has a ways to go before you might be paying for him one day if you actually play out the scenario the way you want to play out.
• 27:55
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, dad would just give me my inheritance sooner, I could get him out now.
• 27:59
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, there's a Bible story about demanding your inheritance too soon, I believe.
• 28:04
  SPEAKER_02: Um, but yeah, yeah, and no, it it wouldn't have worked out for either.
• 28:10
  SPEAKER_02: But uh again, to be able to step in and not even, you know, I I could step in and serve both both better uh because of that.
• 28:17
  SPEAKER_02: So that's cool.
• 28:19
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, that's amazing, man.
• 28:20
  SPEAKER_01: That's amazing.
• 28:21
  SPEAKER_01: Well, one last thing, we always ask this question because I think it's it's a really important thing uh for other people to be able to hear.
• 28:28
  SPEAKER_01: If there's a planner out there that's early on in their journey, maybe they just started their firm, they maybe they're thinking about starting a firm, what advice would you give them to maybe be able to avoid some of the things that you had to go through to get to where you are today, or just some some good thoughts that you have for them?
• 28:47
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, I would give the same advice I gave to my would give to myself 10 years ago, um, which would be uh be as humble as you can.
• 28:59
  SPEAKER_02: Um this industry is about people, and we can't love people very well without coming from a place of humility.
• 29:07
  SPEAKER_02: Um and I think that too often in the financial industry, financial planning specifically, there's a lot of bravado, a lot of production, a lot of sales, a lot of flashy, flashy stuff here and there.
• 29:20
  SPEAKER_02: Um, and all that's a distraction from what it's really about.
• 29:23
  SPEAKER_02: And it takes away from the humility because you have to achieve, achieve, achieve.
• 29:27
  SPEAKER_02: So I would be humble and just know that like you you are enough.
• 29:32
  SPEAKER_02: The fact that you want to set out on this journey and you're gonna you know become a CFP, learn what you need to do, um to serve clients well, but then don't be afraid to latch on to someone that's several years ahead, even multi-decades ahead.
• 29:47
  SPEAKER_02: Um switching the career will probably involve some sort of step back financially and professionally for a time.
• 29:55
  SPEAKER_02: Um and that's okay.
• 29:57
  SPEAKER_02: So I would if I could do it again, I would find a wise, kind financial planner, and I would latch myself to them wholeheartedly and learn at learn from them as much as I can, and then just go serve as many people as I could.
• 30:12
  SPEAKER_02: So and then always get your CFP as soon as possible.
• 30:16
  SPEAKER_02: That's it.
• 30:17
  SPEAKER_02: It's the one that matters if you're gonna serve uh, I think people in the financial planning industry is the CFP.
• 30:22
  SPEAKER_00: So awesome, Jeff.
• 30:24
  SPEAKER_00: Well, thank you so much for your time today.
• 30:26
  SPEAKER_00: Um, if anyone who's listening wants to reach out or maybe follow along, what's the best way they can?
• 30:33
  SPEAKER_02: Um, yeah, we our website, intergwealth.com, you can um my contact info is there.
• 30:38
  SPEAKER_02: And then I have a blog that I put up some thoughts on occasionally called the Steadfast Fiduciary.
• 30:43
  SPEAKER_02: Um so just thoughts about occasionally finance, mostly about life, uh, and kind of where they intersect.
• 30:50
  SPEAKER_02: So either of those places, you can get a hold of me.
• 30:54
  SPEAKER_00: Perfect.
• 30:54
  SPEAKER_00: Well, thank you so much for your time today.
• 30:56
  SPEAKER_00: We appreciate it.
• 30:57
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, guys, thank you.
• 30:58
  SPEAKER_02: It was great talking.
• 30:59
  SPEAKER_02: Yep, thanks, Jeff.