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Offering an Employee 401K with Ashby Price · Budget Your Business

• 0:00
  Scott: Hello and welcome to Budget Your Business, the podcast for small business owners who want to learn how to financially plan for every aspect of their business.
• 0:11
  Scott: I'm your host, Scott Geller.
• 0:13
  Scott: Today I'm joined by Ashby Price of Ashwood Financial Partners to talk about offering an employee 401k.
• 0:23
  Scott: How are you doing, Ashby?
• 0:24
  SPEAKER_00: I'm doing great.
• 0:26
  Scott: Good.
• 0:26
  Scott: Well, thanks for coming on here.
• 0:28
  SPEAKER_00: Hey, appreciate the opportunity to share some knowledge.
• 0:32
  Scott: And that's exactly why we're here.
• 0:34
  Scott: So for folks who are just meeting you for the first time, could you share a little bit about who you are and what you do?
• 0:42
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, absolutely.
• 0:43
  SPEAKER_00: Um, again, Ashby Price.
• 0:45
  SPEAKER_00: I'm a native of Richmond, Virginia, born and raised and been in Virginia for 40 plus years.
• 0:53
  SPEAKER_00: Uh I've founded Ashwood Financial Partners.
• 0:56
  SPEAKER_00: Our team provides fiduciary retirement plan services for businesses and nonprofits, in addition to financial planning and wealth management for families and business owners.
• 1:07
  SPEAKER_00: I am the uh past president of the Central Virginia Employee Benefits Council, a nonprofit organization that provides opportunities for employee benefits professionals to broaden their knowledge of employee benefits.
• 1:21
  SPEAKER_00: And I'm the current president of the CFA Society Virginia, an association of investment professionals that's that promotes the ethical and professional standards within the investment industry.
• 1:34
  SPEAKER_00: I'm a CFA charter holder.
• 1:37
  SPEAKER_00: I'm a certified plan fiduciary advisor, which is a credential that really has helped me enhance my knowledge of ERISA fiduciary roles and responsibilities, fiduciary oversight for 401 plans, 401, and 401 management.
• 1:56
  SPEAKER_00: I'm also an accredited investment fiduciary, which has provided me with a training and fiduciary responsibility and commitment to adhering to the highest standards of investment advice and ethical practice for retirement plans.
• 2:13
  SPEAKER_00: I'm also a charter retirement plan specialist, a designation that provides a focus on providing employers with the expertise needed to craft and oversee comprehensive tailored retirement plans for businesses and nonprofits.
• 2:32
  SPEAKER_00: In addition, I'm a business owner, so I'm able to take my experience as a business owner and relate the opportunities and challenges that owning a business involves and really relate that to other business owners.
• 2:48
  SPEAKER_00: And really appreciate uh being on the podcast today.
• 2:52
  Scott: Well, Ashby, you've you've you've made me think that I need to get myself a few more accreditations and uh qualified in things after that impressive uh list of this.
• 3:02
  Scott: So very impressive.
• 3:04
  SPEAKER_00: I've got to say the the ongoing annual uh continuing education, it usually uh usually is pretty comprehensive.
• 3:11
  Scott: I can imagine in your role.
• 3:14
  Scott: Well, on the on the budget your business podcast, we we try to help small business owners plan for every aspect of their business by bringing in financial professionals, other small business owners, um, and and subject matter experts.
• 3:30
  Scott: So in your case, obviously you had a uh a laundry list of those, but we what we're gonna really want to focus on on today and talk about are 401k plans for employees.
• 3:43
  Scott: And what I'd like to just start with a really kind of softball question, hopefully, here is if I'm a small business owner, why do I even need a 401?
• 3:54
  SPEAKER_00: Uh 401k is so important for small businesses because it really helps the business owners maximize their own retirement savings in addition to attracting and retaining employees.
• 4:08
  SPEAKER_00: Um, really, in a competitive job market, a 401k plan can differentiate a company from its competitors and help attract top talent and retain key employees.
• 4:20
  SPEAKER_00: And by providing a 401k plan, it really overall enhances employee satisfaction and loyalty, reduces turnover typically, and reduces the associated cost of hiring and training new employees if there is high turnover.
• 4:37
  SPEAKER_00: And really, post-COVID, um, there have been some studies that have really stated that about over 60% of workers uh have seriously considered the availability of a retirement plan when deciding whether to accept or um accept a new job or remain in their current job.
• 4:56
  SPEAKER_00: And then over 70% of employees are likely to be attracted to a company that really cares about their financial well-being, that includes um you know offering some type of retirement plan, such as the 401k plan.
• 5:10
  Scott: That's interesting.
• 5:11
  Scott: I I will say I've seen more and more companies offering it that I talk to, and I like that stat you threw out there that 60% of workers are are looking at that, right?
• 5:25
  Scott: And and to me, or traditionally, the way I've seen it is it's it's common in bigger companies, but it's it's becoming more and more common in small businesses.
• 5:36
  Scott: And is that what you're seeing as well?
• 5:38
  SPEAKER_00: Absolutely, and especially in the state of Virginia, um, Virginia now mandates certain businesses to offer a retirement plan if they don't already have one.
• 5:49
  SPEAKER_00: Um, so uh Retire Path Virginia was actually launched in 2023, and now it's uh mandatory for certain Virginia employers to um offer some type of retirement plan, such as a 401k plan, or they're going to have to um enroll in the Retire Path Virginia state mandated program.
• 6:15
  Scott: As small business owners, uh and I'm sure you you've found yourself down this road before, is we're we're you know, I I'm one as well.
• 6:25
  Scott: You're kind of a do-it-yourselfer, right?
• 6:27
  Scott: And and you like to try to do things yourself before uh you know bringing somebody on at times.
• 6:34
  Scott: To me, this is an area that you should absolutely never try to do yourself.
• 6:39
  SPEAKER_00: It absolutely, because one, the the rules and regulations are changing um and you know, on an ongoing basis where compliance with 401k compliance, it's extremely important.
• 6:54
  SPEAKER_00: So for business owners and human resources professionals and others that in small businesses, they need to make sure that they are paying attention to the changes in regular in the regulatory environment, and they need to follow all the compliance measures accordingly, or it could result in some penalties and other compliance issues.
• 7:17
  SPEAKER_00: So, with business owners, if they have a 401k plan or if they're looking to start one, it's very important that they are hiring a professional who knows uh what they're doing on the 401k side.
• 7:29
  Scott: Very much like yourself, right?
• 7:31
  SPEAKER_00: That's correct.
• 7:32
  Scott: Okay.
• 7:34
  Scott: Since all right, so so yes, we you need to hire somebody.
• 7:37
  Scott: I I I I agree.
• 7:39
  Scott: Tell me about the process.
• 7:40
  Scott: Where do I even start?
• 7:43
  SPEAKER_00: It really with starting a 401k plan, um, first of all, it it's important to understand that the businesses again, I I will go back to Retire Path Virginia, which is the mandatory um retirement program in the state of Virginia for certain employers.
• 8:02
  SPEAKER_00: And in order for those businesses to be eligible for Retire Path Virginia, they have to have 24, 25 or more eligible employees.
• 8:13
  SPEAKER_00: Um, the business has had to be operating for two or more years, and there's some other caveats as well.
• 8:20
  SPEAKER_00: But you know, if a business wants to attract and retain employees, it's important for them to consider, you know, a 401k plan.
• 8:31
  SPEAKER_00: And where do they start?
• 8:32
  SPEAKER_00: It's really about just talking to an experienced advisor about potential next steps and how to set up a 401k plan.
• 8:42
  Scott: Okay.
• 8:44
  Scott: So walk me through that process.
• 8:45
  Scott: If I come to you as a business owner, Ashley, and I say, look, I'm ready to to make the commitment to my employees.
• 8:51
  Scott: I want a 401k match.
• 8:54
  Scott: Can you just help me through that process, what it looks like?
• 8:58
  SPEAKER_00: Absolutely.
• 8:59
  SPEAKER_00: So I'll give you an example.
• 9:01
  SPEAKER_00: I'm working with a small business now, they have 27 employees.
• 9:06
  SPEAKER_00: Uh, about three weeks ago, talked to the business owner, the owner of the business, and we talked about various retirement plan options.
• 9:15
  SPEAKER_00: We decided that based on the demographics of his employee base and his interest in attracting and retaining additional employees in the future, a 401k would be the best option for him.
• 9:27
  SPEAKER_00: So, what he did was sign a letter of intent with the the 401k record keeper or the 401k provider indicating that he wants to set up a retirement plan.
• 9:39
  SPEAKER_00: So we submitted that to one of the 401k providers to set up the plan.
• 9:47
  Scott: Okay.
• 9:48
  Scott: How long how long does this process take?
• 9:53
  SPEAKER_00: Typically a retirement plan could be set up within 90 days or so.
• 9:59
  Scott: Oh, okay.
• 10:00
  Scott: So that's that's not too bad.
• 10:01
  SPEAKER_00: Start to finish.
• 10:02
  Scott: Well, what is that like?
• 10:03
  Scott: What do I have to do to I mean, what do I what do I have to have readied in order to get it set up?
• 10:10
  SPEAKER_00: You you want to have the the census for the employees.
• 10:15
  SPEAKER_00: So you want to have their their date of hire, their date of birth, their compensation.
• 10:20
  SPEAKER_00: Um, and that's the baseline for developing a 401k plan.
• 10:28
  SPEAKER_00: Right now, it's like the plan design, designing a retirement plan and the plan provisions is so important.
• 10:34
  SPEAKER_00: So understanding really what the interest is for the business owner to set up a retirement plan, and really what the interest is from the employee side for having a retirement plan and knowing that information, that's when we can we can develop the plan.
• 10:52
  Scott: Right.
• 10:53
  Scott: You touched on that kind of designing the plan and and how I mean, isn't it isn't just a 401k plan a 401k plan?
• 11:00
  Scott: Like what has to be designed?
• 11:02
  Scott: Or walk me through that.
• 11:04
  SPEAKER_00: So it's it's very important, you know, in in the past, you know, fees and funds, that's been the big conversation, and it's still important with when evaluating a retirement plan, but plan design is so important now.
• 11:19
  SPEAKER_00: So plan design includes do you want to offer an employer matching contribution?
• 11:24
  SPEAKER_00: If so, what type of matching would you like to provide to the employees?
• 11:28
  SPEAKER_00: Do you want to offer a loan within the 401k plan to allow the employees to be eligible to take a loan from their 401 account?
• 11:37
  SPEAKER_00: Do you want to offer automatic enrollment where all new hires are automatically enrolled in the 401k plan, but they have a certain period of time to opt out and say, no, I don't want to participate?
• 11:48
  SPEAKER_00: Do you want to offer potential discretionary profit sharing at the end of the year above and beyond the employer match?
• 11:56
  SPEAKER_00: So there are a lot of provisions with developing and designing a 401k plan that are so important.
• 12:03
  SPEAKER_00: So it's really about understanding the needs and wants of the business owner and also the demographics of the employees.
• 12:13
  Scott: And you're going to walk the business owner through that process.
• 12:18
  Scott: They don't need to come to you to know how they want to design that, right?
• 12:22
  SPEAKER_00: Absolutely.
• 12:23
  SPEAKER_00: So what we do, and for example, you know, the business that I was just talking about, where we set up, we're setting up the 401k plan.
• 12:31
  SPEAKER_00: So talk to the business owner initially about you know some retirement plan design options for the business.
• 12:39
  SPEAKER_00: Uh, we had a long conversation.
• 12:41
  SPEAKER_00: We actually worked with um the 401k provider to go through, it's called a plan design call.
• 12:49
  SPEAKER_00: Um, it's really developing the design of the 401k plan.
• 12:54
  SPEAKER_00: And having a properly designed 401k plan is so important.
• 12:58
  SPEAKER_00: And it's it's very important as well that the business owner and whoever's involved with the 401k plan with the business understands what's in the 401k plan document because the plan document really governs how the 401k plan is structured.
• 13:17
  Scott: Okay.
• 13:19
  Scott: I I want to touch on on two two items you you you mentioned there.
• 13:23
  Scott: And one is is uh the matching.
• 13:30
  Scott: I I I have a client that you know talking to her and in in and she is you know they they have a 401k plan, and I asked you, okay, is it opt-in or opt-out?
• 13:41
  Scott: As far as as a plan goes, can you kind of touch on the differences and what that means, like for the matching side to opt-in versus opt-out?
• 13:50
  SPEAKER_00: So for 401k plans that do not have an employer matching contribution, uh a lot of times um at the end of the year there's compliance testing for the 401k plan.
• 14:05
  SPEAKER_00: So if business owners or highly compensated employees are contributing to the 401k plan, and so many of the other employees are not contributing, um the plan could potentially not pass testing.
• 14:21
  SPEAKER_00: So, what that means is some of the business owners and highly compensated employees could receive a portion of their 401k contributions back to them and it's considered taxable income.
• 14:36
  SPEAKER_00: So the way that we we work with employers and business owners is we want to design a 401k plan, typically with an employer match, because when there's an employer matching contribution, we we see significantly higher um employee participation.
• 14:55
  Scott: Right.
• 14:57
  Scott: What do you see typically as an average match?
• 15:01
  SPEAKER_00: On the average match, what we've been doing recently, it's called a uh a QuACA, a qualified automatic contribution arrangement, where the matching contribution is up to three and a half percent, um, assuming an employee contributes six percent or more.
• 15:18
  SPEAKER_00: So an employee contributes six percent of their own compensation into the 401k plan, um, the employer match would cap out at 3.5%.
• 15:29
  SPEAKER_00: So that's typically what we're seeing right now with several of our clients.
• 15:34
  Scott: Do you do you feel like that's changing?
• 15:37
  Scott: Do you do you anticipate that going up or down?
• 15:40
  Scott: I mean, well, I'm I'm assuming it probably only goes up because I think when I remember way back in the day, I won't even say when, but way back in the day when I first started contributing to a 401k, I don't remember it was at three and a half.
• 15:51
  Scott: Do you see that increasing just as you know competition between between uh employers?
• 15:58
  SPEAKER_00: I I do.
• 15:59
  SPEAKER_00: I see it increasing because employees really are valuing um you know employee benefits much more now than they have in the past, based on what I'm seeing.
• 16:11
  SPEAKER_00: So uh I'm seeing the employer matching contributions um increase over time.
• 16:17
  SPEAKER_00: And some of the employer groups that I work with, they offer enhanced matching contributions above the 3.5%.
• 16:26
  SPEAKER_00: So I'm seeing more and more employers offering enhanced matching contributions.
• 16:33
  Scott: Interesting.
• 16:35
  Scott: Well one more on the match side, then and I'll uh I'll let us move on for something else.
• 16:40
  Scott: But I I was uh uh talking to a CFO recently, another CFO, and they were dis they were throwing out the idea of with their for their company there, their 401k match, of not um putting the match in the 401k for the employees until the end of the year.
• 17:04
  Scott: So they wouldn't match in each paycheck, they would match at the end of the year.
• 17:08
  SPEAKER_00: Okay.
• 17:09
  Scott: Now, this uh as an X and an X's and O's on paper for a CFO sounds great because you're able to manage that cash flow, you're able to leverage that cash flow through the year.
• 17:22
  Scott: Obviously, that's not the only uh aspect or the the the only um uh aspect there to think about.
• 17:30
  Scott: Have you heard of anybody you know per uh making the contribution, say at the end of the year or any any time other than per pay period?
• 17:42
  SPEAKER_00: I've seen it on rare occasions and typically waiting till the end of the year to make the um employer matching contribution.
• 17:51
  SPEAKER_00: One, the the business has to budget for those contributions throughout the year.
• 17:56
  SPEAKER_00: And secondly, if you have employees who are logging into their account, um, you know, they want to view that employer match.
• 18:04
  SPEAKER_00: So if it's waiting till the end of the year and it's not showing up on their account until the end of the year, you know, that could in many ways discourage some of the employees to contribute to the 401k plan.
• 18:15
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, for the most part, I'm seeing you know, every pay period um employer matching contribution.
• 18:22
  SPEAKER_00: That's just a much better way for the business owner to manage cash flow on an ongoing basis and really for the employees to see the the true employer matching benefit that's being provided to them.
• 18:37
  Scott: As as with with any you know, anything new for a business owner, there there's always these the aspect of the cost of it, right?
• 18:46
  Scott: Like I'm I'm providing this and this benefit to my employees.
• 18:50
  Scott: You know, the some of the the costs that I can see would be the matching, right?
• 18:55
  Scott: You're you're you're putting money in with this.
• 18:57
  Scott: But could you maybe talk through what does a business owner need to be aware of of the different costs that are that are going to be on their PL now that they're offering a 401k?
• 19:09
  SPEAKER_00: Oh, absolutely.
• 19:10
  SPEAKER_00: So with the with the 401k plan, there is a cost, but also there's some tax credits there that are available to help offset um all or a lot of the cost uh starting up a 401 plan.
• 19:27
  SPEAKER_00: So, really some of the costs that business owners should consider setup fees.
• 19:32
  SPEAKER_00: Typically, there's an initial setup fee that's charged by the 401k plan provider or administrator to establish a 401k plan.
• 19:41
  SPEAKER_00: Typically, it's a one-time expense.
• 19:43
  SPEAKER_00: Um, there's some administrative expenses as well that are ongoing costs associated with managing the 401, um, such as like compliance and other information that's uh that's important for the business owner.
• 19:58
  SPEAKER_00: Um these expenses though can be paid by the employer andor the plan participants, the employees who are participating in the plan.
• 20:08
  SPEAKER_00: Um, employer contributions as well.
• 20:11
  SPEAKER_00: So, you know, the if it's uh depending on how the 401k plan is designed, if it's a if the employer matching contributions are required, you know, the business owner just has to account for you know cash flow and the future employer contributions into the 401k plan.
• 20:32
  SPEAKER_00: Um, and then you know, it advisory costs as well.
• 20:36
  SPEAKER_00: So, you know, what my team does, we go out, we do the on-site education and enrollment meetings with the 401k plan employees.
• 20:45
  SPEAKER_00: We do the fiduciary consulting and oversight and work with the business owner and key executives to make sure that they understand what they need to do for the 401k plan to remain compliant.
• 20:56
  SPEAKER_00: So there's some costs involved, but there's some tax credits to help offset those costs.
• 21:05
  Scott: That's interesting.
• 21:06
  Scott: And and thanks for for kind of pairing those those two and and you know mention those that those tax credits.
• 21:12
  Scott: I'm assuming that you'd be able to either recommend those tax credits or or maybe connect with their CPAs to make sure that they're taking advantage of those.
• 21:23
  SPEAKER_00: Oh, absolutely.
• 21:24
  SPEAKER_00: And just to give you kind of a high-level um overview of some of the tax credits to our that are available to newer 401k plans, um, auto-enrollment, there's a tax credit of up to$500 per year for the first three years that the plan has automatic enrollment.
• 21:43
  SPEAKER_00: There's some startup credits as well, where for the first three years, um, businesses that have less than 100 employees, they could get a credit of up to$5,000 per year for the first three years.
• 21:57
  SPEAKER_00: And that's in addition to the automatic enrollment credit.
• 22:00
  SPEAKER_00: And then there's some credits that are available for employer contributions for employees that typically make less than$100,000.
• 22:11
  SPEAKER_00: The business could receive up to a thousand dollar tax credit for certain employees based on the employer contribution.
• 22:22
  SPEAKER_00: So really it could result in tens of thousands of dollars in tax credits available to the business over a multi-year period.
• 22:31
  Scott: Which makes this much more much easier benefit to offer, right?
• 22:40
  Scott: If you're able to offset a lot of those costs with the credits.
• 22:43
  SPEAKER_00: Well, absolutely.
• 22:44
  SPEAKER_00: And really with the Secure Act 2.0, which was passed into legislation just over a year ago, you know, the federal government really sees that so many people are not saving enough for retirement, especially in their 401k plan.
• 22:58
  SPEAKER_00: And they're a lot of employees are having to work later in life, not because they want to, because they have to.
• 23:05
  SPEAKER_00: They haven't saved enough in retirement.
• 23:07
  SPEAKER_00: And the government seeing that, you know, there is a cost associated with a retirement plan.
• 23:13
  SPEAKER_00: So they're trying to offset the um it the really the administrative cost of starting up a 401k plan by offering these tax credits.
• 23:23
  SPEAKER_00: So I think now, more than ever, is um it's a very attractive time for businesses to set up a 401k plan.
• 23:32
  Scott: And if they're ready to set that up now, maybe well, what are some do's and don'ts to make sure people are thinking about?
• 23:39
  SPEAKER_00: Uh one, some of the do's, they need to educate themselves.
• 23:43
  SPEAKER_00: They need to really take the time to understand the basics of the 401k plan or talk to someone about you know what is involved with the 401k plan, what you know, what are the requirements, what are the fiduciary responsibilities, and what's the liability as well to the business owner.
• 24:03
  SPEAKER_00: Um, they in my view, they should offer an employer matching contribution.
• 24:08
  SPEAKER_00: I think that's very important to help incentivize the employees to participate in a retirement plan, but also reward them.
• 24:17
  SPEAKER_00: Um, the business owners need to kind of communicate clearly that the benefit of the 401k plan, including the investment options, any updates or changes.
• 24:29
  SPEAKER_00: I think the more that businesses can kind of automate the 401k plan through payroll integration, through automatic enrollment for the employees, that really is a good way to increase participation in the 401k plan and reduce the overall administrative burden from the business owner side.
• 24:49
  SPEAKER_00: And it really just monitor the performance of the 401k plan on an ongoing basis.
• 24:55
  SPEAKER_00: Some of the the don'ts, you know, really don't ignore compliance.
• 25:00
  SPEAKER_00: Um, compliance is very important.
• 25:04
  SPEAKER_00: So hiring hiring someone who understands the ins and outs of 401k compliance is very important.
• 25:12
  SPEAKER_00: Don't neglect employee education, you know, making sure that the employees understand how they can maximize the retirement benefit.
• 25:20
  SPEAKER_00: Really, the benefit that the business owner is providing to the employees, it's a really good way to recruit, retain, um, and reward employees.
• 25:30
  SPEAKER_00: And really don't delay action now with the with the tax credits that are available.
• 25:36
  SPEAKER_00: I think again, now is a tremendous opportunity for so many businesses to start up a 401k plan.
• 25:45
  Scott: Well, Ashby, um, we like to wrap up all of our shows with say two or three immediate takeaways that our listeners could literally put into action as soon as they turn off the podcast.
• 25:59
  Scott: You give us a lot, a lot to work with today, and and you may have already, already, I'm sure you've already provided way more than one to three, but what can you what can you share with us today?
• 26:10
  Scott: What are those one to three takeaways that somebody should do if if they decide I want to offer or they're really thinking about offering a 401?
• 26:21
  SPEAKER_00: One one takeaway is just don't look at the cost uh on paper of the 401 that businesses owners have to take into account, you know, the tax credits that are available to help offset those costs, uh, potential tax deductions as well, and the tangible and intangible benefits and costs for retaining employees.
• 26:42
  SPEAKER_00: That's that's one takeaway.
• 26:44
  SPEAKER_00: Secondly, is you know, really they need to understand, these business owners need to understand how complex a 401k can be.
• 26:54
  SPEAKER_00: So understanding that you know, hiring someone who is an expert in working with uh the the 401k plan industry is so important as well.
• 27:05
  Scott: And I can see where that number two, you know, understand how complex it can be.
• 27:09
  Scott: The compliance uh aspects of of 401k are just too vast for most business owners to own.
• 27:17
  Scott: So I or or or to know.
• 27:19
  Scott: So I I I'm with you on that one.
• 27:22
  SPEAKER_00: Well, and really so many business owners, you know, they're focused on growing the business where one, they maybe they don't have the time to get into the weeds of the 401k plan, nor nor should they.
• 27:34
  SPEAKER_00: They need to understand the compliance and fiduciary responsibilities, but you know, it shouldn't be their responsibility to manage the day-to-day of the 401k plan.
• 27:46
  SPEAKER_00: So that's when they need to hire, you know, other professionals to help them really make sure that they can protect themselves as a fiduciary on the 401k plan and really engage and educate the employees for better financial outcomes over time.
• 28:04
  Scott: Agreed.
• 28:06
  Scott: How about you know, we also like to wrap up a show with a favorite podcast or book recommendation.
• 28:13
  Scott: So, how about sharing what do you have for us for a podcast or book?
• 28:17
  SPEAKER_00: Really, a podcast I've been listening to recently.
• 28:20
  SPEAKER_00: It's called the All In Podcast, and it's hosted by four Silicon Valley investors and entrepreneurs, and they discuss a wide range of topics, including the future of technology, entrepreneurship, and investment strategies.
• 28:35
  SPEAKER_00: And they also explore like investment opportunities in emerging industries such as space exploration, biotech, and sustained sustainable agriculture.
• 28:46
  SPEAKER_00: And it's really just a very interesting and engaging podcast.
• 28:51
  SPEAKER_00: And usually every Friday they come out with a new episode.
• 28:54
  SPEAKER_00: So they also talk about what's going on you know, with current trends and in politics, the economy.
• 29:01
  SPEAKER_00: Uh, it's it's very engaging to hear kind of some experts from Silicon Valley um just kind of their thoughts on what's going on uh globally, it's it's it's very interesting.
• 29:15
  Scott: That's that's not on my list yet, Ashby.
• 29:18
  Scott: I will be checking that one out on my uh morning and evening dog walks here.
• 29:24
  Scott: So thank you for that.
• 29:25
  SPEAKER_00: Absolutely.
• 29:27
  Scott: This has been great.
• 29:28
  Scott: Where where can people find out more about you?
• 29:31
  SPEAKER_00: They can uh they can go to ashwoodfinancialpartners.com and my website is has my contact information, or they can send me an email at Ashby at Ashwood F is in Financial P is in Partners.com.
• 29:48
  Scott: Okay.
• 29:49
  Scott: Perfect.
• 29:50
  Scott: Well, thanks for joining me today, Ashby.
• 29:53
  SPEAKER_00: Scott, thank you.
• 29:54
  SPEAKER_00: I really appreciate the opportunity.
• 29:57
  Scott: All right, folks, that's that's it for today.
• 30:00
  Scott: I'm Scott Keller, and I hope you join me next time for budget your business.
• 30:07
  SPEAKER_00: Absolutely.