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End Generational Poverty with Jasper Smith · Inspiring Stories

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Thank you for listening to Depictions Media Radio. You re welcome back, everybody.
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Our next guest is going to talk about something that generally is not ever
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talked about. We talk prophetically about generational wealth. How the rich put systems
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in a place for their families so that it generates more money, generates more
1:04
wealth, more privilege for them. And here's the thing that that, by
1:15
default, in some of the things that we teach or fail to teach,
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that those who don't have nearly as much privilege as the elite wealthy, and
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some of the richer families around the world did have managed to keep wealth around,
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say like the Rockefellers of Vanderbilt. So we could go on and on.
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By default, we are actually teaching our children to stay generation after generation
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in poverished. And Jasper Smith, our next guest, is going to talk
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about how we can end that problem, how we can actually start to put
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systems in place so that we can end generational poverty and find generations to be
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freer and freer as our children our grandchildren start to grow and live happier lives.
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So let's bring Jasper on the show. So welcome to the show.
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Jasper, and I know You've got this really cool story about how and why
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you actually got started in the financial business, and everybody can see here your
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message is, let's disrupt generational poverty. And you even trademarked it, so
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it's got to be some serious stuff. So yeah, yeah, it was.
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It was out of all all this came about from a project. So
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the whole disrupt generational poverty was a project I was working on at an organization.
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They didn't phrase it the same way when they han't mentioned in generational poverty?
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How do we just how do we interrupt? How we change it?
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And I was just like take it away. I was like, I've been
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in the industry this long and I had never heard of it. But it
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got me thinking. You know, in my industry, we talk a lot
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about generational wealth as always, generational wealth is the legacy, it's generational something
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a little more positive if you have to you know, if you if if
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you're using language, but it's poverty is a mindset, right. Being broke
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just means you don't have any money, but that's a physical thing, but
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the poverty is a mindset. And so I just started thinking about my career
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and interactions that I've had with people and you can hear this kind of same
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or similar story no matter where they were from. And I was like,
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this is crazy that yep, you know better, but there are future generations
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who believe the same thing you believe, and now it has them in the
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exact same position, which I felt like it could have been avoided. And
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so it part part of this effort that I'm working on is really changing when
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we think and feel about money. I don't know what that means to certain
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people, but I love exploring that conversation, saying, just tell me what
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you think about certain things, tell me how do you feel? And then
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if I can get this out of them, it's tell me why, because
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the why it was of a whole cante of words. And then you you
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listen. So as a financial planner, as an expert, like I listen
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to what people are telling me about what they want to do, and then
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then my brain, I'm trying to figure out, Okay, how do I
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help them by making sense of what they just said and giving them something very
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I say, easy to implement or to execute, because what I've experienced is
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a lot of us know what to do, we're just not doing it.
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And then yeah, and then we end up with this, Well, I'm
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a parent, so now my kids have the same issues I have, and
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then my kids have kids, and then they have the same issues as we
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all have. So now you've got multiple generations who they think and feel the
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same way about money, and it might not necessarily be the right thing.
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And so how do we disrupt that way of thinking? How do we unpack
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those emotions? And if again people give me a courtesy of opening up and
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sharing, those are the meetings that I love. The person who can stay
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open just to have the conversation doesn't mean you're gonna work with me. And
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I'm very clear when I speak to people, Michael Is. I am just
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one of many financial experts who exists. I'm not everybody's cup of tea.
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I have my style, I have how I like to operate. It might
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not be for you, but I always recommend that people try to find that
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person, that group of people who they can work with so we can disrupt
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these cycles. It's it's I don't want to say it's easy to do,
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but with a little elbow grease and a little gettle belief, we can get
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this done. Well, you see you just said a key word that that
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that I say this all the time that believing is seeing. And so when
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you have the belief, you see the division comes comes to life, right
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And it sounds like it's like you believe that you can disrupt this issue and
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you have a vision. Yeah. Yeah, I again, I couldn't frame
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it. When I first started in my career, I couldn't explain the way
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I just did. It was just I was in sales. I was doing
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insurance and investments and retirement planning like I was all over the place. But
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I know a lot about the financial services industry. But what bial was my
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knowledge if I'm not actually helping people. And so I'll be honest with you.
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I mean, when I first started on this career was it was a
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money thing. It was like, oh my god, these people make a
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ton of money. But then you understand and learn that it's not as easy
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as it may look for some but they had some time to build it.
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And so what I heard from a lot of my my mentors was You've got
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to build relationships with people. What you sell them is like afterthought. They
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were like, just get to know what these people are trying to do and
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actually help them and sometimes it's gonna involve you not getting the deal, but
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if you can present in a manner that's not too pushy. And I've been
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the pushy sales guy before. It just didn't work well for me. And
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so I have a different approach of trying to ask more question and learning more.
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But then once I've got a good idea of what we're trying to do,
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it's very easy for me to offer the solution, but then it's still
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up to you to kind of implement and execute, and I think that's where
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the big drop off is. So I'm trying to serve as this bridge between
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the goals, the dreams, the things you want in your mind, like
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the lifestyle you want to live, and then it's across this way. So
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I'm like the bridge. So you can see it, you can smell it,
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you can test it, you can you can feel it. But we're
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just not there yet. And it's like, how you get across to achieve
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that goal, to achieve that that hit that milestone. You're not gonna do
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it by yourself. So I want to partner with people and figure out how
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can I help, be it something minor, being something massive, to help
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you to achieve financial peace of mind. That's what I'm working on. I
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got two questions for you at this point, right. One is the first
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one is what does money mean to you? And second is what does wealth
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mean to you? Okay, So money it's a tool that we need.
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That's about as far as our goalth. Money, It's just it's a tool
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that helps us to to live our lives. We need to understand how to
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use the tool effectively. And if we understand how to use the tool,
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we can use it to our advantage. Just just like a hammer, right,
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a hammer lying on a table is useless, but if you know how
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to use it and you can pick it up and start sleeting it and hitting
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nails, you can go build stuff. So that's that's how I look at
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money. It is as something just that we need to operate in this lifetime.
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To your second question around wealth, wealth means to me, gosh,
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I don't want to use the cliche where it means freedom, but it is
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a clear everybody says it means freedom. It just means it also means you
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have choices and options. So when I think of wealth, I think of
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I have options. So give an example, I graduate high school, maybe
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I just don't want to go to college right now. Maybe I want to
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go on a trip to explore and figure out who I am. Well,
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when you have wealth or when you come from means or some privilege there know
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in media need to maybe go to school or to work if there's money available
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for you to go explore. And so you see, it became this thing
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of like kids taking the gap year, like that that's a norm in a
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lot of people's life, Like they took that year to really think to figure
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out who they were. Then they decide, Okay, now I'm ready to
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go pursue some additional education or maybe get into the workforce. When you don't
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have wealth or you have to go to school, you have to get the
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job. And some people have to get the job and go to school at
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the same time because they have obligations. So it really so so well for
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me, opens up different options for you and your family or maybe those who
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are yet unboarding your family. And somebody kind of broke this down interesting to
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me the times let's to a show and he knows, like wealth is your
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goal, a vacation, and it doesn't matter how you're getting there or how
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long are you're going to stay because when you can just pick up in league
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and you can just you know, go all out and not worry about your
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bills. Like you, something has happened to allow you that type of freedom
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and a bid it just to pick up and go. You know, if
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you think about kind of go on a smaller scale. In that same interview,
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the gentleman said, it's kind of like when you hang out with your
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friends and you all go out to eat, see what everybody's doing well financially,
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it doesn't matter who picks up the tab, right. I was like,
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hey, you're right, because if everybody understands the tumb of the money
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how to use it, and then we have some some savings, some investments,
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like we're not worried about who pillys the bill. And so he starts
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telling these stories about how people go through life, and just I think for
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most people they dream and fantasized about being financially successful, but then we're not.
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That's not playing out in our lives. I maybe call me naive,
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but I believe we can live out the dreams in reality. But it's gonna
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take some work. Here you go a little, it's gonna take some word
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it's a little work, right, just a little bit. You know,
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there's gonna be some risk involved. You know, we're not gonna win every
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battle, but we've got to be willing to try. And I'm gonna realist,
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Michael, So I understand that sometimes life is just gonna happen. So
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somebody may you know, leave this earth too soon. You know they're they're
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divorces. There are job changes, there are you. I mean, I
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can go down a list of just life stuff that will happen that, Okay,
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how do we get past that? Because life is gonna throw a lot
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of stuff at us and we we won't know. We can't see the future.
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But if you got a good idea of what your future wants, if
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you gotn't do what you want your future to be like, then and it
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makes my job really really easy because it's clear to you. I can show
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you a guy the checklist, a few things to consider, and then you
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begin get across that bridge. Because right now, I think a lot of
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people are standing there and then looking at whatever the goal is and they're just
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like, how am I going to get there? And it extresses us out.
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You know, they we're working really hard, but I were working smart?
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Are we asking for help? Are we doing our own research? And
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so how do we navigate all that? It's just too much for one person.
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So I'm a financial planner and I still work with other financial practitioners because
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I don't want to know at all. I don't have that kind of time.
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I can't watch that many YouTube videos and become an expert by watching the
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internet. I need to talk to people who do what it is that I
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need to get done every day. And so I look at you know,
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if my tooth started hurting right now, I'm gonna call my dentist. I'm
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not gonna go online and try to figure out why is my tooth firm.
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Maybe it's a cavity, maybe it's gone. I don't know, but there
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are people who really want to know, and then we'll waste time trying to
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figure it out, and then the problem will spread. So when I look
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at generational poverty, it's almost like that same type of a thing where we
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know we should do better and then we don't and then something happens. Yeah,
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well, okay, I'm going to take a different view on generational poverty
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because it's something that I actually saw. Now, granted, back in the
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days when when I talk about talk about video, I'm actually talking about real
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film clips projector against the screen with the slideshow sort of thing. Right.
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And there was a documentary that I saw as a child. I was like
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maybe ten or eleven years old, and the document entry was recorded um in
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during the nineteen seventies, and it was about welfare as a problem. Now
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I'm getting to the generational part because with this one character in this film said
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was if it was good enough, it's good enough for me, because it
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was good enough for my father and my grandfather ahead of him to receive a
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chat from the government. Right. So when you told when you talk about
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generational poverty, I figured, and you're talking about this toothache that it's like
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it's the same toothache. Oh here, I'm gonna make sure this tooth hurts
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for you the same as it hurt for me my entire life. And I'm
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know it's going to keep passing out and you're gonna do the same. You're
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going to pass it to the next generation. Did you give birth to because
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that's just how our family is supposed to be. Yeah, yeah, So
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you want to break that cycle, right, I do. But it's hard.
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And I don't know. Maybe it's because I'm like everybody, I'm young,
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right, so people said, when you have time to figure things out.
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But I've lived long enough to see enough that it scares me. And
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so I literally just had an instance yesterday of something that we're talking about right
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now, where a mother lost her son and he was fairly young, and
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there wasn't there wasn't a proper plan. There wasn't plan. It just wasn't.
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It wasn't robust enough, Like it just wasn't enough. It was okay,
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but it's causing so many issues for for for the mother, for the
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son now as no father, you know, the other relatives. And as
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we were talking, I said, you know this could have been avoided,
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right, and she was like absolutely. And now she's kind of become this
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champion of you take care of your business while you're here, because we all
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are living on borrow up time. You don't know when the day is going
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to be our last. And so she's like, you could hear it in
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her voice, like we're just a phone. I could hear it, like
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you're going through this process. And I said, imagine a world where we
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lose a loved one and you literally can just greet not verywhere, not worry
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about the bills, not worry about the kids. Like just imagine if you
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could just greet and grieving. You know, it's it's a process, and
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it's different for everybody. Every single person grieves differently. And saw ourself to
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her, But just imagine if we did a little bit more planning as a
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society, how many more people could lose a loved one and then just not
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work for a whole year, just say, can get their mental back on
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forth. She's still you know, I was firstborn, and in my heart
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goes out to her because I know her. But then I think of the
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millions of other people who've experienced the exact same thing she's experiencing right now.
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Like I know that a millions of people who could say that happened to me,
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that happened somebody my family, Like we all know somebody where it just
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it wasn't it wasn't set up properly. And some other remaining family members,
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you know, I have some issues on their hands. Yeah, yeah,
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you see that, see that a lot, you know, or um I've
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seen in some some instances where it was it was a teenager. Just a
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tragedy happened, and next thing, you know, it's like, oh,
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well here, let's set up a car washer that they can bury their child.
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Right. It doesn't have to be that way now, granted that.
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I always made sure that I went through the through the car wash, you
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know, because it's like, hey, you gotta do what you do,
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do what you gotta do for your community too, right, you know.
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You know, so you go through the car wash because you want them.
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Don't want to just hand them money because that may not feel make them feel
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comfortable. When you go through the car washing, you give a big donation.
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App on the other side of the car wash, people feel like,
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well, you know, at least I washed his car. I did something,
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you know, Yeah, and he's just being generous. But you know,
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there's lots of those situations in there. Yeah, I mean, even
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that example the car wash in the community coming together. I mean, nowadays
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you have and pick your favorite crowdfunding platform. I mean they market towards here's
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how you do a I don't know the exact name, but it's like all
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you're your death campaign or your your loss of a loved one, and there's
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a whole page on like, how do you market, how you set it
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up, how do you share it? I don't. I don't knock the
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you know, somebody thinking about an opportunity because you know, I understand the
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society we live in. But I started thinking about so I don't have the
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assets, the insurance to cover whatever it is we need. So now I
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got to go ask complete strangers who don't know me, my family member who
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passed away. And now I got a hope that I pulled enough heartstrings to
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get them to donate. Just like the car work, I get enough people
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to drive through there to get the money. And so even if the campaign
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is successful, where there's a fee involved for them doing at work, so
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you don't even get the number you were targeting or the goal, so you
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get probably you hit the goal, but you get a little bit less because
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of probably feeds. Yeah yeah, yeah, nothing, all right, all
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right, it's what's the employment. I thought, that's the point people they'll
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do this campaign. I mean, it got so bad where when there's an
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um an untimely death, I mean they even promote us on the news.
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Pay there's a campaign for such and such. We just lost their life.
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Let's support them and it's like, I understand that the media coverage is helpful,
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but I think of so let's say you hit the number and the campaign
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works, what happens to the family afterwards? And it's a it's a conversation
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that's not easy to have with your loved ones while they're here because some people
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are very private, and so maybe I just don't want you in my business.
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You too nosy, So I understand that. So when you leave this
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earth and you need a mess for me, I can't call you to ask
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you what you wanted to happen. Oh, by the way, and if
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you didn't have any plans, now a judge is deciding who gets what.
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Like, I don't want to be too harsh and how I say this,
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but I had a mentors tell him. He said, you know, having
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a really good plan for your family is like the best love letter, Like
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the best way to show your love is to have these things taken care of.
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It's a love letter. And he said, you know, you're not
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questioning people's love for their family. But just in reality, we hear too
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many of these cautionary tales of how it went the wrong way versus well,
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how many times did you try to actually help this person to do what it
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is they needed to do. And I would challenge all of your listeners to
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think about this, how far can you go for your family? I love
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my family, so I don't mind jamming them up. It's not comfortable.
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But if I'm gonna get less left with a mess, I at least want
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to know what the mess is gonna be like. I don't want to be
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surprised with that mess, especially if it could have been avoided. If we
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could have done a few things to help and shoot her that whatever is left,
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we'll be able to manage it, and we know again our lives is
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still gonna be disrupted. But when I think of the how how many families
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are negatively impacted when it could have been avoided, That's what drives me.
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Michael. I don't I don't care what product it is. I don't care
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the product itself does not matter to me because there's a prodical solution for everybody.
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I just want to know which you are makes the most sense for you
25:07
at the right time, right and then we make adjustments along the way,
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because as life changes, our financial plans should change and they should be updated,
25:17
just like the apps on your phone. You just hit the button that
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hit accept to get the latest version. I can't tell you do the same
25:25
thing with your financial plan, but I wish we will update our financial plans
25:29
as much as we update the apps on our phones. Yeah, man,
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if that makes sense. You know, we pay more attention to what is
25:41
on our phone than we do what's actually happening in our lives. Yeah.
25:48
Yeah, so yuh, um, you're you're complete, completely compassionate about this
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and um in I think you're going you're going to do something that eventually that's
26:06
that's going to help a lot of people with UM their financial planning and their
26:15
UM and in their in their situations so they can just live better lives.
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It's like it would be really cool. Like you said, um, I'm
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going to go a step further and I'm not going to just center on death.
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I'm also going center on birth because wouldn't be nice. It's like to
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live like, okay, you know what, um, both parents are able
26:37
to stay home and take Matt leave or or uh pat leave or whatever,
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right, and why should baby grow? It's like you know those those those
26:48
first that first year or that first two years until they can become self aware.
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It's like the amazing things happening as as this little person is growing right,
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and we get to miss out on it because oh yeah I owe,
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I owe so off the work I go right, and that the same Yeah,
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man, yeah, I'm living that like you're you're describing where I've spent
27:15
a lot of time. My dollars literally almost one And I thought about that
27:21
even prior to my life and I having a child. I said, I
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want, like visibility matters to me, And like you said, you missed
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though, it's those small moments you're like, yeah, she didn't do that
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yesterday. Oh my god. She Like you just you keep seeing it.
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You're like, you miss out on a lot because you have to work so
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much. And I understand we have to work and earn a living, but
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then this goes back to this whole wealth piece where like you said, what
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if we can just take a break, you know, what if I could
27:48
take every other month off and not worry about my bills. It's weird because
27:53
it's just not typical because there are countries in this world whereas not all about
28:00
work. It's not all about the dollar, it's not all about the money.
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It's about quality of life. It's about your health, and so I
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I think we all as humans are trying to strike whatever balance looks like to
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you. That's what you strive for because the whole world life thing is you
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know, I mean, somebody popularized it, but it's like, look,
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yes, you need money to survive and live, but work also drives people
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to an early grade. Yeah, well, it's we also need to define
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work on that one too, because I shock people when I say that I
28:41
have no plans on retiring. As long as I can hold onto that microphone
28:45
or that camera, I'm going to keep doing what I'm doing right, because
28:48
that's it's what I love to do, right exactly. With that being said,
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I'm not exactly goofy either or in the fact that I had I have
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things in place so that if I can't, something happens to me, because
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I'll tell you. I can tell you a couple of stories where, um,
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I was walking with a a political figure during a campaign and I almost
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got run over by a truck. Now what do you think that would do
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to my ability to be able to do the work I do? Right?
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You know, Thank god a political figure yanked me out of the way.
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Of a truck and yes he did get my vote that story, you know,
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but we gotta have things in place, because life does happen, like
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you said, right, So how do you help people figure out, you
29:52
know, the what could happen in the extreme measures so that they so that
29:59
they can be prepared for it. How do you figure that those things out?
30:04
Really good questions. It starts every conversation with just I'll call them con
30:12
of these basic questions of I want to know more about what you like to
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do, what makes you tick, like where like I want to learn more
30:23
about you before we get into like the products stuff. And so there was
30:27
a process I was taught years ago of really trying to make the connection to
30:32
learn more about like the individuals or are they married, they have kids,
30:34
pets, they you know, stuff I didn't want to know. I just
30:37
think it makes you. It helps you to stand out from the path of
30:41
just Hey, I want your money, Michael, Hey Michael, to help
30:44
them, Hey Michael, we say this versus Hey Michael, So tell me
30:47
little about your family, and so I'll spend I mean honestly, now I'll
30:49
spend more time in the meeting and just getting to know people. Unless they
30:53
do have an immediate need, and they tell me that right from the beginning.
30:59
So I still I want to build a relationship, but the relationship might
31:02
be Jasper selling me this right now because I need it. Okay, we'll
31:04
get back to the other stuff, but I just want to let you know
31:07
I do want to learn more about you, because what you find is you'll
31:12
ask a simple question and I'll anticipate a simple response and then it will just
31:21
blow up into this whole large conversation. So I was talking to a young
31:25
lady. We were talking about like helping her with her credit, and as
31:30
we're talking, she was like, you know, there's just there's just so
31:33
many things that are bothering about, like money and this. I'm like,
31:36
what else is bothering you? So we'd already talked about credit for like thirty
31:38
minutes. I said, what else is bothering right now? And she just
31:42
started She was like, my retirement stuff is bothering me. You know,
31:47
I'm taking care of an elder parent and I don't know how to talk to
31:49
me. I mean, she just Michael, it just opened up the floodgates.
31:52
And what she said with us, She's like jas when nobody's ever asked
31:56
me that question. And I was like, all, I asked us,
32:00
what's bothering you? Like this wasn't something you know it was. I think
32:06
sometimes we complicate talking about money because of what's been pushed at us it's or
32:13
what we haven't been exposed to. But when I asked the question of what's
32:16
really bothering you? I gave her like the key to the door, I
32:22
mean, forget the key. She busted through the door and just started listing
32:25
off stuff that was bothering her, and I said, okay, great.
32:28
I said, I'm trying to take notes as fast as you're talking, but
32:32
let's do this. I know what number one of your lists and number two
32:38
is. And then I got the confirmation. I said, so how about
32:43
you try this. You rattled off seven things to me. We can't do
32:46
all seven today. How about we focus on us first two? And she
32:54
said yes. I said, I can't snap my fingers and change the world.
33:00
If you're willing to go on this journey with me, I promise you
33:02
I'll be the best navigator possible. So I'm gonna hold up the map.
33:07
I'm gonna try to say turn left, turn right, speed up, slow
33:10
down and watch out for that. As long as we are here, as
33:15
long as we are being open and honest and transparent, I think we'll go
33:19
far on this journey. Don't know where we're gonna end up, but I
33:22
know you've got two things that are really eating at you, and I need
33:25
to get those off your plate, like today or yesterday, or as soon
33:30
as that's humanly possible. So we might not be able to check them off
33:34
completely, but maybe you know we have like a progress bar, we get
33:37
sixty seventy five, so you feel I need you feeling better because when you
33:44
said what you said about number one, I saw, I could hear it.
33:47
It was a Virgil and I could hear and see it in your face
33:51
that it was bothering you and in those emotions Michael, as I'm asking people
33:55
questions, it's raw, this isn't, this is oh, this is bothering
34:01
you to the core, and this is the first time you've actually released it.
34:07
It's an incredible thing to just sit back and hear people kind of share.
34:12
And then I try to end the meeting with, you know, a
34:14
call that actually, hey, are we gonna work on this today tomorrow?
34:19
Like can you get this done and if not, that's okay. I don't
34:22
I don't push anymore. You just told what you want to do. So
34:24
if it's important enough, is there anything that's stopping us from moving forward and
34:29
getting busy? And I've said that amazing. I mean, I just want
34:34
to relate to people. I'm not trying to. It's just are you ready
34:36
today? And if not, is there's never gonna be the perfect day.
34:39
And I think that's the challenge for me is dealing with like human behavior and
34:45
understanding that although it was the right thing to do at the right time on
34:50
the perfect day and all that, something in that still tells you I'm not
34:53
sure and that that's gonna take time. Right, So most womans aren't a
35:00
one a one and done. I got to do a couple of me a
35:02
couple of follow up. You know, you probably want to talk to somebody
35:06
else to see it. I'm legit, So could you also want to compare?
35:09
Right? Well, Jasper had a good story, but let me ask
35:13
a few more people. And so I call that out in the meeting.
35:16
So I'll say, look, I'm gonna assume you're gonna talk to other people
35:21
or the firms and so on and so forth. I here's what you want
35:22
to be aware of. How quick do they get to the solution? That
35:30
is very telling on their motives? How quick? Yeah, And we're gonna
35:36
take a little time with you and some people. We gotta be mindful of
35:40
timelines and deadlines because that helps push us forward. But if they're a little
35:45
too push you with, like, the solution might not be a good fit.
35:51
Or if you are having that engagement with them, and just you know,
35:57
if you're into like you know, the energy, If the energy isn't
36:00
right, it's not gonna work. You can't make it work. Like I'm
36:05
like, I'm married now, but I've not had good energy with women.
36:08
I dated it's gonna work. It was nothing that I was gonna be able
36:13
to do that was gonna make it when I try try to fail miserably.
36:16
But I started realizing, like Jasper, there's something off and you know it.
36:21
You might as well just cut ties right now. Right So when even
36:25
with the financial planning process and financial services, I want to know and how
36:36
soon can you get started and if I'm the right fit for you, and
36:39
if not, let me try to find somebody else, because fit matters and
36:45
it's your money, so you should be you should be able to decide.
36:51
Yeah, where you go is who you do it with. It's your money,
36:54
so you should have the decisions, not me. Well do you think
37:00
people are I don't know, um or people are too willing to to to
37:06
to just hand over the controls of money to whoever. Very few, the
37:15
very few who understand at time like like now is the best time to act.
37:22
And granted, I think the people who've done it and had success,
37:29
they've also gotten burned quite a bit because they have been a little a little
37:32
eager. So on the flip side, I think about opportunities that people miss
37:39
because they never make a decision. So the issue that I have with a
37:45
lot of my people, it's called paralysis by analysis or analysis paralysis, whichever
37:52
way you want to say it. So they will listen to a conversation like
37:57
what happened, They'll they'll already know that you could get done. They hear
38:00
me talk, read something I've written, and then they still kind of wanted
38:05
me check some other source, and then they go to YouTube. Then it's
38:07
just another webinar, and then before you know it, a year has gone
38:12
by and they've done nothing. Maybe to stop markeel with you the reef.
38:16
Maybe have they you know that property we're looking to buy, have they bought
38:20
it? It would have appreciated in value. Like you just missed out on
38:22
some stuff because you were so busy thinking and processing. And again I'm well
38:27
aware of that you need to process information, do your research, but I
38:30
also give people to think about other parts of their lives where they're able to
38:37
make decisions a lot quicker. So you wake up in the morning, they'll
38:43
take you that long or decide what clothes you're gonna wear because you don't kind
38:46
of me dread. You know how you want to look when you walk out
38:50
that door. So so there's still a process, but you don't have all
38:52
day. And I know that's a comfortable, easy thing for people to make
38:57
a decision on. And so I know, when we're talking money, because
39:00
you don't have the conversation enough, you feel like more time is what you
39:04
need. It's a two way street, right, I can keep waiting,
39:07
but I may miss on on opportunities because I'm waiting. They say the early
39:14
one gets the word, Well that's true, because if I get up early
39:17
and I can get all these words before you. I don't be nice and
39:22
fool So about I tell you wake up. You're gonna be hungry, and
39:25
I'm gonna say good I've already eaten multiple times. So you've got to decide
39:32
as a person, if I'm waiting, what's the opportunity, Because there's always
39:38
one, always an opportunity. If you wait, there's something you will miss
39:44
out on because of waiting. And the opposite is true. I can make
39:46
a decision, but maybe I feel bad about maybe I grant. You won't
39:51
know until you do it. So it really boils down to do you have
39:59
a system or belief or a structure or a process on how you make decisions.
40:06
Let's just rule out money, But when you got to make important decisions,
40:09
what's that process look like? And that's a question I started asking people.
40:14
I'm impulsal sometimes, but I felt deal when I did it because I
40:19
needed to get it. I needed to do it. Sometimes I fight the
40:22
impulse, but I also think about my long term success. I think about
40:28
my family, I think about my daughter. I think I think a little
40:30
bit like long term, But I do also live in reality, so we
40:36
all we all juggle those priorities of the now the future, the long future,
40:43
the legacy. So when I think about the generational stuff that I talk
40:47
about a lot is well, I want to be the best that I can,
40:51
you know, along with my wife, to do the best that we
40:54
can for our daughter. Right that's it. I'm gonna do the best I
41:01
can. Not perfect, not only gonna be rosy, but I know that
41:09
if we try, because some people don't want to try. They just now
41:15
I'm lazy. I'm not gonna do it great. You get what you get
41:16
what you put into it. So I'm gonna put a lot of work into
41:20
ensuring that the next generation or two or three d just they won't have to
41:25
worry about certain things. They're gonna have other issues. I didn't want to
41:30
take some of those issues that I know they're gonna run into off that list,
41:35
right, Well, that makes sense to what are what are some of
41:40
the best results that you've actually gotten for people, Like some of the success
41:45
stories you've had, Yeah, gosh, I got a lot, man.
41:50
The ones that really get me are the clients with like and I've been around
41:55
long enough now to like they had like a young child who's now in college,
42:00
and I remember opening up the college account and remember, like I remember
42:04
the story of like I think we have enough money, Jack One, like
42:07
you you do, you have enough to start, and then we will work
42:10
together to find more money from your village, from the community, and so
42:15
on. It and so seem like people's kids go to school. It's a
42:20
mind It blows your mind because you remember like the little kid at the meeting
42:24
running around. You're like, oh my god, to going to school.
42:28
They're like a full world adult. And then for some we we were able
42:34
to take like a big chunk out of the college expense. You know,
42:37
we weren't one hundred and six success successful on everyone, but just the like
42:43
to see and hear the reaction when they're like, hey, I'm going to
42:47
school. And just so you know, if we didn't do the work that
42:52
we started years ago we have, we would have had to borrow a lot
42:57
more money. I don't mind stud the loans. I just hate the words
43:00
that are hundreds of thousand of dollars. So we eliminated a huge piece of
43:06
the debt. They said they took out a loan, but it was for
43:08
like ten thousand dollars and I'm like, oh that yeah, they will be
43:14
able to pay that off before their thirty like easily. Yeah. So I
43:17
think about cases like that. I think about my older clients who were kind
43:22
of merry retirement when we met, and I just kind of had the talk
43:27
of like, there's gonna be a day you might not want to work.
43:30
I'm exclaving you, Michael. I'm like you too, I'm never gonna retire.
43:35
We're just gonna keep doing stuff to stay BYR because we love what we
43:37
do. But for this young lady, she was a an administrator at an
43:42
elementary school but just had devoted her life to education, and she's like,
43:45
I just want a nice break, and I said, or the break will
43:49
be nice if you have enough money to live a decent quality of life.
43:52
And so all we do was we kind of adjusted a few things with her
43:57
retiring to count through her employer. I was managed a very small portion of
44:01
her of her overall assets, but we had a like a relationship where we
44:07
just checked in every three months. So that was like our relationship. I
44:12
managed very little of her money, but we talked a lot about retirements coming
44:15
in five years, in four years, in three years, two years,
44:20
and every meeting was are we ready, because if we're not readying the date.
44:24
You told me, I have failed you. She was like, Jasper's
44:30
my life is myself. You brought me into your world, and I will
44:36
not allow you if I have any control of making sure that when you are
44:40
ready to go, you can go. She retired right on time. She's
44:49
living a good we'll call it a retirement life right simply because we did the
44:53
work. You know. She had to have talks with her children because she
44:58
was supporting her children financial and I see that from a lot of parents who
45:01
want to help their children. I said, well, you can't take out
45:05
a loan for retirement, so your kids can figure it out. They got
45:08
time, you don't. And so when I said that to her, she
45:14
slowly those payments got a lot lower, a lot lower, a lot lower.
45:22
I say, because once your kids get off pay roll, all that
45:23
money you were given to them, now those to you. And that took
45:29
like a year, Michael just to have the talk to coach her through.
45:32
And she's like, brot their mom. And I mean it was, I
45:37
was like, but you need to retire on time. You've done your job,
45:43
You've helped a lot of lives. It's time for you to enjoy this
45:47
you've put the work in. I'm not gonna let you tell me that you're
45:52
gonna push out your retirement day. Well, in some respects, right,
45:57
you actually helped her do some that work did she needed to do for her
46:01
children because you told her. It's like you've reminded her of the fact that
46:07
your children need to spread their own wings. So s you know, right,
46:14
yeah, yeah, yeah. The last one I'll share with you,
46:17
Michael, is I've helped a lot of will call them entry level professionals start
46:22
and investment account. Then they're all will call them they're super small accounts and
46:27
people. But why do you do it? I say, because I'm gonna
46:31
make sure they have a relationship with investing because so many people are afraid.
46:38
But I'm like, if I could get people early in their life, just
46:42
living long enough, they will see the benefits of investing early because you don't
46:47
need that much money. And so I had a young lady excuse me,
46:52
fresh out of college, wanted to do some investing outside of her retirement account.
46:58
We opened up an account for like five hundred and all I was doing
47:00
for her. I said, we're gonna do fifty dollars a month. That's
47:04
it you can live your life, have fun, enjoy yourself. So this
47:07
young lady, I think it's about twenty seven, twenty eight right now,
47:13
but Pholio looks all right. We've bought a few more things at that very
47:16
first meeting. But I can't get so basic for her that she said,
47:22
I love investing because I had had a good teacher. And I watch her
47:29
about like the downside, because that's where everybody talks about, the fear,
47:31
the downturns. Those are gonna happen, but it always recovers and rebounds over
47:37
time. But because I set it up in a way that she could understand
47:42
it, I said, you just got to believe that the data I'm showing
47:45
you the information, it works. You just won't know until you're a little
47:51
bit older. And as she got older, she would always call me when
47:53
there was bad stuff happening in the world. I was like, yeah,
47:55
it affected me too, so we're all on the same boat. And then
48:00
once things turned around, when she's looked through a couple of like downturns in
48:02
the market, she's like, my god, you were right. It's like,
48:07
yeah, I didn't make that stuff up, Like I believe the stuff
48:10
that I'm preaching so seeing like a newer investor, even people who aren't young,
48:15
who I've helped start investment accounts, Like just watching the growth blows my
48:21
mind. I mean I've made them believers. Because you can only work so
48:25
many hours in the day, o'tkay, how great you are, you will
48:29
need to take a break. But while you're taking a break, could you
48:32
still be generating revenue or income? And the answer is yes if you set
48:37
it up. And I've just shown people it's not that hard once you really
48:43
take a deep dive into your situation and figure out what you can do with
48:47
what you got at whatever moment in life you're in. And I take people
48:52
at face value. I know where you want to go again, how can
48:55
I help you to get there? And it is such a cool to see
49:00
it happening in real time? Be like, that's why I'm build these relationships.
49:10
See. One of the cool things about you, Jasper is the fact
49:14
that it's not about um the money, It's about the relationship. That's what's
49:21
important to you. Yeah, so you you usually at this point I usually
49:28
ask somebody, you know, if you if you could build the perfect world
49:30
world to look like what you've been describing that world. Yeah, so let
49:40
me ask you this though, um, because everybody who's viewing this, they
49:45
can look in just over your your your shoulder, and they see, let's
49:52
disrupt generational poverty. Have you Have you disrupted at least for some people,
50:01
Yes, I have it. It's what drives me to keep doing the work
50:12
because when you see it happen, you know you made a difference. And
50:16
it happened with a client of mine who she was like, can you come
50:22
talk to my kids who were all adults, and we had a I'll call
50:27
it the family pow wow, and it was probably seven eight years ago,
50:32
but that one session, I mean, everybody changed the way they they lived,
50:40
like all of them, all five people, like will exclude my client,
50:45
but everybody she invited us, you know, her her family. And
50:49
since that talk, like now they've got they've got their kids learning about stuff
50:53
early, earlier than they've learned. And I'm watching it in real time of
50:58
life. That's why I'm doing what I'm doing because now I got the presson
51:02
at the top, which is the grandmother who's my client. She's gotten to
51:06
her kids and now they're not teaching their kids. Her grand babies, they
51:12
seek lessons, and I'm like, that is what's gonna change their outlook when
51:16
they start earning a living or they get that first job, and then they're
51:22
gonna say, well, I got my first job, so now I need
51:24
to think about retirement, right, because nobody tells you that need to get
51:28
your first job. Nobody told me, and I could have started a rock
51:31
fray when I was fifteen because I had earned income. But nobody was telling
51:36
a fifteen year old kid to think about retirement. It just doesn't come up.
51:39
Save your money, go have some fun. So I saved a little
51:44
bit, but maybe I could have been investing and not for retirement, just
51:46
telling my parents had I want to open up an investment accounts since I'm earning
51:50
money. Well, kid, again, if the kid isn't exposed to the
51:53
information, they're not even gonna think about that until their an adulthood, and
51:59
then they're gonna ask, well, why didn't my mom and dad or granny
52:00
or auntie, why did they Why don't they share this stuff earlier because they
52:05
might not have known. So I want to make it common, like I'm
52:09
gonna make it easy for families to have these conversations and say, okay,
52:15
here's what we do as a family. If you have a kid, here
52:17
to all the accounts we're about to set up. Done, is that everybody
52:22
ol cares that and just have that conversation with the immediate family, the extended
52:27
family, the play cousins to play just anybody who's family should know about the
52:31
plan for the kid. So then the kid goes up and it's like,
52:35
now how this comilies accounts? I don't really get it, but now I've
52:38
been given this. We'll call it the playbook. Here's what you're gonna do.
52:44
So if you decide to have kids, you get a jail. Like
52:46
it's just it should be just a laid out this is what we do in
52:50
this family. If they question it, you out the family. My mind,
52:53
you still don't be in the family. But you've got to be that
52:58
intentional, right, I think if we're intentional, So I am a product
53:02
of my parents who figured it out. They didn't have all the tools,
53:07
they did a pretty damn good job. So now my goal is let me
53:12
do it a little bit better than they did. So then when my daughter
53:15
gets older, she's gonna say, well, I have my grandparents who did
53:17
a little bit my parents did a little bit. Now I'm gonna do one
53:21
better than them. And then that's how you create generational wealth because now it's
53:25
look into the fabric of the family. It's you have to cook out of
53:30
the barbecue or the family gathering like, and we're just talking about money or
53:34
business or investments, like it's talking about sports and entertainment. Because we're comortable
53:37
talking about sports and entertainment. Let's get come up talking about money and business
53:42
deals just as casual as again you seeing your favorite person you know coming to
53:46
town for a concert. Let's get excited about financial sessions and workshops and and
53:52
things that are really going to uplift us and build that wealth, because once
53:57
we have it, it's kind of hard to get rid of getting rich.
54:00
You disinally brought tomorrow. But there was a plan. Yeah, I um,
54:09
I do remember this from from from my my youth right that uh,
54:15
you know the this this superstar quarterback or or the U or the superstar basketball
54:22
player that we had in the school. I actually had two friends that actually
54:27
made it to the NBA. They were bench warmers. It was a bench
54:32
warmer. Do you think a fairly decent living, right as a bench warmer,
54:39
you know, but as a bench warmer, only gonna last three years.
54:44
So what happened after three years? And there's a tale of two of
54:49
of two men that I know that one the family is like, oh,
54:54
he he made it. He's a superstar, blah blah blah, and they
55:00
the money and as soon as it came in the other the grandmother was was
55:06
was calm, cool headed, and she said, no, boy, you
55:13
ain't gonna spend this money. Yeah, you gotta This is only gonna last
55:16
you three years tops, even if you get off the bench. Let's just
55:22
focus on it's only gonna last you three years. This this part, it's
55:25
only three years. What are you going to do after that? And she
55:30
made him pocket all that money, She made a banket do it. She
55:36
probably even set him up with a person like you. Yeah he still has
55:42
that money. And we're talking, um that was thirty years ago. Yeah,
55:52
I'm almost sixty years old, so you know, anyway to secret.
55:55
You know, those are the stories that we gotta keep sharing. And I
56:00
shared those types of stories because people don't believe me when I'm telling them this
56:05
that if you just have a plan and we work it, it will work
56:08
out. It's just like the folks who are looking to do a new opportunity,
56:13
like for a job, like you put you where, you tell them
56:16
where you're looking, or you start doing what's required to get the job.
56:22
You don't make any you just do the work. So your example, like
56:27
Granny was on point, like, look, you're gonna come into some money.
56:30
I'm not saying you can't live. Like you said, let's call a
56:34
a little bit out to ensure that it's gonna be something there long la long
56:37
after you played like long long, maybe forever, and it is possible.
56:45
But when people aren't exposed to those types of stories, they still just do
56:49
not believe because they cannot see it. I don't know you, Michael,
56:52
so I don't believe your story, or I see you on social media or
56:55
on TV. I don't you know. I hear you. Sounds good,
57:00
but I don't know anybody close enough to me to believe that's legit. And
57:04
it's it's like, but if you keep saying the same types of story that
57:07
you hear the same you would think something would click. But again we're talking
57:12
about human behavior. Sometimes you can have the answer right in our face and
57:16
we still will not believe it's too good to be true. I can't do
57:21
that. I'm not smart enough. I don't know those people. I can't
57:23
afford soately, you've already told yourself what you're not gonna do. Just slip
57:27
that. Just tell yourself what it is possible, what you can do.
57:32
Just just believe that's a that's a critical first step. You just believe it
57:37
could happen. It would. Yeah, Okay, So for those who actually
57:44
are watching this as a video and Zake, you see the QR code,
57:49
grab your phone because you need to get that book. Okay, tell us
57:58
a little more about the book though. Yeah. So the book came about
58:00
it's called the Build Wealth Challenge, and there's eight questions that I'm gonna have
58:05
you to answer and it's all for you. And so I used to do
58:08
these eight questions as a kind of an assignment before I would meet with people,
58:15
just so I had an idea of how the conversation might go, and
58:19
I just kept asking. I was just like, I don't think people understand
58:22
that financial planning covers all of this, because each question is important. There's
58:28
not one of there's more important. If we haven't done some things in a
58:30
certain area that could be what's holding us back. And so it's an easy
58:36
read. First off, it might take you. I mean I read so
58:39
maybe forty minutes. If you go cover, then it's not a hard read.
58:44
I don't try to scare you with too many facts and figures and equations
58:49
and industry jargon, and I don't use a lot of big words like it
58:52
was intentionally made for the person to be able to digest and actually execute,
59:00
meaning you will understand that financial planning isn't as hard as you think. But
59:04
you got to be open and honest with yourself. And those questions require just
59:07
to ask yourself, am I doing this or not? Or where on that
59:12
continuum am I? And I get some easy examples like even I get it,
59:16
you should drop the books. I get it. If that doesn't happen,
59:22
reach out to me, and I will try to make it even easier.
59:24
But I tried my best, and that was my first This is my
59:27
first book, and I said, I want to make financial planning so easy
59:30
that everybody believes they can do it. There you go, okay, so
59:37
everybody everybody, Now it's probably a scan that QR code and they've got and
59:40
and they got the book, pop it up on their phone. Um,
59:46
what are the other best ways to get a hold of you and work with
59:49
you? For those who are just listening, Yeah, if you just listen,
59:52
then head over to the Build Wealth Movement dot com. So the Build
1:00:00
Wealth Movement dot com is the best way to check me out. I offer
1:00:07
quite a different terms of information, so I would definitely say take a visit
1:00:09
to the blog section on my website just so you can see how I approach
1:00:15
different products in the market. I'm not for or against any product or solution.
1:00:21
I just want you to be clear. So I try my best to
1:00:23
explain things in a way of this couldn't be for you, and here's why,
1:00:28
here's what you want to look out for, Here's why you need certain
1:00:30
people like here's Here's just it's timeless. Honestly, it's timeless material that whether
1:00:37
you are starting out in your career, midway through it, or whining it
1:00:40
down, there's something that I've written about that is going to resonate with you.
1:00:45
I don't know where it is, but I've got like thirty five different
1:00:47
articles right now. I got more to do, but there will be something
1:00:52
on my website that will probably resonate with you if you want to get in
1:00:55
touch as a contact session at the bottom. If you were just curious about
1:01:00
anything and everything that I do, just reach out. Like I'm an open
1:01:02
book. I am very honest, open and transparent about how I can help
1:01:07
people. And I'll be very clear if I can't help you, or I
1:01:13
will tell you that right away, so I won't drag you on and say,
1:01:16
yeah, this means going great, because if it's not, I'm gonna
1:01:20
call it out. Hey, I don't think it's gonna be a good fit,
1:01:22
Michael, Like I just I can feel like I apply not your guy.
1:01:25
But have you looked into X and Z and and so I'm very aware
1:01:30
that all of our time is precious. So if you book some time,
1:01:36
just show up and let's have a honest conversation because I'm gonna show up and
1:01:40
give you the same courtesy. Cool. All right, well, Jasper,
1:01:45
thanks for joining us today and thank everybody for listening. Find that subscribe button
1:01:51
wherever it is and get more, get more of these interviews. Ben's watch
1:01:57
if if that's what you want to do, or binge listen and um.
1:02:04
We really enjoy helping people find the information they need to live a better life
1:02:08
again. Thank you again, Jasper, because you are doing that. That's
1:02:13
what you're doing, helping people find a better life. Yes, sir,
1:02:15
I appreciate you having me. Michael all right, bad ship. I just
1:02:38
seed so ships event to be something we can push. I don't know.
1:04:02
So I was you mat when Fee says I returned to shit be like child
1:04:31
didn't want We can't read, so going to ches now. The show had
1:06:00
has been produced by Depictions Media. Please contact us at Depictions Do Media for
1:06:06
more information.