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Serving our country never ends for these amazing veterans · The Financial Exchange Show

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Speaker 1: The Financial Exchange is produced by Money Matters Radio and
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Financial Exchange is a proud partner of the Disabled American
0:53
Veterans Department of Massachusetts. Help us support our great American
0:57
heroes by visiting DAV five Boston and making a donation today.
1:02
The DAV five K Boston is presented by Veterans Development Corporation.
1:07
This is the Financial Exchange with Chuck Zada and Mike Armstrong.
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Speaker 2: Morning and welcome back to the Financial Exchange. We've got
1:14
markets in mixed territory here at eleven oh six. Dow
1:18
is up by three hundred points seven tens of percent
1:21
S and P up a third of a percent, and
1:22
as that currently down a bit more than a tenth
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of a percent after yesterday's Federal Reserve meeting. We'll be
1:28
covering that a bit more later, but right now we
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are joined by Colemanne. He's the National Senior Vice Commander
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and Veteran Advocate and Marine Corps a RAQ veteran. All
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day today we are joining our Boston affiliate WRKO for
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their radiothon to benefit the Disabled American Veterans Department of Massachusetts.
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And we'll be doing this all day. We've got the
1:53
five K coming up tomorrow. But you know the point
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that I want to make. We've got listeners all over
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the place that are tuning in right now, uh, all
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across Massachusetts who may or may not have heard of
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the Disabled American Veterans Department. If you'd like to do
2:06
your part, first and foremost you can call for the
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radiothon at nine seven eight six three two nineteen eighty five.
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Once again, that's nine seven eight six three two one
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nine eight five. You can go to DAV five k
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dot Boston as well. But really, you know, what I
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want to be doing today is just educating folks on
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what it is the DAV does across the country and
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particularly here in Massachusetts. So particularly excited Coleman, thanks for
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joining us. Appreciate it and join us right here in studio.
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Speaker 3: Thank you, Yeah, thank you very much for having me.
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And I've been listening to that sports Fries package. That
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sounds pretty amazing.
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Speaker 4: Sounds pretty done good.
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Speaker 2: Yeah, I uh, somebody I'm gonna be walk away with
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something special.
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Speaker 4: Yeah.
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Speaker 2: Uh So Colin, let's start. Let's start off with your background.
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Can you talk to me a little bit about your
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military service?
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Speaker 3: Sure? So, I uh, I went into the Marine Corps
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when uh uh my senior year of high school, originally
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in the reserve Nerves. I went to boot camp, I
3:02
went to uh at Paris Island and in my training
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down in Campbell, Junia, North Carolina, and came back and
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was actively drilling at a local reserve unit.
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Speaker 1: Uh.
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Speaker 3: Right, up until Saddam Musaying got a little antie and
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decided he wanted to go to Kuwait. And next thing
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I know, I was spending the next seven months of
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my life somewhere else. And you know I I love
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the Marine Corps. I loved military service, not everything about
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it or every day.
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Speaker 2: I don't think I've ever met a active duty or
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a veteran who says they love every single point of
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military You don't the point, you.
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Speaker 3: Don't love it every every single day, but you do,
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I'll tell you. And you know what, And it's funny too,
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like you don't. You don't realize how much you've missed
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it and what you have until you're out of it. Yeah,
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and then you begin to realize, Wow, there's a there's
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an element in my life of camaraderie and and and
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a sense of mission and a sense of uh purpose
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and uh that uh that's all. That's change and it's
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it's a little different. And that's really and to your point,
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that's what DAV does. We help uh uh service members
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who are transitioning to understand not only what their benefits are,
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but also how to be successful back home and reintegrating
4:15
with their families. And and and and reintegrating back to
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civilian workforce. You know, we're a hundred year old plus
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nonprofit organization. We've been keeping helping keep the promise to
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America's veterans for that entire time.
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Speaker 5: UH.
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Speaker 3: We do outreach UH to UH do drives for medical
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appointments all across the country. In fact, UH I saw
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some crazy stat where you know, totaled up all the
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volunteer aurays that we've driven. We've we've gone around the
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world more than a few times. We have. We represent
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the interests of UH of veterans on Capitol Hill. So
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we have an active legislative team that's down there making
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sure that UH Congress one doesn't diminish any of our
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benefits or services, and two that when we hear from
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members through resolutions at the state level, they let us
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know what issues they want us to work on, and
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our legislative team goes to work on that. And we
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do claims, which is really important for a lot of
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people working listening right now. If you're a veteran, or
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you know someone who's a veteran, if you're the spouse
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of someone who is a veteran, even if that veteran
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has has already passed unfortunately or is no longer with us.
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There are still a tremendous amount of benefits and services
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that I think people just don't know about. And DV
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is that kind of that navigator that helps you kind
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of get across this complex mariad of federal, state, local
5:38
agencies with vary informs and varying different types of different
5:43
types of procedures. So we're the people that have done
5:46
it before and we can help you get through that
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as easy as possible.
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Speaker 2: Now, Coleman, I'm sure, like most of the people that
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we are talking to, the DAV and your work with
5:54
them isn't the only organization you've been involved with. I
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understand you were appointed by the Governor of Massachusetts to
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serve as the Massachusetts Secretary of Veteran Services back in
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twenty eleven. Can you talk to me a little bit
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about your work there and then the transition with the
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DAV and work that you did then with the DAV.
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Speaker 3: Sure. So, yeah, I was under secretary in two thousand
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and seven and in two the under twenty ten Governor
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Patrick honored me by appointing me as secretary. You know,
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if you think back to those times two thousand and
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seven to twenty and fifteen. I mean, these were like
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the height of our troubles in Iraq and Afghanistan, and.
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Speaker 5: It was a very.
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Speaker 3: I would say, the most challenging position I've ever had,
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but at the same time too also the most rewarding
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because we were able and I give all the credit
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to the team of people that worked around me to
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be able to take an office that had somewhat become
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a little calcified in terms of how we did services
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for the previous generation and really adjust it and do
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the outreach for today's veterans because you know, look, I
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mean it's different. You know, you communicated the same way
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basically if you were in World War Two career or Vietnam, right,
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you got letters occasionally, maybe you get an overseas phone
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call that you can only talk for ten seconds on
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or it was going to cost a bazillion dollars. Nowadays,
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today's veterans not only communicate, you know, when they're in service,
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but the way they communicate the things that they're interested
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culturally today, for the younger veterans are a lot different
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what they were for the older veterans. So we need
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to we need to do a better job modernizing not
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just our governmental services, but even places like dav We
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need to do a better job providing value to those veterans.
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And frankly, to tie in with the theme of your show,
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you know, for many of these veterans, the younger veterans
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and the older veterans that we're working with, you know,
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DV not only helps them secure those benefits, but we
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also try to guide them into places where they can
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help manage them. If you think about somebody as a
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hundred percent service connected disabled, So the government has determined
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that you are one hundred percent incapable of and unemployable,
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you're not able to work, you're one hundred percent deployed,
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and that's related directly to your service. Now we say
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that's great because now we get them a disability check. Well,
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that disability check only rounds out around thirty eight thousand
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dollars a year. Yeah, you know, I mean, do you
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know anyone to mess Yeah on thirty eight grand a year. So,
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you know, so we're out there fighting for things like
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property tax abatements. We're out there fighting for you know,
8:33
more real estate excise tax abatements. We're out there fighting
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for trying to get people into more closer long term
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care that's paid for by the government or paid for
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by the VAH as a way to make sure that
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these people are getting their benefits, but also as a
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recognition that you know, it's it's heartbreaking to see some
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of the conditions that some of our heroes, particularly Korean
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and Vietnam veterans living, and uh, you know, after after
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giving so much of themselves to the country and then
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having to having to struggle with those those issues and
9:08
those injuries and those wounds for years and years and
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having that effect you know, everything else, including your finances.
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Speaker 2: So Coleman, just another minute or so here, but I
9:16
do want to touch on this. You're coming up on
9:18
Veterans Days and uh, you know a lot of different
9:23
organizations are going to be asking for our listeners' money.
9:26
Speaker 4: Were everybody out there?
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Speaker 2: I mean, why the DAV What what is so special
9:29
about the DAV when you look out there and you
9:32
know what led you to do work there, and why
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should our listeners be be particularly paying close attention to
9:37
the work the DAV is doing across the country.
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Speaker 3: Sure, let me let me do the second one first.
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So why did I join DAV because I found DAV
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to be one of the most active and engaged and
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forward thinking vet service organizations that was out there. I
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found them looking not just at their past and and
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and resting on their laurels, but looking at the next
9:56
generation of veterans and the diversity in those veterans. More women,
10:00
that's more African American, mor Latino. We've got LGBTQ plus
10:03
vets now that are that are coming off of the
10:05
Don't Ask, Don't Tell repeal. We're coming up with plans
10:08
and strategies to not only help serve those people, but
10:12
to understand what their unique needs are and then advocate
10:14
on behalf of that at at the congressional level. Why
10:17
people should give Let me start right now. We're a
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five star UH five star rated charity Navigator charity. You know,
10:25
the majority of your money goes into direct services, overwhelming
10:28
majority of it. We're providing rides every day. We've got
10:31
volunteers and hospitals. We're one of the only DAV chapters
10:35
in the nation that actually has housing UH and support
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of services for formerly homeless vets and vets that are
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struggling with addiction. We are doing UH. You know, group
10:49
projects at people's homes for veterans that you know, maybe
10:52
may need a ramp or may need some other type
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of assistance.
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Speaker 1: Uh.
10:57
Speaker 3: And we're doing retreats for women veterans, we're doing retreats
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or other other targeted group. So you know, it's really
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you know, if you think about the veteran services world,
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and I know you're wrapping up here, but if you
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think about it, think about we're serving people who may
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be nineteen years old who just got in an accident
11:15
in the military and they got a medical discharge. And
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we're serving people that are ninety nine years old that
11:19
are looking for long term care. And there's a lot
11:21
in between there. So people ask what we're doing. It's like,
11:24
look at the sum of a person's life, and we're
11:26
trying to meet that need at every stage of that life.
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Speaker 2: If we you can afford to do so, we ask
11:31
that you give. If you'd like to support the Disabled.
11:33
American Veterans Department of Massachusetts called nine seven eight six
11:37
three to two nineteen eighty five again that number nine
11:41
seven eight six three two one nine eight five or
11:45
visit dav five K dot Boston. We've got to take
11:48
a quick break Coleman. Really appreciate you joining us, talk
11:51
to us by thank.
11:51
Speaker 3: You for doing this every days great.
11:53
Speaker 4: Thank you so much. Quick break, We'll be right back.
11:56
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Text us at six one seven three, six two one
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Financial Exchange Radio Network. The Ultimate Boston Sports option to
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benefit the disabled American Veterans Department of Massachusetts is underway.
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You could win two tickets to see the Patriots take
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on the La Rams on November seventeenth, two tickets to
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see the world champion Celtics against the Cleveland Cavaliers on
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the Edmonton Oilers on Tuesday, January seventh, and four tickets
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to a twenty twenty five Red Sox home game. All
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that plus autographs merch from all four teams. To place
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your bid, call eight eight eight two oh five two
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two sixty three. That's eight eight eight two oh five
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two two six three.
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Speaker 5: Still in the middle, of our dav Department of Massachusetts
12:53
radio thon to donate called nine seven eight six three
12:56
two nineteen eighty five, or visit dav k dot Boston.
13:02
It's part of that radio don We're now joined by
13:04
Fred Tresler, the president and CEO of Tracks. More importantly, Fred,
13:08
someone I've known personally and is a good friend for
13:10
the last fifteen years or so. Fred, how are you today?
13:14
Speaker 6: I am great, Chuck, and thank you so much for
13:16
having us on today and your great commitment to the
13:19
dav Department of Massachusetts giving up your valuable air time
13:23
today to help our local veterans. You guys are the best.
13:26
Speaker 5: Well, we're not the best. The veterans are actually the best.
13:28
We're just you know, we're radio hosts. But talk to
13:31
me a little bit about the history of your company
13:33
and how did you get partnered with the dav Department
13:36
of Massachusetts.
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Speaker 7: Actually, we're a small boutique, family owned business. It's forty
13:42
one years young. We've organized running and walking events in
13:46
over ninety international cities, in places like the Barcelona Olympic Stadium,
13:52
the Stockholm Olympic Stadium, Berlin Olympics Stadium, and in Bustan Korea.
13:58
I mean, we've literally been all over the world. And
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Dan Stack and the DAV is too humble. I was
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listening to coleman Nee earlier. We'll take that up in
14:07
a moment. But what the DAV Department of Massachusetts does
14:11
is absolutely phenomenal. Dan Stack came to me both call me.
14:15
Never knew who he was. I didn't even know what
14:18
the DAV was. He said, we have this little event.
14:21
It's over Castle Island being put on by our national office.
14:24
I've got a strong local committee. I think we could
14:27
do it better. If you know, we did it ourselves.
14:29
Can you come and take a look at it? That
14:31
was six or so years ago?
14:33
Speaker 8: Did that?
14:34
Speaker 6: Dan came to my office A couple of weeks later,
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he says, here's what the budget is. I said, Dan,
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I said, we can do it for less money, and
14:41
I promise you we can do it better. But I said, Dan,
14:44
what are your goals for this event? Okay? And he
14:48
was crystal clear. Okay. Dan is amazing, he says Fred.
14:54
He said, we need young veterans and their families to
14:59
become aware of that Disabled American Veterans as an organization
15:04
and what we do and what we can do to
15:06
help them, and we need to better honor our veterans
15:09
on Veterans Day. He said, those are my two top goals.
15:14
He said the next one, yes, we can make some
15:16
money along the way, it would be great, but I
15:18
want our young people to know about it. I said, well, Dan,
15:21
how does the five K fit into your plan? And
15:23
he said, just as Coleman just mentioned in his interview,
15:27
that we have to find ways to reach this next
15:30
generation of veterans and to understand their uniqueness and to
15:34
understand what they're interested in. So folks who have served
15:37
in Iraq, Afghanistan, etc. Who are in their twenties and thirties,
15:41
having a five K and event that they can come
15:43
and run walk a role is a family friendly activity
15:47
that's really well suited for that age group. So I said, Dan,
15:51
we will focus on helping you achieve your goals, and
15:54
through the help of what you've done with your program
15:58
with WBZTV has done as a media upon it, it's
16:02
been absolutely phenomenal in spreading the word. A great example
16:06
of that is when we first got involved, there were
16:09
just over one hundred veterans doing that. Tomorrow we have
16:13
four hundred and thirty two veterans registered to participate. They've registered,
16:18
they participate for free, and we have fifteen hundred people registered.
16:23
It's sold out three weeks ago. We've sold out the
16:25
last three years since the pandemic. But this organization led
16:29
by Dan Stack as CEO. You any successful organization, you
16:32
always look at who's at the top, what leadership are
16:35
they providing, and Dan is just an amazing leader, you know.
16:40
To try to put into perspective, Chuck. For people who
16:43
are out there listening to you today, we all have
16:47
to fill out our taxes. Okay. Last time I checked,
16:50
the tax code is over four thousand pages. So it's
16:53
people like you, okay, and Michael or whatever who understand
16:57
tax code, understand financial services, understand and investing. For the
17:01
rest of us, we don't have the time to study
17:03
for a thousand pages of tax code, so you need
17:06
to get help in filling out your taxes. And one
17:09
of the big things that DAV does is they make
17:12
sure they're aware of all the latest changes in veterans' opportunities, okay,
17:18
and they make sure that they sit down as a
17:20
paralegal and help family members help that veteran understand what
17:25
is possible for them and then help them fill out
17:28
the paperwork and if some to have they hit a
17:30
snag with the federal government, they go and advocate for
17:33
them to see that they get what they truly deserve
17:36
so that they can put their lives on the best
17:38
possible path forward.
17:39
Speaker 5: Well, Fred, I thank you for joining us today. I
17:42
thank you for all the work that you've done in
17:44
terms of, you know, helping this event become what it
17:47
is now. It's just a fantastic event, and I know
17:50
that I'm looking forward to participating on Saturday. I can't
17:53
wait to see you there, and again, it's just a
17:56
great event. So thank you so much for joining us today.
17:58
We really appreciate it.
18:00
Speaker 6: You're a welcome Chuck, and again you lead by example.
18:03
You've been coming out to this race for years. You've
18:05
been doing challenges with folks to try to beat you
18:08
at this race. Rumor has it you're not quite in
18:10
the same shape you've been in some prior years. But
18:12
the important thing is you're going to be out here
18:13
tomorrow and I look forward to seeing you tomorrow.
18:15
Speaker 5: Tath Lyons, I'll still run as fast as I can.
18:17
That's Fred Tresler, President and CEO of Tracks We're back
18:21
with more Financial Exchange. The DAVY Radio thon right after.
18:24
Speaker 9: This, bringing the latest financial news straight to your radio
18:36
every day. It's the Financial Exchange on the Financial Exchange
18:39
Radio Network.
18:42
Speaker 1: Now it's your chance to support the Disabled American Veterans
18:45
Department of Massachusetts by bidding in our Ultimate Boston Sports Auction.
18:49
You could win two tickets to see the Patriots take
18:51
on the La Rams on November seventeenth, two tickets to
18:54
see the world champion Celtics against the Cleveland Cavaliers on
18:57
Tuesday November nineteenth, two tickets to see the Ruins against
19:00
the Edmonton Oilers on Tuesday, January seventh, and four tickets
19:04
to a twenty twenty five Red Sox home game. All
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that plus autographed merch from all four teams. Bitning ends
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this finday so call now eight eight eight two O
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five two two six three. That's eight eight eight two
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19:18
Speaker 2: The DAV Department of Massachusetts provides free benefits, counseling, and
19:22
claims assistance to veterans in their families. With over one
19:25
hundred and twenty certified service officers across the commonwealth, DAV
19:29
has filed more than thirteen thousand claims and appeals for
19:33
veterans to support DAV of Massachusetts today like we are
19:37
across WRKO and the vital service programs that they do.
19:41
Call nine seven eight six three two nineteen eighty five
19:45
or visit DAV five K dot Boston. Right now, we
19:49
are joined by the President CEO of the DAV of Massachusetts.
19:56
That would be Dan Stack. Dan, thank you for joining
19:58
me here to close thing out on our program at
20:01
least with the DAV and not your first time on
20:05
the show here talking to us about the DAV, but
20:07
we always do appreciate it.
20:09
Speaker 8: Oh, Mike, it's a pleasure to be here. The Disabled
20:12
American Veterans Department of Massachusetts is very grateful to the
20:17
iar'm Shring Advisory Group WRKO the Financial Exchange for all
20:21
that they do in helping us get our message out
20:24
about what the Disabled American Veterans in Massachusetts can do
20:28
for fellow veterans in need.
20:30
Speaker 4: So talk to us again.
20:33
Speaker 2: I know you've been with the DAV for a while
20:35
and we've heard several stories from other people that we
20:37
talked to today about.
20:38
Speaker 4: You and your work for the DAV. So give us
20:41
the history. Talk to us about your career with the
20:43
dav Well.
20:44
Speaker 8: I'm a United States Air Force I was in from
20:47
nineteen sixty nine to nineteen seventy three. I would say
20:51
that my dedication to my fellow veterans started when I
20:55
was on a METOVAC flight through De Nang and I
21:00
was an ambulatory patient at that point in time, so
21:02
I was kind of sitting up front on this large
21:06
metavact transport and in came all of the veterans that
21:10
were severely wounded in stretchers, and I can remember just
21:16
looking back and seeing every single one of them, the
21:21
severe burns, severe traumatic injuries, amputations, and nurses that I mean,
21:27
these flight crews were unbelievable. How they were trying to
21:30
take care of these veterans and make sure that they
21:32
stayed alive until we could get them back to the US.
21:36
That always stayed with me. And so even though I
21:39
ended up at the Chelsea Naval Hospital, it was the
21:43
disabled American veterans that was there helping veterans and help me,
21:48
And those two combined is why I've dedicated over fifty
21:53
years to working with the dav.
21:55
Speaker 2: Mark Varner was supposed to be here today as well.
21:58
He's the CEO of Veterans Development Core, and I want
22:01
to give him his time even if he can't make
22:03
it today, because I know he's been.
22:04
Speaker 4: A huge supporter of the years.
22:05
Speaker 2: Over the years, Can you talk about his company and
22:08
their involvement with the DAV and the five K coming up?
22:11
Speaker 8: Sure, Mark, as you very well know, is a service
22:15
disabled veteran owned business, Veterans Development Corporation. But Mark's family,
22:20
his father, Mark, and his brother Tim all are veterans.
22:26
In fact, his brother Tim, I hired him as a
22:29
National Service officer and that's how I got to know
22:33
Mark and get to know his father and basically their
22:37
business entity. So Mark Varner has been a supporter of
22:41
the DAV for many, many years. His company is one
22:45
in which they work with the Veterans Administration and trying
22:48
to upgrade and modernize many of our VA facilities which
22:53
enhance the way we are treated and how we get
22:55
our medical care. So Mark and his company a phenomenal DAN.
22:59
Speaker 2: I'm going slightly offscript here, so I apologize in advance.
23:02
But we're here broadcasting in Need of Massachusetts. A lot
23:05
of our listeners are here in Massachusetts and are hearing
23:08
about the work of the DAV does here in Massachusetts.
23:11
We heard earlier from Charlene about, you know, the specific
23:14
housing program, the only one in the country with the
23:16
DAV that they have here. But for our listeners that
23:19
aren't here, for our listeners up in Maine, down in
23:21
Rhode Island and Connecticut and New Hampshire, across the country
23:25
in Washington State, talk to us about the national work
23:28
that DAV does because it is a national organization. I
23:31
know we're focused on Boston and the upcoming events here,
23:34
but if you can just educate us across the country,
23:37
this is a big organization that hels veterans everywhere.
23:40
Speaker 8: It's a huge organization. In the first thirty years of
23:43
my career was with the National Organization. One of the
23:47
things that we were all trained on is, like the
23:51
National Service officers are paralegally trained representatives. In other words,
23:56
we were almost like workman comp attorneys. So we would
23:59
review all of the veterans' medical records. We would argue
24:04
the case before the Veterans Administration to make sure that
24:07
they were given the proper compensation for the injuries they
24:10
were stuffing for. But that was just one particular instance
24:14
in regards to the national organization is our National Service
24:18
Office program. We also have a very large volunteer program.
24:23
We have a transportation program, not just here in Massachusetts,
24:26
but all over the country that takes veterans to and
24:29
from their medical appointment. As you know, we've gotten away
24:32
from hospitalizing people and taking care of them in their
24:35
home or wellness care. That is the biggest thing, and
24:38
our transportation program makes sure that veterans, especially those aging
24:42
and who can't drive themselves or has loved ones that
24:45
can't drive them, we get them to their medical appointments
24:48
so that they are able to maintain themselves in their
24:51
own home. We also have what we call a Local
24:53
Veterans Assistance Program. That's a program in which many volunteers
24:58
go out into their own community and help veterans. It
25:02
could be breaking leaves at this time of the year
25:04
where they can't do it themselves. It's also making checking
25:08
in on them to make sure that they have what
25:09
they need. We also have volunteers in the VA medical
25:14
centers themselves that go and visit patients on a daily
25:18
basis or transport them from their room to whatever clinic
25:23
they need to get to. So the DAV is out
25:25
there constantly on a national level working. I would say
25:29
that the other thing that we nationally do and I
25:32
heard colemb And knee hit upon this, and that is
25:34
our legislative program. We stay on top of all of
25:39
the legislation that is either going to help or even
25:43
that sometimes hurt the veterans and the benefits that we
25:46
are going to get to. We advocate in the halls
25:49
of Congress and in the Senate to make sure the
25:51
veterans are foremost considered and taken care of. We also
25:56
make sure that the Veterans Administration also is on top
25:59
of the game to make sure what happens. So, yeah,
26:03
the National Organization is phenomenal and what they have basically done,
26:08
and that has filtered down to the departments throughout the country,
26:12
especially to the Department of Massachusetts.
26:14
Speaker 2: Dan, you've spoken a little bit about the federal piece
26:16
of this and legislation. Does the DAV receive any federal funding.
26:20
Speaker 8: We get no funding whatsoever from the federal government, none where.
26:25
Thank god, we are supported by the general public. And
26:30
that's how the National Organization has funded itself. Between our
26:33
membership program and the generosity of the general public has
26:38
kept the DAV alive for over one hundred and three years.
26:41
Speaker 2: I want to make that clear again. The DAV is
26:44
relying on these donations. They do not receive a penny
26:46
of federal funding. And for all of these fantastic programs
26:49
that they do provide, Dan just last item here that
26:53
I want to touch on. Tomorrow's the five K. It's
26:56
kind of the culmination of the year for your organization
27:00
and for the DAV of Massachusetts. I know it's already
27:03
sold out, so if you were looking to run it, sorry,
27:06
sign up next year, but talk to me about the event.
27:08
Because I've been going for a few years. I love
27:10
it every time, but I think it's more powerful coming
27:13
from you.
27:13
Speaker 8: I think one of the things that I learned later
27:16
on is I grew up in the DAV. I mean,
27:19
I've been with them for fifty years, so that kind
27:21
of tells you. I mean, you're singing the gray hair.
27:23
Some may think I have a young voice, but it's
27:25
getting to be a little bit older. I grew up
27:28
in the old DAV in which you went to meetings,
27:31
you did things. That's not what the younger veterans want
27:34
to do today. The younger veterans today want to take
27:37
their family and enjoy an event, especially if it's around
27:42
a veteran cause. And that's exactly what our dav five
27:46
K has provided. You had Fred Tresler on a little
27:49
bit ago, and he actually has made me aware of
27:54
how we can reach out to veterans and make sure
27:57
that they have an enjoyable time at the five K.
27:59
We've gone from, as he said, one hundred veterans to
28:01
over four hundred veterans. But it's not just four hundred veterans,
28:04
it's four hundred veterans and their families. And that is
28:08
the key, bringing their family and it makes me so
28:11
proud when I see the young kids that are having
28:15
their bibs and said, I, you know, thanks to my dad,
28:18
thanks to my grandfather, thanks to my brother. Those are
28:20
the things that mean so much to me. And I
28:23
see that what this five K is doing, and I'm
28:25
very very proud of Fred and his team and making
28:28
sure that we are able to provide a good entertainment.
28:32
Though I should say a good event for everybody to
28:34
come to him.
28:34
Speaker 2: It is that it's a fantastic event. I'm looking forward
28:37
to it tomorrow. That is Dan Stack. He is the
28:40
CEO of the Disabled American Veterans Department of Massachusetts joined
28:45
me to talk about the great work that they do
28:48
as well as the event coming up tomorrow. And if
28:50
you would like to support the disabled American Veterans Department
28:53
of Massachusetts call nine seven eight six three to two,
28:57
nineteen eighty five once again eight six three to two
29:01
one nine eight five, or visit DAV five k dot Boston.
29:06
Don't forget too. We'll be wrapping up shortly the Ultimate
29:10
Sports Boston Sports Auction too. The current bit is at
29:13
five thousand dollars open till eleven, well open till right now.
29:17
If we'll be announcing I guess the winner right after this,
29:20
so stay tuned, folks. We'll have a trivia winner and
29:22
then the winner of the sports auction coming up right
29:25
after this.
29:27
Speaker 1: Thanks to us six one seven three six two thirteen
29:30
eighty five with your comments and questions about today's show,
29:33
and let us know what you think about the stories
29:35
we are covering. This is the Financial Exchange Radio Network,
29:40
Business and financial news affecting the markets and your wallet.
29:44
We've got it all straight from Wall Street right here
29:47
on the Financial Exchange Radio Network.
29:50
Speaker 5: All right, let's talk a little bit. Let's see what
29:54
do we want to do, Mike, We got a little
29:55
bit of time left here.
29:56
Speaker 2: I want to make one more dav announcement before we go.
29:58
I know, I'm asking for sure buddy else to do
30:00
their support kind of put up or shut up time
30:04
here as we close out to the program. And you know,
30:06
I want to put our money where our mouth is,
30:08
so Armstrong Advisory Group is pledging five thousand dollars to
30:12
the Disabled American Veterans Department of mass Chusetts. So you know,
30:16
maybe you've got a little bit more required minimum distribution
30:19
you need to take from your retirement account to go here.
30:22
You can you can donate those through a QCD. If
30:25
you don't know what I'm talking about through a QCD,
30:26
then ask somebody, ask your advisor about what that works
30:29
and what that is and how it works for a
30:31
charitable cause. Maybe you've got some donor advised funds. But
30:34
in any case, yeah, see what you can do, and
30:37
you know, open up those open up those wallets and
30:40
donate to the Disabled American Veterans Department of mass Chusetts.
30:43
We just spent the last couple of hours outlining all
30:46
the fantastic work we do and yeah, we won't be
30:49
hypocrites here. Armstrong Advisory Group pledging five thousand dollars for
30:53
the cause as well. If you would like to support
30:56
the disabled American Veterans Department of mass Choosetts called them
30:59
at nine to seven, eight six three to two nineteen
31:02
eighty five again nine seven eight six three two one
31:05
nine eight five, or visit dav five k dot Boston.
31:10
Speaker 5: Uh.
31:10
Speaker 2: I don't know what else I want to talk about, Chuck.
31:12
That's that's what I've got. What did you find for us?
31:14
Speaker 7: Uh?
31:15
Speaker 5: I do have, uh the first appointment that the incoming
31:19
Trump administer is incoming Trump administration has made. Well, we
31:25
got they have named uh Susie Wiles, the campaign manager,
31:29
as the White House Chief of Staff. Uh. So again
31:34
we're we're not talking about positions that need to be
31:36
confirmed by uh Congress here, but this is the first
31:41
appointment that we have here. And just some interesting facts
31:46
about uh Susie Wiles. Uh did you know that she
31:50
is uh Pat Somerl's daughter. I did. I was reading
31:53
about this last night. Actually, Okay, I had no idea.
31:56
So I found that to be kind of fascinating to
31:58
begin with. Uh, she we had worked on the twenty
32:01
sixteen campaign and also on Ronald Reagan's nineteen eighty campaign,
32:07
and so she will also be the first woman to
32:11
ever hold the position of White House Chief of Staff.
32:15
Speaker 4: I wasn't aware of that statistic.
32:17
Speaker 2: There's a piece today, I think from market Watch and
32:20
Americans being content to rent as the market's tilting away
32:24
from home buyers. What we're talking about here is a
32:27
wide anticipation of rates coming down on mortgages and more
32:30
homes coming up for sale, and it does not seem
32:33
to be happening in any meaningful way, shape or form. Fortunately,
32:36
we have gotten to how many states did we say
32:38
are now above twenty nineteen inventory levels?
32:41
Speaker 4: Stock?
32:41
Speaker 5: Was it five or six of them? I think somewhere
32:43
in that ballpark. I don't have the up to date
32:45
information right now. I know I'll take it up.
32:47
Speaker 2: I know Florida, Tennessee, and Colorado were on that list.
32:51
I don't remember what other states were on there in
32:54
terms of inventory levels. But I have a hard time
32:57
believing that those Americans are actually content in renting, but
33:03
more just recognizing just how challenging this market is. We
33:08
did get mortgage rates on the thirty year down as
33:10
close as six point one five percent, I believe is
33:15
how low they got recently before bumping back up. And
33:18
then you know, the day after the Trump went we
33:20
were up I believe, as high as seven point five
33:23
percent on that thirty year fixed rate mortgage. And I
33:26
don't need to tell anybody out there that it is well,
33:30
nothing other than a seller's market at this point in time.
33:35
Like we said, there's a few areas of the country
33:36
where it's starting to shift a bit. But I think
33:39
certainly surprising me in terms of how long this uh
33:43
just drought of inventory has lasted.
33:45
Speaker 5: Chuck, Yeah, I mean, I think part of it is
33:49
just the fact that, look, right now, there's still you
33:52
still have a group of like seventy five percent of
33:55
homeowners with mortgages. There's seventy five percent SORR, seventy five
34:00
percent of homeowners who have mortgages. The rate is still
34:03
below five percent. And so when you start seeing rates
34:06
creep towards seven percent, again, all right, if you're at
34:10
four and a quarter, it's still kind of a tough
34:13
putt for you to make that move. Be like, yeah,
34:15
we can move now and just take on a new mortgage.
34:17
You get that rate down to you know, six percent
34:20
and it's okay. With a couple points, I can buy
34:22
that down to five and a half and I can
34:25
make that work. Right. It might not be ideal, but
34:27
I can get there. You can't really do that with
34:30
rates around seven and so I think that's why you
34:33
have the lack of inventory. Aside from the five d's
34:38
which are in front of you. I believe Mike.
34:40
Speaker 2: Divorce, downsizing, diapers, diamonds, and death and Dodge.
34:44
Speaker 5: I think we should add a sixth one what you
34:46
got disasters?
34:49
Speaker 7: Yeah.
34:49
Speaker 2: Actually, I've been talking to a lot more people who
34:50
are saying I'm not doing Florida anymore, so maybe we should.
34:53
Speaker 5: You know, I think it should be the sixties, not
34:55
just five.
34:56
Speaker 4: Okay, we'll coin it.
34:58
Speaker 5: How's that for a way to finish the week, folks.
35:00
A reminder you can still contribute to the DAV Department
35:03
of Massachusetts nine seven eight six three two, nineteen eighty five.
35:08
Thank you so much to everyone for listening today and
35:11
for participating. To those of you going to the DAV
35:14
five K tomorrow, I'll be seeing you there and i'll
35:17
see all of you on Monday again. On the Financial
35:20
Exchange