Do you hate the thought of working past 55 or 60? Do you hate not being able to live the life you deserve today? Do you hate not knowing what your financial future looks like? It's time to stop doing what you hate, here's your host, Mr. Harold Green.
Hi everybody. This is Harold Green. It is time to stop doing what you hate. I hope you are having a great day and a great week. I am super excited to be sharing today's show with you.
(00:37): As a matter of fact, this show just came to me this morning. When I was doing my, my devotion Amman Bible study. And it's, it's something that that I've read tons and tons and tons of time times and and Proverbs. And it gave me the show and the title is open to disaster. Before I get into the show, I have a couple of things I want to share with you guys, and I'm super excited about this stuff. We just finish putting together the five year countdown to retirement guide. That's right. It's called a five year countdown to retirement guide, but it's not just for people looking to retire in the next five years. It's for anybody looking to make sure they have a solid plan, but to gather, and you can find this five-year countdown to retirement guide at a bright FG.
(01:39): That's B R I G H T F G. That's bright F g.info/a Forrest slash five year guide. Okay, so that's bright F g.info/five year guide. And basically what it's going to do is it's going to evaluate and prepare for your upcoming retirement. And just to give you guys a quick sample of what Senate. So we were talking about the five essential components you must consider when planning your retirement, understand the best time to retire, to maximize your ability to make ends meet and live the retirement lifestyle that you want. That's going to be great because it's going to help you stop doing what you hate, how to incorporate all types of cashflow that every pre-retiree must consider master your understanding of the four most common types of employer retirement plans. And this works for corporate employees. Self-Employed people, contractors, anybody preparing to retire within the next five years, but I'm going to stretch that out and say the next five to 10 years.
(02:42): And so check that out. It's at bright F G dot infos four slash five year guide. You're going to have to put in your information to download that guide. And then also, I want you to share this with your friends, family, coworkers, anybody who you think this would benefit during this holiday season and on into the next year. So I'm super excited about that. You guys go check that out and then please feel free to share that with people that you know. And so I want to get into today's show open to disaster, and it's something that you know, I always talk about with my current clients, but there are a lot of people out there that don't have planners. They don't trust anybody. You know, they really don't know who to turn to. And so I'm just going to give you guys the rundown on this and get you all wised up to the situation.
(03:36): So this morning I was reading Proverbs 23, and I'm going to read the whole thing to you. You can do that for yourself when you have a chance, but it was talking about being under the influence of alcohol. And this is not to say that you can't drink or anything like that. So I think we're way past that. So we're way past that, but this is talking about being, being under the influence of something. And just so happens. This, this, this popper proverb was talking about wine, but I tell you, you can be under the influence of a lot of things and put yourself in a position where you are open for disaster. So you guys ready to get this? All right, one, two, three, let's get it. So I'm going to start with Proverbs 33. It says, and this is the amplified classic version.
(04:21): It says under the influence of wine, your eyes will be whole strange things and loose woman. So I've, I've been under the influence when I was in the military and we, we beheld a lot of different things when you're in, you know, foreign countries and you're young and you're impressionable. So I'm not going to get into that. And it says, and your mind will other things turn the wrong way, untrue, incorrect, and petulant. So when you're under the influence of, of things, your mind will twist things up. And I, I guarantee you I've seen that a lot of times when I've worked with people, okay. 34 says, yes, you will be as unsteady as he who lies down in the middle of the sea and as open to disaster as he who lies up on the top of a mast. Okay? So I'm not going to go any further with that, but this is, this is where I got that a, that I've seen where people have, have bought this way, have done these things that, that have opened themselves up for disaster point number one, overconfidence and current financial position.
(05:25): I came across someone, I, you know, I did a workshop and you know, they, they had gotten my postcard and this is what the college funding that gotten received my postcard a number of times. And they just, they just said, they just did not come to the workshop and something horrible happened to them in their life. And they lost a lot of the money that they had been saving. And, and, you know, they, I think they own the business or something like that. And you know, the business was doing great. They had all the money in the world and next thing you know, that thing turned on its head and they lost a lot. And you know, when they shared that story with me, I, I just couldn't help, but to feel sorry for them. But the one thing that, that struck me was they were super overconfident and the, and their, and their financial position.
(06:18): And they thought they had it all figured out. And, and then they didn't. So they, they came in and I, and we talked a little bit and I can't remember what happened with that from there, but I just know that I've seen so many people over competent in their current financial position. They have money, you know, things are going well and they figure, Hey, you know what? I don't, I don't need to do anything. Everything is just going to be okay. I'll tell you straight up right there. If you think like that you are opening yourself up for disaster, because nothing is guaranteed or forever, you know, things may be, they may look good for now, but they're not guaranteed or ever. So that is point number one, over competence and your current financial position. The next thing that I see that opens people up for disaster, I call it a big grudging.
(07:06): I, and when I come across people that try to pin me down in regards to fees, and basically what they're trying to figure out is how much money I make, which quite frankly, is none of their business. You know, I'll share with people the fees that I'm charging them, but you know, what I make is, is my business. And it's, it's how I do things. And, you know, I can justify the fees that I charge and, but I had this person come in and, you know, we went through the whole process and the interview process and everything was going great to the end. And they started talking about, they started talking about fees. And so I began to share with them what I charged, you know, them what they will be paying in fees. And then they went into like, well, how many clients you take on each year and on and on and on.
(07:52): And what they were trying to do is figure out, you know, my fee, which was, I think it was $3,500 for the college funding planning services, you know, and they were looking at, okay, how can I run my business? How can I pay all my employees when it's just me in the office? And you know, it, it, you know, and so they were just trying to figure out my whole operation, which quite frankly, you know, it's none of their business. And so one of the things I I do talk about is when you look, when you're looking at fees, you can't get caught up in what your fees are. Everybody's going to charge fees, nobody's going to work for free and you shouldn't expect them to work for free. Now, one of the things that really gets my blood boiling is when I, when I go on the internet or I hear people talking about, well, so-and-so said you shouldn't charge this and you shouldn't pay this and you shouldn't pay that.
(08:40): And I'm like, well, that's up to you. You get what you pay for, for the most part. And I really don't like arguing about that. I just, I just like to tell people, you know, you bring me on board, you hire me. If you don't like my performance, fire me. Okay. So you don't need to let someone sit there and charge you fees and not perform. You need to learn how to say enough is enough. I'm going to move on and go with someone else. I don't care if it's your uncle Jimmy or your auntie Sue or whoever, I don't care. You get what you pay for. And you want to make sure that your advisor is performing. But when people look at me and they say, well, he shouldn't be making that much and they shouldn't be doing this. They really don't understand how much effort and how much time and how much research, how many sleepless nights go into making sure that I am doing the best I can to put my clients in position, to get them from where they are today, to where they really want to be.
(09:35): And I look at, you know, championship teams, whether it's in football, basketball, baseball, or whatever, these guys, they have a tremendous work ethic. And you can just, it's kind of put them against the teams that don't win. And then, you know, and, and the teams that win, you'll see that there's something extra special about how hard they work. And so when we talk about fees, you know, if your advisor is performing great, but if they're not performing, you gotta, you gotta raise the flag and you gotta, you gotta call them on the carpet and you gotta say, Hey, you know, this is not going the way I want I'm out. Or, you know, whatever deal you need to make with them, but you definitely shouldn't have, you know, a biased eye when you start looking at fees and you gotta look at everything that, that advisor brings to the table.
(10:19): Okay. The next thing I see is I see people having foolish positions regarding, regarding money. And when, when I look at this, I, what comes to mind as a term that that I, that I kind of coined, I'll call it concept slaves. And there are a lot of financial concepts out there, or, you know, theory, slaves or whatever you want to call and where people are. They're so stuck in that position. And they're so stubborn. They won't get off of it. And they don't understand how that is causing them to miss out on a lot of different things that they could have taken advantage of. And some of the terms out there, like, you know, buy term insurance and invest the rest, you should never have whole life, or, you know, get your house paid off as soon as you can. You know, I heard people say, well, the Bible says you should know anyone but love and on us and that, and, you know, twisted religion and so on and so forth.
(11:17): And people would just become slaves to concepts. And they just like buried that stuff deep in their mind, and it's not going to allow them to go to the next level. So, you know, when I come across people like that, I, I, I, I try to educate them. But when it comes to the point where I know that they are not asking me questions for understanding, they're asking me questions because they disagree. And that's something I talked to my wife about all the time. I say, are you asking me all these questions because you don't agree, or are you asking me all of these questions to try to get to an understanding of the, you know, and so you gotta be very comfortable with that, especially with these, with these different types of concepts and people were born and raised a certain way, and they just can't come off of that.
(12:02): So if you're sitting there and you're stuck in a car concept, and that concept, you know, it's almost like a cult you got to watch out because you're missing out on a lot of different things. And so I do get into financial concepts and my planning, but what I do is I make sure that we are not choosing one particular concept over the other and say, okay, this is the end all, and we're not going to look at anything else. And so that is a very terrible position to put your self in. All right. Number the next one. Okay. So the first was overconfidence in financial positions. Number two is a big running. I, you know, the super fee cautious, super stingy cheap person. I'm not saying you shouldn't make sure you're getting what you're paying for. I'm just saying you shouldn't take that too far, that anxious fluid positions.
(12:50): And then the next one is over-reliance on inheritance. This is a big one. I've met so many people that, that live a certain kind of way, because in the back of their mind, they know what their parents have. And they're suspecting that they're going to get some of that. And they're just totally, really relying on that. And they're not taking advantage of all the opportunities they could be taking advantage of because they're sitting there thinking, well, you know, I got a brother and you know, my mom and dad, they have two or three houses and, or they have this much in IRAs, and I know they're not going to spend it all. So I'm going to get something, you know, and so therefore I'm just going to kind of live it up right now or not be as diligent with my own finances as I can.
(13:29): You are opening yourself for disaster, I've seen several times where people thought they were going to get something and they didn't end up getting it. And it went a different way. And it was a horrible situation because they had in the back of their mind, been planning on that then, and hoping for that. And I tell people all the time, you to make sure that you are putting yourself in position so that you, if you do inherit something, you want to make sure that it's not tax encumbered. Right. In other words, if you inherit it now, you've got a ton of taxes that you have to pay on it. And if you know that your parents are going to leave you IRAs and different things like that, you may want to just start setting aside your own funds to be able to cover the taxes on that, because you're just, you're just not sure.
(14:12): And so I do talk about that with clients, but we want to make sure we don't have a heavy reliance on, you know, future inheritance money or, you know, assets and things of that nature, because that opens you up to disaster. The next one is a big one, and it's letting success get to your head. I've I've been there before. I try not to, but it was, it was very hard and this happened. And to me, like it was, it was many years ago. And I've been in business now for, for a long time, been running my own business for a long time. I've been working super hard for a long time, and I have some quick success and, you know, I had never a hundred thousand dollars in my bank account. And the first time that I saw over a hundred thousand dollars in my bank account, I just kept looking at it like, you know, every day is like, Oh my God, is this true?
(15:02): I was pinching myself. And I was like, yeah, this is good. This is, this is, this is good. You know, and I think it was back in 2008 before before the housing thing crashed or whatnot. And, you know, business was going really well. You know, I had started off with you know, some different marketing and it started to take off and I was just having some phenomenal success. And, you know, I kind of let that get to my head a little bit because it, it was one of those things where it's like, how long can this last? I mean, this is just great. And I started, you know, planning my future on things like that. And next thing, you know, the financial crash happened and, and, and things just got really tight and really tough. And the next thing, you know, I'd spent that a hundred thousand down paying salaries, you know, paying rent, paying expenses.
(15:48): And man, I find myself like, like, Whoa, where did that? A hundred thousand dollars ago? And you know, it took me many, many, many, many years to get to the point where I saw, you know, that same amount of funds. Again, it just took a long time. I had to humble myself. I had to make sure that I wasn't counting on, on money as, as my savior and so on and so forth. And so letting success get to your head, definitely opens you up to disaster because it, it begins to blind you and you can't think straight and you know, yes, you've worked hard, you deserve it, you earned it. But at the same time, you have to carry a level of humility with success. And you can't, you know, like, just go ahead and flaunt it out there and whatnot. You have to be humble with what you're doing.
(16:35): I'm not saying don't treat yourself well and don't take care of yourself, but you have to temper your attitude towards your success. Cause you're already gonna have people out there hating on you saying all kinds of stupid stuff about you and they don't know how hard you work. And so you're going to have to have that level of humility, humility. And that's what I tell myself all the time. Another thing I see people doing is depending on advice from the internet, that's the quickest way to open yourself up for disaster because you're, you're, you're out there hunting and you're out there trying to research and find stuff. And I'm going to tell you, there's way too much information floating around out there for you to make sense of it. You have enough to be dangerous, but you're not going to have enough to make sure you are avoiding pit holes and potholes and things like that.
(17:19): And you know, things that are hiding around the corner that you just, you just don't have. You just can't see because it's too much information to process. And to put two and two together takes quite a bit of time. And I did a podcast show awhile back. You guys might want to go look it up and it, and it's called, don't take advice from the internet. And so you gotta be very careful with that, and that definitely opens you up for disaster for disaster. And the final thing I really want to talk about is I want to tell you, right, and I'm going to be straight up about this, and I'm not going to pull any punches or anything like that, but I'm going to put it out there. You got to get a plan in place before year two to understand what's going on.
(17:59): We are going to age and we are going to lose some of our Falck faculties. And we're not going to be able to be as smart and as sharp as we are for the rest of our life. Nothing is going to last forever. You are going to age and you are going to go downhill someday. So I'm going to tell you now it's better to get a plan in place for three reasons. All right, number one is this. A lot of people don't have planners, but building a relationship with a planner or a trusted advisor is going to take you some time. You're going to need somebody. It's a good estate planning attorney or a good financial advisor, investment advisor, insurance professor. You're going to need somebody, especially if you are going to, or you are looking to have money down the road and having money, that's going to last you the rest of your life and maybe two or three different generations.
(18:44): You're going to need somebody. All right. You're not going to live forever. And you can't do this on your own. So the biggest issue I see is people waiting too long. All right. Okay. They get too old. They can't understand what's going on. You got to tell them 20 different times before they get it. It's too late. At that point, you got to start when you're sharp. Okay. Well, they're in your early forties, early thirties or whatever. Start when you're sharp. Okay. That way we can go to relationship. Okay? And you can vet these things up because there's not going to be a Knight in shining armor coming to save you. When you get old. As a matter of fact, there's going to be the exact opposite because elder abuse in this country is a multi-billion dollar business. We have people being taking advantage of every single day.
(19:29): Why? Because they didn't put a plan in place for whatever reason it was okay. And they don't have trusted advice, users and people around them that they can trust. You're going to need protection. And a solid plan gives you the protection that you need. Okay? You can build a relationship with the planner, the estate planning attorney, the investment advisor. You can build a good solid team that you can enjoy working with. And that's the most important thing. And one of the number one reasons why I see people not doing it again is because of fees. All right. Whether they charge too much and it is expensive. Well, it's more expensive not to have a plan in the end. Okay. And if you have a good team, they're going to make sure you're getting so much more value than what you're paying in fees will blow your mind.
(20:12): And I tell clients all the time, look, you might be able to get 15% a year in an index fund. That's great. But what if I could get you 20 to 25% a year? And along with that, you'll pay my 1% or 2% or whatever my fee is. And you'll get a solid plan. That's being updated every single year. So you actually end up netting, maybe about 20% in fees or maybe 19 19% of return. You know, there, there is going to be some astronomical value there for you. That's why it makes sense to have someone that's going to generate tremendous. That will offset your costs. It's just going to take you some time to build that relationship and to build that trust. Okay, I'm going to put a statement out there and it's like this. Remember all old were once young fools. I'm going to say that again, all fools were once young fools.
(21:06): And what I'm saying is sometimes you make a lot of foolish decisions and that kind of carries on into old age. And I still see people that are in their senior year, still making fools decisions. Okay. We want to prevent that number two. Okay. Point number two, having a plan gives you time to vet it and to do additional research. Okay? So building a great plan. You have with a team, you have time to vet it. Okay? You have time to vet it before you get too old to understand what's going on and you lose the energy and the interest to make sure things are running the way they need to run. And then the most important thing is not having a solid plan will open you up to disaster. And so if that's you out there, you're not sure. Give me a call. (808) 521-4401.
(21:59): And get in contact with me. I'll sit down with you, either in person or via zoom or whatever it takes, phone call and make sure that you are putting together the pieces that you need to protect yourself from things down the road. A lot of people, you know what they procrastinate. Harold. We have time right now. It's, you know, is not a good time. And I hear that a lot. It's never a good time this morning when I was, I woke up super early, like I normally do do my Bible study, do my investment research. And then, you know, I hit the gym and, you know, going in the gym, I usually do a warm up of about 10 minutes on the elliptical. Then I find the stairs. Cause you know, we have two levels, first level is cardio and stuff. And the second level is all the weights.
(22:44): And so I'm climbing those stairs at like super early in the morning and I'm saying, Oh, I don't want to be here, but I need to be here. And that's the same thing with planning. You may not want to, you know, create a plan right now. You may not want to pay fees right now, but you need to. Okay. So I'm going to challenge you to get that stuff done, to get it done, to get in contact with me, find somebody. If you here in Hawaii, holler at me. If you're not holler at me, the main thing is just getting in touch and then laying the framework to build a solid plan, to get you from where you are today, to where you want to be. And also to help you stop doing the things that you hate. I enjoyed sharing this show with you guys today. Look forward to more in the future. I'm excited about the upcoming new year and all the things that are going to be happening and the different things that we are going to be rolling out. So stay tuned. And until next time everybody, one, two, three, let's get it.
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