October 10, 2025 • 19 mins
hy Does A Proven Plan Beat A Quick Fix Every Time When Planning Your Financial Future?
The loudest voices in money often promise shortcuts. We take the opposite route and show how real wealth grows from simple habits, honest planning, and a strategy you can actually follow when markets turn noisy. With Jeff Bingham of B&H Wealth Strategies, we unpack the gap between hype and reality—what “quick fixes” look like in the wild, why they’re so tempting, and how to build a durable plan that fits your life instead of someone else’s playbook.
We start with the three anchors of a resilient plan: know where you are, decide where you want to go, and match your investments to your true risk tolerance. Jeff explains how FOMO leads people to jump on trends late, why misaligned 401(k) allocations quietly derail goals, and how a simple “pay yourself first” habit compounds into freedom over decades. Along the way, we explore the difference between transactional advice and a transformational relationship—why the first meeting should center on trust, transparency, and your whole picture, not a product pitch or quick trade.
You’ll hear practical guidance on resisting algorithm-driven spending, navigating debt and lifestyle pressure, and making tough tradeoffs for big goals like homeownership. We revisit the timeless “Millionaire Next Door” lesson: consistent savers with modest incomes often beat high earners who chase status. The result isn’t a get-rich-quick tale; it’s a blueprint for becoming the quiet success story—one automated deposit, one aligned decision, one steady year at a time.
If you’re ready to choose financial freedom over noise and build a plan that sticks, hit follow, share this with a friend who needs it, and leave a review with your biggest money question. Want help mapping your next step? Schedule a free 20-minute consultation at bheretire.com or call 423-247-1152.
To learn more about B&H Wealth Strategies visit:
https://www.BHRetire.com
B&H Wealth Strategies
423- 247-1152
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
SPEAKER_00 (00:03):
Welcome to the Four Seasons Podcast, brought to you
by BH Wealth Strategies, servingNortheast Tennessee and
Southwest Virginia since 1966.
Here, we guide you through theever-changing seasons of your
financial journey, offeringinsights to help you grow,
protect, and enjoy your wealth.
(00:24):
Ready to turn your financialdreams into reality?
Dare to dream.
And now, here's your host,President of BH Wealth
Strategies, Jeff Bingham.
SPEAKER_01 (00:45):
Success isn't built overnight.
In this episode, we explore whylong-term planning outperforms
shortcuts and how to build astrategy that actually sticks.
Welcome back, everyone.
Skip Monte's co-host slashproducer back in the studio with
Jeff Bingham, president of BHWealth Strategies.
Jeff, how have you been thisweek?
(01:05):
I have been very well, Skip.
How about you?
I'm doing just fine.
And you know, I was thinkingfrom the last episode we
recorded uh talking aboutinterest rates and uh financial
policy changes.
And your advice was, you know,stay the course.
Depends on your individual plan.
Don't make any quick, you know,overarching decisions without
(01:26):
talking to somebody like you.
So I think that dovetails rightinto what we want to talk about
today, which is, you know, let'stalk about why a proven plan
beats a quick fix when planningyour financial future.
Take it away.
SPEAKER_02 (01:38):
Yeah, and I think that's I think it does just kind
of it's a very good segue, whatwe were talking about in the in
the last episode.
So, you know, and I I wasthinking about the the topic of
this is, you know, a proven planis you know better than a quick
fix kind of thing.
And I I don't even I'm not evensure that I know exactly what a
quick fix would be in afinancial plan, you know.
(02:00):
I mean, as I started just kindof, you know, kind of thinking
about it and kind of tossing itaround in my mind, you know.
I mean, I know that in the worldthat we live in today, we look
for quick fixes or everything.
We want to find a way to make alot of money.
We want to invest, you know, inmean stocks and all these kind
of things.
And, you know, and I and Idon't, I'm not saying that
there's necessarily anythingwrong with that, but if that's
part of your big picture plan,like your your plan, like the
(02:22):
future you, then God help youand good luck, you know, with
that.
Because, you know, I think, Imean, just the the idea of that,
I kind of makes me shudder, youknow, thinking how how to have a
quick fix to your financialplan.
Um, you know, I mean, I knowthere's from advertising to
(02:43):
social media and everywhere youcan look, you know, there's
always the advice, and you canget there quicker, you can do
these things, you can useoptions, you can do
da-da-da-da-da-da, all thesekind of things.
Yeah, and maybe some people can,and maybe some people can use
those kind of exotic things, andmaybe they can really, you know,
leverage and get these, youknow, asymmetrical, you know,
out-of-line returns, you know,beat the market.
(03:05):
I mean, I think that to me, whata quick fix is in a financial
plan, I guess, and maybe youI'll let you kind of define what
you might think that it is.
I think that that's where peoplehave expectations, unrealistic
expectations, or some way thatthey can outsmart the market,
figure out a place to be, putsome money in and watch that
money go up, you know, doublevery quickly, or have some kind
(03:27):
of you know, exponential returnon that.
You know, like in other words,maybe we've talked a bit about
it how quick, well, I was gonnatalk a little bit about Bitcoin,
but I I might not be, I mightnot get this aired, so maybe I
not shouldn't say that.
But something like somethinglike a cryptocurrency where you
know you kind of see it andeverybody else has kind of
jumped into it, and then youthink, well, that's the way to
(03:49):
make a lot of money quickly,right?
And they and you jump, you poursome money into that, and then
all of a sudden it doesn't workout, you know, and it goes down
and you get disenchanted.
I mean, that's that's typicallywhat quick fixes you know kind
of occur for people, is thatthey they invest in something
once they've heard about it, youknow, and that and that train
has left the station and you tryto jump on it when it's already
(04:10):
going 100 miles an hour, youknow, and you don't make it,
right?
It doesn't work.
I mean, you're just gonna getsplattered using that analogy
right there.
And so I that's that's to mewhat a quick fix is versus a
prudent financial plan, as wereferred to it, is sitting down
with someone like myself acrossthe table and really just
(04:30):
putting all your cards you knowout there and not and not just
looking at, you know, again, Iand I use this every time and I
will again until until I'm donedoing this.
Where are you, right?
So that's the first thing thatwe want to find out.
And the where are you is thatyou're gonna tell me what your
current, your present financialpicture looks like, or me or
anybody else, or or tellyourself that honestly, perhaps,
(04:52):
you know, when you're whenyou're doing it.
And that's you know, I've got a401k, and here's where my money
is, here's where my debts are,you know, and then you go to the
next is what am where do I wantto go, right?
What do I want the future, me orthe future family to look like?
And so that's where you begin tosit there and you know, if I'm
doing my job, I give my clients,hopefully, and hopefully they
(05:14):
feel like this.
But man, if you get people tostart talking about that, they
will paint a picture of wherethey want to go, you know, and
uh and then you begin to kind ofdevelop the third part of that,
which is understanding whattheir risk tolerance is.
I mean, it kind of goes oppositeof what we were talking about on
quick fixes.
I kind of defined a quick fix isthey're trying to find a way to
make a bunch of money in aninvestment strategy real
(05:36):
quickly, versus almost nobodyhas that kind of appetite really
for risk.
The only time they want, theonly time they're okay with that
is if it works, right?
But the problem is oftentimes isit doesn't work.
And when you have even a trueinvestment strategy that matches
your risk tolerance, you know,and a risk tolerance, you know,
(05:57):
way you come up with risktolerance is through, you know,
it's kind of an art and ascience.
I mean, we have little you knowscoring tests that we can give
people and ask them certainquestions, but it really is, and
you know, and we use them, butyou can you can talk to people
for you know 15 minutes to anhour and you can find out where
their risk tolerance is most ofthe time.
(06:19):
And then you can also look attheir current investments if
they got a 401k plan.
And oftentimes that risktolerance that they're talking
about that you're beginning toidentify and helping them
identify for themselves and whatthey're doing in their 401k
plan, they're kind of doing ontheir own, right?
The 401k plan is a kind of ado-it-yourself, here's your
investment choices, good luck.
When that's what kind of youremployer does, and those things
(06:40):
are oftentimes just wildlymismatched, you know.
Like I'm very conservative, Idon't want to take a lot of
risk, and you look and they'vegot you know all their money,
and the company that they workwith and you know, a growth
mutual fund, you know, like is100% stocked.
You're like, well, that's not aconservative stance, right?
Or it could be just theopposite, you could flip it,
turn that upside down, it couldbe just the opposite of that.
(07:01):
And so, and I say all that tosay, but that's that's where you
begin to develop truly a prudentfinancial plan, is it is a
honest conversation, not onlywith yourself.
I think an investor or a clientof mine has to really, you know,
have to be honest withthemselves and be honest with
me.
And if they put those, if thathonesty and that trust, right,
(07:23):
you know, so this is not atrend.
So what I always say is thatwhat we're looking for for with
our clients is not this is not atransaction.
I don't, you don't, you've gotsome money you want to invest
and you want to do it.
That's a transaction.
What we're looking for is atransformational relationship to
where we want to get to knowyou, the one size fits one that
I come back to all the time,kind of our four seasons
(07:44):
approach, which is reallygetting to know you to develop a
relationship.
And like I said, if you've youknow, I've this business has
been here, the B and H wellStrategies has been around,
it'll be 60 years on April 1stnext year.
And wow, and that's and that'syou know, it's it's quite
extraordinary, you know, and andwe use the term around here that
(08:05):
you know we're a family businessand family is our business.
So we've got multi-generationalfamilies.
So we're building long-termtransformational relationships
with our clients.
I have no interest in atransactional relationship.
Now, there's a lot of advisors,a lot of ways to do
transactional relationships, andI'm in a transactional business.
(08:25):
The financial service industry,the investment services
industry, by nature istransactional, right?
Buy and sell stocks, buy andfail ETFs, all the things we've
talked about.
But that's transactions are justwhat we have to do to put that
conversation, to put your plantogether, right?
We don't want to betransformational in that
(08:46):
relationship and just trying to,oh, you know, here I've got some
money.
What do you think I ought to do?
You know, how should I investthis money?
Like, and when people ask methat, you know, I've got$50,000,
I've got$100,000.
How should I invest my money?
And they'll just ask me, that'llbe the first thing they ask me.
And I'll go, I have absolutelyno idea.
I mean, no, you know, I mean,how would I know?
Right.
And then, and they're like,Well, what do you mean?
(09:06):
Isn't that what you do, youknow, for a living?
I'm like, yeah, I mean, well,kinda, but what I really do for
a living is I have conversationsand relationships with clients
and families over a long periodof time.
So I understand exactly whereyou are, where you want to go,
and how you want to get there.
And I'm gonna help you do that.
(09:28):
And then we're gonna figure outtogether how where that this
$50,000 or whatever that numberis that you're talking about
investing in today is what doeseverything else look like?
Give me, you know, put all yourcards on the table.
Just like if you go, you know,you go to your doctor, your
general practitioner, if youonly tell him part of what's
(09:48):
going on or part of how youfeel, or all those kind of
things, you know, you know, ifyou don't tell him you're
allergic to penicillin andyou've got, you know, you got a
cold or something like that, youknow, you need an antibiotic and
he gives you penicillin, it'llkill you.
And the same thing is true on myside of the table.
If I just took$50,000 andinvested it the way that I saw
fit, right?
The way that I think this clientwants me to do it without
knowing anything else, I meanit's malpractice.
(10:10):
And uh, you know, like I said, Imean, there's there are ways to
do it.
You want to go do that kind ofon your own, good luck with it.
But if you want to sit down andtalk with someone at like myself
at BH Well Strategies, we'regonna we're gonna dig into this
thing, and there's not anythingwe're gonna do, you know, in
that first meeting.
We're gonna get to know eachother.
You can ask me anything you wantabout the firm, get to know, get
(10:31):
to know me, develop thatrelationship, develop a bond of
trust, because at the end of theday, this business is all about
trust.
SPEAKER_01 (10:41):
All about trust.
Very good advice.
Well, speaking of advice, andbefore we started recording, we
were talking about youngerfolks, another subject, but
what's your advice for somebodyjust starting out and starting
to think about their financialfuture?
SPEAKER_02 (10:56):
Put yourself on the payroll first, you know, start
saving now and you know, figureout how much money you can do.
It you know, there will alwaysbe things that'll be pulling at
you.
Is you know, my dad used toalways say, and I use a lot of
my dad's sayings that we wouldsit down and talk to people, and
it's whether you're, you know,whether you make a lot of money,
whether you make you know, anaverage amount of money, whether
(11:17):
you make a little bit about alittle bit of money, if you put
yourself on the payroll first,maybe tithing is first, you may
be putting God on the payrollfirst, that's a different
conversation.
But put yourself on the payrollfirst before everything begins
to pull on you before you startbuying the material things that
you that you need to have, andyou'll be a financial success,
whether you're rich, poor, or inbetween.
You know, and rich as an income,because you can make a lot of
(11:38):
income your entire life, have avery you know high-paying job,
and and but but spend, spend,spend, and you will not be a
financial.
You'll have looked like you're afinancial success, but you'll
get out there at the end of therunway, you know, as you get
closer and you really you wantto step into retirement or you
want to leave your kids a legacyor whatever it is that you're
(11:58):
trying to accomplish and you gotnothing, right?
That job goes away and you'reyou look into your coffers and
they're empty, right?
The income stream is stopped.
But if you but and if you're ifyou're of modest income
throughout your life, but yousit put yourself on the payroll
first, you'll end up at the endof the day when you're you know
(12:20):
60, 65 years old, and all of asudden you're you know, it's the
millionaire next door, all of asudden that person that looked
like they were, you know, thethe the white-collar worker,
someone like myself that dressesand you know, that that works
with their mind and their handsand makes money, you know,
versus the person, theblue-collar person that's
working, but put themselves onthe payroll first.
(12:40):
At the end of the day, thatperson has the blue-collar
person from Eastman being theclassic example of this over the
years, you know, that had amodest income, worked their
butts off out there, workedovertime, funded that 401k plan.
They walk in here, you know, wecall it the Millionaire Next
Door.
There's a book called TheMillionaire Next Door, and
they've got a, you know, they'vegot a portfolio that's got a
(13:01):
million bucks in it, versustalking to the doctor, the
lawyer, the attorney that's beenworking all their life and you
know, driving nice cars, livingin big homes, and they come in
and say, look, they they theywould be looking for that quick
fix, right?
Think about it, they'd belooking for that quick fix.
Like all of a sudden, you know,my health's failing, you know,
I'm 65 years old, I can't workmuch longer.
You know, I've got$10,000 in ain a savings count and a bunch
(13:25):
of, you know what I mean?
Like, and that's what it is.
So it is always put yourself onthe payroll first, start early
and never stop doing it.
And you will be amazed at howmuch money, you know, as you
enter into the workplace thatyou will have, you know, when
you get there to 55, 60, 65years old, you know, kind of at
(13:46):
the end of wherever your goal ofretirement is, assuming that's a
goal.
You know, I I I kind of look atit as not, we use the word
retirement, we can say the wordwith a retirement planning
specialist, but really whatwe're looking for is financial
freedom.
You know, what what what Ireally preach and talk about
more than anything else, andprobably preach about it, is you
want to get yourself in aposition to control your own
(14:08):
destiny, right?
And so you want, you know, it'sthe roadmap.
We want to build a roadmap toyour financial freedom.
And like I said, in the earlieryou start, man, it's amazing how
much money you can accumulate.
But it's hard to start whenyou're young, too, because
again, you know, you need youwant to buy the house, you're
gonna have kids, you're gonna,you know, you want the car, you
want the, you know, you want theprestige of the of the things.
(14:32):
And when we see our neighbors,you know, and and everywhere we
turn, you know, online orwatching TV and commercials,
every, you know, the algorithm,the algorithms are set up to not
allow us to put ourselves on thepayroll first.
I mean, right?
I mean, we got credit cards, wegot, you know, buy now, pay
(14:52):
layer, you know, schemes thatare out there now.
Um, you know, with the what isit?
The not I can't think of thecouple of the companies that are
out there.
I mean, it's it's it's reallyit's it's almost it's not
criminal, but maybe it shouldbe.
Hopefully I won't get scratchedout of this, out of this.
But you know, I mean, it is, andit's it's you know, it does it
(15:13):
to us as as at our age, butthink it as you're coming out of
college and you just getinundated with that all the
time, and you're on your socialmedia sites, and they know that
algorithm knows exactly where totake you and tempt you for and
tell you you need those things,right?
You gotta have the newest, thebrightest, the shiniest, the
best, you know.
Uh keep up with keeping up, youknow, it's the old expression.
(15:36):
Going back is I don't know whenit started, but keeping up with
the Joneses, right?
We all have the, we all are inour human flesh way, we are
always comparing ourselves toour our contemporaries, our
neighbors, our peers, you know,and that's and and we've got it,
you know.
I think if you can get away fromthat, you can put yourself, put
(15:57):
some money aside, as a youngperson, you can, you know, this
world is it seems like it'sstacked against you.
I get that.
You know, we were talking aboutinterest rates in another
episode and cost of houses, andyou know, the average, you know,
not less than 10 years ago.
I think I'm right on this, andmaybe slightly off on my stat.
(16:18):
The average age of a first-timehome buyer was 30 years old.
It is now 38 years old.
You know, and that's you know,and that's that's that's that's
a shame, you know.
And and I talk to, you know,people that I know.
I mean, my wife's daughter justthinks there's, you know, she's
a nurse and she makes goodmoney, and she thinks there's no
(16:39):
way that, and she's putting somemoney aside, but she thinks
there's no way that she'll everbe able to own a home.
And that's you know, that's thatthose are the things that that
need to be addressed.
And, you know, I don't know asit is an advisor how much of
that I can help with that and Ican talk with that.
I mean, I think there are waysto do it, but it requires some
(17:00):
sacrifices that the world isstacking against you to think
that those sacrifices are worththat to to be able to get and
buy that home, right?
Because I gotta have, you know,I gotta have the newest, you
know, smart TV, I gotta have thenewest iPhone, I've got to have
the newest, whatever it is, youknow.
Do you and I gotta go toStarbucks, and I'm not trying to
(17:21):
pick on all these companiesnecessarily, but man, that's
just that's what it looks likeout there.
We've lost, and now I guess I'mon my soapbox and preaching a
little bit, but there's areason, there's a reason why,
for the most part, we're notcalled we're not called citizens
anymore.
We're called consumers.
We're thought of by by corporateAmerica and to some degree the
(17:43):
government, we're thought of asconsumers, not as citizens
anymore.
And I think we need to claim ourcitizenship back.
SPEAKER_01 (17:52):
Amen, brother.
Claim our citizenship.
Claim our citizenship and putourselves back on the payroll.
That's great advice.
Amen.
Amen.
Well, Jeff, thanks for theinsight once again.
Um, at you next time to continuehelping folks turn their
financial goals into reality andachieve financial freedom.
Thanks so much.
SPEAKER_02 (18:11):
Thank you very much, Skip.
Have a great weekend and see yousoon.
God bless.
All right, all right, brother.
You too.
SPEAKER_00 (18:22):
Thanks for tuning in to the Four Seasons Podcast,
brought to you by BH WealthStrategies, where your financial
success is our priority.
Schedule your free 20-minuteconsultation today by calling
423-247-1152 or by visitingbheretire.com.
Take the first step towardmaking your financial dreams
(18:44):
come true.
Until next time, remember everyseason is the right season to
plan for your future.
Securities and registeredinvestment advisory services
offered through Silver OakSecurities Inc.
member FINRA SIPC, BH WellStrategies, and Silver Oak
Securities Inc.
are not affiliated.
Welcome to the Four Seasons Podcast, brought to you
by BH Wealth Strategies, servingNortheast Tennessee and
Southwest Virginia since 1966.
Here, we guide you through theever-changing seasons of your
financial journey, offeringinsights to help you grow,
protect, and enjoy your wealth.
(00:24):
Ready to turn your financialdreams into reality?
Dare to dream.
And now, here's your host,President of BH Wealth
Strategies, Jeff Bingham.
SPEAKER_01 (00:45):
Success isn't built overnight.
In this episode, we explore whylong-term planning outperforms
shortcuts and how to build astrategy that actually sticks.
Welcome back, everyone.
Skip Monte's co-host slashproducer back in the studio with
Jeff Bingham, president of BHWealth Strategies.
Jeff, how have you been thisweek?
(01:05):
I have been very well, Skip.
How about you?
I'm doing just fine.
And you know, I was thinkingfrom the last episode we
recorded uh talking aboutinterest rates and uh financial
policy changes.
And your advice was, you know,stay the course.
Depends on your individual plan.
Don't make any quick, you know,overarching decisions without
(01:26):
talking to somebody like you.
So I think that dovetails rightinto what we want to talk about
today, which is, you know, let'stalk about why a proven plan
beats a quick fix when planningyour financial future.
Take it away.
SPEAKER_02 (01:38):
Yeah, and I think that's I think it does just kind
of it's a very good segue, whatwe were talking about in the in
the last episode.
So, you know, and I I wasthinking about the the topic of
this is, you know, a proven planis you know better than a quick
fix kind of thing.
And I I don't even I'm not evensure that I know exactly what a
quick fix would be in afinancial plan, you know.
(02:00):
I mean, as I started just kindof, you know, kind of thinking
about it and kind of tossing itaround in my mind, you know.
I mean, I know that in the worldthat we live in today, we look
for quick fixes or everything.
We want to find a way to make alot of money.
We want to invest, you know, inmean stocks and all these kind
of things.
And, you know, and I and Idon't, I'm not saying that
there's necessarily anythingwrong with that, but if that's
part of your big picture plan,like your your plan, like the
(02:22):
future you, then God help youand good luck, you know, with
that.
Because, you know, I think, Imean, just the the idea of that,
I kind of makes me shudder, youknow, thinking how how to have a
quick fix to your financialplan.
Um, you know, I mean, I knowthere's from advertising to
(02:43):
social media and everywhere youcan look, you know, there's
always the advice, and you canget there quicker, you can do
these things, you can useoptions, you can do
da-da-da-da-da-da, all thesekind of things.
Yeah, and maybe some people can,and maybe some people can use
those kind of exotic things, andmaybe they can really, you know,
leverage and get these, youknow, asymmetrical, you know,
out-of-line returns, you know,beat the market.
(03:05):
I mean, I think that to me, whata quick fix is in a financial
plan, I guess, and maybe youI'll let you kind of define what
you might think that it is.
I think that that's where peoplehave expectations, unrealistic
expectations, or some way thatthey can outsmart the market,
figure out a place to be, putsome money in and watch that
money go up, you know, doublevery quickly, or have some kind
(03:27):
of you know, exponential returnon that.
You know, like in other words,maybe we've talked a bit about
it how quick, well, I was gonnatalk a little bit about Bitcoin,
but I I might not be, I mightnot get this aired, so maybe I
not shouldn't say that.
But something like somethinglike a cryptocurrency where you
know you kind of see it andeverybody else has kind of
jumped into it, and then youthink, well, that's the way to
(03:49):
make a lot of money quickly,right?
And they and you jump, you poursome money into that, and then
all of a sudden it doesn't workout, you know, and it goes down
and you get disenchanted.
I mean, that's that's typicallywhat quick fixes you know kind
of occur for people, is thatthey they invest in something
once they've heard about it, youknow, and that and that train
has left the station and you tryto jump on it when it's already
(04:10):
going 100 miles an hour, youknow, and you don't make it,
right?
It doesn't work.
I mean, you're just gonna getsplattered using that analogy
right there.
And so I that's that's to mewhat a quick fix is versus a
prudent financial plan, as wereferred to it, is sitting down
with someone like myself acrossthe table and really just
(04:30):
putting all your cards you knowout there and not and not just
looking at, you know, again, Iand I use this every time and I
will again until until I'm donedoing this.
Where are you, right?
So that's the first thing thatwe want to find out.
And the where are you is thatyou're gonna tell me what your
current, your present financialpicture looks like, or me or
anybody else, or or tellyourself that honestly, perhaps,
(04:52):
you know, when you're whenyou're doing it.
And that's you know, I've got a401k, and here's where my money
is, here's where my debts are,you know, and then you go to the
next is what am where do I wantto go, right?
What do I want the future, me orthe future family to look like?
And so that's where you begin tosit there and you know, if I'm
doing my job, I give my clients,hopefully, and hopefully they
(05:14):
feel like this.
But man, if you get people tostart talking about that, they
will paint a picture of wherethey want to go, you know, and
uh and then you begin to kind ofdevelop the third part of that,
which is understanding whattheir risk tolerance is.
I mean, it kind of goes oppositeof what we were talking about on
quick fixes.
I kind of defined a quick fix isthey're trying to find a way to
make a bunch of money in aninvestment strategy real
(05:36):
quickly, versus almost nobodyhas that kind of appetite really
for risk.
The only time they want, theonly time they're okay with that
is if it works, right?
But the problem is oftentimes isit doesn't work.
And when you have even a trueinvestment strategy that matches
your risk tolerance, you know,and a risk tolerance, you know,
(05:57):
way you come up with risktolerance is through, you know,
it's kind of an art and ascience.
I mean, we have little you knowscoring tests that we can give
people and ask them certainquestions, but it really is, and
you know, and we use them, butyou can you can talk to people
for you know 15 minutes to anhour and you can find out where
their risk tolerance is most ofthe time.
(06:19):
And then you can also look attheir current investments if
they got a 401k plan.
And oftentimes that risktolerance that they're talking
about that you're beginning toidentify and helping them
identify for themselves and whatthey're doing in their 401k
plan, they're kind of doing ontheir own, right?
The 401k plan is a kind of ado-it-yourself, here's your
investment choices, good luck.
When that's what kind of youremployer does, and those things
(06:40):
are oftentimes just wildlymismatched, you know.
Like I'm very conservative, Idon't want to take a lot of
risk, and you look and they'vegot you know all their money,
and the company that they workwith and you know, a growth
mutual fund, you know, like is100% stocked.
You're like, well, that's not aconservative stance, right?
Or it could be just theopposite, you could flip it,
turn that upside down, it couldbe just the opposite of that.
(07:01):
And so, and I say all that tosay, but that's that's where you
begin to develop truly a prudentfinancial plan, is it is a
honest conversation, not onlywith yourself.
I think an investor or a clientof mine has to really, you know,
have to be honest withthemselves and be honest with
me.
And if they put those, if thathonesty and that trust, right,
(07:23):
you know, so this is not atrend.
So what I always say is thatwhat we're looking for for with
our clients is not this is not atransaction.
I don't, you don't, you've gotsome money you want to invest
and you want to do it.
That's a transaction.
What we're looking for is atransformational relationship to
where we want to get to knowyou, the one size fits one that
I come back to all the time,kind of our four seasons
(07:44):
approach, which is reallygetting to know you to develop a
relationship.
And like I said, if you've youknow, I've this business has
been here, the B and H wellStrategies has been around,
it'll be 60 years on April 1stnext year.
And wow, and that's and that'syou know, it's it's quite
extraordinary, you know, and andwe use the term around here that
(08:05):
you know we're a family businessand family is our business.
So we've got multi-generationalfamilies.
So we're building long-termtransformational relationships
with our clients.
I have no interest in atransactional relationship.
Now, there's a lot of advisors,a lot of ways to do
transactional relationships, andI'm in a transactional business.
(08:25):
The financial service industry,the investment services
industry, by nature istransactional, right?
Buy and sell stocks, buy andfail ETFs, all the things we've
talked about.
But that's transactions are justwhat we have to do to put that
conversation, to put your plantogether, right?
We don't want to betransformational in that
(08:46):
relationship and just trying to,oh, you know, here I've got some
money.
What do you think I ought to do?
You know, how should I investthis money?
Like, and when people ask methat, you know, I've got$50,000,
I've got$100,000.
How should I invest my money?
And they'll just ask me, that'llbe the first thing they ask me.
And I'll go, I have absolutelyno idea.
I mean, no, you know, I mean,how would I know?
Right.
And then, and they're like,Well, what do you mean?
(09:06):
Isn't that what you do, youknow, for a living?
I'm like, yeah, I mean, well,kinda, but what I really do for
a living is I have conversationsand relationships with clients
and families over a long periodof time.
So I understand exactly whereyou are, where you want to go,
and how you want to get there.
And I'm gonna help you do that.
(09:28):
And then we're gonna figure outtogether how where that this
$50,000 or whatever that numberis that you're talking about
investing in today is what doeseverything else look like?
Give me, you know, put all yourcards on the table.
Just like if you go, you know,you go to your doctor, your
general practitioner, if youonly tell him part of what's
(09:48):
going on or part of how youfeel, or all those kind of
things, you know, you know, ifyou don't tell him you're
allergic to penicillin andyou've got, you know, you got a
cold or something like that, youknow, you need an antibiotic and
he gives you penicillin, it'llkill you.
And the same thing is true on myside of the table.
If I just took$50,000 andinvested it the way that I saw
fit, right?
The way that I think this clientwants me to do it without
knowing anything else, I meanit's malpractice.
(10:10):
And uh, you know, like I said, Imean, there's there are ways to
do it.
You want to go do that kind ofon your own, good luck with it.
But if you want to sit down andtalk with someone at like myself
at BH Well Strategies, we'regonna we're gonna dig into this
thing, and there's not anythingwe're gonna do, you know, in
that first meeting.
We're gonna get to know eachother.
You can ask me anything you wantabout the firm, get to know, get
(10:31):
to know me, develop thatrelationship, develop a bond of
trust, because at the end of theday, this business is all about
trust.
SPEAKER_01 (10:41):
All about trust.
Very good advice.
Well, speaking of advice, andbefore we started recording, we
were talking about youngerfolks, another subject, but
what's your advice for somebodyjust starting out and starting
to think about their financialfuture?
SPEAKER_02 (10:56):
Put yourself on the payroll first, you know, start
saving now and you know, figureout how much money you can do.
It you know, there will alwaysbe things that'll be pulling at
you.
Is you know, my dad used toalways say, and I use a lot of
my dad's sayings that we wouldsit down and talk to people, and
it's whether you're, you know,whether you make a lot of money,
whether you make you know, anaverage amount of money, whether
(11:17):
you make a little bit about alittle bit of money, if you put
yourself on the payroll first,maybe tithing is first, you may
be putting God on the payrollfirst, that's a different
conversation.
But put yourself on the payrollfirst before everything begins
to pull on you before you startbuying the material things that
you that you need to have, andyou'll be a financial success,
whether you're rich, poor, or inbetween.
You know, and rich as an income,because you can make a lot of
(11:38):
income your entire life, have avery you know high-paying job,
and and but but spend, spend,spend, and you will not be a
financial.
You'll have looked like you're afinancial success, but you'll
get out there at the end of therunway, you know, as you get
closer and you really you wantto step into retirement or you
want to leave your kids a legacyor whatever it is that you're
(11:58):
trying to accomplish and you gotnothing, right?
That job goes away and you'reyou look into your coffers and
they're empty, right?
The income stream is stopped.
But if you but and if you're ifyou're of modest income
throughout your life, but yousit put yourself on the payroll
first, you'll end up at the endof the day when you're you know
(12:20):
60, 65 years old, and all of asudden you're you know, it's the
millionaire next door, all of asudden that person that looked
like they were, you know, thethe the white-collar worker,
someone like myself that dressesand you know, that that works
with their mind and their handsand makes money, you know,
versus the person, theblue-collar person that's
working, but put themselves onthe payroll first.
(12:40):
At the end of the day, thatperson has the blue-collar
person from Eastman being theclassic example of this over the
years, you know, that had amodest income, worked their
butts off out there, workedovertime, funded that 401k plan.
They walk in here, you know, wecall it the Millionaire Next
Door.
There's a book called TheMillionaire Next Door, and
they've got a, you know, they'vegot a portfolio that's got a
(13:01):
million bucks in it, versustalking to the doctor, the
lawyer, the attorney that's beenworking all their life and you
know, driving nice cars, livingin big homes, and they come in
and say, look, they they theywould be looking for that quick
fix, right?
Think about it, they'd belooking for that quick fix.
Like all of a sudden, you know,my health's failing, you know,
I'm 65 years old, I can't workmuch longer.
You know, I've got$10,000 in ain a savings count and a bunch
(13:25):
of, you know what I mean?
Like, and that's what it is.
So it is always put yourself onthe payroll first, start early
and never stop doing it.
And you will be amazed at howmuch money, you know, as you
enter into the workplace thatyou will have, you know, when
you get there to 55, 60, 65years old, you know, kind of at
(13:46):
the end of wherever your goal ofretirement is, assuming that's a
goal.
You know, I I I kind of look atit as not, we use the word
retirement, we can say the wordwith a retirement planning
specialist, but really whatwe're looking for is financial
freedom.
You know, what what what Ireally preach and talk about
more than anything else, andprobably preach about it, is you
want to get yourself in aposition to control your own
(14:08):
destiny, right?
And so you want, you know, it'sthe roadmap.
We want to build a roadmap toyour financial freedom.
And like I said, in the earlieryou start, man, it's amazing how
much money you can accumulate.
But it's hard to start whenyou're young, too, because
again, you know, you need youwant to buy the house, you're
gonna have kids, you're gonna,you know, you want the car, you
want the, you know, you want theprestige of the of the things.
(14:32):
And when we see our neighbors,you know, and and everywhere we
turn, you know, online orwatching TV and commercials,
every, you know, the algorithm,the algorithms are set up to not
allow us to put ourselves on thepayroll first.
I mean, right?
I mean, we got credit cards, wegot, you know, buy now, pay
(14:52):
layer, you know, schemes thatare out there now.
Um, you know, with the what isit?
The not I can't think of thecouple of the companies that are
out there.
I mean, it's it's it's reallyit's it's almost it's not
criminal, but maybe it shouldbe.
Hopefully I won't get scratchedout of this, out of this.
But you know, I mean, it is, andit's it's you know, it does it
(15:13):
to us as as at our age, butthink it as you're coming out of
college and you just getinundated with that all the
time, and you're on your socialmedia sites, and they know that
algorithm knows exactly where totake you and tempt you for and
tell you you need those things,right?
You gotta have the newest, thebrightest, the shiniest, the
best, you know.
Uh keep up with keeping up, youknow, it's the old expression.
(15:36):
Going back is I don't know whenit started, but keeping up with
the Joneses, right?
We all have the, we all are inour human flesh way, we are
always comparing ourselves toour our contemporaries, our
neighbors, our peers, you know,and that's and and we've got it,
you know.
I think if you can get away fromthat, you can put yourself, put
(15:57):
some money aside, as a youngperson, you can, you know, this
world is it seems like it'sstacked against you.
I get that.
You know, we were talking aboutinterest rates in another
episode and cost of houses, andyou know, the average, you know,
not less than 10 years ago.
I think I'm right on this, andmaybe slightly off on my stat.
(16:18):
The average age of a first-timehome buyer was 30 years old.
It is now 38 years old.
You know, and that's you know,and that's that's that's that's
a shame, you know.
And and I talk to, you know,people that I know.
I mean, my wife's daughter justthinks there's, you know, she's
a nurse and she makes goodmoney, and she thinks there's no
(16:39):
way that, and she's putting somemoney aside, but she thinks
there's no way that she'll everbe able to own a home.
And that's you know, that's thatthose are the things that that
need to be addressed.
And, you know, I don't know asit is an advisor how much of
that I can help with that and Ican talk with that.
I mean, I think there are waysto do it, but it requires some
(17:00):
sacrifices that the world isstacking against you to think
that those sacrifices are worththat to to be able to get and
buy that home, right?
Because I gotta have, you know,I gotta have the newest, you
know, smart TV, I gotta have thenewest iPhone, I've got to have
the newest, whatever it is, youknow.
Do you and I gotta go toStarbucks, and I'm not trying to
(17:21):
pick on all these companiesnecessarily, but man, that's
just that's what it looks likeout there.
We've lost, and now I guess I'mon my soapbox and preaching a
little bit, but there's areason, there's a reason why,
for the most part, we're notcalled we're not called citizens
anymore.
We're called consumers.
We're thought of by by corporateAmerica and to some degree the
(17:43):
government, we're thought of asconsumers, not as citizens
anymore.
And I think we need to claim ourcitizenship back.
SPEAKER_01 (17:52):
Amen, brother.
Claim our citizenship.
Claim our citizenship and putourselves back on the payroll.
That's great advice.
Amen.
Amen.
Well, Jeff, thanks for theinsight once again.
Um, at you next time to continuehelping folks turn their
financial goals into reality andachieve financial freedom.
Thanks so much.
SPEAKER_02 (18:11):
Thank you very much, Skip.
Have a great weekend and see yousoon.
God bless.
All right, all right, brother.
You too.
SPEAKER_00 (18:22):
Thanks for tuning in to the Four Seasons Podcast,
brought to you by BH WealthStrategies, where your financial
success is our priority.
Schedule your free 20-minuteconsultation today by calling
423-247-1152 or by visitingbheretire.com.
Take the first step towardmaking your financial dreams
(18:44):
come true.
Until next time, remember everyseason is the right season to
plan for your future.
Securities and registeredinvestment advisory services
offered through Silver OakSecurities Inc.
member FINRA SIPC, BH WellStrategies, and Silver Oak
Securities Inc.
are not affiliated.
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