November 6, 2025 • 14 mins
What if the “smart” money choice isn’t the choice that builds your best life?
This Root Talks episode starts with a bucket-list moment for James—throwing the first pitch at a Padres game—and turns into a bigger lesson: money is a tool to create meaning, not a score to keep. It’s a look at the Five Types of Wealth (financial, time, social, mental, and physical) and why the spreadsheet answer isn’t always the human answer.
Ari and James share real examples: paying for time to be with family and friends, choosing health over “perfect” returns, even saying yes to a once-in-a-lifetime trip when it matters most. It’s practical retirement planning and financial planning through a different lens—purpose-driven wealth, money mindset, peace of mind.
If the goal is a life well lived, optimization means aligning dollars with values: relationships, adventure, and the stories you’ll keep telling. That’s true retirement lifestyle design... building a life you don’t want to retire from.
Watch to rethink “financially optimal,” and learn how to use your money to buy back time, reduce stress, and live on purpose.
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Advisory services are offered through Root Financial Partners, LLC, an SEC-registered investment adviser. This content is intended for informational and educational purposes only and should not be considered personalized investment, tax, or legal advice. Viewing this content does not create an advisory relationship. We do not provide tax preparation or legal services. Always consult an investment, tax or legal professional regarding your specific situation.
The strategies, case studies, and examples discussed may not be suitable for everyone. They are hypothetical and for illustrative and educational purposes only. They do not reflect actual client results and are not guarantees of future performance. All investments involve risk, including the potential loss of principal.
Comments reflect the views of individual users and do not necessarily represent the views of Root Financial. They are not verified, may not be accurate, and should not be considered testimonials or endorsements
Participation in the Retirement Planning Academy or Early Retirement Academy does not create an advisory relationship with Root Financial. These programs are educational in nature and are not a substitute for personalized financial advice. Advisory services are offered only under a written agreement with Root Financial.
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Ari Taublieb, CFP ®, MBA is the Chief Growth Officer of Root Financial Partners and a Fiduciary Financial Planner specializing in helping clients retire early with confidence.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
SPEAKER_01 (00:00):
Kid in high school, padres were the things that all
my friends and I cared mostabout, San Diego Padres.
We were all huge baseball fans.
I grew up a huge baseball fan.
Playing in the major leagues wassomething that I thought was my
only path to being to have a jobafter high school and college.
That's just all I could imaginemyself doing.
And I remember in high school,my friends and I, we would drive
(00:20):
down to games, get the cheapesttickets we could, and we would
get there early because wedidn't want to pay$5 or$10 for
parking.
So we we would instead circlethe stadium for what felt like
30 minutes, find a parking spota mile away, really far away,
and then walk again.
So that was our experience ofhow can we get to as many Padres
(00:40):
games as possible for as cheapas possible because we just
didn't have money, but we lovedthe Padres growing up.
Fast forward to now, and I justhad the awesome privilege and
opportunity to throw out thefirst pitch for a Padres game.
Or you came down, your familycame down, we got to celebrate
with a whole bunch of friendsand family.
And it was just an incredibleexperience that never even
(01:06):
registered in my mind that thatwas something that you could do.
You know, you see people doingit, you see people obviously
throw out the first pitch, butnever thought anything of it
until one day I get a call fromAri.
And Ari calls me and he says,Hey James, you like the Padres?
Yeah.
I was like, Yeah, of course.
You know I like the Padres.
And he says, Well, are you freeSeptember 2nd?
(01:26):
And I looked at my calendar andsaid, Yeah, I'm free for
September 2nd.
And he says, Well, good, you'rethrowing out the first pitch for
uh the San Diego Padres.
And I just laughed because Ithought only Ari is who else in
the world is gonna call withthat type of a message of just
something so totally random,totally bizarre in some ways,
(01:47):
but also the more I thought ofit, just totally awesome and
perfectly in alignment with themessage that we preach here of
how do you live your life not inmanual mode, not in this rut,
not in this, okay, wake up,work, go to bed, repeat type
situation, but actually livelife on purpose, live life in
(02:07):
this intentional way of almostlike I don't know how you would
say it, Ari, but you don't youdon't follow the rules.
Not in a bad way, not in like ayou do things that are wrong
way, but these unspoken rules oflive a little life, live within
your box, do the things you'resupposed to do.
I just don't think those haveever applied to you.
(02:28):
Correct me if I'm wrong.
SPEAKER_00 (02:29):
That's right.
I really feel that it's not aconscious decision I make.
We there was a time, I think itwas over a month ago now, maybe
two months, where youinterviewed me on my YouTube
channel.
And I interviewed you as well.
And for those of you who havenot seen this, you should check
them out on our YouTube channel.
On mine, you'll see a livesection where I interviewed
James.
James interviewed myself.
(02:50):
And if you want the full storyon how James threw out this
first pitch, you can go aheadand see that.
That's on James's YouTubechannel.
But you once asked, what's yournickname?
And I said, Well, I'm theinitiator.
I realize if I don't initiatethe vacation, if I don't
initiate um, whether it be goingout to dinner or a movie,
certain things just don'thappen.
(03:10):
So I realized in life, my momalways said, you create your own
happiness.
And I realized some people do.
They create their own happinessby waiting for a friend to text
them.
And other people go, I want tohang out with my friend, so I'm
going to text.
So I just realized early on, mylife will be better if I
initiate things.
And they often don't work out.
But to me, I'm like, I'm at a noalready.
(03:32):
Why not try?
SPEAKER_01 (03:34):
Yeah.
Yeah.
I remember asking you, I said,if there was a documentary made
on your life, and one day therewill be a documentary made on
your life, what's the titlegoing to be?
And you said, the initiator.
And I said, Yeah, that's that'sperfect.
Um, I think there's a takeawayhere.
And like Ari said, yes, I tellthe whole story.
It was, it was so much fun.
Like when Ari first called meand told me that, at first I was
like, okay, I didn't know whatto think at first because it's
(03:57):
almost like me saying, I don'teven know what a good example
is, but just something totallyrandom that you never even
thought about doing that youdon't know what to feel what
feeling to associate with it.
But the more I thought about it,I was like, oh, this is actually
going to be pretty exciting.
Got to go down on the field, gotto see the players taking
batting practice, got to go upto the stadium.
The coolest thing, Ari, was as Ithrew that, I started getting
(04:19):
text messages from people that Ihaven't seen in year, oh, over a
decade in many cases of, hey,I'm at the stadium.
I just saw you throw out thefirst pitch.
Hey, I'm at the stadium, Ihaven't seen you since high
school, college, whatever.
Um, seeing people comments frompeople on YouTube.
Hey, I was sitting right by homeplate, and I thought I
recognized you, and then I sawyou throw out the first pitch.
Now I see your video.
How cool, you got to do this.
So that was really cool.
(04:40):
But just getting to do that, andand this is kind of where the
financial planning aspect takesin, or the message that we talk
about a lot of how do you alignyour spending and how do you
align the things that you dowith the things that really
matter, which are yourrelationships, with our, which
are the fun things you're doing,the peer sense of purpose.
Like the thing, so not only wasit okay, throw a first pitch and
(05:02):
go home, but as we got to get asuite, we got to host friends,
we got to host family, and itbecame this really cool
experience that was so excitingfor friends, for family to be
part of, so exciting for mepersonally to be part of.
Literally, that I mean, this isa stadium full of 40,000 plus
people, but I could hear thesuite that was filled with our
friends and family as the namewas announced.
(05:23):
I I could hear you guys throughthrough all of that, which was
awesome.
Um, so all that was awesome.
Go to my channel.
There's a full video on theexperience, there's pictures,
there's videos.
But the tieback is okay, thisisn't just an episode about I
got to throw first pitch, cool.
Ari did the same thing forArsenal and their soccer field,
(05:45):
cool.
It's how do you live life onpurpose?
I think there's one takeaway forthe way we like to help people
as our advisors is not justlet's keep and protect and
manage your money in this littlebox and make sure it's growing
forever.
It's how do we manage that in away that's, yeah, we're gonna do
that the to the best of ourability.
(06:05):
We're gonna optimize thathowever we can.
But the first priority above allelse when it comes to
optimization, is translatingthat into peace of mind, is
translating that into yourpursuit of your adventures,
translating that into yourability to do the things you
want to do with the people youcare about.
If nothing else, that's the mostimportant thing your money can
(06:28):
do for you, is enable you tolive the life you want to live.
And so this was just like aperfect, in my mind,
encapsulation of that.
Yeah, there was it overkill tohave a catered suite and all
that stuff.
You could say so, but that wassuch an amazing, that was a
once-in-lifetime type event thaton paper is like, do you really?
You mean we could just get cheapseats and do this easily?
(06:51):
Sure.
But there was an experience thatwent along with that that made
it so fun, so meaningful, trulya once-in-lifetime opportunity.
And those are the types ofexperiences that we want all
clients to have, we want allpeople to have is how do you
identify those things that maybearen't even on your radar, but
would be really meaningful, funthings to do.
(07:12):
And then how do you live lifewithout these unwritten rules?
So you're not supposed to dothat.
You're not supposed to doanything outside the realm of
normal and just go do them.
SPEAKER_00 (07:22):
I like the unwritten rules.
So there's one story that I wantto tell about someone who
retired with us, and I thinkthis is going to be applicable
to many of you.
So I hope this resonates.
Now, James, I'm grateful thatyou did not quit route and join
the Padres because that firstpitch, I don't know if it
clocked in at uh 100, but nogiveaways.
SPEAKER_01 (07:42):
It was not a great first pitch.
It did make it there.
It didn't bounce.
It was a bit high, but yeah, Iwas hoping to be signed.
SPEAKER_00 (07:50):
Did not we'll we'll wait for the five-year contract
to come through.
Um, Otani Cannol, there's gonnabe a a baseball off, even though
that's not a real thing.
So some of you are thinking,wow, this is pretty cool.
I mean, James threw the firstpitch, and you know, he used to
want to be able to just parkthere, and now he got to be in
the stadium.
I think it's cool, but I thinkthere's something equally as
(08:12):
cool, potentially actually morecool, some would say cooler
using proper English rightthere.
So I had a client who said theywanted to fly first class
because they've never done itbefore.
And I said, How about a privatejet?
And you could tell when I saidprivate jet, they thought,
great, that's fun for you todream and maybe do this with the
other clients just to get themtalking.
(08:33):
But clearly I'm not going on aprivate jet.
And I said, Tell me more aboutyour goals.
I want to know more.
How much would you love totravel?
Tell me about their health.
And they are very honest.
And some clients get into itimmediately with us, certain
clients it takes a little bit towarm up.
But this client was like, look,my mom's not in great health.
She's always wanted to go toAntarctica, and I would love to
do a trip like that.
And I said, Do you mind if wejust search together?
(08:56):
Because I think this might shockyou.
She said, Okay.
So many of you know Jet NationalGeographic.
Well, they have private jettours.
And even by me saying privatejet, this client is thinking,
private jet, nope, not me.
I work 35 years, blue collar.
I can't do that.
You can see that's what herbrain is saying.
And we look it up, and it's$87,000.
(09:16):
Do a three-week private jet touraround Antarctica and all these
cool places.
And she said,$87,000, that'smore money than I've saved the
last three years.
I don't even know how I could dothat.
But she had saved really well.
And she's like, I don't know howlong my mom is going to have.
And she did that.
Now, what did she sacrifice todo that?
(09:36):
She didn't buy a new car thenext year, which was one of her
goals.
She didn't do a home remodel.
She still was able to help outher grandchild.
So she had to prioritize.
And did it mean she traveledless the next two years?
Yep, it did mean that.
But she was able to do a privatejet tour with National
Geographic, something shetotally wrote off in her head
because she heard the wordsprivate jet.
(09:58):
Now, if I didn't bring that up,I'm not saying she wouldn't have
gone and figured it out.
But part of our job is to helpclients dream and we don't just
say you get to do it.
It's here are trade-offs.
Let's prioritize.
So if I asked all of you, wouldyou rather throw the first pitch
or do a private jet tour withNational Geographic?
I think most of you would chooseNational Geographic, unless
you're a huge baseball fan, inwhich case you'd say you're nuts
(10:20):
for even putting that as acomparison.
But the reason we bring this upis we say the sign of a good
financial plan is a life welllived.
And part of our job is to showyou if we're not doing it, how
on earth should you listen tous?
I mean, you could listen, but inthe same way we say there's tons
of CFPs out there.
But when we're, James and I,taking the CFP course, there's
(10:42):
lots of people who we would notlet manage a dime of our money,
let alone hold our lunchbox.
And we work at home.
So we don't even have alunchbox.
So I say this because I want youall to take a second, just like
we've shared in the last fewepisodes, specifically the last
episode, two weeks ago, whereJames said, get a piece of paper
and write out, okay, what wouldyou spend your time doing?
(11:02):
What would you do if you trulyhad a blank check?
And you might not even thinkprivate jet is an option.
You might not even thinkthrowing a first pitch is an
option.
But I don't believe in theserules.
And so if you can at least dreamand think for a second, what
would I do?
We're not saying you get to doit, but these are things that
hopefully are making you think alittle differently.
Anything to add there, James?
SPEAKER_01 (11:24):
Just that it's gonna it's gonna it's going to hurt.
Like it's it's going to hurt tosay 87, and not everyone should
do this, not everyone's in aposition to do this.
But I'll use your the client youmentioned as an example.
$87,000 writing that check,that's going to hurt.
But what's going to hurt more iswaking up one day in 20, 30
(11:46):
years, realizing that$87,000'sturned to$287,000.
But now there's no one left toenjoy it with.
Now I don't have my health toenjoy it.
Now there's what am I going todo with this now?
And so there's the pain ofspending and there's the pain of
regret.
Don't just spend for the sake ofspending.
We've talked about that, we'vereinforced that.
(12:08):
But there's, you know, there'sthe old quote: there's the pain
of discipline and there's a painof regret.
One is in ounces, one is inpounds or something.
You know, that there's there'spain to be disciplined, but the
pain of regret, the pain of thatis gonna weigh on you so much
heavier.
I think that could be appliedhere too.
Successful spending, responsiblespending, that's going to hurt
sometimes for these people thathave built up this identity,
(12:31):
this habit of prioritizingsavings and living within their
means.
There's no, there's going to bean element of pain with that,
but the bigger pain is gonna bewhat happens when your mother's
no longer here and you can'ttake that trip with her?
What happens when your spouse isno longer here and you can't
enjoy what you've saved thismoney for?
What happens when your children,who you say, well, I'm saving
this for them?
What happens when they're sofinancially responsible or so
(12:51):
financially well helped thatwhatever inheritance you're
gonna leave them doesn'tactually move the needle?
But you've missed out on thethings that you could have done
along the way with them, withyour spouse, with your parents,
with your friends.
And so there's no formula forthis, as much as I think the
answer for all of us is withinus, just taking the time to sit
with that and realize, what am Igonna do?
(13:13):
There's uh gosh, what's thatquote?
I went to went to Aspen with myfamily a few months ago, and
there's that quote, I forget byits who, who it's from, but that
what do you plan to do with thisone wild and precious life you
have?
Some something along thoselines.
I think I'm ruined.
There's something to you haveone life, one precious life.
What are the things you're goingto do to make it matter?
(13:33):
And I think that you are verygood about just living by
default in that way, Ari, of notbeing subject to the unwritten
rules of what you're supposed todo and just living and saying if
something's gonna bring me orsomeone I love or know enjoyment
and purpose, like I'm gonna doit, and not being hindered by
(13:54):
our limited thinking of whatlife could look like.
SPEAKER_00 (13:56):
Well, thank you, James, and you deserve it more
than anyone.
So if you want to see the fullvideo, make sure to check out
James' channel.
I also want to make sure you allknow my new series, Retirement
Reality.
There's many episodes by thetime this gets released, but
every Saturday I have retireesshare their story.
So if you want to hear that,make sure to tune in.
That's on my YouTube channel.
That is something that I findresonates with many people
(14:18):
because it's not just me saying,Yep, you know, I had a client
take this great private jettour, but it's them explaining,
I'm so glad I'm doing this, andhere's why I did it, and here
was the struggle.
So if that's of interest, makesure to check those out every
Saturday.
And then we will see you guysnext time.
Kid in high school, padres were the things that all
my friends and I cared mostabout, San Diego Padres.
We were all huge baseball fans.
I grew up a huge baseball fan.
Playing in the major leagues wassomething that I thought was my
only path to being to have a jobafter high school and college.
That's just all I could imaginemyself doing.
And I remember in high school,my friends and I, we would drive
(00:20):
down to games, get the cheapesttickets we could, and we would
get there early because wedidn't want to pay$5 or$10 for
parking.
So we we would instead circlethe stadium for what felt like
30 minutes, find a parking spota mile away, really far away,
and then walk again.
So that was our experience ofhow can we get to as many Padres
(00:40):
games as possible for as cheapas possible because we just
didn't have money, but we lovedthe Padres growing up.
Fast forward to now, and I justhad the awesome privilege and
opportunity to throw out thefirst pitch for a Padres game.
Or you came down, your familycame down, we got to celebrate
with a whole bunch of friendsand family.
And it was just an incredibleexperience that never even
(01:06):
registered in my mind that thatwas something that you could do.
You know, you see people doingit, you see people obviously
throw out the first pitch, butnever thought anything of it
until one day I get a call fromAri.
And Ari calls me and he says,Hey James, you like the Padres?
Yeah.
I was like, Yeah, of course.
You know I like the Padres.
And he says, Well, are you freeSeptember 2nd?
(01:26):
And I looked at my calendar andsaid, Yeah, I'm free for
September 2nd.
And he says, Well, good, you'rethrowing out the first pitch for
uh the San Diego Padres.
And I just laughed because Ithought only Ari is who else in
the world is gonna call withthat type of a message of just
something so totally random,totally bizarre in some ways,
(01:47):
but also the more I thought ofit, just totally awesome and
perfectly in alignment with themessage that we preach here of
how do you live your life not inmanual mode, not in this rut,
not in this, okay, wake up,work, go to bed, repeat type
situation, but actually livelife on purpose, live life in
(02:07):
this intentional way of almostlike I don't know how you would
say it, Ari, but you don't youdon't follow the rules.
Not in a bad way, not in like ayou do things that are wrong
way, but these unspoken rules oflive a little life, live within
your box, do the things you'resupposed to do.
I just don't think those haveever applied to you.
(02:28):
Correct me if I'm wrong.
SPEAKER_00 (02:29):
That's right.
I really feel that it's not aconscious decision I make.
We there was a time, I think itwas over a month ago now, maybe
two months, where youinterviewed me on my YouTube
channel.
And I interviewed you as well.
And for those of you who havenot seen this, you should check
them out on our YouTube channel.
On mine, you'll see a livesection where I interviewed
James.
James interviewed myself.
(02:50):
And if you want the full storyon how James threw out this
first pitch, you can go aheadand see that.
That's on James's YouTubechannel.
But you once asked, what's yournickname?
And I said, Well, I'm theinitiator.
I realize if I don't initiatethe vacation, if I don't
initiate um, whether it be goingout to dinner or a movie,
certain things just don'thappen.
(03:10):
So I realized in life, my momalways said, you create your own
happiness.
And I realized some people do.
They create their own happinessby waiting for a friend to text
them.
And other people go, I want tohang out with my friend, so I'm
going to text.
So I just realized early on, mylife will be better if I
initiate things.
And they often don't work out.
But to me, I'm like, I'm at a noalready.
(03:32):
Why not try?
SPEAKER_01 (03:34):
Yeah.
Yeah.
I remember asking you, I said,if there was a documentary made
on your life, and one day therewill be a documentary made on
your life, what's the titlegoing to be?
And you said, the initiator.
And I said, Yeah, that's that'sperfect.
Um, I think there's a takeawayhere.
And like Ari said, yes, I tellthe whole story.
It was, it was so much fun.
Like when Ari first called meand told me that, at first I was
like, okay, I didn't know whatto think at first because it's
(03:57):
almost like me saying, I don'teven know what a good example
is, but just something totallyrandom that you never even
thought about doing that youdon't know what to feel what
feeling to associate with it.
But the more I thought about it,I was like, oh, this is actually
going to be pretty exciting.
Got to go down on the field, gotto see the players taking
batting practice, got to go upto the stadium.
The coolest thing, Ari, was as Ithrew that, I started getting
(04:19):
text messages from people that Ihaven't seen in year, oh, over a
decade in many cases of, hey,I'm at the stadium.
I just saw you throw out thefirst pitch.
Hey, I'm at the stadium, Ihaven't seen you since high
school, college, whatever.
Um, seeing people comments frompeople on YouTube.
Hey, I was sitting right by homeplate, and I thought I
recognized you, and then I sawyou throw out the first pitch.
Now I see your video.
How cool, you got to do this.
So that was really cool.
(04:40):
But just getting to do that, andand this is kind of where the
financial planning aspect takesin, or the message that we talk
about a lot of how do you alignyour spending and how do you
align the things that you dowith the things that really
matter, which are yourrelationships, with our, which
are the fun things you're doing,the peer sense of purpose.
Like the thing, so not only wasit okay, throw a first pitch and
(05:02):
go home, but as we got to get asuite, we got to host friends,
we got to host family, and itbecame this really cool
experience that was so excitingfor friends, for family to be
part of, so exciting for mepersonally to be part of.
Literally, that I mean, this isa stadium full of 40,000 plus
people, but I could hear thesuite that was filled with our
friends and family as the namewas announced.
(05:23):
I I could hear you guys throughthrough all of that, which was
awesome.
Um, so all that was awesome.
Go to my channel.
There's a full video on theexperience, there's pictures,
there's videos.
But the tieback is okay, thisisn't just an episode about I
got to throw first pitch, cool.
Ari did the same thing forArsenal and their soccer field,
(05:45):
cool.
It's how do you live life onpurpose?
I think there's one takeaway forthe way we like to help people
as our advisors is not justlet's keep and protect and
manage your money in this littlebox and make sure it's growing
forever.
It's how do we manage that in away that's, yeah, we're gonna do
that the to the best of ourability.
(06:05):
We're gonna optimize thathowever we can.
But the first priority above allelse when it comes to
optimization, is translatingthat into peace of mind, is
translating that into yourpursuit of your adventures,
translating that into yourability to do the things you
want to do with the people youcare about.
If nothing else, that's the mostimportant thing your money can
(06:28):
do for you, is enable you tolive the life you want to live.
And so this was just like aperfect, in my mind,
encapsulation of that.
Yeah, there was it overkill tohave a catered suite and all
that stuff.
You could say so, but that wassuch an amazing, that was a
once-in-lifetime type event thaton paper is like, do you really?
You mean we could just get cheapseats and do this easily?
(06:51):
Sure.
But there was an experience thatwent along with that that made
it so fun, so meaningful, trulya once-in-lifetime opportunity.
And those are the types ofexperiences that we want all
clients to have, we want allpeople to have is how do you
identify those things that maybearen't even on your radar, but
would be really meaningful, funthings to do.
(07:12):
And then how do you live lifewithout these unwritten rules?
So you're not supposed to dothat.
You're not supposed to doanything outside the realm of
normal and just go do them.
SPEAKER_00 (07:22):
I like the unwritten rules.
So there's one story that I wantto tell about someone who
retired with us, and I thinkthis is going to be applicable
to many of you.
So I hope this resonates.
Now, James, I'm grateful thatyou did not quit route and join
the Padres because that firstpitch, I don't know if it
clocked in at uh 100, but nogiveaways.
SPEAKER_01 (07:42):
It was not a great first pitch.
It did make it there.
It didn't bounce.
It was a bit high, but yeah, Iwas hoping to be signed.
SPEAKER_00 (07:50):
Did not we'll we'll wait for the five-year contract
to come through.
Um, Otani Cannol, there's gonnabe a a baseball off, even though
that's not a real thing.
So some of you are thinking,wow, this is pretty cool.
I mean, James threw the firstpitch, and you know, he used to
want to be able to just parkthere, and now he got to be in
the stadium.
I think it's cool, but I thinkthere's something equally as
(08:12):
cool, potentially actually morecool, some would say cooler
using proper English rightthere.
So I had a client who said theywanted to fly first class
because they've never done itbefore.
And I said, How about a privatejet?
And you could tell when I saidprivate jet, they thought,
great, that's fun for you todream and maybe do this with the
other clients just to get themtalking.
(08:33):
But clearly I'm not going on aprivate jet.
And I said, Tell me more aboutyour goals.
I want to know more.
How much would you love totravel?
Tell me about their health.
And they are very honest.
And some clients get into itimmediately with us, certain
clients it takes a little bit towarm up.
But this client was like, look,my mom's not in great health.
She's always wanted to go toAntarctica, and I would love to
do a trip like that.
And I said, Do you mind if wejust search together?
(08:56):
Because I think this might shockyou.
She said, Okay.
So many of you know Jet NationalGeographic.
Well, they have private jettours.
And even by me saying privatejet, this client is thinking,
private jet, nope, not me.
I work 35 years, blue collar.
I can't do that.
You can see that's what herbrain is saying.
And we look it up, and it's$87,000.
(09:16):
Do a three-week private jet touraround Antarctica and all these
cool places.
And she said,$87,000, that'smore money than I've saved the
last three years.
I don't even know how I could dothat.
But she had saved really well.
And she's like, I don't know howlong my mom is going to have.
And she did that.
Now, what did she sacrifice todo that?
(09:36):
She didn't buy a new car thenext year, which was one of her
goals.
She didn't do a home remodel.
She still was able to help outher grandchild.
So she had to prioritize.
And did it mean she traveledless the next two years?
Yep, it did mean that.
But she was able to do a privatejet tour with National
Geographic, something shetotally wrote off in her head
because she heard the wordsprivate jet.
(09:58):
Now, if I didn't bring that up,I'm not saying she wouldn't have
gone and figured it out.
But part of our job is to helpclients dream and we don't just
say you get to do it.
It's here are trade-offs.
Let's prioritize.
So if I asked all of you, wouldyou rather throw the first pitch
or do a private jet tour withNational Geographic?
I think most of you would chooseNational Geographic, unless
you're a huge baseball fan, inwhich case you'd say you're nuts
(10:20):
for even putting that as acomparison.
But the reason we bring this upis we say the sign of a good
financial plan is a life welllived.
And part of our job is to showyou if we're not doing it, how
on earth should you listen tous?
I mean, you could listen, but inthe same way we say there's tons
of CFPs out there.
But when we're, James and I,taking the CFP course, there's
(10:42):
lots of people who we would notlet manage a dime of our money,
let alone hold our lunchbox.
And we work at home.
So we don't even have alunchbox.
So I say this because I want youall to take a second, just like
we've shared in the last fewepisodes, specifically the last
episode, two weeks ago, whereJames said, get a piece of paper
and write out, okay, what wouldyou spend your time doing?
(11:02):
What would you do if you trulyhad a blank check?
And you might not even thinkprivate jet is an option.
You might not even thinkthrowing a first pitch is an
option.
But I don't believe in theserules.
And so if you can at least dreamand think for a second, what
would I do?
We're not saying you get to doit, but these are things that
hopefully are making you think alittle differently.
Anything to add there, James?
SPEAKER_01 (11:24):
Just that it's gonna it's gonna it's going to hurt.
Like it's it's going to hurt tosay 87, and not everyone should
do this, not everyone's in aposition to do this.
But I'll use your the client youmentioned as an example.
$87,000 writing that check,that's going to hurt.
But what's going to hurt more iswaking up one day in 20, 30
(11:46):
years, realizing that$87,000'sturned to$287,000.
But now there's no one left toenjoy it with.
Now I don't have my health toenjoy it.
Now there's what am I going todo with this now?
And so there's the pain ofspending and there's the pain of
regret.
Don't just spend for the sake ofspending.
We've talked about that, we'vereinforced that.
(12:08):
But there's, you know, there'sthe old quote: there's the pain
of discipline and there's a painof regret.
One is in ounces, one is inpounds or something.
You know, that there's there'spain to be disciplined, but the
pain of regret, the pain of thatis gonna weigh on you so much
heavier.
I think that could be appliedhere too.
Successful spending, responsiblespending, that's going to hurt
sometimes for these people thathave built up this identity,
(12:31):
this habit of prioritizingsavings and living within their
means.
There's no, there's going to bean element of pain with that,
but the bigger pain is gonna bewhat happens when your mother's
no longer here and you can'ttake that trip with her?
What happens when your spouse isno longer here and you can't
enjoy what you've saved thismoney for?
What happens when your children,who you say, well, I'm saving
this for them?
What happens when they're sofinancially responsible or so
(12:51):
financially well helped thatwhatever inheritance you're
gonna leave them doesn'tactually move the needle?
But you've missed out on thethings that you could have done
along the way with them, withyour spouse, with your parents,
with your friends.
And so there's no formula forthis, as much as I think the
answer for all of us is withinus, just taking the time to sit
with that and realize, what am Igonna do?
(13:13):
There's uh gosh, what's thatquote?
I went to went to Aspen with myfamily a few months ago, and
there's that quote, I forget byits who, who it's from, but that
what do you plan to do with thisone wild and precious life you
have?
Some something along thoselines.
I think I'm ruined.
There's something to you haveone life, one precious life.
What are the things you're goingto do to make it matter?
(13:33):
And I think that you are verygood about just living by
default in that way, Ari, of notbeing subject to the unwritten
rules of what you're supposed todo and just living and saying if
something's gonna bring me orsomeone I love or know enjoyment
and purpose, like I'm gonna doit, and not being hindered by
(13:54):
our limited thinking of whatlife could look like.
SPEAKER_00 (13:56):
Well, thank you, James, and you deserve it more
than anyone.
So if you want to see the fullvideo, make sure to check out
James' channel.
I also want to make sure you allknow my new series, Retirement
Reality.
There's many episodes by thetime this gets released, but
every Saturday I have retireesshare their story.
So if you want to hear that,make sure to tune in.
That's on my YouTube channel.
That is something that I findresonates with many people
(14:18):
because it's not just me saying,Yep, you know, I had a client
take this great private jettour, but it's them explaining,
I'm so glad I'm doing this, andhere's why I did it, and here
was the struggle.
So if that's of interest, makesure to check those out every
Saturday.
And then we will see you guysnext time.
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