June 7, 2024 • 24 mins
Moneke Fields welcomes Cory Nunes to discuss his journey from construction to financial consulting. They explore lessons from agriculture, the importance of a bookkeeper, and the three buckets of money. Cory shares a case study on transforming a dairy family's financial future.
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(00:00):
Are you ready to unlock your full Markablysimple.
The podcast dedicated to helping you do justthat.
I'm Monique Fields, and I believe that with theright strategies, anyone can achieve remarkable
results.
Whether you're a seasoned leader or juststarting a business, this podcast is your guide
(00:22):
to achieving your goals with and efficiency.
Let's embark on this journey together and makesuccess simple.
Hello.
Hello.
Welcome back to another episode of remarkablysimple.
I'm Monique Fields.
And very excited to introduce to you todayanother acquaintance of mine.
(00:45):
This is mister Corey Noons, who is thefinancial consultant that you want to be
associated with.
He has been working for the last 4 years.
To help people with tax free income solutions,and his specialty is helping individuals to
find opportunities and solve their financialproblems.
(01:08):
Welcome, Corey.
Hey, Malik.
Glad to be here.
This is exciting.
This is very exciting.
I agree.
So the first thing I'd like to do just so wecan give our audience a little context is to
invite you to share with us your background andexperience that brought you to doing this work
with helping people find tax free solutions fortheir finances.
(01:34):
Yeah.
Absolutely.
Yeah.
So my background in in how I came about intothe Financial Services Industry Financial
Consulting is I grew up under Gary all my life,so my my family, we did we we, you know, that
kind of territory where, you know, work hard,do all that kind of stuff.
I have that strong sense of work ethic.
(01:56):
So I ended up in about 2007.
I started off construction company.
I was in the trades and stuff before that, butwhat I what I seen in 2000 I'd say about 2010,
I was looking at all the rest of the generalcontractors that were out there that were
working.
Right?
And they were they're working way into theirseventies, and sometimes even into their
(02:20):
eighties.
And, you know, they're slowing down, but they,you know, they turn in these one man shows, but
There's no retirement in the future form.
It's like and and you start I started watching,you start talking to him.
And I realized retirement for most of them is,you know, a bunch of wore out tools and broken
down body, and that's not what I was lookingfor.
(02:41):
That was not what I was looking for.
I got into that.
Trades, basically, to have some freedom, youknow, be my own boss.
It doesn't quite work that way, but all in all,it was it was a good move for me.
Raised raised a good family while doing so.
But 4 years ago, I was you know, I realized Ineeded to do something.
(03:04):
So I started looking into something else.
I've heard I need to put money away, where toput it, you know, how money works, where does
it grow, make it work for you, kind of, thosesituations that you hear every day.
Right?
Then I found this company, at the time they'recalled Cal Choice Investments, and they
rebranded to Mont Financial.
But They showed me and taught me so much on howmoney works, where to put it, where to it, how
(03:31):
it's how it's gonna work, where it's safe,where it's at risk, how it doubles, how
everything, all those things work.
And then we put they helped me put a plantogether that actually gave me an exit
strategy.
And I was just so amazed on what I learned, andI was I had so much fun going through that
process when you think we have fun doing that.
Like, I don't even wanna talking about Moneke.
(03:52):
Right?
But it was fun.
And so there was.
After we're getting a plan together, I askedthem.
How can I help others do this?
And the gentleman that helped me goes, well, Wecan put your put you to work right away, but
you gotta go get a license and get all this,but you can join up with us and and do this on
(04:12):
the side if you want.
So that's what I did.
And I did it as a side hustle for about 2, twoand a half years.
Got my I've closed down my construction companynow, and I've been doing this full time now for
right around 2 years.
I've been in it for 4, but full time all in for2 years now straight.
(04:33):
And still learning every day about the aboutit, and it's it's great in helping others.
Well, one of several of several of my favoritethings just came out of what you said.
One of my favorite things is to talk aboutpeople in their transitions.
Right?
The experience you describe about yourbackground growing up on the dairy and seeing
(04:54):
other people who worked in different industriesand weren't prepared to ever take a break,
relax, and enjoy the fruit of their laborlabor, so to speak, that you kinda opened your
eyes and realized that you were headed down thesame path, but Not only did you seek a better
option for yourself, you turned around anddecided to make it something like a personal
mission to help other people find solutionsthat would get them some of that, you know,
(05:20):
enjoyment that I think that we're all workingtowards.
So I love that beautiful example.
And another question that I have for you is youshared about what it was like growing up on the
dairy and, real that you weren't gonna beprepared to retire, so you determined to fix
that.
But are there particular, like, challenges orsetback that you experienced that when you look
(05:41):
at them now, you really think they helped youmade you stronger or perhaps really enabled you
to do the work that you're doing now.
Yeah.
So something that made me stronger was reallyjust the background of growing up in
agriculture, being on that theory.
You know?
The cows gotta be fed twice a day, milked twicea day.
Everything's gotta happen.
The cows depend on you every day.
(06:03):
So no matter how sick you are no matter howmuch you feel, how much you don't wanna get out
of bed, how much, no matter what is it, breakyour leg, break your arm, it doesn't matter.
It has to be done.
Right?
And, I mean, that actually happened to me.
My dad was on vacation.
I blew my knee out playing football when I wasin high school, but I was in charge of feeding
(06:24):
the cows twice every day.
So I still had to suck it up.
Blowing out me.
I'm getting on the tractor on the equipment.
Feeding hay.
You know, I I I that's something I just had todo.
There was no there was no thought in my mind.
Like, who else gonna do this?
Right?
It's like it has to be done.
So it gave me that work ethic to just keepgoing and you just work through the pain, you
(06:49):
work through everything, you you make you makethings happen.
And I think you can put that into everybusiness that you look at, no matter what you
wanna do, if you wanna write a book, you know,just go do it.
Keep pushing through.
You're gonna have hard times and some thingsare gonna come easy, but you just keep doing
it, doing it, do it.
(07:09):
And sooner or later, you write the last page ofthat book.
And that's kind of the situation you putyourself in.
Now one of the hardest lessons I learned waswhen I started a construction company and,
that's the part I didn't understand.
Money's gotta come in so money can go out.
So I failed in the process of the financialpiece.
(07:34):
Funny to say that now.
I mean, consulting.
Right?
But, you know, you live.
You learn.
So I did have a bookkeeper, and that's what mybiggest concern or not my my biggest mistake
was is not having that bookkeeper in place.
You they're gonna take care of all thefinances.
It goes out so that I can concentrate on thejob because that's all I was concentrating on a
(07:55):
job, you know, take care of that client, buildthat house, you know, get that remodeled in.
Go get go get this equipment here and get thatequipment there where I failed to get my
invoices out.
Because that's the only way I may get moneycoming in is sending those invoices out.
But, you know, sending me invoices all mysuppliers, and they expect to be paid on time.
(08:17):
And they should be.
But if I don't have the money to pay them, NowI'm making that phone call saying, ah, I just
gotta get paid, and I'm gonna get the money toyou.
Right?
And they're going, yeah.
No problem.
But what's on that stamp?
You know, they give you a late charge and aninterest fee.
So they're making money, right, where they knowyou're good for it, but that's cost that you
(08:38):
just put on top of your business that youshould not have to have.
And I in a bookkeeper, even though thebookkeeper's gonna cost you some money, they
will make you money.
So my advice is if you're gonna start somethingthat you need the cash flow to keep turning,
find a way to get that addressed.
I love this as a great example about how, whatyou could conceptualize as a failure.
(09:02):
Taught you a really important lesson and yousaid it, you learned from that experience that
Sometimes you've gotta spend the time, theenergy, or the money to make sure that the
business is gonna operate properly, And in yourand, you know, you said now that you're in
financial services, you realize how importantit would have been to have that bookkeeper just
(09:23):
so that you could keep those invoices going outand have the money collected.
I'm guessing, you know, some lessons are,unfortunately, whether it's best learned or
worse learned.
However, you wanna phrase that they are learnedthe hard way.
And I think that's a really important one.
And, I know some people can use and apply thatadvice.
The other thing shared at the beginning of thatabout how you can apply this principle of it's
(09:48):
your responsibility.
You've gotta get it done.
To everything in life.
And whether you're working in financialservices, saving for retirement, starting a
business, you know, like me, maybe you'recoaching people, In the end, it all boils down
to what kind of commitment do you have to thetask that you're doing to, the work that you're
in, And and you've gotta stay committed tothat.
(10:10):
And I agree a 100% with you that that's areally big applicable takeaway.
So I love that you shared that example.
Now that you work in financial services and areso passionate about helping people to be
prepared for their future, finding, tax freeincome, what would you say are some of the
lessons that are so important that you teachpeople and that you you wanna help them learn?
(10:36):
The the main thing and the lessons I like toteach people is just the simple aspects of how
money works.
You know, most people I mean, this is just, youknow, a broad Rob's shop here, but, most people
think, you know, get your 95.
(10:58):
Go to work.
Hopefully, you know, hopefully, had that jobhas some kinda health care, some kinda, pension
or 401 k or something like that.
Throw through as much money into thoseretirement funds as you can.
And you're gonna be fine when you retire.
Well, we've we have found that to not be thetruth now.
That baby boomer generation is retiring rightnow at a at an alarming rate all the time.
(11:24):
They're in the retirement zone.
And they don't have enough money to retire.
Mhmm.
So they're trying to live off less.
Social security, you know, whatever they didhave in their their 401 k's, but they're
finding out they can't maintain the samelifestyles that they had when they were
working.
So what are their choices?
You know, work a little longer.
Right?
You know, get it, you know, work work worklonger, die sooner, you know, or or a
(11:51):
combination of the 2.
Right?
Sounds pretty bleak.
Yeah.
So
I like to show people that there's otherstrategies out there that just, you know,
you're not taught every day about these littledifferent nuances and different things that are
out there.
There's there's ways to have that 401 k isgreat, but That 401 k, you can actually have
(12:13):
too much money in it, and it will hurt you downthe road.
So the why would somebody You need to have thecorrect amount in that 401 k.
You know, there's there are basically 3 bucketsof Moneke.
You know, taxable, tax deferred, tax free.
Which bucket do you want your money in?
And, otherwise, I want it on the tax freebucket.
I say, that's great, but that won't workeither.
(12:35):
You gotta have the right amount of money ineach bucket and then you're set.
So we just show different strategies educatethem on different pieces because everybody's
got a different way of looking at it, andeverybody's got a different way of different
situation in their life.
So we just educate them on different pieces,start putting plans together, piece by piece by
piece until they're like, this makes sense.
(12:57):
We can do this.
And, then we help them put in place.
It's it's
Yeah.
So it sounds like you're helping people build astructure so that, you know, as they continue
to prepare for retirement, things are workingas they should.
I I like the way you described that you arehelping them understand how process works,
(13:17):
getting a plan in place.
And I imagine once it's rolling, then, youknow, it's just maintenance after that.
Yeah.
It's just It's just it's a it's a blueprint.
You know?
And we can always modify.
We can change a few lines here and there, butas as as life changes and we move on.
So It's but you gotta get that foundationstarted, get it built, where you understand how
(13:40):
the Moneke working, how it's coming in and out.
And then we can, you know, change the blueprinta little bit as we build up.
Yeah.
That makes perfect sense.
So, speaking of that though, what are some ofthe common challenges that you see right now
when you're working with people in this,financial industry?
And how do you help them navigate those?
(14:01):
So the the biggest challenges that I find with,with, you know, with people and try and help
them with their finances is basically the ourmindset.
Mhmm.
Their mindset is so driven.
We've been so taught, like I said, you know, tohave that good job, you know, make sure it has
a 401 k.
(14:21):
Put much money into it.
You're gonna be okay.
They're in that mindset.
And to get them to break from that mindset,that the traditional way is not working
anymore, let's look at some more modernsolutions.
Let's look at something different.
Let's take a different road over here.
You know?
There's things on parallel paths that you justneed to be able to operate and have more going.
(14:43):
Get diversification done.
Now when I tell when I say diversification,Most people say I am diversified.
I got all my money.
It's all mutual funds, so it's verydiversified.
But that is all still in one basket.
That's all in a stock market.
Now when I talk to diversification, I'm talkingdifferent asset classes, and you need to have
(15:04):
you know, anywhere between you need to have 8or more asset classes.
So you are truly diversified.
So, you know, that could be real estate, youknow, insurance stocks bonds, all those all
those kind of things.
I mean, we can go on forever trying to namethem all, you know, and get gold and all that
(15:27):
kind of stuff.
You you need to have all of your propertydiversified.
So that way, when there's a hiccup in the road,it doesn't happen just like it happened in 2008
for most people's retirements.
Over 50 some lost over 50% of their retirement.
Right.
It took them 20 years to get back to even It'sit's just crazy.
(15:50):
So those people that were planning on retiringthat year, it didn't happen.
Right.
So they had to work longer.
So the the strength of the mindset, and I lovethis point that you make because it's another
one of these old overarching concepts that canbe applied to so many other areas.
One of my favorite questions is what else couldbe true?
(16:11):
It's so easy to get on autopilot.
And, I think healthy skepticism is is good.
Right?
You should be curious.
Not so critical and, you know, determiningahead of time, it's not gonna work.
It's right.
It's wrong.
But are you at least willing to entertain thequestion?
And I like that what you're asking people to dois to consider how perhaps the way that they
just assume it should be done, or they'vealways heard that it should be done.
(16:33):
It's just worth looking into what are the otheroptions?
You talked about parallel tracks wherealternative methods are available, and there
are very common, I think we all can think ofexamples of this happening into our in our
lives, misleading language, But that point thatyou just made about a diversified mutual fund,
it's still just mutual funds.
(16:54):
So, that's a great insight about investing intomultiple asset classes and obviously working
with or working with someone who's informed andcan help get you really good information or at
least doing really good research to figure outwhat those are and, you know, how you can get
started participating in them.
I think all of this is so fascinating.
(17:15):
And, obviously, I'm intrigued now.
I wanna have a one on one session with you sothat we can talk about what's going on in my
financial world.
But for our viewers and listeners, where wouldyou, encourage them to come and look so that
they can follow you and find out more?
So easiest place to find me is on LinkedIn.
You know, look up Pori Nunes, you know,associated with them out of financial.
(17:36):
So let me up on there, you know, send me aninvite to connect, and I'll I'll connect with
you.
And then, we can start chatting there.
And then through that process, you know, I'llget you my email, my phone numbers, and we'll
get all the connection.
It's actually, I think, posting there, if yougo on my profile, You can find all that kinda
you can find my my cell phone number.
So little here I am, you know.
(17:57):
But, yeah, that's that's probably the easiestway.
To get a hold of me.
I mean, my number's 707-599-0524.
Don't be afraid to reach out.
It's my job to talk.
So
I can attest that you are very accessible andgreat to work with.
I have another question for you.
I've just got 2 more to wrap up.
The first one I would like to say is I'm sureyou know better than I assume that we are all
(18:22):
over the place, you know, as it to ourfinancial conditions and positions.
But what is it that you would say is the onething that if you could just speak to every
individual and influence everybody's practicesor their thinking around what they're doing
with their financial their financialwell-being.
What's the one thing that you would advisepeople to do that you think makes everything
(18:47):
simpler or flow better?
So
see the number one advice I'd give.
Mhmm.
Probably probably, I mean, there's kind of afew things in there.
So I'll put it like this.
The normal advice, if you think everythingyou're doing is right, That's great.
(19:08):
Okay.
What are you afraid of then by getting a secondopinion?
Right?
Don't don't be afraid to get a second opinion.
Number 1.
Don't always be open minded enough to seesomething else.
I mean, it's it's it's that's that's the, like,the best advice to give everybody.
(19:29):
Even I even tell my clients when they meet withme, they have not met with somebody else.
I go, you should at least go talk to somebodyelse.
See what else I go, but do yourself a favor.
Make sure you're educated, and make sure theperson you are talking to, you you trust.
Make sure you know that they're working in yourbest interest.
(19:52):
Mhmm.
And that's the that's the best advice I couldgive is Don't be afraid to get a second
opinion.
I mean, this is it's your money.
It's it's it's not it's not my money.
It's not somebody else's money.
It's your money.
So make sure you're 100% comfortable with whatyou're doing with it.
Yeah.
I think that's so important.
(20:14):
And applicable to all of all of life that, youknow, you you wanna be sure about what you're
sure about.
You're not seeking information or entertainingquestions because you doubt your certainty.
It's reinforcing that.
Right?
So to your point, when you get second opinion.
Maybe it just confirms that you're on the righttrack and you check that.
And that's fantastic.
(20:35):
So, the last that I have for you is to ask thatyou share a favorite story of someone that you
saw perhaps in one financial situation when youstarted working with them and they've been able
to kinda turn things around.
I think that'd be really fascinating to hearbefore we go.
Yeah.
So my favorite one is probably because it holdsdeer close to my heart is a a a a dairy family
(20:59):
who, they retired.
They they sold the cows.
They sold the dairy.
And in doing so, at that time, they put theirmoney into, They went to their adviser.
Right?
They're they're I think their their CPA, thentheir CPA is in this advisor.
And he puts them in these different classes.
They had they had a couple of duties, somestocks, some bonds, and stuff like that.
(21:23):
And, since I was in the business one time, theywere just kinda you know, they they don't know,
but they have these things and they're that'swhat they're drawn money from.
And they're looking at that number and they'relike, you know, how long is my money actually
gonna last me?
That's the key.
Right?
So they asked if I would take a look and justgive them an opinion on what they had, And,
(21:45):
really, what it came down to is, they theywon't necessarily gonna run out of money, but
their lifestyle was gonna as they got older,what's gonna drastically start dropping off.
Right?
Because just example was one of the annuitieswas a great annuity.
You know, and when I've seen it, it was thebest annuity I've ever seen.
(22:07):
If I could buy that annuity today, I would beyelling at from the mountain tops for everybody
to buy us.
I don't care if you're how old you are.
You need to put some kind of money into this,whatever you want.
The bare minimum, whatever we gotta do to getthat annuity.
And then their other annuity was absolutely theworst one I've ever seen yet in the business.
(22:28):
So they had the best in the worst.
So all I did was explain to them how this onewas working, how this one was working, and they
can tell that Oh, yeah.
That one always kinda concerned us because itlooks like it's we're we're gonna run out of
money.
I go, you are.
So you're gonna lose that part of your income.
At a time where you probably need it the mostbecause the older you get, the more health
(22:50):
problems we have and everything else like thatcomes about.
So What we did, we we we restructured somethings that they had, you know, all that, some
other stocks and bonds.
We we actually moved that to real estate.
They had some income coming there.
Then we moved, that that bad annuity, though,we changed it into another annuity was There's
(23:10):
law of on what we can and can do.
So it had to go, you know, like for like kindof situation.
So we put him in a better annuity to where nowthat they're gonna have guaranteed income for
as long as they live.
It's not gonna run out.
It's guaranteed and it's gonna be therethroughout their life.
(23:30):
So and they were really, really appreciative tome.
And I was really happy to help.
You know, somebody from the dairy industrywhere I grew up in, and knowing how hard they
work for their money Mhmm.
That they actually were gonna be okay now.
I love the simplicity of that, right?
There wasn't a drastic change in this case.
That was necessary.
(23:50):
Just taking a look, being willing to entertainthe question.
This is perfect example of that one best advicethat you would give everybody and how it really
benefited them with just some subtle shifts.
That could help them maintain and sustain thebenefit of nearly a lifetime of hard work.
And I I can only imagine how much joy it bringsyou to be able to help people do things like
(24:12):
that with their finances.
So, thanks so much for sharing your experienceand these examples with us today And, just
joining me for this conversation, Corey.
It's been great to have you.
It was great being here.
It was a lot of fun.
Alright.
Thank you.
Are you ready to unlock your full Markablysimple.
The podcast dedicated to helping you do justthat.
I'm Monique Fields, and I believe that with theright strategies, anyone can achieve remarkable
results.
Whether you're a seasoned leader or juststarting a business, this podcast is your guide
(00:22):
to achieving your goals with and efficiency.
Let's embark on this journey together and makesuccess simple.
Hello.
Hello.
Welcome back to another episode of remarkablysimple.
I'm Monique Fields.
And very excited to introduce to you todayanother acquaintance of mine.
(00:45):
This is mister Corey Noons, who is thefinancial consultant that you want to be
associated with.
He has been working for the last 4 years.
To help people with tax free income solutions,and his specialty is helping individuals to
find opportunities and solve their financialproblems.
(01:08):
Welcome, Corey.
Hey, Malik.
Glad to be here.
This is exciting.
This is very exciting.
I agree.
So the first thing I'd like to do just so wecan give our audience a little context is to
invite you to share with us your background andexperience that brought you to doing this work
with helping people find tax free solutions fortheir finances.
(01:34):
Yeah.
Absolutely.
Yeah.
So my background in in how I came about intothe Financial Services Industry Financial
Consulting is I grew up under Gary all my life,so my my family, we did we we, you know, that
kind of territory where, you know, work hard,do all that kind of stuff.
I have that strong sense of work ethic.
(01:56):
So I ended up in about 2007.
I started off construction company.
I was in the trades and stuff before that, butwhat I what I seen in 2000 I'd say about 2010,
I was looking at all the rest of the generalcontractors that were out there that were
working.
Right?
And they were they're working way into theirseventies, and sometimes even into their
(02:20):
eighties.
And, you know, they're slowing down, but they,you know, they turn in these one man shows, but
There's no retirement in the future form.
It's like and and you start I started watching,you start talking to him.
And I realized retirement for most of them is,you know, a bunch of wore out tools and broken
down body, and that's not what I was lookingfor.
(02:41):
That was not what I was looking for.
I got into that.
Trades, basically, to have some freedom, youknow, be my own boss.
It doesn't quite work that way, but all in all,it was it was a good move for me.
Raised raised a good family while doing so.
But 4 years ago, I was you know, I realized Ineeded to do something.
(03:04):
So I started looking into something else.
I've heard I need to put money away, where toput it, you know, how money works, where does
it grow, make it work for you, kind of, thosesituations that you hear every day.
Right?
Then I found this company, at the time they'recalled Cal Choice Investments, and they
rebranded to Mont Financial.
But They showed me and taught me so much on howmoney works, where to put it, where to it, how
(03:31):
it's how it's gonna work, where it's safe,where it's at risk, how it doubles, how
everything, all those things work.
And then we put they helped me put a plantogether that actually gave me an exit
strategy.
And I was just so amazed on what I learned, andI was I had so much fun going through that
process when you think we have fun doing that.
Like, I don't even wanna talking about Moneke.
(03:52):
Right?
But it was fun.
And so there was.
After we're getting a plan together, I askedthem.
How can I help others do this?
And the gentleman that helped me goes, well, Wecan put your put you to work right away, but
you gotta go get a license and get all this,but you can join up with us and and do this on
(04:12):
the side if you want.
So that's what I did.
And I did it as a side hustle for about 2, twoand a half years.
Got my I've closed down my construction companynow, and I've been doing this full time now for
right around 2 years.
I've been in it for 4, but full time all in for2 years now straight.
(04:33):
And still learning every day about the aboutit, and it's it's great in helping others.
Well, one of several of several of my favoritethings just came out of what you said.
One of my favorite things is to talk aboutpeople in their transitions.
Right?
The experience you describe about yourbackground growing up on the dairy and seeing
(04:54):
other people who worked in different industriesand weren't prepared to ever take a break,
relax, and enjoy the fruit of their laborlabor, so to speak, that you kinda opened your
eyes and realized that you were headed down thesame path, but Not only did you seek a better
option for yourself, you turned around anddecided to make it something like a personal
mission to help other people find solutionsthat would get them some of that, you know,
(05:20):
enjoyment that I think that we're all workingtowards.
So I love that beautiful example.
And another question that I have for you is youshared about what it was like growing up on the
dairy and, real that you weren't gonna beprepared to retire, so you determined to fix
that.
But are there particular, like, challenges orsetback that you experienced that when you look
(05:41):
at them now, you really think they helped youmade you stronger or perhaps really enabled you
to do the work that you're doing now.
Yeah.
So something that made me stronger was reallyjust the background of growing up in
agriculture, being on that theory.
You know?
The cows gotta be fed twice a day, milked twicea day.
Everything's gotta happen.
The cows depend on you every day.
(06:03):
So no matter how sick you are no matter howmuch you feel, how much you don't wanna get out
of bed, how much, no matter what is it, breakyour leg, break your arm, it doesn't matter.
It has to be done.
Right?
And, I mean, that actually happened to me.
My dad was on vacation.
I blew my knee out playing football when I wasin high school, but I was in charge of feeding
(06:24):
the cows twice every day.
So I still had to suck it up.
Blowing out me.
I'm getting on the tractor on the equipment.
Feeding hay.
You know, I I I that's something I just had todo.
There was no there was no thought in my mind.
Like, who else gonna do this?
Right?
It's like it has to be done.
So it gave me that work ethic to just keepgoing and you just work through the pain, you
(06:49):
work through everything, you you make you makethings happen.
And I think you can put that into everybusiness that you look at, no matter what you
wanna do, if you wanna write a book, you know,just go do it.
Keep pushing through.
You're gonna have hard times and some thingsare gonna come easy, but you just keep doing
it, doing it, do it.
(07:09):
And sooner or later, you write the last page ofthat book.
And that's kind of the situation you putyourself in.
Now one of the hardest lessons I learned waswhen I started a construction company and,
that's the part I didn't understand.
Money's gotta come in so money can go out.
So I failed in the process of the financialpiece.
(07:34):
Funny to say that now.
I mean, consulting.
Right?
But, you know, you live.
You learn.
So I did have a bookkeeper, and that's what mybiggest concern or not my my biggest mistake
was is not having that bookkeeper in place.
You they're gonna take care of all thefinances.
It goes out so that I can concentrate on thejob because that's all I was concentrating on a
(07:55):
job, you know, take care of that client, buildthat house, you know, get that remodeled in.
Go get go get this equipment here and get thatequipment there where I failed to get my
invoices out.
Because that's the only way I may get moneycoming in is sending those invoices out.
But, you know, sending me invoices all mysuppliers, and they expect to be paid on time.
(08:17):
And they should be.
But if I don't have the money to pay them, NowI'm making that phone call saying, ah, I just
gotta get paid, and I'm gonna get the money toyou.
Right?
And they're going, yeah.
No problem.
But what's on that stamp?
You know, they give you a late charge and aninterest fee.
So they're making money, right, where they knowyou're good for it, but that's cost that you
(08:38):
just put on top of your business that youshould not have to have.
And I in a bookkeeper, even though thebookkeeper's gonna cost you some money, they
will make you money.
So my advice is if you're gonna start somethingthat you need the cash flow to keep turning,
find a way to get that addressed.
I love this as a great example about how, whatyou could conceptualize as a failure.
(09:02):
Taught you a really important lesson and yousaid it, you learned from that experience that
Sometimes you've gotta spend the time, theenergy, or the money to make sure that the
business is gonna operate properly, And in yourand, you know, you said now that you're in
financial services, you realize how importantit would have been to have that bookkeeper just
(09:23):
so that you could keep those invoices going outand have the money collected.
I'm guessing, you know, some lessons are,unfortunately, whether it's best learned or
worse learned.
However, you wanna phrase that they are learnedthe hard way.
And I think that's a really important one.
And, I know some people can use and apply thatadvice.
The other thing shared at the beginning of thatabout how you can apply this principle of it's
(09:48):
your responsibility.
You've gotta get it done.
To everything in life.
And whether you're working in financialservices, saving for retirement, starting a
business, you know, like me, maybe you'recoaching people, In the end, it all boils down
to what kind of commitment do you have to thetask that you're doing to, the work that you're
in, And and you've gotta stay committed tothat.
(10:10):
And I agree a 100% with you that that's areally big applicable takeaway.
So I love that you shared that example.
Now that you work in financial services and areso passionate about helping people to be
prepared for their future, finding, tax freeincome, what would you say are some of the
lessons that are so important that you teachpeople and that you you wanna help them learn?
(10:36):
The the main thing and the lessons I like toteach people is just the simple aspects of how
money works.
You know, most people I mean, this is just, youknow, a broad Rob's shop here, but, most people
think, you know, get your 95.
(10:58):
Go to work.
Hopefully, you know, hopefully, had that jobhas some kinda health care, some kinda, pension
or 401 k or something like that.
Throw through as much money into thoseretirement funds as you can.
And you're gonna be fine when you retire.
Well, we've we have found that to not be thetruth now.
That baby boomer generation is retiring rightnow at a at an alarming rate all the time.
(11:24):
They're in the retirement zone.
And they don't have enough money to retire.
Mhmm.
So they're trying to live off less.
Social security, you know, whatever they didhave in their their 401 k's, but they're
finding out they can't maintain the samelifestyles that they had when they were
working.
So what are their choices?
You know, work a little longer.
Right?
You know, get it, you know, work work worklonger, die sooner, you know, or or a
(11:51):
combination of the 2.
Right?
Sounds pretty bleak.
Yeah.
So
I like to show people that there's otherstrategies out there that just, you know,
you're not taught every day about these littledifferent nuances and different things that are
out there.
There's there's ways to have that 401 k isgreat, but That 401 k, you can actually have
(12:13):
too much money in it, and it will hurt you downthe road.
So the why would somebody You need to have thecorrect amount in that 401 k.
You know, there's there are basically 3 bucketsof Moneke.
You know, taxable, tax deferred, tax free.
Which bucket do you want your money in?
And, otherwise, I want it on the tax freebucket.
I say, that's great, but that won't workeither.
(12:35):
You gotta have the right amount of money ineach bucket and then you're set.
So we just show different strategies educatethem on different pieces because everybody's
got a different way of looking at it, andeverybody's got a different way of different
situation in their life.
So we just educate them on different pieces,start putting plans together, piece by piece by
piece until they're like, this makes sense.
(12:57):
We can do this.
And, then we help them put in place.
It's it's
Yeah.
So it sounds like you're helping people build astructure so that, you know, as they continue
to prepare for retirement, things are workingas they should.
I I like the way you described that you arehelping them understand how process works,
(13:17):
getting a plan in place.
And I imagine once it's rolling, then, youknow, it's just maintenance after that.
Yeah.
It's just It's just it's a it's a blueprint.
You know?
And we can always modify.
We can change a few lines here and there, butas as as life changes and we move on.
So It's but you gotta get that foundationstarted, get it built, where you understand how
(13:40):
the Moneke working, how it's coming in and out.
And then we can, you know, change the blueprinta little bit as we build up.
Yeah.
That makes perfect sense.
So, speaking of that though, what are some ofthe common challenges that you see right now
when you're working with people in this,financial industry?
And how do you help them navigate those?
(14:01):
So the the biggest challenges that I find with,with, you know, with people and try and help
them with their finances is basically the ourmindset.
Mhmm.
Their mindset is so driven.
We've been so taught, like I said, you know, tohave that good job, you know, make sure it has
a 401 k.
(14:21):
Put much money into it.
You're gonna be okay.
They're in that mindset.
And to get them to break from that mindset,that the traditional way is not working
anymore, let's look at some more modernsolutions.
Let's look at something different.
Let's take a different road over here.
You know?
There's things on parallel paths that you justneed to be able to operate and have more going.
(14:43):
Get diversification done.
Now when I tell when I say diversification,Most people say I am diversified.
I got all my money.
It's all mutual funds, so it's verydiversified.
But that is all still in one basket.
That's all in a stock market.
Now when I talk to diversification, I'm talkingdifferent asset classes, and you need to have
(15:04):
you know, anywhere between you need to have 8or more asset classes.
So you are truly diversified.
So, you know, that could be real estate, youknow, insurance stocks bonds, all those all
those kind of things.
I mean, we can go on forever trying to namethem all, you know, and get gold and all that
(15:27):
kind of stuff.
You you need to have all of your propertydiversified.
So that way, when there's a hiccup in the road,it doesn't happen just like it happened in 2008
for most people's retirements.
Over 50 some lost over 50% of their retirement.
Right.
It took them 20 years to get back to even It'sit's just crazy.
(15:50):
So those people that were planning on retiringthat year, it didn't happen.
Right.
So they had to work longer.
So the the strength of the mindset, and I lovethis point that you make because it's another
one of these old overarching concepts that canbe applied to so many other areas.
One of my favorite questions is what else couldbe true?
(16:11):
It's so easy to get on autopilot.
And, I think healthy skepticism is is good.
Right?
You should be curious.
Not so critical and, you know, determiningahead of time, it's not gonna work.
It's right.
It's wrong.
But are you at least willing to entertain thequestion?
And I like that what you're asking people to dois to consider how perhaps the way that they
just assume it should be done, or they'vealways heard that it should be done.
(16:33):
It's just worth looking into what are the otheroptions?
You talked about parallel tracks wherealternative methods are available, and there
are very common, I think we all can think ofexamples of this happening into our in our
lives, misleading language, But that point thatyou just made about a diversified mutual fund,
it's still just mutual funds.
(16:54):
So, that's a great insight about investing intomultiple asset classes and obviously working
with or working with someone who's informed andcan help get you really good information or at
least doing really good research to figure outwhat those are and, you know, how you can get
started participating in them.
I think all of this is so fascinating.
(17:15):
And, obviously, I'm intrigued now.
I wanna have a one on one session with you sothat we can talk about what's going on in my
financial world.
But for our viewers and listeners, where wouldyou, encourage them to come and look so that
they can follow you and find out more?
So easiest place to find me is on LinkedIn.
You know, look up Pori Nunes, you know,associated with them out of financial.
(17:36):
So let me up on there, you know, send me aninvite to connect, and I'll I'll connect with
you.
And then, we can start chatting there.
And then through that process, you know, I'llget you my email, my phone numbers, and we'll
get all the connection.
It's actually, I think, posting there, if yougo on my profile, You can find all that kinda
you can find my my cell phone number.
So little here I am, you know.
(17:57):
But, yeah, that's that's probably the easiestway.
To get a hold of me.
I mean, my number's 707-599-0524.
Don't be afraid to reach out.
It's my job to talk.
So
I can attest that you are very accessible andgreat to work with.
I have another question for you.
I've just got 2 more to wrap up.
The first one I would like to say is I'm sureyou know better than I assume that we are all
(18:22):
over the place, you know, as it to ourfinancial conditions and positions.
But what is it that you would say is the onething that if you could just speak to every
individual and influence everybody's practicesor their thinking around what they're doing
with their financial their financialwell-being.
What's the one thing that you would advisepeople to do that you think makes everything
(18:47):
simpler or flow better?
So
see the number one advice I'd give.
Mhmm.
Probably probably, I mean, there's kind of afew things in there.
So I'll put it like this.
The normal advice, if you think everythingyou're doing is right, That's great.
(19:08):
Okay.
What are you afraid of then by getting a secondopinion?
Right?
Don't don't be afraid to get a second opinion.
Number 1.
Don't always be open minded enough to seesomething else.
I mean, it's it's it's that's that's the, like,the best advice to give everybody.
(19:29):
Even I even tell my clients when they meet withme, they have not met with somebody else.
I go, you should at least go talk to somebodyelse.
See what else I go, but do yourself a favor.
Make sure you're educated, and make sure theperson you are talking to, you you trust.
Make sure you know that they're working in yourbest interest.
(19:52):
Mhmm.
And that's the that's the best advice I couldgive is Don't be afraid to get a second
opinion.
I mean, this is it's your money.
It's it's it's not it's not my money.
It's not somebody else's money.
It's your money.
So make sure you're 100% comfortable with whatyou're doing with it.
Yeah.
I think that's so important.
(20:14):
And applicable to all of all of life that, youknow, you you wanna be sure about what you're
sure about.
You're not seeking information or entertainingquestions because you doubt your certainty.
It's reinforcing that.
Right?
So to your point, when you get second opinion.
Maybe it just confirms that you're on the righttrack and you check that.
And that's fantastic.
(20:35):
So, the last that I have for you is to ask thatyou share a favorite story of someone that you
saw perhaps in one financial situation when youstarted working with them and they've been able
to kinda turn things around.
I think that'd be really fascinating to hearbefore we go.
Yeah.
So my favorite one is probably because it holdsdeer close to my heart is a a a a dairy family
(20:59):
who, they retired.
They they sold the cows.
They sold the dairy.
And in doing so, at that time, they put theirmoney into, They went to their adviser.
Right?
They're they're I think their their CPA, thentheir CPA is in this advisor.
And he puts them in these different classes.
They had they had a couple of duties, somestocks, some bonds, and stuff like that.
(21:23):
And, since I was in the business one time, theywere just kinda you know, they they don't know,
but they have these things and they're that'swhat they're drawn money from.
And they're looking at that number and they'relike, you know, how long is my money actually
gonna last me?
That's the key.
Right?
So they asked if I would take a look and justgive them an opinion on what they had, And,
(21:45):
really, what it came down to is, they theywon't necessarily gonna run out of money, but
their lifestyle was gonna as they got older,what's gonna drastically start dropping off.
Right?
Because just example was one of the annuitieswas a great annuity.
You know, and when I've seen it, it was thebest annuity I've ever seen.
(22:07):
If I could buy that annuity today, I would beyelling at from the mountain tops for everybody
to buy us.
I don't care if you're how old you are.
You need to put some kind of money into this,whatever you want.
The bare minimum, whatever we gotta do to getthat annuity.
And then their other annuity was absolutely theworst one I've ever seen yet in the business.
(22:28):
So they had the best in the worst.
So all I did was explain to them how this onewas working, how this one was working, and they
can tell that Oh, yeah.
That one always kinda concerned us because itlooks like it's we're we're gonna run out of
money.
I go, you are.
So you're gonna lose that part of your income.
At a time where you probably need it the mostbecause the older you get, the more health
(22:50):
problems we have and everything else like thatcomes about.
So What we did, we we we restructured somethings that they had, you know, all that, some
other stocks and bonds.
We we actually moved that to real estate.
They had some income coming there.
Then we moved, that that bad annuity, though,we changed it into another annuity was There's
(23:10):
law of on what we can and can do.
So it had to go, you know, like for like kindof situation.
So we put him in a better annuity to where nowthat they're gonna have guaranteed income for
as long as they live.
It's not gonna run out.
It's guaranteed and it's gonna be therethroughout their life.
(23:30):
So and they were really, really appreciative tome.
And I was really happy to help.
You know, somebody from the dairy industrywhere I grew up in, and knowing how hard they
work for their money Mhmm.
That they actually were gonna be okay now.
I love the simplicity of that, right?
There wasn't a drastic change in this case.
That was necessary.
(23:50):
Just taking a look, being willing to entertainthe question.
This is perfect example of that one best advicethat you would give everybody and how it really
benefited them with just some subtle shifts.
That could help them maintain and sustain thebenefit of nearly a lifetime of hard work.
And I I can only imagine how much joy it bringsyou to be able to help people do things like
(24:12):
that with their finances.
So, thanks so much for sharing your experienceand these examples with us today And, just
joining me for this conversation, Corey.
It's been great to have you.
It was great being here.
It was a lot of fun.
Alright.
Thank you.
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