October 14, 2025 • 36 mins
Welcome to "Financial Planning for the Rest of Us," the collaboration that's about to revolutionize your approach to financial well-being. Get ready to shed your old assumptions and embrace a fresh, empowered perspective on your financial future.
Michael A. Scarpati is the co-founder and CEO of RetireUS, a fintech platform disrupting today’s financial planning with a better path to financial freedom. After spending a decade as an independent financial advisor, designing systems for high-net-worth individuals and corporate executives, Michael shifted his focus to making independent fiduciary financial guidance more accessible. In 2022, he co-founded RetireUS with the vision of blending technology with human relationships to make premium financial planning frictionless and affordable for anyone.
CONTACT DETAILS:
Email: retireus@rus.jaya-pr.com
Business: RetireUS
Website https://retire.us/
Social Media:
LinkedIN - https://www.linkedin.com/in/michael-a-scarpati/
Remember to SUBSCRIBE so you don't miss "Information That You Can Use." Share Just Minding My Business with your family, friends, and colleagues. Engage with us by leaving a review or comment. https://g.page/r/CVKSq-IsFaY9EBM/review Your support keeps this podcast going and growing.
Visit Just Minding My Business Media™ LLC at https://jmmbmediallc.com/ to learn how we can support you in getting more visibility on your products and services. #Fintech #FinancialFreedom #FiduciaryAdvice #RetirementPlanning #WealthTech #financialplaning #retirementstrategy
Michael A. Scarpati is the co-founder and CEO of RetireUS, a fintech platform disrupting today’s financial planning with a better path to financial freedom. After spending a decade as an independent financial advisor, designing systems for high-net-worth individuals and corporate executives, Michael shifted his focus to making independent fiduciary financial guidance more accessible. In 2022, he co-founded RetireUS with the vision of blending technology with human relationships to make premium financial planning frictionless and affordable for anyone.
CONTACT DETAILS:
Email: retireus@rus.jaya-pr.com
Business: RetireUS
Website https://retire.us/
Social Media:
LinkedIN - https://www.linkedin.com/in/michael-a-scarpati/
Remember to SUBSCRIBE so you don't miss "Information That You Can Use." Share Just Minding My Business with your family, friends, and colleagues. Engage with us by leaving a review or comment. https://g.page/r/CVKSq-IsFaY9EBM/review Your support keeps this podcast going and growing.
Visit Just Minding My Business Media™ LLC at https://jmmbmediallc.com/ to learn how we can support you in getting more visibility on your products and services. #Fintech #FinancialFreedom #FiduciaryAdvice #RetirementPlanning #WealthTech #financialplaning #retirementstrategy
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:02):
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Speaker 3 (02:13):
Welcome to Just Minding My Business Media.
Speaker 2 (02:17):
I am so happy that you're here today.
Speaker 3 (02:20):
I am honored to bring to you Michael A.
Speaker 5 (02:23):
Scarpetti, who is the founder and CEO of retire USA.
I mean us, a fintech platform disrupting today's financial planning
with a better path to financial freedom. After spending a
decade as an independent financial advisor designing systems for high
(02:46):
network individuals and corporate executives, Michael shifted his focus to
making the independent fiduciary financial guidance more accessible. In twenty
twenty two, he co founded retire Us with the vision
of blending technology with human relationships to make premium financial
(03:09):
planning frictionless and affordable for anyone.
Speaker 2 (03:14):
Wow. Welcome, Michael. I am so glad to have you
here today.
Speaker 6 (03:18):
I'm so happy to be here, Ida, thank you, thank
you so much for having me.
Speaker 5 (03:22):
Yes, indeed, financial literacy, oh my god, it is everybody's.
Speaker 6 (03:27):
Learning yeah, oh yeah, and.
Speaker 5 (03:31):
The financial landscape is changing for sure. So let's talk
a little bit about the literacy side of thanks. So
let me ask you, when you're working with your clients,
because there's so much information out there, how do you,
you know, give it to them?
Speaker 2 (03:53):
And I guess I want to say a layman's turn.
Speaker 6 (03:58):
Yeah, well that's and that's that's that's the challenge for
a lot of people when it comes to even taking
a step in the right direction for the financial planning
is the intimidation factor, right, It is very intimidating. There's
a lot of jargon, there's a lot of complex topics
that you're going to get into when it's really getting
(04:19):
down to the nitty gritty of financial planning. And the
literacy is just kind of that first step of understanding
the terminology, understanding the context of the conversation so that
we can then then kind of build on it and
take it to the next level.
Speaker 5 (04:37):
Yes, absolutely, and everybody's understanding is at different levels because
now not only we do we have the traditional financial vehicles.
Speaker 3 (04:49):
We also have crypto.
Speaker 2 (04:52):
Oh yeah, a lot of people don't understand and it
is just mom blowing for many.
Speaker 1 (05:02):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (05:03):
So when you call your company fintech, what does that mean?
Speaker 6 (05:09):
So fintech platform is it's a fun it's a fun
industry way to say financial tech. Right, So it's technology.
We're really blending technology with human relationships. That's that's the
core of retire us is we really want to make
sure in this virtual world, as things get more and
more disconnected from the human experience, that you can easily
(05:33):
leverage that technology to build a human experience, build a
human relationship with professionals that have your back. Right. The
fiduciary professionals are the highest designated professionals in the industry.
And in a world right now where everything's kind of
shifting to fully automated robo advisors, you know, you're you're
(05:56):
working regularly with robots at this stage, we wanted to
create a lane. You know, we did a lot of
market research and about eighty five percent of the consumer
public still wants to work with people. They want to
work with humans, right, and the platform is really meant
to blend those two together, to leverage technology to make
(06:16):
it really easy and frictionless, but create that connectivity so
you you know, you feel seen, you feel heard, and
you're and you're talking with somebody that gets you and
can help you really understand these complex topics and in
a simple, easy digestible manner.
Speaker 3 (06:32):
Yeah, yes, indeed.
Speaker 5 (06:33):
And my correction, I pronounced the name of your company
wrong with the opening.
Speaker 6 (06:38):
So you did it, Actually you did it. I'll give
you some grace. We pronounce it both ways. Were pronounce
it retire us. We pronounce it retire us. We feel
like there's kind of a fun connotation both ways, so
we use it interchangeably. So you are, you're spot on,
don't worry about it.
Speaker 3 (06:55):
Okay. I'm so happy because.
Speaker 6 (07:00):
Now you're all good.
Speaker 2 (07:02):
Okay. So I'm liking that because I'm one of them.
Speaker 3 (07:05):
Eighty five percent. Yeah, I want to talk to a human, right.
Speaker 5 (07:09):
I get calls all day on my phone. It's like hello,
and then it's silence, and I already knows it's a robot.
Speaker 2 (07:21):
Yep, And immediately they get hung up with yep because
I don't want to talk to a robot.
Speaker 5 (07:28):
I think AI is a wonderful thing, but I think
when it comes to that human connection.
Speaker 3 (07:37):
Nothing is going to outdo that.
Speaker 6 (07:40):
Yeah, yeah, I agree with you, and that was really
a big component of the platform we see that. You know,
the vision for this is really to create accessibility to
the best humans that are out there that the problem is.
I mean, how familiar are you with with just the
financial planning industry and that that fiduciary standard that Fiduciary
(08:01):
Tournament has that has that kind of hit your radar.
Speaker 2 (08:04):
Yeah somewhat.
Speaker 5 (08:05):
I think what I always remember from the commercials I
hear is that you make money when we make money.
Speaker 6 (08:13):
Yeah, and that's that's part of the equation sometimes. But
what it what it really what it really means, you know,
stripping away all the all the marketing jargon is does
the advisor legally have an obligation to give you advice
that's in your best interest? And, believe it or not,
about eighty five percent to ninety percent of licensed financial
(08:36):
professionals have no obligation to do that. And yeah, that's
it's it's crazy to think about. And I'll kind of
I'll kind of tell you why it works this way. Basically,
these independent fiduciaries, you kind of nailed it. Most of
them are compensated by taking a percentage of assets that
they manage, and so they make money when you make money. Well,
(08:59):
guess what, they also make money when you lose money.
Just to be clear, they're taking a percent regardless of
what's happening. It's a fun, nice marketing way to spin it,
but the reality is because they're taking a percentage of
what they manage, they get paid the same amount to
work with someone that has one hundred thousand dollars that
(09:19):
has a million dollars, or it takes them the same
amount of work. I'm sorry to work with someone that
has one hundred thousand dollars or someone that has a
million dollars. However, they get paid ten times as much
to work with someone that has a million dollars. And
so what happens is they create these investment minimums and
they move up market. They only have so much time,
they only have so much capacity, and so they tend
(09:41):
to move up market meeting they only work with people
that have more and more assets that they can manage,
and so the rest of the public gets left behind.
Most of the financial professionals out there are they don't
work in this capacity. They work for an institution right,
they work for a big investment institution. De douchiaries are
the ones that are independent, but there's not a ton
(10:02):
of them out there, and so as a result, they
tend to work with more and more higher net worth
higher net worth, and then the vast majority of everybody
else doesn't have any fiduciaries available to work for them,
and so that's what the platform is really here to
solve in a big way. It's a way to get
access to these independent fiduciaries with no asset minimums and
(10:25):
you know, no need to move all of your savings
over to them to get started in the planning process.
We actually follow a subscription model instead to give everybody
really cost effective accessibility to that to that lane.
Speaker 3 (10:38):
Oh I like that. I like that.
Speaker 6 (10:40):
Thank you.
Speaker 2 (10:41):
Good way to get away from the the standard.
Speaker 3 (10:47):
Let's put it that.
Speaker 6 (10:48):
Way, you know exactly. Yeah, we're you know, we're really
looking to shake things up. We feel like I've been
in this industry for over fifteen years now at this point,
and you know, you see, there is a standard of
quality that's that's different on the independent fiduciary channel than
what's really kind of the bulk of the advice that's
(11:09):
out there. And it's because that independent fiduciary channel. They
the advisor works for you, right, they don't work for
an investment institution right there, that you sign a contract
with this person that is here to represent you, and
then in the eyes of the law, they got to
give you advice that's in your best interest. It's you
can take them to court. They can lose their licenses
over it. Whereas most of the professionals out there, they
(11:32):
don't work for you. They work for an institution, right
The institution is the one right in the checks for them,
and they're there, you know, kind of the liaison between
the two. And you know, the advice, the advice suffers,
the quality advice suffers when it's in that in that dynamic.
Speaker 3 (11:49):
Yes, yes, and I like your approach, I really do.
Speaker 5 (11:53):
And and that's what people need. They need accountability, yes,
you know, And and that's one of the things that
unfortunately in this country, accountability is definitely not at the
top of the list.
Speaker 6 (12:08):
It's at an all time low, at an all time low.
We could we could go down a rabbit hole there
for sure, sure.
Speaker 5 (12:17):
And you know, in my world, accountability means something same
integrity means something yes, you know, and I want to
work with a company that I feel like they do
have my best interest.
Speaker 6 (12:30):
In Yeah, and and most people do and the and
this is why I'm kind of on this big, this
big push right now. I'm trying to really connect with
a ton of people to explain this message. Most people
do not actually realize the way the industry works that
you know, you do have to be cautious, you have
to you have to really do your due diligence when
(12:52):
you're picking a professional to work with, because the way
that the industry is structured, the vast, vast majority of
this sea of professionals out there don't have to have
your best interest in mind. And it's just a scary thought.
It should be the complete opposite, right, The fact that
only fifteen percent have to work in your best interest
is an inversion of what should be the case. It
(13:14):
should be everybody should have to work in your best interest.
Speaker 5 (13:17):
Right.
Speaker 6 (13:18):
If there's a small percentage that don't, we go okay, well,
at least it's a small percentage. But this is you know,
it's really the majority that fall into this bucket. And
so go back into the fintech, to go back to
the fintech component. That's what we really built with the technology.
With the technology, we've created ways for these advisors to
(13:38):
essentially ten x their output. Right, So, a lot of
the tasks that they have to do in a client
relationship which absorbs a ton of time. It takes about
thirty five hours on average for a financial professional to
work with one new client in a year. And so
what we've been able to do with the platform is
through operational efficiencies, automations, things like artificial intelligence, we've been
(14:03):
able to really reduce that amount of time that the
professionals need to spend doing kind of mundane tasks that
are required in the financial planning process, and it allows
them to see many more clients, right, and so now
because of that, they don't need to have these big
asset minimums because they can see so many more people
(14:24):
and help so many more families and essentially keep the
same time capacity requirement for their business.
Speaker 3 (14:34):
That's amazing.
Speaker 5 (14:35):
So, if clients want to work with you, how do
they do so?
Speaker 6 (14:39):
So you just go to retire dot us. We actually
have a free financial checkpoint and this is kind of
the first step in really taking you from financial literacy
to financial What we call it financial consciousness, right, Financial
literacy is a big difference, and people financial literacy is
the starting point, understanding the terminology, understanding you know what
(15:01):
different accounts mean and how they operate. Financial consciousness is
really changing your awareness on what makes sense, what's right
for you, What are the tools that you should be
you should be using. Right, there's plenty of people that
are financially literate and still broke. You know, you know
(15:22):
all the right terms and still have no real plan. Right,
you can have all of the accounts but have no
real accountability on what those accounts need to be doing
for you to successfully hit your goals. And so financial
retire us is all about bringing more and more awareness
to the things that you should be doing right, the
(15:43):
things that you should be adding into the equation with
your financial situation, whether that's from the current situation to
your risk management, your insurances, your short term goals, your retirement,
your taxes, your legacy, all of these things should really
be communicating and working together, and we should be making
decisions with intent so that the things that we do
(16:06):
with our current situation are positively impacting our retirement but
also potentially our taxes and our legacy, and that's what
retire us is really about. So you go to the
website retired dot us. We have a free financial checkpoint.
That's the first step. It only takes about four minutes
and it's a multiple choice question, really easy, really user friendly.
(16:27):
But what it's going to do is give you a diagnosis.
It'll give you an understanding and an awareness now of
what are the current we call them financial red flags,
what are the things that are kind of in your
way or areas that you're not currently addressing that we
should be starting to think a little bit more about.
And then it'll give you some data on your retirement pacing,
(16:47):
your tax planning, and your overall risks.
Speaker 5 (16:51):
Okay, now do you provide guide your clients to different
products Let's say.
Speaker 3 (16:58):
Bonds I'm just stoning out there, yeap.
Speaker 2 (17:02):
Things like that that they can capitalize.
Speaker 6 (17:05):
Yeah, it's a great it's a really great question. So
this is the X factor of the platform. There's really
two major types of fiduciary financial professionals you can work with.
One is operating in products and they manage those products.
The second are building what we call systems. So systems
are more kind of behavioral processes. How all the components
(17:30):
of your financial life should be working together, and then
the product should really be supplementing those systems, right, if
that makes sense. So there's there's kind of two ways
that you approach it. The unfortunate reality is that the
systems based financial professionals, those fiduciaries, they don't manage money.
Speaker 3 (17:47):
They and that.
Speaker 6 (17:48):
Way they build on a flat fee on a retainer
kind of like an attorney. So it's very expensive traditionally
to work with those types of professionals. It's five ten
thousand dollars a year out of pocket, you know, kind
of pay for them like a retainer for an attorney.
And unfortunately, because that, most people don't really generally get
much exposure to it. And so what the platform does
(18:10):
is it actually pairs you with two different types of
fiduciary professionals. One is the one that's going to build
you out the systems. They're going to put together the
frameworks and the roadmap of how all of these things
in your financial life should be communicating and working together,
and how your behavior your process should work on a
regular basis of how you're saving, where you're saving, how
(18:33):
accounts are interacting with one another, how that's going to
impact your taxes, that sort of thing.
Speaker 3 (18:39):
And from there.
Speaker 6 (18:41):
Once you have that framework, then the independent fiduciaries have
what's called an open architecture for products, so they're not
tied to any institution specifically that serves only one type
of products. But you know, bonds, mutual funds, structured products, insurances, annuities,
even institutionalategys, private placements, there's all sorts of things. When
(19:03):
you have an open architecture, that can can really be
game changers for you. But what we want to do
is make sure that it fits in the system that
you need. Right, So the systems come first, We build
those systems, and then we fill those systems with the
products that make sense.
Speaker 3 (19:21):
Oh I really like that approach, Thank you.
Speaker 5 (19:24):
I really do, because sometimes, I mean, we don't know
where we fit.
Speaker 6 (19:30):
Yeah, most people don't. I mean it's it's the most
most people's experience with financial planning or financial professionals is
really product professionals. Right, It's very much around the products.
It's these mutual funds, these annuities, these insurances, these stocks,
these bonds, and there's tremendous value there. But it kind
(19:50):
of goes back to that first thing about accountability. How
do we hold those products accountable and know what we
need for them if we don't have a true system
and a roadmap? Right, And that's the financial consciousness component
financial literacy. You can go in there and have all
sorts of products but have no idea what you actually
need them to be doing for you. Financial consciousness is
(20:12):
when we start to build out the system, build out
the awareness of what the products we have need, we
need from them, what they need to be doing for
us to be successful. And then it gives us a
very clear lens of accountability. Are they doing what we
need and if not, we need to make some changes? Right?
It becomes very clear.
Speaker 2 (20:31):
Wow.
Speaker 5 (20:32):
So, and I know that has a lot to do
with age because if somebody comes to you a younger
person and they have a little bit more time to build.
But what happens when you get an older individual who
pretty much got more years behind them than in front
of them.
Speaker 3 (20:52):
How does that typically work?
Speaker 6 (20:55):
Well, there's a moment in everyone's life where creating financial
freedom is within reach, and most people miss it because
they don't know what it looks like. And that moment
is relative to every person. But I'll explain what I mean,
if you've done the work, it doesn't matter of your age.
If you've done the work to understand what you need
to retire, you also then know some of these other
(21:17):
components that go into that equation. You know how much
you need to be saving each year to stay on pace,
You know what your investments need to be doing. And
this starts to shift your money decision making. Right, So
now all of a sudden, we're looking at things a
little bit differently. Now, maybe you save a little bit
more of the bonus to put yourself more on track,
(21:38):
or maybe you don't waste the money on the restaurant
bills or the bar tabs or the frivolous spending as much,
and you begin to master the timeline you're living in
versus just being kind of another human in the rat race.
And so it all kind of comes down to, regardless
of age, it's really understanding the bigger, the bigger picture,
you know, it's we actually start at the end. If
(22:01):
you're thirty, or if you're fifty, or if you're seventy,
you're actually starting at the All roads lead to retirement, right,
All roads lead to retirement, and so we need to
start there. That becomes the focal point that we plan around,
and we can reverse engineer all the rest to give
you the awareness of what it will take to create
(22:23):
that financial freedom.
Speaker 5 (22:26):
Okay, because most people, for one case, job driven.
Speaker 6 (22:31):
Yep.
Speaker 5 (22:32):
And what I've learned being in corporate America is when
you go to the meetings, the people that are presenting
really don't even have a clue.
Speaker 6 (22:44):
Yeah right, yeah, I mean. The thing is is financial
freedom doesn't come from necessarily knowing more. It comes from
seeing the game clearly and playing it differently, right, That's
the thing. And so it's all individualized for our experience.
Know your retirement lifestyle and your means to get to
that retirement lifestyle are going to be dramatically different from
(23:07):
the next person, from the next person, from the next person.
And what we want to do is we want to
stop chasing wealth. We want to start designing it right,
and and that's a very different mentality where we're just
arbitrarily saving and there's nothing wrong with that, that's good.
We want to at least start saving and socking money away.
(23:27):
This is about how do we take that to the
next level, to give that purpose, to give that intent,
to give that true clarity of where it's going to
lead us and at what point, so that we can
feel confident that in those decisions that we're making.
Speaker 2 (23:43):
Oh my god, I've never ever heard it put this way.
Speaker 6 (23:48):
Yeah, I mean it's Isn't that a shame?
Speaker 3 (23:51):
It really is, And.
Speaker 5 (23:54):
It's a lot of center one because we've been programmed.
Speaker 7 (23:59):
Problem yes, pretty much, this is the shift that we're
here to make, right, this is the shift that we're
here to make because that is what we've all been
taught for decades and decades.
Speaker 6 (24:13):
And you know why, because that's where the money is, yes, Right,
that's where the advertising dollars flow towards. It's products, products, products,
and and that's not to say that products aren't valuable.
They're they're needed. You can't you can't get to the
destination without the vehicle, right, you need the call to
get there. But what's the right car for you? What's
(24:35):
the right gas mileage? Right? What's the right cost for
you to even have that car? Right? All these vehicles
have fees, and so it's just that it's putting the
car before the horse. But that's what we were taught
and that's what that's what will continue to be in
the zeitgeist is products, products, products, because that's where the
institutions make the money. That's that's the objective, and we
(24:55):
still want to use them. But but why, right, what's
the why behind the That's where we're trying to get to.
That's what retire us helps everybody find first, and then
it opens up the box so that without any asset minimums,
you can go get investment products that the multimillionaires have
access to because we're going through that open architecture fiduciary
(25:16):
length to help you support that.
Speaker 5 (25:19):
That is so wonderful at a huge I mean, I'm
going to be summary on this all the rest of
the day, and I've got a reprogram, yeah, and everybody
else is going to have to reprogram because this is
very important. It's very deep, Yeah, and you know, it's
(25:41):
like undoing.
Speaker 3 (25:45):
Myths, so to.
Speaker 6 (25:45):
Speak, without a doubt. We have to unlearn a lot
of our belief systems about the proper way to manage
money and how how we use it as a tool. Right,
these these things are just tools. But what we've been
taught is all there are out there are are hammers
and screwdrivers, and there's a million other things out there.
(26:08):
And a lot of times those tools aren't appropriate at
the end of the day. But it's just all we know,
right and we don't know what we don't know as
a society right now when it comes to financial consciousness, right,
financial awareness and the things that we can be doing.
And that's what that's what this mission is really all about.
It's everybody does have this opportunity to create financial freedom.
(26:30):
Now that how we define that varies from person to person,
but there needs to be a clear understanding of how
to work within the means that you have, what tools
are right for you, and ultimately how that should work
together in the bigger picture of where we're headed right
in order to get there successfully and with retire Us,
(26:51):
that's you know, it's it's a really good first step.
Our plans start are very cost effective, right, Instead of
needing hundreds of thousands of dollars or ten thousand, five
thousand dollars a year, our plans start as low as
fifty nine to ninety five a month, so you can
start basically sixty bucks a month, and if you generally
the service has happened over the course of a year,
(27:11):
so we offer a very steep discount thirty three percent
to start if you pay annually, so you get a
really deep discount under five hundred dollars for the course
of the year, which in today's world is probably two
trips to the grocery store. And you know, you can
have this roadmap completely laid out for you, get real
clear on what retirement's going to cost you, what you
(27:33):
need to have saved, how to get there effectively, how
it's going to impact you know, things in the short term,
and ultimately how what products and what vehicles then are
are right for you.
Speaker 7 (27:45):
Wow.
Speaker 5 (27:46):
And then once once that roadmap is established, and let's
say you have your map, but you're not quite ready
to begin to implement it, but at least you have
something that you can work with to start planning.
Speaker 6 (28:03):
Exactly, Yeah, exactly, And there's no there's no requirements to
do anything other than upload your data so that we
can do the work and do the analysis and build
out the road map for you and for some people,
you know, you're not going to be in a position
where you can make dramatic changes. Now, you know, if
all of your money's in the four one k, unless
(28:24):
you're over fifty nine and a half, it's probably stuck
there right. Fifty nine and a half opens up a
doorway called an in service rollover where you can privatize
those four one K dollars and start to really open
up the box with how you can investment invest it.
But prior to that, generally it's the you know, the
ten to fifteen fund menu that the four one K
(28:45):
provider is offering you. And that may be, you know,
all we have access to at the moment. But how
we rebalance that four one k right? How we see
how much we save into it? Are we maxing it out?
Are we saving into the wroth component of that four
K versus the traditional There's so many nuanced little decisions
that we can make that move the needle right, And
(29:08):
it's all about adding more of them, stacking more and
more of that stuff in our favor so that the
end goal becomes easier and easier to hit over time.
Speaker 5 (29:18):
So I'd like that because I'm one of them people.
I have to have a plan. Yeah, I think nothing
on the fly, you know what I'm saying. It's like,
if I have a project and it's gonna cost a
lot of money, I need to have numbers. Yeah, in
my head already Okay, if it's going to cost forty
(29:40):
thousand dollars, then I'm like, Okay, what am I going
to do to get to that forty thousand dollars?
Speaker 6 (29:47):
Yep?
Speaker 3 (29:49):
And that works.
Speaker 5 (29:50):
Best for me because I can't you know, I got
to know where it's coming from.
Speaker 6 (29:55):
Yeah, you know what, most people, most people really you
operate that way in most facets of their life, accept
their own financial planning. When when they're actually planning for
something like their retirement, right, a lot of it is
just happening on the fly, and we're just saving. I'm
just save as much as I can. It's the most
I can. It's as much as I can save. So
(30:15):
I'm just gonna save it. And that's all that's true.
And what if it's saved in a tax free position
versus a tax deferred position. How does that change things?
What if it's earning six percent of growth versus seven percent,
or what if it's exposed to more risk and the
(30:35):
stock market crashes and it takes us back. Right, Historically
it takes two to three years to become whole after
a stock market crash. So that's the case. If we're
taking these risks and they're unnecessary. How does that potentially
push back the retirement? So all these little things there's
you know, you can continue to zoom into the details
(30:55):
and zoom into the details with this stuff if you
want to. Most people just aren't educated around it to
do it. That's why there's a profession. That's why these
financial planners exist. It's because this is what they live
and breathe and love. And you know, are are the
trust and confidence that are are there to help you
understand what those small, nuanced things you can do to
(31:18):
compound things in your favor.
Speaker 5 (31:21):
Yes, yes, indeed, so I am glad we met because
I'm making some decisions right now.
Speaker 3 (31:28):
And God will always bring you what you need when
you need it, absolutely.
Speaker 2 (31:32):
And there's so much noise out there.
Speaker 6 (31:35):
Oh god, it's almost it's mostly noise.
Speaker 3 (31:39):
Yes, yeah, and you don't know who they trusts.
Speaker 6 (31:44):
Yeah, and that makes a lot of sense, right, I mean,
intuitively it's funny, but it's not funny, but it's it's
it's sad. Is it's sad that you know, intuitively people
feel that Intuitively, people feel that they cannot trust the
financial professionals that are out there, and they're right, right,
(32:07):
They're right and it's not because the financial professionals necessarily
are doing anything nefarious. It's because of that fiduciary standard. Right,
It's because intuitively we know that they're actually incentivized to
push these products versus put together a real comprehensive plan
for me that is in my best interest, and intuitively,
(32:29):
as humans, we know it without fully maybe understanding all
the details of why, but you hear that a lot.
That's the biggest reason why why people do not seek
financial advice is because they don't know who to trust.
And that's one of the big objectives that we're solving
with the platform is connecting you with independent fiduciary professionals
(32:50):
takes that off the table because they legally have to
give you advice that's in your best interest without these
conflicts of interest jumping in and and kind of you know,
distorting the advice.
Speaker 2 (33:03):
Yeah, so Michael again, how do we.
Speaker 6 (33:06):
Connect retire dot us. Retire dot us and you can
go on there. The financial checkpoint is free, right, It's
free to get started. That will diagnose and give you
some context of what are things that maybe would be
helpful to dive a little bit deeper into. It'll also
recommend a subscription tier for you based off of that information,
(33:29):
and then it's really super easy to get started. If
you're ready to go, you choose a plan. It takes
ten to fifteen minutes is all it takes to get
your information on the platform and you're ready to meet
with a professional.
Speaker 5 (33:41):
Wow.
Speaker 2 (33:42):
And I love the affordability.
Speaker 5 (33:45):
Of it because now with pricing modules, you know, with
everything going on in the world, you really got to
be as a business owner. You've got a price your's
products now for not for I guess longevity. Yeah, yeah,
(34:08):
because I mean, like you said earlier, you know, food
is like tripled and it's going crazy. You know, it's
like the things that we have to have is well overpriced.
So when these extra things that you know you need
to have, they need to be priced so that they
(34:30):
can fit in with the needs.
Speaker 2 (34:33):
So I like the idea that you're pricing is affordable.
Speaker 5 (34:37):
Yes, this is a big thing, and what you're doing
is so important.
Speaker 3 (34:42):
To say thank you, and you know, I'm you.
Speaker 5 (34:46):
I take my hat off to you because it's not
too many folks out here.
Speaker 3 (34:51):
Like I said, you're my first.
Speaker 5 (34:54):
You know, I've never had finances explained. What would dealt
with in this manner. So I thank you for what
you do already.
Speaker 6 (35:05):
My pleasure, my pleasure. Yeah, I mean, that's that's what
we're here for. We're a mission driven company. You know,
we've been in this industry long enough to see that
it's sad to say that there's an underserved market, and
that underserved market represents ninety eight percent of Americans.
Speaker 3 (35:19):
Yes, and that's you're so right.
Speaker 5 (35:23):
Wow, So thank you Michael for taking time out of
your day. You have dropped so many gems on us today.
You have definitely you know, I have to undo my
learning now. Yeah, as a result of the information that
you shared.
Speaker 6 (35:40):
Well, I'm glad that I could be a catalyst to
help serve and support and you know, any questions that
you have or any of your audience has, you know,
feel free to jump onto the platform. That The good
thing about the platform too is you can create a
free account and it also gives you access once you
get onto the onto the actual platform itself, there's a
messaging function you can kind of ask questions to our
(36:03):
team at UH at at your leisure and ease to
UH to get the answers that that you're looking for.
So we're here to help, we're here to serve. We're
we're really happy to uh to be here speaking with
you too, and and getting this message out.
Speaker 3 (36:18):
Absolutely.
Speaker 2 (36:19):
Thank you so so much. An audience, Thank you too.
Speaker 5 (36:23):
I appreciate you as well. Thank you to our guests
and you our value audience.
Speaker 3 (36:32):
Let's stop you by.
Speaker 2 (36:34):
We truly appreciate you. Many blessings to you and yours
Welcome to Just Minded My Business Media LLC, where you
get information that you can use. I'm your host, Ida Crawford.
But before we dive in, subscribe.
Speaker 2 (00:15):
To Just Minding My Business on YouTube.
Speaker 1 (00:18):
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(00:42):
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Your products and services.
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So grab a cent of paper and get ready for
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Speaker 3 (02:13):
Welcome to Just Minding My Business Media.
Speaker 2 (02:17):
I am so happy that you're here today.
Speaker 3 (02:20):
I am honored to bring to you Michael A.
Speaker 5 (02:23):
Scarpetti, who is the founder and CEO of retire USA.
I mean us, a fintech platform disrupting today's financial planning
with a better path to financial freedom. After spending a
decade as an independent financial advisor designing systems for high
(02:46):
network individuals and corporate executives, Michael shifted his focus to
making the independent fiduciary financial guidance more accessible. In twenty
twenty two, he co founded retire Us with the vision
of blending technology with human relationships to make premium financial
(03:09):
planning frictionless and affordable for anyone.
Speaker 2 (03:14):
Wow. Welcome, Michael. I am so glad to have you
here today.
Speaker 6 (03:18):
I'm so happy to be here, Ida, thank you, thank
you so much for having me.
Speaker 5 (03:22):
Yes, indeed, financial literacy, oh my god, it is everybody's.
Speaker 6 (03:27):
Learning yeah, oh yeah, and.
Speaker 5 (03:31):
The financial landscape is changing for sure. So let's talk
a little bit about the literacy side of thanks. So
let me ask you, when you're working with your clients,
because there's so much information out there, how do you,
you know, give it to them?
Speaker 2 (03:53):
And I guess I want to say a layman's turn.
Speaker 6 (03:58):
Yeah, well that's and that's that's that's the challenge for
a lot of people when it comes to even taking
a step in the right direction for the financial planning
is the intimidation factor, right, It is very intimidating. There's
a lot of jargon, there's a lot of complex topics
that you're going to get into when it's really getting
(04:19):
down to the nitty gritty of financial planning. And the
literacy is just kind of that first step of understanding
the terminology, understanding the context of the conversation so that
we can then then kind of build on it and
take it to the next level.
Speaker 5 (04:37):
Yes, absolutely, and everybody's understanding is at different levels because
now not only we do we have the traditional financial vehicles.
Speaker 3 (04:49):
We also have crypto.
Speaker 2 (04:52):
Oh yeah, a lot of people don't understand and it
is just mom blowing for many.
Speaker 1 (05:02):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (05:03):
So when you call your company fintech, what does that mean?
Speaker 6 (05:09):
So fintech platform is it's a fun it's a fun
industry way to say financial tech. Right, So it's technology.
We're really blending technology with human relationships. That's that's the
core of retire us is we really want to make
sure in this virtual world, as things get more and
more disconnected from the human experience, that you can easily
(05:33):
leverage that technology to build a human experience, build a
human relationship with professionals that have your back. Right. The
fiduciary professionals are the highest designated professionals in the industry.
And in a world right now where everything's kind of
shifting to fully automated robo advisors, you know, you're you're
(05:56):
working regularly with robots at this stage, we wanted to
create a lane. You know, we did a lot of
market research and about eighty five percent of the consumer
public still wants to work with people. They want to
work with humans, right, and the platform is really meant
to blend those two together, to leverage technology to make
(06:16):
it really easy and frictionless, but create that connectivity so
you you know, you feel seen, you feel heard, and
you're and you're talking with somebody that gets you and
can help you really understand these complex topics and in
a simple, easy digestible manner.
Speaker 3 (06:32):
Yeah, yes, indeed.
Speaker 5 (06:33):
And my correction, I pronounced the name of your company
wrong with the opening.
Speaker 6 (06:38):
So you did it, Actually you did it. I'll give
you some grace. We pronounce it both ways. Were pronounce
it retire us. We pronounce it retire us. We feel
like there's kind of a fun connotation both ways, so
we use it interchangeably. So you are, you're spot on,
don't worry about it.
Speaker 3 (06:55):
Okay. I'm so happy because.
Speaker 6 (07:00):
Now you're all good.
Speaker 2 (07:02):
Okay. So I'm liking that because I'm one of them.
Speaker 3 (07:05):
Eighty five percent. Yeah, I want to talk to a human, right.
Speaker 5 (07:09):
I get calls all day on my phone. It's like hello,
and then it's silence, and I already knows it's a robot.
Speaker 2 (07:21):
Yep, And immediately they get hung up with yep because
I don't want to talk to a robot.
Speaker 5 (07:28):
I think AI is a wonderful thing, but I think
when it comes to that human connection.
Speaker 3 (07:37):
Nothing is going to outdo that.
Speaker 6 (07:40):
Yeah, yeah, I agree with you, and that was really
a big component of the platform we see that. You know,
the vision for this is really to create accessibility to
the best humans that are out there that the problem is.
I mean, how familiar are you with with just the
financial planning industry and that that fiduciary standard that Fiduciary
(08:01):
Tournament has that has that kind of hit your radar.
Speaker 2 (08:04):
Yeah somewhat.
Speaker 5 (08:05):
I think what I always remember from the commercials I
hear is that you make money when we make money.
Speaker 6 (08:13):
Yeah, and that's that's part of the equation sometimes. But
what it what it really what it really means, you know,
stripping away all the all the marketing jargon is does
the advisor legally have an obligation to give you advice
that's in your best interest? And, believe it or not,
about eighty five percent to ninety percent of licensed financial
(08:36):
professionals have no obligation to do that. And yeah, that's
it's it's crazy to think about. And I'll kind of
I'll kind of tell you why it works this way. Basically,
these independent fiduciaries, you kind of nailed it. Most of
them are compensated by taking a percentage of assets that
they manage, and so they make money when you make money. Well,
(08:59):
guess what, they also make money when you lose money.
Just to be clear, they're taking a percent regardless of
what's happening. It's a fun, nice marketing way to spin it,
but the reality is because they're taking a percentage of
what they manage, they get paid the same amount to
work with someone that has one hundred thousand dollars that
(09:19):
has a million dollars, or it takes them the same
amount of work. I'm sorry to work with someone that
has one hundred thousand dollars or someone that has a
million dollars. However, they get paid ten times as much
to work with someone that has a million dollars. And
so what happens is they create these investment minimums and
they move up market. They only have so much time,
they only have so much capacity, and so they tend
(09:41):
to move up market meeting they only work with people
that have more and more assets that they can manage,
and so the rest of the public gets left behind.
Most of the financial professionals out there are they don't
work in this capacity. They work for an institution right,
they work for a big investment institution. De douchiaries are
the ones that are independent, but there's not a ton
(10:02):
of them out there, and so as a result, they
tend to work with more and more higher net worth
higher net worth, and then the vast majority of everybody
else doesn't have any fiduciaries available to work for them,
and so that's what the platform is really here to
solve in a big way. It's a way to get
access to these independent fiduciaries with no asset minimums and
(10:25):
you know, no need to move all of your savings
over to them to get started in the planning process.
We actually follow a subscription model instead to give everybody
really cost effective accessibility to that to that lane.
Speaker 3 (10:38):
Oh I like that. I like that.
Speaker 6 (10:40):
Thank you.
Speaker 2 (10:41):
Good way to get away from the the standard.
Speaker 3 (10:47):
Let's put it that.
Speaker 6 (10:48):
Way, you know exactly. Yeah, we're you know, we're really
looking to shake things up. We feel like I've been
in this industry for over fifteen years now at this point,
and you know, you see, there is a standard of
quality that's that's different on the independent fiduciary channel than
what's really kind of the bulk of the advice that's
(11:09):
out there. And it's because that independent fiduciary channel. They
the advisor works for you, right, they don't work for
an investment institution right there, that you sign a contract
with this person that is here to represent you, and
then in the eyes of the law, they got to
give you advice that's in your best interest. It's you
can take them to court. They can lose their licenses
over it. Whereas most of the professionals out there, they
(11:32):
don't work for you. They work for an institution, right
The institution is the one right in the checks for them,
and they're there, you know, kind of the liaison between
the two. And you know, the advice, the advice suffers,
the quality advice suffers when it's in that in that dynamic.
Speaker 3 (11:49):
Yes, yes, and I like your approach, I really do.
Speaker 5 (11:53):
And and that's what people need. They need accountability, yes,
you know, And and that's one of the things that
unfortunately in this country, accountability is definitely not at the
top of the list.
Speaker 6 (12:08):
It's at an all time low, at an all time low.
We could we could go down a rabbit hole there
for sure, sure.
Speaker 5 (12:17):
And you know, in my world, accountability means something same
integrity means something yes, you know, and I want to
work with a company that I feel like they do
have my best interest.
Speaker 6 (12:30):
In Yeah, and and most people do and the and
this is why I'm kind of on this big, this
big push right now. I'm trying to really connect with
a ton of people to explain this message. Most people
do not actually realize the way the industry works that
you know, you do have to be cautious, you have
to you have to really do your due diligence when
(12:52):
you're picking a professional to work with, because the way
that the industry is structured, the vast, vast majority of
this sea of professionals out there don't have to have
your best interest in mind. And it's just a scary thought.
It should be the complete opposite, right, The fact that
only fifteen percent have to work in your best interest
is an inversion of what should be the case. It
(13:14):
should be everybody should have to work in your best interest.
Speaker 5 (13:17):
Right.
Speaker 6 (13:18):
If there's a small percentage that don't, we go okay, well,
at least it's a small percentage. But this is you know,
it's really the majority that fall into this bucket. And
so go back into the fintech, to go back to
the fintech component. That's what we really built with the technology.
With the technology, we've created ways for these advisors to
(13:38):
essentially ten x their output. Right, So, a lot of
the tasks that they have to do in a client
relationship which absorbs a ton of time. It takes about
thirty five hours on average for a financial professional to
work with one new client in a year. And so
what we've been able to do with the platform is
through operational efficiencies, automations, things like artificial intelligence, we've been
(14:03):
able to really reduce that amount of time that the
professionals need to spend doing kind of mundane tasks that
are required in the financial planning process, and it allows
them to see many more clients, right, and so now
because of that, they don't need to have these big
asset minimums because they can see so many more people
(14:24):
and help so many more families and essentially keep the
same time capacity requirement for their business.
Speaker 3 (14:34):
That's amazing.
Speaker 5 (14:35):
So, if clients want to work with you, how do
they do so?
Speaker 6 (14:39):
So you just go to retire dot us. We actually
have a free financial checkpoint and this is kind of
the first step in really taking you from financial literacy
to financial What we call it financial consciousness, right, Financial
literacy is a big difference, and people financial literacy is
the starting point, understanding the terminology, understanding you know what
(15:01):
different accounts mean and how they operate. Financial consciousness is
really changing your awareness on what makes sense, what's right
for you, What are the tools that you should be
you should be using. Right, there's plenty of people that
are financially literate and still broke. You know, you know
(15:22):
all the right terms and still have no real plan. Right,
you can have all of the accounts but have no
real accountability on what those accounts need to be doing
for you to successfully hit your goals. And so financial
retire us is all about bringing more and more awareness
to the things that you should be doing right, the
(15:43):
things that you should be adding into the equation with
your financial situation, whether that's from the current situation to
your risk management, your insurances, your short term goals, your retirement,
your taxes, your legacy, all of these things should really
be communicating and working together, and we should be making
decisions with intent so that the things that we do
(16:06):
with our current situation are positively impacting our retirement but
also potentially our taxes and our legacy, and that's what
retire us is really about. So you go to the
website retired dot us. We have a free financial checkpoint.
That's the first step. It only takes about four minutes
and it's a multiple choice question, really easy, really user friendly.
(16:27):
But what it's going to do is give you a diagnosis.
It'll give you an understanding and an awareness now of
what are the current we call them financial red flags,
what are the things that are kind of in your
way or areas that you're not currently addressing that we
should be starting to think a little bit more about.
And then it'll give you some data on your retirement pacing,
(16:47):
your tax planning, and your overall risks.
Speaker 5 (16:51):
Okay, now do you provide guide your clients to different
products Let's say.
Speaker 3 (16:58):
Bonds I'm just stoning out there, yeap.
Speaker 2 (17:02):
Things like that that they can capitalize.
Speaker 6 (17:05):
Yeah, it's a great it's a really great question. So
this is the X factor of the platform. There's really
two major types of fiduciary financial professionals you can work with.
One is operating in products and they manage those products.
The second are building what we call systems. So systems
are more kind of behavioral processes. How all the components
(17:30):
of your financial life should be working together, and then
the product should really be supplementing those systems, right, if
that makes sense. So there's there's kind of two ways
that you approach it. The unfortunate reality is that the
systems based financial professionals, those fiduciaries, they don't manage money.
Speaker 3 (17:47):
They and that.
Speaker 6 (17:48):
Way they build on a flat fee on a retainer
kind of like an attorney. So it's very expensive traditionally
to work with those types of professionals. It's five ten
thousand dollars a year out of pocket, you know, kind
of pay for them like a retainer for an attorney.
And unfortunately, because that, most people don't really generally get
much exposure to it. And so what the platform does
(18:10):
is it actually pairs you with two different types of
fiduciary professionals. One is the one that's going to build
you out the systems. They're going to put together the
frameworks and the roadmap of how all of these things
in your financial life should be communicating and working together,
and how your behavior your process should work on a
regular basis of how you're saving, where you're saving, how
(18:33):
accounts are interacting with one another, how that's going to
impact your taxes, that sort of thing.
Speaker 3 (18:39):
And from there.
Speaker 6 (18:41):
Once you have that framework, then the independent fiduciaries have
what's called an open architecture for products, so they're not
tied to any institution specifically that serves only one type
of products. But you know, bonds, mutual funds, structured products, insurances, annuities,
even institutionalategys, private placements, there's all sorts of things. When
(19:03):
you have an open architecture, that can can really be
game changers for you. But what we want to do
is make sure that it fits in the system that
you need. Right, So the systems come first, We build
those systems, and then we fill those systems with the
products that make sense.
Speaker 3 (19:21):
Oh I really like that approach, Thank you.
Speaker 5 (19:24):
I really do, because sometimes, I mean, we don't know
where we fit.
Speaker 6 (19:30):
Yeah, most people don't. I mean it's it's the most
most people's experience with financial planning or financial professionals is
really product professionals. Right, It's very much around the products.
It's these mutual funds, these annuities, these insurances, these stocks,
these bonds, and there's tremendous value there. But it kind
(19:50):
of goes back to that first thing about accountability. How
do we hold those products accountable and know what we
need for them if we don't have a true system
and a roadmap? Right, And that's the financial consciousness component
financial literacy. You can go in there and have all
sorts of products but have no idea what you actually
need them to be doing for you. Financial consciousness is
(20:12):
when we start to build out the system, build out
the awareness of what the products we have need, we
need from them, what they need to be doing for
us to be successful. And then it gives us a
very clear lens of accountability. Are they doing what we
need and if not, we need to make some changes? Right?
It becomes very clear.
Speaker 2 (20:31):
Wow.
Speaker 5 (20:32):
So, and I know that has a lot to do
with age because if somebody comes to you a younger
person and they have a little bit more time to build.
But what happens when you get an older individual who
pretty much got more years behind them than in front
of them.
Speaker 3 (20:52):
How does that typically work?
Speaker 6 (20:55):
Well, there's a moment in everyone's life where creating financial
freedom is within reach, and most people miss it because
they don't know what it looks like. And that moment
is relative to every person. But I'll explain what I mean,
if you've done the work, it doesn't matter of your age.
If you've done the work to understand what you need
to retire, you also then know some of these other
(21:17):
components that go into that equation. You know how much
you need to be saving each year to stay on pace,
You know what your investments need to be doing. And
this starts to shift your money decision making. Right, So
now all of a sudden, we're looking at things a
little bit differently. Now, maybe you save a little bit
more of the bonus to put yourself more on track,
(21:38):
or maybe you don't waste the money on the restaurant
bills or the bar tabs or the frivolous spending as much,
and you begin to master the timeline you're living in
versus just being kind of another human in the rat race.
And so it all kind of comes down to, regardless
of age, it's really understanding the bigger, the bigger picture,
you know, it's we actually start at the end. If
(22:01):
you're thirty, or if you're fifty, or if you're seventy,
you're actually starting at the All roads lead to retirement, right,
All roads lead to retirement, and so we need to
start there. That becomes the focal point that we plan around,
and we can reverse engineer all the rest to give
you the awareness of what it will take to create
(22:23):
that financial freedom.
Speaker 5 (22:26):
Okay, because most people, for one case, job driven.
Speaker 6 (22:31):
Yep.
Speaker 5 (22:32):
And what I've learned being in corporate America is when
you go to the meetings, the people that are presenting
really don't even have a clue.
Speaker 6 (22:44):
Yeah right, yeah, I mean. The thing is is financial
freedom doesn't come from necessarily knowing more. It comes from
seeing the game clearly and playing it differently, right, That's
the thing. And so it's all individualized for our experience.
Know your retirement lifestyle and your means to get to
that retirement lifestyle are going to be dramatically different from
(23:07):
the next person, from the next person, from the next person.
And what we want to do is we want to
stop chasing wealth. We want to start designing it right,
and and that's a very different mentality where we're just
arbitrarily saving and there's nothing wrong with that, that's good.
We want to at least start saving and socking money away.
(23:27):
This is about how do we take that to the
next level, to give that purpose, to give that intent,
to give that true clarity of where it's going to
lead us and at what point, so that we can
feel confident that in those decisions that we're making.
Speaker 2 (23:43):
Oh my god, I've never ever heard it put this way.
Speaker 6 (23:48):
Yeah, I mean it's Isn't that a shame?
Speaker 3 (23:51):
It really is, And.
Speaker 5 (23:54):
It's a lot of center one because we've been programmed.
Speaker 7 (23:59):
Problem yes, pretty much, this is the shift that we're
here to make, right, this is the shift that we're
here to make because that is what we've all been
taught for decades and decades.
Speaker 6 (24:13):
And you know why, because that's where the money is, yes, Right,
that's where the advertising dollars flow towards. It's products, products, products,
and and that's not to say that products aren't valuable.
They're they're needed. You can't you can't get to the
destination without the vehicle, right, you need the call to
get there. But what's the right car for you? What's
(24:35):
the right gas mileage? Right? What's the right cost for
you to even have that car? Right? All these vehicles
have fees, and so it's just that it's putting the
car before the horse. But that's what we were taught
and that's what that's what will continue to be in
the zeitgeist is products, products, products, because that's where the
institutions make the money. That's that's the objective, and we
(24:55):
still want to use them. But but why, right, what's
the why behind the That's where we're trying to get to.
That's what retire us helps everybody find first, and then
it opens up the box so that without any asset minimums,
you can go get investment products that the multimillionaires have
access to because we're going through that open architecture fiduciary
(25:16):
length to help you support that.
Speaker 5 (25:19):
That is so wonderful at a huge I mean, I'm
going to be summary on this all the rest of
the day, and I've got a reprogram, yeah, and everybody
else is going to have to reprogram because this is
very important. It's very deep, Yeah, and you know, it's
(25:41):
like undoing.
Speaker 3 (25:45):
Myths, so to.
Speaker 6 (25:45):
Speak, without a doubt. We have to unlearn a lot
of our belief systems about the proper way to manage
money and how how we use it as a tool. Right,
these these things are just tools. But what we've been
taught is all there are out there are are hammers
and screwdrivers, and there's a million other things out there.
(26:08):
And a lot of times those tools aren't appropriate at
the end of the day. But it's just all we know,
right and we don't know what we don't know as
a society right now when it comes to financial consciousness, right,
financial awareness and the things that we can be doing.
And that's what that's what this mission is really all about.
It's everybody does have this opportunity to create financial freedom.
(26:30):
Now that how we define that varies from person to person,
but there needs to be a clear understanding of how
to work within the means that you have, what tools
are right for you, and ultimately how that should work
together in the bigger picture of where we're headed right
in order to get there successfully and with retire Us,
(26:51):
that's you know, it's it's a really good first step.
Our plans start are very cost effective, right, Instead of
needing hundreds of thousands of dollars or ten thousand, five
thousand dollars a year, our plans start as low as
fifty nine to ninety five a month, so you can
start basically sixty bucks a month, and if you generally
the service has happened over the course of a year,
(27:11):
so we offer a very steep discount thirty three percent
to start if you pay annually, so you get a
really deep discount under five hundred dollars for the course
of the year, which in today's world is probably two
trips to the grocery store. And you know, you can
have this roadmap completely laid out for you, get real
clear on what retirement's going to cost you, what you
(27:33):
need to have saved, how to get there effectively, how
it's going to impact you know, things in the short term,
and ultimately how what products and what vehicles then are
are right for you.
Speaker 7 (27:45):
Wow.
Speaker 5 (27:46):
And then once once that roadmap is established, and let's
say you have your map, but you're not quite ready
to begin to implement it, but at least you have
something that you can work with to start planning.
Speaker 6 (28:03):
Exactly, Yeah, exactly, And there's no there's no requirements to
do anything other than upload your data so that we
can do the work and do the analysis and build
out the road map for you and for some people,
you know, you're not going to be in a position
where you can make dramatic changes. Now, you know, if
all of your money's in the four one k, unless
(28:24):
you're over fifty nine and a half, it's probably stuck
there right. Fifty nine and a half opens up a
doorway called an in service rollover where you can privatize
those four one K dollars and start to really open
up the box with how you can investment invest it.
But prior to that, generally it's the you know, the
ten to fifteen fund menu that the four one K
(28:45):
provider is offering you. And that may be, you know,
all we have access to at the moment. But how
we rebalance that four one k right? How we see
how much we save into it? Are we maxing it out?
Are we saving into the wroth component of that four
K versus the traditional There's so many nuanced little decisions
that we can make that move the needle right, And
(29:08):
it's all about adding more of them, stacking more and
more of that stuff in our favor so that the
end goal becomes easier and easier to hit over time.
Speaker 5 (29:18):
So I'd like that because I'm one of them people.
I have to have a plan. Yeah, I think nothing
on the fly, you know what I'm saying. It's like,
if I have a project and it's gonna cost a
lot of money, I need to have numbers. Yeah, in
my head already Okay, if it's going to cost forty
(29:40):
thousand dollars, then I'm like, Okay, what am I going
to do to get to that forty thousand dollars?
Speaker 6 (29:47):
Yep?
Speaker 3 (29:49):
And that works.
Speaker 5 (29:50):
Best for me because I can't you know, I got
to know where it's coming from.
Speaker 6 (29:55):
Yeah, you know what, most people, most people really you
operate that way in most facets of their life, accept
their own financial planning. When when they're actually planning for
something like their retirement, right, a lot of it is
just happening on the fly, and we're just saving. I'm
just save as much as I can. It's the most
I can. It's as much as I can save. So
(30:15):
I'm just gonna save it. And that's all that's true.
And what if it's saved in a tax free position
versus a tax deferred position. How does that change things?
What if it's earning six percent of growth versus seven percent,
or what if it's exposed to more risk and the
(30:35):
stock market crashes and it takes us back. Right, Historically
it takes two to three years to become whole after
a stock market crash. So that's the case. If we're
taking these risks and they're unnecessary. How does that potentially
push back the retirement? So all these little things there's
you know, you can continue to zoom into the details
(30:55):
and zoom into the details with this stuff if you
want to. Most people just aren't educated around it to
do it. That's why there's a profession. That's why these
financial planners exist. It's because this is what they live
and breathe and love. And you know, are are the
trust and confidence that are are there to help you
understand what those small, nuanced things you can do to
(31:18):
compound things in your favor.
Speaker 5 (31:21):
Yes, yes, indeed, so I am glad we met because
I'm making some decisions right now.
Speaker 3 (31:28):
And God will always bring you what you need when
you need it, absolutely.
Speaker 2 (31:32):
And there's so much noise out there.
Speaker 6 (31:35):
Oh god, it's almost it's mostly noise.
Speaker 3 (31:39):
Yes, yeah, and you don't know who they trusts.
Speaker 6 (31:44):
Yeah, and that makes a lot of sense, right, I mean,
intuitively it's funny, but it's not funny, but it's it's
it's sad. Is it's sad that you know, intuitively people
feel that Intuitively, people feel that they cannot trust the
financial professionals that are out there, and they're right, right,
(32:07):
They're right and it's not because the financial professionals necessarily
are doing anything nefarious. It's because of that fiduciary standard. Right,
It's because intuitively we know that they're actually incentivized to
push these products versus put together a real comprehensive plan
for me that is in my best interest, and intuitively,
(32:29):
as humans, we know it without fully maybe understanding all
the details of why, but you hear that a lot.
That's the biggest reason why why people do not seek
financial advice is because they don't know who to trust.
And that's one of the big objectives that we're solving
with the platform is connecting you with independent fiduciary professionals
(32:50):
takes that off the table because they legally have to
give you advice that's in your best interest without these
conflicts of interest jumping in and and kind of you know,
distorting the advice.
Speaker 2 (33:03):
Yeah, so Michael again, how do we.
Speaker 6 (33:06):
Connect retire dot us. Retire dot us and you can
go on there. The financial checkpoint is free, right, It's
free to get started. That will diagnose and give you
some context of what are things that maybe would be
helpful to dive a little bit deeper into. It'll also
recommend a subscription tier for you based off of that information,
(33:29):
and then it's really super easy to get started. If
you're ready to go, you choose a plan. It takes
ten to fifteen minutes is all it takes to get
your information on the platform and you're ready to meet
with a professional.
Speaker 5 (33:41):
Wow.
Speaker 2 (33:42):
And I love the affordability.
Speaker 5 (33:45):
Of it because now with pricing modules, you know, with
everything going on in the world, you really got to
be as a business owner. You've got a price your's
products now for not for I guess longevity. Yeah, yeah,
(34:08):
because I mean, like you said earlier, you know, food
is like tripled and it's going crazy. You know, it's
like the things that we have to have is well overpriced.
So when these extra things that you know you need
to have, they need to be priced so that they
(34:30):
can fit in with the needs.
Speaker 2 (34:33):
So I like the idea that you're pricing is affordable.
Speaker 5 (34:37):
Yes, this is a big thing, and what you're doing
is so important.
Speaker 3 (34:42):
To say thank you, and you know, I'm you.
Speaker 5 (34:46):
I take my hat off to you because it's not
too many folks out here.
Speaker 3 (34:51):
Like I said, you're my first.
Speaker 5 (34:54):
You know, I've never had finances explained. What would dealt
with in this manner. So I thank you for what
you do already.
Speaker 6 (35:05):
My pleasure, my pleasure. Yeah, I mean, that's that's what
we're here for. We're a mission driven company. You know,
we've been in this industry long enough to see that
it's sad to say that there's an underserved market, and
that underserved market represents ninety eight percent of Americans.
Speaker 3 (35:19):
Yes, and that's you're so right.
Speaker 5 (35:23):
Wow, So thank you Michael for taking time out of
your day. You have dropped so many gems on us today.
You have definitely you know, I have to undo my
learning now. Yeah, as a result of the information that
you shared.
Speaker 6 (35:40):
Well, I'm glad that I could be a catalyst to
help serve and support and you know, any questions that
you have or any of your audience has, you know,
feel free to jump onto the platform. That The good
thing about the platform too is you can create a
free account and it also gives you access once you
get onto the onto the actual platform itself, there's a
messaging function you can kind of ask questions to our
(36:03):
team at UH at at your leisure and ease to
UH to get the answers that that you're looking for.
So we're here to help, we're here to serve. We're
we're really happy to uh to be here speaking with
you too, and and getting this message out.
Speaker 3 (36:18):
Absolutely.
Speaker 2 (36:19):
Thank you so so much. An audience, Thank you too.
Speaker 5 (36:23):
I appreciate you as well. Thank you to our guests
and you our value audience.
Speaker 3 (36:32):
Let's stop you by.
Speaker 2 (36:34):
We truly appreciate you. Many blessings to you and yours
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