Tell me about your vision.
You know, my vision is to change the approach that I have been taking for many, many years of trying to change lives for the better one to one and trying to change lives for the better one to many.
And so partly the podcasts and the books are designed to do that.
I can reach more people than I could ever serve in a professional capacity at our office.
It's also trying to change the trajectory for young financial advisors and others who are getting into this industry, because if they do this right, they can impact hundreds, if not thousands of lives.
And then the consulting that I've started to do with other firms allows us to reach, again, thousands and thousands of families that can really change the narrative around is a money conversation taboo.
Are these things that you can talk about with your parents if you need to or with your kids as they as they grow up?
And so I'm trying to make sure that the legacy that I leave behind is the 100 year firm.
I mean, this firm will long outlive me. And that's good.
We have our next CEO who's stepping in in the next two to three years.
And so we will continue to exist, which I'm incredibly proud of, but also trying to find a way to bring financial literacy to as many people as possible.
I testified before the state Senate in Maryland to try and get financial literacy in schools.
And there are so many hot potatoes around that.
It's so hard to navigate the legislature and the and the teachers unions and the school systems.
It is really hard. But through charities like Junior Achievement and others, there are ways from a philanthropic standpoint to bring financial literacy to young people.
And then there's financial wellness programs that we've created that we're doing for employees so that it's not just teaching young people how to do this.
Let's remember that their parents don't know how to do this either necessarily.
And if we can bring that to as many people as possible, it will change their not only narrative and money story and mindset, but hopefully their future.
Yes. Yes. And you know what? I feel led to share this with you.
I have two older children and of course, they graduated high school, one graduated college and they had to come back home.
And I realized I missed the financial piece to their life.
And it was at that point they were in their they were in their 20s.
But it was at that point where I was like, oh, man, I missed that part.
You know, now that they're at real jobs and things like that and they're turning down 401Ks or or any stocks or anything else.
I was OK with having them back so that I can give them that piece that I learned later on.
Right. As a parent, sometimes we're just on that survival.
So when you say one to many, I'm like, you can get so many if you just probably put that book in the hands of so many parents,
because at that point, we're so focused on safety.
We're focused on all these other things that financial truly just goes out the window.
So I think you've you've you've definitely hit one that's going to.
If I hit one, I hit three, it sounds like. So that's good. Absolutely.
You know, I think people have this this stigma about having their kids return home after school, after college.
And I actually don't think it's a terrible thing, particularly if there are student loans that they can pay off or to save for a home or other things rather than sort of burning money on rent.
I understand the desire for independence and it's very healthy and it can be real hard for adult children to live with their parents.
And I'm not suggesting someone sits on the couch eating Doritos and playing Xbox till they're 40.
That is not what I'm advocating. But if you're working and if you're trying to better your situation and you can build a nest egg and start the retirement plan and be prepared for a home and not have some of the adverse debt, I don't think that's a terrible thing.
And as the father of a high schooler, if she decides after college, she wants to come home, it's going to be like, come on back.
Yeah, like she hasn't left yet. I miss her already. So, yeah, you want what's best for your kids always.
And some of that is independent. And naturally, you have to teach them how to do that.
But you also want to help along the way as much as you can. And there's a lot of parents and grandparents helping a lot of kids as much as they're able.
And there's other kids who don't have that benefit, actually. And that is an unlevel playing field from day one for lots of families.
And so trying to figure out how do we get to those? How do we get to folks who are either underserved or undereducated or just don't have access to this kind of information?
And hopefully this is a resource people can use.
Yes, yes. I mean, I tell you, in my head, I'm like, oh, he's preaching over here. But it's a great conversation, because if it is taboo and we have an audience that's watching or it's now OK to have that conversation.
And that's exactly what you're saying, Eric, is it's OK to have that conversation.
It's OK as a parent if you didn't learn the financial wellness and financial literacy, you still have time. And so as I go back to your analogy or your book statement of a freshman, sophomore, junior and senior, that's high school.
Graduating, you got freshmen, sophomore, junior and senior.
Then let's go ahead and go to graduate school, right? Or you might have to return back to one of those grades because you didn't get the credit or you didn't get it.
And for those that are watching, it's OK if you didn't get it. You can now get it.
This book sounds like it's an amazing book. And like you said, you said it's not in a textbook, which in my mind, I'm thinking like, hey, it's something that I can read and get into.
And I get extra credit. What? Extra credit. And I wrote it in first person.
This is not it's not designed to be preachy. I shared some stories. I shared some mistakes.
I've shared as openly as I can about this is this is the way I suggest you consider it.
But this is you said preach on this is not gospel. This is my suggestions. And then people have to have to make their own decisions.
And I think there's a lot of there's a lot of wiggle room. There's a lot of gray areas there where people can say, well, this is what's important to me.
This is the path I want for my family. And that's OK. There is no one size never, ever fits all. Yes.
Yes. And, you know, we speak a lot about families, but also this is a great start for business owners, entrepreneurs, solopreneurs.
Don't wait till you go broke or you have to get the company right. Figure it out before you get to that point.
So as I sit here and think about entrepreneurship, it's a it's great to plan. Right. But it would be great to have that financial literacy
and understand what the value and profit and net net income and all those kind of things and how that can help you to maintain your business for longevity.
Absolutely. And I can tell you, as someone who started a company, I was 30 years old, I was divorced and I was basically penniless.
I had a home with a mortgage on it and almost nothing else because of a divorce and such. And I was 30 and I was starting over.
Now, I had financial literacy. I know what I'm doing, but I was still basically a freshman because I was starting over and 30 is not 20.
So it was it was something starting a business. I had to borrow from everywhere.
And I tell the story freely because it's amazing that banks will give 18 year old kids a credit card or they'll give them student loans of two hundred thousand dollars.
But when you want to start a business, they'll say, sorry, you don't have two years of tax returns.
We won't even talk to you. Yeah, that is dumb founding.
So so, you know, I had to borrow money from everywhere, including, yes, my mom, my mom and her husband lent me money with their home equity line.
I paid them first, because I said, I got to have good credit there because I want to be invited to Thanksgiving forever.
But, you know, you do what you have to do. And I borrowed from everywhere and started over at 30.
It is not too late. And if you're an entrepreneur and if you have a vision and you have something of value that people will will not only want,
but will value enough to buy or participate in, then you've got a business as far as I'm concerned.
Absolutely. So speaking of entrepreneurs, what tips do you have for them?
Don't wait until you're ready. You're never ready. It's kind of like being a parent.
If you if you wait to have children until you can afford to have children and you know what you're doing,
you will never have children because no one has any idea what that is until it happens. Am I right?
Same thing's true with entrepreneur. If you have the entrepreneurial urge and the itch and that's something you want to do, do it.
I would say try not to do it alone. That doesn't mean you have to have business partners,
but understand some of the legal and tax and financial implications of that.
Make sure you're I'm not going to say ready because you're never ready, but make sure that your concepts been fleshed out and maybe use some of the resources in your area.
If there's a if there's a chamber of commerce or a small business startup or incubator or there's some place where you can go to have your business plan looked at by various folks, do it.
Ask those questions. Most of those resources are free and you can find them all around the country in different in different areas and ask and ask for help.
You know, this pay it forward concept, I asked everybody for help and now lots of people come to me in the same way and I don't turn them down.
You know, informational interviews or how did you do this? Can I buy a cup of coffee?
My answer is yes, because I used to ask, can I buy you a cup of coffee because I wanted to spend that time with people.
And so I think take advice from those who come before you, but stay true to your own vision and your own character along the way.
Don't ever give that up. I love that. And you know what, Eric, I think that was the best ending to a podcast ever because it it it really just put a plug in it.
And and for those that are watching, I think we have more entrepreneurs now or solo put noise now than I've ever seen ever starting off at so many ages.
Social media definitely will share, you know, 10 year olds and 11 year olds probably receiving checks.
You know what I mean? And still don't have that financial literacy. So I think that was really, really, really good.
And I want you to inform the audience where they would be able to find you at.
We can you can find the company at BFGFA.com and you can find the book at DontretireGraduate.com.
And there are resources. It'll link you to the consulting site and the media site and 200 plus episodes of the podcast and all kinds of things that are out there.
Most of those resources are free. So please check them out. Thank you for being here today.
I'm really happy that you tuned in to Vision Pros Live. I'm looking forward to seeing your reactions as these episodes continue to move forward.
This is going to get more and more fun. We'll have more and more engagement as well.
I want to invite people to participate in the show and thank you for giving us your time and attention. Have an excellent time building out your vision and becoming a Vision Pro yourself.