WEBVTT - Commonwealth Financial Network 2019 National Conference 0:00:00.560 --> 0:00:03.040 This is Bloomberg Business Week. I'm Carol Masser and I'm 0:00:03.120 --> 0:00:05.600 Jason Kelly. We're here every day bringing you the latest 0:00:05.640 --> 0:00:09.880 news from the world's of business and finance, plus technology, politics, economics, 0:00:09.960 --> 0:00:13.560 all harnessing the power of Bloomberg Business Week reporters and editors, 0:00:13.600 --> 0:00:16.640 not to mention our hundred journalists and analysts and more 0:00:16.640 --> 0:00:19.120 than a hundred and twenty countries. You can download Bloomberg 0:00:19.120 --> 0:00:22.160 Business Week on iTunes, SoundCloud, or Bloomberg dot Com. You 0:00:22.160 --> 0:00:24.280 can also listen to our radio show weekdays at two 0:00:24.320 --> 0:00:34.840 pm Eastern only on Bloomberg Radio. A little bb king here. 0:00:35.159 --> 0:00:37.360 I'm gonna say it's been an interesting week Jason so far. 0:00:37.760 --> 0:00:39.199 One of the things that we kind of kicked off 0:00:39.240 --> 0:00:42.159 the week was the zero fee band aid was kind 0:00:42.200 --> 0:00:45.640 of ripped off in terms of online trading. Charles Schwab 0:00:45.720 --> 0:00:48.839 t d amor trade eliminating commissions on trade. The investment 0:00:48.840 --> 0:00:51.519 world continues to evolve and get up ended. So here 0:00:51.560 --> 0:00:53.200 were some thoughts on what's going on in the field. 0:00:53.200 --> 0:00:56.520 Only advisory business is Greg Gore. He's senior vice president 0:00:56.520 --> 0:00:59.720 of Wealth Management, a Commonwealth financial network on site with us. 0:01:00.080 --> 0:01:03.120 I come about financial networks twenty nineteen National Conference. The 0:01:03.160 --> 0:01:06.880 world continues to change and change very quickly. What are 0:01:06.880 --> 0:01:08.520 some of the major themes that you guys are hoping 0:01:08.560 --> 0:01:12.319 to really get into at the conference this year. Yeah, 0:01:12.400 --> 0:01:16.199 I think the continued evolution UM to feel only away 0:01:16.200 --> 0:01:18.399 from commission business. I mean, that's sort of you know, 0:01:18.480 --> 0:01:22.080 old news at this point, but it continues to accelerate. UM. 0:01:22.319 --> 0:01:25.319 It's amazing that there's even I feel like that everybody 0:01:25.400 --> 0:01:29.000 isn't feel only at this point considering the environment. Yeah, 0:01:29.080 --> 0:01:32.480 and it's you know, it's not something that we necessarily 0:01:32.480 --> 0:01:35.840 want to push advisors to move to UM. It's something 0:01:35.880 --> 0:01:38.400 that I think, you know, advisors need to move with 0:01:38.440 --> 0:01:41.760 their own pace. And while everybody i think recognizes that 0:01:41.880 --> 0:01:44.120 ultimately that's where most of the industry is going to 0:01:44.240 --> 0:01:47.319 end up UM, it takes time to get there. You know, 0:01:47.840 --> 0:01:51.760 you have a very entrenched UM product manufacturing and distribution 0:01:51.840 --> 0:01:55.640 system that people have you know, used over decades, and 0:01:56.040 --> 0:01:59.480 you don't just restructure that, you know, overnight or even 0:01:59.480 --> 0:02:01.800 over the space of a couple of years. So, you know, 0:02:01.880 --> 0:02:04.160 one of the one of the approaches we take is 0:02:04.240 --> 0:02:06.440 working with advisors to lay out a timeline and a 0:02:06.560 --> 0:02:09.520 path basically to get them there in a very structured 0:02:09.520 --> 0:02:13.200 and measured way that sort of minimizes the disruption to 0:02:13.240 --> 0:02:15.640 their business and their clients. Yeah. Well, and as you 0:02:15.639 --> 0:02:18.960 walk around and talk to people here, you know, a 0:02:18.960 --> 0:02:21.040 couple of thousand people here, as we noted at the 0:02:21.120 --> 0:02:23.320 at the top of the show, what's top of mind? 0:02:23.560 --> 0:02:25.680 And you know, to sort of go down the level 0:02:25.680 --> 0:02:27.480 what's top of mind that they're saying to you, sort 0:02:27.480 --> 0:02:31.639 of filtering up from there from their clients and customers. Yeah, 0:02:31.760 --> 0:02:34.960 I think, you know, in two days into this conference, 0:02:34.960 --> 0:02:37.639 if there was one theme that's that's really obvious to me, 0:02:37.800 --> 0:02:42.200 as I think advisors are really um gravitating towards the 0:02:42.240 --> 0:02:46.760 planning and starting to sort of de emphasize a little 0:02:46.800 --> 0:02:50.040 bit the investment management interesting side of their business. And 0:02:50.400 --> 0:02:52.359 you know, I think Common Wilson is a firm has 0:02:52.400 --> 0:02:55.800 always been very planning centric. But you know, Carol, you 0:02:55.840 --> 0:02:58.519 mentioned um sort of the price wars that are going 0:02:58.520 --> 0:03:03.320 on all around investment costs, and I think, um, you know, 0:03:03.480 --> 0:03:05.800 the extent to which advisors are able to really pin 0:03:05.880 --> 0:03:08.200 their value to the planning and not the cost of 0:03:08.320 --> 0:03:11.760 investments becomes a real differentiator as this whole thing plays 0:03:11.760 --> 0:03:15.360 out going forward, you know, as long as clients look 0:03:15.480 --> 0:03:19.000 at their advisor UM and really recognize the value they're 0:03:19.040 --> 0:03:22.359 bringing apart from just investment management. UM. I think that's 0:03:22.360 --> 0:03:24.440 a very strong tide advince. I gotta think, I gotta 0:03:24.480 --> 0:03:25.760 say in terms of planning, and I know one of 0:03:25.760 --> 0:03:27.720 our guests is going to talk about this little bit 0:03:27.760 --> 0:03:31.120 later on in terms of financial education, but I do 0:03:31.280 --> 0:03:35.320 think are we getting closer to, you know, having people 0:03:35.320 --> 0:03:37.720 out of college really start with a financial plan because 0:03:37.720 --> 0:03:40.000 I think the earlier you start, the better you're going 0:03:40.000 --> 0:03:42.160 to be, especially since you're not going to have a 0:03:42.160 --> 0:03:45.120 lot of you know, retirement pensions from companies that just 0:03:45.320 --> 0:03:47.840 is going away. So I'm just curious are we getting 0:03:47.880 --> 0:03:51.360 better about that, because I think it's important. I think 0:03:51.360 --> 0:03:54.720 there's a number, um, a number of developments there. You know, 0:03:54.800 --> 0:03:56.600 there there's a lot of firms that are trying to 0:03:56.600 --> 0:04:01.480 figure out, I think, how to cater and scale millennial planning. UM. 0:04:01.520 --> 0:04:04.800 You know, the student debt that's a huge story and 0:04:04.800 --> 0:04:08.640 and helping recent grads deal with that. UM. Obviously it's 0:04:08.680 --> 0:04:11.880 an area that you know, sort of traditional financial services 0:04:11.920 --> 0:04:13.920 hasn't paid a lot of attention to. It's very much 0:04:13.960 --> 0:04:17.320 better an asset based model. UM. But but I think 0:04:17.400 --> 0:04:19.280 is this continues to play out in the shift from 0:04:19.320 --> 0:04:23.160 investment management to a more planning centric You're gonna see 0:04:23.160 --> 0:04:26.280 a lot more flat fee arrangements, You're gonna see subscription 0:04:26.320 --> 0:04:30.080 based services. Um. And I think even you know, established 0:04:30.080 --> 0:04:35.120 successful financial advisors are going to look to that market. Um. 0:04:35.160 --> 0:04:37.240 You know, is their business matures, and they've got to 0:04:37.279 --> 0:04:39.880 do a generational shift, right they have to, Right, they 0:04:39.920 --> 0:04:43.920 have to. And the subscription based element is so interesting 0:04:43.960 --> 0:04:47.040 too because you think about how, especially like our kids, 0:04:47.160 --> 0:04:49.720 you know, how they sort of consume content, how they 0:04:49.720 --> 0:04:53.880 consume information, the way that they expect to engage. I 0:04:53.920 --> 0:04:55.880 feel like if you had said to me twenty years ago, 0:04:55.920 --> 0:04:58.000 this is going to be subscription basically, like what, that 0:04:58.000 --> 0:05:01.960 doesn't make any sense. Whereas for the it's incredibly natural. 0:05:02.000 --> 0:05:04.320 And if they can roll that into the way they 0:05:04.360 --> 0:05:06.920 live the rest of their lives, it does field more 0:05:07.440 --> 0:05:10.599 not just holistic, but comfortable in a lot of ways. Yeah, 0:05:10.640 --> 0:05:13.240 I think it's just very consistent with you know, you've 0:05:13.240 --> 0:05:16.280 got a whole generation of folks now or grown up 0:05:16.279 --> 0:05:18.719 with Netflix and grown up with Amazon Prime, and you know, 0:05:18.880 --> 0:05:22.480 everything functions the sharing economy, right, you're doing everything on 0:05:22.520 --> 0:05:25.839 a monthly basis. Yeah, so it's a great entry point. Um. 0:05:25.920 --> 0:05:28.720 And then I think is, you know, these folks progress 0:05:28.760 --> 0:05:31.000 in their careers and they have more income, and their 0:05:31.080 --> 0:05:34.120 their situations get more complex. You know, maybe they migrate 0:05:34.160 --> 0:05:38.120 to a more traditional model over time. UM, but there's 0:05:38.160 --> 0:05:41.800 no shortage of participants that are going to figure out, um, 0:05:42.000 --> 0:05:45.520 how to participate in that market right in in a scalable, 0:05:45.560 --> 0:05:48.279 profitable way. How much do you guys also talk about 0:05:48.320 --> 0:05:51.240 the disruptors, whether it's Facebook, whether it's Google. You know, 0:05:51.360 --> 0:05:54.520 was it Jamie Diamond at the Bloomberg Global Business form 0:05:55.120 --> 0:05:56.680 they were asked. He was asked about like who do 0:05:56.720 --> 0:05:58.359 you keep an eye on? Are you worried about Facebook 0:05:58.360 --> 0:06:00.080 and liber and all that Stuffitely goes, Oh yeah, I 0:06:00.120 --> 0:06:03.520 watch all these guys. How about your community? UM, I 0:06:03.560 --> 0:06:07.400 think you gotta watch every every everyone and everything. Right, UM, 0:06:07.440 --> 0:06:09.840 you know you never really see the one that's going 0:06:09.880 --> 0:06:13.960 to get you, um, no matter how much you watch. UM, 0:06:14.000 --> 0:06:18.719 you know it really UM, fintech all the efforts in 0:06:18.720 --> 0:06:21.000 those spaces, and I think right now, what fintech is 0:06:21.040 --> 0:06:23.960 really focused on is trying to figure out can you 0:06:24.040 --> 0:06:28.120 really scale the financial planning, the investment management. I think 0:06:28.160 --> 0:06:33.240 that's sort of done deal that has a human element. 0:06:33.440 --> 0:06:35.599 It has a human element, and I don't know what 0:06:35.640 --> 0:06:39.000 well you can scale certain aspects of that. Um I 0:06:39.040 --> 0:06:42.279 think ultimately the human interface is always going to have 0:06:42.320 --> 0:06:44.320 a value that people are willing to pay up for. 0:06:44.920 --> 0:06:46.480 And I think especially when it comes to figure out 0:06:46.640 --> 0:06:48.479 the kind of risk somebody can deal with, and I 0:06:48.480 --> 0:06:51.720 think the nuances of that. Thank you, my pleasure. Great. 0:06:51.760 --> 0:06:54.720 Greg Gore is senior vice president of Wealth Management at 0:06:54.720 --> 0:06:58.440 Commonwealth Financial Network. What are our hosts here in Aurora, Colorado. 0:06:58.480 --> 0:07:02.400 It's common Wealth Financial Network the nineteen National Conference. Much 0:07:02.440 --> 0:07:05.320 more to come from here. We're gonna talk about all 0:07:05.360 --> 0:07:12.840 aspects of the financial world, rocking that. It was only 0:07:12.840 --> 0:07:16.600 a matter of time before we heard that. So let's 0:07:16.600 --> 0:07:19.360 get into the business of skiing. As we said, I 0:07:19.400 --> 0:07:21.760 was very excited to just think about skiing when we 0:07:21.840 --> 0:07:25.000 landed here. Rob Katz as CEO and chairman of Veil Resorts. 0:07:25.000 --> 0:07:26.960 He joins us on the phone from not too far 0:07:27.000 --> 0:07:32.040 from here, uh Boulder, Colorado, where it's certainly getting underway 0:07:32.160 --> 0:07:35.240 in terms of getting ready for the ski season. Rob, 0:07:35.280 --> 0:07:38.560 great to have you with Carolin myself. Great to be here. 0:07:38.920 --> 0:07:41.000 Thanks for coming out to Colorado and enjoining us here. 0:07:41.360 --> 0:07:44.080 I know we're excited to be here. So give us 0:07:44.120 --> 0:07:47.440 a sense of what we're going to expect, what we 0:07:47.440 --> 0:07:50.480 should expect from Veil Resorts as we get into this 0:07:50.640 --> 0:07:53.280 season in a meaningful way. What's new and different? You 0:07:53.320 --> 0:07:57.360 just did a big deal. How has the business changed? Yeah, 0:07:57.400 --> 0:07:59.240 I think, um, you know, in a couple of ways. One, 0:07:59.240 --> 0:08:01.440 I think the most thing we're most excited about right 0:08:01.440 --> 0:08:03.760 now is just that, Uh you know, we're starting to 0:08:03.800 --> 0:08:07.280 turn on the snow guns at Keystone right up the 0:08:07.360 --> 0:08:10.400 road here on I seventy in Colorado, and everybody's getting 0:08:10.400 --> 0:08:13.200 excited for another great season. Uh, So we can't wait 0:08:13.200 --> 0:08:16.720 to get that underway. From the company's perspective, yeah, big 0:08:16.760 --> 0:08:18.520 news on a couple of fronts this year. One is 0:08:18.560 --> 0:08:23.360 the Peak Resorts acquisitions, where we added seventeen new resorts 0:08:23.400 --> 0:08:26.760 to our company, which really gives skiers and riders a 0:08:26.840 --> 0:08:28.880 ton of more choices when they buy one of our 0:08:28.920 --> 0:08:31.600 pass products. The other thing that's big news for us 0:08:31.640 --> 0:08:34.959 this year is the Epic Day Path. Historically, we sold 0:08:34.960 --> 0:08:38.520 a season path that really required somebody to ski kind 0:08:38.520 --> 0:08:41.079 of four or more days and got a fifty percent 0:08:41.160 --> 0:08:45.560 off type discount. This year, we actually have introduced a one, two, 0:08:45.840 --> 0:08:48.680 and three day product so that people can get those 0:08:48.720 --> 0:08:51.200 same discounts even if they're only going to ski a 0:08:51.200 --> 0:08:53.560 couple of days for the season. So that's what's got 0:08:53.600 --> 0:08:56.559 us jazz and and help us understand the economics of 0:08:56.960 --> 0:09:00.480 that decision. Is that sort of owing to this scale 0:09:00.520 --> 0:09:02.400 that you have and sort of the volume of people 0:09:02.400 --> 0:09:04.679 you have coming through, how are you able to make 0:09:04.720 --> 0:09:07.320 that work? Um? Well, one of the things is we 0:09:07.360 --> 0:09:11.840 do tell people that to get this great discount like off, 0:09:12.040 --> 0:09:15.520 we want them to make that purchase by around Thanksgiving. 0:09:16.160 --> 0:09:19.120 Uh And and because of that, that gives us right 0:09:19.720 --> 0:09:22.160 much more certainty, allows us to plan make the right 0:09:22.200 --> 0:09:24.959 investments for the season, ensure that we keep right the 0:09:25.040 --> 0:09:27.520 quality at the absolute highest level, and it gives our 0:09:27.559 --> 0:09:30.040 guests the best discount. Yeah, I do want to rob 0:09:30.080 --> 0:09:32.720 you know how many of those season past sales? How many? 0:09:32.760 --> 0:09:34.640 How much of it do you get to really lock 0:09:34.760 --> 0:09:37.160 up early so that you do have that clear visibility 0:09:37.440 --> 0:09:39.160 in terms of spending and what the season is going 0:09:39.200 --> 0:09:42.200 to be like. Uh, in terms of overall sales, is 0:09:42.200 --> 0:09:48.319 it is it. Yeah, it's it's around uh in terms 0:09:48.320 --> 0:09:51.320 of our lip ticket revenue, a little bit under and 0:09:51.440 --> 0:09:53.800 a little bit more in terms of visits. Uh. And 0:09:53.840 --> 0:09:56.480 obviously along with that, right, a big chunk of a 0:09:56.520 --> 0:10:00.000 ski school and retail and rental lodging, right, A while 0:10:00.000 --> 0:10:02.839 of people then, because they've made that commitment, they follow 0:10:02.920 --> 0:10:05.600 through on those plans. And in particular it's because there's 0:10:05.640 --> 0:10:07.440 so much to do with our resorts, right, It's one 0:10:07.480 --> 0:10:09.600 of the things we really pride ourselves on. The skiing, 0:10:09.640 --> 0:10:11.840 of course, is why people come, but it's all those 0:10:11.840 --> 0:10:14.840 other activities that really round out the vacation. How much 0:10:14.880 --> 0:10:17.640 our repeat visitors too as well? And I'm curious, you know, 0:10:17.679 --> 0:10:19.680 if you're able to kind of hold on to somebody 0:10:19.720 --> 0:10:21.480 who comes to one of your resorts and a time 0:10:21.520 --> 0:10:25.280 again year after year, are coming back. Yeah, it's a 0:10:25.320 --> 0:10:27.960 it's a big percentage of our business. Um. And and 0:10:28.000 --> 0:10:29.640 we really look at it two ways, right, there are 0:10:29.679 --> 0:10:33.040 those resorts loyalists, um, and we're very focused on them 0:10:33.040 --> 0:10:35.360 getting them coming back to the same resort year after year. 0:10:35.640 --> 0:10:37.839 Then we have folks though, who what we we kind 0:10:37.840 --> 0:10:40.320 of call samplers, right, no matter how great of an 0:10:40.320 --> 0:10:42.480 experience they have at one of our resorts, they want 0:10:42.520 --> 0:10:44.480 to try something new the next year. And I'm sure 0:10:44.559 --> 0:10:47.000 you guys know of folks that vacation like that, some 0:10:47.000 --> 0:10:49.080 people that go back to the same place, some people 0:10:49.080 --> 0:10:51.400 that always like to try something new. And now with 0:10:51.480 --> 0:10:54.760 thirty seven resorts and sixty resorts on our path, including 0:10:54.760 --> 0:10:57.680 our partners, we really have the opportunity to serve both 0:10:57.679 --> 0:11:00.280 of those clientele right well. And Rob, one of the 0:11:00.320 --> 0:11:04.400 things that's notable I think about this latest acquisition of 0:11:04.559 --> 0:11:07.080 Peak is we're not just talking about sort of the 0:11:07.160 --> 0:11:09.760 high high end that you know the Veils and and 0:11:09.800 --> 0:11:12.440 even Keystone, I know is is not quite as fancy 0:11:12.440 --> 0:11:14.440 as Veil. I've skiped them all, um. But you know, 0:11:14.480 --> 0:11:17.400 back East, especially, you've got some you know, some names 0:11:17.400 --> 0:11:20.679 like Hunter uh and some of the names in Pennsylvania 0:11:20.720 --> 0:11:23.800 as well. So it feels like you're trying to appeal 0:11:23.880 --> 0:11:27.439 to a wider variety of consumers who maybe can't afford 0:11:27.480 --> 0:11:30.920 to hop on a plane and get out to Veil. Yeah. Absolutely, 0:11:31.000 --> 0:11:32.920 I think it's part partly that. I think it's also 0:11:32.960 --> 0:11:35.720 partly that even some of the folks who ultimately might 0:11:35.760 --> 0:11:39.320 take a vacation out west start their skiing experience on 0:11:39.400 --> 0:11:41.800 some of these smaller resorts. We now the name of 0:11:41.800 --> 0:11:44.880 our season path, the Epic Path, and we actually talk 0:11:44.960 --> 0:11:47.880 about a lot of these smaller resorts are where epics begin. 0:11:48.720 --> 0:11:52.360 I had my first experience at Hunter Mountain uh, and 0:11:52.440 --> 0:11:54.520 so we want to make sure that that first key 0:11:54.520 --> 0:11:57.960 experience that people have is a positive one, make it 0:11:58.000 --> 0:12:02.000 accessible UH, and then absolutely start getting them to try 0:12:02.000 --> 0:12:04.040 some of the other resorts. I feel like so many 0:12:04.040 --> 0:12:05.840 people I said, you know, growing up in the East 0:12:05.920 --> 0:12:07.960 Coast or on the East Coast, had their first experience 0:12:08.000 --> 0:12:10.640 at Hunter. Oh totally, yeah, absolutely. I mean I remember 0:12:10.640 --> 0:12:12.760 skiing as at Hunter as a kid, and it was 0:12:12.840 --> 0:12:15.960 lucky enough to come out to Keystone and Veil as well. 0:12:16.360 --> 0:12:18.680 Rob Cats, thank you so much, CEO and Chairman's Board. 0:12:18.679 --> 0:12:21.320 Come see us in New York for sure. Maybe we'll 0:12:21.320 --> 0:12:23.800 come see you at one of your resorts. That they 0:12:23.800 --> 0:12:25.959 are beautiful, I can attest to that. I do want 0:12:25.960 --> 0:12:29.120 to mention SunTrust, by the way, raising its price target 0:12:29.200 --> 0:12:32.400 on Veil resorts today to eight from two forty seven 0:12:32.440 --> 0:12:35.079 to reflect the company's acquisition of Peak Resources. That deal, 0:12:35.120 --> 0:12:41.360 of course closing this week. I got ma months months, 0:12:42.679 --> 0:12:46.320 all right, Well, as we delve deeper into the world 0:12:46.360 --> 0:12:49.400 of investing and really taking care of your money. We're 0:12:49.400 --> 0:12:51.720 delighted to have Sharbri More with us. She is president 0:12:51.760 --> 0:12:54.080 of more Wealth based on the other side of the 0:12:54.080 --> 0:12:57.680 country in Frederick, Maryland, back closer to our home, but 0:12:57.720 --> 0:12:59.720 she's here with us on site at Commonwealth the Nancial 0:12:59.720 --> 0:13:03.440 Network twenty nineteen National Conference. Should very great to have 0:13:03.480 --> 0:13:05.400 you with us. Thank you glad to be here. One 0:13:05.400 --> 0:13:06.840 of the reasons I think Carolin and I were both 0:13:06.880 --> 0:13:09.520 so excited to talk with you is that we spend 0:13:09.600 --> 0:13:12.080 a lot of time on this show and in other 0:13:12.160 --> 0:13:14.600 parts of our lives sort of trying to think holistically 0:13:15.200 --> 0:13:18.200 about our lives. And I think we're at this interesting 0:13:18.280 --> 0:13:22.600 moment even societally culturally, where people are taking a beat 0:13:22.640 --> 0:13:25.320 and saying, Okay, where do I want to be? What 0:13:25.360 --> 0:13:27.280 do I want to do? You know, we're sitting here 0:13:27.280 --> 0:13:30.320 in beautiful Aurora, Colorado, where it's a lot easier to 0:13:30.360 --> 0:13:34.480 have some of those big thoughts, and yet when it 0:13:34.520 --> 0:13:37.719 comes to money, people tend to be very parochial and 0:13:37.760 --> 0:13:41.360 tend to be very um limited maybe in their thinking. 0:13:41.400 --> 0:13:43.760 How do you break people out of that mindset? Yeah, 0:13:43.800 --> 0:13:45.800 that's a great question. So you know, usually when people 0:13:45.840 --> 0:13:47.880 come to speak with us, they think we're going to 0:13:47.920 --> 0:13:51.120 talk about numbers and analysis and research, and certainly we do. 0:13:51.559 --> 0:13:53.680 But a big part of our conversation is about what 0:13:53.720 --> 0:13:55.280 do you want to do, who do you want to be? 0:13:55.520 --> 0:13:58.160 What is important to you? And we like to call 0:13:58.200 --> 0:14:00.959 that research based with a heart, and that heart petis 0:14:01.080 --> 0:14:04.040 is so critical. Right, Like I remember talking to my 0:14:04.080 --> 0:14:06.040 own brother and his wife, and they have their own 0:14:06.040 --> 0:14:09.160 little whiteboard of their financial goals. And sometimes it's a 0:14:09.200 --> 0:14:11.760 new car, sometimes it's a beach house, or sometimes it's 0:14:11.800 --> 0:14:13.959 of course getting the kids to school. It's good to 0:14:14.040 --> 0:14:16.600 kind of have an idea of what someone's priorities are, 0:14:16.960 --> 0:14:19.400 take that into account, and then shape it, help them 0:14:19.440 --> 0:14:22.320 shape what they need to do. Yes, absolutely so it's 0:14:22.360 --> 0:14:25.400 having those tough conversations sometimes during their working years and 0:14:25.440 --> 0:14:28.000 also is their approaching retirement. One of the things we 0:14:28.080 --> 0:14:30.520 found is people don't know how to put their emotions 0:14:30.520 --> 0:14:33.000 in words. Uh. They may say this is what I want, 0:14:33.080 --> 0:14:34.680 but we don't know how important that is until we 0:14:34.720 --> 0:14:37.280 dig deeper. What's the toughest conversation or what are the 0:14:37.280 --> 0:14:38.960 toughest issues that you have to deal with? With some 0:14:39.000 --> 0:14:42.200 of your clients, it's usually when they're approaching retirement. So 0:14:42.440 --> 0:14:44.600 we want them to think about not just the money. 0:14:44.640 --> 0:14:46.520 We've got the money figured out. What we want to 0:14:46.520 --> 0:14:48.800 think about is who do you want to be in retirement? 0:14:49.080 --> 0:14:51.600 What is retirement? What's important? Who's important? What are you 0:14:51.640 --> 0:14:53.480 going to do? But don't you have to do that earlier? 0:14:55.680 --> 0:14:57.320 But I was just saying that to make sure that 0:14:57.360 --> 0:14:59.880 if what they want to be in retirement, they've done 0:14:59.880 --> 0:15:02.960 the planning ten twenty years before, well then that's the 0:15:03.000 --> 0:15:05.600 money part. The emotional pieces more of five to seven 0:15:05.720 --> 0:15:08.360 years before retirement, because that's when they start thinking about it. 0:15:08.400 --> 0:15:10.840 In fact, they haven't thought about it, or they're so 0:15:10.960 --> 0:15:13.640 terrified about it that they put it on the back burner. 0:15:14.200 --> 0:15:16.000 You know. We had a workshop a few years ago. 0:15:16.080 --> 0:15:19.320 Joni Youngworth, one of the managing principles from Commonwealth, came out, 0:15:19.440 --> 0:15:22.520 spoke about forty five of our clients and she ran 0:15:22.920 --> 0:15:26.480 this whole workshop by asking them those tough questions and 0:15:26.560 --> 0:15:29.680 running them through exercises individually and then also as couples 0:15:29.920 --> 0:15:32.920 to help them define what that is. And so the 0:15:33.000 --> 0:15:36.040 response was phenomenal and we still use a lot of 0:15:36.040 --> 0:15:39.080 the questions and exercises that she put them through with 0:15:39.120 --> 0:15:42.360 our clients on an individual basis, and it's been wonderful. 0:15:42.400 --> 0:15:44.560 We learned so much about that. What comes out, aren't 0:15:44.560 --> 0:15:46.640 you I'm like curious, like, what's the kind of conversation 0:15:46.760 --> 0:15:49.400 is it? Like? Uh, like, what does it come down to? 0:15:49.520 --> 0:15:52.680 Boiled out too? So it's again, they can't talk about 0:15:52.680 --> 0:15:56.720 the emotions. So we rephrase this question and we'll ask them, Okay, 0:15:57.120 --> 0:16:00.280 draw a picture for me and show me what life 0:16:00.280 --> 0:16:02.960 looks like five years into retirement, what does life look like? 0:16:03.000 --> 0:16:05.320 Ten years? What does life look like? You're not here, 0:16:05.800 --> 0:16:08.920 And so it's interesting themes come through. They draw pictures, 0:16:08.920 --> 0:16:12.120 they write words, and here's what's common. They care about 0:16:12.160 --> 0:16:16.080 the family, they care about certain causes. I never hear 0:16:16.160 --> 0:16:20.880 about possessions. It's all about time and experiences with the 0:16:20.920 --> 0:16:24.360 people they love. So you have brought your sons into 0:16:24.440 --> 0:16:28.720 your business, I believe, And it's interesting from a personal perspective. Um, 0:16:28.960 --> 0:16:31.560 the gentleman who has helped my wife and me sort 0:16:31.560 --> 0:16:33.840 of manage our money over the years has recently brought 0:16:33.840 --> 0:16:35.680 his son into the business over the past couple of years. 0:16:35.800 --> 0:16:39.200 And it's amazing to me how the perspective changes in 0:16:39.240 --> 0:16:42.400 a lot of ways. How our conversations change tell us 0:16:42.440 --> 0:16:44.720 about sort of bringing your sons in and the perspective 0:16:44.800 --> 0:16:48.560 that that that has brought because obviously, by their nature 0:16:48.600 --> 0:16:50.920 they are younger, and then they're coming at it from 0:16:50.920 --> 0:16:53.920 a slightly different perspective. What have you learned from them? Yeah, 0:16:54.000 --> 0:16:56.480 so it's really interesting. So my sons are Eric and 0:16:56.520 --> 0:17:00.640 Sean and their twenty six and thirty one respectively. They 0:17:00.640 --> 0:17:03.640 come in and they bring an energy to the practice 0:17:03.760 --> 0:17:05.840 that I think is wonderful. But they also bring fresher 0:17:05.880 --> 0:17:09.040 ideas in different ways of looking at things. So sometimes 0:17:09.080 --> 0:17:11.680 if we're stuck and saying where are we going from here? 0:17:12.280 --> 0:17:15.480 Well why not here? And just because we'll think about it, 0:17:15.520 --> 0:17:18.680 baby boomers, we've redefined everything, right, we don't follow the rules, 0:17:18.680 --> 0:17:21.360 We've changed them. I'm a baby boomer. I don't look 0:17:21.400 --> 0:17:24.640 at retirement the same way my parents did. My sons 0:17:24.640 --> 0:17:27.480 don't look at that retirement the same way we do. 0:17:27.640 --> 0:17:29.560 How are they looking at it? What have you learned 0:17:29.600 --> 0:17:32.040 from them in that perspective? Yeah, they're so young, it's 0:17:32.080 --> 0:17:33.879 kind of tough, and they think they're going to work forever. 0:17:34.000 --> 0:17:37.359 Course they've got fourty year careers ahead of them. So 0:17:37.480 --> 0:17:39.359 that's a tough picture for them. But it's interesting that 0:17:39.400 --> 0:17:41.600 you say that this idea of working forever, because I 0:17:41.640 --> 0:17:44.639 do think for baby boomers in general, there was this 0:17:44.680 --> 0:17:47.480 idea of like, I will work until age X, you know, 0:17:47.560 --> 0:17:49.479 and usually it's sixty or sixty five or whatever it's 0:17:49.480 --> 0:17:52.520 going to be, and then there's like something that happens 0:17:52.560 --> 0:17:56.800 and then I am retired, and it's a very strong 0:17:56.960 --> 0:18:00.640 move from A to B. I feel like even for 0:18:00.680 --> 0:18:03.120 folks at our age, like that's changed in terms of 0:18:03.240 --> 0:18:07.840 certainly how we think about what retirement broadly defined looks like. 0:18:07.880 --> 0:18:10.840 It feels like, yeah, absolutely, so instead of defining it 0:18:10.920 --> 0:18:12.879 is I'm retiring at sixty two or sixty five or 0:18:12.880 --> 0:18:16.120 whatever that magic number is, it's more about reinventing yourself. 0:18:16.400 --> 0:18:18.560 What am I going to do next? And it may 0:18:18.560 --> 0:18:20.280 be a career that pays money, it may just be 0:18:20.359 --> 0:18:23.280 something that you really enjoy doing. Um, it may just 0:18:23.480 --> 0:18:27.960 be volunteering. So it's changed. There isn't a defined retirement. 0:18:28.000 --> 0:18:30.639 Retirement is just that's another part of life. This is 0:18:30.640 --> 0:18:32.879 the next stage. Yeah, because I think about, you know, 0:18:33.000 --> 0:18:35.359 going back to school, you could in your retirement because 0:18:35.400 --> 0:18:37.439 you do see education changing where you can come in 0:18:37.480 --> 0:18:39.280 and pop in and maybe take a course. Well, we 0:18:39.280 --> 0:18:41.280 were talking about this with the president of Penn State. 0:18:43.119 --> 0:18:45.199 Once you go to school there, you now essentially have 0:18:45.240 --> 0:18:47.320 an idea college I d for life, and you can 0:18:47.359 --> 0:18:49.080 just pick up a course whenever you want, right, and 0:18:49.119 --> 0:18:51.239 I think you appreciate it more later. So what's your 0:18:51.240 --> 0:18:54.280 advice to somebody? So client comes to you, and you know, 0:18:54.359 --> 0:18:57.440 in terms of planning for their retirement, thinking about it holistically, 0:18:57.720 --> 0:19:00.800 what's your advice. Wow, that's going to be so dependent 0:19:00.880 --> 0:19:03.680 upon them. So really it's more not so much advice, 0:19:03.840 --> 0:19:06.920 but it's more about asking questions. So what are the 0:19:06.960 --> 0:19:09.520 questions somebody should ask themselves and kind of thinking about 0:19:09.560 --> 0:19:13.040 what they need for retirement. So sometimes it's just about 0:19:13.040 --> 0:19:15.919 writing down what your goals are and writing down I 0:19:16.040 --> 0:19:19.199 enjoy doing this, I enjoy traveling, I enjoy volunteering with 0:19:19.240 --> 0:19:22.240 this organization. I enjoy spending time with my family. I 0:19:22.320 --> 0:19:24.840 enjoy spending time with my kids. So start writing those 0:19:24.840 --> 0:19:27.280 things down and thinking about all right, this is important. 0:19:27.280 --> 0:19:29.600 Now let's prioritize it and figure out when you're going 0:19:29.640 --> 0:19:31.920 to do that, because let's be realistic. At some point 0:19:31.920 --> 0:19:34.280 in your life you're physically not capable of doing some 0:19:34.320 --> 0:19:36.400 things that you are when you're younger, So maybe we'll 0:19:36.440 --> 0:19:38.639 prioritize them and help you figure out I'm going to 0:19:38.680 --> 0:19:40.159 do this when I'm younger. I'll go climb much a 0:19:40.200 --> 0:19:42.760 peach you now, and I'll go on a cruise when 0:19:42.800 --> 0:19:46.399 I made so exactly. Yeah, So it's getting to the 0:19:46.440 --> 0:19:48.560