Common Sense Financial Podcast

Jessie Naeger, an expert in estate planning, discusses the importance of estate planning for everyone, debunking the misconception that it's only for the wealthy. She emphasizes the need to plan ahead and have the proper legal documents in place, highlighting the risks and complexities involved. The podcast also explores the difference between trusts and wills, the challenges of generational planning, and strategies for managing generational trusts to create more wealth for future generations.

Traditional public markets have been historically viewed as normal when it comes to investing but over the last decade we have seen a shift in this attitude toward finding alternatives to the stock market. Though we have been seeing a shift in investor behavior and attitude about markets for quite some time, COVID has brought a sense of urgency to the conversation for finding an alternative to traditional markets. And it is not difficult to understand why. The abrupt volatility that investors have experienced lately has them going from peak to valley in the matter of days. And any rational investor at one point or another has questioned if there is a better way. Now to be clear, there is risk in any type if investment. There is no unicorn that can deliver all things good but I do believe that a new normal is taking shape that offers investors an updated paradigm of what diversification really is. Whether you realized that this was happening or not, this path is already being paved by forward thinking investors and money managers who recognized this shift several years ago and are now operating under a new normal. I believe what we are discussing here is the answer to what many investors are asking for and its why I decided to spend time today sharing this information with you. Today I have on with us portfolio manager Daniel Wildermuth to discuss the growing interest in private markets and how they differ from public markets.

I am sure you would agree that if you talk with ten people regarding any subject, you're liable to get ten differing opinions from those people. Opinions are everywhere and I believe they are the #1 reason most people live their entire lives thinking a lot of things are true when they are actually false. I became a Christian in November of 1998, I was operating my financial business and raising kids while learning as much as I could about my new faith as a Christian. What I learned fairly quickly is that Christians have some pretty strong opinions about a lot of things and money is definitely on that list. I know this because as people would find out that I was in finance they would approach me and freely share their views and opinions about what they thought a Christian should think about and do with money. So with that, today’s podcast is going to be a little different. I had the opportunity to sit down with my pastor Kenny Qualls recently and had a real life conversation about wealth and the bible. He has served as President and Associate Executive Director for the Missouri Baptist Convention, Executive Committee member for The Southern Baptist Convention, President of the National Large Church Roundtable and Ambassador to Missouri for The North American Mission Board. He is heavily involved in global missions, is a mentor to young pastors and is a well-respected leader within our community here in St Louis. For the last 15 years, he has served as the senior pastor of First Baptist Church of Arnold where my family has attended for the last 20+ years.

CSFP 033 | The #1 Thing That Successful Investors Are Doing That Average Investors Aren't by Brian Skrobonja: Author, Financial Advisor, Entrepreneur

One thing I have learned over the last six months during a time of growing markets and economy to a sudden shift of social distancing and virtual workplaces due to the covid-19 pandemic, is that people are motivated by two emotions, Fear and Greed. I know reading this can almost seem insensitive or downright offensive but it’s the truth. Think about it... As a parent, business owner, friend, employee, spouse or neighbor, our emotions can lead us into making decisions that we can reflect back on after the emotion passes to realize maybe we could have done better. I see this all the time with people when it comes to investment decisions. When markets are good, people believe markets will go higher and they become eager to ride the markets higher. And when markets are bad, people believe markets will go lower and can experience an onset of panic that if not managed can lead to bad decisions.

“The Truth Will Set You Free!” This is a phrase we have all heard and it originated in the New Testament in John 8:32, when Jesus said to the new believers, “you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.” Whether you are trying to figure out the destination of your soul and the meaning of life or simply trying to figure out how to be smart with money and build real wealth, you have to know the truth. You have to know what is real and not just theory, what is fact and not fiction, what is truth and not just opinion. Opinions are like a beating heart, everyone has one and they flow from each of us like breath but you have to protect yourself from being a collector of opinions and be a seeker of truth. People often speak with confidence when sharing their theories, ideas, and opinions explaining them as facts. People also tend to show only what they want you to see. Social media is a huge part of our society these days and if you spend anytime on it at all you quickly discover that everyone is more successful than you are, they have nicer cars, take nicer vacations and their family is better than yours. That is all of course a lie but it can still leave you having these feelings and the feelings can drive behavior. It doesn’t have to be social media, it can be anything that influences your way of thinking. All can lead to irrational decision making and living in this gap between fact and fiction. The Gap is the space between what you think you should be doing and what you actually should be doing.…It is this space between what you think you know and what you don’t know. The biggest mistakes are made in this gap. In this podcast I will discuss The 6 Biggest Mistakes of 2019 and how to avoid them in 2020.

The most wealthy and financially independent people I know realize something that most people don’t. They realize that wealth…true financial independence… is not found in the amount of money that you have. That is what most people believe… they think that if they have a lot of money saved that they will have this sense of independence. And there is some truth to that…accumulating a lot of money is a great accomplishment in this consumer driven society. In this podcast I want to share with you this simple paradigm shift that I believe could be the most significant money lesson you ever learn.

Pensions are becoming more and more of a dinosaur as companies are moving away from them and are replacing them with 401k type plans. There are multitudes of reason why this shift is occurring but the primary reason is due to the simple fact that pensions are unsustainable. Pension had their hay day in the 1960s but began to fail opening the door for the government to enter the picture. The truth is, pensions have been struggling to keep their head above water ever since and outside of government are no longer viable. The point is that at one time pensions were as common as 401k’s are today but times are changing and if you have a pension there are things you should consider to protect yourself from a financial crisis. Whether you are drawing a pension now or are planning to draw from one in your retirement, what I will share in this podcast may impact your future benefits.

The goal of every business owner is to increase and expand income sources and grow profits while minimizing what is needed to generate the income. To grow your income, you can do more of what it is that you do that creates revenue or find ways to tweak your systems that will result in an increase in cash flow without the need to create more revenue. Know and understand your cash flow needs. Plugging leaks in your spending can increase cash flow and your ability to invest back into your company. Anticipate your future cash needs can free you from relying on a bank to lend you money giving you the benefit of EARNING interest instead of PAYING interest. Overpaying your taxes when there are legal and ethical ways to reduce them is wiliness on your part to overpay your taxes and voluntarily give up precious resources that you could be using for your business. Whether you want to build a business to sell or build a business for generating a stream of income for yourself…the goal should be to have a business that runs and operates without your day-to-day involvement.

Money is a HUGE part of our life yet schools don’t spend time teaching us how to manage it and most families don’t share their experiences with one another. Without guidance and learning best practices to achieve success, we are set up for FAILURE before we even begin our relationship with money. It seems reasonable to believe that it would be a good idea to acquire some training on how to effectively think about and handle money BEFORE we get started. These are a few basic points about handling and thinking about money that I believe are the FOUNDATION for all other decisions you will ever need to make with money. • Everything is about cash flow • Work to control the outcome • Average rates of return are misleading • The government is not your friend • Unicorns aren’t real. • Banks are not your friends • Projections are made up • Don’t be a consumer • Know the difference between leverage and debt