Business Innovators Radio - Interview with Bob Chitrathorn Co-Founder of Simplified Wealth Management- Building Your Perfect Financial House

Episode Date: October 10, 2024

Suthipong Robert Chitrathorn (or Bob for short) came from humble beginnings. Born to parents Puttachart and Sakul Chitrathorn, Bob was raised in a mobile home park in Colton, CA. His parents migrated to Michigan from Bangkok, Thailand in 1974, before settling in Southern California. As a child, Bob didn’t realize how good others had it until he ventured out of the ghetto and went over to friends’ birthday parties. There he’d witness the luxuries of living the American dream and of the possibilities that lay ahead.To the Chitrathorns, life in America was a gift and they were proud owners of property in America. They worked hard to put food on the table and to put Bob and his younger sister, Crystal, through school. Bob ate sandwiches with nothing but cheese on them, but he was blessed nonetheless. He learned that perspective made all the difference in life.In his mother’s words, “education is money in the bank.” She teaches nurses still to this day, but she and Sakul, a factory worker, sacrificed to make a better life for Bob and Crystal. They paid for both kids to go through private high school and then helped pay for college.Their dedication and sacrifice didn’t go to waste. Bob received a full ride scholarship for his first year at La Sierra University, before transferring to Cal State San Bernardino. He received his B.S. in Finance, as well as a B.S. in Real Estate, while minoring in business administration. Despite the rigorous course load, Bob graduated magna cum laude and was named part of the Golden Key Honor Society.In 2004, Bob became a financial advisor, which was an opportunity to make a good living, while helping others make the best decisions for their own financial lives. He had a short stint at H&R Block and also considered real estate, but he found his passion in personal finance. While Bob was attending CSUSB, his parents were working with an agent at New York Life. Bob always sat in on their meetings. He found that by listening to his parents’ goals and conveying the pros and cons of their decisions, that they would listen to him more often than their own advisor.When Bob became an advisor, it was a no brainer that Puttachart and Sakul would work with their son, who always listened to their needs. With over 12 years of industry experience, he now has hundreds of clients beyond his parents to guide and influence. Bob recently joined newly established Simplified Wealth Management to help grow a new brand and to help shape the next generation of financial advisors.In 2016, Bob contributed a chapter to best selling author and esteemed motivational speaker, Brian Tracy’s book. The book, “Success Manifesto: The World’s Leading Entrepreneurs & Professionals Reveal Their Secrets to Mastering Health, Wealth & Lifestyle,” was an opportunity for Bob to share his love for planning and for his clients.He holds the Series 6, Series 7, Series 63 registrations with LPL Financial, and Series 65 registration with Strategic Wealth Advisors Group, LLC, and life, health and long-term care insurance licenses. Bob has been married to the love of his life, Brittany, for five years. They live in their Riverside, CA home with their rescue dog, Mazy, a pool, putting green, and a Pittsburgh Steelers themed bar that’s perfect for Sunday Night Football.If you’re looking for Bob at 6:30 or 7 pm on a weeknight, more often than not, he’s prepping for a case or making phone calls still. His parents’ work habits weren’t lost on him and he’s usually the one at the end of the night setting the alarm and turning off the lights.Learn More: https://planwithbob.com/Bob Chitrathorn is a registered representative with, and securities offered through LPL Financial, Member FINRA/SIPC. Investment advice offered through Mariner Independent Advisor Network, LLC, a registered investment advisor. Mariner Independent Advisor Network, LLC. and Simplified Wealth Management, Inc are separate entities from LPL Financial. Dave Ramsey’s SmartVestor Pro is a directory of investment professionals. Neither Dave Ramsey nor SmartVestor are affiliates of Simplified Wealth Management or LPL.Influential Entrepreneurs with Mike Saundershttps://businessinnovatorsradio.com/influential-entrepreneurs-with-mike-saunders/Source: https://businessinnovatorsradio.com/interview-with-bob-chitrathorn-co-founder-of-simplified-wealth-management-building-your-perfect-financial-house

Welcome to influential entrepreneurs, bringing you interviews with elite business leaders and experts, sharing tips and strategies for elevating your business to the next level. Here's your host, Mike Saunders. Hello and welcome to this episode of influential entrepreneurs. This is Mike Saunders, the authority positioning coach. Today we have back with us, Bob Chitra Thorne, who's the co-founder of simplified wealth management, and we'll be talking about building your perfect financial house. Bob, welcome to the program.

Hey, Mike, how are you doing today? Hey, doing really good. Great to chat with you again. It's always a pleasure to hear your perspectives on these topics because I love how when you can talk to several people about one similar topic, there's so many perspectives. And so building your perfect financial house is a great word picture because isn't it true that, boy, you need a foundation and then what are the walls and you want to have a solid everything.

So I'm excited to hear your perspectives on this. But where do you start when you start thinking about that perfect financial house? Obviously, you have to think about the foundation, right? Exactly, Mike. You know, think of a real house. When it comes to building a real house, your financial house kind of mimics that, right? Let's say, would you start putting concrete on the ground? And then they're like, hey, I want to build a wall here.

And then I'll put a bathroom here. No, you don't do that because then all of a sudden you're knocking down walls or rebuilding, right? So the first step before you even putting down that concrete or that foundation is you need to plan for it. Right. You have architectures. You have people drawing up pictures. You have these written down plans. Right.

So things aren't just coming out of nowhere. And why do you do that, Mike? Because when you write something down, it's not set in concrete. You don't have to break the concrete apart. You can actually erase it with an eraser and fix it. Huge. You know, I love that you started. with that, you know, the blueprint, the architect, the plans.

And I would even say this, that if you're building your dream home and you're getting ready to meet with that architect, isn't it true that you've got your dream home plans in your mind? So it's been said, you know, that thoughts are things and what starts in their mind, you know, comes out of the real world. But in reality, you've got to go, hey, hon, let's build that dream house. You know, wouldn't it be nice if our dream house had and then here comes the dream house details so that the architect can, you know, put it down on that plan. And the same thing with a financial house for retirement and things. What is your perfect financial house look like? And you

got to start with that plan in your mind to then bring it to fruition. Exactly. My thoughts do become things, right? And to me, I've always believed in that, but I take it one step further, right? Thoughts become things like that dream, that dream house, right? Someone asks you, what's that dream house? When you start spilling out, you know, it has this many of rooms, this bathroom, this kind of backyard, you know, all these things start coming out that you've thought about. But what also happens when your thoughts are becoming things, your things are becoming things, you know, because, hey, you know what? Since I mentioned this pool, now that I see it on this piece of paper, I like to actually have a pool slide for my grandkids or whatever it is, right? So, you know, financial house,

same exact thing. You know, you have to think about it. You have to kind of figure out what it is that you want in a financial house. What does it look like now? What does it look like five years from now, 10 years from now, 30 years from now, right? Do these house multiplied? You get bigger houses or you're upgrading. You kind of want to have as much thoughts into your financial house as you can so that when you do, you know, tell someone about it, a financial advisor or your financial architect, if you will, it allows you to come up with more ideas, more thought processes,

and allows them to ask the question to see how reasonable it is, right? If I told an architecture or architect that, hey, I wanted to have a 10-foot water slide, well, I better have a pretty deep pool, right? I mean, I thought about that. I may have you thought about a shallow end pool. And then also you want 10 foot slide by rule of regulations to make things work. You need to have this kind of depth of a pool or this size of a pool. So it kind of makes thought become things and things become things.

Well, you know what else? It makes me think of when you're describing that you better have the right people helping you put the plan together. Because if you said I want a 10 foot slide and some other type of architect said, okay, cool. and it's going in the shallow end, if they didn't know the regulations and safety and codes and all that, they're putting something together that's not the best for you. So you better have the right team put in place. Exactly, Mike. Team is very important. Just like a financial house, right? When you have your architect who knows it ends and house of what needs to be done and how it can be done, that architect is not the perfect person to build every precise piece. Imagine a house. You hire someone, Well, the person who draws out the plans, he probably doesn't go and actually, you know, hammering the nails in the wood, right?

He has someone else who does that. He probably also doesn't go in the backyard and start digging for the pool. He has a pool contractor, a pool expert who does that, and they have their own team. So it's teams upon teams. And it really starts from, you know, the big picture and kind of going from the macro to the micro and then making sure each team is, you know, a good and, you know, a good and, reliable team. For instance, right, I am not an attorney. I do not do a living trust. I cannot do do a living trust. I am not an attorney. But 100% you better believe that every client I ever come in contact with, I tell them you need a trust. Because most people, 99 out of 100 usually do. And here's

what I do. I go, you know, so much closer, I believe that anybody who's 18 or older needs a will. Most people don't have a will done. I cannot do one. So this is why I team up with companies. and attorneys so that we have access to get these living trust in place and these wills in place, right? And one of the things I tell everybody as well is, again, if you're 18 or older, if nothing else, you better have a will just so that you can have people make health care decisions for you if you can. You don't want Joe Jim Johnson, whatever his name is, making health decisions for you, long-lost cousin. But guess what? That could happen if you don't dictate who is to make that decision for you. So that, again, is why having a will is very important.

And one of the things I help all my clients get very reasonably price as well. Yeah, that's so huge because that ties in the holistic approach, a comprehensive approach, because you would think that, oh, a will, how does that factor into my retirement? Well, maybe not directly, but the indirect is the fact that it could have this negative ramification. So Bob knows enough to know that these should be done and here's why they should be done. But let's bring in the expert to implement those. So that's huge. And I know that you work with teachers, nurses, and business owners.

Talk a little bit about why it's so important for people in those industries to have that comprehensive financial plan. It's not, I mean, not only is it important for everybody to have those comprehensive plans, but those three kind of stand out in my minds most. And I'll tell you why. It's because let's talk with teachers, all right? Teachers are educating our future, right? The kids of our future, you know, they're spending a lot of time helping, essentially our society, not just now, but also in the future. And we all know that teachers don't

get all the respect that they well deserve, right? And one of the things I've come about to realize is, you know, for us to become a better unit as society or a world or a, you know, whatever you have you, for us to become a better unit together is we need to help each other out and look out for each other. And I've come to find out the teachers, actually, I see more often than I get taken advantage of the most because what happens is what the teacher is a lot of them will go to their school and then, you know, they have a retirement plan and, you know, a couple of companies are allowed to come through the red tape and they'll go into the gym or they'll say, hey, it's, you know, time to do enrollment and, you know, they'll enroll into their work retirement plans,

usually considered a 403B. Well, what happens? is it's very micro in the sense that, hey, let's just save money. That's a good thing to do. Granted, it is a good thing to do. But the people who are helping them usually work for specific companies that are on the list that can be used. It's called a vendors list. On that vendors list, there's usually more than 30 different companies. I tell you, probably 90% of the time, when I run into a new teacher who is not already a client of mine, one of the vendors they are using is a specialized type of product that it's usually not best for them and pays a very high commission. So that's one of the reasons why it's very important and crucial for teachers to

understand, you know, the overall big picture, you know, take a look at what it is you want to get accomplished, but then also make sure that you have someone that's looking into the actual detail of what you're using and why you're using it. Because again, when I ask teachers, why do you have this? The story is the same, Mike. Well, because this guy's a guy. I said is good and it's conservative. It's kind of like saying, well, we've always done things that way in business. Well, that's not a good answer. You need to know why and you need to look at it from another perspective.

And nuances of people in those industries, teachers, and you could probably give examples the same way of nurses or business owners. They've all got needs that might be just a little bit different. And you might implement, you know, still it's a solid comprehensive financial retirement plan. But because you're a whatever, nurse or teacher, we need to do. do it this way versus that way. So I think someone working with someone like yourself that has that specialized knowledge, I think would be really, really powerful for those people in those industries.

Exactly. It's over, it's hard to imagine the things that I've been able to do and help clients. I mean, I could never have imagined this, but they make huge impacts, right? And it's not just about finances. It's also livelihood. And also it's happiness. It's, you know, being confident and being able to enjoy life and you don't have, you know, this worry over your head. There's just so much to it.

And, you know, the one place or the one reason most people don't start is because they're afraid to deal with it. And they're, oh, I'm not a good financial place. Well, guess what? If you're not a good financial place today, if you don't talk to me, what's going to make it better tomorrow? Yeah, you got it because it's coming. Tomorrow will come. So I know another aspect of your financial house is, plugging up some of the holes that could really leak out, you know, your resources.

And one of those holes is tax, taxes. And not that we can control that, but we can prepare for that. We can mitigate them. But talk a little bit about how to be tax efficient in your retirement plan and how you use those concepts for the clients that you work with. Yeah. So, again, I am not a CPA. I do align myself with very knowledgeable CPAs, right?

But if we're talking just about tax planning as a general when it comes to investment planning and what I can do as a financial advisor in regards to tax planning, there are a few general things that I can talk about. First and foremost, I can have someone, I've seen this happen, right? Someone didn't join in for the 401K. This person was saving $1 a month, which is $12,000 a year. They were not saving into the 401K because of the fact that they just never got around it. They didn't want to read the forms. I don't want to say lazy. It's just that it felt like it's going to be too much work for them.

So what did they do? They opened up an investment account and, you know, they were saving in mutual funds. They understood mutual funds. They were saving a mutual funds $1,000 a month. Their situation here was their game plan was to save for the future. They had no needs to use the dollars, you know, it was planned for 10, 15, 20 years down the road. What they didn't understand is as their money was growing in these mutual funds, they were paying taxes on the growth.

You know, just like you wouldn't get a interest rate from a CD or a savings account. You pay taxes on that gain. So they were paying taxes on these gains. So we just had a quick conversation. And I just told them, hey, you know, if you've put into your 401K, one, that $1 is not being taxed. It's going into your 401k before you ever receive it. So it's pre-tax dollars.

So your return right there is already a return. Right? your tax rate is. Right? So he's kind of getting that. And then on top of that, it grows tax deferred, which means as the money grows, instead of being taxed like it would, how it was in his mutual fund or how a person would have it in the generic saving account, well, now as it grows, it's not being taxed.

And the more money. The company might even contribute a little bit. Some companies will contribute, right? Many companies will. So there's extra free money. So I didn't have anything magical for this person. All I did was, I did not tell him. to save more, save less.

I just help will understand that, hey, you're already doing this. Let's do it more efficient. So it's going to help you meet your goals sooner around and later and add all these extra value to it. And literally, that's just one of the very many things that advisors do. And that's probably, I mean, that's so simplistic, but yet so drastic and makes a huge impact. Yeah. So 401K, that was one area. Where are some other areas that someone might be overpaying on taxes that they might

want to be checking into their situation. Yeah, okay. So let's talk about, again, keeping everything in general, right? We don't ever talk about specific products because every vehicle is different for other people. There's lots out there. But let's kind of paint a picture. Imagine this, Mike.

Let's just say that when you retire, you need $100,000 a year. Plain and simple. And let's just imagine that the IRS has a tax rule, the U.S. a tax rule that says anybody who takes out $95,000 or less has a, again, I'm just making this up, has a tax rate of 10%. Anybody who brings in more income to $95,000 a year, automatically next tax bracket is 30%. Wow. Yeah. Okay. Now imagine this, regardless of the fact, Mike, you need $100,000. So you get $95,000 taxed 10%, but you still need that other money, right, to make it up to 100.

Well, two things have to happen. We have to account for the fact that you just lost 10% on the 95,000, so we have to make that up to get you the 100, which means we have to take out even more than 5,000. Which triggers the 30%, so you got to factor that in. Yep. And then you have to take out even more, right? You make that all net 100,000. Well, imagine this. Imagine if you had and learn many years before you retire, you know, for instance, a Roth IRA.

A Roth IRA allows you to take money out tax-free. So in this example, you essentially will take out $95,000 out of your taxable income, 401Ks, pensions, social care, what have you. And after you pay your 10% tax on the $95,000, you would take the rest out of your Roth IRA to get you to that net 100. And then you're not paying taxes on that Roth IRA. So because you're taking out the extra five grand, you're not jumping up into the next tax bracket because it's not taxable as income.

Yeah, and I know that those tax brackets are examples only because who knows what the situation is. And tomorrow, the tax rates and brackets could change and the next day they could change. So we know all of that can change, but the concept still remains. If you need to take it out, you're going to get taxed. And then if this bracket, you have to know that. And it's not a simple Google search. You can't just go, how much can I and should I? You've got to work with someone that knows what they're doing.

So when you start working with clients and you're noticing. some of these things. What are some of the tax saving strategies that you would recommend? Like you've mentioned, the Roth IRA, how far ahead of retirement should you be putting that into place for that tax saving strategy? Oh, man, I would say yesterday. Yeah. I mean, why not at age 21? You know, like, here's an example from a personal side of things. I personally have a daughter who is 24, and I told her open up a Roth IRA. Well, that's many, many, many years before she retires, but I know the same value that you just described.

So, yeah, if you don't have it set up today, yesterday, but start as early as possible, right? Yeah, and you're listening to this podcast and you're wondering, okay, well, Bob says why, or start yesterday, why yesterday? Well, again, that's a little bit too in depth for a quick podcast, but if you talk to any financial advisor and you ask them, why should I have started a Roth IRA yesterday,

today, they can easily run numbers for you, five years, 10 years, 15 years down the road, and you'll easily understand the concept once shown. And I think that that kind of moves into something else I was thinking of is kind of like knowledge. I think that, A, knowledge is power is a fallacy because knowledge is just knowledge. You've got to implement it to get the power. But how can people overcome like their fear of not knowing what they don't know? Like there's so many times people will learn something and go, I had no clue that was a thing.

you know that you don't know what you don't know when they're thinking about retirement and financial planning how can they overcome that fear and kind of get you know empowered with that financial knowledge well i mean mike i think of you've gone through the same thing as i have that i'm about to talk about here but again we we both understand we don't know what we don't know mention that to someone who's never thought about it they would agree yeah no one's going to argue they don't know you know everyone's going to agree yes they don't know what they don't know Now when it comes to financial planning, right, it's a hurdle because you think this is the best thing to do, you know, this is safe, this is that, or whatever it is. Again, remember, you don't know what you don't know.

Now, when you're asking me, hey, you know what, if they realize they don't know what they don't know, what helps them get to the next step, what's going to make it more confident for them to get to the next step. Well, just look at your own life, right? Think about something. And one of the easiest things that I used to relate to clients is this. if you knew now, right, and you were able to know that 10 years ago, when life had been different. Yeah. Most people would say, yeah.

It's kind of like knowing the end of the movie. What I know now, life would be different. Yep. Well, that's just talking about a random thing, you know, whatever that may be. Now, I'll apply that to finances. Same thing's going to hold true. It gives you peace of mind because you know you've put some things into place and you know that as long as those things, you know, move in the direction

that they're intended, they're going to execute, right? And it kind of gives you a little bit of that fear relief and gives you peace of mind. Exactly. Again, it goes back to, hey, if you wouldn't know 10 years ago, what you know now, you would have done things a little bit differently, not in finances, whatever it is. You would have made things better. Well, again, you're kind of saving yourself from saying that 10 years from now in regards to finance because now you're learning it now.

So where do you start to educate yourself? I mean, I know that I've facetiously, you know, mentioned, oh, don't just go Google it. But Google is a wonderful resource, but still, there are some things that people need to go, okay, where do I start? Do I just go buy some books or go to courses? What are some of those things that people can educate themselves about financial planning? Yeah, I mean, you can go and, you know, depend on the type of person you are and how much time you have available. You can easily go and get books, right?

An example is, I don't know how to build a car. I couldn't build a car at all. But I think that if I had a book, I could read books and follow some guides and might not be able to make a really nice car, but I think I could probably build something that runs a little bit, right? Well, I kind of feel like finance is the same way. If you don't know how to build a car, because that's not what you do, well, learning all about finance is going to be difficult, too, because some people spend years learning these things. For instance, I got my BS in finance, my BS in real estate. I've been a financial advisor for over 20 years, and I am still learning things. I still go to continue education.

I still go to educational seminars and webinars and I've learned things that I didn't know before. I'm continuously learning. So, you know, going to a book, yeah, it can give you some sort of good foundation that maybe you can ask someone when they're building your car and know a little bit about. But I just don't know if you're going to get enough information so that you can actually build your own car. or in this situation, build your own financial house because there's lots of things out there that you just have an experience and that you may never experience because that's not what you do for a living. You know, I'm with you on building a car.

I can drive it, but I couldn't turn a wrench to fix anything to save my life. But it made me think of something. We can go online or read books about working out, gaining 20 pounds, losing 20 pounds, nutrition diets. But sometimes that provides confusion. but if you were to work with a personal trainer and say, okay, I'm going to take you to the gym, I'm going to show you what to do, I'm going to help meal plan.

I'm going to actually come and cook the meals for you, and I'm going to show up at your doorstep four mornings a week. That accountability, that encouragement, that knowledge is going to really, really give the results. So I think that ties into you need to have the education, but you need to be getting the education from someone that knows what they're doing and is going to hold you accountable and help you get it implemented, right? Exactly.

I love that personal trainer. analogy because it applies specifically to me in the sense that, hey, I want to get in better shape. I want to do better. So, you know, I work from home part time, right? So it's kind of funny, but when I'm working from home, anytime I leave my home office, I'll go do 10 or 15 pounds real quick. You know, I'm about to go to the bathroom. I'll do that real quick.

Just because I want to get in better shape, I know that's doing something because it does help. It's better than nothing. But I also know in my core, if I hired a. personal trainer that I would get in better health, better, you know, better shape, muscular, what have you, a lot quicker. Quicker, yeah. Here's a thing. As of right now, that's not something I really want to do.

You know, I just feel like I don't have time for it, this and that. And I have to make peace with it, that I am not going to be in the best shape that I possibly can be. And that's my choice, my decision. Finances is the same thing. It's your decision. If you don't want to take the time to work on your finances, then you better be okay with your finances being the way they are and staying the way they are. Yeah, maybe they'll

prove a little bit here and there, which is still great, but it's up to you. If you really want to, you know, get trimmed or really want a great financial plan, you got to take the steps to do something and move forward. And again, it's just getting that advisor or that trainer, that coach. You know, I like to be more of a teacher when I coach and I tell people, hey, if you want to learn anything about finances, send me an email, give me a call. I mean, I love talking to people. I love educating people. You know, if nothing else, that's going to help you. Yeah.

And it also makes me think as well about if you were, you know, the old engineering phrase, IFTT, T, T, if this, then that. If I continue doing things the way I'm doing physically or financially, where's it going to lead? So if you really sit down and go, okay, let me talk to someone at least to say, here's my financial situation now at age X. what's it going to look like when I get to retirement age of why? And if you're not happy with what that could turn out to be, then you better sit down and figure it out because retirement is going to come.

You're going to get to the point where you need to cut back from work and need those retirement funds. So it's not like saying there's a meteor that's going to hit Earth. That's highly unlikely. But it is very likely that we're going to need to really, really have a good solid plan for retirement. But doesn't that lead to kind of what I was mentioning earlier, like that piece of mind? And having a financial plan and having your house in order really would contribute to some current and long-term happiness and security, right? Yeah, I mean, exactly. And again, I love the personal trainer and, you know, kind of talking about health and weight and things of that nature because it really intertwines well.

Because, again, yes, I can be doing the same thing I'm doing now. If I just ask the personal trainer, they can say this, Bob, keep doing what you're doing. Nothing's going to change. you're going to be the same 20 years from now. At least I know. Or they could say, hey, Bob, you know what? Actually, you keep doing what you're doing. You're going to gain 35 pounds by the time you're X age,

and you'll have high blood pressure, you know, if you keep doing what you're doing. Or you make some tiny and little tweak. It's not going to make you buff, Bob. It's not going to put you in the best health, but you make one tiny and little tweak that doesn't really sacrifice your lifestyle whatsoever, unless it's called that tweak.

Hey, Bob, instead of adding five drips of stuff, salt on your food every time you do it at three. It's not going to really change the taste of your food, right? Food already has salt anyway. I'm just going from five to three. Boom. Now the trainer says, now you won't gain the weight and you won't have high blood pressure. Again, we can't, you know, guarantee you the future. But hey, that's a fine, that's a very small tweak that he taught me that's not changing my lifestyle at all. And guess what? It's giving me more peace of mind already. Now imagine my picture's brain by like, well, hey, Mr. Trainer, what if I actually want to lose five pounds and I want to actually do this. They'll give me more little tiny things to tweak.

Because they're customizing it for you based on their broad knowledge of the industry. And the same thing goes with, you know, like what we were saying earlier about nurses, teachers, business owners, financial planning and retirement planning is broad. But when we can dial it into that specific person, now it really comes to life and the power really is evident. Yeah, and what's great about it is, you know, Dave Ramsey talks about baby steps. If you listen to his podcast, you'll hear people that had so much in debt and now they're out of debt. And all they did was take little tiny baby steps, right? Life is a bunch of steps, little tiny tweaks.

Now, I can give someone 20 financial tweaks that's going to change their whole life and make it so much, you know, allow them for a lot more opportunity. But 20 tweaks might be a lot. That's just going to cause them to freeze and probably do nothing. Just do a little tiny tweaks at a time. And then all of a sudden, you know, down, years down the road, you've done 15 tweaks and it doesn't feel like you've done any tweaks because it's just so natural. Because there's like the compound effect. One little thing built upon the other, but not one of them of the steps was so overwhelming

that you just got frustrated. They were just tiny. And I think that's a great analogy. So, Bob, let's wrap up with this. Where does someone start? You know, what steps can they take to start building that financial house properly? What resources of tools? What do you recommend for?

you know, kind of continuing their education. Where's kind of like a little quick three-step plan to move forward? Yeah, easy three-step plan to move forward is, one, I would say, be realistic and take a look at your situation. Right. You don't need to call financial advisor. You don't need to call anybody for this. Just take a look at your situation and are you happy? Are you okay with their situation?

Can you maintain this for the next 20 years and still be happy? Or whatever gets a little bit worse? are you still going to be happy? Because you have to plan for things to get a little bit worse, right? That's just how I work in a kind of a worst case scenario. So, you know, if you're floating in debt and you're okay with it, what have you had another $5,000 in debt and had to pay that much more for a month, five years down a road? Are you okay with that? Find out where you are, what you're okay with and what you're not okay with. If you're not okay with your current situation, figure out what it is that you want. Very simple. Someone could be, you know what? I have $15,000 in credit card debt. I'm paying $1,000. $500 a month towards that. I pay off my credit card, but then it comes back. It always seems to revolve around $15,000. I don't want that. Okay, now you didn't know you don't want that. Figure out how you get to the next step so you don't have that. It's not a huge step. Just kind of figure out what you're doing, what needs to be done. You can contact the financial

advisor or you can figure out on your own, you know, do some research, Google, find ways to get out of debt. One way is to stop using your credit cards, right? Keep paying off your credit cards. Don't use it anymore. Every time you use your credit card, use it as cash. You know, that's two basic steps right there. And then that's going to lead you as an individual to what you want to do next, right? What's the third step? Again, you can decide to talk to a financial advisor. You can look up a different type of financial app out there. All these things are going to help you. It's just a matter of how much help do you want. But the easiest way to start, right, that's really that I find gets people going is take a look at your current situation.

Are you happy with it? If you're not, why not? What would change it so that you are happy? Likewise, if you're already happy with your financial situation, you're making great money, you have lots of money saved, you actually think you can retire today if you wanted to, right? That's fine. But then also take a look at what would it take to make you feel more confident than you do today

about your finances? either which way you look at it, it's going to prompt you to do something. Whatever it is you do, little steps, big steps, call somebody, don't call somebody, whatever it is that you do, it's going to help improve your situation. If nothing else, it's going to make you feel better about your situation because you know you're trying to do something about it. Yep, I love it. Well, Bob, it's been a real pleasure learning from you.

Great, great pieces of advice for those baby steps and getting educated. If someone is interested in learning a little bit more about you and how to reach out connect with you. What's the best way they can do that? Oh, very, very simple. You can go to my website, plenty ways to connect with me there, which is plan with bob.com. You can always send me an email, Bob at simplified a wealth.com. I just recommend going to the website, plan with bob.com, get my info there. And again, don't hesitate. You just have generic questions or you think that, hey, you know what, this person, Bob will not want to help me because I'm very, you know, I just have this to deal with or work with. Don't, don't be your own hurdle, right? Ask.

I'm here to help. I love it. Well, Bob, thank you so much for coming back on. It's been a real pleasure talking with you. You too, Mike. I hope you have a great day and talk to you soon. You've been listening to Influential Entrepreneurs with Mike Saunders. To learn more about the resources mentioned on today's show or listen to past episodes,

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