Business Innovators Radio - Interview with Cameron Bryant Founder of Found Revenue Solutions & Senior Retirement Specialist at Federal Employees Services Association

Episode Date: June 12, 2024

Over 33 years of experience in working with Business Owners, Seniors, Federal employees, and Franchisees in the planning and development of Tax-Favored Retirement plans, Living Trusts, Buy/Sell Agreements, Executive Bonus Plans Marketing and Wellness Benefit programs. I was able to work exclusively with the Franchisee of 7-11, Mobil, Shell, Hallmark, and Yamaha to create personal as well as business Retirement Plans. Working now exclusively with Federal Employees and retirees in helping them understand their benefits and helping them to retire with a sound and stable plan.Learn More:https://www.linkedin.com/in/cameron-bryant-48b51014/Please be advised that any information provided in this correspondence shall not be construed by any person as legal, tax, investment, or accounting advice. This message and any accompanying attachments may contain confidential, legal, and/or privileged information.Influential Entrepreneurs with Mike Saundershttps://businessinnovatorsradio.com/influential-entrepreneurs-with-mike-saunders/Source: https://businessinnovatorsradio.com/interview-with-cameron-bryant-founder-of-found-revenue-solutions-senior-retirement-specialist-at-federal-employees-services-association

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 with us Cameron Bryant, who's the founder of Found Revenue Solutions and Senior Retirement Specialist at Federal Employees Services Association. Cameron, welcome to the program.

Hey, thanks, Mike. Great to be here. Yeah, I'm excited to talk to you and learn about what you do because the name found revenue sounds really intriguing because if there's revenue to be found, I know I want to find it. So I want to hear about what you do. But before we dive into that, give us a little bit of your story and your background and how did you get into the financial services industry?

How I got started was my big brother. My big brother was fairly high up at Mass Mutual. And he asked me, actually he asked me over a few years. He kept asking me, kept asking me to join him. And I finally caved and joined him and started helping people. And that was about 33 years ago now. So my big brother got me involved and I've just taken off with it and enjoyed it very much helping a lot of people. So that's how I got started right there.

Well, it's interesting that he saw something in you and kept at it. It wasn't just like, oh, you ought to think about this. And then you used a really intriguing word help. So you didn't say, oh, you know what? I found this industry where I could make just loads of money. No, you said, I love helping people. And that's the approach that people want to understand when someone in financial services is giving them guidance, right? I don't want to be sold products or told what to do.

I want to learn and be educated and understand and receive that help. So I think that is really spectacular. So tell us a little bit about your roles at Found Revenue Solutions. What is that approach? And then also what you do with the Federal Employee Services Association. Sure, yeah. So with Found Revenue Solutions, it's really all-encompassing helping people retire and helping them retire with a bulletproof retirement program.

So they have balance and they have stability in retirement. More importantly, that they have enough income in retirement, which is really overlooked. So we do a full analysis to make sure that they are covered, that they have everything that they're going to need during their retirement years. And then when we work with the federal employees, same thing. the concept there is to make sure that they understand their pension, that they understand their social security. We have a social security review for them and then make sure, again, that they have enough income coming in in their retirement years. It's a big wake-up call for a lot

of people when they actually figure out what that income is going to be and how short they could be unless we do some planning. Well, let's talk about that wake-up call because when I hear Gap, that's typically not a good thing, right? Like, hey, in retirement, you need X number of dollars, but it looks like you're only going to have this much. And here's a gap. How are we going to get there? So I find when I talk to advisors, many times they kind of put on their life coach

hat, you know, so do you ever feel like you're like the life coach going, hey, well, what does retirement mean to you? But in reality, you really do need to help paint that picture and go, let's think about what you're going to be doing in retirement and the money you need. And I would venture to say that you find that sometimes people have misconceptions like, oh, I'm only going to need X number of retirement. But then as you start talking to them, you're like, well, you know, if you're not working 40 hours a week, aren't you going to have more time to go out and do this and this and travel?

That's going to take money. And oh, yeah, I guess I am going to need more than that. Right, right. It's very important to find out. I ask them, what is the amount of money that you're going to need to live on? And then we find out what is the amount of money that you want to see? spend in retirement. And those are going to be two different numbers. And what we want to solve for and find a solution for is their spend money, because that's going to be important to figure out

how much they are going to actually get on a monthly basis. That's the most important thing in retirement. And so that's what we really take a look at to make sure that's covered. That's the gap, so to speak. What is that income gap? How vast and white? is it? So what are some of the things that you find when you're talking to clients that they don't really realize that it becomes the light bulb moment? Like, oh, my word, I didn't think about that we're going to need to spend money on. I would say when we start going through their monthly liabilities, what are their monthly

cost? And we start going down the list and it keeps going and going and going. And they're like, wow, I didn't know I was putting this. much money out or hey, that's quite a bit of money that's going out. And then we try to figure out, okay, now what can we do? You're going to have your pension and you're going to have your social security. What other asset can we find that is going to provide you another stream of income that is guaranteed? And a lot of times, especially with the federal employees, you know, we can put together a program where they're going to make as much money or even

more money in retirement by putting these strategies altogether. So when you can tell someone who's looking at retiring in three years and we go through everything and say, well, wait a minute, if you do this and this, you can retire next year. That's a big difference for these people because a lot of these people want to get out as soon as possible. So if they can retire a few, three, four years early because of the program and the strategy that we're putting together for them, they're very happy and their spouse is very happy. Yeah, that's a really, really good point. And so what are some of those strategies that you're

typically, you know, looking at for them just to give them guidance on? A protected, guaranteed IRA, a retirement vehicle that's going to provide a guaranteed income stream. So that's, that's, the real benefit on that, too, especially for a married couple, is with the, a lot of times, say, for example, the federal employee, if the federal employee passes away, then the spouse gets 50% of that federal benefit for them, right? On these programs, on the third pension that we put together for them, we make it so it's 100% equal for both. So no matter who passes away, the surviving spouse is still going to receive 100% of that income stream every month for as long as they live. Wow. So I heard you use the word protected and the word guarantee. So talk a little bit about how those two things come together to provide that kind of peace of mind for what your clients actually really are looking for, you know? Protected meaning it's protected from market risk so they can't lose money due to market risk. Protected from lawsuits. That's important. Protected from probate court. That's important.

And the guarantees are set forth by the financial institutions out there. So obviously we want to work with the stronger financial institutions, A-rated institutions out there that provide those guarantees. So that's what we mean by that. You know, I think that that's so important to think about. And I want to just ask your opinion on the concept of keeping money, quote, unquote, in the market. and then in some of the other vehicles that have those protected levels in there and guarantees because, you know, when you get to that retirement age, you don't want to be opening up your mail with your statements and seeing just massive losses because the market took a hit, right?

So that's kind of some of the peace of mind that you're providing to your clients. Yes, exactly. You know, just the reminder that everybody has is back in 2008 when the market cratered, right? everything just tumbled down. And so when I was meeting with folks back then that were getting ready to retire, the average loss in the 401k and the TSP's was over 35%. So obviously people that were getting ready to retire that year or within the next even three, four years, couldn't do it.

There was a big, huge change of plans. It's like, well, I guess I'm not going to retire next year. They had all of their money exposed to risk, and they paid the price. price for it. So obviously, everybody has a different risk tolerance. So you're going to have a portion or a percentage of your money in the market, and you're going to have a percentage of your money that's protected and guaranteed. And that's what we go through is to find out what is that mix for you, right? It's not all one or all the other. It's what is that balance that's going to work for you and keep you protected and give you peace of mind. And does it that mix change based on

age and need. So for instance, you might have that mix be one certain percentage, you know, 80, 20, 70, 30, whatever when you're in your 40s, but then all of a sudden when you're doing your annual reviews and hey, guys, it looks like you've, you know, you hit 50 here. So now they start trying to adjust this mix. How does that percentage change as you get closer and closer to retirement? Exactly right. It's going to change, right? And it's going to be more conservative the older that you get, right? So that's what we're going to take a look at is you're going to have less exposure to risk the older you get. But again, it's all personal too, right? I have some people that they're gamblers, as I call them, and they're going to gamble away. They're going to protect

a portion of their money, right? But, you know, I give them the recommendation and then they're going to say, okay, yep, that totally makes sense. I understand that. I got to protect that, especially, you know, if they've gone through 01, 2002, and 08, oh, 09, where they've seen how devastating it was either for them or their coworkers, how much money has been lost and what they lost. So, yeah, they understand that, yeah, I do need to have protection for a percentage of my accounts. And that percentage does definitely go up the older you get. You don't want to sit there at 65 and, you know, have 80% of your portfolio at risk and then lose 30%. that that's just not going to bode well for your retirement. Because once that happens, and I'm kind of putting myself in that position, like,

ooh, what if I was in that position and here's this big drop? Well, you feel like I've got to get it back. And then you're going to be tempted to take unnecessary risk to try to get it back. And if you lost 30% of your portfolio, that doesn't mean that you need to see 30% gains. you've got to probably see 45% gains, you know, whatever. But then you're tempted to take on that extra risk. So don't put yourself with that position. Don't have the swings and the volatility.

Make sure that you've got, you know, that steady eddy wins the game all the time, I would suspect. Yeah, definitely. It definitely does. And some people fall into what I call that, that Las Vegas mentality. You know, they stay at that table a little too long. Yep. And now they're trying to, you know, take even more risk. and spread the money over to this area and this area and maybe I can get it back here.

And then it just, it's not, it's not a good scene. So we want to avoid that. We want to just make sure, again, the key word is balance. Have a balance in your portfolio. So you know for sure you have that money that's protected, as I call your sleep at night money, right? You can sleep at night knowing that money's protected. And then you're going to have some money that's going to be at risk and that's

understandable. But again, that risk is going to be mitigated. It's not going to be fully exposed, but just some risk. Yep. And it's the percentage of risk that you're comfortable with because you've already thought about it in advance. It's kind of like don't go to the grocery store when you're starving because you're going to buy food that just looks great. Just grab it. It's not going to be the healthiest choices.

So, you know, make sure you have that amount of risk based on, you know, level-headed balance thinking. You know, there's another when we think about the word risk, what are some things that kind of come against us in retirement like taxes? So, you know, from a broad perspective, I know we could spend days on that topic alone, but what is some of your advice that you give your clients as they approach retirement in dealing with their retirement portfolio as it relates to preparing for taxes? Well, there's different avenues to take. I mean, we have to take a look at obviously what tax bracket they're currently in and then find out how the new income is going to be, the income. at retirement, and that's going to parlay out for them in retirement to see what tax bracket through. You know, that's, that part I'm going to shift over to my CPA and the tax team that goes through that stuff. But, I mean, that's partly a way to go through it. There are some nice

ways now, some very, very, very nice programs that have now been put together that can help people if they want to transfer some of their IRA or 401k money into the Roth program, there's ways to do that in a very smart fashion over a period of time. So they're not getting hit all at once with taxes. And obviously the Roth concept has been really, and I'd say it's been taken off. I'd say the last couple years that I'm seeing with people and with our practice where they're looking to transfer some funds into the Roth program.

Because as people know, when you have the Roth and you want to take that money out of your Roth down the road, you're not paying any taxes on that money during your retirement. So, yeah, there's definitely programs, some very advanced, nice programs that we have available where people can put their assets in and then over a gradual period of time, transfer over to the Roth side so that lessens the taxes for them. from. You know, and that's a big piece to think about is, why might I take a hit now? You know, like over a period of years to take some tax hit now and put it in a rough and talk a bit about why that could be a benefit. Now, again, not for everybody and take a look at it,

but from what I have heard out there, the only way to kind of chip away and handle and tame the beast of that big deficit we have trillions of dollars is to limit and cut government spending and who would raise their hand and say we think that'll happen no one or taxes so do we feel like taxes are going to go up in the next five 10, 15, 20 years? Probably we would say yes. Well, if that's the case, would it be smart to look at transitioning some money like you were mentioned in taking some sane, safe balanced, you know, hits right now to put that money into a off so that it grows tax-free. How does that, how do you advise your clients regarding that? Yeah, that's definitely going to depend on the amount of money that we're working with.

It's going to depend on the client's age, right? Because we're going to take a little hit up front. So we want to make sure we have enough time to recoup that money. So if the investment is going to be getting, you know, anywhere between, say, 5 and 8 percent over a certain period of time, then, yeah, they can recoup that money. Again, this is their nest. egg, right, the retirement. The idea is to transition over into the Roth and then down the road, and I say down the road, it could be different for everybody. It could be five years, ideally would be somewhere between seven and ten years before they

would actually access or need to have a distribution to those funds for retirement. Yeah. So, yeah, you're going to take a little bit up front. But that's part of the program. You know, we put all the numbers together. we look at everything. Again, like I said, it's pretty advanced. We go through the software.

And so they're going to get a real, real solid idea of, okay, this is how it looks. This is how it's going to be set up. This is what it looks like. This is how much up front. But look at what's happening on the back end. Look at the benefit here on the back end, what I'm going to get. And if it makes sense, yeah, then we're going to go forward. And the client, really, the client is the one pushing at this point to say, yeah, I want to do this or, you know, can we do more?

because once they see the benefit, they understand it. But if it doesn't make sense, you know, then it was a great exercise to take a look and consider and no harm done. Yeah, no harm done. We got to take a look at it. It's not going to, like you said, it's not for everybody. It has to fit their particular situation. Excellent. Well, I think that makes total sense.

And I think the big thing that people need to realize is if they're talking to a financial professional that's pushing, pushing, pushing and recommending just one product, you know, maybe, you know, flag. Maybe, you know, look around it. But, but what you've been describing here is helping and guiding and educating and see if it makes sense and balance all of these things where it's like, hey, you know, it doesn't really matter if you choose to do it or not or this option or that option. What's going to work for you? And I think that is such a powerful approach. And I'm sure your clients really appreciate that, that approach that you take. Yeah, they really do. They want to, they want to see, we discover what the problem is and then we find the solution to that problem. And that's what everybody wants. They want to find out what is the solution to my situation I have here. How can we fix it? How can we modify it? How can we make it better? And we have all the tools to do that for them. So that makes them comfortable, makes them want to move forward and it gives them peace of mind. 100%. Well, Cameron, it has been great chatting with you. If someone is listening,

and wondering how they can learn a little bit more and reach out and connect with you, maybe for that second opinion or for that balanced approach, what's the best way that they can do that? Well, they can reach me. I have a LinkedIn profile. And then also can reach me direct the phone number 949-412-3534. The email is cameron. Dot F-R Solutions at gmail.com.

Excellent. Well, thank you so much for coming on. It's been a real pleasure of chatting with you today. Hey, thanks, Mike. I really appreciate your time. Thanks for everything. 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,

visit www. www. influential entrepreneursradio.com.