Business Innovators Radio - Interview with Jon Bowles, Founder of JLB Financial

Episode Date: July 16, 2026

For nearly three decades, He has helped Southern California families plan for complex financial goals — building retirement income, protecting what they’ve earned, managing taxes, and passing on what matters to the people they love.Since 1997, Jon has worked with hundreds of individuals, families, and business owners to build and execute comprehensive retirement income plans. I’ve guided clients through two major economic downturns, and those experiences shaped the cornerstone of my practice: preserving capital comes first. Growth matters, but in retirement, what you keep matters more.His approach is holistic. He looks at the financial house from every angle — wealth management, retirement income, tax planning, Medicare and IRMAA exposure, Social Security timing, and legacy — because these pieces don’t work in isolation, and neither should your plan. Trust review and trust planning are a core part of that work: he regularly helps families make sure their trusts still reflect their wishes, their assets, and current law — not the circumstances of a decade ago. And as an IRMAA Certified Planner, Jon pays particular attention to a cost most retirees never see coming: Medicare premium surcharges that can quietly drain tens of thousands from a retirement over time.Jon is a graduate of UCLA and began his career at Morgan Stanley Dean Witter, followed by Citi Personal Wealth Management and NettWorth Financial Group, before founding his own firm. That path — from Wall Street institutions to independent practice — was deliberate. Independence means his recommendations answer to people’s goals, not a product shelf.Away from the office, Jon is a husband and father of three. His wife, an attorney, and I built our family the same way he helps clients build their retirements: with hard work, discipline, and a long view. Watching their kids grow into their own success is a daily reminder of why this work matters — a well-built plan isn’t just about them. It’s about everyone who comes after them.Whether they’re just beginning to think about retirement or need a second opinion on an existing plan, He’ll take the time to understand their unique situation and give them straight answers.Jon L. Bowles is an investment adviser representative with Secure Investment Management and holds California Insurance License #0C88392.Learn more: http://www.jlbfinanciallegacyplanning.com/Secure Investment Management, LLC (“SIM”) is an investment adviser registered with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. Registration as an investment adviser does not imply a certain level of skill or training. Our Form ADV disclosure documents are available upon request or on the SEC’s Investment Adviser Public Disclosure website at www.adviserinfo.sec.gov.Influential Entrepreneurs with Mike Saundershttps://businessinnovatorsradio.com/influential-entrepreneurs-with-mike-saunders/Source: https://businessinnovatorsradio.com/interview-with-jon-bowles-founder-of-jlb-financial

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 John Bowles, who's the founder of JLB Financial. John, welcome to the program. Thanks, Mike. Good morning.

Good to see you. Talk to you. Hey, I'm excited to talk with you because it's always neat to get perspectives on how you serve your clients. And before we dive into that, tell us a little bit of your story and background. And how did you get into the financial services industry? I got into the financial services industry. Now it's been, I guess I'm into my 29th year of doing this. I grew up in a very modest family in Englewood, California. and it was right around the time my mother was trying to retire or think about retiring

maybe a few months prior to that that I got into this business. And it was one of these things that as I talked to my mom about her retirement and we went through the process of understanding that, you know, her raising five sons, basically we were her 401K. And it was that moment in time that I realized that there are going to be a lot of people over the next 30 to 40 years that are going to need this kind of help because they've just had other things in their lives that basically didn't allow them to save a lot of money, but yet raised very successful families and really good people. And it was then that the realization to

serve kind of hit me square in the face. And then that's been my mission ever since to help many people retire, comfort, dignity, and obviously not run out of money. So that's the quest. That's neat. It continues to be the quest. Yeah, it's neat when you have the origin story originate with mom, dad, family member, something like that. And I'm almost certain that somewhere in the back of your mind at times when you're

sitting down with a client, you're kind of seeing your mom in front of you or seeing your family member in front of you going, this is why I do it. And they need this kind of help because it really is. And I was literally on a call this morning with a group of men. One guy was a retired NFL football player. And he said, I got taken to the cleaners by a financial advisor in my early days. And he became a financial advisor so he could prevent that from happening to two other athletes and other people.

So it's just neat to hear that perspective. And so that's so awesome. So let's jump into how you serve your clients with helping them. them prepare for retirement strategy. I think that so many times if we were to put together, you know, like a puzzle and we go, look at all the pieces of this puzzle. Well, if two or three are missing, then it's not a complete picture. And sometimes retirement feels like that puzzle. So how does maybe see in this whole financial picture come together, how you help your clients bring it together? And then when it does, it brings peace of mind to your clients. Because really,

so many times if you were to ask 100 people on the street today, you know, do you have peace of mind regarding retirement? I bet we all know what the answer to that would be. Well, it's interesting, Mike, that you say at times I see my clients when I'm sitting across from them and it reminds me of my mother. It's very ironic because I've got a lot of clients that are nurses and my mother was a nurse for 27 years. And I do see my mother when I sit across from them.

And they know about the graveyard shift and things like that. And we just resonate so well. But seeing the whole picture, just as you mentioned, is so important because if you don't see the whole picture, you're not knowing how the pieces fit together. So that's a big, big unknown. And obviously, without us doing our jobs as advisors and helping people get to that retirement nirvana, they need to see the whole picture. They need to see how all the pieces.

work together because there's oftentimes you could make moves that you think could help today that actually could wreck your income plan later. So very, very integral piece to make sure all the pieces of the puzzle fit together for sure. Yeah. So let's talk about a few of those pieces. What would some of those pieces look like that you are kind of building that broad stroke? I think that that sometimes people go, oh, retirement, I guess I just stopped working and I file for of security and there we go. And we know that it's a whole lot more than that. What type of pieces are you bringing to their attention to make sure they're all coordinated? Well, we obviously want to make sure we understand where their money is being spent and then how long those dollars will be spent.

Many times everyone thinks expenses in retirement will go on and on and they never change and they never adjust. But I'm sure many of our listeners have heard of the, these sort of the first 10 years being the go-go years of retirement, the next 10 years being the slow-go, and then the last 10 years of retirement being no-go. So essentially, over those first 10 years, is sort of the apex of your spending. So, of course, that's a big component.

The other components that we're looking at are the monies that you've saved. You know, where's the money sitting? Is it in retirement accounts where 90% of us have saved the bulk of our assets? Is there money sitting in retirement accounts that are tax favored? Will you get Social Security? Where your husband gets Social Security? How to get every nickel out of Social Security?

So those are three big components. But then also, you know, what are we doing for those catastrophic health care events down the line that they're telling us seven out of 10 seniors over the age of 65 will need monies for some form of long-term care events? So we're looking at all of those things and then ultimately taxes. You know, how do taxes impact your money on an annual basis? You know, we've got the silent partner in Uncle Sam, the IRS, that basically many of us don't know that they exist and they're always going to be there as long as you've got retirement accounts wanting their share. So those are the many pieces we're looking at. And again, it might seem overwhelming to most retirees, but that's why we're. here to try to bring some peace of mind, some level of comfort, and just know that you can collaborate

with us because clearly we understand it's an educational process. And if you haven't been doing this your whole life in terms of looking at how to create income in retirement, that's what we're here to help you figure out. You know, it almost seems like I'm envisioning that kind of meeting with someone. And it feels like you're a life coach of sorts, meaning like, hey, tell me what retirement looks like to you. And you probably get different answer every single time you ask that question because some people want to sit around and do nothing like a couple of my uncles. Like they work in the trades and they're like, I am just done.

And sometimes people are like, oh, I'm just going to start this nonprofit. I'm going to travel the world. I'm going to visit the grandkids. So talk a little bit about how you help your clients articulate what they want to do and then the money associated with achieving that and then where there might be some gaps that you need to close. Well, the coaching component is a big analogy we take on because we, I, my family, all involved in sports from the time I was young and even for my kids, for them, even very young. And now I have a 14-year-old who's in the middle of very competitive volleyball.

So definitely understanding that positioning when we're sitting with folks and trying to help them understand that, yes, there is a lot of anxiety. yes, there's a lot of uncertainty, but what they have to understand, and this is where the coaching comes in, is that this is the beginning of the potential of a 30-year journey in retirement. And in that journey, you're going to want someone here with you, helping to coach you up, helping to be there in those days where you feel like, oh, my God, I just got this large expense. You know, the air conditioning went out and needed a new roof. Oh, where's the money going to come from? and it's in those instances that we are here to help you understand and see that you're going to be

okay, that there are dollars, there is money saved. We've positioned the assets so that they are liquid, they are accessible. So those things do come up. And many times, and this is a fact, you're just retiring for the first time, but over my 29-year career, I've retired hundreds, if not thousands of people. So yes, it is something I do regularly. And yes, I have a different, you know, state of mind as well as my blood pressure isn't as high as yours because this is what I do on a daily basis. So we're trying to do our best to alleviate that anxiety, definitely coach them up to understand that they're going to get through this. They just got to be able to walk themselves back off the ledge and allow us to go back through everything. And we'll do it

multiple times. It's not like we do it once and we don't do it again. We're constantly doing it on a regular basis. Yeah, so let's talk a little bit about what if. You know, what if you show them all of these pieces of the puzzle to help bring peace of mind and know that retirement's going to happen fine. But what happens? What's a risk that comes up if you notice or point out that a couple of these pieces just aren't working together the right way. If you just ignore it, you know, things tend to get worse. You know, you get that splinter in your finger and ignore it. It just festers. So what are some of these risks that if you don't take care of, it could actually implode that retirement plan? Well, there's quite a few risks, right? I mean, it's helping folks plan for

the certainty of uncertainty. I mean, we all know what's on the horizon in terms of just knowing, okay, things are good today. We feel great today. But all that has to happen is maybe a slip in a fall. And this is not while you're in your mid to late 60s, although it can be. But moving into your 70s, mid-70s, late 70s, you know, we've all heard of those slip and falls and now there's a catastrophic event. But bigger than that, initially, is really taking into account all of the things that we have come to depend on in terms of Social Security and Medicare. Many folks today don't understand that there's basically an $80 to $90 trillion of unfunded obligations that the government has no means of paying for. There's no money to cover all of the 77 billion baby boomers over

their lifetime with Medicare and Social Security. Nobody knows where that money is. So that's a major risk, right? This idea that in 2032, the Social Security Fund basically going bust and everyone taking a 20 to 25 percent haircut on their Social Security income. What are you going to do about that? I mean, if you're not planning for these things, these are absolutely major risks. And many times when you talk to seniors about taxes, some of them want to put their head in the sand and decide, hey, this isn't something I got to worry about. I've got a pension.

I've got Social Security. I live beneath my means. And they'll convince themselves they have no worries. But then they become basically house rich and cash poor. And now all of their equities tied up in their home. And now they need some form of care. And their family, you know, the inheritors are basically telling them, well, we don't want to be.

want to touch the equity. We don't want to use the property because that's for us. But then mom and dad are sitting there, well, that's our money. So there's, again, these are challenges that they'll have to deal with at some point in time. We don't have a crystal ball, Mike, right? I can't tell you, this is what's going to happen in your future. But I can absolutely give you an idea of the things that we've seen over the last 29 years and that these are the things we're trying to protect and obviously get out ahead of, but definitely multiple risks. I mean, look at where we are today. There's a war going on in Iran, and the stock market's hitting new highs here in the United States. Go figure. Yeah. It seems like the world leader of Greece scratched his nose the wrong way in the stock

market tanks, and you're going, really? But now here's this war that you just can't figure things out. Let's take a shift here, John, and move into something that I find is really interesting, which is outliving your savings. I know that. there's a big fear that people have of public speaking. But one of the bigger fears is, what if I outlive the money that I have? And contrast that with this fact. Over the last few decades,

people are taking better care of themselves. Our health care is getting better. We're eating better. We're exercising and we're living a little bit longer. And I don't have the exact stats, but I know that one day back in the day, you know, it was like,

oh, we would make these tables to live to be whatever, or 68 or 72, and now those tables are a lot higher. So it really is a fact and a worry that what if I have not saved enough? How do you advise your clients to handle that? And what strategies do you put into place to protect against kind of some of the things that would punch a hole in that like, oh, the market volatility dropped or, hey, there's this big tax, you know, a change that I didn't plan for. And that really does impact what if I don't have enough savings?

Well, it's just as you said, like this idea that we're planning for shorter lifespans and lifetimes than we should be. As you mentioned, everyone's living longer. I mean, everyone's training. I think you can't drive through any neighborhood today and not see a senior citizen or just somebody walking through the neighborhood with their dog. So we all are knowing that, hey, we're taking better care of ourselves. We're trying to keep those health care costs down into the future. So we definitely are looking to help people understand a more reasonable lifespan than saying, hey, you're going to live out to the age of 100.

We typically will model things out to the age of 95. So then people feel more realistic like, okay, this is a potential lifespan for me. My mother lived to 92. My dad died at 89. So those are things that are much more realistic. But how we go about making sure you never run out of money is we take into account, you know, all of the household expenses. We use financial planning software to help model what those expenses look like by inflating them sometimes within, you know, a range of two and a half to three percent. But we don't inflate all of the assets, right?

There's just four things that are going up in costs right now. And that's your insurance costs, homeowners, insurance, automobile insurance, energy. costs, gas, electricity, and then you've got food cost, which is, we all know how expensive that is. So what we'll do is we'll use different things. You know, everyone doesn't have 100% of their money in the stock market. We'll leverage different financial products to help create guaranteed income streams that you could never outlive.

We always want to take into account if there is a larger legacy you want to leave behind. Do you want to leave it in the real estate you own? own or do you want to leave it in the form of life insurance? We look at all these things from a holistic perspective so that the number one thing is that you're not losing money. The number two thing is that you're not losing money. And the number three approach and thing is look back to number one and number two. I mean, we've all heard this before. Right. We're trying to make sure. Word Buffett's rule of investing. That's right. That's right. So needless to say, We try not to reinvent the wheel, but many times, you know,

everyone has their thoughts, concerns about how they want to do it. So we also try to mirror that and also try to bring together a collective group of understanding. And hopefully we can all get on the same page. And if not, we might not be able to serve them, but we'll still help them, even if we don't work together because we're here to provide a service, you know. And sometimes it's not a great fit. but ideally we feel like we're pretty amicable and open, but we do understand that it's not always the best fit for everyone,

but we're here to serve, so we're going to help you. Nate. So I think that a lot of times people get into the mode of grind and work and strive and accumulate. You know, I'm working, I'm putting money away into whatever vehicle,

401K IRA, whatever, all of the above. And now I'm accumulating. How do you help people shift from just simply accumulating assets to creating that dependable retirement income that they can count on because it is a shift physically in what you're doing with money, but it's a shift mentally as well, right? No, it absolutely is because everyone has been told anytime they talk to someone in the bank,

at a brokerage house, independent planners, life insurance agents, the idea is just to grow the money. But again, that is important while you're accumulating dollars, right? We go through three phases, the accumulation phase, which most of us get through from the ages of probably 20 or younger, up until the age of about 60. And then we go into this preservation phase where we can't lose a penny. At least we shouldn't. But many people don't get to that preservation phase because of the advice that's been given and the fact that a stock market is hitting. new highs while we're dropping bombs on Iran. So the idea is to accumulate, preserve, and then distribution, right? The accumulation phase, preservation phase, and then the distribution phase.

So what we try to make sure to help people understand is during this distribution phase, we want to find, number one, how much money you're going to need over the next 25 to 30 years, and then how can we make sure that 100% of all of your expenses are coming from guaranteed sources of income? Soon as we're able to help you marry that gap and see that this pool of money is going to cover every expense I have over the next 30 years. And then this other pool of money that's 100% liquid, we're now going to go out and try to get safe and productive growth in the most tax-efficient. way. So in a nutshell, we're trying to give you the peace of minds and give you the confidence that you can go out and spend every dollar, every month, and still not have to worry about any money at all. Yeah, that right there is peace of mind. That'll help you sleep at night.

So I know a lot of people over the years and decades have so many different financial products, like, oh, I've got a 401k and IRA, oh, I set up a CD here, and I've got some annuity and life insurance. Why doesn't owning good products like these necessarily add up to having a great comprehensive retirement strategy? Because you might think, you know, oh, I've got this, this, and this. I saw that online. But if they're not working in conjunction together, it might not be the best strategy, right? Well, that's correct, because each product optimizes for itself, right? the annuity you mentioned is for income, the trust is for legacy, life insurance is for legacy,

the growth investments are for, you know, that sort of dopamine rush on a daily basis. But you want them all to work together. And it's all got to be part of this larger holistic plan. You know, the coordinated strategy makes those tradeoffs on purpose instead of leaving them to chance. I mean, clearly, we're putting together a roadmap. one that's going to get you to that destination you're looking for. And I call that the retirement Nirvana, right? The time, the best and biggest vacation of your life is what we're shooting for. Yeah, I love it. Well, if someone is thinking, man, maybe I need to have that comprehensive

strategy looked at or a second opinion or something, what is the best way that someone can learn a little bit more about what you do and reach out and connect with you? Well, we have a website like most. It's JLB Financial Legacy Planning.com. So you can go to the website and gather a little bit more information about us. If you'd like to call me direct, you could do that as well. And if I don't recognize your phone number and it goes to voicemail, I apologize. But I guarantee to call you back within a 24 to 48 hour period.

And the direct line is 323. 547-8-9-90. And we'll do all we can to, again, provide information and try to do as best as we can to help you understand some of these complex planning strategies. But yet, I think once you hear them maybe five to six times, they start to become much more familiar. Yes.

Well, John, thank you so much for coming on today. It's been a real pleasure chatting with you. Thank you, Mike. I always enjoy catching up and talking to you more because it's a pleasure chatting with you as well. Thank you. 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 entrepreneurs radio.com