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017: Retirees Focus on the Wrong Thing
Episode 1711th August 2022 • Retirement Equals Freedom • Josh Bretl
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Hiyeee! Josh Bretl, founder of FSR Wealth Strategies, and his Retirement Equals Freedom sidekick, Dave Schmidt, are back to regale you with everything from a Fleetwood Mac cover to eating Cheerios off the floor to some great news: You’re probably under-dreaming when it comes to what you can afford to enjoy in retirement. Even Dave might have a shot at paying for that basement penny arcade and unlimited supply of Puddin' Cakes and Cometeer Coffee.

How do you get there? By looking at all three tiers of the multi-pronged financial planning approach that Josh is sharing. You’ll find out the difference between Tools, Strategies and (most fun of all) Dreams. Once you’ve got your snapshot and go-forward framework in place, the world opens up.

For Josh it’s the best part of his job: Helping people realize that they’ve got the retirement savings a) not to be fearful and b) to go out and follow their bliss, whether through first-class travel, paying for grandkids’ educations or stocking up the freezer with an infinite amount of favorite snack treats! And, finally, please always remember: “Thunder only happens when it’s rainin’. Players only love you when they’re playin’.” Tune in and it’ll all make sense! Sort of.

If you haven’t tried it already, click here to get $25 off your first order of Cometeer Coffee. It’s the greatest!

Click here to learn more about or listen to previous episodes of The Retirement Equals Freedom Podcast. And don’t forget to sign up for the show’s new weekly email at this link or join the conversation at our new private Facebook group, which you can find here.

Click here to explore the services that FSR Wealth Strategies offers and schedule a discovery call with one of the team’s CPAs. When it comes to living your best life, it’s never too early to get started!

Transcripts

Josh Bretl:

Tools, then strategies, then dreams.

Josh Bretl:

Strategies and tools are not unique.

Josh Bretl:

You have access to the same tools everybody else has.

Josh Bretl:

Strategies, they're there.

Josh Bretl:

They're not unique to you.

Josh Bretl:

The dreams are unique to you.

Dave Schmidt:

We are here with some great news.

Dave Schmidt:

You are probably under dreaming when it comes

Dave Schmidt:

to what you can afford to enjoy in your retirement.

Dave Schmidt:

Wait, huh?!

Dave Schmidt:

Yeah, there are three tiers to Josh's hierarchy of financial

Dave Schmidt:

thinking - tools, strategies, and the most fun of all, dreams.

Dave Schmidt:

But how do each of those contribute to your retirement?

Dave Schmidt:

Which of those should you focus on?

Dave Schmidt:

And which should you let an advisor help with?

Dave Schmidt:

Well, keep on listening friend, cuz Josh and I

Dave Schmidt:

talk all about it today.

Dave Schmidt:

This is the Retirement Equals Freedom Podcast.

Dave Schmidt:

Your host, Josh Bretl, is the owner of FSR Wealth Strategies.

Dave Schmidt:

For the last two decades, he's been helping fine folks like

Dave Schmidt:

you thrive in their retirement.

Dave Schmidt:

And me?

Dave Schmidt:

I'm Dave.

Dave Schmidt:

Josh's longtime friend, co-host, and general fan of free food.

Dave Schmidt:

I'm here to keep the show lighthearted and fun.

Dave Schmidt:

So now, let me let you let me, end this introduction so

Dave Schmidt:

you can enjoy the show and maybe even some of my singing.

Dave Schmidt:

FSR Wealth Management is a registered investment advisor

Dave Schmidt:

located in Elmhurst, Illinois.

Dave Schmidt:

Information and opinions contained in this audio

Dave Schmidt:

have been arrived at by FSR Wealth advisors.

Dave Schmidt:

All information herein is for informational purposes

Dave Schmidt:

and should not be construed as investment advice.

Dave Schmidt:

It does not constitute an offer, a solicitation or recommendation

Dave Schmidt:

to purchase any security.

Dave Schmidt:

FSR is not providing legal, tax, accounting, or financial

Dave Schmidt:

planning advice in this audio.

Dave Schmidt:

These views are as of the date of this publication

Dave Schmidt:

and are subject to change.

Dave Schmidt:

... so dreams.

Dave Schmidt:

Thunder only happens when it's raining.

Josh Bretl:

Do you sing at home?

Dave Schmidt:

Players only love you when they're playing.

Dave Schmidt:

Do you know what song?

Josh Bretl:

I mean, you are majestic.

Dave Schmidt:

Thank you.

Josh Bretl:

And it's hard to tell the difference

Josh Bretl:

between you and-

Dave Schmidt:

Stevie Nicks from Fleetwood Mac.

Josh Bretl:

Oh, man.

Dave Schmidt:

I know.

Dave Schmidt:

To answer your question, do I sing at home?

Dave Schmidt:

To the point where I'm in the shower and I can hear Landon

Dave Schmidt:

screaming, "Dada, stop singing."

Dave Schmidt:

So, I'm always singing.

Dave Schmidt:

Not only that, but I will just take random chunks of

Dave Schmidt:

conversations and turn it into a song or a jingle.

Josh Bretl:

You can take random chunks of a song and just kind

Josh Bretl:

of turn them into whatever?

Dave Schmidt:

To whatever I want.

Josh Bretl:

Man, that art degree really paid off.

Dave Schmidt:

It's a skill and I'm teaching Landon, too.

Dave Schmidt:

Did I tell you I now have Landon listening to soundtracks from

Dave Schmidt:

movies, but movies that I like?

Josh Bretl:

So, Sleepy Hollow?

Dave Schmidt:

He loves the Sleepy Hollow soundtrack.

Dave Schmidt:

He loves the ParaNorman, and the Coraline, and all those

Dave Schmidt:

creepy movie soundtracks.

Dave Schmidt:

He knows composers' names now.

Dave Schmidt:

Like, "Does Danny Elfman have any new music, dada?"

Dave Schmidt:

I'm like, "In fact, he does.

Dave Schmidt:

He has a new movie coming out."

Dave Schmidt:

It just makes my heart happy.

Josh Bretl:

He is adorable.

Dave Schmidt:

Yeah man, kids rule.

Josh Bretl:

Dave, we are doing two podcasts in a day here.

Dave Schmidt:

I know.

Josh Bretl:

So, this is our second one.

Josh Bretl:

We recorded the one on fees just before this.

Dave Schmidt:

I'm exhausted!

Josh Bretl:

You and I get really into talking to each

Josh Bretl:

other, which I find funny.

Josh Bretl:

This is our third day this week we've been together.

Josh Bretl:

But we can't cut to the chase on a podcast because we put

Josh Bretl:

this microphone in front of us and headphones on, and we have

Josh Bretl:

to talk about random stuff.

Dave Schmidt:

It's so true.

Dave Schmidt:

Let's be fair, though.

Dave Schmidt:

When I am here doing work stuff with you, it's really

Dave Schmidt:

hard to pin you down for more than like 10 minutes, because

Dave Schmidt:

you're wearing 17 hats.

Josh Bretl:

Yeah.

Josh Bretl:

That is true.

Dave Schmidt:

So, when we actually have doors closed,

Dave Schmidt:

no distractions except for coffee and food, we got

Dave Schmidt:

stuff to talk about, man.

Josh Bretl:

Well, speaking of food...

Dave Schmidt:

Yeah.

Dave Schmidt:

Mm-hmm.

Josh Bretl:

On our last podcast, we didn't do, "What did Josh

Josh Bretl:

and Dave eat for lunch today?"

Josh Bretl:

And I want to thank you because I was busy all morning long, and

Josh Bretl:

you showed up at twelve o'clock.

Josh Bretl:

My meeting ended at twelve thirty.

Josh Bretl:

And you had waiting for me the crepe of the month from

Josh Bretl:

Nu Crepes, which by the time this comes out, recorded.

Josh Bretl:

It won't be the crepe of the month anymore.

Dave Schmidt:

Yeah.

Josh Bretl:

But it's unbelievable.

Dave Schmidt:

The oui, oui.

Josh Bretl:

The oui, oui.

Dave Schmidt:

Oui, oui.

Dave Schmidt:

Niall, you were on the phone when I came to pick up our

Dave Schmidt:

lunch today, but I wanted to beg of you, consider

Dave Schmidt:

making this a permanent item.

Dave Schmidt:

I think it fits in really nice with your savory other items.

Josh Bretl:

It's out of this world.

Josh Bretl:

But my sister-in-law, Amanda, texted me a few weeks ago and

Josh Bretl:

said, "Did Nu Crepes buy time on your podcast for as much

Josh Bretl:

as you guys talk about them?"

Josh Bretl:

So.

Josh Bretl:

If you guys go to Nu Crepes, tell them you heard

Josh Bretl:

about them from Josh and Dave on the Retirement

Josh Bretl:

Equals Freedom Podcast.

Josh Bretl:

Trust me, he knows Josh and Dave.

Josh Bretl:

Dave, I have a question for you.

Dave Schmidt:

Yeah.

Dave Schmidt:

Let's hear it.

Josh Bretl:

I'd like you to tell me about

Josh Bretl:

something you did recently.

Josh Bretl:

I got a text message, a text string that we're on with all

Josh Bretl:

of our high school friends.

Dave Schmidt:

Yeah.

Josh Bretl:

And it's a picture of you, or a

Josh Bretl:

video of you in the car.

Dave Schmidt:

Yeah.

Josh Bretl:

You were about to go play basketball for the

Josh Bretl:

first time in like 15 years.

Dave Schmidt:

I remember this video.

Josh Bretl:

Tell me about this.

Dave Schmidt:

I sent you all a before and after video.

Josh Bretl:

I didn't see the after.

Dave Schmidt:

No?

Dave Schmidt:

Yeah, there was an after one.

Dave Schmidt:

It's pretty funny.

Dave Schmidt:

It made Chris laugh.

Dave Schmidt:

My neighbor of mine has been asking me since I moved in to

Dave Schmidt:

join him for a men's basketball, like a recreational, middle

Dave Schmidt:

of the day, basketball pickup game at our local rec center

Dave Schmidt:

in Glen Ellyn, and I've blown him off for five years.

Dave Schmidt:

I finally stopped blowing him off and I took him up

Dave Schmidt:

on it, and it's been about eight years since I've

Dave Schmidt:

picked up a basketball.

Dave Schmidt:

So according to my friend, Joe.

Dave Schmidt:

Joe, I'm going to make you listen to this.

Dave Schmidt:

You told me that it would be a bunch of old guys just

Dave Schmidt:

getting some exercise in.

Dave Schmidt:

It was anything but that, Josh.

Dave Schmidt:

Have you ever seen super obese seals get out of the water and

Dave Schmidt:

climb up onto the sand to try to get a snack from a human?

Josh Bretl:

Actually, yeah.

Josh Bretl:

I have.

Dave Schmidt:

Yeah.

Dave Schmidt:

You have.

Dave Schmidt:

That was me by the third time going down the court.

Dave Schmidt:

I couldn't breathe.

Dave Schmidt:

I was tempted to fake an injury just so I could leave the court.

Dave Schmidt:

I mean, it was awful.

Dave Schmidt:

And I've been running for three, four weeks, eating better.

Dave Schmidt:

No.

Dave Schmidt:

Nothing like basketball shape.

Dave Schmidt:

So, first game, not awful.

Dave Schmidt:

Second game is when the morbid obesity really kicked in.

Josh Bretl:

Oh, man.

Dave Schmidt:

I mean, to the point where I could

Dave Schmidt:

not run back on offense.

Dave Schmidt:

The few times I did, one of the times I made a really nice cut.

Dave Schmidt:

My mind is still there.

Dave Schmidt:

I know how to get open and play the game.

Dave Schmidt:

My body will just not allow me to.

Dave Schmidt:

I made a cut, got a pass, wide open layup, missed it.

Josh Bretl:

Oh, I know how that feels.

Dave Schmidt:

Got the rebound, still wide open,

Dave Schmidt:

air balled the next attempt.

Dave Schmidt:

Which at that point, I threw my hands up and said, "Yep.

Dave Schmidt:

This is how it's going to be."

Josh Bretl:

At any point, did you look to see if they had

Josh Bretl:

a defibrillator in the gym?

Dave Schmidt:

I was promised they'd have one nearby.

Dave Schmidt:

So, it took a few days to recover, Josh.

Dave Schmidt:

I'm so glad I did it because it's one of my loves of life.

Josh Bretl:

I'm really proud of you for doing that.

Dave Schmidt:

Appreciate it.

Josh Bretl:

It's really cool.

Josh Bretl:

You love basketball.

Dave Schmidt:

I do.

Josh Bretl:

And at one point, you were decent.

Dave Schmidt:

It's one of the few things I was good at.

Dave Schmidt:

Not defense, though.

Dave Schmidt:

I don't play defense.

Josh Bretl:

I remember afterwards, you said,

Josh Bretl:

"I even played defense."

Dave Schmidt:

I did.

Dave Schmidt:

I dove and had a steal and the guys were like, "Wow.

Dave Schmidt:

Great play, Dave."

Dave Schmidt:

I'm like, "I actually tripped and just happened

Dave Schmidt:

to hit the ball, but I'll take credit for it."

Josh Bretl:

This podcast is everything.

Josh Bretl:

It's even a sports podcast.

Josh Bretl:

Well, as we've learned on the prior few podcasts,

Josh Bretl:

we've got a new segment, "Get to know Josh and Dave."

Josh Bretl:

And I thought, let's kind of see what they have to say here.

Josh Bretl:

It's pretty good.

Dave Schmidt:

I appreciate it.

Dave Schmidt:

The new version's shorter, and I think it sounds better.

Josh Bretl:

We'll see who can judge that one.

Dave Schmidt:

Oh, I like it.

Josh Bretl:

So, I picked the question today.

Josh Bretl:

The question comes from the card for...

Josh Bretl:

and these are funny.

Josh Bretl:

People can't come up with questions, but

Josh Bretl:

it is a random thing.

Josh Bretl:

Like, "Why would you ask that?"

Dave Schmidt:

Yeah.

Josh Bretl:

And this is a simple one.

Dave Schmidt:

Okay.

Josh Bretl:

Have you ever eaten food from the floor?

Dave Schmidt:

Oh!

Dave Schmidt:

This morning I did.

Josh Bretl:

Yeah, right here.

Josh Bretl:

Right?

Dave Schmidt:

Yeah, absolutely.

Dave Schmidt:

Oh, the floor thing doesn't bother me.

Dave Schmidt:

The whole three second rule, it's more like

Dave Schmidt:

three minutes to me.

Josh Bretl:

And you have a sanitation license.

Dave Schmidt:

Well, I did.

Dave Schmidt:

That probably expired 24 years ago.

Josh Bretl:

Okay.

Dave Schmidt:

I did pass that test.

Dave Schmidt:

Yeah, food on the floor doesn't bother me.

Dave Schmidt:

Okay, unless it's a wet, slimier food.

Josh Bretl:

Yeah.

Dave Schmidt:

But, how about you?

Josh Bretl:

I have no problem with it, but I do have a

Josh Bretl:

food on the floor story.

Dave Schmidt:

Okay.

Josh Bretl:

I don't know if I've told you this before,

Josh Bretl:

but when my twins were young, when the boys were young,

Josh Bretl:

they were like a year old.

Josh Bretl:

They were crawling around the house everywhere, and

Josh Bretl:

they were eating cheerios.

Josh Bretl:

And we used to take these cheerios and we'd

Josh Bretl:

put them in a bowl.

Josh Bretl:

And they would do what ever kid would do, is they

Josh Bretl:

took the bowl and they'd spill it on the floor.

Josh Bretl:

And after the nine millionth time, you got tired of

Josh Bretl:

picking the cheerios up and putting them back in the

Josh Bretl:

bowl so they could eat them.

Josh Bretl:

We left them on the floor.

Dave Schmidt:

Yeah.

Josh Bretl:

It got to the point where we'd stop putting the

Josh Bretl:

bowl out, and we'd just put cheerios on the floor for them.

Dave Schmidt:

Like a dog.

Josh Bretl:

It was just me, my wife, and the boys in the house.

Josh Bretl:

What did it matter?So my wife's cousin, Tricia, came over.

Josh Bretl:

Trisha is awesome.

Josh Bretl:

Trisha has one of the cleanest houses you've ever

Josh Bretl:

been to in your entire life.

Josh Bretl:

You literally could eat off her floor, it's probably so clean.

Josh Bretl:

And she came over, and the boys, to see the

Josh Bretl:

house and see the boys.

Josh Bretl:

And the boys had cheerios on the floor, and Tricia sees them.

Josh Bretl:

And I don't know if it was Alex or Zach pick one up

Josh Bretl:

and put it in their mouth.

Josh Bretl:

And she goes running over, she's like, "No, boys.

Josh Bretl:

You can't eat that."

Josh Bretl:

And she grabs the cheerios off the floor, picks them

Josh Bretl:

up, and she hands them to my wife and I and goes, "They

Josh Bretl:

were about to eat these."

Josh Bretl:

And my wife and I were to embarrassed to say...

Josh Bretl:

We were like, "Oh, thank you for picking them up."

Dave Schmidt:

Oh, my gosh.

Dave Schmidt:

"Ah, we're so embarrassed.

Dave Schmidt:

They never do that."

Josh Bretl:

They never do that.

Josh Bretl:

And the boys looked at her like, "You took our food!

Josh Bretl:

Give me my cheerios!"

Dave Schmidt:

Devil Woman!

Josh Bretl:

So whenever I think about eating off the

Josh Bretl:

floor, I think of Tricia stealing cheerios from my boys.

Josh Bretl:

Oh, well, today's podcast.

Josh Bretl:

When I told you what I want to talk about, I don't

Josh Bretl:

think I told you this is one of my favorite things

Josh Bretl:

to talk about with clients.

Dave Schmidt:

Food?

Josh Bretl:

Well, no.

Dave Schmidt:

Oh, Okay.

Josh Bretl:

Other than food, it's one of my favorite

Josh Bretl:

things to talk about.

Josh Bretl:

I'm going to step back here, and this is what I refer to as the

Josh Bretl:

Hierarchy of Financial Thinking.

Josh Bretl:

Most people never get off the lowest wrung of

Josh Bretl:

thinking about things.

Josh Bretl:

I call this Dreams, Strategies, and Tools.

Josh Bretl:

All right?

Josh Bretl:

So let's start at the lowest level.

Josh Bretl:

The lowest level is Tools.

Josh Bretl:

And Tools are all the things you need, from a financial

Josh Bretl:

perspective, to retire.

Josh Bretl:

Okay?

Josh Bretl:

All the things that you could possibly have.

Josh Bretl:

So, social security is a tool.

Josh Bretl:

Cash in the bank is a tool.

Josh Bretl:

Your IRA is a tool.

Josh Bretl:

Mutual funds are a tool.

Josh Bretl:

401ks are tools.

Josh Bretl:

Stocks, bonds, you name it.

Josh Bretl:

Tools are out there.

Josh Bretl:

And we can go through the list of tools.

Josh Bretl:

Now, most people stop right there.

Josh Bretl:

They think, "Do I have the best tools?

Josh Bretl:

Can I get a better tool?

Josh Bretl:

Do I need a different tool?"

Josh Bretl:

I mean, it's kind of like you and I with this podcast.

Josh Bretl:

Do I have the best microphone?

Josh Bretl:

Can I get a better microphone?

Dave Schmidt:

Yeah.

Josh Bretl:

Should I need nine microphones!

Dave Schmidt:

For sure.

Dave Schmidt:

For sure.

Josh Bretl:

But they think, "Do I have the best mutual fund?

Josh Bretl:

Should I get a bigger mutual fund?

Josh Bretl:

Should I get a different mutual fund?"

Josh Bretl:

And, most advisors, they'll even compete.

Josh Bretl:

"Well, I have better tools.

Josh Bretl:

And this tool is what you really need."

Josh Bretl:

Tools are important you have to have tools.

Josh Bretl:

But they're the least important of the hierarchy.

Josh Bretl:

Does that make sense?

Dave Schmidt:

It does.

Dave Schmidt:

I need tools to build things for clients, but the tool

Dave Schmidt:

itself is not important.

Dave Schmidt:

It's the strategies.

Dave Schmidt:

It's the planning.

Dave Schmidt:

That's far more important.

Josh Bretl:

Correct.

Josh Bretl:

So that takes us one level up, it's the strategies.

Josh Bretl:

There's over 60 different strategies that we

Josh Bretl:

utilize for a client.

Josh Bretl:

But not every client needs all 60.

Josh Bretl:

In fact, at most, we're usually implementing 10 to 12 of

Josh Bretl:

them, but there's different strategies that get to be used.

Josh Bretl:

And there's strategies for maximizing income.

Josh Bretl:

Where's income coming from?

Josh Bretl:

There's strategies to help with asset location.

Josh Bretl:

How do you minimize risk?

Josh Bretl:

How do you minimize volatility?

Josh Bretl:

There's things to do along those lines.

Josh Bretl:

There's strategies for taxes.

Josh Bretl:

How do you minimize income taxes?

Josh Bretl:

Estate taxes?

Josh Bretl:

Capital gains?

Josh Bretl:

There's all these strategies, and they work together.

Dave Schmidt:

Are these strategies that you...

Dave Schmidt:

These are like FSR strategies.

Josh Bretl:

Yeah.

Dave Schmidt:

Okay.

Dave Schmidt:

Okay.

Josh Bretl:

They're not unique to us.

Dave Schmidt:

Sure.

Josh Bretl:

We just tend to know a lot of them

Josh Bretl:

and how to use them.

Josh Bretl:

But there's strategies that are there.

Josh Bretl:

So, I always compare this, we talk about basketball,

Josh Bretl:

I'm going to switch sports here and go to golf.

Josh Bretl:

I'm a terrible golfer.

Josh Bretl:

You and I have golfed together a long time ago.

Josh Bretl:

You may actually be worse than me, but I'm a terrible golfer.

Josh Bretl:

If I were to compare this to golf, tools are the clubs, Okay?

Dave Schmidt:

Right.

Josh Bretl:

You could buy me the most expensive

Josh Bretl:

clubs in the world.

Josh Bretl:

They could be custom fit to my size and bleh,

Josh Bretl:

beh, bleh, beh, bleh.

Josh Bretl:

I'm still not going to break 100.

Josh Bretl:

But I could play with my 15 year old set of golf clubs,

Josh Bretl:

if you magically overnight gave me the swing of the best

Josh Bretl:

PGA player in the world, and I'd be breaking 80 every day.

Josh Bretl:

My clubs almost mean nothing at that point in time.

Josh Bretl:

So-

Dave Schmidt:

So, sorry I just yawned.

Josh Bretl:

You did!

Josh Bretl:

I mean, you've been drinking Cometeer coffee all afternoon-

Dave Schmidt:

ah, that's embarrassing.

... Josh Bretl:

and you just yawned at one of my favorite stories.

Dave Schmidt:

My bad.

Josh Bretl:

Ah, that's all right.

Josh Bretl:

Two podcasts, that's going to wear you out.

Josh Bretl:

You're giving the introduction tonight to the seminar.

Dave Schmidt:

We're all in trouble.

Josh Bretl:

But the strategies , the swing

Josh Bretl:

there, is far more important.

Josh Bretl:

But one level up from that, we call dreams.

Dave Schmidt:

So tools, then strategies, and

Dave Schmidt:

the top level is dreams.

Josh Bretl:

Tools, then strategies, then dreams.

Dave Schmidt:

Okay.

Josh Bretl:

Strategies and tools are not unique.

Josh Bretl:

You have access to the same tools everybody else has.

Dave Schmidt:

Yeah.

Josh Bretl:

Strategies, they're there.

Josh Bretl:

They're not unique to you.

Josh Bretl:

The dreams are unique to you.

Dave Schmidt:

To you, the retiree.

Josh Bretl:

To you, the retiree.

Josh Bretl:

And as a retiree, every comes from a different background,

Josh Bretl:

a different perspective.

Josh Bretl:

There's different things that you want to do.

Josh Bretl:

Some people have goals.

Josh Bretl:

They want to travel around the world by 70 years old.

Josh Bretl:

Some people want to pay for their grandkids college.

Josh Bretl:

Some people want to...

Josh Bretl:

You name it.

Josh Bretl:

Dreams are there and-

Dave Schmidt:

Anybody want to open up an arcade?

Josh Bretl:

No, but that's yours.

Dave Schmidt:

That's mine.

Josh Bretl:

That's yours.

Josh Bretl:

There are people that want to start second businesses.

Josh Bretl:

There are people that want to open up a restaurant.

Josh Bretl:

People come up with all sorts of dreams.

Josh Bretl:

And when we sit down with people the first time, we

Josh Bretl:

call it our Vision Visit.

Josh Bretl:

And that Vision Visit is trying to see what their dreams are

Josh Bretl:

because the dreams are what shape what strategies you use.

Josh Bretl:

Because if your dream is to fund an endowment for your grankids'

Josh Bretl:

grandkids' grandkids' college, it's going to be different

Josh Bretl:

than if you tell me, "I want to spend every last penny and

Josh Bretl:

have my last check bounce."

Josh Bretl:

There's different dreams that come into play.

Dave Schmidt:

Sure.

Josh Bretl:

So, back to our golf analogy, we have the clubs.

Josh Bretl:

We have the swing, and then the dreams are knowing which

Josh Bretl:

direction you're going to go.

Dave Schmidt:

Ooo.

Josh Bretl:

So they're knowing where the hole is at.

Dave Schmidt:

Okay.

Josh Bretl:

Does that makes sense?

Dave Schmidt:

I like it.

Dave Schmidt:

Do you account for slices and..?

Josh Bretl:

Yeah.

Dave Schmidt:

Oh, okay.

Josh Bretl:

You kind of have to.

Josh Bretl:

I mean, if you think about it.

Josh Bretl:

We can really dive deep into this.

Dave Schmidt:

Yeah, into the metaphors of

Dave Schmidt:

golf and retirement.

Josh Bretl:

When we talk about this hierarchy here,

Josh Bretl:

where most people focus, like I said, is the tools.

Josh Bretl:

And there's even advisors, that they only have two or

Josh Bretl:

three tools available to them.

Josh Bretl:

So that's all they focus on.

Josh Bretl:

If you're building a house and the only thing

Josh Bretl:

you have is a hammer, everything looks like a nail.

Josh Bretl:

That's the old saying that they have here.

Josh Bretl:

Focusing on those strategies is infinitely more important, but

Josh Bretl:

the last thing that you have to be concerned about is those

Josh Bretl:

strategies fit to your dreams.

Josh Bretl:

Now, what I always say about dreams is your dreams

Josh Bretl:

today are different than they were ten years ago.

Josh Bretl:

For most retirees, ten years ago you were probably thinking about

Josh Bretl:

when I was going to retire.

Josh Bretl:

If I was going to retire.

Josh Bretl:

The dreams change-

Dave Schmidt:

Sure.

... Josh Bretl:

that's there.

... Josh Bretl:

Ten years from now, your dreams could change again.

... Josh Bretl:

And that's okay that you have those strategies that are

... Josh Bretl:

fundamental, that you can adapt with you that's out there.

... Josh Bretl:

Does that make sense, David?

Dave Schmidt:

Yes.

Dave Schmidt:

Dreams.

Dave Schmidt:

It makes total sense.

Josh Bretl:

And sometimes it's very simplistic.

Josh Bretl:

But it's something that, if it's so simple, why

Josh Bretl:

aren't you doing it?

Josh Bretl:

Why aren't you executing on it?

Josh Bretl:

And why aren't we thinking about this?

Josh Bretl:

Let's stop focusing som much on the tools.

Josh Bretl:

The tools are important.

Josh Bretl:

You have to have the tools, but let's focus instead on

Josh Bretl:

the strategies that have to be there for your dreams.

Dave Schmidt:

So, is this something that you talk about

Dave Schmidt:

with everybody that comes in for that vision visit?

Josh Bretl:

Yeah.

Josh Bretl:

I always tell them.

Josh Bretl:

The vision visit has two goals.

Josh Bretl:

The first is to understand what your dreams are

Josh Bretl:

and try and grasp that.

Josh Bretl:

And part of every dream is having how much

Josh Bretl:

you're going to spend.

Josh Bretl:

Everybody has that idea.

Josh Bretl:

"I'm going to spend $2,000 a month.

Josh Bretl:

I'm going to spend $5,000 a month.

Josh Bretl:

I'm going to spend $10,000 a month."

Josh Bretl:

Whatever it might be, right?

Josh Bretl:

But, once we understand what your dreams are,

Josh Bretl:

then we take a snapshot of where you are right now.

Josh Bretl:

And that's where our advisor brains work.

Josh Bretl:

"Okay.

Josh Bretl:

Here's where you are now.

Josh Bretl:

Here's the dreams you want to achieve.

Josh Bretl:

What strategies are going to be needed in order to get there."

Dave Schmidt:

It doesn't really matter how much

Dave Schmidt:

money you have then, in that case when you retire then.

Dave Schmidt:

You have to figure out what you want to do and

Dave Schmidt:

how much you need to do it.

Josh Bretl:

Correct.

Josh Bretl:

And for some people, I mean, this goes back to

Josh Bretl:

A couple episodes ago when we talked about "Do

Josh Bretl:

I have enough to retire?"

Dave Schmidt:

Oh, yeah.

Josh Bretl:

Well, if you're dream is you want to take

Josh Bretl:

a round the world vacation first-class every year for the

Josh Bretl:

next ten years, and you've got $100,000 to your name, well,

Josh Bretl:

your dreams unattainable.

Dave Schmidt:

Yeah.

Josh Bretl:

But most people don't have that problem.

Josh Bretl:

Most people are very realistic, and they're

Josh Bretl:

actually underdreaming.

Dave Schmidt:

Oh, wow.

Josh Bretl:

One of my favorite-

Dave Schmidt:

Oh I like that.

Josh Bretl:

Yeah.

Josh Bretl:

Most people that we talk to, they don't think

Josh Bretl:

that they can do enough.

Josh Bretl:

They don't think big enough.

Dave Schmidt:

Wow.

Josh Bretl:

And that's fear.

Josh Bretl:

Fear happens a lot.

Josh Bretl:

One of my favorites things as an advisor, and this happens

Josh Bretl:

as the relationship deepens, is when someone comes back and they

Josh Bretl:

realize that the fear is gone.

Josh Bretl:

They no longer worry about survival.

Josh Bretl:

And when you start talking about, what are

Josh Bretl:

their bigger dreams?

Josh Bretl:

What else can you do?

Josh Bretl:

So once you've been retired for a couple years, and

Josh Bretl:

you see, "Hey, my accounts aren't going down as much

Josh Bretl:

as I thought they were."

Josh Bretl:

Or "They're still going up."

Josh Bretl:

You're thinking, "Well, what else am I going to do?"

Josh Bretl:

That is one of my favorite things.

Josh Bretl:

It takes time to get to know them, but once you know them,

Josh Bretl:

there's all these things that they don't even think about.

Josh Bretl:

It can be as simple as someone's taking their

Josh Bretl:

dream vacation to Europe.

Josh Bretl:

And they've been thinking about this for years

Josh Bretl:

and years and years.

Josh Bretl:

And you know they're never going to spend their pile

Josh Bretl:

of money and you suggest, " Maybe you should upgrade to

Josh Bretl:

business class on the airfare?"

Josh Bretl:

And their eyes get really big, and they're like,

Josh Bretl:

"Can we really do that?

Josh Bretl:

We don't want to spend that much money."

Dave Schmidt:

Yeah.

Josh Bretl:

And that goes back to our last episode, are

Josh Bretl:

you getting what it's worth.

Josh Bretl:

If you have the ability...

Josh Bretl:

Some people say, "No.

Josh Bretl:

I'm never going to do that."

Dave Schmidt:

Right.

Josh Bretl:

But it's still something that they don't even

Josh Bretl:

think the possibility is there.

Dave Schmidt:

Right.

Dave Schmidt:

They're just afraid to spoil themselves.

Josh Bretl:

Yeah, and it's not even they spoil themselves.

Josh Bretl:

It could be, "I never thought I could ever do this

Josh Bretl:

for my kids or grandkids."

Josh Bretl:

Or "I never thought I could take this extra vacation."

Josh Bretl:

There's all sorts of things.

Dave Schmidt:

Yeah.

Dave Schmidt:

How about splurge?

Dave Schmidt:

They're afraid of splurge.

Dave Schmidt:

Is that better than spoil?

Josh Bretl:

Yeah.

Josh Bretl:

Or live.

Josh Bretl:

Dave...

Dave Schmidt:

Yes.

Josh Bretl:

Title of this podcast.

Dave Schmidt:

Okay.

Josh Bretl:

Retirement Equals Freedom.

Dave Schmidt:

Yeah.

Dave Schmidt:

That's our podcast?

Josh Bretl:

That's our podcast.

Josh Bretl:

Can you believe that?

Dave Schmidt:

Okay.

Dave Schmidt:

I've been looking for a good name for it.

Josh Bretl:

Well, now we're 18, 17 episodes

Josh Bretl:

in, we'd better find one.

Josh Bretl:

But, that freedom comes from all the things you think about

Josh Bretl:

over your life of what you're going to do when you retire.

Josh Bretl:

And those are you dreams.

Josh Bretl:

And if all of a sudden, you've been thinking over

Josh Bretl:

20, 30, 40, 50 years of your life and now you're too

Josh Bretl:

afraid to execute on them.

Josh Bretl:

That's a problem.

Dave Schmidt:

Yeah.

Josh Bretl:

If I can help someone execute on those

Josh Bretl:

dreams with the strategies that come into place.

Josh Bretl:

Man, what a good feeling it is.

Dave Schmidt:

Great feeling.

Dave Schmidt:

You'd be sleeping good that night.

Josh Bretl:

I will.

Dave Schmidt:

Hit that button for me.

Josh Bretl:

Oh, man.

Dave Schmidt:

Dave relates to retirees.

Dave Schmidt:

Yeah.

Dave Schmidt:

I'm a simple man, Josh.

Dave Schmidt:

You know this, right?

Dave Schmidt:

But I have a dream...

Dave Schmidt:

He's giving a silent laugh right now.

Dave Schmidt:

I have a dream that when I retire my freezer

Dave Schmidt:

will be full of Cometeer coffee and Puddin' Cakes.

Dave Schmidt:

And that, I'll have a full-blown arcade in my basement.

Dave Schmidt:

Josh, what strategies and tools do I need to

Dave Schmidt:

accomplish my dream?

Dave Schmidt:

What?

Dave Schmidt:

I mean, I am channeling my inner MLK, Jr., but.

Josh Bretl:

It was kind of like your inner...

Josh Bretl:

The "I have a dream" was the MLK, but it was kind

Josh Bretl:

of like a parody of someone doing a parody of Barack too.

Dave Schmidt:

I'm like, "Wow.

Dave Schmidt:

I just kind of sounded like Barack a little bit with the

Dave Schmidt:

way I was pacing my words."

Dave Schmidt:

So, I have a dream to play basketball without dying.

Dave Schmidt:

Is that better?

Josh Bretl:

It is.

Josh Bretl:

But...

Dave Schmidt:

How about this?

Dave Schmidt:

I have a dream of having an indoor basketball court,

Dave Schmidt:

with a built-in arcade with a freezer full of Puddin'

Dave Schmidt:

cakes and Cometeer coffee.

Dave Schmidt:

Mr.

Dave Schmidt:

Advisor, let's get there.

Josh Bretl:

I'm going to make an assumption here-

Dave Schmidt:

That you're paying for it all?

Josh Bretl:

That you're in a different spot in your

Josh Bretl:

life than you are right now.

Dave Schmidt:

Yeah, let's say six months from now.

Josh Bretl:

Six months from now?

Josh Bretl:

You know how I said most people don't come in here

Josh Bretl:

with unobtainable dreams?

Dave Schmidt:

Mm-hmm.

Dave Schmidt:

Mm-hmm.

Josh Bretl:

I'm worried that that may have been one.

Josh Bretl:

But the freezer full of coffee we could do.

Josh Bretl:

So here's how you of this.

Dave Schmidt:

Well, Puddin' cakes and coffee.

Josh Bretl:

And Puddin' cakes.

Dave Schmidt:

Oh, yeah, yeah.

Josh Bretl:

And here's why I probably say that, is

Josh Bretl:

it comes from the second part of that, is taking a

Josh Bretl:

snapshot of where you are now.

Josh Bretl:

So you have this dream.

Josh Bretl:

You have this desire.

Josh Bretl:

You have this want.

Josh Bretl:

And, we have to put some sort of financial perspective to it.

Josh Bretl:

So, what is that going to cost?

Josh Bretl:

What's it going to cost to fill our freezer

Josh Bretl:

with Cometeer coffee?

Josh Bretl:

To build you and arcade?

Josh Bretl:

The Puddin' cakes.

Josh Bretl:

I mean, I'll bring the Puddin' cakes.

Dave Schmidt:

Okay.

Josh Bretl:

So don't worry about that.

Dave Schmidt:

Thank you.

Josh Bretl:

But what's that going to cost?

Josh Bretl:

And where do you sit now?

Josh Bretl:

So, you have your wife, her salary, you have your savings,

Josh Bretl:

you have whatever pension.

Josh Bretl:

So, we look at the tools that you have.

Josh Bretl:

And we say, "Okay, what can we do, strategically,

Josh Bretl:

to make that come true.

Dave Schmidt:

I like how you say that word by the way.

Josh Bretl:

Strategically?

Dave Schmidt:

Yeah.

Dave Schmidt:

It's so cool.

Josh Bretl:

And, it's a process that, knowing

Josh Bretl:

where you want to go.

Josh Bretl:

If you say, "Hey, that's really important."

Josh Bretl:

And your wife, Carla, says, "Oh, yeah.

Josh Bretl:

I want as much arcade games in my house."

Dave Schmidt:

Well, of course she does.

Josh Bretl:

I'm going sit there and go, "Okay,

Josh Bretl:

here's what you got.

Josh Bretl:

Here's where you are now, and here's how

Josh Bretl:

we're going to do it."

Josh Bretl:

For you now...

Dave Schmidt:

Yeah?

... Josh Bretl:

We're going to have to do a lot more podcasts.

Dave Schmidt:

Well, what if you and our friend,

Dave Schmidt:

Q, go in on it with me?

Dave Schmidt:

And you pay 95%, and I'll pay 5%.

Dave Schmidt:

Together.

Dave Schmidt:

Does that work?

Josh Bretl:

Yeah, get Q to sign off on that.

Dave Schmidt:

I will.

Dave Schmidt:

Matthew.

Josh Bretl:

But, no, that is a dream.

Dave Schmidt:

It is.

Dave Schmidt:

Dave relates to retirees.

Dave Schmidt:

Yeah.

Josh Bretl:

I don't know if I've ever had a retiree tell me that

Josh Bretl:

their dream is to have an arcade room and a basketball court.

Dave Schmidt:

You need to find clients that align

Dave Schmidt:

themselves more like me.

Dave Schmidt:

Just saying.

Josh Bretl:

I warned you that this was going to be a little

Josh Bretl:

bit of a fluffy topic, but it is one of my favorite topics.

Josh Bretl:

Because it sets the tone for a thought process.

Josh Bretl:

The last episode, we talked about how a

Josh Bretl:

therapist makes you think.

Josh Bretl:

I think this is something that we as we're talking to

Josh Bretl:

clients, makes people think about how they're going to

Josh Bretl:

do what they're going to do.

Dave Schmidt:

Yeah.

Dave Schmidt:

I have a dream.

Josh Bretl:

My friend over here, who's now doing impersonations,

Josh Bretl:

what would we like our podcast audience to do this time, is I'd

Josh Bretl:

really like people to go to our website FSRwealth.com/podcast.

Josh Bretl:

And there, you can see all of our old episodes, but most

Josh Bretl:

importantly, you can sign up for our Podcast Club email.

Josh Bretl:

Which, I like you named it the Podcast Club last time...

Dave Schmidt:

Yeah.

Josh Bretl:

We will send you all of the show as

Josh Bretl:

they come out, or...

Josh Bretl:

Dave, you're the one in charge of that.

Josh Bretl:

How does that work?

Dave Schmidt:

Yeah.

Dave Schmidt:

So our episodes release every Thursday, early morning.

Dave Schmidt:

And I like to send these emails out on Fridays, just to give

Dave Schmidt:

us a little more time to add extra fun stuff to the emails.

Dave Schmidt:

And as we start doing, we're going to figure out more fun

Dave Schmidt:

things to put in these emails.

Dave Schmidt:

I don't know what they are quite yet, but we'll figure them out.

Dave Schmidt:

FSRwealth.com/podcast.

Dave Schmidt:

Pop in your name and email address, and you, my friend,

Dave Schmidt:

will receive the next...

Josh Bretl:

Retirement Equals Freedom Podcast Club email.

Dave Schmidt:

Ding, ding, ding.

Dave Schmidt:

Do you want me to end it by singing Stevie Nicks again?

Dave Schmidt:

I mean, if you want me to, I will but if not I understand.

Dave Schmidt:

Did you get me recording it at the beginning?

Josh Bretl:

Oh, yeah.

Dave Schmidt:

So, I'll just play it again then.

Josh Bretl:

Just reiterate it here.

Dave Schmidt:

Yeah.

Josh Bretl:

I do like me some Stevie Nicks.

Dave Schmidt:

Yeah.

Dave Schmidt:

How can you not?

Dave Schmidt:

All right, Josh.

Dave Schmidt:

Hey man, thanks for putting up with my mayhem again

Dave Schmidt:

and we'll see how tonight goes with my introduction.

Josh Bretl:

I look forward to it.

Dave Schmidt:

All right, Josh.

Dave Schmidt:

Deb?

Dave Schmidt:

Bye.

Josh Bretl:

Bye.

Dave Schmidt:

Thunder only happens when it's raining.

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