A (3:34)

Yeah. Yeah. I remember asking you, I said, if there was a documentary made on your life and one day there will be a documentary made on your life, what's the title gonna be? And you said, the initiator. And I said, yeah, that's perfect. I think there's a takeaway here. And, like, Ari said, yes, I tell the whole story. It was so much fun. Like, when Ari first called me and told me that, at first I was like, okay. I didn't know what to think at first because it's almost like me saying, I don't even know what a good example is, but just something totally random that you never even thought about doing that. You don't know what feeling to associate with it. But the more I thought about it, I was like, oh, this is actually going to be pretty exciting. Got to go down on the field, got to see the players taking batting practice, got to go up to the stadium. The coolest thing, Ari, was as I threw that, I started getting text messages from people that I haven't seen in year. Over a decade, in many cases of, hey, I'm at the stadium. I just saw you throughout the first pitch. Hey, I'm at the Stadium. I haven't seen you since high school, college, whatever, seeing comments from people on YouTube. Hey, I was sitting right behind home plate, and I thought I recognized you. And then I saw you throughout the first pitch. Now I see your video, how cool you got to do this. So that was really cool. But just getting to do that. And, and this is kind of where the financial planning aspect takes in or the message that we talk about a lot of. How do you align your spending and how do you align the things that you do with the things that really matter, which are your relationships, which are the fun things you're doing, the sense of purpose. So not only was it, okay, throw first pitch and go home, but we got to get a suite, we got to host friends, we got to host family, and it became this really cool experience that was so exciting for friends, for family to be part of. So exciting for me personally to be part of, literally that. I mean, this is a stadium full of 40,000 plus people. But I could hear the suite that was filled with our friends and family as the name was announced. I, I, I could hear you guys through, through all of that, which was awesome. Um, so all that was awesome. Go to my channel. There's a full video on the experience. There's pictures, there's videos. But the tie back is okay. This isn't just an episode about I got to throw first pitch. Cool. Already did the same thing for Arsenal and their soccer field.

B (5:45)

Cool.

A (5:45)

It's how do you live life on purpose? I think there's one takeaway for the way we like to help people as their advisors is not just, let's keep and protect and manage your money in this little box and make sure it's growing forever. It's, how do we manage that in a way that's, yeah, we're, we're gonna do the best of our ability. We're gonna optimize that however we can. But the first priority above all else when it comes to optimization is translating that into peace of mind, is translating that into your pursuit of your adventures, translating that into your ability to do the things you want to do with the people you care about. If nothing else, that's the most important thing your money can do for you, is enable you to live the life you want to live. And so this was just like a perfect, in my mind, encapsulation of that. Yeah, there was it overkill to have a catered suite and all that stuff? You could say so. But that was such an amazing, that was a once in a lifetime type event. That on paper is like, do you really mean we could just get cheap seats and do this easily?

B (6:52)

Sure.

A (6:52)

But there was an experience that went along with that that made it so fun, so meaningful, Truly a once in a lifetime opportunity. And those are the types of experiences that we want all clients to have, we want all people to have. Is how do you identify those things that maybe aren't even on your radar, but would be really meaningful, fun things to do? And then how do you live life without these unwritten rules? If you're not supposed to do that, you're not supposed to do anything outside the realm of normal and just go do them.

B (7:22)

I like the unwritten rules. So there's one story that I want to tell about someone who retired with us, and I think this is going to be applicable to many of you. So I, I hope this resonates now. James, I'm grateful that you did not quit Root and join the Padres because that first pitch, I don't know if it clocked in at a hundred, but no giveaways.

A (7:42)

It was not a great first pitch.

B (7:43)

It did make it there.

A (7:45)

It didn't bounce, it was a bit high, but it was. I was hoping to be signed. Did not. We'll.

B (7:50)

We'll wait for the five year contract to come through Ohtani Canol. There's going to be a, a baseball off, even though that's not a real thing. So some of you are thinking, wow, this is pretty cool. I mean, James threw the pitch and, you know, he used to want to be able to just park there and now he got to be in the stadium. I think it's cool, but I think there's something equally as cool, potentially actually more cool. Some would say cooler, using proper English right there. So I had a client who said they wanted to fly first class because they've never done it before. And I said, how about a private jet? And you could tell when I said private jet, they thought, great, that's fun for you to dream and maybe do this with your other clients just to get them talking. But clearly I'm not going on a private jet. And I said, tell me more about your goals. I want to know more. How much would you love to travel? Tell me about their health. And they are very honest. And some clients get into it immediately. With us, certain clients, it takes a little bit to warm up. But this client was like, look, my mom's not in great health. She's always wanted to go to Antarctica and I would love to do a trip like that. And I said, do you mind if we just search together? Because I think this might shock you. She said, okay, so many of you know National Geographic. Well, they have private jet tours. And even by me saying private jet, this client is thinking private jet. Nope, not me. I work 35 years blue collar. I can't do that. You can see, that's what her brain is saying. And we look it up, and it's $87,000. Do a three week private jet tour around Antarctica and all these cool places. And she said, $87,000. That's more money than I've saved the last three years. I don't even know how I could do that. But she had saved really well. And she's like, I don't know how long my mom's going. And she did that. Now, what did she sacrifice to do that? She didn't buy a new car the next year, which was one of her goals. She didn't do a home remodel. She still was able to help out her grandchild, so she had to prioritize. And did it mean she traveled less the next two years? Yep, it did mean that. But she was able to do a private jet tour with National Geographic, something she totally wrote off in her head because she heard the words private jet. Now, if I didn't bring that up, I'm not saying she wouldn't have gone and figured it out. But part of our job is to help clients dream. And we don't just say, you get to do it. It's here, our trade offs. Let's prioritize. So if I asked all of you, would you rather throw the first pitch or do a private jet tour with National Geographic? I think most of you would choose National Geographic, unless you're a huge baseball fan, in which case you'd say you're nuts for even putting that as a comparison. But the reason we bring this up is we say the sign of a good financial plan is a life well lived.

A (10:27)

And.

B (10:27)

And part of our job is to show you, if we're not doing it, how on earth should you listen to us? I mean, you could listen, but in the same way we say there's tons of CFPs out there, but when we're James and I taking the CFP course, there's lots of people who we would not let manage a dime of our money, let alone hold our lunchbox. And we work at home, so we don't even have a lunchbox. So I say this because I want you all to take a second, just like we've shared in the last Few, few episodes, specifically the last episode two weeks ago, where James said, get a piece of paper and write out, okay, what would you spend your time doing? What would you do if you truly had a blank check? And you might not even think private jet is an option. You might not even think throwing a first pitch is an option. But I don't believe in these rules. And so if you can at least dream and think for a second, what would I do? We're not saying you get to do it, but these are things that hopefully are making you think a little differently. Anything to add there, James?

A (11:25)

Just that it's going to hurt. It's going to hurt to say 87. And not everyone should do this. Not everyone's in a position to do this. But I'll use the client you mentioned as an example. $87,000 writing that check. That's going to hurt. But what's going to hurt more is waking up one day in 20, 30 years realizing that 87,000 has turned to 287,000. But now there's no one left to enjoy it with. Now I don't have my health to enjoy it. Now there's, what am I going to do with this now? And so there's the pain of spending and there's the pain of regret. Don't just spend for the sake of spending. We've talked about that, we've reinforced that. But there's, you know, there's the old quote, there's the pain of discipline and there's a pain of regret. One is an ounces, one is in pounds or something. You know, there's pain to be disciplined, but the pain of regret, the pain of that is going to on you so much heavier. I think that could be applied here too. Successful spending, responsible spending, that's going to hurt sometimes. For these people that have built up this identity, this habit of prioritizing savings and living within their means, there's not, there's going to be an element of pain with that, but the bigger pain is going to be what happens when your mother's no longer here and you can't take that trip with her? What happens when your spouse is no longer here and you can't enjoy what you've saved this money for? What happens when your children, who you say, well, I'm saving this for them? What happens when they're so financially responsible or so financially well held that whatever inheritance you're gonna leave them doesn't actually move the needle, but you've missed out on the things that you could have done along the way with them, with your spouse, with your parents, with your friends. And so there's no formula for this. As much as I think the answer for all of us is within us. Just taking the time to sit with that and realize, what am I gonna do? There's gosh, what's that quote? I went to Aspen with my family a few months ago and there's that. That quote. I forget by it's who. Who it's from. But that what do you plan to do with this one wild and precious life? You have some. Something along those lines I think I'm ruining. There's something to. You have one life, one precious life. What are the things you're going to do to make it matter? And I think that you are very good about just living by default in that way, Ari. Of not being subject to the unwritten rules, what you're supposed to do and just living and saying if something's going to bring me or someone I love or no enjoyment and per like I'm going to do it and not being hindered by our limited thinking of what life could look like.

B (13:56)

Well, thank you, James. And you deserve it more than anyone. So if you want to see the full video, make sure to check out James channel. I also want to make sure you all know my new series Retirement Reality. There's many episodes by the time this gets released, but every Saturday I have retirees share their story. So if you want to hear that, make sure to tune in. That's on my YouTube channel. That is something that I find resonates with many people because it's not just me saying, yep, you know, I had a client take this great private jet tour, but it's them explaining, I'm so glad I'm doing this and here's why I did it. And here was the struggle. So if that's of interest, make sure to check those out every Saturday and then we will see you guys next time. It.