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[00:01]
Libby Griwe
Before we jump in, I want to share something exciting. Over the next few weeks, I'm going to be curating a group of advisors to help them grow towards their first 1 million of revenue and beyond. It's called the Systems to Scale Group Coaching Program. And here's what I know. What gets you to mid six figures stops there. So if you're at 500 to $700,000 a year of annual revenue, you probably feel this. What got you here won't get you there. And you need someone inside of your business showing you the way. So over the next 10 months, you'll work with me personally and each other to refine your business model, prepare for hiring, simplify your operations, and build a business that grows more sustainably, more profitably, and more independently of you. Details are waiting for you@the efficient advisor.com under the group Coaching tab. But I have to warn you, spots will go fast.
[00:56]
Todd Pisarczyk
Hi, my name is Todd Pisarczyk and I'm the CEO at Momentous Wealth Management in Vancouver, Washington. And I just finished the Efficient Advisors System to Scale Group Coaching programs. I was struggling with getting all the things that I've learned over the years onto paper and into documented processes whenever a client came in. I feel like we did a really great job, but everything we did, we just did intuitively based on things that we'd learned over time. We realized that in order to take our firm to the next level and be around long term, we needed to get those processes out of our head and documented. After 10 months working with Libby, I feel like we've accomplished this. We now have systems documented for everything from when a client first calls us all the way to what we're doing for reviews for the next three years. We're even in the process now of building these into our CRM and getting many of our tasks automated thanks to people that we've met through Libby's program. What I like most about the program, that it's actionable. Every week you're going to get an assignment and you're actually going to be working on things. And the pace I felt like is perfect. If you're even thinking about this, I would highly encourage you to join. I didn't even realize how bad I needed this program until after I got started.
[02:12]
Libby Griwe
And welcome back to another efficient Friday, where every week in hopefully around 10 to 20 minutes or less, I want to share just something really tactical like a tip idea, process hack, or something that you can implement in your business like tomorrow. I, as always, am your host of the Efficient Advisor Libby Griwe I I built and sold a 7 figure, 100% referral only planning practice as a solo advisor. All While working just three days a week and taking off 14 full weeks a year so I could be an awesome mom, a wife, a friend and a travel obsessed human. On this show I share the exact systems, processes and tiny tweaks to help you scale, get organized and dramatically reduce stress and overwhelm in your business. This is your efficient practice playbook. If you're ready to stop being the bottleneck and start being a CEO, you're you are in the right place. And before we dive into this week's content, I just want to make sure I remind you about the special event we have coming up where Adam Holt, he was on the podcast this past Tuesday. Adam Holt from AssetMap and I are doing a D I T meaning do it together webinar event to get you up and running inside of Asset Map. I decided I was kind of over the whole DIY thing and just, you know, if you're like me, you sign up for a new software, you get to like minimum viable product with it and you never really like get it, make the time to get into it, learn all the nuances. So we're throwing that out the window and we are going to offer a free trial of Asset Map. They've never done this before, which is super fun. So for my listeners, they're going to do a free trial of Asset Map and then we're going to get into the software and actually Adam's going to walk us through how to set it up, how to get a client in it and literally how to have the whole map built out for a client. So by the end, you will have an entire super functional map built out for one of your clients. And Adam's going to show us how to, how to do that. You can join us. It's July 28th at 4:00pm Eastern Standard Time and the registration link is in the show notes below. Or you can head over to my LinkedIn and there's gonna be posts about it, you know, all over for the next few weeks. You might have to scroll back to find it, but it will be there. All right, let's dive into this week's content.
[04:19]
All right, let me start with a
[04:21]
question for you today.
[04:21]
It's an easy one. If you had to choose today, lose all your money or lose all your time, which one would you pick? Of course, every advisor I ask says, take my money, I know how to make more. Right? Okay, now if I offered you a million dollars today with the catch that you don't wake up tomorrow. Would you take it? Obviously, of course not. Right? Because in your gut you know that time is more valuable than money. But here's the weird thing. Most advisors, we don't actually run our business like that's true. There's a disconnect today. I want to talk about how that gap is costing you years of your life and what to do about it. We all say that time matters more than money, but we don't actually act like it. On paper, we all agree, right? Universally, time is the scarce asset. Money is renewable. Yet in our day to day decisions as business owners, we flip it. We will do things like say yes to a client meeting that we don't have time for and push back the working on the business that critical CEO time to next quarter or maybe never, right? We will spend months trying to figure out a system by ourselves instead of just buying the template. We might spend years tolerating a messy backend instead of just investing a little bit of cash to get it fixed. We save money and we waste time. And that is totally upside down from what we all know to be true. So we say time is more valuable than money. But we don't necessarily act that out in those day to day business decisions. So money can actually buy you not just more time, but more life. Let me explain. So here's how I want you to think about it. The value of anything you buy for your business isn't just the outcome. It's the time delay between paying and getting the result. The shorter that delay, the more valuable it is.
[06:21]
Right?
[06:22]
So let me say that again, and this is true for clients too, right? The value of anything you buy, it's not just the outcome, it is the time delay between paying and getting the same result. The shorter the delay, the more valuable it is. So now let's zoom out on your own life to further explain this. Let's say you've got 40 years of life left and you typically take one vacation a year, 40 trips left. But if you had more time freedom, maybe you could take four trips a year. Now you get 160 trips in the same 40 years. So same years, 4x the experiences time freedom when used, right, actually lets you pack more life into the time you already have. So we tell our clients all the time to buy back their time, hire a CPA instead of doing their own taxes, pay a professional like me so that you don't make a million dollar mistake. But then when it comes to your own practice, right? You DIY your systems, you DIY your marketing, you DIY your investment management. Maybe you DIY a lot of tasks. You're willing to trade weeks, months or even years of trial and error to save a few thousand dollars. That's not frugal. That's expensive. And trust me, I know frugal. I've shared before. I grew up German. Lutheran, right? I grew up in an upper middle class household that still washed out those Ziploc baggies. So when I tell you that's not being frugal, y' all know I mean it. It's expensive and it's wasting your time, which we all already agreed is the most valuable resource you have. And if you can save time and hit your goals faster, it is costing you so much more money than the actual thing cost in the first place. So here is a very practical exercise that I want you to do with this information, right? I want you to write down one project that has been on your to do list for at least one year. Maybe it's clean up my onboarding, build out a service calendar. Hire and train a fully licensed operations person. Then I want you to ask yourself, if I had solved this problem 12 months ago, how would my life or revenue be different today? And then ask, what am I actually choosing by not solving the problem now, by not spending the money. Indecision is a decision. An opportunity decays over time, right? So every month you wait, you lose upside and you keep paying the stress tax. So here's a new rule that I want you to try on. Say to yourself, I optimize for saving years, not necessarily for saving dollars. So that might mean buy a template, right? Instead of building it from scratch. Join that program or take that course. That's going to help you figure it out faster. Hire someone three months earlier than what feels comfortable or affordable because time is the only account you can't refill if this hits home. And you know your backend has been the thing stealing your time. This is literally what I help advisors fix. You can check out the Systems to Scale group coaching program or at the very least, I'd love for you to pick just one project and decide to buy speed instead of burning another year trying to muscle through. So we all know that time does not equal money. That literally time is everything. So let's step up as CEOs and start operating our businesses like that's true.
[10:01]
Okay, I hope you guys found this helpful. I know this is something I've struggled with in my own world, like I said I grew up German Lutheran. Like I know, I know frugal. And I had a hard time early on. One of the things I wish I would have done differently in my career is I wish I would have started investing in myself sooner because of this whole time for money thing. Right? Like I always knew, oh, I'm a smart girl, I can figure this out. And I ultimately did. But man, if I would have just done that, I would have fast tracked my success so much faster. In fact, I just wrote last week the biggest check I've ever written to participate in a new Mastermind program. And I will say this is the first time I've written a check that large with that many zeros and was just so excited about it and had no fear around the dollar amount. So if you if you are looking at whether it's the group coaching program or a program with somebody else, doesn't matter. Just make sure you are investing in yourself and finding a program that will help you fix the problems in your business faster. Um, again, I would love to invite you to join us at the Systems to Scale Group Coaching program. We are currently in the registration window. You can find out more in the show notes or over atthe efficient advisor.com under the group Coaching tab. I would love to have you join. There is a pretty detailed FAQ over on the webpage. You can watch some videos from past participants. I would love for you to learn more and if you still have questions at the very bottom of the page, you can schedule a discovery call with me to find out if it is the right fit for you. Thanks so much and I hope you guys have an amazing rest of your week.

Summary4 min read

Podcast Summary: The Efficient Advisor – Tactical Business Advice for Financial Planners

Episode 383: The #1 Mistake Advisors Make with Time & Money
Host: Libby Greiwe
Release Date: July 3, 2026

Episode Overview

In this succinct, high-impact “Efficient Friday” episode, Libby Greiwe tackles the critical mindset and tactical errors that financial advisors make regarding the value of time versus money. Sharing personal examples and actionable strategies, she challenges advisors to reevaluate how they prioritize business decisions, advocating for buying back time—even at a cost—rather than letting DIY tendencies slow progress and reduce life satisfaction. This episode is a rallying cry for advisors to act like CEOs, optimize for speed, and recognize time as their most precious asset.

Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Time vs. Money: The False Economy

[04:19 – 06:21]

Libby’s Central Question:
- “If you had to choose today: lose all your money or lose all your time, which would you pick?”
  
  She notes that every advisor says they’d rather lose money (“take my money, I know how to make more”). But we don’t run our businesses this way day-to-day.
Reframing Value:
- Libby highlights that while money is renewable, time is not. Yet advisors often make decisions that “save money” but cost substantial amounts of time.

2. The Hidden Cost of DIY Culture

[06:21 – 08:30]

Advisors frequently:
- Postpone CEO-level work to take unscheduled client meetings
- DIY critical business systems to save money—even if this means wasting weeks, months, or years
- Tolerate inefficient backend processes instead of investing in professional solutions
Key Insight:
- “We save money, and we waste time. And that is totally upside down from what we all know to be true.” – Libby Greiwe [05:16]

3. The Value of Speed & Opportunity Cost

[06:21 – 09:31]

Quote:
- “The value of anything you buy… isn’t just the outcome. It’s the time delay between paying and getting the result. The shorter that delay, the more valuable it is.” – Libby Greiwe [06:21]
Example:
- If you gain time freedom, you can multiply life experiences (e.g., 4 trips per year vs. 1 = 4x the experiences in the same years).
Advisor Irony:
- Advisors routinely tell clients to outsource or buy back their time (e.g., hire a CPA), but then ignore this advice for themselves.

4. Practical Exercise: Quantify Your Delay

[08:30 – 09:31]

Step-by-step prompt:
1. List one project that's been on your business to-do list for at least a year.
2. Ask: If you solved it 12 months ago, how would your life or revenue be different?
3. Consider: What am I actually choosing by not solving this now?
Powerful Quote:
- “Indecision is a decision. And opportunity decays over time, right? So every month you wait, you lose upside and you keep paying the stress tax.” – Libby Greiwe [09:03]

5. New Rule: Optimize for Years, Not Dollars

[09:31 – 10:29]

Mindset Shift:
- Adopt the rule: “I optimize for saving years, not necessarily for saving dollars.”
- Possible actions include buying templates, joining programs or courses that solve problems quickly, or hiring sooner than feels comfortable.

6. Libby’s Personal Reflection

[10:00 – 11:42]

Vulnerable Moment:
- She discusses her own frugality upbringing and how it delayed her willingness to invest in herself and her business.
- “One of the things I wish I would have done differently… is I wish I would have started investing in myself sooner… I could have fast tracked my success so much faster.” – Libby [10:16]
Recent Example:
- Libby describes joyfully writing the biggest check of her career to join a mastermind—a complete mindset turnaround for her.

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

On the underlying theme:
- “We say that time matters more than money, but we don’t actually act like it.” – Libby Greiwe [04:46]
On opportunity cost:
- “What am I actually choosing by not solving the problem now, by not spending the money? Indecision is a decision.” – Libby Greiwe [09:03]
On embracing leverage:
- “That’s not frugal. That’s expensive. And trust me, I know frugal.” – Libby Greiwe [07:30]
On mindset shift:
- “Say to yourself, I optimize for saving years, not necessarily for saving dollars.” – Libby Greiwe [09:48]

Timestamps for Important Segments

[04:21] If you had to choose: lose all your money or your time?
[05:16] Money is renewable, time is not—but our business habits don't align.
[06:21] “The value…is the time delay between paying and getting the result.”
[08:53] Exercise: Re-examine long-standing to-dos via opportunity cost.
[09:31] New rule for business decisions: prioritize saving years over dollars.
[10:16] Libby’s personal story of late adoption of this mindset.

Action Steps for Listeners

Write down a project stalled for over a year and evaluate its true cost.
Ask: Is it time to buy speed and “buy back” your time, even if it costs more upfront?
Consider adopting the rule: “I optimize for saving years, not dollars.”
Investigate programs, courses, or professionals to accelerate your business processes.

Tone & Style

Libby’s tone is warm, approachable, and direct—combining no-nonsense tactical advice with personal anecdotes and a touch of humor. She speaks as a peer to other advisors, empowering them to embrace CEO thinking and take decisive, leveraged action.

Additional Resources

Systems to Scale Group Coaching Program – For advisors ready to invest in scalable business systems.
[Asset-Map Webinar](See show notes for link) – July 28th event for hands-on software implementation.

Summary prepared for financial advisors seeking high-impact, actionable takeaways and a nudge toward investing in efficiency.

Loading summary

Transcript9 lines

[00:01]
Libby Griwe
Before we jump in, I want to share something exciting. Over the next few weeks, I'm going to be curating a group of advisors to help them grow towards their first 1 million of revenue and beyond. It's called the Systems to Scale Group Coaching Program. And here's what I know. What gets you to mid six figures stops there. So if you're at 500 to $700,000 a year of annual revenue, you probably feel this. What got you here won't get you there. And you need someone inside of your business showing you the way. So over the next 10 months, you'll work with me personally and each other to refine your business model, prepare for hiring, simplify your operations, and build a business that grows more sustainably, more profitably, and more independently of you. Details are waiting for you@the efficient advisor.com under the group Coaching tab. But I have to warn you, spots will go fast.
[00:56]
Todd Pisarczyk
Hi, my name is Todd Pisarczyk and I'm the CEO at Momentous Wealth Management in Vancouver, Washington. And I just finished the Efficient Advisors System to Scale Group Coaching programs. I was struggling with getting all the things that I've learned over the years onto paper and into documented processes whenever a client came in. I feel like we did a really great job, but everything we did, we just did intuitively based on things that we'd learned over time. We realized that in order to take our firm to the next level and be around long term, we needed to get those processes out of our head and documented. After 10 months working with Libby, I feel like we've accomplished this. We now have systems documented for everything from when a client first calls us all the way to what we're doing for reviews for the next three years. We're even in the process now of building these into our CRM and getting many of our tasks automated thanks to people that we've met through Libby's program. What I like most about the program, that it's actionable. Every week you're going to get an assignment and you're actually going to be working on things. And the pace I felt like is perfect. If you're even thinking about this, I would highly encourage you to join. I didn't even realize how bad I needed this program until after I got started.
[02:12]
Libby Griwe
And welcome back to another efficient Friday, where every week in hopefully around 10 to 20 minutes or less, I want to share just something really tactical like a tip idea, process hack, or something that you can implement in your business like tomorrow. I, as always, am your host of the Efficient Advisor Libby Griwe I I built and sold a 7 figure, 100% referral only planning practice as a solo advisor. All While working just three days a week and taking off 14 full weeks a year so I could be an awesome mom, a wife, a friend and a travel obsessed human. On this show I share the exact systems, processes and tiny tweaks to help you scale, get organized and dramatically reduce stress and overwhelm in your business. This is your efficient practice playbook. If you're ready to stop being the bottleneck and start being a CEO, you're you are in the right place. And before we dive into this week's content, I just want to make sure I remind you about the special event we have coming up where Adam Holt, he was on the podcast this past Tuesday. Adam Holt from AssetMap and I are doing a D I T meaning do it together webinar event to get you up and running inside of Asset Map. I decided I was kind of over the whole DIY thing and just, you know, if you're like me, you sign up for a new software, you get to like minimum viable product with it and you never really like get it, make the time to get into it, learn all the nuances. So we're throwing that out the window and we are going to offer a free trial of Asset Map. They've never done this before, which is super fun. So for my listeners, they're going to do a free trial of Asset Map and then we're going to get into the software and actually Adam's going to walk us through how to set it up, how to get a client in it and literally how to have the whole map built out for a client. So by the end, you will have an entire super functional map built out for one of your clients. And Adam's going to show us how to, how to do that. You can join us. It's July 28th at 4:00pm Eastern Standard Time and the registration link is in the show notes below. Or you can head over to my LinkedIn and there's gonna be posts about it, you know, all over for the next few weeks. You might have to scroll back to find it, but it will be there. All right, let's dive into this week's content.
[04:19]
All right, let me start with a
[04:21]
question for you today.
[04:21]
It's an easy one. If you had to choose today, lose all your money or lose all your time, which one would you pick? Of course, every advisor I ask says, take my money, I know how to make more. Right? Okay, now if I offered you a million dollars today with the catch that you don't wake up tomorrow. Would you take it? Obviously, of course not. Right? Because in your gut you know that time is more valuable than money. But here's the weird thing. Most advisors, we don't actually run our business like that's true. There's a disconnect today. I want to talk about how that gap is costing you years of your life and what to do about it. We all say that time matters more than money, but we don't actually act like it. On paper, we all agree, right? Universally, time is the scarce asset. Money is renewable. Yet in our day to day decisions as business owners, we flip it. We will do things like say yes to a client meeting that we don't have time for and push back the working on the business that critical CEO time to next quarter or maybe never, right? We will spend months trying to figure out a system by ourselves instead of just buying the template. We might spend years tolerating a messy backend instead of just investing a little bit of cash to get it fixed. We save money and we waste time. And that is totally upside down from what we all know to be true. So we say time is more valuable than money. But we don't necessarily act that out in those day to day business decisions. So money can actually buy you not just more time, but more life. Let me explain. So here's how I want you to think about it. The value of anything you buy for your business isn't just the outcome. It's the time delay between paying and getting the result. The shorter that delay, the more valuable it is.
[06:21]
Right?
[06:22]
So let me say that again, and this is true for clients too, right? The value of anything you buy, it's not just the outcome, it is the time delay between paying and getting the same result. The shorter the delay, the more valuable it is. So now let's zoom out on your own life to further explain this. Let's say you've got 40 years of life left and you typically take one vacation a year, 40 trips left. But if you had more time freedom, maybe you could take four trips a year. Now you get 160 trips in the same 40 years. So same years, 4x the experiences time freedom when used, right, actually lets you pack more life into the time you already have. So we tell our clients all the time to buy back their time, hire a CPA instead of doing their own taxes, pay a professional like me so that you don't make a million dollar mistake. But then when it comes to your own practice, right? You DIY your systems, you DIY your marketing, you DIY your investment management. Maybe you DIY a lot of tasks. You're willing to trade weeks, months or even years of trial and error to save a few thousand dollars. That's not frugal. That's expensive. And trust me, I know frugal. I've shared before. I grew up German. Lutheran, right? I grew up in an upper middle class household that still washed out those Ziploc baggies. So when I tell you that's not being frugal, y' all know I mean it. It's expensive and it's wasting your time, which we all already agreed is the most valuable resource you have. And if you can save time and hit your goals faster, it is costing you so much more money than the actual thing cost in the first place. So here is a very practical exercise that I want you to do with this information, right? I want you to write down one project that has been on your to do list for at least one year. Maybe it's clean up my onboarding, build out a service calendar. Hire and train a fully licensed operations person. Then I want you to ask yourself, if I had solved this problem 12 months ago, how would my life or revenue be different today? And then ask, what am I actually choosing by not solving the problem now, by not spending the money. Indecision is a decision. An opportunity decays over time, right? So every month you wait, you lose upside and you keep paying the stress tax. So here's a new rule that I want you to try on. Say to yourself, I optimize for saving years, not necessarily for saving dollars. So that might mean buy a template, right? Instead of building it from scratch. Join that program or take that course. That's going to help you figure it out faster. Hire someone three months earlier than what feels comfortable or affordable because time is the only account you can't refill if this hits home. And you know your backend has been the thing stealing your time. This is literally what I help advisors fix. You can check out the Systems to Scale group coaching program or at the very least, I'd love for you to pick just one project and decide to buy speed instead of burning another year trying to muscle through. So we all know that time does not equal money. That literally time is everything. So let's step up as CEOs and start operating our businesses like that's true.
[10:01]
Okay, I hope you guys found this helpful. I know this is something I've struggled with in my own world, like I said I grew up German Lutheran. Like I know, I know frugal. And I had a hard time early on. One of the things I wish I would have done differently in my career is I wish I would have started investing in myself sooner because of this whole time for money thing. Right? Like I always knew, oh, I'm a smart girl, I can figure this out. And I ultimately did. But man, if I would have just done that, I would have fast tracked my success so much faster. In fact, I just wrote last week the biggest check I've ever written to participate in a new Mastermind program. And I will say this is the first time I've written a check that large with that many zeros and was just so excited about it and had no fear around the dollar amount. So if you if you are looking at whether it's the group coaching program or a program with somebody else, doesn't matter. Just make sure you are investing in yourself and finding a program that will help you fix the problems in your business faster. Um, again, I would love to invite you to join us at the Systems to Scale Group Coaching program. We are currently in the registration window. You can find out more in the show notes or over atthe efficient advisor.com under the group Coaching tab. I would love to have you join. There is a pretty detailed FAQ over on the webpage. You can watch some videos from past participants. I would love for you to learn more and if you still have questions at the very bottom of the page, you can schedule a discovery call with me to find out if it is the right fit for you. Thanks so much and I hope you guys have an amazing rest of your week.