Building a Specialized 401(k) Practice: Renee Scherzer

[0:00] Renee Scherzer: I opened up my 401k vodka. [0:03] JD: What? All right, you ready for this? What do you get when you mix 401k with beer? Retirement plan conversations, fun and hijinks. You get Retireholics, the coolest retirement plan show in the history of the world. Does that ring a bell to any of you guys? Those words. [0:51] Mark: What'd you say? [0:52] JD: I couldn't get footage for you, Jason. Those were the original intro of episode one of Retireholics. I just read it word for word. [1:04] Justin: I wasn't there for that. [1:05] JD: That would be six years ago we did that. I thought that was a little cocky by the way, when it was episode one and it's really shitty if you watch it online. And I was claiming for it to be the best retirement show in the history of the world. [1:20] Justin: Hey, it's the only retirement show, maybe that's out there. [1:25] JD: Justin was not on that couch, but he did join us on episode two. So he was right there in this six year deal. I'm claiming this is 58 different guests, seven quizzes of death, which I wanna talk about the quiz of death. Later in the show. 2,043 beers were consumed and 45 Smirnoff Ices. And if you talk about 2043 beers, you line them all up. That's a lot of beers. [1:55] Justin: Well, and we're not drinking beer since Shelter in place. I mean, I'm vodka soda half the time on these shows. [2:02] JD: I made up all those numbers, but it's something similar. Something similar to that. So anyways, I think it's way more [2:10] Mark: smeared off Ices than the number you threw out. [2:12] Justin: Hold on, Greg. Screw you, man. Of course they count. [2:17] JD: Of course. [2:17] Justin: Lights is just flavored water and it's delightful. [2:20] JD: I just want to cheers and reflect on that and thank you guys for hanging out with me for six years doing this stupid show. And here's to six more years. This thing's going to get old at a certain point. I mean, I can't be in my 60s and doing this shit. That's going to be a little weird. So you mean you're 54 right now? I guess I feel like I am. My back feels like I am. There's been a lot of surf lately and my back can't keep up. We have got a special guest this show is about. Not about. This show is for 401k advisors and industry peeps too. But mostly this show is for 401k advisors. We have some great guests from time to time. We've got the Fredericious and the Nevin. Adams and all these kind of industry icons, these fancy pants famous names. But I think given the goal of the show to help advisors, having one of their peers on the show might be the best way for us to execute in terms of delivering value. So to have one of their peers and to make this a person who, in my research of her, she can correct me if I get some of this wrong, literally left a wirehouse, I believe, in 1999, which you're talking about 21 years ago, to commit to 401k as an advisor. So that's an OG right there. Like that's 21 years committed to 401k. I think we can learn a lot from this guest. She comes highly recommended for many people in industry. Welcome to our little circus. Renee Scherzer. [4:01] Renee Scherzer: Thank you. Cheers. [4:04] JD: Golf club. [4:05] Renee Scherzer: Yeah, I was not for profit that first year. I actually. Not on purpose. Everyone thought I was crazy when I left the wirehouses and I said I was going to specialize in retirement plans. So I actually aligned with the TPA and just set up shop. [4:20] JD: Yeah, that was a bold move back then for sure. I want to dig more into that. But before we do that little bit of housekeeping. Housekeeping. I don't think you're sleeping. Make sure you're in gallery view. That's the best way to do this sucker. It's up in your top left or top right. So get on gallery view so you see everyone at the same time and not just the people that are speaking. CBC chat bar champion Michael Webb today said on the Internet, you come for the retireholics, you stay for the chat bar. I want to let all the past chat bar champions know their swag bag, retireholic schwag bag went out yesterday. So if you have one chat bar champion, you got some shit coming your way. So if you want to win today, I'm talking to you, Chris, the husband of our guests. You got to be the most intelligent, the most humorous, the most creative in the chat bar. We will vote at the end and we'll have a winner. [5:33] Renee Scherzer: J.D. don't do that. [5:35] JD: Oh, he's gotta earn it. Yeah, he's gotta earn it. [5:39] Justin: Coming back, I just saw Dan Harding is on tonight. He's pretty witty fella himself. [5:44] JD: Brad's already pissed. Brad's. If Chris wins, this is rigged. [5:48] Renee Scherzer: I see Ken on here. I think she could be pretty good at this. [5:56] JD: Prohibitive word. You know the deal. You know the deal. Hopefully you're living in fear of this because this could ruin people's careers. This game it's happened before. [6:06] Justin: Remember me on Tuesday? [6:08] JD: You must drink from your nasty drink. I've got a little vodka and soda. What are you. You got screwball. Just like. Was it Vince that had the screwball and you guys had the screwball? Screwball is becoming a thing. Becoming a thing. If you say this word. And then I'm going to play the old. I reserve the right to add a word at the 30 minute mark, but if you say this word for the first 30 minutes, you'll have to drink from your nasty drink. And the word will be plan. P, L, A, N. Okay, I think that's it for housekeeping. Let's dive right into topic number one. And I'm kind of calling it like Renee's model. So I said earlier, having an advisor on the show is so crucial for us and for everyone tuning in, because we can learn about what you've learned over the last 21 years and what efficiencies you've learned. What things, tricks of the trade, et cetera, et cetera. So we're excited about this. Before I dive into a couple questions and the boys do. Can you give us a taste, a little taste of how many plans? Kind of the general size. Give us an idea of your practice. [7:20] Justin: Mark, where you at? [7:21] Mark: Right there. [7:22] Justin: I'm ready. Don't worry. [7:26] Renee Scherzer: All right, so I can't. I gotta think about this plan. So I have. Yeah, I've been in 21 years, about 31,401ks, and I'm looking at you, Mark, and average plans about 10. [7:44] JD: There you go. [7:44] Renee Scherzer: Oh, did I just say it? [7:45] Justin: There you go. [7:49] JD: Whoa. Okay, she's going to Janice Stout style. Okay, so around here, Renee, we just take a little sippy sippy. You don't have to take an entire shot. You'll be on the floor by the end of the show. [8:03] Justin: By the way, you guys didn't notice on Tuesday, because I couldn't find a shot glass, I started drinking out of saved baby jar food jars that I found in the garage this week. So that's my shot glass. [8:16] Renee Scherzer: Now as a food. [8:17] Mark: Jeff, why did you have saved baby food jars? [8:19] Justin: Ask my wife. You know, my wife's a pack rat. Chad, you say some weird things, buddy. [8:24] JD: That segment is called Fun facts from Chad Johansen. Okay, continue on. Renee, you were about to tell us the average size of your client. [8:34] Renee Scherzer: It's about 1112 million. What else did you ask? [8:41] JD: That's a good start. You have a. Tell us about your office in terms of. Is it just you alone? You've got someone you're working with. You guys have support staff? [8:50] Renee Scherzer: Yep. So I've got a partner, Carrie Baker, and she's on here too. [8:54] Mark: And what's up, Kerry? [8:57] JD: Hey, Kerry. [8:57] Renee Scherzer: And I'm listening to Kerry Ohm. Is that what you do? JD and with Carrie Baker and a part of my business, and then with my recent change to Resources, I now can align with Gary, just joined it with my husband's benefits practice, which is he does benefits, and then he has an HR firm. So I recently. Carrie and I recently moved in February to Resources, so we can now start building together. So that was just actually right before COVID hit, so, phew, it was, like, perfect timing. [9:31] JD: But it's just the two of you. And then the support that you get from resources for those 30 odd plans, you're the one, two punch there. The two of you. Okay, I got that one. I'll get that one here in a second. I hear a lot of advisors these days talking about, hey, this is our model, this is our value. This is what we do for our clients, and they give us a very structured service model. I was thinking about this the other night, and I was thinking, is that really true in the real world? Don't you find that you have to be flexible at times and offer different clients different types of service? I want to dive into that and then continue on even. Like, do you even have different pricing models? So how would you answer that? Do you force the same model to every client, or do you have a little bit of variety? [10:22] Renee Scherzer: Yeah, we have variety. I think it's for us too. I mean, we've got a larger group that has that acquires. Last year, we merged four plans into one at one time, and now we're in the process. [10:36] JD: Just a sip. Just a little sip. [10:38] Justin: Just go ahead and shoot it like you did the first time. Keep on flying. [10:43] Renee Scherzer: Okay, so we did. You know, I literally thought I was planning for, like, a happy hour and not talking about this again. [10:53] JD: It's part of the. You said P, L, A, N, N, I, n, G, so it's not good. [11:00] Mark: Where's J.D. going? [11:01] JD: I'm worried for her right now. [11:05] Renee Scherzer: I'm that person at the baby showers where you have, like, the little blue pin and you can't say baby or you lose your pin. And the person with the most pins at the end wins a prize. I'm the one who just has to give up their pin because I say it so fast. [11:21] Justin: You're gonna fail at this. [11:22] JD: We're gonna be in trouble. We're gonna be in trouble. [11:25] Renee Scherzer: So when I don't. Yeah, I don't think that any, you know, for us, one size does not fit all. I have a client that I've had for 21 years and they're just a wonderful organization. And I've worked with, I mean, I've been there longer than anybody else on the committee. And so we've gotten through the, you know, I've gone through private equity acquisitions and changes of HR and the, you know, my model, when they had their former HR person that I worked with since she graduated college to when she left, and that the two predecessors was completely different. So my service model had to adjust to the changing climate of the client. So. And then Carrie and I have this bigger client that acquires other groups and we almost have to be, I use the term spider monkey. We gotta have to be a spider monkey. And we've gotta get our arms around payroll audit. [12:20] Mark: Don't talk about spiders right now. [12:27] Renee Scherzer: But when you go look to price it, you have to look at your time and what their needs are. And even in this environment, I'm hearing some really great ways that other of my groups, my peers, are pricing out their clients. And if they have to travel somewhere versus now being virtual, they're adjusting their service model to fit that or their pricing model. So I just think for me, I have some other peers that have more structured service and fees. It's talk trying to avoid plan. [13:08] JD: No, I think that's good, Renee. Have your little penalty drink. I think that that's good advice for even like new advisors that are building out their practice. I know Chad and I have conversations with them all the time and they're all very structured about this is what I'm going to do and this is how it's going to play out. And this is going to be my model. And imagine all these bullet points. And I think, Renee, what you just, you let us know is that in the real world, shit gets weird. You know, you got acquisitions and different, different HR people that need different things. Go ahead, Chad, you got a thought? [13:43] Justin: Let me ask Renee. You're talking about adapting once you're, you've learned the service model. What about up front? Do you ever offer different service models to clients at different cost structures to them based upon what you think their needs are? [14:00] Renee Scherzer: Yep. [14:00] Justin: Can you expand on that? Because you would probably be one of three advisors nationally that I've ever heard say that. [14:06] Renee Scherzer: Well, because when you look at different clients, I have clients at similar asset size. Okay, good. There. They'll have similar. [14:15] JD: It'll be A long show. [14:16] Renee Scherzer: This is going to be a long show, J.D. or I'm going to be hammered in the next five minutes. [14:21] JD: Let's just go with a ladder. [14:24] Renee Scherzer: I should just do five and just get a bucket here. So the. But no, for certain clients and stuff when you go in, if they do want the whole, you know, there's a client we have that they want customized education each quarter. They do. We also do Smart Dollar. We do the committee meetings. You know, that's going to be priced differently than the other group that has, you know, just needs semiannual meetings and virtual education. They could. [14:56] Justin: And you'll do that. [14:57] Renee Scherzer: I just brought my swear jar out here. But they're gonna price differently than another group that has a similar size. 401k. Mark, I love your facial expression. [15:10] Justin: He's trying to help. [15:12] JD: And so you, to Chad's question, you will literally put a different contract in front of them in terms of pricing. [15:20] Renee Scherzer: Exactly. [15:20] Mark: Okay. [15:21] Justin: Offer two different contracts in that sales process. Like, hey, we can do this for this or this for this. That's awesome. Everybody's so afraid of, I guess, confusing the business owner or the decision makers by offering multiple service models. But I think that that's crucial because often we're building in services that are not necessary or we're not building in services that are necessary and that you should be paid for. [15:48] Renee Scherzer: Exactly. Well, and there's certain clients that may be the same asset size as another, but they require an audit. And so when you're. And when the audit time comes, I mean, we were closely. Oh, gosh, what is your volume? [16:01] JD: Your volume, like changes. [16:04] Mark: I think Brandon did that. [16:05] Renee Scherzer: No, we work closely with the auditors and so they'll start messaging, you know, us to say, where's this, this and this? So I, you know, I've been very blessed to have clients that I don't lose. And, and I've had clients from the very beginning. And the ones I've lost for the most part have been groups that have been acquired or they went out of business. And that helps where, you know, you can really get to know the client, the situation, help them weather through the audits. The, you know, and we've had to engage this past year has been 2019, 2020. And I think Carrie will agree on this. We kept joking and saying this is like that the time of. I've never seen that before. And even this year, that was even before this pandemic hit. And it was just so many things come up and if you don't have engagement with that client, then you're open up to having someone else come in. So I'm not looking to. In our business, it's all. They talk about Aum and everything else all the time. I'm looking for quality clients that I'm just going to keep and maintain over the years and grow with them. You have a client that was 1 million and now 16 million and that I've had for 20 years. [17:17] JD: So can I ask, are you looking to. Is the plan for your company to grow from 30? All right, all right, all right. To go from 31 to 35 to 40 to 45 or, you know, status quo is good. I just want to hang on to my 31 and have them grow. I mean what's, what's, what's your business plan? [17:40] Renee Scherzer: No, you know, having three kids and I think, you know, my oldest is 19. I've got a 15 year old and a 12 year old. Everyone at their schools, you know, I said this on a call the other day, think a real estate agent because I show up, I'm like showing up on my business clothes and they think I do real estate. But they, you know, I've been able to do what I wanted to do as a priority and now I may wake up at 4 o' clock in the morning, do a workout, you know, go to the gym and do all that kind of stuff and fit all my work in. But you know, now they're a little older, they're 12, 15 and 19. And so [18:15] Mark: I don't know, the chat bar saying. You said it again. [18:17] Justin: So the chat bar is calling you out. J.D. [18:19] Renee Scherzer: they just want to get me single [18:21] JD: drink for that one. [18:22] Renee Scherzer: It's really ugly if I've had too much to drink. [18:25] Mark: No, no, it was you. [18:26] JD: That wasn't you. [18:26] Justin: It wasn't you. It wasn't you. Oh, you got one saved up. [18:30] JD: Yeah, you got one in the. What did John Ruth say? [18:34] Justin: Putting some in the bank. [18:35] JD: You got one in the bank. [18:36] Justin: Store one in the bank. You got one in the bank. [18:37] JD: Carl said bank deposit. Made a deposit. Let me ask you, you're running around in your suit, people think you're slinging real estate. You're a mom. We're going to talk a little bit about your kind of charity efforts later in the show. [18:52] Mark: Well, please don't tell me you wear suits [18:56] Justin: anymore. [18:56] JD: Hang on. [18:57] Renee Scherzer: It's Arizona. It's like 100 degrees, right? [19:00] Justin: I'd say it's too hot for that. [19:01] JD: My question is more just on work life balance. So you're running this company, you're talking to me about you do want it to grow. How do you manage all of these things? And do you, do you segment time? Are you the mom that's just answering emails at the restaurant dinner table? I mean what's your M.O. what's your ethos? [19:25] Renee Scherzer: Well, for me I think I wake up early. I don't get enough sleep. That's one thing I think anyone can agree. I just do believe in the separation. I always want to be looked as professional. So I have an office and I think I go there like anyone else. I just happen to wake up earlier. If I have a day where I'm doing, you know, something for the kids or picking them up, I get up, you know, extremely early. But I do think what are we talking about? [19:49] JD: Are you hitting office at 4:30 in the morning or something? [19:52] Renee Scherzer: Well, you know I'm. Now that the kids are. My one 12 year old just started today at back at School. My 15 year old starts Monday so I'll be up at 4, 4:15 I feel. [20:01] JD: Yeah, I usually get up around like 8:30. [20:02] Mark: What time does, what time does Chris get up? That's my question. [20:06] Renee Scherzer: Oh, he's earlier than me. [20:09] Mark: Overachiever. [20:10] JD: You guys are type a little. Type a freak couple killing scorpions. [20:16] Mark: Living the dream. [20:18] JD: So tell me more about this balance. So how do you juggle all those things? [20:22] Renee Scherzer: One of the things I think I learned early on in this business was I needed to surround myself with the right people and I wanted to other people that were smarter than me. And I always tell Carrie she's smarter than me. And aligning with resources was a big thing because they also helped me create efficiencies. I used to kind of keep everything segregated so much. I tried to keep up with this chat too. And I used to kind of keep things more segregated and worry about. I mean when I first started my business a couple years later I had Ethan and he'd be on, I was at home at the time and he'd be crying on one side of the door and I'm on the outside trying to be professional. So I learned quickly on that I needed to have the separation of the office. And when I get there I'm efficient. I don't take a lot of meetings, I don't take a lot of. I have to be really efficient with my time but also be around the right people. And now that my. [21:16] JD: When you say don't take meetings you mean like dcio, record keepers? All those kinds? [21:20] Renee Scherzer: Yeah, yeah, yeah. And I have a lot of peers and great friendships and you know, because of, like, my community work, what I do. I mean, they'll show up at my office with donations, and they know how to get me, and they're my friends, and they know what's important to me, so. But I do. I have to be. You know, I think in this business, you can be so wasteful with your time, and so, I mean, I'll put in 50, 60 hours. But I love. I mean, I love what we do. I remembered years ago, I asked my dad, I said he was a hair salon. He has hair salons. And I said to him, I'm like, what? You know, you seem happy. And he said, I go, do you love what you do? And he's like, not every day, but most days. And I just. That always stuck with me. And so I'm like, you know, you can. I wrote a list of 100 goals I wanted when I was, like, 20 or 21 years old and including my income to. The only thing I wasn't. That didn't hit was I wasn't on Oprah. That was a goal. I mean, I had. [22:17] JD: This is just as good. This is just as good. [22:19] Renee Scherzer: I had how many kids I wanted. [22:21] Mark: You get a car. [22:22] Renee Scherzer: You get a car. And I had a whole list of things I wanted to accomplish. And it's kind of cool, because I have the list, and I look it up and I look at it, and. And I. You know, I look back, and it's just like, you know. You know, you can figure it out and balance and, you know, be a mom. And my kids will. You know, they're gonna grow up and know that they were my priority, but my clients will also feel like I didn't have a life outside of them. So, you know, for me, it's just. It's being who I am, not changing who I am. When I all of a sudden get into a business mode, you know, my clients are. Are great. I mean, they. I was. You know, I get messages all the time of really cool things personally. And I know. I'm like, I think we should get. [23:05] JD: I think we should get Renee and Amanda on the same show, and then my head will explode. No, I love it. I love that you're. I love that you're sharing. If I could. If I could pull some takeaways from that. You're really clear. You said, hey, I get up really early. That's great advice. I mean, sure, if you're gonna have to dedicate time to your family and dedicate time to your business, getting up early is gonna get you Three or four hours that you didn't have. You also said that you're efficient. You don't take these meetings that are going to waste time. And then you were kind of leaning towards. You also make other decisions throughout your day that are efficient use of time. So I get that. That's cool. And then also, you and I saw your husband write that benefits don't sleep. And then I also get this vibe that you're just go, go, go, go, go, go, go. And you finish by saying you're okay with that. You like it, it's fun. And so. And I'm going to tell you what you already know. I think your kids will see that and they'll be proud of you for that. You'll inspire them to do something they love in life. [24:04] Justin: So, anyways, Renee, can I ask, you mentioned not taking those meetings. Are you willing to leverage those DCIOs, record keepers and TPAs to take on some responsibility? Because your workload doesn't change whether you make the decision to really balance it out or not. And so you got to leverage those partners. You have good relationships with those folks. You able to leverage them? [24:30] Renee Scherzer: Yeah, but I'll take a call. Versus a lunch. You know, it's that type of thing. [24:35] JD: Brandon, Brad wants you to get your volume figured out. Is yo yoing up and down. [24:39] Justin: I think it's Renee. I think she slides. Renee, it's not me. [24:44] Mark: No, no, no, hold on. This was discussed earlier in the chat bar, and we have to mention it. I think it's that creepy doll baby thing controlling everything. Yeah, seriously. Is that Annabell? [24:54] Justin: Holy shit. [24:54] Mark: What is that? [24:55] Renee Scherzer: I said earlier before. I think Mark, you and Justin dialed in. It's kind of like our own kind of version of like, you know, what was it? What's that? [25:06] Justin: Chucky? [25:07] Renee Scherzer: No, at Christmas time, Elf on the shelf. So she's in front yard, and she moves from different spots in our front yard. And so our neighbor. [25:16] Mark: Yeah, what's her name? [25:17] Justin: We're scary. [25:19] Renee Scherzer: We are the scary house. So I moved her here. Well, her sister's Courtney. We haven't named her yet. She's new. [25:26] Justin: Wait, there's another one. [25:27] Renee Scherzer: We have a swinging girl. [25:29] Mark: She's obviously cursed and frightening, so. Yeah, good luck. [25:35] JD: All right. Mark. [25:36] Mark: Yeah? [25:37] JD: What's the name of the game? [25:38] Mark: Oh, we're going to that, huh? Perfect timing. Perfect timing. It's the lamer game. [25:44] Justin: Game. [25:45] Mark: Renee, I know you're very aware of what the game is, so I won't even describe what it is to everybody else who's chiming in and watching for the first time. So we're just gonna jump right in. Okay. You get how this works? This one's actually poking fun at me a little bit. Okay. First, Chad just kind of was introduced to this not too long ago. I don't really order weird coffees and stuff. I just like to drink regular coffee. I don't know if you. Renee, it sounds like you don't sleep much, so maybe you do partake in caffeine and consumption. But if you order, like, a latte, you get a little crazy, right? You're gonna order that vanilla latte. Is ordering it without foam lame, or are you game? [26:33] JD: You're first, Renee. [26:35] Mark: You go first, Renee. Sorry, I should. [26:36] Renee Scherzer: I'm game. I don't do foam. [26:38] Mark: Okay, good. [26:42] Justin: This is apparently a thing. [26:44] Mark: Yeah. So, Chad, we'll go to you. [26:46] Justin: I'm gonna say it's lame. Cause when I ordered it for Mark, the lady behind the counter was struggling to do it and said, who gets no foam on their latte? It's a lot. [26:55] Mark: You're giving me of, like, that much liquid, you morons. [27:01] JD: I love how PCH has to announce to the world that he's not going for CBC tonight. Like, hey, no expectations, man. I'm just chilling. I don't want to be judged. [27:10] Mark: I saw PCH's vanilla latte. He made that the other morning. Vanilla ice latte. So it didn't have foam in it. Just saying. [27:17] JD: Yeah, this is. I can't really answer this question because this is me at Starbucks. I'll take a large black coffee, please. Thank you. [27:25] Renee Scherzer: Oh, you're that person. [27:26] Justin: You never know. [27:27] Mark: Just try to get a little crazy and get a little something different, you know? I can see you ordering a pumpkin spice latte with your hood over your head. [27:35] JD: No. [27:37] Mark: All right, Justin. [27:38] JD: Thanks. [27:39] Justin: Lame. [27:41] Mark: I've never done it. Thank you. That's all I want from you, Justin. All right, Brandon said, since the Halloween holiday is around the corner carving pumpkins lame or are you game? [27:59] JD: To you, Renee. [28:00] Justin: Renee. [28:01] JD: Sorry. [28:04] Renee Scherzer: I'm horrible at it, so I'm gonna say lame. [28:07] JD: Chad, [28:10] Justin: I wasn't quite listening, but I think you said pumpkin lattes. [28:13] Mark: Jd, you're next. [28:14] Renee Scherzer: Jd. [28:15] JD: Jd, you're next. [28:16] Justin: Jd. [28:17] Mark: Chad, spit out. [28:18] JD: It's a wonderful. It's a wonderful time for the family to come together. I love carving pumpkins. The only part that's a little gnarly is, you know, tearing out all the guts. It's creepy, but it's a good, good thing I'm game. [28:32] Mark: It's so gross. Justin. [28:35] Justin: I'm game. It's fun. [28:38] Mark: Okay, When's the last time you carved the pumpkin? [28:40] Justin: I can't bark. Yeah, exactly, Mark. Let me say I can't help myself, but click on people who post links in the chat bar, and that's what gets me distracted. So Harding just posted a link, and I had to watch what video he posted. [28:53] Mark: Hey, Latte. Brandon has taught us anything. It's you don't click on links. Chad, [29:01] JD: that could be someone fishing you. [29:03] Renee Scherzer: Chris is the one who does the pumpkin carving at our house. [29:07] JD: Yeah, Chris. [29:09] Mark: Yeah, Chris. [29:11] Renee Scherzer: I have zero craft skills or anything. [29:14] Mark: Renee, I'm gonna probably entirely derail the show now, and JD's probably gonna be upset. [29:20] JD: But [29:23] Mark: I am so interested you mentioned on LinkedIn that you have some questions for us that are of the variety of would you rather. And instead of me continuing down this path of lamer game, I'd like to segue into those questions. [29:37] JD: That's not my agenda. That's not my agenda. [29:41] Mark: Did you have it in there, jd? [29:42] JD: Go ahead, Mark. Yeah, Perfect. [29:44] Mark: Well, now you can remove that. Put it up here. [29:49] JD: I think it's a good time because your lamer game was pretty lame. Maybe Renee can save you. All right, Renee, let's go. [29:55] Mark: I need help. I'm not willing to. [29:57] Renee Scherzer: I'll throw two at you. Would you rather spend a week with ninjas or pirates? [30:04] Justin: Oh, pirates for sure. [30:06] Mark: You have to assign the question to one of us at a time. [30:09] Renee Scherzer: Oh, okay. Justin started. Yeah. He said pirates. [30:13] Justin: Pirates for sure. [30:14] JD: Yeah, Katie, pirates. [30:19] Renee Scherzer: I was thinking after I said that. [30:20] JD: Only because we're just gonna get wasted and I'm gonna like that. [30:23] Renee Scherzer: Well, you're gonna also have to have, like, swords and, like, get swords when you're in. [30:29] JD: The pirates I'm hanging with were just getting hammered and stealing shit. [30:35] Justin: Forbidden fruit must be tasted. [30:37] JD: Well, when Mori told me what you were Will. [30:44] Justin: Okay, are you not aware that I got party and bloated with a foamy latte? [30:49] JD: My mistake, Jacquelville. [30:51] Justin: You know what? [30:52] Renee Scherzer: Party. [30:53] Mark: Everyone's saying pirates. I always have to go the opposite direction. I'm gonna say ninjas because they're a stealthily bunch, and I don't really know what ninjas truly do, and I want to kind of be on that inner circle. So I'm going ninja. And even more important, if they're Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, I'm pumped. [31:12] Renee Scherzer: Beth. Yep, I like it. If you can only listen to one song the rest of your life, would you rather ring a fire from Johnny Cash or Bohemian Rhapsody by Queen. [31:30] JD: Oh, that's easy. [31:32] Justin: Made us. Yeah, made it a lot easier. One Bohemian Rhapsody. [31:37] Renee Scherzer: Bohemian. [31:38] JD: Mm. I believe if we polled the audience right now, it would be. Oh, no, there's Ring of Fires. I'm Queen, Queen, Queen, Queen, Queen, Queen. [31:50] Mark: Yeah, I'm kill myself after a little while. [31:54] Renee Scherzer: My other one was if you would rather be in San Quentin for five years or in a coma for ten. [32:00] Justin: San Quentin for five. [32:02] Mark: Coma. I'll never last in ten. [32:05] Justin: What's gonna happen to me and Quentin for five years? [32:07] Renee Scherzer: I know. Cause you guys are kind of cute. So what happen happened, Quinn? [32:11] Justin: I run that jail. That's what happened. [32:17] JD: I'm very, very fearful of jail. I don't know why, but. But I don't think I would go coma for 10 years. I think I would. [32:27] Mark: It's just a nap. [32:28] Justin: You don't actually check Ben Dover's comment? Ben Dover says avoid jail. [32:37] Mark: That wins the chat bar right there. [32:39] JD: Wow. That's if bend over. Oh, man, that's a good one. Yeah. If he wasn't Tony, I might vote for him. [32:47] Mark: Is it the rule of when you're in a coma, you don't actually get older. Right. So you just stay. When you wake up, it's just a long Nap. [32:54] Justin: Right. Your 401k keeps growing too. [32:58] JD: All right, all right. [32:59] Mark: You know what they say. [33:03] JD: You know what they say? Know what they say. This we have had Vince on this was just last week. And there's all these. I use the term aggregator, but I just want to talk about being an advisor and then making a decision to be part of something bigger, which is a huge choice. And I mentioned this in the past. I was kind of shocked by the popularity of this. I would have thought somebody like you, 20 years in the biz, have figured out your own way of doing things, that you would be so cocky and so smart and so intelligent that you'd be like, I don't need to join this bigger thing. But you did. And many others like you have done it. So take us through that decision making process. Like, why is this such a big trend? And why did you make the decision in the first place? [34:00] Renee Scherzer: Well, I think once you get in that mindset that you've got it all figured out, you're already losing because the business is going so fast. [34:06] JD: Yes, I'm losing. Then shit. [34:10] Renee Scherzer: But no, because you've got. I have these really great. And they're on here too. Peers that we are from all different firms and a lot of these aggregator firms and we share ideas and ultimately we all have the same goal of helping the participant in helping our plan sponsors. And I get great ideas from all and so I get great ideas, ideas from all of them. And I think moving to resources, part of it was the ability to be able to. [34:41] JD: She's smooth. That's pro. Did you see that? She kept her thought. Open the bottle. Wow, you're getting good at this shit. [34:49] Renee Scherzer: I'm going to be good, I'm going to be good at the next 10 minutes. But being able to be with a larger firm that makes you look good and does all that back end research and brings you these really innovative tools and you know, it just brings you around people that, you know that come up with these great ideas. And so I think making the move, I had talked to a lot of other offices for the years and just, you know, I was kind of. My business was like my first child. I had it before I had kids. So I was very protective of it and going out and talking to a lot of the different groups, you know, you kind of look and you say they're great people, they have fabulous resources, but could I really see myself aligned with them for the rest of my career? Because I'm, you know, when I made a move, I was going to make a move for. Oh goodness, I'm going to say Vince. So they. Oh gosh. So I was, I did do that for Vince. But the, but making a move was also because, you know, there's only so much we can do. And aligning yourself with other people that are doing innovation and bringing these solutions for these clients that ultimately are going to help you grow, help you do better, be efficient was important for me and with resources for me. The other part was the culture is can you do [36:21] Justin: nice? [36:21] JD: That was tight. [36:23] Renee Scherzer: Race, that was tight. But it was also, you know, I love like Jason and Corby and Nate and Vince and you know, you just go in your. I've known a lot of these people. They're, you know, my friends and there's their peers and they're people that I admire and I think they're just so creative. And so it's like I want to be with them, you know, I want to see what they're doing. [36:47] JD: And then don't you think that when you run your own business, I mean, I know I'm guilty of this. You get caught up in the day to day a lot, right? I mean, you're running around dealing with your clients and so you have all these visions of growth and creativity and oh, we're going to add this service and we're going to. This is going to be really cool. We're going to do this one day and then you turn around five years later and you really haven't. None of those ideas have come to fruition. So I definitely get now, like, if you're part of this bigger group, then that group can make those things happen and you can be the benefactor of all that hard work. So that makes sense to me. And clearly it's a popular thing. [37:28] Justin: You can also leverage the barely hear you, buddy. [37:31] JD: Yeah. Volume issues tonight. [37:37] Justin: If they're helping you scale, then you have time for the business building side. [37:41] Renee Scherzer: Yeah, yeah, exactly. [37:44] JD: Have you. You've only been there. Geez, it's been what, eight, eight, nine. Eight months or seven months? Yeah. What's your take so far? Did it meet your expectations? [37:58] Renee Scherzer: Oh, yeah. I was a little concerned when digital was happening, that transition was happening and after that kind of closed and everything else went through. It's been better than expected. I think when you join a firm, you can just be idle and not do anything or you can engage with the resources and tools. And so what we did is we just injected ourselves, asked questions, reached out and became part of the organization versus just make the transition and just kind of sit and wait for them to come to us. And I think that's important too is because there's a lot of people in the industry, I think that you were like, I've never heard of that name before, yet they have this great practice and it's just, they just kind of sit quietly by. And I think what we've been able to do is really benefit from the people and what they have to offer. [38:52] JD: Do you do that through. Through like organized user groups or do you like reach out to corbydoll on your own or. I mean, how does those conversations take place? [39:02] Renee Scherzer: Well, I knew Corby actually before when he was at ReliaStar years ago, and so he was a wholesaler. So I've actually reached out to Corby even when I was looking at another firm before and just to get his advice. So these are people, you know, at that conference that you guys, I think the first time I saw you at was at when you guys had Phil and Steph on stage and Brandon and, you know, I sat next to Corby at dinner that night. And he's just, you know, I don't think I need to say to anyone who's on it, because he's just an incredible human being. [39:34] JD: Yeah, Corby's such an asshole, that guy. My gosh he's great. Nicest guy on the planet. [39:41] Renee Scherzer: Yeah, he is a nice. And so it was, you know, I was able to spend dinner with him that night and you know, talk with him and Nate was there and some other. And the other resources versus team. [39:52] JD: So now my opinion of Nate White, that's a whole nother story. But. [39:58] Renee Scherzer: Sorry, but there was. But I think when you start talking to the people and seeing what the culture is all about, it's just that, you know, I think when you see yourself fitting, you know, I think and knowing that this is who I want to be around and these are the people that I want to be aligned with, you know, that's where as you go through. I know, I know some other advisors that are looking to figure out what, what's the next step for them to do and I think you know, take, you know, whatever it's your expense or they're treating you take the flight. I mean I flew out to you know, I won't say what cities because you'll know who and spent the day, you know, just to meet everybody there. And you know, you just kind of sorry this airplane flying but you. [40:38] Mark: Oh, that was a perfect time flight. Yeah, great job. [40:43] Renee Scherzer: But I, but I, you know, I think there's such a. I think in this industry is finding the right group that you're with that helps, you know, helps do that work because we're, you know, I know my skill sets and I know I'm great at some things and I know I stink at others. And finding the organization that's going to help me, you know, and also help me bring better solutions to my clients was really important. [41:08] JD: Are you using tools like financial elements? Am I getting that right? Did I get that right? [41:14] Renee Scherzer: Yeah. Carrie and I just got an 8500 life group that we now hope to get the 401k plan. We'll likely get the 401k plan in next year. And it was financial elements. [41:26] Justin: Can I ask then because you caught me a little off guard. [41:30] JD: Only if you turn your volume up. [41:32] Mark: Chad. Talk louder, Chad. [41:34] Justin: Dammit. Brandon yelled at me about this last time. The volume's perfect focus, but it sounds like Carrie. I think it's a zoom thing. Oh, settings, Chad and crank. [41:46] JD: There you go, Brad. It's Zoom's fucking this up, not us. [41:49] Justin: I haven't changed anything. So if it's fine earlier, it's the same. It is now. [41:53] JD: Well then go ahead. Now we can't hear you talk in silent mode. Then go ahead, ask your question. [41:59] Justin: I didn't know, you guys had a group health focus. I didn't know you had a group health focus. [42:03] Mark: There you go. [42:08] Renee Scherzer: So for the health part, my husband was with a large firm and up until about four years ago, and then he went on his own. So my prior firm didn't have the. They're so large, they didn't have the power to be able to, from a compliance standpoint, monitor that. So that's why it was the kind of delay of working with the group benefits. [42:26] Justin: Arm is your husband. Can you guys hear me now? Because I changed up the volume. Yes, Inside zoom. Brandon's right. Inside zoom. There's an auto adjust feature. I turned it off, cranked up the volume. [42:43] JD: Great. [42:44] Justin: Is your husband part of the same firm as you or is he separate? [42:49] Renee Scherzer: He has his own organization and now I'm aligned. Can align with him because under the resources model now I can also be a part of his team or aligned [42:59] JD: with the team who makes more money each year, you or your husband. [43:04] Renee Scherzer: We compete. We compete on everything. It's bad to be in my house. [43:11] Justin: That's the way it's supposed to be. [43:12] Renee Scherzer: Oh, yeah. [43:13] Justin: Should be a competition. [43:15] JD: Not everything. [43:16] Justin: Chad. [43:18] Mark: Greg. [43:22] Renee Scherzer: But I do think in this business, I mean, I think there's no better business. It's really great. You get to be. I have the best network. And I think during COVID I was able to really build friendships and relationships in this business that help, you know, help us be better and be more creative. And resources was a big part of that. And I, you know, we made that move right in the nick of time. It couldn't have been better. And, you know, they also, you know, with them providing these extra tools and resources as we help participants recover out of this is huge. And the financial elements, as you mentioned, JD is, you know, they have a mentor, someone to talk to. And, you know, in the Fidelity study that was done, I think it was last quarter, participants said, you know, they still want someone to talk to and, you know, and some of the other wellness tools that we do have, a person they can talk to and, you know, for our, you know, from an efficiency standpoint, I can't be talking to all the employees. And to have a wellness solution that's extremely cost effective, where they have a kind of a coach, it's huge. I mean, I think it's just, it's such a. At an extremely competitive price. So to me, that alone, you know, was huge. And it's going to be so significant as we recover out of this. [44:38] JD: Mark, this wellness thing ain't Going away, buddy. It's not going away. [44:42] Justin: No, never said it was. [44:43] JD: Greg says I'm married to a lawyer. [44:46] Mark: Use it correctly. [44:48] JD: Greg says I'm married to a lawyer. There's no way we're going into business together. My wife does our. My wife does our HR stuff for the company, and I love her to death, and we get along really well. But if we have a fight ever in our marriage, it's always about work. [45:10] Renee Scherzer: I love it. Yeah. There is a reason that part of this pandemic. I worked from home and he worked in the office. [45:18] JD: How do you. Let me ask you this. Kind of the number one question. People always want to know. As you grow these 31 clients to whatever number, where do the new ones come from? What efforts are you making to drag new business in? How do you get the new opportunities? [45:36] Renee Scherzer: Well, now we're able to turn on the faucet for the benefits team. So they've got that starting to fill up already. And then we've had mobility. So there's one thing. When you have the service model where you're working with payroll, HR and the executives, you get to know everyone. I mean, we do a lot of education. Each quarter we develop fiduciary education. We know payroll knows us. We get involved and sometimes to a fault, I have to admit. Sometimes I feel like we're inefficient. But clients you make yourself where you're not replaceable. And there's a client that Carrie and I even personally have. It's one of the. I've never seen that before. And it's a large plan. And they actually increased our advisory fees. [46:28] Justin: Been doing well. [46:30] Renee Scherzer: They actually increased our advisory fees July 1st. You know, who does that, you know, in this market? And that was. [46:39] JD: When you're telling me that you're so deep in with the HR and the payroll, are you trying to tell me that the person in HR is going to end up getting hired somewhere else in the Scottsdale area and then they're going to reach out to you because. Is that what you're saying to me? [46:54] Renee Scherzer: So we got this 8500 life group on the wellness, and then they'll look at the RFP for the 401k account next in 2021 because of people moving. And it was, you know, they came out, they started looking at these wellness slash. You know, they. I mean, 8,500 employees, I mean, they've got transition. They've got a certain population of employees. And so they wanted a solution that could. They could offer to all these Participants that again, from a. From some of these other, like, you know, other programs they couldn't do. And then with our partnership with resources, we were able to close and get that client. [47:36] JD: In addition to those types of referrals, are there any other, like, more kind of hardcore things that you do? Like are you drip marketing on people? Are you a fan of social media? I mean, give me some other, if they exist that you use to bring in new biz. [47:51] Renee Scherzer: Well, for me, it's with strategic partners. You know, I've had some vendors call me recently with plans that need assistance, I think. [47:58] JD: Hang on, Sorry. Your husband is not going to win the game with his little three word quotes. Always be closing benefits never sleeps. [48:07] Justin: Come on, Chris. Up the game, up the game. [48:11] JD: Sorry, Renee, continue on. [48:13] Renee Scherzer: I know when I'm having a bad day, he'll like go sell something. [48:17] Mark: Did he come up with that tagline too? He's good. The three words, 401k every day. Was that him? [48:23] Renee Scherzer: No. I don't know. I didn't pay attention to the chat. But for growth, I mean, you know, earlier in my business, I used to do these little Halloween bags, like, don't be scared by the audience. All these things. And what I still do, what I do now, and part of it is my network because I do do community work and I have other. I engage with prospects that also are involved in other organizations. So I build those relationships. Now it's kind of a. Not necessarily social media where I'm presenting myself, but mine is on the relationship side is, you know, I understand. I know when they're getting a table, I'm getting asked to sit at their table because they know community and giving back is important to me. So I'm getting invited to their breakfast table. So mine is kind of a back door where I'll send them books, I'll send them gifts. You know that I think that they'll, you know, it'll be, you know, something that they'll be excited about. And I think that the relationship side, I know I'm trying to avoid playing and I'm talking in circles. [49:27] Mark: You're avoid it. [49:29] JD: You're gonna have to drink for Santa. No. What? [49:32] Justin: I'm. [49:32] JD: The vibe. I'm. The vibe I'm getting from her is she's old school. She's more like, okay, I'm gonna be at this event, I'm gonna do these social kind of, not social media, social in life kind of things. [49:44] Mark: Do you have a, I'm curious, do you have a billboard somewhere? [49:49] JD: You said drill school I am old school. [49:53] Renee Scherzer: I feel about the relationship. [49:55] Justin: Answer the question. [49:56] Renee Scherzer: I really, you know, for me, you know, we can. I can be a, you know, I dial for dollars. For so many. Earlier in my career, I was three words. [50:05] JD: Dial for dollars. [50:07] Renee Scherzer: I would do like 25 dials and do, you know, get a cup of coffee. Do 25 dials. [50:12] Justin: You're a gangster. Now I know how you and your husband got together. Sales, sale, sales, sales, sales, sales. It's like a boiler room. [50:19] Renee Scherzer: Yeah. The sale prices. I think anyone in this business, it's the fun. It's fun. I think we all, you know, but I also, you know, I also understand because I have had clients and I just have clients for 21 years, that it's the relationships that keeps you in there. And so for me, I've even. And I used to kind of hide the fact that. And I know this might come up in the conversation about my community work. And I realized that my clients, you know, they love that part of me. And I had found out one of my old former clients. Well, now it's a new client because he sold a company and bought a new one. But he was integral for. He had a contact of someone that was important to me with animal rescue. Well, I wouldn't know that if I wasn't engaging in those relationships. And so for me, you know, I used to kind of keep things as silos. And not that I fully integrate everything. I mean, I maintain a professionalism. But what I realized with clients is they also, when they leave the office, they have other, you know, passions and excitements. And I get to know those. And with that relationship, you move them. Like this one client who's helped me. Oh, gosh, honey, they've helped. He's, you know, now he opened and started two new businesses and I've got those new clients now than one's just implementing now. But he. If I wouldn't have read his articles and done my research on him, I wouldn't know that he had a passion for kids in crisis and he had a passion for rescue. And so when you're able to get to the real, true decision makers and have those conversations and they know what you're about, I think you solidify those relationships. You're not constantly out there pounding the pavement. [52:06] Justin: But what I heard, and this is a question I wrote down prior to starting the show in terms of how you're finding opportunity, because I didn't know that you had any play in. Well, with your husband and your practice with the group benefit side. What I'VE heard and what I've heard from Aaron and Janya and Alex and everybody who is killing it as a 401k focused advisor is you're attached to a Groot help shop. Every single one. Everyone. And I thought maybe that you were something new in terms of you found a secret sauce to finding these opportunities outside of that. And it's good. This is what teaches us as an industry. You need to find those cois. [52:49] JD: See, I knew he was gonna say coi. I knew he was gonna say coi. [52:53] Justin: That should have been a word of the episode. [52:55] Renee Scherzer: Well, it was only, you know, that was recent. In my prior firm, I wasn't able to even email my husband, you know, because I couldn't police it. [53:04] Mark: So you just. So you just like talk to them [53:06] Justin: and text them instead? [53:07] Renee Scherzer: Oh, it was a joke around the office. I was like, if I had to sign an addendum that I would run to the printer and take anything off the printer that I printed. You know, stuff like that. So it was, you know, compliance is fine. So we're excited because, you know, made the move and then this hit. So we haven't really taken that alignment to the next level. And we're in. And even with Chris, I mean, he's about. We're all about health, wellness. That's been the discussion. We have a great wellness director and she's just, I mean, she's just darling too. But be able to integrate the two because we have to look at this from a holistic perspective and from clients perspective as well as the participant, from their health and financial health to also their budget. How do they look at their whole paycheck and determine especially recovering out of this period, how much money do I put to retirement versus my health benefits and then pay my bills? So I think we've got, you know, I think it's a great time to be in the industry, but I also think we've got to put our work boots on and just really get to work here. [54:14] JD: Yeah, this stuff's not going to happen all by itself. But we talked about health and wealth last week. It's clearly this convergence is a big deal in the industry. But I like what you said, Renee. It's not just going to do itself. Right. People are going to have to roll up their sleeves and make it happen. And Chad, thank you earlier for point that out to anyone paying attention. You're right. The centers of influence, the strategic partners seems to be a reoccurring theme of successful advisors. And so if you're on the up and trying to build your business. You should be investing a lot of time and energy and effort into developing that strategy for yourselves. And there's lots of different ways to go about it. But I'll use Renee's last comment again with that. It takes energy. It takes effort. We talked about this on the Mutual of Omaha show that we did on Tuesday, which will come out on October 14th, by the way. Everyone go sign up for the Mutual of Omaha Retireholics show so they think we're cool. And we drove. A lot of. You don't even have to show up. Just RSVP and then wow. [55:20] Justin: Based upon how many people register. [55:22] JD: So anyways, anyways, great, great point. Chat. Brandon, can you. We're gonna. The Wheel of Ice. You know the Wheel of Ice, Renee. And we're doing it now to where the guest could potentially land on the guest. So your name is on this wheel and so I don't want you to be scared. And guys and everyone listening in. And she's not really scared because she emailed me at like 1pm today and said, do I need to go out and get a Smirnoff Ice? Am I going to be on the Wheel? And I said, look, you're going to be on the Wheel, but you're not going to lose. Mark's going to lose. So go ahead, spin the Wheel of Ice. Let's see what happens. I'm just letting you know I only have two lessons. I know Shannon's excited right now. This is her favorite part of the show. [56:18] Justin: Only two left. [56:20] JD: Oh, [56:23] Justin: that looks like Shannon moved it over. [56:26] JD: Nice, Brandon. Very nice. [56:28] Mark: Yeah, real nice. [56:29] JD: Brandon worked so hard. [56:31] Justin: Carry on. Did you hear that Mark mentioned he only has two left. [56:36] JD: Ooh, we gotta ship him some more Smirnoff. Okay. Drizzly will be coming your way soon. [56:42] Justin: That's two more weeks and we're traveling up north for that one. Oh, yeah, we're recording live. [56:49] JD: You know, there are these things called stores where you can go and buy Smirnoff Ice. [56:53] Mark: I can't be caught buying that stuff. [56:56] Renee Scherzer: Dude. [56:56] Mark: Come on. [56:57] JD: Hey, we only have a few minutes. You were featured in Plan Advisor magazine. Oh, shit. Tell us a little bit about that article. Maybe Brandon's pulling up the image. That was a cool. How fun was it to be made a cartoon or whatever, illustrated. That's neat. [57:18] Renee Scherzer: I know. I love it. [57:20] JD: Tell us about the article and kind of your. Everything you do in this space of giving back. [57:26] Renee Scherzer: Well, I felt very honored that they called me and I done another thing with PlanAdvisor and shared a little bit about the community work I do. And so I. [57:40] JD: She's getting smooth. She just goes right through it. [57:43] Renee Scherzer: So, you know, earlier in my career, I used to kind of keep that line of what I did separate because I felt clients were gonna look at me and think, oh, she's out there saving dogs, or she's, you know, doing this dry. [57:56] JD: What a horrible person. [57:57] Mark: Yeah, it's a horror thing. Shame on you. [57:59] Renee Scherzer: No, I mean, I think, you know, I started in the business when there really was not a lot of females. And so I was. Always felt like I had to, you know, really. [58:07] JD: Fair enough, Fair enough. [58:08] Renee Scherzer: And, you know, so. So it was. So I just, you know, I had a client, actually, even, you know, I've had clients really get me into doing certain avenues. But I've always just felt very strongly about giving back. I grew up in a dysfunctional type of situation, and like many people have, and I just felt like I was conditioned for it. So I have done. Probably had the most fabulous experiences. And when I realize I can integrate clients with it and peers and partners with just has blown me away. So it's, you know, I find opportunities come. I think if you open your eyes and, you know, there's. Whether it's rescuing animals or whether it's child crisis and being able to be at the shelter. You know, early in my life, I was broke and, you know, I've been a single mom and other things, and I would see other people, and I live in this very privileged area. And I thought, you know, these people just. They blow money and they're spending, and they have these donations that are amazing. So I just started taking them. I mean, I've had times where I've come home and I mean repeatedly. And I have bags of donations at my garage or on the side of my house, and I started taking them to the shelters for. And they all have a personal connection to me from somebody I know or somebody I've tried to help. And it's domestic violence, it's child crisis, it's animal rescue, and, you know, my husband. [59:29] JD: Can I pause you for a second? I think it's so cool that you do all those things. I think myself and a lot of people out there that think about giving back, they spend a lot of time going like, okay, well, what am I gonna do? What am I gonna do? And Renee's just like, fuck it. I'm doing all this stuff. Like. So, anyways, sorry to interrupt. [59:46] Renee Scherzer: Just show up, you know, I was really shocked, actually. It's funny that you said that, JD Cause at first I thought the same thing. And I went up to a retreat and it was just me and some girlfriends and it was a lot of drinking. And all of a sudden I left there going, two of us have been through a bunch of stuff and we're strong and happy and successful, and the other two hadn't been through anything, were going through challenges. And I thought, you know, there's a purpose for this, there's a reason why we're strong. And so I just started picking up the phone and calling and I didn't realize how much I could make an impact. So there's times where our house will be filled with like Halloween, you know, costumes for shelters. My kids, my friends always tease. I think I messaged this to you, JD that, you know, you're the only person who could show up at your kid's school with a bunch of dogs and no one questions anything. But you know, I get calls randomly and it's. What's really amazing is I think a lot of people are kind of what you said, they don't know what to do. And I get calls all the time is what are you working on? What are you doing? Who can I help? So. [1:00:47] JD: So you're the conduit. They don't have to figure it out, they can just go to you and help you out. [1:00:54] Renee Scherzer: Exactly. And I had a friend call and someone answered an ad on a plan advisor thing, policing herself. I got that. And someone had answered an ad on a craigslist for a free couch. Well, we show up, my husband and I, and, and I look in and it's seven people, four kids, two three year olds, a six year old, a seven year old, and three adults living in an apartment. And I peeked in and I didn't go in because for safety reasons. And there's a little three year old sleeping on blankets. I mean, you can't unsee things. So I put it out there. Clients, friends, vendors showed up. I have an old neighbor from when I was like, like kindergarten sent me $200. And so we decked them out with, we decked out their whole apartment. And I'm that person that, you know, it gets you uncomfortable. People don't want to get uncomfortable. And I think that's the big thing is, you know, with giving money or giving time. And I'm that person will, you know, drive to the other side of the world to get a dog out of dumpster, you know, if I get a call. And I think once you put yourself out there, people know you're gonna do something. The hard part is finding that balance where people don't just dump their stuff on you. So. But for me, I think, you know, I have such a fabulous network and I've, I have the most generous people. I mean I, you know, these, my DCIO partners, they, they show up at meetings with blankets and food and whatever else I'm collecting. So. So for me, again, it's just part of who I am and it's integrated. So sorry, I'm rambling and on. [1:02:35] JD: No, you're not at all. By the way, the chat bar is, is blowing up with. They are loving you for praise for what you're doing. Although I do love, I buy homeless guys beer, Saint whatever. That's a good one. No, you were. At the same time you're inspiring me, you're also making me feel like total shit. [1:02:55] Justin: That's what I said before because I'm [1:02:58] JD: more worried about what the waves, I'm worried about the waves are gonna be like tomorrow and when's the right tide and where I need to go. And you're getting up at 4am and helping, helping homeless people. I need to have a real self reflection check on my life and what's going on. [1:03:12] Renee Scherzer: Well, I'm gonna put you guys on my list when I need stuff, so don't worry about it. [1:03:16] JD: My only charity, my only charity is Mark's paycheck. [1:03:20] Justin: I knew he was going there, but [1:03:22] Mark: when I first started at pbc, within a couple of months you threw out to a lot of people there, hey, we're gonna go. The church that you were going to that time, we were filling bags for folks and I went there. I think I even brought Maria. We went along and did that with you all and it seemed like something that you were passionate about even at that time. For me, starting with the company and seeing that was really cool and it inspired me to think about other ways to do it. Obviously Renee's taken that to an extremely high level and it's very cool. And actually I want to point out something. I just talked to an advisor this week. His name is Henry, he's on Today. Thank you Henry for joining us. He does, he's a surfer and he does. [1:04:05] JD: He's surfing one in San Francisco. [1:04:07] Mark: Yeah, dude. I mean hearing all these things and talking to people, it's really cool. When it's a passion of yours, you're able to do it and connect with people. And so yeah, I'm truly inspired by it. And you just gotta let the gloves off and just get your hands dirty and get in there and do it. [1:04:25] Renee Scherzer: My kids aren't gonna leave my house knowing how to cook, so I gotta give them some skills. [1:04:30] JD: Maybe even the retireholics could do something. I was thinking about for 20, 21, when all those conferences want to book us for shows, instead of charging them a big fee, we'll make them pay for our travel and then we'll give them some big money amount that has to go to charity or something. Right? And we'll guilt them into doing it like, something too. [1:04:52] Justin: JD we could actually be proactive. [1:04:55] JD: Make some money. That's the way to make change, Chad. And make some money. [1:04:59] Renee Scherzer: So my next two things I think you guys would probably rock is I'm going to do a Lip Sync Battle at some point. I've been wanting to do as a fundraiser, so I think you guys might do good at that. I want to do is you've got. It's going to be a bus and it's. You had a buy in. You know, it could be multiple buses. And it's 30 minutes and $30. And then there's kind of a buy in and all this. And so you've got $30 and 30 minutes to go into goodwill and put an outfit together. And you're going to have a logo thing of what your theme is. And then throughout the night, there's triggers that you have to change outfits. So my other thought, my other goal in all this with my charity is also to make it fun. You know, how many functions have you gone to where you just go in, you watch a video, you cry, they ask you for donations, you hear a story, and you leave? So it's try to make people aware of fun ways that we can kind of, you know, do something fun together and raise money at the same time. [1:05:56] JD: Very cool. And I'm sorry that you felt as a businesswoman, that you had to kind of draw a line between those two things. And I'm really glad to hear that. Now you put them all together and say, this is me and this is what I do. But I understand why you said that earlier. Like, people would look at you like, oh, look at this, the mom that does all the charity instead of being a business person. And that's a bunch of bullshit. So I'm glad that you're able to blend those two things. We need a chat bar champion, so we've got to vote. I'm guessing Renee's gonna vote for her husband. Cause if she doesn't. But let's start with you, Mark, who's Your chat bar champion. [1:06:32] Mark: No, you gotta come to me last. [1:06:35] Justin: Mark doesn't allys Chad mine. It was a close race, but Brad is my chat bar champion tonight. [1:06:42] JD: Funny, that was my vote too. So two votes Brad. [1:06:45] Justin: Justin, sticking with what I said. It's bend over. [1:06:49] JD: Bend over. Bend over with a vote. Renee. [1:06:54] Renee Scherzer: I haven't fully followed it, but I think kat Wilson is doing awesome. [1:06:58] JD: Wilson and mark. [1:07:01] Mark: It's Chris. I just. The fact that Chris showed up and hung out with us while his wife was on here. I love it. Man and brush drink with a mask on. That was great. [1:07:13] Renee Scherzer: Still has to go to basketball. [1:07:15] JD: Brandon. [1:07:16] Renee Scherzer: Sorry. [1:07:18] Justin: I gotta throw in a vote for webb. Web solid tonight. [1:07:23] Mark: Fireplace. [1:07:25] Justin: So was dan. I had points for cole. I had bend over. They were solid. [1:07:30] JD: Great job, chat bar. Great job, chat bar. Renee. We were gonna. We don't have time for it but we were gonna ask you some questions about getting to know you better where we could just have ask any question we wanted to ask. [1:07:43] Mark: We'll save. [1:07:44] JD: Well, we're like nine minutes over. [1:07:48] Justin: We've been going for two hours the last few weeks. [1:07:51] JD: I really feel like that trend needs to change. [1:07:55] Justin: Let's make it seven minutes. Let's ask the questions. [1:07:58] Mark: Yeah, the audience can go, but yeah, [1:08:01] JD: if you want to. Of course, Mark. If they want to leave, they can leave. You're right. You're right. All right, my question for you because we can ask you anything and you have to answer or I don't know. Or you drink. I guess, if you don't want to answer. [1:08:16] Justin: Yes. [1:08:18] JD: Who do you like better? Kerry oum or Vince morris? Who's a better human being? Wow. [1:08:33] Renee Scherzer: I like them both equally. I'm drinking on that one. [1:08:36] JD: Oh, lame. All right, mark, your turn. Mark, ask her a question. [1:08:41] Mark: So, Renee, I obviously read your bio on your website. So as we all. Sure. I'm sure we did. But there was something mentioned there that there was a charity event that was rained out. You went to your place and you had a karaoke contest. Right. Which is awesome. And that's great. But I need to know you kind of brought up music earlier, but what's your one go to karaoke song that you would perform in front of millions of people? Maybe not even with the karaoke really [1:09:11] Justin: sets up these questions. [1:09:13] Mark: What is your go? What's that song you sing in the shower and every day you want to just belt out to the world. [1:09:18] Renee Scherzer: So I have two and kathleen wilson, who's on this is the catalyst for my karaoke. So we'll do karaoke and we Do a table. So if you guys ever come in town, you're welcome to stay here, but we have costumes, like, you could throw wigs on so you can get into character. [1:09:34] JD: So. [1:09:34] Renee Scherzer: And no judgment, but my. That kind of sounded bad, but my. My song usually is with Chris, and I sing Endless Love, and it's horrible. [1:09:47] Justin: You never sing. [1:09:50] Mark: Oh, you guys are so amazing. [1:09:51] Renee Scherzer: Baby Got Back is my. There's videos going around of me in Nashville with some. Some friends at my husband's old conference, which I didn't realize Baby Got Back was a rap, and I get a rap, and there's some horrible videos, but I'll pretty much sing anything. [1:10:07] Justin: Love it. [1:10:08] JD: Karaoke. She's all about the karaoke. Chad, question for our guest. Anything you want to ask her? [1:10:14] Justin: I have a lot of. Honestly, I have a few good ones here, but she set it up in an email you sent to us, which is you have an exciting story to tell us about an experience being a 401k advisor. I want to know that. That's what I want to know. [1:10:27] Renee Scherzer: Oh, my gosh. Is it about the farting dog? [1:10:29] Justin: I don't know. You didn't give us anything else except that you have a story to tell, essentially an experience to tell. [1:10:38] Renee Scherzer: Okay, well, I have a few experiences. I had a funny one about a farting dog. I'll just share that one question. I don't know if I should or not, but. Oh, gosh. Okay, I will. So you know about the relationships. Building the relationships. I have a. I know. Maybe J.D. should. I should not share this conversation. [1:11:01] Justin: Where'd Chad go? [1:11:02] JD: He had to leave. [1:11:02] Mark: Chad's gone. [1:11:03] JD: Do it. Do it. Go ahead. [1:11:06] Justin: Can't handle it. Give us the farting dog. [1:11:09] Renee Scherzer: I'll share about the farting dog. [1:11:11] Justin: Farts. [1:11:11] Renee Scherzer: And so I have a client. I had a client who was. Which JD Love had a peo. And so they had a pep. [1:11:21] Mark: So that's good. [1:11:22] Renee Scherzer: Years ago, and the owner had a dog that fell in the pool. Senior dog drowned, passed away. So he got this new puppy. So I show up with a big basket of toys and, like, these really fancy cookies. Biscuit cookies. So after the meeting, I'm sitting there with Sophie and Ted and talking, and I'm feeding Sophie these cookies, and I bend down to kind of play with her a little or play with her a little bit as Ted went to get me some water. And all of a sudden, she lets out some horrible gas. And at that moment, I'm trying to kind of collect myself, and Ted walks right in. So he walks Right in as this dog has passed gas. And I start laughing because it looked like I did it. And it proceeded to be this horror, this really funny banter of I got cards about my gas problem and recommendations, and I kept that client for years old. And I was like, ted, I did not do was so mean. [1:12:29] JD: The next time you're there, you should like, you should save one up a little bean burrito for lunch and then just rip a big fart in a fiduciary review meeting and you'll get. [1:12:41] Justin: One of the questions I wrote down because we were going to rapid fire with her and ask a bunch of questions was would you rather pass gas or have a booger on your face in a meeting? So now we know you'd rather pass gas. [1:12:55] Mark: Chad, by the way, when you set this up because this was your idea, you never said rapid fire. [1:12:59] JD: Multi question each. [1:13:02] Justin: Justin, I've got seven questions written down for Renee. [1:13:05] JD: Justin, do you have a question for everybody? [1:13:07] Justin: Sure. It's not as good as disease by any means, but you did kind of point on it. You're excited to be back out, going to the office Covid whole nine yards. [1:13:16] Mark: What the hell are you gonna do to celebrate once we're out of this? [1:13:18] Justin: Where are you going? What do you party? What's up? [1:13:20] JD: Well, karaoke. [1:13:22] Renee Scherzer: Karaoke. I know, I want to travel. You know, I think being in the. [1:13:29] Justin: Brandon, how dare you? [1:13:31] Renee Scherzer: What? [1:13:35] JD: That's Chad. That's Chad and his family. [1:13:37] Justin: You want to go to Maui? Damn it, Brandon. [1:13:43] Renee Scherzer: Oh, my God. Okay. [1:13:45] JD: How'd you guys chat? How did you time that with the dolphin? That's phenomenal. [1:13:49] Justin: It's amazing. [1:13:51] Mark: Wow. [1:13:52] JD: Wait, what's. Brandon. [1:13:59] Renee Scherzer: So good. [1:14:01] JD: Oh, Brandon, can I have that for our Insta, please? [1:14:04] Renee Scherzer: Oh, that's awesome. All right, awesome. [1:14:07] JD: Where are you going to go celebrate? Justin wanted to know. [1:14:10] Renee Scherzer: You know what? We're going to travel, I think. And I think being in the office and being out and having my son's at ASU and he's their finals are right the week after Thanksgiving. We were going to go to Hawaii for that. For Thanksgiving. But I just want to get on travel. I mean, I think for all of us. We're social people and just being out and getting to some form of normalcy is. Is important. [1:14:33] JD: And you're not afraid of the COVID Hawaii's opening up in like a week, so if you take a test, you can go there. [1:14:43] Renee Scherzer: Yeah, yeah, we've had to take tests and because of being exposed to a neighbor and my husband's had to take Tests for various reasons. And so we're, you know, being responsible, you know, just washing your hands and wearing a mask and. [1:14:57] Mark: And. [1:14:59] JD: Oh, Doug Dalzell. Doug Dalzell. I would have gave you the win just for that one comment if it would have came earlier. Well timed. Nice job, Doug. [1:15:09] Mark: The ten man strikes again. [1:15:12] JD: Was that his only comment for the day? [1:15:14] Justin: Because that was money and worth every second. [1:15:17] JD: Just a home run grand slam. Okay, I'm going to ask you about your only cause someone asked me to about your hair care routine. Like, you seem to have beautiful hair. Looks healthy and straight, similar to mine. [1:15:36] Justin: Where's your hair, Kerry? [1:15:38] Renee Scherzer: I know we gotta thank Carrie Ohm for this. [1:15:42] JD: It's your hair care routine. What's your hair care routine? [1:15:46] Renee Scherzer: Oh my gosh, that was hilarious. I am not someone who takes long to get ready. I take 20 minutes. If it takes longer than 20 minutes, you lose me. [1:15:55] JD: But do you condition before you shampoo? [1:15:58] Renee Scherzer: I am not a person that can go for days without shampooing my hair because I do work out almost every, pretty much every morning. So I do have to. My 15 year old daughter tells me I'm destroying my hair. But yes, I shampoo and condition every day. [1:16:14] JD: I listen to a surf podcast, won't come as a shock, but the host of the surf podcast hasn't washed his hair in like five years and he has short hair and he claims like, hey, it allows your scalp to like produce the right oils. And I have, look at my hair. It's healthy and beautiful. And he hasn't washed his hair in five years. He showers and cleans, he just doesn't wash his hair. [1:16:40] Renee Scherzer: Chad and Justin and Mark, you guys probably with your hairstyles. [1:16:45] Justin: I haven't washed mine in 10 years. [1:16:48] JD: Yeah, I was a massive fan of this podcast so I decided I was gonna follow suit and not wash my hair. And I made it like 12 days and my wife was like, shut it down. She's like, no, this doesn't, doesn't work for you. So [1:17:10] Justin: I'll give you a story about JD's hair. We used to go on a surf trip every year. It would be five days of surfing, just driving down the coast and surfing and he wouldn't. None of us would shower. We were tent camping, we were on the beach and we would just pick different surf spots and every day he'd get out of the water and he'd rub sand in his hair. One of the days where I think we were just south of Pismo, he rubbed sand in his hair. He grabbed a red solo cup, and he laid in the sun and fell asleep, and people started putting money in his cup as they walked past him on the boardwalk. While we were sitting in Toronto football, my brother and I. [1:17:45] JD: All right, thanks, everybody, for tuning in. It's been another great episode of retireholics. Renee, thank you so much for spending this time with us. And you're a real trooper and top contender for the prohibitive word champion. You're right up there with some of the best, and good luck to you and everything you're doing. And again, praise from the chat bar and praise from us on all of your charity efforts, and you're just a 401 stud, and so we'd love to have you on the show. Thank you so much. [1:18:19] Justin: 401k every day. [1:18:21] JD: Brandon, we got music to play. [1:18:23] Justin: Renee. Thanks, Renee. [1:18:24] Renee Scherzer: Thank you. [1:18:26] JD: And now, Renee, we dance. [1:18:27] Justin: Should be Van Halen. Mike has a good point. There should be Van Halen. [1:18:31] Renee Scherzer: Should be Van Halen. I was gonna marry Eddie Van Halen, [1:18:34] Justin: but you gave us an option of cash. [1:18:38] JD: Oh, no, no, it's not. It's your favorite. [1:18:40] Mark: Oh, Renee. [1:18:42] Renee Scherzer: Rapid. [1:18:43] JD: Guys, girlfriends. [1:18:44] Renee Scherzer: Who understands? Oh, it. You know those next mornings when you wake up and you start hearing the peak of a text, and all of a sudden, I got videos. [1:18:56] JD: I can't believe it's just so round. It's like, out there. I mean, gross. Look, she just says, is Chad dancing? I like, But I cannot lie. You other brothers deny that when a girl walks in with an itty bitty waist and a round thing in your [1:19:12] Justin: face, you get sprung up.