Digital Record Keepers vs. Legacy Providers: 316 Services Chaos

[0:00] JD: Well, well. [0:03] Jim Sampson: Oh, we're starting. [0:16] JD: I didn't realize it was time already. Do you all like the band Journey? [0:24] Justin: Of course. [0:25] Chad: Yeah. [0:26] Mark: No. [0:27] JD: All right, well, let's. Let's do a little Journey song, shall we? Let me. Let me turn my mic in the right deal. Let me set up my settings here to the right deal. Let me take a swig of beer because this one could get ugly. Guys, do me a favor. Just keep your. Keep your commenting down through the song and save it for the end because I think it interrupts. [0:54] Justin: I'm going to mute myself. [0:57] JD: There you go. Okay, here we go. Everybody. Just bring it back here. Did I do my mic? Yes. Okay, I'm sorry about this, everybody. [1:24] Speaker F: When the pups think they're so witty and the plans don't go their way do they know? Oh, they're so shitty [1:45] JD: O. [1:54] Speaker F: So you think they phony? Well, my friend, you're right on cue. We want to get back to the regular 401K. [2:18] Jim Sampson: Oh, [2:20] Speaker F: it's sad PS Are so boring telling the world what's not true Then at the BO. We're on the Peps leave our cities and they get the fuck out of the way Then I finally be so. [3:22] JD: Okay. Are you there, Brandon? Mute, all of you. I can't even hear you. [3:30] Chad: That was one of your better performances there, J.D. [3:34] Mark: that was. That was impressive. [3:37] JD: Oh, my God, thank you so much. The silence was deafening. I couldn't hear you. I was all on my loan on an island just singing, you know, from the bottom of my heart. I didn't know to hear these wonderful. This feedback just fills my heart. I love you guys. [3:51] Chad: You. You put some time into the practice there and it showed. [3:56] JD: I'd like to say that that's true, but maybe not. [3:59] Mark: You do. Oh, you do owe five acronym shots, though. Just. Well, this is why. [4:05] JD: This is why I brought a big fat bottle of Kettle one, because it's drinking a lot of vodka in my free time. [4:12] Mark: And thank you for making that a [4:16] JD: button for me, Brandon. Now it's for work. Now it's for work. We're gonna go into headline number one while I catch up on five drinks. Welcome, everybody, to retireholics. Glad that you're here. This article comes from the Globe News Wire and is titled Assure a Sewer Azure. I don't fucking know. A sure a sewer Teams up with Veswell to launch the Azure 401K plan. Here's my thing. Aaron Shum Invest. Well, these people do press releases for every partnership they have. And maybe we should learn from this because I don't remember like Voya or Empower or whoever saying, oh, we just did a partnership with Paylocity and we have 360 integration and get all these news releases. However, the Disruptors, this is kind of a venture capital thing, they like to keep pumping this stuff out. So the people that gave them hundreds of millions of dollars are comforted that they're moving in the right direction and. But the question I have for you all is, remember when we were going to do well with payroll integration, or I should say payroll partnerships as an industry? We've talked about this a lot on the show and we kind of failed as an industry. But then the Disruptors or what I'm hearing people call now the digital record keepers came along and had very successful relationships with some of these payroll providers to the tune of where it fueled, you know, tens of thousands of plans. So they kicked the shit out of us on that strategy. Are we learning something? And now that, that Vestwell is partnering with this company who looks like, like it's a human resources benefits type of software, not necessarily just a payroll play, but something in that same genre, is this the next frontier? Should we be looking at this and being like, why are we not? Because I don't think legacy industry does this stuff a whole lot. Am I wrong? Let's let our guest just chime in. Jim, did anything I said there make any sense to you? [6:18] Jim Sampson: Yeah, J.D. it made a lot of sense because I think if you look at any industry, it always goes from integration to disintegration and back to integration. That's just the cycle of business. And I think no different here, that we may be headed down a road where you start seeing what we call a bundled offering, where a record keeper does TPA services. It may be all bundled. Like what, an adp? [6:48] JD: Yeah. Third party administrator. [6:50] Chad: You owe a penalty drink and automatic data processing. [6:54] Justin: Oh, that's right. [6:55] JD: How about this to you, Chad, This I seem to see a lot more of these strategic partnerships where it looks like, hey, like this particular one, this company has like, I don't know, a hundred thousand clients or something and they're saying together, look, we're partnered with vessel and vestful saying, we're partnering with them. We're going to go sell plans to all of these clients. Now, we could have done all kinds of deals like this historically, and I'm sure plenty of them do get done. But is this a big deal? Is this going to come to fruition? Are they going to get a shit ton of plans out of this and Then second part of the question, Chad, is this kind of like building something together and then offering it. Like you've been in that position as a third party administrator where you want to like say we're going to go to this broker dealer nationally and we're going to be their go to third party administrator. Does this stuff really work? I guess is my question. [7:49] Chad: It does, it does. And twofold building the relationship does work, but it doesn't just take building it to make it work. It takes salespeople, it takes service people that are educated on, on what you're offering to field that call with a current client and say, did you know we now have a partnership with Veswell to actually move the needle? And I think that that's where most fall down. They build it and they expect it to sell itself. [8:11] JD: It's not just a deal itself. [8:12] Chad: It is not just the deal itself. You made another point, JD that made me think, which was about the startup and the amount of clients that some of these, would you call them digital record keepers are now bringing on. Yeah, and the moment you said that, I had this thought of how many of them were actually fit correctly into the 401k. And what I mean by that is, was a simple, a better fit was a 401k with safe harbor better than the 401k with, with no safe harbor they designed. Did anybody spend any time actually consulting with the client and helping them set up a 401k or did they move the needle by just simply doing what Paychex did for years and saying, do you want a foreign K plan? Click this button and then we see it two years later or three years later, there's a 5,500 filed with zero assets and nothing that's happened. [9:00] JD: It's funny you bring up paychecks because I have something else I want to talk about. Today on paychecks is pooled employer plan, where, you know, over the last three years or four years, I've got 26,000 plans in that thing. And so the same question I'd pose to you is 401k pooled employer plan whatever? No, they're just sending out mailers physically and electronically to small businesses saying you need to set up a retirement plan. And the small business is just saying, okay, paychecks, follow, let me follow you and you show me where to go. And that's what they do. So there's no consulting. That's bullshit. They don't have time to do that. [9:37] Chad: And I'm not saying that, that it's the wrong thing to do in terms of getting plans in place for these people. What I think is just a five minute phone call with them regarding the efforts of the plan could lead to such greater outcomes than just having them check a box and set something up. Like, I got a blast from Paychex today asking us, JD if we were ready to move over our payroll Service and our 401k to them. And then at the bottom it said, due to some issues with our database, you may already be an existing client with paychecks. If so, disregard this email. And I'm like, oh my gosh, just blast it to everybody. [10:16] JD: Sales of sales, man, throw the net out there. I will leave this topic. But what I don't want to have happen is to watch. I mean, I wish Aaron chum and vessel all the success. I've said that numerous times on the show. But I don't want to see the digital record keepers. I think I'll start using that term here and there, look back in three years and be like, wow, look at all the business we drug in through these kind of strategic partnerships. Because that's where their headspace is at. It's like, let's go, let's go ink these enterprise deals with these large strategic partners and then sell to their group and then have us as a legacy industry look back and go like, Jesus, we just missed another one like that. We could have done that ourselves, but we never really put in the time and the effort to do it. [11:04] Chad: I will say, and I'll leave it with this, J.D. we have said for years, the payroll is the golden goose in all of this. And if you have a payroll team that will ask the question about 401k plan and that's who you're creating a relationship with, you can blow the doors off. Because every single time that you're dealing with payroll, you should be thinking about deductions and benefits and so those kind of relationships with the human resources groups and payroll groups, it's very smart to [11:33] JD: build that out to your original points. Clearly it has worked. But you made the point that it takes more than just inking the deal. It takes people boots on the ground to, to get it done. And I don't think anyone could argue with that point. But it just makes me think like, Chad, should you be working more national deals with big firms or will we also laugh and look back and go, hey, hey, shoom, hey, Shumi, how many fucking assure plans did you do in the last three years of that thing? And they're like, oh, yeah, we did 60 of them, you know, and it's been a pain in the ass. We had to build all the architecture and, and we, we white labeled it for them and had all these meetings and we flew from Boston to wherever and this and that and. Because there will be crash and burn failures on this stuff. There I go. The pessimist in me, the angry face, unsmiling pessimist just snuck in again. [12:29] Justin: Justin, I was, I was gonna say. Oh, you're gonna, you want to move on? [12:33] JD: Oh, let's get your points before. [12:34] Justin: I was gonna say it's a very different tone that you have compared. I keep thinking about Guideline and how we used to talk a ton of shit on them and now you're just singing their praise. And I, I kind of see this very similar. [12:48] JD: Yeah, it is similar. [12:49] Justin: It's like do we learn, hey, lining up with payroll, you know, we know how tech, tech focused. Veswell is. [12:56] Chad: Right. [12:56] Justin: Are they going to now follow that same suit? [13:00] JD: Well, they clearly are and they clearly, they come from outside the industry, Justin. And so they, this seems logical to them. Like, well, of course. This is like fish in a barrel. Let's go to this company that has access to 100,000 small businesses. Let's show them how cool we are. They'll fall in love with us. We'll give them some value and we will go sell these fish in a barrel and just rake in the new plans where I think, I think Empower Voya, third party administrators, national broker dealers across the country in our industry, AKA I'll drink for that. Legacy providers kind of gave up on a lot of that because we tried it and never came to fruition. It didn't work. So I'm just saying let's watch them and let's see. Or actually maybe let's not stand on the sidelines. Jim thought go so. [13:49] Jim Sampson: But jd, don't you think that a lot of the planned business we're talking about here is planned business that empower Boya Principal. They don't want this business. [14:00] JD: It's. Yeah, it's, it's, it's the coverage gap stuff. It's why everyone's fired up on it. It's secure 2.0 new startup type stuff for sure. But I don't know if I agree with you, Jim, and that they don't want that because the guys that are sitting with us here at the, at the, we're not sitting in a bar. What are we sitting at? We're just sitting in front of a recreational vehicle. They partner with Us. [14:26] Mark: I do miss the bar. I really do. [14:28] JD: They partner with those companies to sell startups all the time. But let's move on. Justin, I want you to intro our guest and you do you. But chat bar. I'll be watching the chat bar for some quick, intelligent responses in there. But just take it away, Justin. [14:47] Justin: Before journeying journeying into the world of qualified retirement plans, he was a brilliant and eccentric individual from Hill Valley, California. He's a former Caltech professor known for his energetic demeanor, love for the old west, and fascination for inventing. Not only was he struck by Lightning in 1955. Great Scott. But he also figured out how to harness his power 30 years later, which led to his greatest invention. An idea that came to him after slipping and hitting his head on a toilet, sadly enough. And it was an invention everyone thought would be a household product by 2015. But it's never seen the light of day. Fast forwarding 20 fears and 24 years into the future, where he and his best friend Marty founded a successful 316 fiduciary services company. 401k safe. Ladies and gentlemen, Mr. Jim Sharp. [15:30] JD: Wow. Clap, clap, clap. [15:33] Jim Sampson: And I haven't aged at all, Justin. [15:36] Justin: You haven't. [15:37] Jim Sampson: Since the. [15:38] Justin: It's like you travel through time, pal. [15:40] Jim Sampson: I have. I really have. [15:42] JD: Oh, okay. That was another little, little morsel there, huh? No guesses from the audience. No guesses? [15:49] Justin: Well, I mean, you did. [15:50] JD: Am I in the right? Am I there? [15:52] Mark: Wait, was there supposed to be? Like, was that announced? [15:55] Chad: How'd you not pick? [15:57] Jim Sampson: No, I know. [15:59] Mark: I know what he's talking about. I'm saying we. No one said for the chat bar to actually guess the movie he's referencing. [16:05] JD: Mark, the whole concept here is you're supposed to figure it out yourself. Justin's doing something. You're supposed to figure it out yourself. Okay, yeah, that was. [16:12] Mark: That was an easy one. [16:13] JD: That was. [16:14] Mark: If the chat bar can't figure that out, that's. That's a shame. [16:17] Chad: They tune out when Jason talks. [16:19] Mark: That's true. [16:23] JD: Was. I want to see some quick triggers. I was trying to, you know, not tell them what to do, but hint at them. Headline number two. Welcome to the show, Jim. Here we go, buddy. Headline number two. Plan Advisor magazine piece titled Keep it simple Innovations in a Small plan advisement. Um, Chad, you seemed into this article. I believe I saw you posting on LinkedIn today. You little social media devil, you. Your own little posts. People are commenting. What, what, what's your takeaway from this article? [16:57] Chad: I. I mean, I just. It started off and I almost wrote you guys a message within the first paragraph where it said most small businesses don't open plans because of costs. And I'm like, oh my God, I'm so sick of hearing that. [17:10] JD: But that is, that is true though, Chad. [17:12] Chad: No, that is the P. US this is the industry talking about cost being headwind. It really, especially with the tax credits and cost. We've never not want to plan. It's never been cost. And so the article continues to get into administrative roles and, and really what they're trying to do is say if we want to bridge this coverage gap, we've got to remove procedural responsibility like tasks guys, not liability. We need to remove tasks and operations and responsibilities from these, these businesses that are trying to offer a plan. [17:51] JD: I'll clarify for the audience, but Jim Sharp works for foreign K safe and, and does 316 fiduciary work. So I'm sure you're going to fucking agree to this shit. But what I want to first hear you answer is is that really true that cost is not a deterrent to for the 30 million plus small businesses? Chad says no, it's not a problem at all. It's not. Cost is not a barrier. Is that, is that a fact? [18:18] Jim Sampson: Certainly cost is always a factor, but the reality is, is that this industry does a crappy job of selling value. I mean, we don't market the services we provide. We don't engage with the plan sponsor to educate them enough about the value of what it is we're going to do with them and keeping them out of trouble, which is important to them. [18:46] JD: Yeah, yeah. [18:46] Jim Sampson: I mean guys, you would not believe the plans that cross my desk every week that are so fouled up. It's just amazing. [18:58] JD: So Chad, you're not necessarily saying that class isn't in that top five. You're just saying we tend to lead with it. I believe that article even leads with it. [19:09] Chad: But then it goes, then it goes away from it. But yes, that's what I'm saying, J.D. and I'm not. Let me rephrase a little bit. And I, I chatted it in the chat bar. It's the perception of cost that I think is an issue and that goes to the lack of value, as Jim stating. But the actual cost, when we sit down with a plan and explain to them what it will be for them in expense out of their bottom line, especially now with tax credits. But even before tax credits, cost was never an issue. I never, I never had a startup plan saying we're not going to set one up because it's too expensive. [19:47] JD: Let me propose a question. We'll see if, if Roby can tackle it first. We've seen the success. I, I hate to give them the stage over and over again. Did I just up again? I didn't even know. [20:00] Jim Sampson: Sorry. [20:00] JD: My, my buttons are having some wiring issue. Your bugs are trying to get me drunk is what they're trying to do. [20:06] Chad: It. [20:09] Jim Sampson: We. [20:09] JD: I'm gonna give the stage to the disruptors again. The digital record keepers, we've talked about this. They clearly. I like talking while I hold onto my bottle of vodka. It feels good. For some reason, they clearly thought that to go out into the market, they need to sell low cost. It seemed to be the first banner they waved. And then behind that banner they waved the banner of ease like you're not going to have to do jack shit. I'm not even sure they led anywhere in the top three with like relieving you of your fiduciary responsibility. Maybe, maybe it's number four or something. But I feel like they led with low cost and simplicity. Unlike what Jim was just saying. Jim was just saying we need to sell value. We need to sell the importance of all this stuff. Stuff, I think guideline and human interest. And I'll put vessel in there right now. All went after it a different way. And here I go eating crow. They clearly succeeded. So where am I missing? Where's the connection here that I'm missing? [21:11] Jim Sampson: Well, I think you're right in this also that, that they, they simplified a process or at least they gave the perception of the simplified process. I mean, you know, I can go online and set up a 401k plan and I don't need anybody 10 minutes [21:27] JD: or less, six minutes. [21:28] Chad: Yeah. [21:32] Jim Sampson: So I mean that certainly factors into it. But, but look, I'm not even saying that with the micro employer, the fiduciary piece is just a non issue. I mean, look, no, no small employer. Most small employers can't spell fiduciary, much less understand what it means. And so I don't really feel like that is the tablespace stake here as much as it is when I say value. Making sure that the employer, if they want to offer this benefit, they understand that. Hey guys, there's no free lunch. It comes with a cost and there's services that have to be provided. And you know, this is how it works. [22:13] JD: I don't know, Jim, I wasn't going to do this to you, but I don't know, I feel like that might. And I'm just playing here. Yeah, I feel like that might be the sales pitch from five years ago. [22:24] Chad: It is. [22:25] JD: And, and, and I get it because it makes a lot of sense and it's very logical and it's smart. But I think we're being beat at this game by other companies not taking that approach and instead saying, look, it's cheap and it's easy and we'll set it up in 10 minutes or less. [22:43] Chad: Time out though, you, you have to quantify what being beat by this approach means, JD and if we're talking about selling, then yes, they're beating us. If we're talking about setting up quality [22:54] JD: plans, it's all about, you can't buy those. You can't buy Lambos with goodwill, bro. You can't find them good will. [23:01] Chad: I know, but that needs to be stated that, that yes, going out and saying costs aren't a factor, it's cheap and, and we'll make this easy for you is going to win you a ton of plans. It is plain, plain and simple. To my point of cost not being an issue, I think in my narrow minded view of what they have done, they've taken cost out of the equation. And their second point of this being easy all goes back to what guys first headline payroll integration. Where are they getting most of their plans from? They're saying it's easy. The payroll integration exists. This operational efficiency is there. That's why they're winning, that's why they're kicking our ass. [23:43] JD: Okay. [23:45] Justin: I think those are the two biggest hurdles for any employer, right? It's cost and it's the administrative side. They don't know the value of a quality, you know, third party administrator or 316 provider until they actually need it. [23:58] Jim Sampson: Right? [23:58] Justin: They, they've, with the minimal research they've done over the years, they realize, oh shit, I got to do payroll stuff. I gotta, you know, monitor everything from tradition standpoint. I don't want to deal with that. And then these guys come in here and solve that problem for them. They don't need to speak to the value of a quality firm behind them. [24:14] JD: Well, I'll tell you what I like about that article is we've talked about the coverage gap as an industry for a long time and what I'm seeing now is a trend of like people taking action. You know, like it does seem, and I'm able to throw pool employer plans into this because they were part of that article and we'll talk a bit about that later. But it seems to me like the industry is Coming at those small businesses without plans from a variety of angles. And we're trying really hard to at least create what they want, whatever that is, whether it's low cost, easy to use, whether it covers their fiduciary responsibility, which is a big banner waving of the, of the pool. Employer plan. Right. A huge one. So we're all coming at it from different angles and trying to tell these small flower shop, auto body shop on the corner, retail store, like, look, you too can have a 401k plan. We're here to help you. We all know this. Sorry to go through it again, but state run stuff is helping out in a big way and will continue to be kind of a push that will help fuel all this and then secure 2.0 and the tax credits that Chad mentioned. So I guess what I'm trying to say is, to all the industry people listening in, it seems like it's happening. Like it seems like there's this push now. Are the numbers really there? I don't know. We'll see how many new startups we put in place over the next few years. But I like to see this, this trend at least, even if I disagree with a lot of it in terms of how they're doing it, selling snake oil or whatever the fuck they're doing. But, but it's cool to see the needle being moved or at least the, the hands are on the needle to move it. Robey. They're starting to. [26:06] Mark: Yeah, it's been kind of going on for a while now, man. I mean, it takes time. I don't. Yeah, no, I was saying none of this is earth shattering. We kind of all felt this coming since years ago. I mean, when we sat in Oregon and learned about Oregon saves before the state mandates were a big deal. I mean, you kind of got this feeling like, okay, we're gonna venture down a path here eventually. That's going to. We, we thought we were in a pretty good spot and I still agree that we are. We keep going back to this and I'll, I'll just keep saying I hate hearing the word selling. I really do. I, that's. I know that that's my day job, but I'm not out there selling. You know, I'm just trying to at least show people what their options are and they make the decision if they want to work together. What am I really selling? [26:56] Chad: Right? [26:56] Mark: I mean, I, I hope at the end of the day I'm not selling what we consider to be something that's necessary. Right. I hope that we're providing the right input and the right ability for somebody to decide what's best for them. [27:12] JD: Do you know that? It's that, it's that very laid back, I don't care millennial attitude that makes you a great salesman, Robey. [27:21] Mark: Don't call me that. [27:22] JD: So keep it up, Keep it up. Jim, let me ask you real quick before we leave behind small plans for a little bit. 316 fiduciary services, and I'm talking specifically 400k safe. But just in general, [27:41] Speaker F: do they fit [27:42] JD: in the micro startup market? I mean pooled employer plans say they do because it's part of it. But like you live, breathe and sleep, sleep this stuff. Like is that the best fit? And I'm not trying to feed an answer to you, but I'm curious. [27:57] Jim Sampson: I mean, no, I, look, we were one of the original open maps, so I certainly know who drink. [28:04] JD: Bring them up. [28:08] Jim Sampson: Yeah. [28:09] JD: What are you drinking there, Jim? [28:11] Jim Sampson: I am drinking Sam Adams summer ale and also a summer shandy. [28:18] JD: Okay, well what's your penalty drink? [28:21] Jim Sampson: Oh, this is it, man. A beer is this beer is take [28:26] JD: two large swigs every time that graphic. Jesus Christ. [28:32] Mark: I must say, Jim, you've got two different summer varieties. Really getting in the spirit, huh? [28:38] Jim Sampson: I am, I'm saying Goodbye to summer 2023. [28:42] Mark: So I was going the opposite direction. You sound like you're kicking it off, baby. [28:47] JD: So I would guess, Jim, that you'd say, you just said like it's not a great fit. But I think on the other side of the coin you would probably say that they're definitely in need of babysitting. Right? That small market. [29:01] Jim Sampson: Totally. I mean there is a severe need. And where I see the disconnect is that most plan sponsors, when you break it down and in the micro employer space, it's going to be an office administrator typically that they really don't understand how 401ks operate. So they need education and there's really not a good education platform out there for they, they. [29:29] Chad: I disagree so much with that, Jim, because even with proper education, they're going to have no damn idea what you just taught them. Two days later when an employee knocks [29:39] JD: on the door, you and the two of you are talking about fiduciary education for plan sponsors. Am I right? That what you're talking about? [29:45] Chad: I'm talking operational education, but same same thing. [29:48] JD: Same thing. [29:49] Jim Sampson: Look, I, I, I, I agree in the sense that you're never gonna have somebody that's, you know, qka, you know, [30:00] JD: no need to go there. [30:06] Jim Sampson: But but, but the point is that they really come into this. And what we typically discover when we're brought in is that they had no idea what they were supposed to be doing. Payroll file and, and, and even how to format a file, a data file to upload to a record keeper. I mean, it's just basic things that they struggle with. [30:31] JD: Can I say something really controversial? But true is so, you know, you got. We have tons of them, right? We have hundreds. Hundreds and hundreds of small business. I think everyone should drink when it malfunctions. Just drink. It's. [30:49] Mark: That was. That was a text from Justin. It counts. [30:52] Chad: That is not in the chat. That does not count. That is still a. [30:55] JD: And Jim, when I say everyone, I, I mean the person whose head popped up. I, I think that a lot of these companies that are small are fucking up their plan. I think if you went in and did an audit on a lot of. And I don't mean audit in the classic sense of foreign k. But if you just went in and looked at everything and sniffed around and asked some questions, I think you'd find a pretty high percentage of small employers that were doing things wrong, like either not understanding their eligibility or excluding some small group, group of employees or maybe even entering comp on their census incorrectly or, or even if they had a 360 payroll fee, there was up on that. That wasn't coming over. Right? And so my point is, a lot of the work that was being done, whether that's the compliance testing or the prep of the government filings, could be inaccurate or, or done wrong. But you know what? The world moves on. Like, those companies continue to have a plan. Their employees defer into the plan. They potentially get a match and. And everything hunky dory, and life goes on. Like, I almost feel like, is that so bad? Like, and by the way, where's the disaster there? Because it's been going on for years. And then secondly, when we look back at the success of human interest guideline, whatever these tens of thousands, eventually hundreds of thousands of plans and say, oh my God, okay, oh my God, they're all messed up. Guess who we've been accusing that of for the last two decades. Paychecks and automatic deferral. Suckers. No, wait. Ad. Sorry, processing. Yeah, we've been telling them, we've been saying for two decades, oh my God, it's all wrong. Oh my God, their clients are so screwed. Oh my God, it's so bad. But guess what? What? Where's the fallout, everybody? Where is it? [32:52] Chad: They still keep Winning business. Well, I mean we keep fixing a lot of their plans, but they still keep winning business. [32:59] JD: I think I just sold against our entire industry. I, I apologize for that. I don't even know. [33:03] Mark: Yeah, I was pretty confused about where you were going with all of that. [33:07] JD: It's like why even have a third party administrator Just wing it. No one's going to ask you about your test, man. Just tell them you passed it. Who cares? No, I'm kidding. [33:15] Mark: Maybe in like, maybe in like 10 years when Secure Act 5.9 comes out, they'll just completely ax compliance testing and then we'll all just ride off in the sunset because it won't fucking matter anymore. [33:28] JD: An old gray haired Brian Graff would never let that happen in the future. He'll fight for you, Mark. [33:36] Mark: Well, that's good to know. [33:37] Chad: Yes, to your very original question to Jim about microspace and 316. If I broke out the 316 role into like what we, we refer to it as like light and holistic, Jim. And 401k safe is holistic in the micro space. I think the light is often what a plan sponsor is actually looking for. They're looking for help in eligibility tracking. They're looking for help and notice fulfillment. They're. They're looking for help in operations. They're not looking for someone to sign the 5500. They don't care about the 5500 being signed. Really, they don't. They don't have much fiduciary risk. Do they have responsibility? Yes. Do they have risk? To Jim's point, no. And so in the micro space, do you need a holistic 316? Probably not. But do you need some support? Because you don't know how to determine compensation. You don't know how to calculate the match. You don't know how to monitor payroll. When your payroll person goes on vacation for two weeks and the business owner takes over that role, they have no damn clue how to do it and process contributions. That's where I think the micro space really needs help. [34:49] JD: Fair enough. [34:50] Jim Sampson: Totally agree. Totally agree. [34:53] JD: Ask them to pull out their wallets and pay for it, Chad, and see where you get. Okay, let's go to the next headline. Top five states to retire in. This is kind of fun. It's kind of fun. I think California ended up number one on this. [35:12] Mark: They went for sure totally cheap. [35:16] JD: Lower cost of living, affordable, but high quality health care and low crime. Does anyone know? I know you guys know because you read chat bar. I'd love to know what do you think your guess is for top five or number one? Anybody chime away? [35:36] Chad: You posted it, didn't you? Number one. Yeah. [35:40] Mark: Wait, we read the article. Yeah. [35:42] Chad: It's because we know it. [35:46] JD: To everybody else, not to you. [35:47] Chad: Well, of course, Samson. Samson read it. [35:51] JD: So everything is in number one. And then what? They're trailed by. What do we got here? Mississippi, West Virginia. I think Montana was in the list. [36:05] Chad: Somebody. J.D. don't stop. [36:08] Mark: Is Missouri in there? [36:11] Chad: Is Missouri Missouri number four in there? [36:14] JD: God, you're so smart. But what I was just about to say is, is like really like let's be real here. Is that where you want to retire? Because someone put a gun to my head. [36:25] Justin: Like people are all about that late. Like they're becoming all about that laid back life. Low cost, you know, having some nature to stare at instead of a concrete wall. [36:36] Mark: I want to know. [36:37] JD: I don't believe nature was in the criteria. Silent J. I don't think that was. [36:40] Justin: Who gives a. It was where do they want to retire? And I'm giving you the real reason is why. [36:47] JD: What? Mark. Sorry. [36:48] Mark: No, I'm just, I'm just. No. If there's people in the chat bar who live in those states, you know what, Congrats. You're already living the dream. [36:55] Justin: Like they say, shut the up, guys. [36:58] Mark: Chad, congrats, buddy. You're already there. You might as well just stop working. [37:03] Chad: Yeah, I'm retiring. J.D. sorry. It's been fun. I'm done. [37:06] JD: No problem. Roby, you're gonna be elevated to national sales director. There's John. In all seriousness, I'll go to you, Jim, like we do as an industry, help people accumulate money. We're going to start to get better at helping them decumulate it. But, but that's. As a guy who lives in California, like this is a real fact, like to spend your entire career saving in California. Maybe even you buy a condo back in the early 2000s for 350k. It, it doubles in value. You've. You then move into a house for 800,000. Now that house is worth, you know, 1.5 million. You've worked your whole life, like moving to one of these states and some of the others in the top 20 really changes the math for you, right? I mean like, like there's probably a lot of logic to retiring in these, a lot of these places. The only problem is the surf sucks. But [38:12] Jim Sampson: so I'm in one of those states. I'm in Alabama. So we certainly see people from California and the Northeast and other parts of the country that are at the bottom of that list. Moving to our. And you're right, it's a cost to live. [38:30] Chad: I immediately regret this decision. [38:34] JD: Do you know, it's not going to come as a shock to anyone, but because of the obscene amounts of money that I make, I've looked at other states that don't have state income tax and, and contemplated the idea of like moving there. And, and then I come to my census and I realize California is beautiful and the waves are awesome and I'm rich enough, I might as well just stay here. [39:00] Jim Sampson: Wow. [39:01] Mark: Wow. [39:02] Chad: So my, my counter to that JD was going to be most people can't afford to and most people don't surf every day like you do. But one of the benefits of going to one of the states mentioned there is that now you, your money does stretch a little further and you can take the vacation to Hawaii or you could take the vacation to Florida or to California. [39:21] JD: Oh yeah. [39:21] Chad: Whereas if you're paying the cost of living in some of those states like you're, you're somewhat handcuffed in your retirement years where you no longer have income coming in. [39:29] JD: So I'm sure that's a conversation that advisors have had with 401k participants over the years. Where, hey, well, where do you intend to live in retirement? It might be a more affordable place than you are now. So anyways, I, I like, I like this ranking and what's really cool is if you go to 401k specialist mag, read this but click on the link to go to the bank rate article. They actually have a little map of the 50 states. You can kind of hover over each state and see where it goes. And yeah, God bless you if you're gonna go Chad. In the Midwest. [40:06] Chad: I also feel confident that as soon as your kids are, are done with their international schooling and Florida school, if they leave California, you and Tracy are gone. Dude, there's no way you stick around. [40:21] Justin: I'll just fly first class to see him. It's fine. [40:23] JD: I don't want to sound selfish, but. Oh, you think we'll follow them and the grandkids or whatever? Yeah, yeah, yeah. [40:29] Chad: There's no way Tracy does not live. [40:31] JD: Probably be divorced at that point. [40:33] Mark: What if they live in three different places? [40:35] JD: Chad? [40:36] Chad: Jeez. [40:37] JD: Kidding. Joking. Yeah, yeah. I don't know. There's planes these days. You know, you get lie down seats first class. You can fly anywhere pretty quick. Okay, let's, let's play a game before we get into another. Marcus shaking his head before we get into Another subject going back to that [40:54] Mark: article real quick is aren't those people from those states, like, don't tell everybody about our secret. [40:59] JD: Can we just keep it, you know, like, you know what now? [41:03] Mark: Or are the other states trying to [41:06] Jim Sampson: kick people out and say, get out. [41:07] Mark: There's too many people here. You know, I don't believe any of this. [41:10] JD: That's exactly conspiracy. You sound like a surfer. That's exactly what surfers do with great surf spots. You're like, don't tell anyone that this is happening. You know, don't let him come. Pretty soon everyone from California will be living next door to Chad and wearing Wranglers and cowboy boots and spitting fucking Kodiak tobacco out of their mouth. I want to bring back an old game from back in the past we used to play. And then what I would tell Brandon to kick off this game is play the tune. The tune that I love. The nice little sound that gets me excited for this game. Brandon, are you there for me? I really like co. That's not it. [41:58] Jim Sampson: Damn it. [42:00] JD: I tried to prep. Trying to prep you. I emailed you. It's all good. It's all good. [42:08] Mark: Brandon's been drinking vodka. [42:10] Justin: Plus show these guys or these days guys. [42:13] Jim Sampson: I. I swore you were doing corn. [42:15] Mark: I don't know why. [42:19] JD: Hey, everyone out there. We have a new job opening@retirealex.com. your resumes too. [42:28] Jim Sampson: I'll write the posting. [42:33] JD: No, no, no. Go ahead and just put up the first slide. What this. This game is, is one of these things is not like the others. One these things not belong. And Brandon would play this beautiful Sesame street song back in the day, and it. It would just really get me going. [42:47] Mark: But back in the day, it was like six months ago. [42:49] JD: Yeah, so we're going to go with this one first. Okay, so the way this works, Jim, is you got four people up here and if you need any help with who the people are, you can ask anyone. That's fine. Chat bar can help. We can help you. But you need to find out is which one of these people is, like, not supposed to be in this group. Like, something connects a lot of them and then one shouldn't be there. Any guesses to whom that might be and then why? And do you know who all four of these people are? [43:21] Jim Sampson: I do not. [43:22] JD: Who are you? [43:23] Justin: Diamond from Saved by the Bell. [43:25] JD: That's Screech. [43:27] Jim Sampson: Yeah, yeah. [43:28] Mark: Nick Nolte. [43:29] Justin: Nick Nolte. [43:30] Jim Sampson: Recognize. Nick Nolte. [43:32] JD: Break Fame. And that's. That's the queen of social media, Kim Kardashian. [43:39] Justin: Swayze dude. [43:40] JD: No, but he was the cop. [43:42] Mark: No, that was freaking. [43:44] JD: That's a different guy. [43:45] Jim Sampson: Yeah, that's him. [43:47] Justin: No, it wasn't. [43:48] Mark: I must say, Nick Nolte looks a lot like Gary Busey in that picture. [43:52] Justin: Thank you. [43:53] Mark: Oh, Kushner just said that. [43:55] JD: That's right. Sorry, Not Point Break. [43:58] Mark: All right, I'm going to. [44:01] JD: Okay, Jim, what's your guess who doesn't belong in this group and why? [44:07] Jim Sampson: I'm gonna say Kim Kardashian doesn't belong. [44:10] JD: Why don't you think she would belong in this group? [44:13] Jim Sampson: Well, gender as well as. I think the other. The other three have had some. [44:20] Justin: I just figured it out. [44:22] Jim Sampson: Addiction problems. [44:23] JD: I like. I like. Jim, your brain is on the right like, path for this game. You're a little off of this one because the correct answer is the Nick Nolte Gary Busey look alike because he's the only one hasn't been in a sex tape. [44:43] Chad: Matthew nailed it, too. [44:46] Mark: I had that one from the jump. [44:49] Justin: I thought it was. [44:50] JD: You did, Robbie. You did. [44:51] Mark: I did. Yeah. [44:52] Jim Sampson: 100. [44:52] JD: Good job, Matthew. Good job, Matthew. But you are correct. You could have gone female. That works. But that's not how this game works. Okay, let's do the next one. Next one. Thank you, Brandon. [45:03] Chad: There it is. [45:04] JD: One of these things is not like the others. One of these things doesn't belong. Can you tell which thing is not like the other? By the time I finish this song? Thank you, Brannon. I love you. Rescind that. This one's easy, Jim. [45:24] Jim Sampson: We. [45:24] JD: And this is actually a blast from the past. We've done this one before, but I just thought I was. I thought I'd grab it. So who does not belong in this group and then explain why. Chat bar. You can play along. You know you can. [45:34] Chad: I know this one. [45:39] JD: And don't say the alien, because he's not human. We know who you're looking at. [45:48] Jim Sampson: Yeah, dudes. I'm gonna say Terry Powers. [45:54] JD: Why? He's the only guy. The mustache. [45:57] Jim Sampson: Yeah, it's. It. [46:00] JD: No, Come on. The. The. Chop our nose. Right? Chop our nose. Everyone in this group has been brainwashed by the guy in the second square there. And I'm the only one who's a free thinker. Thinking for myself. If I see Terrence Powers write some other posts on social media saying how booming his business is, I'm gonna lose my. Of course your business is booming, you pep. Yeah, these are all pep loving freaks. I'll drink twice for that. The senso. You made the Game. You made the game, buddy. Hey, I'm about to drink for gym tonight because. Yeah, vodka straight. Not the best taste, right? Last, last. [46:51] Jim Sampson: For clarification, Mike Desenso was my second choice. [46:55] JD: Okay, great. Last one. Brandon, we got one more. Okay. We got Pete Rose, Lindsay Lohan, Nicholas Cage, and Tony Larussa. I mean, you're never. I love how serious. You're never gonna figure out what, which one and why. I mean, I don't know. I guess people are getting the sex tape one, so it's possible this one has to do with money. [47:23] Jim Sampson: Yeah. So I'm gonna say it's Tony Larussa. [47:29] Mark: Ding, ding, ding. [47:30] JD: You're correct. [47:32] Jim Sampson: Have all had sex, serious financial problems. Maybe file bankruptcy, something along that line. [47:39] JD: Why don't we call it tax evasion? And then you'd be correct. Yes. Hey, well done. Well done. I'm gonna drink for that. I'm gonna drink for that, Jim. Yes. Those. Those three had tax evasion, but not LaRussa. Although, don't think LaRussa is this great guy. He did have a DUI. And I'll drink for that. [47:59] Mark: Wow. [48:01] Chad: Katie's just wanting to drink vodka in his free time right now. [48:05] JD: Yeah. [48:05] Mark: Yeah. [48:06] Justin: How you getting back to the campground tonight? [48:07] JD: No, no, no, no, no, no. I've been camping for four days. And before that I was in Maui for six days. I drove home yesterday, got home in the middle of the night last night. I'm at home. [48:21] Mark: So I thought I heard your dogs. Yeah, okay. [48:25] JD: But I definitely was on the campground for. [48:27] Justin: In your post. [48:28] Mark: Never mind. [48:29] Justin: Okay, I see what you're saying. [48:30] JD: I posted when I was there. Yeah. [48:32] Chad: Yeah. [48:33] JD: Okay. Topic. Buyer Beware. You know, I wrote a. A blog post on this a long time ago. I think it was titled Buyer Beware. It's at. Where is my blog? 401.401k.com f o u r k dot com. I don't even remember. Anyways, it's still there. You can go there. And. And I wrote an article that was like, hey, Buyer beware. And then these fuckers stole it years later. The title. But the concept here is really easy. And, Jim, this is where your Expertise comes in.316. It's always been in the code, but I would say, like, I don't know, eight years ago, maybe 10 years ago, maybe. Maybe somewhere in the middle. That'd be nine. Robey. It was like, well, this is gonna be a big thing. Like, we're gonna start selling add on 316 services to plan sponsors. And I got really excited about this and I apologize to anyone's heard this story before, but I had taken over my father's third party administration firm. I'm sure I've told you this, Jim, but I had tried to make things more efficient. I'd taken my old man's business. They used to dot every I cross every T, you know, do every spend a lot of time on everything. And I tried to make things more efficient through technology throughout process to kind of lower our cost, to be honest with you, and fired everybody and be more attractive. But what I had to do is kind of cut some corners, you know, not do all the details. And then when I heard, well, we're going to sell 316 fiduciary services, I thought, oh my God, I'm going to be able to go back to the way my dad did things, charge a premium for this and actually do these dotting of the I's, crossing the T's, these hand holding from my clients and charge them a fee for it. And then I started to meet with Chad and the sales team and come up with a number for what that would be. And I can't remember, but I think I came at you guys chat and I was like, you know, maybe it's going to be 7,500 bucks or 10 grand and we could literally like do everything. And your jaw kind of hit the ground and you were like, there's all these vendors out there doing it for like 500 bucks, 750 bucks. I'm like what? How the fuck are they doing all that for 500 bucks? And I learned really quickly what 316 light is. So. And to me now the buyer beware means when someone says they're going to do 316 fiduciary services, there's really no like normal term for that across the space. It could be anything. Is this frustrating for you? Is this, this was 10 years ago. Do you still feel, feel this way today? And how do you reconcile all this? [51:20] Jim Sampson: You know, it's changed. Look, it's certainly, I think this, this space in the 316 world is leveled out quite a bit. 10 years ago it was the wild wild west and it was, you know, 31 flavors, right? I mean everybody that offered a 316 service, you had to read their contracts, see what they were doing, right? Where, where with you know, 321 and 338. We know what that is, right? It's all standardized, pretty clear, right? We, we know what the. We don't even, we don't have to read the contract. We know that basically there can be, [51:57] JD: to be clear, there can be some nuances on execution in 3. 21, but. Yeah, you're right, absolutely. [52:04] Jim Sampson: But overall, the fiduciary part, you know, is pretty standardized across the industry, but on 316 it could be anything. And so I think, as Chad mentioned earlier, we've seen this movement towards a more holistic approach versus more of a light approach. And look, there's nothing wrong with 316 light and just administration. It's just that I think the plan sponsor needs to know going in that they may not have the fiduciary protection. They may not have the consulting piece that they're going to get if they use a 316 that really does the full gamut. [52:44] Chad: One of the issues, Jim, with all of that is that, that so many people will Preach They're a 316 and not distinguish between what they're actually doing and what they're not doing. But the problem is, is that, and I'm not banging this on you, but most of the folks that offer 316 have this assumption that the client needs 316. Like they can quantify that term. They need a 316. No, that's not. The client's looking for. The client's looking for this, this, and this. And usually those this, this and this are operational in nature and not fiduciary protection in nature. And so I don't mind JD316 light. [53:20] JD: Oh yeah, they don't. [53:21] Chad: And I did at the beginning. I was frustrated at the beginning because 316 was being lumped into this big thing. They would. People come to us and say, shout to you at 316. And I would say, no, we don't offer that service. We partner with a great solution, blah, [53:35] Mark: blah, blah, blah, blah. [53:36] Chad: And they would come back and say, yeah, I found one for, for 250 bucks a year or $500 a year. And I'd say, just send me the contract so I could take a look. It's. It's good for me to know market value, what's going on out there. And when I take a look at what they're doing, they're doing absolutely nothing. Nothing. And they're saying they're a 360. They're doing one task, that is a 316 duty, and they're signing on as a 316, essentially saying, we don't do all of this. We do this. That bothers me. [54:05] JD: But the smart ones can. And this, this goes Back to the digital record keepers as well as some of the the pooled employer plan providers. The smart ones can wave the flag, the marketing sales banner of we will relieve you of your responsibilities. It doesn't matter whether we're going to relieve you of 1, 2, 3 or 100. If I'm going to relieve you of 1 or 2, I can still sell it as, hey, I'm going to do fiduciary services for you and take away the work from you. And so it still is a misunderstood role and I still believe it's very much Wild Westy because it varies from vendor to vendor. And I think we live today in the most aggressive time we have where vendors are selling this kind of we're gonna do it for you. I would think Jim would be frustrated to all heck because there's so many of them saying we're gonna do it for you, but they're not really doing a whole lot. [55:09] Jim Sampson: You're right. I mean look, there's certainly record keepers today that have a 316 offering. And you know, are they a fiduciary to the plan? I mean Fidelity claims they are. And you know, I asked, you know, everybody that is that not a conflict of interest? I mean, who would hire an investment fiduciary? And that investment fiduciary is also providing all of the underlying funds in the plan. [55:39] JD: I mean, Jim, Jim, do you know how many, you know, how many tpas trip out on me that when they ask, I'll drink for that. When they ask. I love to pitfall when they ask, do you, do you offer 316 services? And I say yeah, we do. We partner with firms to offer them. Because how, how could I be a 316 on my own plan? Like I'm going to supposed to like review my own work and do my own thing. And I think a lot of third party administrators look at me are like, are you crazy? Like this is a great money grab to go do this stuff where I feel like I agree with you. I think it's conflict of interest. Like I, I think in the same way that a pooled plan provider should be independent in a pooled employer plan from the administration from 3:16. I feel like a third party administrator shouldn't be the 3:316. But anyways, that case in point, right? This whole marketplace is like a just a garbage can of, of different versions of this. [56:47] Jim Sampson: So it is. And look, I think that I saw somebody put in the chat that you know, are you a fiduciary or not? Because That's. That's where the rubber meets the road for us. I mean, you know, we're not only signing a 5500. Any. Anybody can sign a 5500. You named in the plan document as the plan. I mean, there. There's got to be a level of accountability to be the fiduciary on these plans. That's the problem. [57:17] JD: Here's the bummer is. And this goes against. This goes in favor of what Chad was saying earlier. If you're focused on sales, you can make a lot of things sound good. Like, yep, I. I can tell you I'm going to sign your 5,500. And that can seem on the surface, like a really big deal. Right. Like, I saw that very article we read Chad today about the small plan stuff where the guy said, hey, we're signing your 5,500. And that's what you want, because that's where the, like, rubber meets the road or something. When you're signing it, then it's legit. You can sign a 5500 if your contract says, hey, it's only as good as the data you provide me. Like, I'll sign it. But if you're not feeding me right data and you're messed up on your end, then my signature is not worth jack shit because I'm getting my information from you. And that permeates a lot of these contracts. Like, that's pretty normal stuff. [58:13] Jim Sampson: Yeah. I'll take it even a step further. There. There is a former 316 I won't name, but in their service agreement, it explicitly said, we are not a fiduciary to your plans. But they were signing the 5500. [58:28] JD: Right? [58:29] Justin: Really? [58:29] Jim Sampson: So, yeah. [58:31] Mark: I will take it one more step further and say that I believe that Chad's goal in life would be for someone at a conference to approach him and say, hey, man, can you autograph my 5500? [58:48] Chad: That'd be pretty sweet. Well, right, Mark? [58:51] Justin: Blurry to the rest of you, too. [58:52] Chad: Yeah. [58:52] Mark: Because my camera's going in and out. Yeah. I don't know what's going on. [58:56] JD: Oh, well, I just want to reiterate what I wrote about 15 years ago, which. Or 10 years ago, which is like, hey, you need to be careful with this stuff. And then maybe as an industry. Open your eyes. Wake up, everybody. These digital record keepers, these pooled employer plans, are sorry for the analogy of waving the banner, waving the flag, but they're waving it heavily and rapidly about taking the responsibility out of the client's hands. And they're biting on these lures. And if there's TPAs listening in. Damn it. I didn't do that on purpose. My father was doing this. You're probably doing this. You have been relieving your clients of roles and responsibilities forever. That's what you do. Maybe you need to brand it that way more instead of the way, like, not to pick on you. Jim. Jim was saying earlier, like, expressing your value. Like, we do these things. It's very important. It's a scary world. I think you should probably be selling yourself less like that and more like, we do everything for you. And the reason why you don't say everything is because you have integrity. And you. You were never comfortable with saying everything. Neither am I. I was never comfortable saying those words. But guess what? Your competition saying that. So you should get out there and say, I relieve you of everything. You do What, Chad, you don't like. [1:00:24] Chad: No, I'm not disagreeing, but you're speaking out of both sides of your mouth. Because earlier when we were talking about people saying that they're low cost and that that's a sales technique. Is it working for sales? Yes. Is it working for doing what's right for the client? No. And essentially, you're kind of flipping that the other way around, saying, use the sales technique and say you're doing all these things, even if you're not doing them all. Say you're a 316, even if you're only fulfilling two 316 duties. [1:00:49] JD: Do it for the better good, everybody. Do it for the people and the [1:00:52] Mark: plants that are good. [1:00:53] JD: Yes. [1:00:54] Mark: The better good. [1:00:58] JD: You'll get a plan. [1:01:04] Mark: Shirts that say better good. [1:01:07] JD: Is that not proper English? [1:01:08] Chad: Jim, I do have on this topic for you in the after show that came out this week that I want to know about. [1:01:15] Jim Sampson: Sure. [1:01:16] JD: Okay. Let's. Let's spin the wheel of ice. [1:01:26] Chad: Land on mark. Land on mark. Land on mark. Land on mark. [1:01:33] Mark: That's what you get. [1:01:33] JD: I went to the store and got. [1:01:34] Chad: All right, hurry up. [1:01:35] Justin: I gotta go. [1:01:36] JD: I got freshies. [1:01:37] Mark: Don't go real slow, Chad. Real slow. [1:01:40] JD: Okay. I would like to go to chop our champion. Hang on. My wife wants to know if I want a burrito. Hang on. [1:01:48] Mark: Yes. [1:01:48] JD: Yes. Artifact burrito. I'm gonna go chop our champion. [1:01:53] Mark: What kind of burrito you going with? Chicken steak. [1:01:56] JD: I just said yes. [1:01:59] Chad: Chinos. [1:02:02] JD: I want to chop our chamber. I want to mix it up. I'm getting tired. I'm getting. Getting. Can't come up with a word. [1:02:11] Mark: It's the. The Better. [1:02:13] JD: Good. Tahoe. Jd, I. I want to do this. Let's mix it up. This is a little different. Let's nominate someone to the finals for chat bar champion. And then, then let's do what we used to do with a tie. Force the finalists to answer a question in the chat bar for the champion. Like that. Let's have them battle it out. You know what I mean? And so my vote is going to go for Jim Sampson because he's a goddamn goat and I'm gonna drink for that. And I did that on purpose. He was weaving in some kind of back to the future stuff very intelligently. And yeah, yeah, I'm gonna throw him into the final. And he could be wicked. When asked a question in this final kind of draw, to draw. Not head to head, but heads to heads. For the greater, for the gooder. For the gooder. Good. Okay, Justin, your vote. [1:03:11] Justin: It was tough tonight. Everybody was on fire. But I'm going. I'm going with Eric Dyson. [1:03:16] JD: Oh, nice. I like that. Okay. Eric Dyson into the finals. I don't have a name for it. Jim Sharp, your vote for chat bar champion. Sampo Dyson. [1:03:32] Jim Sampson: I think I'm gonna go with Mike Desenso. [1:03:36] JD: Okay. That's okay. Pep loving people. God damn it. Need love too. Is into the finals. I'm not sure how quick on the draw he is with comments, but Shannon, he's calculated. Why is Shannon saying no? Are you telling me not to drink from the vodkas? I'm gonna finish that whole bottle, Shannon. All right, Roby. [1:04:10] Mark: I really like throwing in names that I don't often see. [1:04:14] JD: Nice. [1:04:14] Mark: I need these. And if you're not a newbie, I apologize. Maybe I don't follow the chat bar that well. Yeah, he's just all the time. Nate Bell. [1:04:23] JD: Yeah, he's been around. Yeah, he's been around. [1:04:26] Mark: I haven't seen your name. Nate, so you're new to me. Sorry. [1:04:30] JD: Nate, get your keyboard right in front of you and get ready for a witty, witty response to something coming up here. [1:04:38] Chad: All right, Chad, I'm going to destroy Hackler's emotions right now. And I'm not going to vote Hack. I'm going to say Matthew G. Because Matthew G. Had himself a good night. [1:04:50] JD: Matthew G. Is into the finals. All right, we've got Sampo, Dyson, Desenso, Nate, and Matthew G. Nate Bell. Nate Bell, Robey, this is your time to show. Oh, no. Take some time with it. By the way, did you see. You see Budweiser's on the up. They Had a decent financial running. The earnings are up. Like, I feel like that stock's about to pop off. [1:05:20] Justin: I thought they just announced that they realized they weren't going to recover from the losses. [1:05:25] JD: Justin, shut up. I'm trying to like, keep things going here. What are you talking about? [1:05:29] Justin: Oh, I didn't realize. [1:05:31] JD: No, I saw good numbers from them. I get numbers for them. Sorry, Robey. We'll. We'll do that next show. Drunk guy updates. [1:05:38] Mark: So now it's. It's all five have to give responses. [1:05:42] JD: Yes. [1:05:43] Mark: Holy moly. Okay, fine. Come up. [1:05:45] Chad: What's up, Mark? [1:05:45] JD: All right, Mark. Make sure they know what they're. I know. Sampo knows, but make sure everyone knows what's about to happen. [1:05:52] Mark: Well, I'm gonna ask you a question. You're gonna have to put your answer in chat bar. And then if it's good, it doesn't have to be funny. It could be valuable. Could be educational. But usually funny ones, to be honest. All right. Since we all just heard the congressional hearing that took place and that aliens in fact do exist. Right. Okay. If tonight, actually right now, in about 39 seconds, an alien landed in your backyard or, I don't know, if you live weird places where front yard, porch, whatever landed at your house and knocked on your front door and you opened it and there you saw an alien. However you envision it. Small, tall one. [1:06:43] JD: He's gonna eat it. Sorry. [1:06:45] Mark: All right. What would you. What would you say to it? [1:06:51] JD: There's your question. [1:06:52] Speaker F: Hello. [1:06:54] JD: All right, Here we go. All right. Take your time. I mean, although quickness. You get extra points for quick. Right? Humor. I like it. I like it. Hi. Not bad. I feel like hacker would have had my take me to your leader Desenso. That's what I expected from you. That's classic. What did you chat GPT that nice? Yeah, he is. I'd ask him to let me know if they found intelligent life on this planet. They do. Dyson. That's too nerdy of a response. Are we. Do we get everyone? We got Matthew G. Did we get Nate Bell? Yes. Nice ass. Everyone's in, right? Sampo in? Yes. Hi. I've. Oh, here he is. Hi. I've got a friend you need to meet. Let me introduce you to Will Ackler. Okay. I'm gonna take the executive role here and say it's between nice ass and hi and hi. Yes. So Nate Bell or Matthew G. Justin, your vote. [1:08:05] Justin: I'm going Nate. That's pretty good. [1:08:07] JD: Nate with nice ass. Chad. [1:08:10] Chad: I'm going Nate with Nice ass. [1:08:11] JD: Nate with nice ass. Don't have to play along, Jim. You can pick your own person. Who are you voting for? [1:08:18] Jim Sampson: I like nice ass. [1:08:19] JD: Nice ass. Okay, that's three. I'm gonna go for high, but I don't think it matters. Matthew. Right? I got three. Nate Bell, you are the chat bar champion. Way to go, buddy. I think that's a first. It's gotta be, right? [1:08:37] Chad: I don't recall. [1:08:40] JD: All right, buddy. [1:08:41] Mark: He's never been here before, according to me. [1:08:44] JD: Message me your home address and your at on Tinder and I'll send you some stuff sometime. Yeah? Yeah. Oh, tell me if you're vegan or. Or you like meat or, you know, hobbies and things. Like, let's get real close, me and you, Nate. Okay. Let's become friends through direct message. [1:09:12] Justin: This is not creepy at all. [1:09:14] JD: All right, everybody, Maybe a quick pep. Quick. [1:09:19] Jim Sampson: I gotta. [1:09:19] Chad: I gotta discuss a question for Jim, so I need a quick one. You can leave, Justin. [1:09:23] JD: All right, I'll see you guys in the after show. Get out of here. [1:09:26] Mark: Thank you. [1:09:26] JD: Quick after show. [1:09:27] Chad: Good luck tonight. [1:09:29] JD: Brandon, play some music. I'm gonna take a piss. [1:09:32] Chad: I'll be back in a minute. Jim. [1:09:35] Jim Sampson: Yeah. [1:09:38] JD: Oh, sway. Yeah.