Small Firm Survival: Consolidation, Bitcoin & Advisor Burnout

[0:00] JD: Next and tell them you want us there. They're friendly to us. We love those guys. They've. They've. Actually, I should reach out proactively because they've wanted us there before and for an unforeseen circumstance, we couldn't make it. Brandon, I'm ready if you are. Do we have an little intro video or. Sorry, my. [0:24] Chad: My trying different browser. [0:27] JD: My live stream here keeps stopping. Okay. All right. Well, take your time. [0:35] Chad: Shaw and I are twinsies tonight. [0:38] Justin: How so? [0:40] Chad: He said dangerous at the same time I said dangerous. [0:43] Justin: It's called a jinx. [0:44] Chad: We're pretty much the same human being now. [0:48] JD: Rasha is the is dead last in the chat bar Champions leaderboard. [0:54] Chad: At least he's on the leaderboard. [0:56] Fred Greenstein: Yeah. I mean true, true. [0:59] JD: Yeah. Wouldn't that be cool? It actually does remind me of Brandon's IT office he had at the old off at the old office in San Server room. Monster City. Yeah. Brandon used to work in this. Like there'd be all these people out there with desks, cubicles, whatever. And he was in the back, back, back corner of this massive office in a closet. And it had the servers and all his computers and you had to like knock on the door to get in there. And he was just back there like eating cup of noodles and watching YouTube videos or something. [1:31] Mark: I just liked it when I would go in there and he'd be asleep on that couch thing that was sitting back there because he spent the night there. [1:38] JD: Kush, I'm pretty sure we're revealing the CBC grand prize tonight, I think. I hope. We'll see. [1:43] Mark: I keep wanting to press a button every time. [1:46] JD: Here we go. [1:47] Chad: Now I can. [1:54] JD: Let me up. Let me up. We going to have a real bad. You're going to have a really, really bad time, sir. This me up. [2:04] Mark: Hit me up. You're going to have a real bad time. [2:07] JD: Welcome everybody. Did you know that retire hogs is becoming a bit of a thing the new Netflix and Chill, if you know what I mean. Come on. Who's in the mood? You know the mood I'm talking about dimming those lights, putting on a little Marvin Gaye on the record player. You're Erisa outline book chilling bedside you and shall we say your partner just enjoying a little Thursday night retireholics. Sexy. Time for a little 401k action, if you know what I mean. Bow chicka wow wow. We know our audience. We know what you're up to. Welcome to Mark. What do they call the diddy parties again? [2:59] Mark: Freak offs. [3:00] JD: Freak off. That's right. Welcome to the 401k freak off, everybody. It's another episode. [3:07] Mark: I'm not co signing that. [3:08] JD: Nope, [3:11] Chad: I just did. [3:12] JD: Underage. Underage people in illegal stuff. Aside. Aside. Those are not part of our freak off. We don't. We don't do that. You know where I was. [3:21] Mark: Sorry, I have to interrupt the show real fast. Hey, Brandon, the buttons aren't working. All right, go on, Brandon. [3:28] JD: The buttons aren't working. You know what inspired that intro was our guest's email. He sent an advance email to the boys and I talking about 50 shades of gray and the advisor community. And then he mentioned in that very same email that he was a matchmaker for advisors. So I was like, shit's getting freaky, Justin. Do what you do. My dude. Who's on the show today. Let's do the intro. [3:57] Justin: Well, ladies and gents, meet Fred. As a strategy consultant, Fred helps companies navigate the labyrinth of retirement planning with the precision of a GPS on espresso. [4:06] Chad: Need therapy? [4:06] Justin: Fred's your guy. He'll untangle your financial stress like a pro, offering sage advice and maybe a shoulder to cry on, depending on how bad your portfolio looks. And when it comes to matchmaking, Fred doesn't just connect people. He matches businesses with their perfect 401k strategy, ensuring they'll live happily ever after with tax benefits. So whether you need a business tune up, a financial intervention, or a love connection for your portfolio, Fred's a man [4:28] Mark: who can do it all. [4:29] Justin: Joining us today from the San Francisco Bay area strategy consultant to retirement plan advisers, Mr. Fred Greenstein. [4:36] Fred Greenstein: I love that intro. To capture that. My pleasure, My honor to be with you gentlemen. Found something that I'm good at, which is drinking beer. [4:50] JD: Nice. I feel like we just lost a bunch of our audience for a moment. All, like, crashed off and people are coming back on now. We might have had a technical difficulty. Brandon, if you're alive and you're there in your little room, how about headlines? Let's do a little head to the lines. That sounded weird. Actually, I'm thinking of it now. Maybe we didn't have a technical difficulty. Maybe I mentioned being the 401k version of a. Of a P. Diddy party and everyone just took off. [5:34] Mark: Everyone's like, well, I was, I. I was gonna say maybe it's just because Justin's intro wasn't very funny. [5:41] Chad: You know, he was just too serious. [5:43] Mark: It was too spot on in corporate. People were like, no, this isn't good [5:50] JD: market. [5:51] Justin: Been on a. [5:51] Fred Greenstein: Well, he doesn't know enough about me. [5:53] JD: Here's our. Here's our first head. [5:54] Mark: But hold on, Fred, you're. You're in the Bay Area. [5:57] Fred Greenstein: I am in Pacific Grove, California, which is on the Monterey Peninsula. [6:01] Mark: Oh, I know who that is. [6:03] Fred Greenstein: That's. [6:03] Mark: Pacific Grove is one of my favorite golf courses. [6:06] Fred Greenstein: Not that we have to talk about sports, but yeah, I'm. [6:09] Mark: I'm in. I'm in San Jose. I'm the closest retireholic to you, so we're like best friends now. [6:14] JD: Team the team. [6:17] Fred Greenstein: But I only played 12 holes. [6:20] JD: I believe that is the poor man's pebble beach, is it not? Pacific Grove. [6:23] Mark: Oh, I see. I call Sharp park that just because I'm from Pacifica. [6:27] JD: So the first headline is a little self serving, but I think it's fun and I think it's cool. And more important than that, we kind of need our retire house community to help us spread the word. Rogue guy. Do you know what they call the day before Thanksgiving? The young adults. [6:47] Mark: Yeah. [6:48] Chad: Yeah. [6:48] Mark: Freak off, they call it. Oh, wait, are we not talking about that? [6:53] JD: They call it Black Friday. I did not know this until my son went to the University of Miami. And yes. [7:02] Mark: Oh, wait, that's really. You didn't make that up. [7:04] JD: It's real. People. [7:06] Mark: I thought you made that up. [7:07] JD: People get fucked up on the day before Thanksgiving. So we thought, what better day than to release the premiere, the world premiere of the Retireholics movie. It will be next Wednesday, 1pm Pacific at retirehawks.com/the movie. But mind you, everyone, I would like y' all to go to that link ahead of time and register. You know, secure your seat because that's how we're doing this. We want everyone to register to be there. And I. If we could use you guys to promote. Guys, gals, everyone, humans to promote this. Send this out to your friends, people. Put a post out on LinkedIn. Do what you got to do to help us do this. But for. For that, tonight, just a little clip, Brandon. A little clip of the movie. Yes. Pack your bags, boys. Meet me out front. We're going to Oklahoma. What the. Guys, meet the mug hunter. Who knew I would make it this far. They hated. They never believe me, yo, I would never drop the ball. I know I make it look easy. Yo, Mayweather with the defense. [8:27] Chad: Does pen checks have any idea what they're wasting their money on? [8:31] JD: Don't worry about it, Chad. Just get into art. The recreational vehicle. We got a mug to find. We're going to Oklahoma. You know it's all net when it go up. [8:50] Mark: Chad, you look like you're 10 years younger. [8:53] Justin: I know. [8:53] Mark: Like, did we film this in 20? [8:56] Justin: It was about 10 years ago. [8:57] JD: It feels like Nate Moody is leading the chat. Our champion charge tonight because tonight has a special prize. Whoever wins chap our champion tonight. [9:06] Justin: Just one. [9:07] JD: I will send you a premiere movie package next Wednesday. So we're talking popcorn, black licorice, M&M's, whoppers. What? I don't know. You know all, all the good stuff. Red wines. [9:20] Mark: Say Whoppers. Yeah, [9:24] JD: my daddies have Whoppers. [9:26] Mark: They're made out of cardboard. [9:28] JD: Let's, let's, let's, let's move on a little bit. Movie next week. I want everyone here to know, please be there if you can. After we do the live stream, it'll be available on all the different social channels and whatnot. But come join us. We'll have the chat bar open. There'll be, you know, the day before Thanksgiving. Should be a lot of fun. Next headline. This is from Plan Advisor magazine. It's an article written by Natalie Lynn titled I'll drink for this DOL initiates data collection to reunite workers with loss retirement savings. This is what we were calling the Retirement savings loss and found database and helping people find old retirement plan accounts. If you read the article, I want to bring two things to your all's attention. No, Plan Advisor, I do not want to join your newsletter or whatever. First and foremost, it says starting Monday, plan administrators, record keepers and other service providers are encouraged to voluntarily submit data to populate the system. Expect expected to launch by December 29th. And then further down in the article, she talks about this, she being. There you go. Hackler Lisa Gomez with the Employee Benefit Security Administration saying that this will need to be a collaboration between plan sponsors, vendors and the government. So my question, I'm going to take it straight. I'm going to put Fran on the spot here. When you read this collaboration, do you have any concerns that you're asking the industry to do something that they don't have to do, that they're actually going to do it and this, is that a good way to approach this? [11:19] Fred Greenstein: Yeah, because record keepers are so good at sharing data. [11:23] JD: Good point. [11:26] Fred Greenstein: Strive to do. [11:28] JD: Yeah. I mean, Chad, any fear of failure here if you're making it voluntary for everyone that has the data to share the data? [11:38] Chad: I mean the, I guess it depends on how and what they're expected to share if they're going to create some sort of back end link. And think of all these record keepers already share much of this information not from an individual level but from a total plan count, total asset count, incoming flows. Like there's there, there are things that they're putting out there. This would be a little more granular. I think this is a good thing as a whole JD And I think it's going to work. I do think it's going to work. [12:09] JD: The concept's phenomenal. When I heard that it was happening, I was like yay, this is going to be super cool. But now when, when the details come up, I'm kind of thinking like, and shame on me. I never thought about how they were going to do this and it makes sense what they're doing. But I'm like, oh boy, you're going to ask us the question is how [12:29] Chad: they maintain it, right? We're essentially filing with leftover balances every year of folks who have left but left their balances behind. As an administrator that data is in the recordkeeping system. How is it going to be maintained when an employee takes that balance, you know, two years later, is it going to be updated at that point, who's going to then continue that ongoing feed? I think that's more of what I'm worried about. I believe a snapshot in time is pretty easy for the industry to accomplish. I think anything relevant beyond that snapshot is going to be really difficult. [13:03] JD: That's a good point. Maintenance can be an issue. I, I will make an effort as a third party administrator to look at what they want me to upload in terms of data and in what format and how and this will be an evolving story. But I just wanted to base. It's basically just an update to everyone. Like we knew this was coming here it is, it looks like it's, it's, it's came or by the end of summer. [13:27] Mark: Do we think like our friends at Beagle look at this as like competition? You know I do wonder that like is this not good for them to some regard or are they like, or is it like the way we looked sort of like at the state run plans as more opportunistic about like nobody likes to deal with the government what they want to do. It's going to open up more opportunities for us or hey, it may be easier for them to find. [13:51] Fred Greenstein: I don't know. [13:51] JD: And Fred Beagle was this independent company that's built technology to help participants find their lost accounts. Mark I might argue that if the government tries this and it's not so good, maybe that's great for Beagle. Like it brings more attention to this and if Beagle's tech is actually working. Well, I don't know. But anyways, I just wanted to bring it to everyone's front of mind for everybody. [14:15] Mark: Can I. Can I add one last thing that I'm actually. When I read this, I was very, very sad. By. What do we know? The government loves acronyms. Acronyms. [14:29] JD: Yes. [14:30] Mark: They didn't come up with a cool acronym. I mean, Lost and Found. I mean, come on, dude. [14:35] JD: Like they missed an opportunity. [14:37] Mark: I'm so bummed. [14:38] JD: Yeah, right now it would be the Ristle. F. R. F. Yeah, it's not going to work. Okay, I'm adding one. This is a. This is a last minute addition to the agenda. I saw a post on LinkedIn from an advisor today. I'm clicking on it now. This advisor's name is Grant Ellis. I don't know this dude. I don't know this dude. But I like this post. He says, quote, thirteen years into my career as a financial advisor, I tried to passively quit. I started a peanut peanut butter company. Yep. And fully intended to let my business fade away. His advisory business is very relevant to Fred being here. Here's why. And what changed? I was burned out, disenfranchised, and fed up with the industry. I was building my business the way they said it had to be done and it was killing me. These are the bullet points he was told to do. Prospecting is now your life. Driving revenue is the primary objective. Helping people doesn't pay the bills. More is better. Always. Everyone you know is a future client. Gather assets, ask questions later. That's fair. I mean, it's a little intense, but it's. It's fair. Not far from the truth. It sickened me. He says. I didn't realize there was another way. So I tried to get out. Thankfully, my clients stayed. And along the way, I learned that there are many ways to build an amazing advisory practice. So I reinvented myself. In reality, I just found myself and decided that life is too short to try and be anyone else. So he started focusing on Brandon. Thank you so much for the tech support. This is hard for you. I focused on helping people. I stopped prospecting in the truest sense of the word. Yeah, he just took his foot off that pedal. I started educating. I started writing. I quit focusing on revenue growth and instead focus on personal growth. I let go of the pressure I've been putting on myself for years. A funny thing happened. My business tripled in a three year period. And I started having fun again. And when I read this, I Think. Yeah, you started putting passion into what you're doing. So, Fred, this is right up your alley. So I want to start. I, I saw a lot of positive facial recipes. What do you think about old Grant Ellis here and his epiphany? [17:05] Fred Greenstein: Well, Grant, I, I agree with some of it in that I think that spending your time. The advisors should spend their time in three places is talking to clients, talking to prospects, talking to centers of influence. And, you know, I appreciate the passion that he brings to. To it, but if he really wants to grow his business, he's got to get, you know, get help in some of the other areas. As you know, I would say if he really is interested in growing his business is A lot of the clients [17:43] JD: interested in growing is this business. Unless he's a lying sack of. He 3X'd his business in a, in a small. [17:53] Fred Greenstein: Maybe. I'd be curious as to exactly how that happened. [17:57] JD: I'm ashamed for you that that happened because he fell in love with what he was doing again. And before he was a miserable SAP doing what everyone else is telling him to do. And then he was passionate. He was writing articles, he was helping his clients. I'm imagining that people saw that and maybe he got some more referrals or I'm doing the positive optimistic guy. I could easily jump on this guy's ass and, and say sell more as a strategy, but. Chad, chime in. Was the peanut butter just a way [18:29] Mark: to get us to read this? Because I don't like the cliffhanger here, guys. I don't like it at all. [18:34] JD: You want to know what happened? [18:36] Chad: Peanut butter was his midlife crisis. [18:38] JD: Mark, maybe. [18:40] Mark: No, I'm just gonna assume I don't [18:42] Justin: because he went back to doing what he was doing. That peanut butter is gone. [18:46] JD: That wasn't working. It's hard to compete with Jif or. [18:52] Chad: Look, don't. If you focus in on the three times in the revenue or the client count, like you don't know where he was at that point, maybe he didn't have a very big book and it was pretty easy to three times revenue. But I think you're right, jd. I think what he probably realized is if I am my authentic self and I'm enjoying what I'm doing and I'm putting my energy in the right ways, it's going to lead to a better close ratio. It's going to lead to clients wanting to refer me to other people versus me just being in a robot and following what the industry is telling me to do. You've Been preaching that for decades. [19:28] Fred Greenstein: JD he's also saying, you know, focus on building relationships. And, and as he builds relationships, whether it's with the centers of influence or with new clients, the business is going to grow. [19:43] Mark: I, I didn't get any, any of that from any of that. You guys, you guys are definitely reading between the lines. I'm reading what he said. He said he did less work and now he's making more money. So that's what I'm gonna start doing, actually starting right now. I'm just gonna log off right now and passively quit this show. [20:04] JD: That is not. In all, in all seriousness, and we know, I know this, that's not what he said. But I do want to give Fred a chance here because I was always taught by my father that you always had to keep your pad, your foot on the pedal, on the gas pedal of marketing and sales. And that sticks with me to this day. Like, my dad literally said this, and people could accuse this of being wrong, but he said like, new sales will solve everything. You know, like as long as you're driving new business, that's going to solve a lot of problems. And I think there's a lot of truth to what he said. So I'd imagine Fred kind of believes in that in a way that you got to be working on that pipeline and you can't just think being a nice person and being passionate about what you do is going to fill that pipeline. [20:51] Fred Greenstein: Yeah. And, and I think my point is that a lot of advisors spend a lot of time doing things that are not going to grow the business as they like to be. They like to write their own marketing pieces, or they like to be their IT person, or they have developed this fantastic investment analysis process that they're really wedded to and they should be letting go of a lot of those responsibilities and focusing on talking on the three things that I talk about. Talking to clients, talking to prospects, talking to centers of influence. [21:33] JD: Those are mostly growth related things. Right? I mean, that's the intent of you saying that. [21:38] Fred Greenstein: Right. The most important asset that the advisor has is their time. And it's like if you had your starting point guard spending 30% of their time and scripting plays on the sideline. No, you're going to put them in 100 of it, you know, as much of the minutes as you can. So that's what, that's what I, you're [22:03] Chad: saying focus on things that build the business, you know, the. Operate on the business, not within the business. Yes, I get that. I get that. [22:15] Fred Greenstein: Resources, leverage technology, leverage human resources, as too many advisors are still trying to do it all themselves, figure it all, cobble it together where they'd probably be better off just joining a team, where a lot of those other things are taken care of for them so that they can spend their time where they have most value. [22:41] JD: But, Chad, can you finish this off for me? You have to admit when you read that, that there's something pretty, like, uplifting about that. I mean, he. He's saying he really hated the way everyone was telling him to do things, and he found a new way that's working well for him. Like, you got to give him a little bit of credit for that. [22:59] Chad: There's. [23:00] Mark: There's. [23:00] Chad: There's two things that I pulled from that over the. On that path. One being, yes, jd, I. I love that he found something and a way in which he was enjoying doing the work and that turned into business. On the flip side of things, if I were a client and I read that, I would think to myself, wait, you were just gonna sit back and. And passively retire and sunset my relationship with you when you should have been actively working my book or my. [23:28] JD: Worried about him. [23:29] Chad: You. [23:30] JD: You're worried about him starting a peanut butter company? I think he asked. [23:33] Chad: I'm paying you. You didn't lower my cost to you since you went off and started doing other. [23:38] JD: See, my. My namaste. Brother behind the scene says he got out of his own way. I agree. Meditate, Find your own deal. Like, I think his clients should be happy that that peanut butter excursion brought him to where he needed to be, which was a better. A better financial advisor by being more passionate about what he does. Let's talk about the next time he's [24:01] Chad: going to want a peanut butter company. [24:02] Mark: I need proof. I need proof of the peanut butter. [24:05] JD: Yeah, okay, Okay. [24:07] Mark: I want to know. Sorry. I just want to know what the concept was. Like, what did you think that you could do to peanut butter to make. Did you add something to it? Did you use some exotic nuts? Like, what. What were you doing? Peanut peanut butter aisle is L stuff. [24:24] JD: Mark, I promise you this. I wrote him on LinkedIn. I told him I was going to talk about his tonight. He said, great. If you ever want me on the show, let me know. I'd be happy to come talk 401k. So we will get him on here and we'll get him to talk about peanut butter. Let's bring him on as a spotlight, talk about peanut butter as a flashlight guest, and we'll only ask him about peanut butter the whole time. [24:49] Chad: I'm just saying on his LinkedIn profile. [24:53] JD: What's up? [24:57] Chad: On his LinkedIn profile there is no mention of being a CEO of a peanut butter company. [25:01] JD: Wow, skeptic. [25:02] Chad: I get what you're laying down, Mark. [25:04] JD: This, this is a juicy show and I like the skepticism. I like it. Let's, let's, let's ramp it up. Let's ramp it up. Let's talk bitcoin. There's an article on bitcoin that I pass along to Brandon, but you can read any article you want on bitcoin that's out there. What I want to talk about is we've talked about bitcoin on the show many times, specifically in the end of 2022, which is just about two years ago from now when bitcoin had dropped to around $16,000. We had Nevin Adams on here chiming in a very anti bitcoin kind of stance. And we were obviously talking about Bitcoin and 401k and everything. And they're calling it volatile and not a real investment and this and that. And what I'm about to say does not prove the opposite to any of those negative comments. But let's be, let's be straight up here. Bitcoin has now gone from 16k to 6 times that number and is pushing up against the 99,000 Dollar mark today. Here's a really shitty comparison that if a compliance department got a hold of me, they'd ring my neck. As a comparison, the Dow Jones in December of 2022 was at 33k and it's now almost 44k. Most people say that's a great little run. The equivalent would be. The Dow Jones would be at almost 200k instead of 44 if it followed the same growth as bitcoin. I have a couple questions for you guys. One is, let's just start before I give you. I've talked with Fidelity and for us all and I've got some info to share with everyone about how their success has been with Bitcoin and 401K. But first let me ask. Fuck. I'm just going to go to you, you're our guest. I hate to bring politics into this, but I don't know if you know anything about this, but do you think the Trump presidency is fuel to the fire of bitcoin and just give you a little lead like he has been at some bitcoin conferences. He's gotten just massive applause from all the bitcoin people. What do we call Bitcoin people that he talked about firing Gensler as the SEC chairman or captain or what do we call the guy in charge, the sec. And they were like freaking out because he's been very anti bitcoin. Sorry, securities and Exchange Commission. So Fred, so there is some news out there that indicate that Trump is kind of pro bitcoin. But do you think I said it? Go ahead, answer the question. Is it good for bitcoin Trump? [27:41] Fred Greenstein: That's my sense. I mean, I think that's what, you know, has sent it up just most recently since he won the election. [27:50] JD: Well, you're right. Yeah. I mean, we're right in that it's gone up. [27:54] Chad: It's been going up for, I mean, long term. [27:58] Fred Greenstein: I know whether he. [28:01] JD: Well, Chad, what I mean is that if you look at BlackRock's ETF, the news from November 5th, Trump's win saw that their assets rise by like $13 billion. Like so there was a whole bunch of investors out there that felt like Trump winning presidency was the great time to dump $13 billion into the BlackRock ETF. So that's a clear indication. Oh my Lord. Okay, I'll, I'll catch up. [28:40] Chad: It's good. J.D. i, I think we all know that, that Trump is, is pro making money and he is going to be pro any way of helping people make money. And the general thought, even if you leave everything that, that is settled around the backbone of bitcoin coin and you look at the opportunity that exists within cryptocurrency, Trump is going to want to dabble in it. That's why he's pushed for a Federal Reserve stake in it. That's why the government has $16 billion in it is because there is an opportunity there that is still in its infancy. You've talked, we've talked when it was down at $5,000 a coin, it's at $100,000 now. It is still in its infancy presidency. [29:28] JD: It also, I think this presidency comes at a time when bitcoin is, is at, is at a moment right now in its evolution where it wants and needs regulation. And so if you talk about the next four years, this is a very important time period. Whereas if there was someone in government that was opposing could kind of cool its jets and, and shut it down a little bit or at least pause it's growth Chad thing, Chad's such a surprise would drive it. [29:57] Chad: What is, what is the backbone behind these cryptocurrencies? It's decentralization. [30:01] JD: Right? [30:02] Chad: That's if the government stepped in and said this is bad for you. Then the people who are pushing decentralization would, would shove more, would drive more into cryptocurrency. [30:12] JD: Here's, here's my thought everyone. You're going to see two types of crypto supporters in this world. Chad is going to be in the group that is the old school OG Bitcoin people where this is like, oh God, thanks. Where he's believes in this like decentralized. Like the original concept where like if the world was going to, and the banks were all going down and you had bitcoin, you were going to be safe. Almost like a gold standard type of thing. [30:41] Chad: You're wrong there. [30:42] JD: And then there's going to be another group that's going to be the more financial services group that's going to promote these exchange traded funds and investing in bitcoin in your 401k plans and in the stock market and all these things. And I think that that one's going to not be decentralized. It's going to be supported by the federal government and work this way out. And I realize that stresses chat out because it loses a lot of the qualities. No, go ahead. One last comment Chad, and we'll move on. [31:11] Chad: No, I think that if you're considering blockchain and bitcoin as the same thing, it's not blockchain and decentralization is, is different. Cryptocurrency is a component of blockchain. But those are two different things in my mind. And I don't, I don't mind the, the, the government being involved in cryptocurrency. That doesn't to me ruin the, the, the benefits of what blockchain is supposed to be bringing to the world. I think cryptocurrency is a component of what blockchain should be bringing to the world. And I don't mind the government involved in the cryptocurrency side of things. I don't want them involved in the decentralization of what blockchain, the self regulation of what blockchain is supposed to bring. [31:59] JD: Fair enough. I just want everyone out there to know that Fidelity came out. What's it been now, 18 months ago, two years ago, came out and said we're gonna have bitcoin in our 401k programs. I think we're gonna cap it at 5%. Was the cap someone correct me if [32:18] Mark: I'm wrong, but it was. [32:19] JD: And I got word from them that they're killing it. That was their actual quote from them. Like they are killing it. People are Going away. I reached out to for us all and for us all said, bro, we're major. Killing it. That was their quote to me. [32:38] Chad: So they're getting business for this one offer. That's insanity. [32:42] JD: Well, the last. It's not. This is not even question. It's a statement. When Bitcoin goes from 16,000 to 99,000 in two years, and if it continues its way up, guess what? It's going to be in the headlines again. People are going be talking about it. And you advisers out there, you already know this. Because your individual clients, your wealth management clients, I'm sure, already banging your door about this stuff. But even your 401k plans are going to start asking, like, hey, could this be part of our program? Because our employees are asking for it. And for all you people that are still in this chat bar two years later saying that it's not appropriate for 401k, Fidelity disagrees with you. And I got news for you. The committee that runs Fidelity and the people around Fidelity, they're a lot smarter than you in this fucking little chat bar, bro. That's my take, Rob. Imprudent. How dare you? [33:38] Fred Greenstein: All right. [33:40] JD: Let's spin the wheel of ice, shall we? Spin the wheel of ice. [33:52] Chad: I did that last show, JD And I did lose. [33:54] Fred Greenstein: Oh, God. [33:55] JD: Brandon's rigging. This it? [33:57] Mark: Yeah. [33:58] Chad: Set it for years, guys. [34:00] JD: Okay, I'm gonna set you up. Fred. We're about to. We're about to all drink a smear off ice, but I'm gonna go get Justin. [34:07] Fred Greenstein: Okay? All right, well, I got you. [34:09] JD: Don't ask. I'm gonna ask you a question, and you're gonna talk while we swig. Okay? [34:16] Fred Greenstein: Very good. [34:17] JD: Are small advisory firms a dying breed? We have seen so many advisors that were successful independent be bought out by national aggregators three, four years ago. We're seeing some of them start to change their positions now, move to different firms. I think they were doing this either as an opportunity to get a large check, or what they told us at the time was, there's an opportunity to, like, improve their business model by hooking up with a larger brand and institution. So, Fred, is the world of small advisory firms done and dead and dusted? Is it a dying breed? [34:55] Fred Greenstein: I don't know that it's done and dusted, but it is a dying breed, I would say. You know, given the industry consolidation, fee compression, need for more holistic services, it's really hard for these small firms to compete with the aggregators who have multiple revenue channels. You know, they're Doing both wealth and retirement and in a lot of cases, group benefits. You know, I think of it, the analogy that I use often is it's like these advisors are running their little coffee shop on the corner and on the other two corners are Starbucks and Dunkin Donuts. [35:41] JD: You know, that's an interesting analogy. I'd like to touch on that one. Keep going. [35:46] Fred Greenstein: Yeah, yeah. What I was going to say is. Well, I don't know if you know this, but 78 of the coffee shops I think this is in the US Are owned by three different companies. [36:03] Mark: Well, sure, yeah, that makes sense. [36:05] Fred Greenstein: Yeah, yeah, but I mean, you know what, what? [36:08] JD: Well, let me intercept there though. My, my daughter is 21 years old, 22 years old, something like that, somewhere [36:18] Mark: right around there. [36:19] JD: And she loves coffee. Like she's obsessed with coffee. She would never step, step foot in a Starbucks or a piece coffee or whatever. She wants to go find some boutique local place where you walk in, there's a cool vibe. People like maybe know your name or at least give you a lot of attention to the drink that you want. The prices might be pricey, but there's little chairs to sit down, you know, you know the vibe I'm talking about. And I feel like, and maybe I'm just in a microcosm of Southern California. Those places are flourishing like, like there's lines out the doors on those places where I would might imagine. I can't say Starbucks is dying because that's not true. But yeah, but they can survive. They can do well. [37:04] Fred Greenstein: I think small advisory firms can survive. They can hold on to most of their clients. It's just going to be harder and harder to grow [37:14] JD: that disappointed. [37:17] Chad: I, I think what we're seeing already and are going to continue to see is that the small advisory firms are going to have to be siloed regionally and they're going to succeed by being close with their centers of influence and their clients. They're never going to become the large shop anymore. You're not going to see the small shop, the grow into a large shop without partnering up or joining a larger firm. I, I think that that's the difference. You're not going to see guys and gals grow a small advisory practice to one that has 15 advisors in. [37:50] JD: This is no research, this is no survey. But in the last two months I have been privy to clients of ours leaving advisors, smaller advisor shops, people that by the way, I think are very capable and do a very good job. And it was kind of a shock for me to hear and they are leaving to bigger brand names. And I. And for two of those three, I was actually to have a conversation with the decision makers because I was in a tough spot. They were keeping us as TBA and basically replacing this advisor. Yes. Damn it. And. And what they told me was this. And it's not going to sound. It's going to sound cliche, but I heard this live and in color like that this new firm was going to be able to provide them a lot more. And in two of the cases, not the two I talked to, but one, the case I talked to, it was a firm that was already giving. Doing their other benefits. And so it's that classic story of these people are a big firm doing our group health benefits. And we were so happy with them. They were so professional. They were so big. They brought so much to the table that we came to the conclusion like, geez, I wonder what kind of a job they might do on our 401k plan. And this very niche, very successful, very smart, very experienced financial advisor lost the gigantic. And Fred's there shaking his head in acknowledgment. I have to imagine that those stories are not isolated and that is happening all across the country. [39:33] Justin: Yeah. [39:34] Fred Greenstein: Or, you know, you. You have a solo Advisor with a $10 million plan and what if he gets hit by a bus that, you know, that plan sponsor is in trouble. [39:47] Mark: Should have looked twice before he crossed. [39:49] JD: He or she crossed the street. [39:53] Justin: Is there JD on those ones? Are they larger clients of ours that are leaving? [39:57] Fred Greenstein: Is. [39:57] Justin: I'm trying to. I'm wondering one of the correlation between large. [39:59] JD: One of them is. One of them is. Is one of our large, larger clients. Not the one you direct message me on. All right. One of them. [40:08] Mark: I thought a good catch on the actress in there. J.D. good job. [40:13] JD: I don't even know what I did. Oh, private message. But one of them is one of our larger clients and the other two are what I would call like medium clients. Like these are. [40:23] Fred Greenstein: Oh, okay. [40:24] JD: You know, decent size. So they're. Yeah, they're obviously they're. We're not talking about mom and pop shops. That happens too. [40:30] Chad: But let me spin it a tiny different direction and then we can move on. Do we. Do we think that these smaller advisor shops will succeed being super niche still? I. And let me preface that. I think the smaller shops are going to have to expand their offering. It can't just be I'm a private wealth guy or gal and I'm working by myself or with one or two people in my Office. I think that you're going to need to have a say in your benefits and 401k. I think you're going to need to be more of a resource for clients versus just be a wealth manager moving for. [41:11] JD: Well, we've been talking about convergence forever. I, I feel like in the small market and maybe this is still true, we felt like it wasn't that important because we're just running around getting the scraps right. I thought this whole convergence thing was going to happen. This always happens in our industry like with all the big plans and across the country. But there's still. Everyone's going to scrap around and sell and win one million dollar plans and startups and 500,000 and they don't give a shit about all these big topics we're talking about. But I'm starting to come to terms with the fact that maybe not that five person mark loves this. I'll go flower shop on the corner will care. But the 30 person company, that's still what I would call a very, very small business, is going to be very interested in getting more services from a bigger firm and they're going to be interested in having less people to talk to. Like getting it from one person. That just sounds, that's the world we live in here. [42:17] Chad: I'm gonna. Let me play the other side of that though. JD you know that that flower shop on the corner is going to engage because of relationship. Just, just plain, plain and simple. It's going to be someone that they know through their kids school or through the church or through playing golf or through a prior relationship. That that small market business is not being called on by one digital. Okay, but that's gonna come through relationship. [42:45] JD: This is a great point. This is a great point and this is why I brought up the five person flower shop. When you get to 30 people or 40 employees and I know this just kind of impersonal experience right where I'm at right now. And I'm not trying to like, I brag all the time on the show so I should brag anyways. But my point is that the flower shop, that person that you have a relationship with, that owns the company that you go to church with, fine, they make the decisions. When you get to 40 employees, the person that you go to church with, the owner tends to delegate those decisions to their people that work for them. And when your HR person or your CFO comes in and says I want to fire your buddy at church, you say okay, because you empowered that person to run that position. You don't say no. You can't fire Bob. He's my tennis player. [43:36] Chad: I hope you're right, but I don't think you are. I think many of those folks are going to sit back and say I'm going to do my job and not stir, stir the pot. And so what, what is in here and what is functioning, I'm going to keep that way. [43:51] JD: Yeah, I definitely think the small. Fred, you would agree. [43:55] Fred Greenstein: Yeah. One thing, one thing that I think is driving, will be driving more convergence is the Consolidated Appropriations act of 2021 where health insurance have to be fiduciary or suddenly planned fiduciaries. And this is a situation where there's all sorts of fees going all sorts of different ways and not a lot of transparency. You've got retirement plan advisors who have been dealing with 408 for the past 10 years. They know how to bring fiduciary processes. And I see a lot more retirement plan advisors going to be moving over into the health insurance space. Maybe not an individual, but a firm because they have that capability. And a lot of those insurance brokers that they play golf with, they don't. [44:56] JD: I have to agree, Chad, that of course the smaller micro market is more insulated and more safe from this convergence threat than the mid market and the big market. I mean, just can't argue that point. So of course you're right. I'm just saying that even the plans I'm talking about are now more small market plans. And I'm just seeing it happen. And so I'm just like, okay, like I think things that are up market do come down market many times. That's been what history has taught us. My. I think there's one lesson to learn here. I think there's a Chad Nuggets here and I know we don't have that graphic anymore, but what you're saying, that was a challenge. Brandon, what you're saying here is that [45:45] Mark: was quick if you. [45:47] JD: It was. That was lightning quick. Yeah, if you want. Because I. Okay. These guys who lost their jobs on our clients, I thought did a pretty good job like they did what you're supposed to do. They were not asleep at the wheel. They were running fiduciary review meetings. They were responding to questions and concerns. It was not like they were doing a poor job. The client thought someone else could do an even grander, better job. And so to Chad's point, if you're an advisor in the small micro mid market, I think you need to rethink what service looks like. And find better ways to embed yourself so deep into your clients that Chad's church example or golf partner example is actually true for you and your clients. Like, they see you as someone that is integral to what's going on. And if that means more time, hours, effort, that's okay. Don't stress about that. I say build that into your model and like raise your fees accordingly to do that. Like, I think your clients can accept higher fees if you're going to provide a more consistent, visible, attentive type of service. Do not get caught. This is my advice to you. Do not get caught in the traditional service model of just doing what you need to do and think that that's enough. Because some of your clients are going to think that these bigger institutions can do more and then you'll end up losing. I, I think that's something to be very concerned with. And you have a choice. [47:20] Chad: You can not going to fight that one. [47:22] Fred Greenstein: You're right. [47:22] JD: You can go after it and make your business work. Real quick, Fred, before we go on to another little segment here, I, I gotta know. Let's talk sexy time. Let's talk, let's talk, you know, a little Netflix and chill. This retirement plan advisor industry use the acronym and 50 Shades of Gray. What are we talking about here? Are these guys, are we talking about hookups? Like advisors, dealers? [47:54] Fred Greenstein: I never read the book. [47:56] Justin: He is a matchmaker. [47:57] Fred Greenstein: Yeah, it's just that, you know, what I see is that most owners, the advisory firms that I tend to work with, they're generally revenue 500,000 to 3 million and the majority common. [48:14] JD: I would say that's a, that's freaking 90% of advisors, is it not? 500,000 at 3 mil. [48:21] Fred Greenstein: Yeah, about 90%. [48:23] Chad: He's talking revenue though. [48:25] Fred Greenstein: I mean 500,000 at a firm level revenue. And what I was going to say is that most of them are in their 50s or their 60s or in some cases in their 70s. You know, we've got a lot of baby boomers who are going to be retiring and not very many have someone on their team who can buy them out. So I think that, you know, what does it mean? It, I think it means continued consolidation. I think you've got a lot of younger people who are not so interested in the eat what you kill model that, you know, we sort of grew up with or, you know, people in my, my generation grew up with. And they want, they want a salary, you know, and they want benefits, security. Yeah, and, and, and more security than in the past. So, you know, you know that's what I'm observing is that there's going to be a lot of transfer of firm equity over these next five to 10 years. [49:39] JD: Okay, this is interesting to me because I understand if I'm an advisor, I won't name anyone's name, but there's been some recent transactions. But I've built up a good business. Like I was a solid entrepreneur and I built up a firm that was doing 15 million, 20 million in revenue and I'm 60 years old and now one digital or whomever wants to stroke me a check and make me a four year deal, like I get that, like, okay, let me take the check, you know, like this and I'll. Because you're basically selling. I mean these deals vary, but let's assume the deal means you're selling over your clients to them and then having a job for the next three to four years. That makes sense to me. But if I'm an advisor like you're talking about and I'm making, and I'm making this up because I'm a third party administrator, so. But I've built up my little local business with little wealth management, little bit of 401k and I'm driving $1.3 million in revenue and my broker, dealer, whatever the name, has taken 10% of that because I worked out a good deal there. I'm not working at Merrill lynch or Morgan Stanley or like that. And, and I got a, I got a pe. Some support staff helping me, you know, to do this stuff. Maybe there's two or three people that work in my little, little office I have downtown where I hang the shingle and I pay my rent. And so I'm thinking maybe I'm drawing, you know, 350k from that business and you know, I'm driving my little beat up Mercedes and I got a, depending on where I live, in any town, usa, I'm a California guy. So I apologize. But I'm doing all right. Like I'm living the American dream. Why would I not just continue that? Because I can't sell my 1.3 million dollar revenue business and really get a big fat check like that other story I made. So that seems shocking to me that acquisition or trying to be gobbled up into a bigger firm, like I would just keep doing what I'm doing and get my check. [51:53] Fred Greenstein: I mean that's certainly a choice that you have continue. But yeah, I mean most of the advisors that I work with, they're interested in growing the business, they're interested in, in Increasing the size of that check. One thing that I think not enough advisors think about is first of all, they don't start thinking about their exit strategy until too late. [52:21] JD: Yeah, nobody does. Nobody does. Yeah. [52:24] Fred Greenstein: And you know, in a lot of cases, it might be better to merge with another firm before you're acquired. May give you multiple bites at the apple, you know, where you can, you know, sell, sell a portion of your business, you know, perhaps for a multiple of four or five and then so then later on, so multiple your small [52:50] JD: piece of a bigger puzzle that then even turns into a smaller piece of a bigger puzzle. The math could work out for you. And all along you're getting support, additional services, maybe a bigger logo on your business card that's more reputable or something like, okay, I can, I can chew on that and swallow a bit of it. [53:11] Fred Greenstein: Take some off the table. Take some risk off the table. [53:15] JD: Yes. [53:15] Chad: If I spun that slightly different and I'm that individual with $350,000 of take home pay and I have an opportunity to make something upfront in selling my book and join and have some residual on the back end. It gives me an opportunity to minimize to what Mark said earlier, to minimize my workload and continue to make the same income with a bump up front that I now have an opportunity to invest and leverage well. [53:46] JD: And to Brad's, I think that fits [53:47] Chad: well for a lot of those folks. [53:49] JD: To Fred's point too, like, you don't have any real close circle vision on who's gonna be your exit strategy. So, you know, it's not like that's built for you. So when you see outside opportunities, you reach for them and go, I get it. This is personal for me. Like, I really struggle with this because people come to me all the time offering me large sums of money for my company and usually for me personally, when I do the math, it just makes no sense to me. Like, I want to be in control. [54:23] Chad: Young, right? You're young and you have producers for you though, so. So let's not forget that if you were back in the day, if you were your dad, if you were your dad back in the day and there wasn't JD to take over the business and you were the sole producer, that would look a whole lot more attractive when they came with those offers to you. [54:44] JD: Yeah, maybe, I don't know, we should go deeper on further shows. [54:49] Fred Greenstein: One point I just want to make is that I, I think most advisors are not really managing this, which is their largest asset in a lot of cases worth more than Their house and worth more than their bank account. And they're not focusing on growing the ultimate value. [55:12] JD: Fell in love is probably a stretch, but they fell in. Like with stocks, investments, helping people, financial advising. They're not entrepreneurs. They're not business tycoons. They're. They're not good at running a payroll, running a business, having to deal with all the. That goes along with that. [55:33] Chad: The biggest issue they run into, guys, and I think we can all admit this, is that they think the value that they're bringing is only themselves and their intellectual capital. They truly believe that I've brought on all these clients because of what I bring to the table and not the process or the offering. And so they're fearful to bring somebody in that can deliver it. Jd, don't. Please don't be naive and think your dad was any different. Your dad questioned whether or not you could do it. You questioned whether or not I can do it. [56:03] JD: We. My dad never questioned whether I could. [56:08] Chad: Yeah, he totally did. [56:10] JD: Brandon. Brandon. [56:11] Fred Greenstein: Smack your face, brother. [56:13] JD: Get in here and tell. This guy's fucking crazy. My dad knew I was kill it. And I didn't even know what 4k was. I was still sitting on the beach surfing, and he knew whatever I put my mind to, I was gonna knock it out of the park. You, however, we had questions about. We had no idea if you were gonna get to where you went. [56:34] Chad: You should have questioned. [56:35] Justin: It doesn't feel safe. [56:39] JD: All right, Robbie, you know, you know you're. You know, people are digging you when they're tuning into a show just for your segment. And the only reason they're here, they're like, when is it going to happen? [56:53] Justin: Like, we get a lamer game. [56:54] JD: Game. Huh? [56:56] Justin: Are we getting the lamer game? Game? [56:58] Mark: That's, that's, that's the past. Good one. [57:01] JD: Good one. Fred, you might want to listen up. I know you're moving to London sometime soon, kind of going into, not retirement, but, you know, work, semi retirement, working from abroad type of deal. And you always could use a little extra cash on hand. So you may not know this, but we have an investment guru on our team here tonight. This man, for two years or something like that, has been showing us that magic runs through his veins. He's non human when it comes to choosing investments. Everybody is drunk. Stock tips. [57:58] Justin: Hold on, hold on. Forgive me. Have we ever done bitcoin on this? [58:03] JD: Yeah, well, I'd have to look back the records. It's definitely not one on my spreadsheet, but I feel like we asked him about it in a certain show. And he. Not officially. [58:15] Mark: I thought, for some reason I saw your comment just now. I thought you said not on the agenda tonight. And I've touched. Oh, I didn't know that. I thought. Okay, all right. I honestly thought it wasn't part of the show. [58:27] Fred Greenstein: Okay, all right. [58:28] JD: It is definitely on the agenda. All right, everybody, we're not going to go into his old stuff. You know, I just mentioned it. This guy knows what he's doing. This guy. This guy basically eats Jim Kramers and shits them out for breakfast. Like he's. He knows the stock market. [58:49] Chad: Market right here, right now. [58:51] JD: Brandon is on his freaking graphic black point right now is what I'm saying. Yep. [58:57] Mark: He's like. Like they say, jay, you said that wrong. He's in his bag. [59:02] JD: He's in his bag. Okay. He's in his bag. That's fire. That's. That's crunk. [59:08] Fred Greenstein: I don't know. [59:10] JD: Okay. This company was founded in 1837 in Grand Land Design consultants and grand. That would be a great one. We'll do that on our final episode on Grand Detour, Illinois. It's got 83,000 employees. By the way, here's a fun thing. Anyone in the chat bar, you guess. You guess. Who can guess first who this company is? No, Justin, it's not Walmart. No, it's not Levi's. Over 61 billion in revenue, of which I'm guessing like 5% comes from the sale of hats that are worn by old men in the Midwest. And young Tick tockers. [59:56] Fred Greenstein: Yep. [59:56] JD: And young tick tockers kind of hat is a stylish hat to wear of an old company Fedora. The stock price has bounced up and down between the highs of the mid-400s, like 450s, and the low mid-300s, like. Like 350. Just gone up and down and up and down over the last two years. Year to date, it's up 9.4%. [1:00:24] Mark: Who cares? [1:00:25] JD: The ticker is simply. And I'll drink for this. De. And the company is called Deer and Company, but you probably better know them as John Deere. And I damn know that Chad knows. I damn know that Chad knows who John de Deer is. He's got some of those tractors sitting right out in front of his house. [1:00:45] Mark: Yeah. [1:00:48] JD: What do you say, Robbie? [1:00:49] Mark: Wow. What am I doing? [1:00:50] Chad: Robe. [1:00:51] Justin: Am I buying or not? [1:00:53] Mark: Oh, that's why your phone's. I don't know what you were doing with that. Okay, well, let me just tell you a little story. A little story. About my experiences with John Deere. [1:01:12] JD: As most of you know, the man or the equipment? [1:01:15] Mark: Don't know. I don't know if it's a man. I don't know if it's an animal. Half man, half animal. It's a manimal, I don't know. I have no idea who John Deere is. Never seen a picture. [1:01:24] JD: He had nine children. He had nine children, I'll tell you that. [1:01:27] Mark: Hey, like they say, wrap it up, buddy. So my experiences with the, the green machines that you see roaming around this country, as most of you know, I, I take a trip out to Missouri once a year with my family. We go live with Chad. He puts us to work on the farm. You know, I gotta wake up every day, I gotta clock in, I have to gas up the John Deere in the John Deere room. I grab a, an ice cold Michelob Ultra at 6 o' clock in the morning. I hop on the John Deere and I, I work for Chad, I, I cut his grass, I, I bail the hay. I, I do all the hard labor as Chad sits on his deck with a, A margarita. Salted, salted, salted. Rim with his little umbrella as he screams at me and tells me to work harder. Tells me how much bitcoin prices are at these days. And then when I'm done, he pretends like he did all the work, you know, and then he tells me that I did a bad job. And then he makes Justin cross cut his lawn and do all of that. And all I can say and the point of my story, now everyone's sitting there going, what, what are you talking about, rogue guy? What does this all mean? When I ride, when my butt gets into that seat of that John Deere, I feel like I'm one with the earth. I feel like I'm truly living the American dream, as they say. And there's no better feeling than that on the earth. Though I say it today, and I say it with confidence that John Deere will always be a part of this heartland of this country. And I will always, always hold it near and dear to my heart. So you buy this stock and you buy it not because it's going to grow like Bitcoin. No, that's not the point. There's going to be competitors. You buy it because Chad has one in his John Deere room. And that's all that really matters. Bye. [1:03:48] Fred Greenstein: Bye. [1:03:49] JD: It's a buy. It's a buy. It's a buy. It's definitely a buy. All right, hold on. [1:03:56] Justin: The heartstrings There, pal. Mark on the heartstrings. [1:04:02] Chad: Every time we get drunk. Stop Dips. I'm in my Schwab account and I'm purchasing. That's what I'm the only one I'm down on right now. And since I started, this is Pfizer and it's about flat. So I'm in here right now. [1:04:15] JD: I just want you to know about. [1:04:16] Justin: To send that a lot further down. [1:04:18] JD: I'm. I'm. I'm down on cheesecake, both in my E Trade account and outside of it. Richard Banzinger, I believe, was the guy. I. I still gotta. He didn't respond to my LinkedIn stuff. I gotta email him. I gotta. I owe him a thousand bucks. I gotta go down to cheese. Like, yeah, I. That was the one of 32 that Robey's gotten wrong. And so I just think Robey's a little off on restaurants. Maybe that's where you gotta kind of screen them out a little bit. But sometimes you just gotta let time go. I'm imagining sometime in 2025, cheesecake is gonna take a dump, big time. And we'll realize Robey's genius. It's just. You don't know when it's gonna hit. You don't know when it's gonna hit. [1:05:07] Mark: I see a correlation between Cheesecake Factory and Bitcoin. So once. Bitcoin. [1:05:15] Fred Greenstein: I love it. [1:05:16] JD: I love it. I love it. Okay, we are going to wrap up. [1:05:22] Chad: Hey, do you have some CBC stuff you're supposed to. [1:05:25] JD: Yes. That's what I wanted to. That's what I wanted to do. It's not like the old days. [1:05:31] Mark: Oh, you need a drink. [1:05:33] JD: Bust out that makers. Bust out that makers. Is that his first one? [1:05:38] Justin: No, he has two. [1:05:39] Chad: Yeah, [1:05:45] Justin: Yeah. [1:05:45] JD: There's a third one. Hit him again. He just said. I don't know what it stands for. [1:05:49] Justin: India Paleo. [1:05:51] JD: Yeah. Thank you. Yes. We're gonna do Chap. Our champion, I think. Brandon, do we have a image for the annual chat bar champion? Can we reveal that tonight? Yes or no? We'll wait in suspense. I'm. I'm getting much better with silence. Brandon goes black on the screen. That's intimidating. Jesus. [1:06:22] Chad: Maybe it's supposed to be a drum roll two to 18. [1:06:26] JD: No, no one's. [1:06:27] Fred Greenstein: No one has sent me anything. [1:06:28] JD: Was I supposed. Okay, we don't have the image. [1:06:31] Fred Greenstein: Okay. [1:06:31] JD: Do we dare describe it? No. [1:06:34] Fred Greenstein: No, I don't. Just. [1:06:36] JD: Let me just say this. We will, Brandon. We can promise everyone we will have photographic proof of this prize on the next show. And it is a. Without giving it away, let me just say it's. It's a. Well, we all know who's gonna win, and it's a work of art. It's a work of art that he's going to hang proudly in his home, and it's just phenomenal. So we'll leave it at that. [1:07:09] Chad: But I don't know who's gonna win. I don't remember the last time we saw the leaderboard. [1:07:14] Fred Greenstein: It was Hagler. [1:07:15] JD: Well, was it Hack? He's got a massive lead on everyone. [1:07:18] Justin: I hope it's a replica. [1:07:19] Mark: You know, it would be really cool, though. [1:07:20] JD: JD Wedding crash. [1:07:22] Mark: Let's say Hacklers. Let's say Hackler's up by like a thousand points. Make the very final one, like a thousand and one, and then award somebody else. [1:07:30] JD: No, it's. It's done. It's done. He won. And in dead last place is Brian Brassa of Brasha wins my vote for tonight, though, of Mosaic. Oh, does he? We're gonna get to that, guys. Of Mosaic and for him. I don't know how this is gonna work on doordash, but I'm gonna deliver a pile of dog in a paper bag to his doorstep. That's what he's gonna get. A pile of dog on his doorstep. Okay, the winner of Chat Bar Champion tonight gets a full movie package for next Wednesday's world premiere of Retire Hugs. The movie, which is a phenomenal story of a 401k icon in Fred Reich leaving his valuable coffee mug with his name on it in the hands of someone else. And this said person lose. What are you doing? [1:08:33] Justin: Can't give away the same thing. [1:08:36] JD: No, it's an adventure. It's an event. It's a 401k adventure. Everyone tune in next Wednesday. [1:08:45] Mark: Thanks, Brandon. [1:08:48] JD: So next Wednesday, 1pm Pacific Standard. We streaming live. Register for your seat. Okay. Register for your seat@retireholics.com the movie. Please do that for me and you guys help us promote it out there, get other people to register. And the winner of tonight's Shepherd Champion gets a full movie package sent to them just prior to the movie. So, Chad, your vote is for Brian. My vote is for Brian Silent J. Your vote is for whom? [1:09:18] Justin: Nate Moody. He was solid all night, but he brought Mark's sister into it. [1:09:22] Mark: Thank you, [1:09:24] JD: Fred. You vote for anyone in the Chat bar that you think did a great job tonight. [1:09:29] Fred Greenstein: I'll give it. I'll give it up for Hackler. [1:09:32] JD: Hackler. Okay, we got Shaw, Hackler, and Moody. Rob Guy. [1:09:40] Mark: Well, Nate Moody's not here, so. Okay, that just shows you his. He doesn't stick around, dude. Plain and simple. Yeah, I. I'm. I. [1:09:51] JD: You know what? [1:09:51] Mark: I. I enjoyed a few of you tonight, but I'm gonna give my vote to Webby. [1:10:01] JD: Whoa. Okay, so this is basically my choice now. Webby Hackler. Prashaw. Mrs. Oh, and Moody is not here. I'm gonna go with Nate. No kidding. We're not gonna go with Nate Moody. Him. [1:10:19] Mark: Thank you. [1:10:21] JD: Hackler's a little. So him. Who do I got for Shaw and Webby? Well, Bashaw. He's already getting something from me very soon. So we'll take him off the list and we'll go with Webby. Webby getting the movie package. Webby, we love you. We love you. Okay. Am I missing anything? Oh, one more thing. I know this is tiring. I apologize. But if everyone is still here, quick video before we head out, I just want to talk about bidets and the fact that serious right now. I am so fascinated with bidets and my. I've just been loving them. I got a new one installed upstairs, but I would like to show you guys a video not of me on the bidet. I want to show you a video of the new bidet that I bought that I'm putting in my downstairs powder room. This is the Lamborghini of all toilets. And I fucking. I basically spent Mark's annual salary on this thing. It's phenomenal. Show the video. This is it. I'm so proud. [1:11:49] Mark: It looks like a cyber truck. [1:11:52] JD: It's in a box in my garage right now. I can't wait to on that thing experience our most advanced smart toilet yet. Numi 2.0. Only from Cola bro. It plays music. It plays music and it lights ten thousand dollar toilet. [1:12:11] Chad: Dude, don't you have a phone for that? [1:12:13] JD: Are you serious right now? Everyone, thank you for tuning into another. Another. Another. Another episode of Retireholics. My name is J.D. carlson. I am joined by Justin McNeil, Silent J, Chad Johansson, nerdy Chad, Mark Palmini robe guy, and our very, very esteemed guest, Freddy G. We love you. Thanks for tuning in. Don't forget next Blackout Wednesday you get a bonus retireholics for thing the movie live streamed Wednesday 1pm Pacific Time@retireholics.com the movie. Register and get your seats and I will back up what Ed just said. Peace out, fam. Play some music. Brandon, let's get the out of here. [1:13:07] Mark: Yeah, play it from your toilet. [1:13:20] JD: Midnight and I'm waiting on the 1205. It'll take me just a little farther down the line [1:13:31] Chad: moonlight, you're just a [1:13:34] JD: heartache in disguise won't you keep my heart from breaking if it's only for.