The post Retireholi(K)S Plan Design Four01k Retirement Guru JD Carlson Show 047 was first published on mitchellchadrow.com
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1:22the show JD is the CEO of plan design
1:26consultants that’s rockin smart easy
1:29awesome and he’s the host of retire
1:32holux how you doing today JD I’m very
1:35good well you’ve done your homework in
1:37prep for this interview you know all
1:39about me well you know what that’s what
1:41it’s all about you got to be prepared
1:43right that’s good that’s good I am doing
1:46great thanks for asking so therefore if
1:48you’re living in San Diego and summer is
1:51about to begin and live in the dream of
1:53a retirement and professionalism engine
1:55well you know it’s really interesting
1:56because I see here and you just
1:59mentioned that you’re a former
2:00professional surfer so how do you go
2:02from a professional surfer to a
2:05retirement planning guru everybody wants
2:08to know a great question well you your
2:10father asks you and you’re you know well
2:12sir
2:1318:14 what you want to do in life and
2:15you say you want to be a personal server
2:16he tries to convince you to take over
2:18the family business which is a
2:20retirement land third Guardian
2:21administration berm you say heck no he
2:23asked you again when you’re 20 said no
2:26way do I want to put on a suit and tie
2:27and do that yashi again when you’re 25
2:3126 and you say cheese I don’t think so
2:34and then you get married you have a
2:36couple kids you’re running a surf shop
2:38in San Diego after your failed
2:40professional surfing career has ended in
2:42the expensive start to mount up and your
2:46wife’s spending more money than you’re
2:47making and so you call the old man and
2:49say hey let’s talk about that the
2:51business have family business again so
2:53uh yeah you might say I went into it for
2:56the wrong reason but which was you know
2:57to support my family and kind of get on
2:59a better career path but it all worked
3:02out for the better and I really do love
3:03what I do so the answer is family-owned
3:06business I fought it off as long as I
3:08could but then I eventually went in to
3:10take over the ring well you know that’s
3:11awesome
3:12it says here that of course you just
3:14mentioned that you’re married you’re a
3:15husband and of course you’re a father
3:16and so having your own children I guess
3:19it comes full circle that maybe dad was
3:21right when he first spoke to you about
3:23this back when you were 12 and 13 and 14
3:26in year 20 yeah I mean you know you
3:28speak different languages and you’re at
3:30those ages that he was an entre nous er
3:31you know he’s arted the company in 1995
3:34and I think he knew all the great cool
3:36things that come with running your own
3:38business and probably wanted the same
3:40for me you know I was just on a
3:42different path at that time but I came
3:44in got involved kind of followed in his
3:46footsteps shadowed him for a couple of
3:49years and I caught on to it really
3:51quickly I loved running the business I
3:54love everything that goes along with
3:55being an entrepreneur in the excitement
3:58and the creativity and all that stuff so
3:59yeah I think dad had the right plan it
4:01just took me a lot of gown board our
4:03startup round for all your hosting needs
4:05head on over to Mitchell Chad Road comm
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4:16there’s textbook what an entrepreneur is
4:18and then they’re shadowing somebody like
4:20your dad who really sounds like he’s the
4:22real deal so can you tell us what you’ve
4:25actually learn
4:26from your dad and how he’s actually
4:27built up the business over all these
4:30decades yeah I think that’s actually a
4:32pretty interesting story because my dad
4:36and I although we have a lot of things
4:38that are alike there’s there’s a lot of
4:40big differences and the first thing I
4:41want to say is kudos to my father
4:44because I’ve seen you know in my course
4:46of work a lot of family businesses
4:48second generation third generation and a
4:51lot of times there can be lots of
4:52pitfalls a lot of arguments a lot of you
4:54know not getting along and my father was
4:57very much the opposite and from day one
4:59of me coming in knowing very little
5:02about his business he pretty much handed
5:04me the keys to the car and was like okay
5:06learn from me follow me shadow me as I
5:08mentioned but keep your brain on it and
5:12think about how you’re going to change
5:13it and having to make it better and so
5:15my dad was really cool in that aspect of
5:17bringing me into letting me know that
5:19this was mine to make changes to run as
5:22I saw fit and and I thought that made
5:24for just a great relationship now what’s
5:27interesting about that is my dad is very
5:29much a micromanager so I’m a different
5:31CEO and president than he is
5:33he’s very old-school he’s very deep into
5:36the details micromanaging standing over
5:40his employees and so watching him do
5:44that
5:44you know I learned but then I’m just a
5:46different type of character and so
5:48probably touch on a little bit later but
5:49I was about those challenges because
5:51obviously those two styles kind of clash
5:55or don’t necessarily met we talked to a
5:57lot of partners and people that are
5:59bringing people into their business who
6:01don’t necessarily either AC you know
6:04they have different skill sets one has a
6:06strengths in one area and the other one
6:07maybe has a shrimp in some some other
6:10area in this case he brings you in he
6:12says come on go run this thing and yet
6:15his personality is quite different than
6:17your so how did you how did you manage
6:19that well again you know hats off to him
6:24right I think he was very aware that we
6:27have different personalities I was
6:29clearly aware of it so I tried to learn
6:31from him and see how he did it but at
6:34the same time understand that I was
6:36going to kind of do it my own way
6:38and so you know there’s there’s many
6:40different ways of skin a cat and so just
6:43watching my father do it the way he did
6:45and it’s not like I didn’t take away
6:47anything from him I took away a whole
6:48lot you know he’s very attending to the
6:51details
6:52he’s a very compassionate person and I
6:55took a lot of those skill sets from him
6:57and I still to this day because of him a
7:01very responsible on our numbers and our
7:03metrics and our financials which
7:05probably didn’t really fit my
7:07personality at the time so I took that
7:08on from him but when it comes out of my
7:10management skills I’m more of a empower
7:13my people you know give them the
7:15confidence and give them the free rein
7:17to make moves and changes and make
7:19decision and not being afraid to make
7:21mistakes for my dad was one that really
7:24made the decisions for everybody so you
7:26know hopefully I’m like not a perfect
7:28balance but I’m a good balance of my
7:30father kind of old-school skillsets and
7:32then I kind of have a different way of
7:34going about it myself now before we get
7:36into retire holux I know that you had
7:38mentioned that your dad had founded the
7:40company back in 75 and obviously he had
7:43a tremendous amount of detail what is he
7:46retired today I mean is he one of the
7:48Alliance since you’re running the show
7:50but what’s the lizard hired yeah he’s
7:52you’re tired today so he’s a classic
7:54grandpa plan tennis and golf that’s his
7:56biggest joke when I call him is he want
7:58me to ask them whether he played tennis
8:00or golf for the day so he’s in that
8:01classic retirement it’s big in the
8:04woodworking now so I get all kinds of
8:06videos and text messages of woodworking
8:08I don’t chair to watch but he’s really
8:10excited about now does he’s still active
8:12in the business as he have his own
8:14business on the side nope he’s retired I
8:17still you know asked his son I call him
8:20usually if I have frustrations or
8:23something goes wrong which you know
8:25running your own business you always
8:26have those days and so he’s kind of my
8:28shoulder to cry on because he’s the one
8:30guy who’s been through it before
8:31literally running the same business so
8:34he’s a great person for me to talk to if
8:36I’m having a down day or something but
8:38no he’s hundred-percent retired and you
8:40know in the kids in charge tell us a
8:42little bit about the business I mean I’m
8:44very familiar with the retirement
8:45planning business and planning design
8:47and
8:48our management and retirement
8:50relationship management in that space
8:52that’s why when I first told your
8:54profile and I thought wow this
8:56professional surfer kind of mal doing
8:58this and I thought wow that’s an almost
9:01a tremendous leap so so tell us take us
9:03in a little bit on your day to day what
9:05you’re doing how you’re developing the
9:07customers how you’re maintaining the
9:09business are you growing it or you just
9:10maintaining it talk to us a little bit
9:12about that okay so we’re what’s called a
9:15third party administration firm in the
9:18retirement plan space and we’re and I
9:20hate to use major technical terms here
9:22but we’re also a non record-keeping one
9:24which means we focus primarily on or
9:26solely on creating the plan document
9:28doing the design of the plan you know
9:31customizing the specifics of the plan
9:33handling the annual testing as required
9:35by the government
9:36ADP testing ACP testing etc and then we
9:40help prepare to IRS 5500 so kind of the
9:43nuts and bolts administrative work for
9:46the plan that’s that’s our business
9:48model the way it works is we channel
9:52through financial advisors so I have a
9:55sales team these are my guys in suits
9:58and ties and there’s also the cast of
10:01the retire holux which we’ll talk about
10:03but they run around and knock on doors
10:06and meet with financial advisors and
10:08then try to convince those advisers that
10:11we can help we can assist them and make
10:14their business more successful in terms
10:17of them going after and retaining
10:18retirement plan quiet and said what
10:22comes along with that is and our
10:23assistance for them is hopefully we get
10:25the job of being the BGP a and handling
10:28the compliance work of it I mentioned
10:30earlier am I looking to grow the
10:33business absolutely so here’s another
10:36cool kind of father-to-son so my dad
10:39founded in 1975 spent you know the next
10:42few decades as I mentioned kind of
10:45micromanaging it but also being the head
10:48sales person right so very workable my
10:51father was yeah the person out there
10:53gaining those new clients and he kind of
10:56did it all right that’s right and it
10:58pretty common for his peer group sure
11:01that way
11:02so when I got into it and I did the same
11:05thing followed in his footsteps but then
11:07felt like geez if I’m going to grow this
11:10business I can only do so much and so I
11:13need to bring on other people too to
11:15sell to go out and share our story and
11:18bring on new new clients and so that’s
11:20something that that I’ve done in that
11:22transition and so now we have a team of
11:25four sales guys that are out there and I
11:28know I’m not selling I’m more just
11:30looking at the kind of macro level
11:32business stuff our financial metrics
11:34decisions were trying to make kind of
11:37just you know directing the company
11:39where those guys are out there fighting
11:40to win new clients so yeah I’m growing
11:44it for sure and so I’m not an
11:48obsessive-compulsive a type that you
11:50know just has to take over the world of
11:53retirement plans and pounding on my
11:55sales guys to hit new quotas but I do
11:58enjoy the quote unquote game of it all
12:01and and I and I like us achieving goals
12:04and succeeding and having fun while
12:06we’re doing it
12:07so yeah I’m definitely trying to drug
12:10business and accomplishing that I mean
12:12we’re doing very well for us so tell us
12:14a little bit about retire holux because
12:17I also came across you after seeing you
12:19on LinkedIn and I actually checked out
12:21the show and I I loved it and I thought
12:24wow this guy has a lot of energy in a
12:26really interesting niche you know we
12:28talk about ideas you know everybody in
12:30this space wants to do the investments
12:32in the investment management and in the
12:34fiduciary space you know that’s that’s
12:36the sexy side of the business but yet
12:38there’s a lot of opportunity in the
12:39administrative side the retirement
12:41design and and and of course the plan
12:44design designing and I thought wow
12:46here’s a guy with this personality who’s
12:49doing it um so so tell me a little bit
12:51about retire holic yeah okay well you
12:53know you talk about the there’s the
12:55surfer going into the financial space
12:58and these things will probably tie
13:00together pretty well but uh as I’m out
13:02there selling in the world and I’m in
13:04that suit and tie I found that I was
13:06most successful when I was true to
13:09myself you know I know it’s a word
13:11that’s used a lot but if I was authentic
13:13and I went into that boardroom
13:15whether I was you know presenting to you
13:18know a stodgy group of attorneys or you
13:21know a non-profit committee or whatever
13:23was I always felt like I had the best
13:25success if I was myself and so as I
13:29continued and I taught that to our sales
13:31team for them to be themselves they had
13:33except well we were doing marketing like
13:35any other firms seminars workshops
13:37webinars things of that nature and again
13:40remember our intended audience and
13:42financial advisors industry pros trying
13:44to convince them that seek us out so we
13:45can work with them and those were
13:47working great but I had always had
13:49people chiming in ten we need to do some
13:52video stuff you need to get some video
13:54marketing out there and I kind of
13:56delayed and didn’t get a lot of that
13:58going until one evening I was at our
14:02office in our conference room and having
14:05an informal get-together with my sales
14:07team like we would often do at the end
14:09of the week and talking about our
14:11opportunities right the meetings that
14:13they were at earlier in the week or the
14:15meaning that they had coming up next
14:17week or they had gotten pricing from
14:18this vendor versus this vendor and they
14:21run into this stumbling block or this
14:23client had this comment to say about
14:25that and we would have these great
14:27discussions sometimes they would involve
14:29a whiteboard in’ and putting down
14:31numbers and maybe even an argument would
14:33break out or you know jokes would get
14:35thrown around and it was just very it
14:39was just very unrehearsed and and funny
14:41and it was disciplined two guys getting
14:43together talking about a business that
14:45they were passionate about but also
14:46trying to you know learn new things and
14:48create the best strategies we could and
14:50I said to myself and to the guys you
14:52know if if our client or our advisors
14:55our partners were a fly on the wall for
14:57this this get-together they would love
14:59it they would not only learn so much
15:01they would see our passion our
15:04enthusiasm and we need to bottle this up
15:07we need to film this and so we attempted
15:09to film it and it didn’t really come out
15:11the way I thought and probably wasn’t so
15:13we had to go back to the drawing board
15:15and going back the drawing board was
15:17well let’s create it in a show format
15:18and so that is the retire holics it’s
15:21let’s get JD the sales team of PDC
15:24Justin Mart and Chad let’s get them on a
15:27couch let’s loosen
15:29to live a little bit by having a beer of
15:31the episode and let’s talk retirement
15:35plan stuff that we think would be
15:37valuable and help improve the businesses
15:39of advisors and the industry pros that
15:42are tuning in and let’s try to make it
15:44entertaining let’s try to throw some
15:46comedy in there some hygiene can gain
15:48some fun it’s really our version or an
15:53alternative for people as opposed to
15:55logging in and signing up for a 45
15:58minute webinar where some guy in a suit
16:00goes through a PowerPoint deck and you
16:03know talks to you that target-date glide
16:04path you know I’m thinking cheese
16:07wouldn’t she rather open a cold beer
16:09with us maybe laughs a couple times and
16:11watch it on video and learn something at
16:13the same time though is the idea ya know
16:16I think that that’s awesome because you
16:18know take a guy like me who started out
16:20as a tax attorney with a background in
16:22tax that could be very boring and so the
16:24idea is how do you make it exciting how
16:26do you make it relevant how do you make
16:28it so that it’s engaging and people sort
16:30of want to come in and I think taking
16:33the topic you know of retirement
16:35planning and retirement design and doing
16:38the same with it really is very
16:41interesting and and I and I liked it and
16:44I said you know I want to I want to
16:45reach out to this guy because I did see
16:49someone who was down-to-earth and
16:50someone who was also educating the
16:54audience in a fun creative way yeah and
16:58you know kind of at the same time I hate
17:01to admit this but I like to rattle the
17:03cage of the financial services industry
17:05a little bit because you know as I
17:09mentioned as I went and saw those
17:10clients those plan sponsors and as I met
17:14with mutual fund companies and record
17:17keepers and financial services experts
17:19and you would go to dinner with them you
17:22know where they come to your house for a
17:23barbecue
17:24you would realize that you know once
17:27they shed the suit and tie and then
17:29perfectly combed hair but like these are
17:31normal people they have rock bands they
17:34like and hobbies they do and and maybe
17:37let out an obscenity from time to time
17:39you know in
17:40and and they’re really good people but
17:43you don’t you don’t necessarily see that
17:44in a point of sale or a boardroom so
17:47there’s part of me that kind of wants to
17:50shake up the industry a little bit and
17:52get us out of this this button-up mode
17:55which I believe that the consumers the
17:58participants the plan sponsors would
18:01prefer someone coming in and being
18:03themselves as opposed to in this
18:05polished you know black suit with a
18:07white shirt you know in a freshly ironed
18:10tie you know ya know no certainly but
18:12and so that gets me to actually who your
18:14clients are and obviously you mentioned
18:16it’s the actual advisors so some of the
18:19advisors that you’re working with are
18:21extremely conservative and so how do you
18:25you want to know to thyself be true and
18:27yet how do you sort of mirror you know
18:31the style of the client with maybe a
18:34team that might all have the same
18:36personality or laid-back kind of fast
18:39and loose which is perfectly fine um but
18:42might not necessarily fit the mold of
18:44maybe some of the more conservative
18:46clients that you might be trying to go
18:49after how do you how do you sort of
18:51challenge through that I think that’s an
18:53excellent point and one that that needs
18:55to be discussed
18:56um first and foremost and I’ve always
19:00believed this like so um you know
19:02someone Google’s me they’re going to see
19:04it not I look like a surfer I I have a
19:06beard I’ve got longer hair and that’s me
19:09being authentic to me but if if you as
19:12an advisor if it’s your natural state is
19:16in a perfect suit and with perfect hair
19:19and very proper and that’s you then you
19:22need to rock about a hundred and ten
19:24percent right so that that’s you being
19:27you and all the advisers we work with
19:29I’m always preaching that point like you
19:32can’t pretend to be something you’re not
19:34that’s just a huge mistake so if your
19:37button up and that’s that’s what you go
19:41with and you do that you know all the
19:43way to the end and so I do believe in
19:45that but additionally I think to
19:48understand retire holics you also
19:50understand that it really still is a
19:53whirring 401k show you know we what you
19:56should walk away from when you watch it
19:58is not that
19:59oh wow watch these guys you know chug a
20:01beer or do something crazy because
20:04really what you walk away from it is you
20:06go these guys really know their stuff
20:08they’re very enthusiastic about their
20:11industry and their niche and they live
20:14breathe and sleep this stuff and so I
20:16think that that’s the concepts you have
20:19to have regardless of your outer
20:21appearance or the approach that you’re
20:23taking there has to be that passion
20:24right so over all these years that
20:28you’ve been sort of at the helm as
20:30president of the company what would you
20:33say is some of the things that have
20:36contributed most to your success what is
20:39it about what is it about JD that kind
20:43of sets you apart that sort of
20:44differentiates you between you and you
20:47know anybody else who’s doing exactly
20:50what it is that you’re doing um probably
20:53less about JD I would answer that and
20:56say it’s about hiring the right people
21:00you know partnering with the right
21:03people delegating the right things and
21:07empowering them you know to make change
21:10and make your company better I think
21:11that has for sure been the key to my
21:15successes is not to do it all myself you
21:19know find the right people bring them in
21:21and you give them the tools and the
21:24freedom they need to help make the
21:25business better inspire them you know
21:27for sure inspire them to be a good part
21:30of your team but you let people do it
21:32and to me that’s that’s been the fuel to
21:36our growth over the last ten years
21:38without Wes you now in your industry
21:39there’s all different types of clients
21:41all different types of advisors from the
21:43smallest of the small one or two person
21:45shop they do a lot of financial planning
21:47to registered investment advisors to
21:50really really big shop so can you give
21:52us an idea as to the firm’s the advisors
21:55that you’re working with how they look
21:57what they look like and where you’re
22:00looking to sort of take the business you
22:02know into the future in terms of who
22:04those clients are and how it’s changing
22:06how the industry is changing for you
22:08yeah so there’s they very for sure but
22:12give you kind of some context our
22:14average client is somewhere between 1.5
22:18and 2 million with maybe 40 to 50
22:22participant that’s our that’s our
22:23average client side we have in bring on
22:26many that are smaller and we have many
22:28that are much larger than that my
22:30industry would call that the small and
22:31micro market and I think if you really
22:34looked at my industry you would find
22:35that TPA like myself have a lot more
22:39market share in that small and micro
22:42market let’s say plans south of 20
22:45million dollars whereas you go upwards
22:47and you have plans of hundreds of
22:49millions and billions of dollars those
22:50are tend to have less TPAs attached to
22:55them so that’s my niche that’s our
22:58market we focus on advisers that are
23:00focusing in that space
23:03they could be registered investment
23:04advisors they can be independents with a
23:07broker dealer they could be people at
23:09wire houses or advisors a wire house is
23:12like Merrill Lynch or Morgan Stanley and
23:14they can also vary from what I would
23:16call you know expert advisor shops that
23:20have you know 30 50 a hundred plans it’s
23:24it’s what they do it’s what they focus
23:26on they’re very good at it as well as
23:29advisors that are dabbling in it that
23:32have a handful of plans or are running
23:34across that their first opportunity you
23:37know a month from now we position
23:40ourselves to support both of those in
23:43slightly different ways but we’re still
23:46a value to both of those types of
23:47advisors and they come from all walks of
23:50life as I mentioned earlier and so the
23:53plan itself is I mean yes you’re being
23:56brought in as a TPA but it’s the advisor
23:58who’s obviously servicing that
24:00particular plan and so that tells us a
24:02little bit about the size of the plan
24:04itself but how about the size of the
24:06advisor themselves so in other words
24:09they’re the ones who you have the
24:10relationship with and they’re bringing
24:12you X number of plans let’s say per year
24:15so how does that how does that client
24:18look to you yeah so the advisors we have
24:21we have some like I mentioned that our
24:23experts and they may CF as a great
24:27partner for you know six to ten plans
24:29that they may do a year that they bring
24:32us and those are great relationships
24:33those are relationships that we have to
24:36earn and we have to continue to earn by
24:38supporting them and in helping them
24:39succeed but then we also have put out a
24:43net to tons of advisers all over the
24:46area that maybe only have a few plans
24:48and therefore they only run into a new
24:50opportunity once or twice a year and we
24:53want to be a resource for them as well
24:55so there are some shops that are very
24:58well established
24:59they’ve got very defined operations and
25:03support a large book of business and
25:05then there are others that we support
25:07that that have you know two to three
25:10plans and really need our support to
25:12make sure that they’re doing the right
25:13things
25:14sure now you’re located in San Diego as
25:17we talked about before but in terms of
25:19where your focus is I mean you could do
25:22business anywhere not just not just in
25:24San Diego or California today are most
25:27of your clients then on the west coast
25:29or are they you know throughout the US
25:32or you know how is that demographic
25:34changing or how would you like it to see
25:36a change you know over time great
25:40question so it is true I am down here in
25:43San Diego in Carlsbad and we have a
25:48sales guy down here covering Southern
25:50California but our corporate office or
25:53my corporate office is in froster City
25:56in Silicon Valley in the Bay Area and
25:59then we’ve got sales guys up in that
26:01area and so to answer your question the
26:05bulk of our clients are in northern and
26:08southern California and the reason for
26:10that is that’s where our boots are on
26:12the ground right that’s where we’re
26:13really live and in color and helping
26:16people but you talked about my visions
26:18for the future and we talked about
26:19retire holics will retire holics gets a
26:23lot of eyeballs on it across the country
26:25and we get a lot of direct messages
26:28and LinkedIn messages and phone calls in
26:31the office with advisors from Texas and
26:34Florida New York and Wisconsin inquiring
26:38about our services and we do have you
26:41know plans throughout the states we have
26:44clients in Maui and clients on Oahu and
26:47clients in Florida and in Colorado but
26:50the bulk of our business currently is in
26:53California like I mentioned earlier I’m
26:57happy life is good business is good
27:00there’s tons of business in California
27:02for us to continue to grow and go after
27:04but I love the excitement and the idea
27:07of doing more and more out-of-state
27:10stuff and with technology and the way it
27:13is today the reality is at EPA doesn’t
27:17go face to face with a client in the
27:20ongoing process
27:21you know anyways in terms of
27:24ministration so we could service a
27:25client on the East Coast as well as we
27:27could surely so in terms of the sales I
27:31know that you have four four sales guys
27:33there and I know that you you explain a
27:36little bit about what you do and we
27:37talked about delegating so what are some
27:39of the things that the company is not
27:41doing that you’re sort of delegating to
27:43outside individuals or outside companies
27:46to basically help you survey the visors
27:49that you’re sort of bringing in okay
27:50well the one of the biggest most obvious
27:52ones is since I mentioned earlier that
27:55were a non record-keeping TPA so yes
27:57correct and that that’s why I brought up
27:59that question good okay good so we’re
28:01going to partner with record keepers
28:03these are aka large financial
28:06institutions like nationwide or
28:09principal voya empower American Funds
28:13nationwide John Hancock these are
28:16companies that have built these these
28:18packaged products for plan sponsors and
28:22for the advisors to help them service
28:24those plans so those are huge partners
28:26that we outsource to that’s a big one
28:30for sure that nowadays you’re seeing a
28:32lot of fiduciary services that can be
28:35another third party so someone coming in
28:38to act as a 321 or a 338 and how
28:41that advisor with maybe a more organized
28:44more bulletproof fun selection fund
28:47monitoring process there’s lots of cool
28:51tax that’s coming out these days that
28:54are kind of snap-on tech to these plans
28:56that do a variety of things around
28:58participant education and and fun
29:01selection of stuff there’s there’s
29:03partners like that that we that we work
29:05with
29:06there’s ERISA attorneys so things get
29:09really dicey and or problems come up
29:11we’re going to reach out to some of our
29:14risks attorney partners and they’re
29:15going to help our clients so we
29:16definitely can’t do it alone there’s
29:19lots of those services outside of ours
29:21that we’re working with no that’s that’s
29:23awesome and so you mentioned fiduciary
29:25which obviously personally I know a lot
29:28about but for those out there who don’t
29:31know so much about fiduciary you know
29:33there’s also a new fiduciary rule that
29:35that’s probably coming out down the pike
29:38as you know the rule is getting looked
29:41at right now so can you tell us a little
29:44bit about the fiduciary rule and how you
29:46kind of fit into that that scheme yeah I
29:49mean the fiduciary rule is a massive
29:52impact on the financial advisors and
29:55their broker-dealers from the non Raa
29:58ones and so if it’s if it’s a big deal
30:00to them and obviously it’s a big deal of
30:02because we’re the ones supporting and
30:04working with them it’s a big deal to the
30:07record keepers on a lot of different
30:08levels and they all have been scrambling
30:10you know the last few years to kind of
30:12prepare for it the best I can for us
30:16we’re a little outside of that because
30:19we’re not really giving guidance on the
30:21investments and handling rollovers or
30:24even custodian assets right or we’re
30:27more working on the design and testing
30:30in the 5500 so it’s kind of non
30:32investment related but because it’s a
30:34big deal to our advisors you were trying
30:37to stay on top of it and and support
30:39them I’m not seeing a ton of massive
30:42change because the rule really centers
30:45around you know doing what’s best for
30:48your clients and I believe in our
30:50industry and I feel like that it has
30:52worked really hard to put those thing
30:54in place even prior to this rule coming
30:58along and so I feel like it’s it’s small
31:01changes now this is a guy who’s not
31:03running some multi-million dollar record
31:05sleeping I’m sure it cost them a ton of
31:07money right are they go to ages but I
31:09think in general practices out there on
31:12the street it’s small tweaks for these
31:14guys to comply with this ruling and
31:15hopefully they kind of were already now
31:17tell us a little bit about since we’re
31:19talking about retirement even though
31:21your end client is not an itself where
31:23the individual who’s in the plan but in
31:25terms of your own business succession
31:27planning so obviously you took over the
31:29business for for your dad and I don’t
31:31know when you know day to day he might
31:33not be involved but in terms of your own
31:35business succession planning have you
31:37thought about that over the next you
31:39know decade in terms of where you want
31:41to be into in terms of that you know you
31:43have children and I don’t know if
31:44they’re interested in the business or
31:46not but yeah we’d be curious to delve
31:50into that a little bit well of course my
31:52children don’t want to take it over so
31:54my my middle child is going to be a
31:56super famous rock star and my youngest
31:59son is gonna be a major league baseball
32:01pitcher
32:01there’s L my a my oldest is going to be
32:04some you know super famous cook and you
32:07know I hope they all accomplish their
32:09dreams I’m just making the point that
32:10you know right now do they want to be a
32:12401k plan administrator heck no they
32:14don’t like what you did when you were 11
32:16and 12 when that set you aside and said
32:18this is what I want you to do what do
32:20you think and you told them no I want to
32:22serve you got it and do I love what I do
32:25I do but what I love to see my daughter
32:28become a rock star or a third party
32:30administrator I’ll go with rock star you
32:32know interest but all right now but you
32:37asked about you know such a plan I think
32:39about that you know I’m 46 years old and
32:41you know something could happen to me
32:43you know tomorrow or next week and
32:45you’ve got to live every day and
32:47appreciate it so to be a little bit of
32:50context um my wife is pretty involved I
32:54mean she helps me with all the finances
32:56and the payroll and she hears me you
32:59know Cripe about things and talk about
33:01what’s going well and and so I do think
33:04that you know given dire circumstances
33:06or something happened to me
33:08she could step in I also those guys that
33:11are on the retire holic set I consider
33:14them brothers to me this is my sale team
33:16Justin mark and Chad and Chad is there
33:19is a player-coach so he’s our sales
33:22director he’s the boss of them but also
33:25a very active producing sales consultant
33:28and I have hopes and dreams that I’ve
33:31discussed with him a lot for him to to
33:34continue to elevate his role and get
33:36into more of a senior level management
33:38type of role so there’s a gay could be
33:42more defined but those are kinds of
33:43loose paths I have to the future and
33:47yeah I’d love to surf more and work less
33:50and as success crew kind of hire more
33:54people to run the company I don’t have
33:57eyes on uh on settling it for some large
34:00sum of money but you know that could
34:03change twenty years from now I don’t
34:04know but I like running it I like
34:07watching it grow and I like I mentioned
34:09I love empowering people and putting
34:11them in places and seeing them succeed
34:12and provide for their families and enjoy
34:16what they’re doing you know we haven’t
34:18touched on that yet but guess the
34:20audience could probably guess and
34:22Mitchell you can probably guess I mean
34:23I’m a firm believer in work-life balance
34:25and I want my employees from my
34:30administrators to my clerical to my
34:32high-level sales team to have a good
34:36balance in life now you only live once
34:38and well you know in watching the show
34:41and just listening to you and reading
34:43some of your blog articles I really did
34:46get that sense and so this podcast is
34:49not just about business but it’s about
34:51business family and life and it’s about
34:53balancing all three because if you only
34:56focus on one to neglect the other two
34:58then what good is having money let’s say
35:01or success in a business if you don’t
35:03have a decent life or a family to sort
35:06of go along with it and we sets my
35:08philosophy and I know that a lot of
35:10people out there also want that type of
35:11balance so it sounds as if you you
35:14really live it every day I do and I 100%
35:16agree with you um
35:18which one of the things that I love
35:20about entrepreneurship is you know
35:22having that flexibility and I love the
35:25creativity of it you know I just think
35:27there’s nothing cooler than waking up in
35:30the morning and knowing that you know
35:31you can create something or make a
35:33change or do something that there’s
35:35there’s a ton of excitement around that
35:37and at the same time I love being at the
35:40beach on a Wednesday at one o’clock you
35:43know I love going to Maui and and
35:45spending time there but still banging
35:47out emails in the morning and then
35:49hanging out by the pool in the afternoon
35:51I love spending tons of time with my
35:55kids you know we recently took my
35:56daughter on like a ten tour stop for
35:59this rock band that she loves and you
36:01know as an entrepreneur I’m able to work
36:03along the way and so it’s like this
36:06constant balance and and I want that for
36:09everybody and I want that for my the
36:12people that I employ and I encourage
36:15them all the time I just had one of my
36:18sales guys at my house the other day and
36:20I was asking him what he’s doing the
36:22rest of the day and he said well he was
36:24going to go back to the home office and
36:25bang out some stuff and I’m like you’re
36:27down here in San Diego once you go have
36:29fun for the afternoon you know so
36:31anyways you got to you only live once
36:33and you’re surely not going to be on
36:34your deathbed talking about the sales
36:36quotas you kicked butt on in 2017 right
36:39you know I think I think that’s awesome
36:42and it’s great to be able to work with
36:44someone and for someone who has that
36:47type of style and that that was
36:49interesting when you were describing
36:50your dad’s philosophy and style not that
36:52one is right or the other one isn’t it’s
36:54just it’s just a different way of
36:55approaching things and I’m sure that
36:57your employees really appreciate that be
36:59our fastpitch Mitchell Chad Road comm
37:02slash books for books audiobooks guests
37:06recommendations and the books that I
37:08read to start off each day sponsors are
37:12fastpitch my book club recommendations
37:15back at Mitchell Chad Road comm slash
37:17books to see more of my recommendations
37:20and recommendations of our guests just
37:22go to Mitchell Chad Road comm slash
37:24books it’s your number one resource for
37:27book reviews and recommendations in this
37:30next round we actually
37:31call it our bass pitch where I just ask
37:34you some really quick questions it gives
37:36us another dynamic of jadiel that we
37:39really have gotten a really decent
37:40flavor of who you are but let me let me
37:43just ask you that an item that you have
37:46purchased for under $100 but has been
37:49the most impactful to you um I this
37:52might sound a little hippie doubt or
37:54whatever but I recently purchased a
37:56hardcopy book called the law of
37:59attractiveness and it just helps me set
38:01down my goals and things I want to
38:04accomplish and it gives you a lot of
38:06direction you know think about this
38:07write down this schedule this what are
38:10the three things you want to accomplish
38:11your in there so it’s just pen to paper
38:13and it was probably $19 I think and it’s
38:18just been a great tool for me to just
38:20remind me to stay on top of it and
38:23journal and do you know think about my
38:25goal so everybody needs to listen up
38:27because you don’t have to spend a lot to
38:29sort of get a lot and so that really the
38:31purpose of that question as far as a
38:33mantra or something that you would put
38:35right up there on a billboard that kind
38:37of motivate kind of inspires what would
38:39it be what a mr. spires oh geez you’re
38:41gonna I here I go again but you know
38:44make sure you’re having fun you know
38:46make sure you’re having fun with it no
38:47matter what you’re doing you got outdoor
38:48so yeah no no as far as productivity
38:50goes there’s a lot of productivity apps
38:52out there can you recommend one for the
38:54audience um you know so we recently
38:56moved to like the web-based version of
38:59Outlook and my inbox on my phone now has
39:03it categorizes my emails as focus and
39:07other in my IQ I could probably explain
39:09this a lot better and I was I was very
39:11scared of it at first because basically
39:13what doing is prioritizing thing hey
39:15here’s all the emails that are legit and
39:18then we’re going to take all these
39:19others under potentially spam or you
39:21know whatever the algorithm is are not
39:25legit and I used to scan through those
39:28others a lot just making sure I wasn’t
39:30missing something and I still do a
39:31little bit but it’s really comforting
39:33for me to see the filtered list of
39:35emails and this is just through outlook
39:38you’re saying or yeah it’s through
39:41outlook and it it’s again they have this
39:43kind of cloud based or
39:45and now outlook with an app on my phone
39:47and so it’s filtering my emails and it I
39:50love it also in terms of success who who
39:54could you say that you look up to as
39:57being a success and how would you
39:59actually define that well you know I’m
40:01pulling the heartstrings but there’s my
40:03father and as much as we differ in the
40:05way we go about it you as a success
40:06right he provided for our family and
40:09give us a great life and was running his
40:11own business and so that was a huge you
40:15know huge example for me um but I also
40:19I’m really interested in like hyper
40:21successful people as well as seen dogs
40:23I’m super laid back but like I’m a huge
40:26fan of like Gary Vaynerchuk and
40:27everything that he puts out there he’s
40:30like works 24/7 and okay I know that
40:32name
40:33yeah I’m inspired by people that are
40:35passionate about what they’re doing hack
40:37Mitchell I get inspired when I take my
40:40daughter to a rock concert and I see the
40:42lead singer on stage doing his thing and
40:44making money at it and filling seats and
40:47stadiums I’m like wow this guy’s going
40:49for it though anyone that’s doing what
40:51they love and making it work inspires me
40:54big-time
40:55so success is to you is what success to
40:58me is this is cliche but doing what you
41:01love right if you were and maybe loving
41:05what you do you know learning to love
41:06what you do and it’s all that then
41:09you’re never working you know you’re
41:10always having sort of like how you came
41:12to love TPA business really in design in
41:14the retirement business I did come to
41:16love it in this wrap up area I wanted to
41:18ask you three main takeaways that people
41:22can sort of walk away with it is
41:23possible for family businesses to you
41:26know understand each other’s
41:28characteristics and work a successful
41:30transition my father and I are perfect
41:33example of that I mentioned it before
41:36but I’m huge on this get the right
41:38people look them in the eye and inspire
41:41them to be part of your team give them
41:44the flexibility to run their own
41:46division run their day to day make some
41:49changes don’t make them fearful of
41:51making a mistake you know let people run
41:54your business for you and then third as
41:57much as a loose
41:58our freesurfer have fun guy I am don’t
42:01get it twisted I’m obsessed with our
42:03financial I mean I look at our account
42:07balance every day what’s gone in what’s
42:09gone out I’m always tracking cash flow
42:12I’m always looking at the financials
42:14because being an entrepreneur is great
42:16there’s so many positives to it but
42:19there’s also some negative you know that
42:20at the end of the day when you lay your
42:22head on your pillow you’re responsible
42:24for yourself your income and a bunch of
42:27other people and so with everything so
42:29even though you were never really a
42:31micromanager though when it does come to
42:34the cash flow the the money in and the
42:36money out you really are on top of that
42:39like dad was kind of percent hundred
42:42percent okay I had to learn I had to
42:44learn that trait that wasn’t you know
42:46that wasn’t my natural state yeah right
42:48but yeah yeah hundred percent I don’t I
42:50don’t know how you go about life I would
42:52seen you’d be full of anxiety if she
42:54didn’t know where your numbers were all
42:56the time you know I I agree with that it
42:58actually reduces your stress and reduces
43:00your anxiety to know where everything is
43:02at at all time our wrap-up round
43:04mitchell chad row comm slash photos for
43:09all your graphic design needs so in
43:12terms of how everybody is going to stay
43:14in contact with you but you know we’ve
43:15got a enjoyed this we want to obviously
43:17reach out to you and keep in touch so
43:19yeah you can go to plan design comm that
43:23you know in find me there for sure I am
43:25on all social media the trick there
43:28though is whether it’s plan design JD
43:30Carlson or retire holics um so if you
43:33like fun stuff you can follow retire
43:35holux on LinkedIn Instagram Facebook
43:39Twitter
43:40you name it and that’s a great way to
43:42stay in touch with them as well as
43:44watching our shows on YouTube you can go
43:46to retire hall XCOM you can spell that
43:50with a k’ or a scene you’ll still get
43:52there and then you know if you google me
43:55I’m pretty active on LinkedIn so that’s
43:59a great place to kind of see what I’m up
44:00to my blog cheese I didn’t realize I had
44:03this laundry list of places
44:06my great thing you know the great thing
44:09about having this laundry list JD is
44:11that back at mitchell chadroy comm slash
44:14show zero four seven I’m literally not
44:18going to not only going to have all the
44:20show notes but I’m going to have URL
44:22links to every single thing that we
44:25talked about here today
44:27well it’s going to be a long list and
44:29don’t forget my blog at 401 K comm and
44:33that’s fo you are oh one k– a.com and
44:36you know i did my homework so you know i
44:38already knew about that one right
44:40oh I don’t doubt it I don’t the only
44:43thing that I want to ask just here in
44:45closing is is there anything that you
44:48want to leave us with oh geez um yeah no
44:51no I I’m going to say this to myself so
44:54I’m not saying it just to the audience
44:56I’m saying it to myself as well which is
44:57you know if you want to do something you
45:00want to accomplish something you got to
45:02put the plan in place to do it and
45:04there’s lots of things that I want to do
45:06to make my business better to make my
45:08life better and and I’m trying to take
45:10steps every day to make it happen so
45:12don’t sit around don’t dream about it
45:15you got to get it done awesome Thank You
45:16JD for everything there’s a lot of value
45:19bombs and what you’ve said today and I
45:21know that there’s going to be a lot of
45:22people in the audience who are going to
45:23be listening on and we just want to
45:25thank you very much for coming on to the
45:27listen up show to startup entrepreneur
45:29podcast so thanks again and let’s be in
45:31touch real soon okay JD Thank You
45:33Mitchell I also want you to know that I
45:34watch this eat or listen to a few the
45:37other part of this and now you have a
45:38vision or so I’ll be looking to your
45:40future I don’t wrap it up I’ll tell you
45:42what thank you so much for that I really
45:44really appreciate it very much
45:46and we’ll be talking to you real soon
45:48okay but do you have a great day hey be
45:50good now bye bye in closing let me ask
45:52for my listeners helpers please
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45:56Chad Road comm slash sign up you will
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46:17[Music]
46:24[Music]
46:28back at Mitchell Chadwick common slash
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46:55until next time
The post Retireholi(K)S Plan Design Four01k Retirement Guru JD Carlson Show 047 was republished on startupssmarter.com