Speaker 1: Welcome to another episode of the Chicks on the Right
podcast where we talk to our friend and sponsor of
the show, Zach Abraham from Bulwart Capital Management. Our team
found the most interesting Reddit thread, which is where all
interesting stuff is right on ready about money hoarding, where
people who have plenty of money actually do like super
super frugal things like take extra McDonald's ketchup packets home
with them, who wear the same pair of shoes that
they've had for ten years, et cetera. And this really
stuck home for me, particularly because my parents are immigrants
from Poland and they taught me frugality from a very
early age. And my mom fits this description to a t,
like she's the person who saves aluminum foil. She does
use yet right if it didn't get any food on
it from baking, then it's a clean piece of oil
that she'll use the next time around. And it's not
because they don't they can't afford more foil. They do fine,
But it is an interesting thing. I think about immigrants
who have had almost nothing, and there's like this sort
of innate kind of maybe fear that's they don't even
recognize that they might have nothing again have you run
into that with clients.
Speaker 2: Oh yeah, And one of the one of the things
I tell them, see, in our business, financially, you're incentivized.
And I'm not saying people do, I'm sure they do,
but financially you're incentivized to keep as much money of
the person's in the account.
Speaker 1: Right.
Speaker 2: So, the way we manage an account is we charge
a percentage fee on and so technically speaking, if we're
just looking out for ourselves, we're going to try to
tell them not to pull any money out of the.
Speaker 3: Account, right right.
Speaker 2: Well, And I have this conversation with them when I
run into it, and I'm like, hey, guys, when the
guy who gets paid more based on the balance of
your account is advising you to spend more money like.
Speaker 4: You probably need to do it, I can't give.
Speaker 2: You a bigger green light than that, right, yeah, and
so and and usually that works. But but the other
part of it too, you see it. You know, unfortunately
there's less of those folks alive these days, but you
see similar things with people that went through the Great Depression.
Speaker 4: I was just yeah, I was gonna say that people
and like Boomer, like my parents are Boom, our parents
are boomer parents, and they had parents who went through
the depression, right, so they're not so far removed from that,
so they're probably freaked out by that a little bit.
More like I have an aunt who steals the sweet
and lose, you know what I mean, And I'm like,
you can't.
Speaker 5: Don't put into her purse, you know, and I can't find.
Speaker 4: Out it's so weird, Like that's a common thing in
a lot of people as so she's not.
Speaker 1: The only one.
Speaker 4: It's not just my family, okay.
Speaker 2: Yeah, yeah, and this and and and so that's you know,
that one is a little bit different. That's you you know,
that's that's unique. I feel like that's a very very
specific type scenario. But I think it literally, I don't
think it's that far removed from people that are completely
financially irresponsible. And and let me and let me explain
what I mean, you get in trouble now.
Speaker 5: Being overly frugal.
Speaker 2: Is far less dangerous than being like overly reckless, right yeah,
but still quality of life matters. And you know, I
cannot tell you people where I like, I have had
these people as clients and still do some of them.
I think we've gotten through to the majority of them,
but to where regardless of how many millions of dollars
they have set aside, they have a poverty mindset, right,
and it robs them of joy. And I always it's
interesting doing this job because you get to see really
all the sides of money. And I think any time
we place two much importance on money, right, either by
keeping it so being afraid to spend anything and being
being a money hoarder, or from being obsessed with what
money gets us right, right, it's they seem like complete opposites,
but they're but there there are two branches on the
same tree, right, and it's it's having not a healthy
relationship or understanding of money.
Speaker 4: Do you think that? Do you think that younger kids
are starting to do that?
Speaker 3: More?
Speaker 2: Like?
Speaker 4: Do you think is this something that because I mean,
I have have millennials and then I have a gen Z.
I guess she's a gen help. I don't know what
she is. I don't know what are you at fifteen?
Speaker 2: Now?
Speaker 4: I don't even know what that is.
Speaker 3: It's gen something I don't know, isn't it gen Z?
I think maybe.
Speaker 4: See thank you?
Speaker 3: Yeah?
Speaker 4: But the kids nowadays, I think like one of our
millennial kids.
Speaker 5: He is a saver.
Speaker 4: He is like kind of like your mom mock and
so and I, you know, we're not I don't know
where that comes from. I mean, it's just good to save,
but it's like we're not as good, Like he's just
really overly savy. And then I want and I think
that our youngest is going to be like that too,
you know. So is this like I wonder if it's
like a it skips a generation or something, or if
there are like if some of the younger kids nowadays
are becoming more financially responsible, maybe tipping the other way,
like they're not spendy spendy.
Speaker 3: Like well you get next.
Speaker 5: Yeah.
Speaker 2: So I've seen a lot of I've seen a lot
of that actually, and and it's funny because it doesn't
seem to fit that generation, but there is a lot
of that like intense saving, right, the big push this
would be more uh millennials, but that big hole what
is it?
Speaker 5: Fire? The whole fire deal? Right, which is what.
Speaker 2: Is what does the stand for retire uh something, It's
it's an acronym, it's f I and then retire early.
Speaker 4: Yeah, yeah, yeah, I know you're yeah, because they do
want to retire early. Yeah, I don't want to want anymore.
Yeah right, well, you know what I mean. They want
to We like working, and I'm I'm fine with working
until I'm seven. I just feel like, in my brain,
I'm going to work until i'm probab in my seventies.
I just have this in my brain and there's no way,
my milletit. They're like, I don't want to do that.
That sounds realable.
Speaker 2: Yeah, well, I mean, and part of that will, like
you know, I think part of that comes with age,
meaning you know, they're going to realize, Okay, if I'm
not working, what am I gonna do? Right?
Speaker 5: And I can only vacation so much, and I can
only play so many rounds.
Speaker 3: Of golf, and you know, being productive it matters.
Speaker 2: But my point is being I think this is so
symptomatic of just I think we have very bad financial
health in this country right where just too much importance,
either like I said, hoarding the money or being obsessed
with what the money gets you, and you know, being
all flash and all show and all this kind of stuff,
and all of it boils back down at the end
of the day quality of life and joy. Right, that's
what's the most important, right, And we as human beings
are always going to believe that the reason we're not
happy is because of what we don't.
Speaker 4: Have out right, right.
Speaker 5: And it just doesn't work that way.
Speaker 2: It's like my coach used to say, it's that line
off of Cool Runnings.
Speaker 5: Right. Maybe I told you guys this, but if you're.
Speaker 3: Not enough without it, you'll never be enough with it.
Speaker 2: Yeah, you know, and just having that it's money is
a tool like anything else, and if you think about
it in any.
Speaker 3: Other way, you're going to get off track and cost.
Speaker 5: Right, so you've got cost.
Speaker 2: We all know the cost about being financially irresponsible, it's
being broke, right. The cost of being too money focused
and too stringent on spending is unhappiness, right because now, yeah,
you're not a slave to money, but you sort of are.
You're slave in a different way. You're not paying debt,
you're not paying interest expense, but you're paying interest. It's
your own quality of life. And I want to look
at those people and go, guys, what are you what.
Speaker 5: Are you waiting for?
Speaker 3: Gon arount of money? I'm like, you haven't even started
spending it.
Speaker 2: It's not possible to run you know, look, let let's
we're gonna put you in you know, we're gonna take
fifty percent of your portfolio and put it in these
US government bonds paying four and a half to five percent,
and you're gonna draw down two and a half percent
of that, so half of that interest, which means no
matter what your account value is still going to go up. Right,
That is not being irresponsible. It's just not right. Your
money is still growing, you're using it, So it's just
not being a slave to money. And I think one
of the wonderful things to do that, And this sounds
kind of crazy, but one of the wonderful things, and
I've seen it happen over and over and over giving
the charity right, give money away, Yes, okay, why it
will make you more if you have spending issues and
pay off your debts first. But but but giving money
to charities, especially ones that you believe in and ones
that you've vetted, it will make you better at managing
your money.
Speaker 5: I guarantee.
Speaker 2: I have never, ever, once in my life I've seen
somebody that went broke because they gave too much money
to charity. I've never seen that, right, And it just
it doesn't work that way. The other side is you're
gonna get way more joy and enjoyment out of that
than you think you are.
Speaker 5: Right.
Speaker 3: The other thing my wife and I talk about all.
Speaker 2: The time is you know when you've been when you've
been blessed financially, there's a lot of when you're no
longer constrain you know, there's there's this period of time
in your life where you're financially responsible because you don't
have a choice, right like, you don't have the money
to buy things you want anyway. And when you have
enough money and you're blessed enough to where you're no
longer constrained that way where you've got to constrain yourself
because you have them. Where with all the buy things,
you quickly figure out I think if you're a well
adjusted person, you quickly figure out that there's no there there,
that the stuff isn't going to make you happy. You're
going to be the same person with the same issues
right again. And it relates to hoarding. If you think
that next million is going to make you happy, through
it won't. You're gonna feel just as insecure about this
six million as you did the five.
Speaker 5: It will not change.
Speaker 2: And I think a wonderful way to put money in
the right perspective in any life is to start giving
some way. Yeah, it sounds zerous. Again, this is not
me preaching from my book. Right, all of these things
I'm talking about means there's less money in my client's accounts,
so I'm getting paid less on it.
Speaker 5: But it's still it's still true.
Speaker 2: Right, Like, if you want to appreciate money, if you
want more joy in your life, go give something away.
And I think especially for those people that struggle with
that hoarding thing, you know, you want to talk about
a way to inject some joy in your life and
and and put money in the right perspective. Right, we
shouldn't be freaked out all the time. You should, right,
It should be looked at as a.
Speaker 5: Tool, and we just placed too much importance on it.
Speaker 4: Yeah, yeah, I love that nice charity.
Speaker 1: Have you had to, like, have you had to drop
clients because they just absolutely will not take your advice
either when it comes to spending too much or not
spending enough.
Speaker 2: Yeah, well, so I've never had to do it with
a client that doesn't spend enough. I cannot recall a
time where I wasn't able to get them to loosen
up with it because you get to know these people, right,
and they become like family, and so you're literally and
when they reach their retirement goals and we can they
can fund the retirement, I say, we we help them
with it. We didn't make the money for them. But
and you're like, hey, you accomplish your goals. You want
to see them. I want to hear the I want
to hear the stories of the vacation they went on.
I want to see the pictures from them taking their
kids to have you know, their grandkids to Africa.
Speaker 5: I want to see these things.
Speaker 2: And you want them to have a wonderful life, right,
You want to see it. You want to be a
part of it. You want to help them finance it.
And so we usually they've been able to. Like I said,
I can't think of a scenario where I wasn't able
to let somebody get somebody to loosen up a little bit.
On the flip side, i've had to I've had to
fire a couple of clients because they were spending too much.
And yeah, and the thing that I said was, listen,
you're not listening to our guidance. Okay, you are spending
too much and too fast, and well, yeah, why does
that impact you? And I go, because you're gonna you're
gonna seriously screw up your whole financial picture. It most
likely is gonna happen at the wrong times when markets
are down, and inevitably you're not gonna blame you. You're
clearly an irresponsible person, right, You're not gonna blame you.
Speaker 5: So what are you gonna do?
Speaker 2: You're gonna walk around and say how Bullwarker Zach Abraham
screwed you up? And so I'm like, look, I want
to get you off my books before you you know,
because your name, especially in this business, your name and
reputation is all you have.
Speaker 5: Yeah, And so part of the thing is like you
staying client.
Speaker 2: You're like, I know for a fact, you're not gonna
go tell people you were irresponsible. You're gonna probably try
to put it on us. Yeah, and it's just not
worth the bad press. The other side of it is,
I don't want to be doing that because it's depressing.
Speaker 1: Well, it sounds like to me it's and maybe I mean,
maybe this is over generalizing, but it sounds a lot
like the key is much like your diet The key
is moderation. In everything you're spending, you're saving. You shouldn't
be doing too much of either thing, right, That moderation
is key. There's got to be some balance and that's
that is the kind of advice that people can get
from you when they talk to you and they do
one of their one of your free consultations. Tell people
how they can do that.
Speaker 2: Yes, so pretty easy to find us. You go to
Bulwarkcapitalmanagement dot com. We have our free webinars that we're doing.
We've got another one coming up, I believe in two
weeks so yeah, No, we had a little bit longer
in two weeks. So it's coming up at May. Yeah,
May twenty second, Thursday, May twenty second, at three pm.
All you got to do three thirty pm. Go to
our website Bulwarkcpitalmanagement dot com.
Speaker 5: Sign up.
Speaker 2: I think that's you can also call us directly and
set up a consultation. But I think the road shows
and the webinars are the easiest way because it's about
a forty five minute deal.
Speaker 3: We walk you through what we do, how we do, what.
Speaker 2: Makes us different. We are active managers. We explain what
that means, right, We're not just sticking you in funds
and leaving in there and telling you to ride the
market up and down. Right, we can generate positive returns
even when the market's down. We're actually having a nice
year so far. And just explaining to you what that
looks like, and you know, just that concept. People are like,
wait a second, your guys, is a counselor up in
the market's down, Like, how's that possible? And you go,
it's very possible. We'll show you how, right, And so
just explaining to people our risk management process. You guys,
were only down seven percent during COVID, How is that possible?
Speaker 5: Market was down thirty six percent. It's not magic. Here's
how we do it.
Speaker 2: So by the time we're done with that webinar, you'll
have a very good idea who we are, how we
do it, our method, and then from there, if you
want to set up a consultation with me or one
of our advisors, we're happy to do it.
Speaker 3: Awesome, Thank you, Zach, all right, thank you.
Speaker 5: Ladies, thanks for having me on again.
Speaker 2: Investment advisory services offered through Trek Financial locn SEC registered
investment advisor. The opinions expressed in this programmer for general
informational purposes only, and are not intended to provide specific
or recommendations for any individual or on any specific security.
Any references to performance of securities so are thought to
be materially accurate, and actual performance may different.
Speaker 3: Investments involved risk and are not guaranteed.
Speaker 5: Past performance doesn't guarantee future results. Track twenty four three
zero eight