Aug. 5, 2026

Redefining Return: What Investing Like a Mother Can Teach You About Wealth

Redefining Return: What Investing Like a Mother Can Teach You About Wealth

After two decades advising the world's biggest companies on where to put their money, Tina Berger started asking a different question: what else should count as a return? Invest Like a Mother, challenges the idea that investing is only about stock-picking. We explore what changes — in your finances & in your life — when you widen the lens on what "value" really means. If you’ve ever wondered whether there’s more to wealth than the balance in your account, this conversation is for you.

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The topics and opinions expressed in the following show are

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solely those of the hosts and their guests and not

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those of W FOURCY Radio. It's employees are affiliates. We

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its employees are affiliates. Any questions or comments should be

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directed to those show hosts. Thank you for choosing W

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FOURCY Radio.

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Welcome to to Ask Good Questions Podcasts, broadcasting live every Wednesday,

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six pm Eastern Time on W four CY Radio at

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w fourcy dot com. This week and every week, we

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will reach for a higher purpose in money and life,

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as well as a focus on health and wellness. Now,

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let's join your host, Anita bell Anderson, as together we

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start with Asking Good Questions.

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Hey, hello, and welcome to the Ask Good Questions podcast.

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My name is Benita bell Anderson. I am your host,

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and we have got a show today that this is

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going to be a financial show, but it's actually I

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have to admit maybe some of these questions that we're

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going to ask today, I have never even asked, and

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so I kind of like to push myself sometimes, and

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so we're going to do that today. I have a

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very special guest with me. I'm going to invite her

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to the podcast stage now, and I'm going to tell

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you that Tina Berger is probably somebody that has made

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me ask some questions maybe that I've never asked, and

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about finances. So let me before we get into this,

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I want to give you a little bit more information

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about her. She's the author of invest Like Mother. I

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actually have a copy of it here and I was like,

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what invest Like a Mother. She's also a Tedex speaker.

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She's a former investment advisor who spent more than two

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decades helping Fortune five hundred companies realize business value from

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investments in innovation and digital transformation. So she is asking

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a different question these days. What if investments were measured

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not only by financial returns, but by the future they create.

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Think on that and chew on that for a minute.

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Through her work, she challenges the assumptions that shape how

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we think about money, leadership, and value, inviting audiences to

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consider a more expansive definition of return, one that includes

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our relationships, our communities, and the world we leave for

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future generations. How about that her conversations inspire people to

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see investing not simply as a financial act, but as

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one of the most powerful ways we shape the future.

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And boy, I tell you we need this in today's world.

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Have you got anything to add to that, Tina.

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That was a mouthful. I think you got it all well.

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And you know, I was like last night, I was like,

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I didn't get a chance to read the whole thing,

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but I was flipping through and I've got different pages

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down because all she's doing throughout this whole thing is

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asking questions.

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That's right, this is the right podcast for me.

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Right, I know because she reached out to me and

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so I was like, oh, I've got to get to

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know this girl. So let's start kind of at the beginning.

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You spent twenty years advising Fortune five hundred companies on

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major technology and innovation investments, and what was it that

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got you interested in that kind of world?

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It's thank you for having me here. By the way,

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I'm really excited to be a part of your show

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because when I saw what your interests were and the

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way you're kind of blending focus on kind of holistic

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wellness and then the financial picture. It really does speak

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to me. But yes, I'm naturally a very, very curious person.

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And I entered the world of business right after graduating university.

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I was working and I got my degree in English literature,

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which is funny, so I went straight in as a

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they just I went in as a as a writer.

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I was doing technical writing, so I was writing process

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documentation and policies for big corporations and so that took

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me into a lot of it. So I was really

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interviewing people about what their work was, and some of

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that was from finance, some of it was in engineering,

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some of it was in operations HR. So I really

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got this kind of picture of how different parts of

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the business work and the kind of brain that I have,

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And it might sound boring for some people, but for me,

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it was a really delicious thing and to try to

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understand how all of these things fit together, given that

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I didn't have the background of education in that space.

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And so I was there in the nineties when you know,

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sort of desktop applications came in to support business processes

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and all the data started to get integrated in enterprise

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resource planning systems and things like that, and I naturally

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was fascinated by that. And then I kind of moved

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from listening to how people do their work to supporting

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them and doing it using you know, a keyboard and

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amounts and a whole different kind of application. There.

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Everybody was learning how to use those.

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Things, that's right, and so that's where I sort of

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that's where I kind of cut my teeth. And then,

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you know, throughout the evolution of data and digital, which

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has been quite a ride, that's kept me really busy

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and really fascinated. And also, as I said, sort of

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working in all these different realms of business, seeing how

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different people did their work was really interesting to me.

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Well, what's what's fascinating to me is you. I had

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a Tina. No one who's ever asked me these kinds

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of questions, and you know, I've been in the I've

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been doing advising and wealth management for twenty five years.

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So when when you surfaced, I was like, she's talking

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about in a completely different way, and I understand the

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English back because you're talking about a different way to

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define things. So was there in a moment or was

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there some kind of experience where you were starting to

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frame a different way to define what a return was.

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I think you kind of hit it in like the

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way that my curiosity manifests, and let me understand that

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and what's behind that. I'm kind of a digger, I'm

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kind of an excavator of what's at the heart of

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that and what's behind that. And so it was really

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a series of moments and observations over time, because I

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had a perspective earlier, and so I did have a

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short stint as an investment advisor, as you say, kind

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of in between my initial technical writing work and my

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later management consulting work. So I had that perspective, and

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then I was often in conference rooms with leaders that

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I really admired and appreciate, shiated who I was watching

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them consistently being Ah, these were like people that care

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about the future, that care about the environment, that care

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about their employees, that care about their communities.

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Well, and they're successful people.

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And they're successful people, yes, but I kept seeing the

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impact of this kind of unrelenting pressure to serve these

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financial market performance targets quarterly and these leaders I'm watching them,

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how you know, being this tension of having to override

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what they really believe is the best way to do

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this to the best way to run the business, uh,

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but then having to not do it that way, having

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instead of having to make these compromises away from what

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they think is right in the long term. And it

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was It was those kinds of moments and I have

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I mean, I could tell you a story after story

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after story, and very recently same story of this is

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not something that I feel like serves the long term

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viability and success of the business, but it's something that

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I have to do or I won't be here next

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year to make a decision. And so I remember thinking

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investors don't realize this. You know, we're kind of encouraged

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as from the investor point of view, not to not

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to really delve into too much of that. It's like

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a lot of times we're kind of investing in indexes

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these days, or we're trying to do you know, we're

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kind of handing off the responsibility because sometimes it feels

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like that that realm is quite complex. So it's like

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they don't I kept thinking, people who are investing don't

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know that this is what it's you know, this is

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the result of it, or this is an impact of it.

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Right, Well, there's no way I mean, you know, in

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our case, we're we're we're investing globally all over the world,

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thousands and thousands and thousands of companies. There's no way

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you could know what would be the impact of any

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one particular investment.

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That's that's right. And I think that we've gotten into

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that space because you know, we're trying to manage and

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I say, like i'd say from the financial advisor point

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of view, there's there's a couple of different pieces, but

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you're trying to manage risk for your clients, and part

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of the way you do that is by being diversified.

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And so there's this kind of abstraction, this distancing from

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what the money is actually you know, participating in what

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is it actually funding in operations of these large, large,

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large corporations now so many of them are bigger than

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most countries, grow statistic problems.

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I mean, it could be they could be really good things,

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they could be really bad things. There's really no way

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to know, you know, there's it would It's like I

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don't As I was thinking about that, I was actually,

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you know, just contemplating this last night and just going

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how much time would it take? And so we're gonna

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I mean, we're going to get into this because this

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is like bending your mind around different way to look

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at this. Let me ask you, so you were driven

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then by all of these questions that you're having to

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write this book? Yes, uh, where did that? Where did

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that title? Invest like a Mother? I mean, because then

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you've got a definition of what a mother is.

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Yeah. Well, okay, So part of the fun of invest

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like a Mother is that I thought it was a

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little bit of a catchy title. But the but the

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the other piece about it is that it's a bit

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of a relooking, a reclaiming, a coming back to how

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we're using the term investment. If if like if if

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I say I'm invested in my team and the success

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of my child and my community, I'm invested in it, nobody,

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everybody understands what I'm saying is I'm devoted to stewardship

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of this, tending that's taking care of this That's a

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bit of a maternal I mean, obviously everybody's got this capacity.

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So I'm not really just trying to be gendered about it.

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I'm more was kind of trying to reconnect people with

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the devotional aspect of investing, of being invested in in

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a future, in the growth of something, and and and

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for mom, for mothers, A lot of times this is

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like life. It's being invested in in the continuation and

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the stewardship of life. Whether it's like whether it's your

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garden or your children or whatever. But when and when I'm.

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Very invested, I'm very invested in my children, I'm very

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invested in my grandchildren. I'm very invested in my garden.

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Yes, and so in I feel. You know, My observation

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is that a lot of times when we move into

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the finance conversation, and the way the investment is often

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kind of explained to people is it's an investment. Is

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something we're actively encouraged to disengage from, you know, just

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allocate capital, invest in indexes and funds and then just try,

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you know, reallocate every year, but don't look at it

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the other way to do that.

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There's another way that that happens to Tina. I can't

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tell you how many times I've had somebody say, oh,

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you just take care of it, you just take care

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of it, and I'm like, sure, Oh, I want you

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to understand what you're investing in. And now it's like oh.

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Yes, And I'm not making anybody out to be the

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bad guy here. It's again, it's become it's become a

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habit because people are very busy and overloaded and overwhelmed. Yeah.

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Yeah, well, so that main question that you ask is

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what else could what else should count as a return?

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It's like when I first saw that, I went, what

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you know, It's like it's kind of like turning a

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question around on itself because I don't think I had

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ever thought about it in those ways. How do you

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answer that for yourself? How do you answer that what

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else should count as a return?

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Yes? I think return. It may be the slightly maybe

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it's slight, maybe it's my slight confusion, or maybe I

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haven't been super clear about that. But when I think

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about return, it's really benefits to me as an investor, right,

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it's the financial return. I might also have a really

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good feeling about what I'm invested in because it is

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something I feel devoted to. But then there's always two

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there's two sides to every investment. It's a relationship that

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you're setting up. Whether you sort of look at the

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other side of it or not is up to you.

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But there is a relationship because you are invested in

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a company that has activity that it's doing in the world,

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and I feel like, so to really understand but what

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return is, you've got to look at that side too

240
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and say, are there benefits on the other side of

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this investment too, Are there benefits to the community, is

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there a benefit to the planet, or is it really

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you know, is it really serving just that one, growing

244
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the earnings, growing the bottom line outcome, just to bring

245
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money back to us, right, just to get a return

246
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on the capital that we've invested. So I feel like

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that's the piece where we sort of get we sort

248
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of cut it off, and we're kind of like, that's

249
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not really our business, you know, what they do with

250
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this is not our business. What our business is is

251
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about to reallocate our portfolio. So the way we've defined

252
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risk is also very narrow. So we're looking at risk

253
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to our own portfolio, but we're not looking at risks

254
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based on what our money's doing, like the broader risks

255
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environmental risk, community risk, employment risks for so many people,

256
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I mean, in the service of these these quarterly targets,

257
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we're seeing a lot of people here recently, very publicly

258
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losing their jobs.

259
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You know, well, well, you know that really is true

260
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that my entire financial life has been about financial performance

261
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and ways to mitigate risk and how to do all

262
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of that. But what your doing is you're taking that

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financial performance and then you're talking about how does that

264
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affect communities, how does that affect the world, And you

265
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could have conversations about well, like probably the easiest one

266
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would be climate change and environmental factors and things that

267
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happen with companies that affect the environment, good, bad or ugly.

268
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So so would you say that it's an incomplete picture

269
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then that that we're not looking at it the way

270
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we should.

271
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Well, I feel like there, you know, everybody's got their

272
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needs from the point of view of financial planning, right Like,

273
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I don't think we get away from that. You don't

274
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say I'm doing my investments just to support you know,

275
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a sustainable future right for the planet. But there's a

276
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balancing and there's an integrity in making sure you're looking

277
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at the pas that I think is important. But then

278
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there's also this possibility that we start with a slightly

279
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different question, which you know, I think are at least

280
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my observation is often the question is what's your return.

281
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What kind of return are you getting? And or what

282
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kind of return can I get if I invest in this?

283
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And I wonder what happens if we start I mean ideally,

284
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and I know good planners do this with folks. What

285
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do you need? You know, it actually serves the needs

286
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of your family and yourself such that whatever the impact is,

287
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you kind of got to do it anyway. And then

288
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but where, but also where is the possibility that we

289
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could maybe look at things that have a little bit

290
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more of a reciprocal picture to them, for example, more

291
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local investment where you can actually drive up and see

292
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what's happening to it, right like, So there's some things

293
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where you might if you're really thinking about it differently.

294
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So I think what this is intended to do is

295
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kind of plant some seeds so that people slow down

296
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a little bit and go, could I carve out a

297
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little bit of this here and do something that really

298
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does feed the more reciprocal you know picture.

299
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Right Well, I think we really need to get into

300
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some practical application because I can just I can just

301
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hear people going, what are you talking about? You know,

302
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because I think that it's probably a little bit harder

303
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to measure impacts on communities, and you know how it's like,

304
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how in the world do you measure that? If you're

305
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not just measuring things by return?

306
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Right? I mean, I think there are indicators out there.

307
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For example, Like so if we sort of start with

308
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the kind of typical picture we could look like of

309
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a corporation, we could kind of say, what we're seeing,

310
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for example, Oracle is that they've laid thirty thousand people

311
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off and they're investing in large data centers, right, so,

312
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and then they took out a lot of loans right

313
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after paying huge dividends out to folks that are not

314
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your typical investor. Right, so we can look at that

315
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and say, I don't know about that. But or you

316
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could sort of look away from that and going and go,

317
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that's not my that's not my business. I don't own

318
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any of that. But if you're in an SMP five

319
00:20:31.200 --> 00:20:33.559
hundred fund, do you own some of that? Probably a

320
00:20:33.599 --> 00:20:37.119
significant piece depending on how So, so I think we

321
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can see some of the impacts. Can we measure it

322
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like it does it go in a spreadsheet?

323
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No?

324
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But we feel it. These are our neighbors, these are

325
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our friends, these are people, right, And so then I

326
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would say, like I was saying earlier, I don't think

327
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that the initial ask as far as what to do

328
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is rush out and make a bunch of change to

329
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your portfolio.

330
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And I appreciate what you did in your book because

331
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basically it's kind of like baby steps, because you could

332
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you could overwhelm somebody really badly here. So you know,

333
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I really appreciated how how you said, well, just just

334
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do one thing, because I'm sure that there's going to

335
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be people that are going to say this really feels

336
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right to be thinking and expanding how I think about

337
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about this. But let's get into some practical application. If

338
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someone who's spent their life investing purely for return is

339
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going this makes a lot of sense. Where do they

340
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even start in expanding that definition?

341
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Well, I think I know this to a lot of

342
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people doesn't feel like action because we're really habituated to

343
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thinking about action as sell this, buy that, do this,

344
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go out in the world and make things happen. But

345
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sometimes what needs to happen is the process of digesting information.

346
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And I do feel like if you try to rush

347
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this process, you will overwhelm yourself and it'll want you'll

348
00:22:17.400 --> 00:22:19.160
want to turn it off. You know what I mean,

349
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it's a lot to take in. So I feel like

350
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one of the most important first things to do is

351
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just acknowledge that you are investing and look at what

352
00:22:27.839 --> 00:22:31.880
you're investing in, just to kind of own it. So

353
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the example that that I gave you is like, we

354
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all are going to have impact, there's no way around it.

355
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Like I travel. I love to travel, and I fly

356
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to travel, and I know that has impact on the environment,

357
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and so I never put down that knowing, like I

358
00:22:47.680 --> 00:22:49.880
sort of carry it around with me and it makes

359
00:22:49.960 --> 00:22:53.480
me appreciate my travel. It also makes me look for

360
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other alternatives when there are alternatives. So it's a tuning

361
00:22:58.680 --> 00:23:01.680
that you're trying to do to other alternatives. And once

362
00:23:01.720 --> 00:23:04.000
you once you decide to slow down in tune a

363
00:23:04.000 --> 00:23:07.000
little bit, it's like those things start to show up.

364
00:23:07.000 --> 00:23:08.960
It's like when you decide, hey, I'm going to buy

365
00:23:09.000 --> 00:23:12.160
a new car, and I think I'm looking at you know,

366
00:23:12.720 --> 00:23:19.599
whatever Toyota Celica's that's I think, yeah, that is. But anyway,

367
00:23:19.599 --> 00:23:22.079
if you whatever car it is, you get in your mind,

368
00:23:22.319 --> 00:23:25.000
you start seeing them everywhere. And so part of the

369
00:23:25.079 --> 00:23:28.680
point is is you're tuning yourself to pay attention to

370
00:23:29.400 --> 00:23:36.160
other possibilities. Uh, the book provides a good a good

371
00:23:36.240 --> 00:23:41.039
set of undernown types of investment alternatives.

372
00:23:41.119 --> 00:23:44.240
Yeah, there are, there's some great suggestions.

373
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And if I start talking about them, I know I'm

374
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going to like overload people at this stage. But I

375
00:23:49.640 --> 00:23:55.240
would say that there's a growing kind of ecosystem of

376
00:23:55.519 --> 00:24:00.880
undernown alternative investments. People are doing really interesting things. I

377
00:24:00.920 --> 00:24:04.480
can speak to one. I think one example would be good.

378
00:24:04.839 --> 00:24:08.880
So there's a friend of mine, Yeah, quickly, do I

379
00:24:08.920 --> 00:24:12.720
have time. So there's a person that I recently met

380
00:24:12.799 --> 00:24:17.119
who was he's an entrepreneur and he runs He's done

381
00:24:17.119 --> 00:24:19.920
several different technology startups. But he grew up in a

382
00:24:19.960 --> 00:24:24.440
part of Houston that was redlined. It was a Mexican

383
00:24:24.480 --> 00:24:28.480
American part of the city, and a lot of his

384
00:24:28.880 --> 00:24:31.599
neighborhood is now kind of being bought up by at

385
00:24:31.680 --> 00:24:35.519
outside developers, and so he decided to run and put

386
00:24:35.559 --> 00:24:39.680
together a community investment fund to enable his neighbors with

387
00:24:39.880 --> 00:24:44.160
as low as one hundred dollars to contribute to a

388
00:24:44.200 --> 00:24:46.519
fund where they would buy a piece of property and

389
00:24:46.559 --> 00:24:50.359
a business in their own neighborhood and participate in that development.

390
00:24:50.440 --> 00:24:52.119
So things like this are happening.

391
00:24:52.480 --> 00:24:56.720
Yeah. And one of the other things that I appreciate

392
00:24:56.759 --> 00:24:59.480
about what you did in the book was not saying

393
00:24:59.680 --> 00:25:04.759
throw your entire investment portfolio at something like this. Just

394
00:25:04.920 --> 00:25:08.799
take take a little piece or you know, I mean

395
00:25:09.039 --> 00:25:12.160
maye and just like find out you know, have your

396
00:25:12.440 --> 00:25:15.319
have your majority that you have set aside, you know,

397
00:25:15.759 --> 00:25:21.039
say where it is, but allocate something to explore this

398
00:25:21.559 --> 00:25:23.920
some one of the easiest things that you said in

399
00:25:23.960 --> 00:25:28.720
your book was go consider being part of a credit

400
00:25:28.799 --> 00:25:32.799
union instead of a regular bank because credit and I've

401
00:25:32.799 --> 00:25:36.640
been a member of a credit union my entire life,

402
00:25:37.599 --> 00:25:41.759
and every time I've had things that I've done with

403
00:25:41.759 --> 00:25:45.839
with like the big banks, I always come back to

404
00:25:45.880 --> 00:25:46.799
the credit union.

405
00:25:47.559 --> 00:25:51.880
Yes, many of them do also fund things that are

406
00:25:51.920 --> 00:25:54.359
local to you that you can learn about and get

407
00:25:54.359 --> 00:25:58.880
more involved with, so I would say, And another thing

408
00:25:59.000 --> 00:26:02.400
is just reach tuning yourself to understand that you're investing

409
00:26:02.440 --> 00:26:04.759
in a lot of ways. So if you think about

410
00:26:04.839 --> 00:26:07.400
the fact that like what is it that you're devoted

411
00:26:07.440 --> 00:26:11.359
to where you give to is it Houston Food Bank?

412
00:26:11.440 --> 00:26:15.759
Are there arts associations that you could give you it's

413
00:26:15.799 --> 00:26:18.960
really tuning into them. As this is the same portfolio

414
00:26:19.599 --> 00:26:21.799
but you could be more mindful with it. It could

415
00:26:21.839 --> 00:26:24.000
be less of a tax write off of that's my

416
00:26:24.759 --> 00:26:28.640
you know, daughter in law's nonprofit too. What do I what?

417
00:26:28.640 --> 00:26:32.200
What planted a seed in myself that I really want

418
00:26:32.279 --> 00:26:36.079
to see I want or gave me something that I

419
00:26:36.119 --> 00:26:38.359
want to make sure it continues into the future. So

420
00:26:38.440 --> 00:26:41.240
there's other things where you're already doing. It is just

421
00:26:41.279 --> 00:26:44.240
bringing a different kind of mindfulness to it that matters

422
00:26:44.680 --> 00:26:50.319
and really re orients you to this other definition of investment.

423
00:26:51.759 --> 00:26:56.319
So yeah, because I've decided, I I want to say

424
00:26:56.640 --> 00:26:59.720
like five minutes at the end just to talk about

425
00:26:59.759 --> 00:27:01.839
some of these things that I saw on there. But

426
00:27:02.720 --> 00:27:09.799
let's talk about legacy. Legacy matters a lot to our listeners.

427
00:27:09.839 --> 00:27:16.720
And how does redefining return connect to the legacy that

428
00:27:16.880 --> 00:27:19.119
someone's trying to leave behind. What do you think?

429
00:27:19.960 --> 00:27:22.599
Well, I think that becomes part of your plan, right.

430
00:27:22.599 --> 00:27:25.680
You definitely have a financial legacy that you're wanting to

431
00:27:25.759 --> 00:27:28.079
leave behind to people. But when I think about my

432
00:27:28.200 --> 00:27:32.480
kids and the feedback that I've gotten from them, Okay, Boomer,

433
00:27:32.839 --> 00:27:36.920
it's like you guys have made a big mess here,

434
00:27:37.119 --> 00:27:39.720
you know what I mean, Like they're looking at and

435
00:27:40.559 --> 00:27:43.079
so part of our legacy is financial and the other

436
00:27:43.359 --> 00:27:47.160
is what seeds are we planting? And can we stand

437
00:27:47.519 --> 00:27:49.559
beside them and say we've done our best. Part of

438
00:27:49.559 --> 00:27:53.720
why I wrote this book is because I want I

439
00:27:53.839 --> 00:27:56.359
don't want someone else to have to discover what I've

440
00:27:56.480 --> 00:28:01.279
spent twenty plus years discovering about the system and how

441
00:28:01.279 --> 00:28:07.200
it's really pushing some unhealthy dynamics in the world, you

442
00:28:07.200 --> 00:28:09.680
know what I mean. So I feel like I've got

443
00:28:09.759 --> 00:28:13.279
to show up at this table with some solutions. Since

444
00:28:14.400 --> 00:28:17.839
I didn't grow up knowing about the impacts of our

445
00:28:18.319 --> 00:28:21.319
systems and investments, It's like, now we've got the internet,

446
00:28:21.359 --> 00:28:23.400
we can see them very closely.

447
00:28:23.599 --> 00:28:24.599
Oh yeah.

448
00:28:24.640 --> 00:28:27.759
And so I feel like legacy is yes. You know,

449
00:28:27.920 --> 00:28:31.759
I do believe in I come from My mother's an immigrant,

450
00:28:31.839 --> 00:28:35.279
my father was a farmer, so like those, I didn't

451
00:28:35.319 --> 00:28:40.720
come from financial or wealth. But I care a lot

452
00:28:40.799 --> 00:28:44.039
about leah. I care a lot about leaving. But it's like,

453
00:28:44.160 --> 00:28:46.920
what's the balance, right? I think it's just it's just

454
00:28:47.000 --> 00:28:49.480
putting a lens on that and holding the balance of

455
00:28:50.759 --> 00:28:53.920
the legacy capital l two of what's the world we're

456
00:28:54.000 --> 00:28:58.240
leaving and are we doing our best there? So yes, and.

457
00:29:00.160 --> 00:29:03.759
Part of it, I think would be just not only

458
00:29:03.799 --> 00:29:06.960
doing your estate planning and all that, but having an

459
00:29:06.960 --> 00:29:09.799
ongoing conversation with your kids about how you feel and

460
00:29:09.839 --> 00:29:12.279
what you think about the world. It sounds to me,

461
00:29:12.400 --> 00:29:14.720
I mean, that's part of the legacy that you leave,

462
00:29:15.039 --> 00:29:19.720
is is how you interact with your family, how you

463
00:29:19.759 --> 00:29:20.960
interact with your community.

464
00:29:22.000 --> 00:29:24.599
Agree For people.

465
00:29:24.400 --> 00:29:29.519
Who feel like it's too late to change anything, what

466
00:29:29.559 --> 00:29:30.599
would you say to them?

467
00:29:31.599 --> 00:29:34.359
I just I mean, I'm probably not the right person

468
00:29:34.559 --> 00:29:38.079
to ask about that. I say that because, like my

469
00:29:38.200 --> 00:29:42.240
father graduated from college at sixty three, my mother started

470
00:29:42.240 --> 00:29:45.839
her dream restaurant at sixty three. You know, I'm writing

471
00:29:45.880 --> 00:29:49.519
books at sixty three, So I'm not. But I do

472
00:29:49.559 --> 00:29:55.039
feel like I do feel like I'm not sure why

473
00:29:55.079 --> 00:29:58.839
people would think that, because you know, if you're towards

474
00:29:58.880 --> 00:30:01.000
the end of your life and you're up against the

475
00:30:01.160 --> 00:30:02.720
edge of if you're going to be okay or not,

476
00:30:02.880 --> 00:30:06.480
then you don't change anything. But if you've got you've

477
00:30:06.480 --> 00:30:08.440
got a little bit of space, a little bit of

478
00:30:09.359 --> 00:30:13.920
space to make some different decisions with, then potentially there's

479
00:30:13.960 --> 00:30:16.839
some people in your family you could collaborate with to

480
00:30:16.880 --> 00:30:21.160
do things. They they have motivation for and care about.

481
00:30:21.599 --> 00:30:26.160
Which this all goes along with having a life purpose,

482
00:30:26.880 --> 00:30:30.160
having things that you're involved in. I think that's going

483
00:30:30.200 --> 00:30:34.240
to keep you healthier longer. Also, don't you think, you know,

484
00:30:35.440 --> 00:30:38.119
having some purpose, having something that you know is making

485
00:30:38.160 --> 00:30:38.720
a difference.

486
00:30:39.400 --> 00:30:41.880
I think so. I think so. For me, it gives

487
00:30:41.920 --> 00:30:45.279
me a lot of energy and interacting with younger people

488
00:30:45.319 --> 00:30:47.599
that have a lot of energy and are trying to

489
00:30:47.640 --> 00:30:53.319
find workout answers, being in dialogue about these systems and

490
00:30:53.799 --> 00:30:58.319
being willing to hear the different opinions even if they're incomplete,

491
00:30:58.400 --> 00:31:01.839
you know, or because mine are. I keep learning every year.

492
00:31:01.880 --> 00:31:06.880
I keep thinking, you know that that I'm not going

493
00:31:06.920 --> 00:31:09.039
to open up to a whole new world that I

494
00:31:09.079 --> 00:31:12.079
need to learn about. But I think I wouldn't like

495
00:31:12.160 --> 00:31:14.680
that if I if I thought that were possible, So

496
00:31:16.279 --> 00:31:19.039
I do. I thought, I don't ever think it's too late.

497
00:31:20.559 --> 00:31:25.720
So I have thought about and have talked to people

498
00:31:25.759 --> 00:31:31.039
about financial security, you know, forever the whole time I've

499
00:31:31.039 --> 00:31:34.799
been an advisor. In your view, what what does true

500
00:31:34.880 --> 00:31:39.519
financial security look like when it includes more than just

501
00:31:39.640 --> 00:31:40.759
that dollar figure?

502
00:31:42.720 --> 00:31:45.279
Yeah, that's such a u I mean we could have

503
00:31:45.319 --> 00:31:48.240
a whole dinner about that. Right, like I feel I

504
00:31:49.200 --> 00:31:55.400
people ask me about security, and I security is is

505
00:31:55.480 --> 00:31:59.359
like a receptive It's like you feel secure, you don't

506
00:31:59.400 --> 00:32:03.880
make secure, right. So that's that I feel like, is

507
00:32:03.880 --> 00:32:06.119
why a lot of people have this idea that there's

508
00:32:06.160 --> 00:32:08.079
a number that when they get to that number, they're

509
00:32:08.119 --> 00:32:10.160
going to have security. And then they get to that

510
00:32:10.279 --> 00:32:12.519
number and they don't have security. And then there are

511
00:32:12.519 --> 00:32:17.279
people who don't look for a number for security right

512
00:32:17.319 --> 00:32:19.920
like there they just are secure and there haven't even

513
00:32:20.000 --> 00:32:23.519
hit their goal yet. So so there's a little bit

514
00:32:23.519 --> 00:32:28.119
of a uh a question about what do we mean

515
00:32:28.160 --> 00:32:31.839
by that? From from my own perspective, And this is

516
00:32:31.920 --> 00:32:39.880
just me speaking as me because I feel so I

517
00:32:39.920 --> 00:32:44.160
don't really I feel like we're living these individual lives,

518
00:32:44.279 --> 00:32:46.440
you know, like we have our lives and our gifts

519
00:32:46.440 --> 00:32:49.160
and things that we're bringing to community, but we're also

520
00:32:49.440 --> 00:32:53.480
interconnected with everybody else on this planet and all beings

521
00:32:53.519 --> 00:32:57.400
on this planet. So if there are people who are

522
00:32:59.480 --> 00:33:03.839
are hurt because of something that I'm involved with, systems,

523
00:33:05.000 --> 00:33:09.680
investments or whatever, I don't I don't know that I

524
00:33:09.720 --> 00:33:12.680
can feel if there are people who are not getting enough,

525
00:33:13.440 --> 00:33:15.720
I don't know that I cannot feel that I don't

526
00:33:15.759 --> 00:33:21.039
know that I can feel super secure or super happy

527
00:33:21.960 --> 00:33:25.960
with that situation, and I don't feel like that's fixable necessarily.

528
00:33:26.559 --> 00:33:29.480
But I'm I feel like I'm never gonna I don't

529
00:33:29.519 --> 00:33:32.480
feel like I derived my security from finance. That's part

530
00:33:32.480 --> 00:33:34.680
of what I'll say about that, right.

531
00:33:35.519 --> 00:33:38.599
Well, okay, so let's let's hit this just a little

532
00:33:38.599 --> 00:33:40.440
bit more before I turn to some of these things.

533
00:33:40.480 --> 00:33:44.279
I want to mention in the book. If someone wants

534
00:33:44.319 --> 00:33:49.559
to start investing like a mother, what's the first small

535
00:33:49.599 --> 00:33:51.799
step that they should take. We kind of touched on

536
00:33:51.839 --> 00:33:54.759
this a few minutes ago, but let's let's drill this in.

537
00:33:54.839 --> 00:33:58.559
If they were gonna go, okay, I'm going to take

538
00:33:58.640 --> 00:33:59.960
one step, what would that be?

539
00:34:01.400 --> 00:34:04.839
So I think it would be doing a review of

540
00:34:04.880 --> 00:34:08.840
where all your investments are and also how you're moving

541
00:34:08.880 --> 00:34:12.920
your money in general. So, if for example, you have

542
00:34:13.119 --> 00:34:16.679
giving that you do that is some percentage of what

543
00:34:16.719 --> 00:34:19.679
you do every year, that becomes part of the picture.

544
00:34:19.760 --> 00:34:21.719
Where you bank becomes part of the picture. So you

545
00:34:21.800 --> 00:34:25.400
kind of do this inventory. Where is your the you know,

546
00:34:25.440 --> 00:34:30.079
where is your money invested? Is most of it US stocks?

547
00:34:30.079 --> 00:34:32.599
At some of it international stocks? Do you know what

548
00:34:32.639 --> 00:34:36.440
the major holdings of those funds are. You should look

549
00:34:36.480 --> 00:34:38.920
at those things. Where do you mostly shop? Do you

550
00:34:38.960 --> 00:34:43.199
mostly shop on Amazon? That's actually a part of your

551
00:34:43.239 --> 00:34:48.920
financial life, right, And so I think looking at taking

552
00:34:48.960 --> 00:34:52.840
a good little inventory of that, understanding where your accounts are,

553
00:34:52.840 --> 00:34:56.239
what kind of accounts you have, and then from there.

554
00:34:56.440 --> 00:34:58.599
There's a few things that I recommend in my book.

555
00:34:58.679 --> 00:35:02.360
One possibility and a lot of things. I'll pick one

556
00:35:02.440 --> 00:35:05.440
piece out that people don't really know about is the

557
00:35:05.519 --> 00:35:10.119
self directed IRA. So a self directed IRA, Yeah, that

558
00:35:10.119 --> 00:35:12.800
that is a structure that has all of the same

559
00:35:12.920 --> 00:35:16.639
tax advantages and tax structure as an IRA that you

560
00:35:16.679 --> 00:35:20.199
would get from Fidelity or Schwab or or any other

561
00:35:20.599 --> 00:35:27.280
financial bank. And and but but this one is held

562
00:35:27.320 --> 00:35:32.920
by a by an individual self directed IRA custodian and

563
00:35:32.920 --> 00:35:35.960
and those are lesser known names. But within a self

564
00:35:35.960 --> 00:35:43.039
directed IRA, you can hold real estate, you can invest in.

565
00:35:41.920 --> 00:35:45.119
In that community fund, you could invest in a Yes,

566
00:35:45.199 --> 00:35:49.440
you can invest in a you can invest in and

567
00:35:49.440 --> 00:35:52.519
in several different of the alternatives that I present in

568
00:35:52.599 --> 00:35:54.039
the book that are lesser known.

569
00:35:55.400 --> 00:36:00.159
So CDFIs there are certain kinds of community oriented financial

570
00:36:00.199 --> 00:36:03.039
institutions that invest in low income housing things like that.

571
00:36:03.039 --> 00:36:05.119
There are things that you can do from within there

572
00:36:05.679 --> 00:36:08.679
that that you can't do from a regular standard kind

573
00:36:08.719 --> 00:36:12.639
of investment account. So that's one thing. So you could say,

574
00:36:12.679 --> 00:36:15.000
I'm going to take I don't know, pick a number

575
00:36:15.159 --> 00:36:19.079
ten thousand dollars and put it in a self directed

576
00:36:19.159 --> 00:36:23.960
IRA account and wait, just have it there as as

577
00:36:24.079 --> 00:36:27.800
ready to make an investment in case one shows up

578
00:36:27.800 --> 00:36:30.599
for me and now I have this cash available.

579
00:36:30.320 --> 00:36:31.039
You're ready.

580
00:36:32.280 --> 00:36:35.920
Show can't show up. That's right, that's right. But I

581
00:36:36.519 --> 00:36:39.639
but you can have within a self directed IRA, you

582
00:36:39.639 --> 00:36:42.800
can have you can be invested in different businesses. You

583
00:36:42.840 --> 00:36:46.480
can make loans to people, you can make loans to

584
00:36:46.559 --> 00:36:49.880
people to buy houses. You could be you could write

585
00:36:49.920 --> 00:36:53.800
your own mortgage notes in there. You could hold real

586
00:36:53.920 --> 00:36:58.480
estate in there and have a short term rental property

587
00:36:58.559 --> 00:37:02.000
or a rental property inside your IRA. So all of

588
00:37:02.039 --> 00:37:05.519
the income that comes in from there comes in and

589
00:37:05.639 --> 00:37:08.480
is treated. What if it's a rough one, it's basically

590
00:37:08.519 --> 00:37:13.159
treated like any other IRA would be right, So those

591
00:37:13.199 --> 00:37:15.239
are things you do. So that's one thing. So I think,

592
00:37:15.239 --> 00:37:17.639
look at everything and then figure out what your next

593
00:37:17.639 --> 00:37:20.000
step is based on where you are and what you have.

594
00:37:20.639 --> 00:37:22.320
If it's if you kind of go, I want to

595
00:37:22.360 --> 00:37:26.920
do ten percent, then you know it's it's it's sort

596
00:37:26.960 --> 00:37:30.119
of putting that in your plan and beginning to investigate

597
00:37:30.159 --> 00:37:32.599
some of the alternatives that are available out there.

598
00:37:33.800 --> 00:37:38.440
Wow, okay, so I'm gonna I've never really done this,

599
00:37:38.559 --> 00:37:44.199
I've never really just kind of become very spontaneous. So

600
00:37:44.880 --> 00:37:47.599
I'm going to pick out one of the things that

601
00:37:47.800 --> 00:37:51.320
I Well, one of the things you do is talk

602
00:37:51.360 --> 00:37:54.519
about what to look at and ask. And that's that's

603
00:37:54.920 --> 00:37:58.599
what you were just talking about, like self directed where

604
00:37:58.679 --> 00:38:02.679
you shop. You talk about where you shop, whether it's

605
00:38:02.840 --> 00:38:08.559
large corporate retailers or smaller you know, supporting small business.

606
00:38:09.039 --> 00:38:11.679
I think that's part of it, too, right, you know it.

607
00:38:11.559 --> 00:38:16.000
Really is, it really is. Those are investments and people go, well,

608
00:38:16.000 --> 00:38:18.760
I can get it cheaper over here, and look, I

609
00:38:18.800 --> 00:38:21.440
think we're It's like the it's like the travel, it's

610
00:38:21.480 --> 00:38:23.920
like the flight thing. It's like sometimes you've got to

611
00:38:23.960 --> 00:38:27.239
have it tomorrow. Your kid just told you about the assignment,

612
00:38:27.519 --> 00:38:31.719
but like sometimes sometimes you have time. And there are

613
00:38:31.880 --> 00:38:35.000
in different parts of the country, for example, there are cooperatives,

614
00:38:36.280 --> 00:38:39.920
there are cooperative electrical companies, there are co op cooperative

615
00:38:39.960 --> 00:38:46.000
grocery stores. Those are employee owned often or member owned,

616
00:38:46.559 --> 00:38:49.599
and those are really different structures and they're usually very

617
00:38:49.679 --> 00:38:53.519
rooted in community. Right, So you can shop in different places.

618
00:38:53.519 --> 00:38:54.639
That can be something too.

619
00:38:55.199 --> 00:38:59.159
There's a cooperative in Spokane, Washington. A lot of my

620
00:38:59.599 --> 00:39:01.880
a lot of my clients are in Spokane, Washington, and

621
00:39:01.880 --> 00:39:03.800
they're going to know what I'm talking about because it's

622
00:39:03.840 --> 00:39:08.400
right downtown. But there's a cooperative that struggled for a

623
00:39:08.519 --> 00:39:10.920
few years when it was getting going, but it seems

624
00:39:10.960 --> 00:39:14.519
like it's really doing well now. But yeah, it's exactly

625
00:39:14.599 --> 00:39:18.800
that sort of thing, that cooperative. Here's some of the questions.

626
00:39:18.840 --> 00:39:20.559
So I'm just going to say this and I'll have

627
00:39:20.599 --> 00:39:24.760
you comment. Okay, you talk about a daily investment audit.

628
00:39:25.199 --> 00:39:29.480
A few starting questions, where do I bank? So we

629
00:39:29.559 --> 00:39:32.800
talked about credit unions. Is there a credit union or

630
00:39:32.840 --> 00:39:35.960
you know something like that. What local businesses do I value?

631
00:39:36.440 --> 00:39:40.599
So you keep coming back, you keep using that word value, right,

632
00:39:41.639 --> 00:39:45.039
what small businesses do I value? Is there a cooperative

633
00:39:45.079 --> 00:39:47.800
in my community? Like we've just been talking about, You

634
00:39:47.880 --> 00:39:50.400
might you know, this might spur people on to search

635
00:39:50.480 --> 00:39:53.559
out those things in their community that they meant a

636
00:39:53.599 --> 00:39:59.880
lot to think about what creative work am I consuming

637
00:40:00.079 --> 00:40:04.000
for free that I could support directly. That's an interesting one.

638
00:40:04.599 --> 00:40:08.320
Yes, yes, artists.

639
00:40:08.079 --> 00:40:11.360
Writers, educators or journalists. Could I move to direct support?

640
00:40:11.800 --> 00:40:14.960
And when I look at my work life, what does

641
00:40:15.000 --> 00:40:17.639
it enable and how does that sit with my values?

642
00:40:18.280 --> 00:40:24.320
That's an interesting one. People to say, I think I'm

643
00:40:24.360 --> 00:40:26.519
going to change jobs.

644
00:40:27.280 --> 00:40:32.119
Right yeah, oh, or or you know, I think it could,

645
00:40:32.360 --> 00:40:34.800
but it also could, Like you look at all of

646
00:40:34.840 --> 00:40:39.719
these things imbalance together. So you know I mentioned that

647
00:40:39.840 --> 00:40:43.599
I uninvested from the stock market. Ye, partially because that's

648
00:40:43.639 --> 00:40:46.480
my personality, right, Like I don't advise people to do

649
00:40:46.760 --> 00:40:49.280
any of the things I do in my life. But

650
00:40:49.280 --> 00:40:53.599
but I wanted to be pressured myself to find other

651
00:40:54.400 --> 00:40:58.880
places and other options to share and this is a

652
00:40:58.920 --> 00:41:02.320
part of my work. But also I was working inside

653
00:41:02.400 --> 00:41:05.800
of and supporting those corporations in my work life, so

654
00:41:05.880 --> 00:41:08.840
I was over leveraged into that space as it was.

655
00:41:08.920 --> 00:41:11.239
I felt like I didn't also want to be invested

656
00:41:11.280 --> 00:41:12.840
in it. I wanted to support.

657
00:41:12.639 --> 00:41:16.599
All your basket. That's right, that's the whole that well,

658
00:41:16.639 --> 00:41:20.079
that's part of diversification. So you're basically taking the idea

659
00:41:20.079 --> 00:41:22.760
of diversification and kind of flipping that on its head

660
00:41:22.800 --> 00:41:26.599
and creating a definition of how to diversify.

661
00:41:26.079 --> 00:41:28.639
It a little bit. And I want to be very

662
00:41:28.639 --> 00:41:32.079
compassionate in this space because I just think, you know,

663
00:41:32.239 --> 00:41:34.960
it's not easy, it's not straightforward.

664
00:41:35.519 --> 00:41:40.639
No, because I'm I'm entirely invested in the stock market. Yes,

665
00:41:40.719 --> 00:41:46.679
so you're making me ask some new questions. So here's another.

666
00:41:46.719 --> 00:41:53.400
Here's some some things from your incremental change uh chapter.

667
00:41:54.039 --> 00:41:56.920
Start with a percentage, not a total overhaul. And I

668
00:41:56.960 --> 00:42:03.320
think that totally applies here because this would be like,

669
00:42:03.400 --> 00:42:07.440
oh too much. So just a percentage, just something small.

670
00:42:07.880 --> 00:42:11.280
Then build a simple investment stack using that percentage. What

671
00:42:11.280 --> 00:42:15.559
does that mean? What's the simple investment stack? What does

672
00:42:15.599 --> 00:42:16.000
that mean?

673
00:42:16.360 --> 00:42:20.960
It's just you know, it's it's basically looking at you know,

674
00:42:21.079 --> 00:42:24.960
you haven't you have asset allocation and your broader portfolio.

675
00:42:25.199 --> 00:42:28.079
It's taking that and saying, okay, for this five or

676
00:42:28.079 --> 00:42:30.880
ten or twenty whatever percentage that I want to pull

677
00:42:30.920 --> 00:42:34.920
out and use for this invest like a mother strategy

678
00:42:35.000 --> 00:42:39.119
or this values aligned strategy. I'm also still looking at

679
00:42:39.159 --> 00:42:42.880
a similar kind of allocation. Some things are income, some

680
00:42:42.960 --> 00:42:47.039
things are I might have some cash sitting there in

681
00:42:47.119 --> 00:42:51.000
case a community investment fund or something comes up. So

682
00:42:51.039 --> 00:42:53.880
some things might be equity, some things might be loans.

683
00:42:54.000 --> 00:42:55.760
So it's kind of looking at what you want to

684
00:42:55.800 --> 00:42:58.239
have in there, and I give you some I give

685
00:42:58.280 --> 00:43:00.880
some options throughout the book about what you could bright.

686
00:43:01.400 --> 00:43:04.840
Yeah, you actually talk about some different types of stacks

687
00:43:04.880 --> 00:43:09.119
and how you how you do that. You talk about

688
00:43:09.639 --> 00:43:12.320
what's interesting is you kind of drill down on credit

689
00:43:12.440 --> 00:43:19.960
unions and evaluating and asking questions, asking some better questions

690
00:43:20.000 --> 00:43:23.079
about where you would put the money that you have

691
00:43:23.199 --> 00:43:26.880
in cash, like who's eligible for membership, what do they

692
00:43:27.000 --> 00:43:33.039
lend to? You're that would be interesting do the credit

693
00:43:33.159 --> 00:43:38.320
does a local credit union lend to or or work

694
00:43:38.360 --> 00:43:40.360
with that community fund that you're talking about.

695
00:43:42.000 --> 00:43:44.679
This the particular one that so I think this is

696
00:43:44.679 --> 00:43:47.639
an emerging space and I'm super excited about it, this

697
00:43:47.800 --> 00:43:54.159
sort of community investment fund model. But they do usually

698
00:43:54.239 --> 00:44:01.920
through organizations like uh CDFI's Community Development Finance institutions. Some

699
00:44:02.079 --> 00:44:05.119
credit unions have that whole aspect as part of what

700
00:44:05.199 --> 00:44:09.920
they some of them are cdf eyes. So the whole

701
00:44:10.320 --> 00:44:12.000
what I'm trying to get at here is that the

702
00:44:12.079 --> 00:44:18.519
whole infrastructure is a little bit diverse, and so you

703
00:44:18.679 --> 00:44:20.480
kind of got to drill into the things that are

704
00:44:20.559 --> 00:44:23.039
local to you and ask good questions because some people,

705
00:44:23.039 --> 00:44:28.079
when I was talking about credit unions, just like any

706
00:44:28.119 --> 00:44:32.840
other nonprofits, some of them feel much more corporate. Some

707
00:44:32.920 --> 00:44:35.239
of them are not doing the things you would think

708
00:44:35.320 --> 00:44:38.880
or hope the credit union would do. So you're looking

709
00:44:38.920 --> 00:44:41.960
for credit unions that are very place oriented so that

710
00:44:42.079 --> 00:44:45.639
you know they're supporting the things you care about. So

711
00:44:45.760 --> 00:44:47.880
that was what I was getting at there, right.

712
00:44:47.960 --> 00:44:52.559
Wow, Well this is not your first book either. You've

713
00:44:52.559 --> 00:44:54.119
written another book.

714
00:44:56.400 --> 00:44:57.119
Coming Around?

715
00:44:58.039 --> 00:45:00.559
Yes, well does that say the name of again?

716
00:45:01.159 --> 00:45:05.159
Coming Around? Surprises and Surrender on the Path to Inspiration.

717
00:45:05.440 --> 00:45:09.519
So yes, it's about me reclaiming parts of myself that

718
00:45:09.599 --> 00:45:12.239
I had to close off in order to be successful.

719
00:45:12.960 --> 00:45:15.679
You know in this culture, that really kind of validates

720
00:45:15.719 --> 00:45:19.360
the grind and the push and the action and all

721
00:45:19.440 --> 00:45:21.880
of the things that are good and balanced. But as

722
00:45:21.880 --> 00:45:23.480
I said we were talking about earlier, you got to

723
00:45:23.559 --> 00:45:25.880
kind of slow down sometimes and be still a little

724
00:45:25.880 --> 00:45:27.760
bit to know what your inspiration is.

725
00:45:28.480 --> 00:45:33.760
Well, and we are out of time. It's like I

726
00:45:33.800 --> 00:45:35.360
wanted to pack a lot, and I think we did

727
00:45:35.400 --> 00:45:38.480
pack a lot in but it's kind of also just

728
00:45:38.559 --> 00:45:42.159
the beginning of being able to explore what this might mean,

729
00:45:42.280 --> 00:45:46.559
because it could be different for everyone. Right, what's one question,

730
00:45:47.199 --> 00:45:50.000
because we have to close up shop here, What's one

731
00:45:50.119 --> 00:45:55.280
question you hope every listener asks themselves after hearing this conversation.

732
00:45:58.159 --> 00:46:02.639
What is my money making possible? Not just for me,

733
00:46:02.880 --> 00:46:05.079
but for everyone that it touches.

734
00:46:06.000 --> 00:46:09.679
Wow, that's a question I don't think people have really

735
00:46:09.719 --> 00:46:13.679
asked before. So you're like opening up this whole new

736
00:46:14.480 --> 00:46:15.280
universe here.

737
00:46:16.559 --> 00:46:18.320
I'm so happy that you brought me on.

738
00:46:20.000 --> 00:46:23.719
Well, this has been wonderful. You have definitely pushed some

739
00:46:23.800 --> 00:46:27.440
buttons for me in thinking about this for myself and

740
00:46:27.480 --> 00:46:32.119
my own investments, and also looking at oh, I'm already

741
00:46:32.159 --> 00:46:34.840
doing this, and I'm already doing that. So it was like, okay,

742
00:46:34.920 --> 00:46:39.480
so I think I'd already kind of unconsciously started down

743
00:46:39.480 --> 00:46:39.840
that road.

744
00:46:39.880 --> 00:46:43.719
Anyway, I think a lot of most people are doing

745
00:46:44.320 --> 00:46:47.920
a lot of the right things. Most people have have

746
00:46:48.199 --> 00:46:53.639
that central orientation to want the intention to make good

747
00:46:53.679 --> 00:46:54.760
things happen in the world.

748
00:46:55.159 --> 00:46:59.199
Right, Well, we we're going to have to close this

749
00:46:59.480 --> 00:47:04.079
up and say say goodbye for now. I hope that

750
00:47:04.199 --> 00:47:07.639
this is spurring some people and inspiring those of you

751
00:47:07.800 --> 00:47:10.599
out there that are listening to this to inspire you

752
00:47:10.840 --> 00:47:16.320
to ask some questions of yourself of how how might

753
00:47:16.480 --> 00:47:20.239
this be something where you can make an impact in

754
00:47:20.280 --> 00:47:24.360
the world. So with that, Tina, thank you so much

755
00:47:24.400 --> 00:47:27.920
for joining me today. Thank you, and thanks to all

756
00:47:28.000 --> 00:47:31.079
of our listeners for joining us on the Ask Good

757
00:47:31.239 --> 00:47:34.400
Questions podcast. We will see you next time.

758
00:47:38.039 --> 00:47:41.639
Today's episode is over, but indeed ask Good Questions again,

759
00:47:41.760 --> 00:47:45.440
didn't We don't miss out as we broadcast live every

760
00:47:45.480 --> 00:47:49.760
Wednesday six pm Eastern Time on W FOURCY Radio at

761
00:47:49.960 --> 00:47:54.159
w fourcy dot com. Joined Banina Bellenderson next week for

762
00:47:54.360 --> 00:47:59.639
more conversations with experts on finances, retirement, behavioral.

763
00:47:59.039 --> 00:48:01.800
Finance, issue, health and wellness. Endmore.

764
00:48:02.280 --> 00:48:06.159
Until then, remember to ask good questions.