And so it's just taking that first step
and understanding what the relationship is as an
of money is as a tool
and then saying, I'm going to use this
tool
to... If we're in a bad spot, fix
where I'm at right now, and if we're
just trying to improve things, create goals that
can... That we can move forward to achieve
to really improve their life.
Welcome to Balancing Life's issues the podcast I'm
your host Kai. And today, we're highlighting B
I trainer, Garrett Sore, a financial adviser in
the Ultra high network worth space. It's However,
as a teacher at heart, he provides the
insight and principles needed for everyone to reach
their money goals and live an abundant mindset
to break negative money habits. And learn the
traits of the wealthy. Welcome to the podcast,
Garrett. I appreciate it. Thanks for having me.
Of course, and it's always nice to meet
another sore and I have to ask is
that Danish German Heritage or what's going on
there? It's the Danish. Yeah. We're where I
think we're third or third generation fourth generation
here in the states for for that. So,
yeah, pretty
Same same same on my side of the
family, the en, I believe makes it.
So anyway so You know. Not a lot
of people know that. So, yeah, we're we're
we're the people that have our name spelled
wrong our entire lives and right. Yeah. Yep.
Yep.
So please tell us more about, you know,
who you are what you do and specifically
the types of of of trainings that you
deliver for Bla.
Definitely. So the types of training, I focus
mostly on,
financial
kind of the relationship between finance and mental
health as well.
My background, I actually right out of high
school and everything like I had a I
had a business that I was hoping run
for a little while.
That was great. It was early 2 thousands
pre 2008.
Of course, 2008 happened, and a lot of...
My business just like a lot of other
business kind of went down.
Is that the kind an initial financial crisis.
That was yes. 2008. Right? 1 of the
worst financial crisis that we'd seen since the
great depression.
I mean, the the markets went down 40
percent. Businesses were were going under left and
right. It was just a really bad time.
I'd been out of high school for a
couple years. Didn't really understand what was happening
especially to the business that that I was
in. And so, you know, I like, I
to go to school. I need to learn
about this stuff. And you know, everyone kinda
knows. I I didn't have the money to
pay for school. So I was like, well
the military won't pay for school. Right? So...
Yeah.
So I went talked to all the different
recruiters and I told my recruiter as... I
was gonna white knuckle my way through 3
years of the army and then go to
school,
go to college full time. But I ended
up spending 10 years active duty in the
wow. Really really changed your your life once
you were in. It changed a lot. I
mean, we're my perspective,
just I actually enjoyed when I did while
I was in, it really gave me a
lot of structure,
just a lot of things that I needed
especially at a young age.
I finished my degree while I was in
the military as well in active duty, so
I had an undergraduate in a statistics and
accounting. And so I had this kind of
finance focus I didn't really know what I
wanted to do with it.
I had some mentors kinda later on in
my career that actually pushed me towards the
personal
financial side.
Which I'm very thankful for that I didn't
go onto the accounting side. I because it
turns out I wouldn't have had the... There's
the right personality for that,
And so I I did more of the
financial planning side. I finished my,
certification and financial planning. I'm a certified financial
planner.
I've got an Mba in finance and accounting,
And I am a certified exit planning adviser.
For the past couple of years, I've been
working for an accounting company.
Where
we focus on working with business owners that
are looking to exit their business. So they're
looking to sell their business in some way
or harvest the value in their business in
some way. And they'll bring us along with
their Cpa,
they're... We've got valuation attorneys. We got all
the, kind of the whole team aspect or
to come around these business owners help them
go through their process of selling their business
and then manage their assets on the back
end. So we also do private wealth management
and everything like that. Wow. So in in
the event of you know, exiting a business,
are there multiple parties involved?
Sometimes? Oh 0, yeah. Yeah. It's... I mean,
it's a it's a huge part. And I
mean, outside of what we don't provide, depending
if they're gonna do something like an M
and A, mergers an acquisition. If they're bringing
in private equity, private capital, something along those
lines.
I mean, you'll you'll have anywhere from 3
to 7 or 8 different people. That are
working with that business owner to go through
that process, where we kinda serve as more
on the advisory side. So a lot of
people are going to just like in life,
a lot of people are going out and
talking to people
because they want them to sell so that
they can make commissioner. They can get a
portion of that cell or anything like that.
We're engaged kinda to sit on the same
side of the table of that business owner
and really advise them on the best thing
to do, not what's going to make the
most money for us. We we kinda have
that responsibility to work in the a business
owner's best interest instead of just saying, hey,
take this deal, even though it's 300000 dollars
or a million dollars less left than what
you thought it was because at the end
of the day, that's only gonna short my
commission by a few bucks. Sure. We we
have that responsibility to really work for them
and what they're looking at. Yeah. And I
put their best interests in, like, let let
them letting them know about that. Right. Yeah.
Absolutely. So, yeah. I thought it was interesting,
and I'm gonna segue us into the mental
health conversation here.
Because I think I think I heard what
it was. So the 2008
financial crisis, I was
nearing the end of my undergraduate degree. And
I saw that and I felt it, and
I also saw the
implication of of jobs as a. Right? So
As I was graduating college,
it was a pretty bleak job market. So
I decided just to continue my education. What
I hear is similar
process, but you instead wanted to
understand so that you could own
a financial crisis and and instead put you
into the position where today. Does that sound
about
Right?
Yeah. You know, it's it's 1 of... It's
very rare that we can look back in
history and say there was this defining moment.
That sort of impacted you on on a
scale at which it changed your trajectory in
time. Right? Mh. And especially with mental health
so much of the stuff comes from
instances in our life that we don't even
remember. When we're small children. U. The things
that we've experienced when when we're kids seeing
our our, you know, parents or the adults
that are around us go through certain situations.
And so 2008 was just kind of this
interesting point where seeing it affects you, and
and it's so clearly defined because it affected
basically all of the economy. But I think
when you're looking at it from,
a money standpoint and mental health,
a lot of our
relationship to money as a tool in itself
starts so much earlier than we realize when
we're seeing our parents or the adults that
are around us really
dealing with their financial issues or dealing with
their financial stress. So And even to the
point of what we're talking about now, what
I was going through in 2008 when I
was in my twenties,
the way that I handled that was still
so highly correlated. It was so related Mh
to the way that I was raised as
a child and that kind of what... That's
what kind of put me on that path
towards that that diversion, that change in my
life that I had to make. Yeah. And
I appreciate you say, like, the adults around
us. Right? Because I vivid remember.
Hard conversations that I would hear my parents
having because we didn't grow up with a
lot of money. And to this day, I
harbor a lot of anxiety
around
around finances in our home. And as a
result, I'm
fine tooth comb. I... You know, I'm comb
through
through everything. So...
And and I think it's... We can all
agree that our our public school systems
don't really educate us.
On our finances. Right? Right. So
all of a sudden were 24 student loans
trying to get a job. Maybe I went
to college, maybe I didn't
And I don't know how to balance a
budget. Right? And that you're starting to feel
that.
And I know for myself personally,
I would there was like 16000 dollars in
credit card debt because that's what I thought
you did. You know? And it it's like,
at the time, it was embarrassing, but
I was able to kinda climb out of
that hole.
So it is possible. But I guess,
this mental health conversation,
when we're completely overwhelmed financially, and it seems
like we can't... I don't wanna get up
tomorrow because I'm gonna have to deal with
this.
What's that first step someone takes when when
things are that bad?
Yeah. This is...
This... There's a cycle to this? You know,
and that's the hard part. When when we're
looking at it. We always have to understand
the relationship of money
in the conversation of mental health month well
being. Right? We live in society today. It's
so different than our ancestors,
you know, years and years hundreds of years
ago, maybe thousands of years ago where
the idea of creating
safety
and having our basic needs fulfilled meant that
you had to go out and hunt. And
gather fine shelter Right? That's how they spent
their days. Their time was spent doing those
things. And the reason
that they would feel things like anxiety or
scarcity or or fear or any of that
was because they had not... They did not
have enough. At the time. Right? Mh. And
so those feelings are real. What they felt
was real because it was truly life or
death. We live in a society where things
are so different now where we're essentially able
to trade our time
for a resource, money as a tool,
that allows us to go and buy the
basic necessities and be able to buy the
ability to cover our needs and everything like
that.
And I think when you realize that money's
is really just a tool to help provide
the basic necessities to help give you those
basic needs that you. That you need to
have to fill safety and to feel comfort
to eliminate anxiety and fear from your life
then you can start on that first step
saying, well okay, money is not going to
buy me happiness.
It's gonna buy me security. And if I
can feel safe, if I can have groceries
in in the house if I can have
a roof over my head, then I can
now start to look at. How do I
eliminate
the pitfalls
that money has been placed in front of
me. Right? Mh. I tell people all the
time. It's crazy.
That we go and trade
the
the this limited resource time. Right? Something that
we can never buy back. We trade our
time
for dollars. Mh. And then we use those
dollars to buy name brand things. Yeah. Or
to give to stores to buy things that
we don't need. Yeah. And in... That... We're
really, all we're doing is robbing from ourselves
And from a mental health standpoint, that's what
causes that fear. That's what causes that anxiety.
That's what can cause depression and issues with
money and issue choose with friends and society
and everything like that. And so it's just
taking that first step and understanding what the
relationship is as of money is as a
tool, choose and then saying, I'm going to
use this tool to... If we're in a
bad spot, fix where I'm at right now.
And if we're just trying to improve things
create goals that can... That we can move
forward to achieve to really improve our life.
Yeah. No. I... That's it's all so well
said. And I I think what I'm kinda
getting from that information is this importance of
a budget. And it sounds
out, primitive, I guess, going back to your...
Ancestors analogy,
but that is what changed my life.
Because the second I had a budget going.
I realized I had to review
my finances is on a daily basis and
be like, oh my gosh. I wonder how
many people are getting charged 35 dollars a
month for something they signed up for 8
years ago that they don't even know is
is still around anymore. Right? So I guess
in terms of lining up that budget, I
know there are apps you can use, I
use the app version. You can go pen
and paper, you can do a spreadsheet.
In in order just to get everything into
1 view and to get moving in the
right direction with that. What... What do you
suggest being that first step? Yeah. This is
probably the number 1 question I get asked
in the trainings that I do. They, you
know, garrett what is the best budget? And
I tell absolutely everybody, the best budget that
you can use
is the budget that you will use. Okay.
And I, I know that sounds a little
bit flip. Right?
But when... I mean, if people knew what
I knew, you know, you can use the
every dollar budget, the 0 dollar budget, the
last dollar budget. You can use the envelope
method, the bucket method. I I use Excel.
I open up, like, a crazy person. I
open up Excel, and I do it every
single day, know. But Probably 1 of those
guys that has all the formulas and you
love that stuff. Right? Yes. Yeah. Yeah. Definitely.
You know, there's there's books out there dedicated
to budgeting, like Why now. And and all
these other ones that are out there. It's...
It would be hard for me to say
this is the 1 budget that everyone needs
to stick to. And all of them have
different principles
that are kinda the guiding facts to them.
And there's gonna be some out there that
people are just absolutely going to despise. Mh.
And they're gonna they're gonna do that, and
they're gonna, like, oh, budgeting is not for
me. I'm just... I'm am just not the
type person that can budget because I didn't
like this 1.
And that stops them from going out and
looking at other types of budgeting tools or
other types of budgeting resources.
And and I say, if that's the case,
if you found 1 that you didn't like,
find 1 that you do, like, budget should
not be a 4 letter word, types budget
should be the thing that you do that
allows you the freedom
to go and spend the money that you...
The way that you wanna spend it. Yeah.
That should be accomplishing your goals that should
be providing for the future, should be covering
for your basic needs, But it should also
be... For you to be happy for you
to live life the way you wanna live
now. Mh. That's what a budget should provider.
Yeah. No I... That's I I love it.
I love this stuff honestly because as I
said earlier,
I was not in a good place financially,
and I buckled down and I climbed out
of debt. And I'm sitting here today,
knowing I haven't looked at my finances yet
today,
and I need to.
Right. I need to go do that because
I know it's important.
We all have financial setbacks.
And
you just... You have to live in a
place where...
You can anticipate something that you can't see
coming. Like, for, like,
we paid out more taxes this year than
I anticipated. Well, unfortunately, we had to put
down a cat. And so, like, within a
couple of months, you know, my wife and
I... We've we've spent thousands of dollars, and
you have to get to place where you're
you're spending below your means so that you
can... So that you have the buffer, you
have that safety net so that life
doesn't send you into debt because life does
happen. So... Yeah. Absolutely. And I think there's
just a certain level of freedom that comes
from that concept. Right. Mh. I always... I
I talk to people. I say, think about
a time where it was really easy for
you to save money. Yep. And most the
time it's when you're... Right planning for a
big vacation that you really wanna do.
You know, you're going, out out of the
country, maybe you're planning a big vacation, like,
a trip to Disney world with your family
or whatever it is, that was probably a
time where it was really easy for you
to say, I don't need to buy this
thing because I've got this big trip coming
up, and it's gonna cost me a few
thousand dollars. And you saved, you got to
that point, you saved that money that was
so easy.
We need to find ways that we can
instill those same principles that desire to save.
For everything else because life does happen. My
wife and I we love going on vacations.
That is something we absolutely... Save 4. Mh.
And, you know, it it we hate it
when our water heater goes out, like, it
did a couple of weeks ago because it's
a few thousand dollar have to fix. Like,
that comes out of the the vacation fund
if we don't have a good emergency fund
set up. Right. Well, we are not gonna
take from the vacation fund, so we're gonna
make sure we've got yeah emergency fund set
up. So that we don't have to rob
from our future enjoyment
in order to to cover something that even
though we didn't see it coming, we know
is going to happen as homeowners. Gotcha. Well,
well, fantastic. Garrett. I know you're extremely busy.
And once again, you know, this podcast is
coming on memorial day. So again, thank you
for your service to our country.
And to all your listeners out there, thank
you for tuning in to learn more about
Garrett and the type of trainings he offers
here at B
And again, thank you for your time, Gary.
Thank you so much, kai. Until next time,
everyone. Take care.
This has been a production of balancing life's
issues with your host, Kai Sore, and Wendy
Owner.
Produce by me. Kai.
Rate, leave review and subscribe to the podcast
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Email me KAI at balancing life's issues dot
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