Meet Elliot And His Backstory

SPEAKER_01 0:10

And today I have a wonderful guest from all the way from Toronga, Papamoa. I've been practicing there. And his name is Elliot Power. He is going to talk to us about what it's like to be new to the industry and share the wisdoms of his life experiences. Hello, Elliot.

SPEAKER_00 0:29

Hi, it's Libanisco. Great to be here.

SPEAKER_01 0:32

Thank you so much for coming as a guest. I'm really excited to interview you for multiple various reasons. But first, can you tell us about who you are?

SPEAKER_00 0:42

Yeah, so I live in Peppermont, as you said. I'm a husband to my wife Sandra, and we've been married for eight years. And pretty much the week after we got married, we moved down to Peppermore from Auckland. We've got two daughters, they're five and seven. And my wife's up in Auckland this year. She's finishing her naturopathy degree, which is natural medicine and you know, helping people with their lifestyle and diet and herbs and supplements and things like that. So I'm a stay-at-home dad this year. And yeah, left my full-time role in the chemic industry. So was managing a team in a packed house. Yeah, and when Sandra went up to Auckland, we sort of hummed and hard whether I kept working, and we got sort of a nanny and grandparents would put in to look after the kids. But we yeah, we decided it'd be best for everyone for for the kids and myself and Sandra to stay at home. With the kids this year, and it's been awesome. Yeah, especially my youngest daughter, she was always like a real mums girl. Yeah. Um but she's my little mate now, she likes to sits next to me in the weekend when Sandra comes home and have dinners and things like that. So that's great. Yeah. I love it.

SPEAKER_01 1:59

Not that in today's world, you don't see many dads taking time off work to hang out with their kids and be that main caregiver for them. So this is really, really cool. That's awesome.

SPEAKER_00 2:13

Yeah, and also, you know, you your personality is wrapped so much in your profession. You know, you like you go to a social gathering and they're like, oh, what do you do? And it's sort of, you know, subconsciously people are like, is this guy worth talking to, or is this lady interesting enough that I'll hold a conversation with her? And when you're like, oh, I'm staying home with the kids, like initially I sort of I wasn't, I just couldn't really articulate it that way. Oh, dad, oh, okay. But when you go, hey, I'm staying home with the kids this year, I'm studying financial advice, I'm doing this and this and that. Here's all the great things that are happening, people are like, oh wow. And it's it's sort of transitioned now. And I probably got better at communicating with a lot of the books and research I've been doing around sort of you know, sales and marketing and that sort of thing.

Why He Returns To Finance

SPEAKER_01 3:07

What what landed you in the financial industry? You just mentioned that you've come from kiwifruit company. What made you think going, okay, I'm gonna change direction in life and go into financial industry? Did you have much knowledge of the finance industry?

SPEAKER_00 3:25

Yeah, in my I can say my youth now, you know, I'm sort of a bit older. Yeah, I worked for ASB Bank in their retail for uh six, seven years in my twenties. And I could never really crater into the head office or into like the commercial or investment side, which I really wanted to get into. You know, made it to like the personal banking level, and then it sort of just plateaued off. And I thought, well, I'm not getting I'm not sort of getting anywhere. So I transitioned, and a friend of a friend said there was a role going um at the warehouse head office, which was sort of on the North Shore in Auckland, if you drive past the Harbour Bridge there. So transitioned into that, which was like a graduate role, and they sort of spent six months in different areas of the business, and it and it really set me up. And yeah, like status quo, you just sort of you keep going and you keep improving, and got promotion after promotion and things like that. But I always sort of felt like I wanted to come back to finance, and they're asleep on like, you know, looking up books and articles and YouTube videos around personal finances and how to squeeze like the last dollar out of an investment or a budget, or you know, reading life insurance policies with fund and that sort of stuff. So always wanted to get back to it.

SPEAKER_01 4:48

What

What Good Advice Looks Like

SPEAKER_01 4:48

does a good financial advisor mean to you?

SPEAKER_00 4:52

I think doing the best for the client regardless of the outcome. So I I remember reading uh if you've heard of the guy Alex Ormosy, he's like, yeah, quite big. So he said if you look at it from the angle where whether the the client goes ahead with your advice or not, you've won either way. Because if they don't go ahead with it, you go, well, I've laid out everything and I've gone in it with the the angle that I'm willing to help this person no matter what, and therefore they're better off for seeking my advice, rather than going in and going, okay, I I want to get the sale or I want to put the policy in place or I want to get the you know the investment in place for them. But the fact that you'll be able to provide that advice and then their life is better off for it regardless. And I think just putting the client first above everything is the way to do it.

SPEAKER_01 5:52

I fully agree with that. And you know, I always say clients can feel when people are putting when there are some cowboy advisors and they're putting their own needs and wants in the first place compared to what is actually important to the client. So I love that you understand, but also because as a fellow ex-ASB, you know, we have it in built in us somehow that was all the training that it would have gone through the ASB platform. I used to love, really love and enjoy those training sessions. And there was a main character. Do you remember the main person that we had to watch all those videos, and there was this main person that did all the training? What's his name? The favorite phrase of mine was every night is an opening night. And you know, whenever you see a client, you've got to treat them like it's because for them it's the first experience, right? They they don't know what's going on in your life, they don't know that you already met 10 people and you're repeating yourself for the 11th time. But for them, they're this is the first time they're hearing from you. So this is why I think it's super important for us, the financial advisors, not to forget that and to make sure that we treat people with the utmost attention, respect, and providing for their needs and what's important to them.

SPEAKER_00 7:12

So that's that's really in your facet where it's you know home loans and things like that. You know, if people get pre-approved and they can go buy their home that they've been dreaming of for you know decades, it's like it's such a big moment and they're putting so much trust in yourself. And then you know, on my side with the insurance and investment side, it's like you know, the one conversation you could have when they're 30 years old, you know, can change their life completely when they're 70 or 80, you know, just in this minute. So they've got to trust the person that they're talking to for sure.

Modern Communication And Online Trust

SPEAKER_01 7:48

What skills do you think a new generation of financial advisors really need to develop? A FDI and sort of role that you're in.

SPEAKER_00 7:58

Yeah, I think just probably changing your communication style. Like if someone I'm used to it, but often I would phone people in my previous work, and it's almost like shocking that you would phone them and talk to them on the phone. Where some people would ignore your phone call, and then they'd like within by the time you've like left a voice message, they've texted you back like twice and been like, hey, this, this, this, this, it's like I think for the younger generation, you know, once again, I I don't want to sound too old, but you know, for people in their twenties and things like that, it's like I don't know if phone calls and emails like I see them as a bit more professional picking up the phone and and you can come to a solution a bit better, and they can pick up on your tone and your voice and things like that. But a lot of people just want to, you know, have a message and get to it in their own time and so much of the world is online, like you drive to work or you you drop the kids off at school and you go past a bus stop and there's like 10 people. And when I was a teenager waiting for the bus, you know, you just sort of like watching the cars go by and you're like, man, when's this bus gonna arrive? But every single one of them is just like bent over on their phone. So it's like if they're on their phone all the time, you know, you've got to you've got to be found. So a lot of the older buzzers that have sort of been in the industry for a while, you know, the big time into are networking, centers of influence, you know, B and I groups, all this sort of stuff. But I think it's sort of switching to hey, if people can't find you online, and they can't see, you know, like on your webpage, for example, you've got a YouTube clip of you, and it's like just that two minutes of you talking, it's like it builds so much trust for someone because they're online comparing you against other people. So I think you've just got to have that real mindfulness of okay, well, the tides change and people are on their phones and screens a lot more, so you've got to be where the eyes are. You there?

SPEAKER_01 10:19

Yeah. Sorry, lost you there for a moment. We were talking about the presence online, Elliot. And you're right, like these days, you know, there was a really cool conference we had last year with Financial Advice New Zealand, and there was a presentation from Booster, and they had three different generations and how to deal with them. You know, the older people they may like a phone call, they may want to see you face to face. They, you know, they really want to have that physical interaction. Then there are people that probably closer to you and my age, and we're okay with a phone call, we're okay with an email. You know, it just really depends. And then with the younger people, that there is an element of they don't want to talk on the phone, they don't maybe want to see you face to face really fast.

SPEAKER_00 11:10

Is it your internet or mine? I've never had a problem with our I have no idea.

SPEAKER_01 11:16

Hopefully, we can edit all of those little blips out. Can you see me well? And can you hear me well?

SPEAKER_00 11:22

I can see you, but when you talk, it's sort of it's it's very patchy.

SPEAKER_01 11:27

Yeah, I've changed it to my mobile data, so hopefully that works now. So let's see how that goes. So hopefully all of us will get cut out. Yeah, I can hear you. Um yeah, if we just go back for a moment and talk about you know the presentation I saw at Booster, and they did like three different types of generations, and there's older people, then there's middle-aged, and then there's a younger generation. And the younger generation, they definitely don't like face-to-face straight away. They want to know, first of all, who you are, what do you want from them, how you're gonna help them, and then they're gonna look at approaching you or dealing with you. And first they'll probably go to AI and ask AI multiple questions and come to you with sort of AI-prepared questionnaire.

AI Changes The Adviser’s Role

SPEAKER_01 12:10

Now, Elliot, what do you think of AI in today's world and how do you think that's gonna affect our industry? What are your thoughts?

SPEAKER_00 12:19

Yeah, I think like back in years past, like an advisor would be the wealth of knowledge. So, say you're a client and you go, okay, I know I need to sort out some medical insurance, for example. I'll I've got two options. I either get out an encyclopedia or or I Google articles and I spend hours and hours trying to find out the ins and outs. Whereas you can jump on AI and go, okay, you can you know ask it questions back and forth. So I think people are coming to advisors a lot more informed. And the advisor, rather than trying to go, let me tell you all about medical insurance, they go, Well, you know, tell me tell me why you think medical insurance for yourself and your family is a good idea. And then you'll go, Oh, well, I've spent the last week on AI going back and forth, and Claude or chat GGP has told me this and this and that. And then you're almost like not the wealth of knowledge, you're almost like going, oh well, have you thought about this? Or I understand where you're going there, but I think you've missed this one part here. Or, you know, you seem fairly well informed. Why are you asking me? Seems like you can do it yourself, and then you un uncover like little pockets that they've missed, or hey, I I know all the detail, but I'm just struggling to take the leap. And it's like, you know, the advisors are there for a bit of moral support rather than being the one that has to explain everything. So I don't think advisors are going to be you know out of a job next week because of AI is coming along, but I think just the nature of it's gonna change. You're not trying to explain the ins and outs, you're just trying to guide them and then be the emotional and sort of the the person that's guiding their emotions rather than you know guiding their knowledge base, I think.

SPEAKER_01 14:23

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 14:24

I mean, you're probably spending a bit more than me.

SPEAKER_01 14:26

It's gonna be interesting to watch, right?

SPEAKER_00 14:29

Um, yeah, just the ring, just the structure, and you're like, hey, hey, hold up, let's let's look at that.

SPEAKER_01 14:37

I mean it's it's interesting. I was doing an insurance quote one time for a client, and we sat down to chat. And he's like, Okay, can you explain to me what this product does, what this product does, what this product does. And I went through every single product as I normally would and explained. And he said to me, Wow, in half an hour you managed to explain every single product in such great detail that I couldn't even get out of AI. And he said that he modeled across three different AIs all the quotes that I sent him, trying to understand what each product meant. And and he's a knowledgeable guy, he knows a lot about AI, he actually deals with AI for his own work, and he struggled to understand the information AI was giving him, but having that verbal human communication, he met his brain managed to absorb that information much better than getting pages and pages and pages of product description, you know, and what each each thing meant. So from my point of view, I think the advisors that can embrace the AI to help them to use it as a tool, but have that human side to them of being able to explain that in human words without any jargon. I think those are the advisors that will be winning long term in the future.

New Zealand’s Money Education Gap

SPEAKER_01 15:53

So just if we step back for a moment, from what you can see and from your own personal experience, do you think there is a financial education gap in New Zealand? And and if yes, what can we do about it?

SPEAKER_00 16:13

Yeah, I think there is. Like I've been talking to a few directors of financial firms that I'm looking to join and things like that. And I was sort of humming and harring whether I put on the investment strand as well or just sort of double down on the personal risk insurance. And I've been, I suppose, throughout my own research and things, you know, I've come to the conclusion that, hey, you know, the index funds are the way to go. And why would someone go with like an actively managed fund when you know maybe the um fees are a bit higher and and things like that? And a lot of people have said, hey, look, you're you know, you're right in certain instances, you're you're maybe not getting the full picture in in other instances and things like that. But they said, just the the knowledge of people, like you'd be shocked. There's hundreds of thousands, if not millions, of people that are just in a default fund where they signed up for their first role and they're just sitting there, and you know, it's just sort of like these little things like that, and you sort of scratch your head and go, Well, it's all there in the library, it's all on YouTube, it's all on Google, why would you not do it? But I think people don't know what they don't know. And then if they're sort of sitting there, you know, and they're not getting this advice, it's like you know, that can be so worse off in the future. And I just think people think it's really complicated, so they don't even start. It's sort of like, you know, people go, I know I should go to the gym, I know I should exercise. But you hop on the internet and you go, Well, I've got thousands of foods, one person says that's the best thing ever, one person says it's gonna cause cancer, and you're like, what do I do? And then people just get lulled into doing nothing because it's so complicated.

SPEAKER_01 18:02

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 18:02

And I think people think, oh, financial advisor, that's only for wealthy people. You know, you can get a financial advisor for as little as one dollar in your cave saver account, really. And I know the you know, they're starting to put financial education in schools and things like that, which is a huge plus. But yeah, I remember in one of the rich dad or dad books, he said, look, financial education begins at home. You can't rely on schools or governments or things like that to do it for you. So, you know, we're studying things with our kids. We've got KiwiServer accounts for them, and we've got four money jars, and one of them goes into the Kiwi Silver each week, and and things like that. So it's just like having these conversations at home with kids. And you know, if there's there's an adult that's like, hey, I'm not cleared up myself, it's like that's where an advisor comes in. Bring the kids along, and it's like generational wealth from then on in. But yeah, I do think there's a big gap, and I think it's just people think it's overwhelming and they don't start.

SPEAKER_01 19:04

Yeah, I loved it. And you actually brought me to my question that I love asking my guests on the show is what's your own relationship with money? What did you learn growing up? Did you know much about the money? Did your parents talk to you? What sort of household did you have? Uh yeah.

SPEAKER_00 19:26

Yeah, like I mean, mum and dad weren't you know, they weren't Warren Buffett's of this world, but dad worked for ANZ or National Bank, and then ANZ as it merged. Um and he was a business banking manager, so he would see a lot of business people that, you know, ones that were successful, ones that weren't, they'd sort of throughout our childhood, like bought houses, renovated them, and then sort of sold them off and upgraded. So I sort of learned to run the business side and and the the property side from dad, first and foremost. Like he never sat me down and this is how it works, but I'd be interested in it. And then I think mum was going through an airport one time and we had family in Christchurch, and she was coming back, and she's like, Oh, you know, Elliot would love this book. And there was the Rich Dad Poor Dad book in the in the bookstore in the library, so she bought it for me. And yeah, ever since then I've sort of just been hooked, I think. Being a second child, like my brother was always doing things first, and yeah, he's intellectually probably more intelligent than me, and sport-wise, we were we did different sports, but I was sort of even with him, I would say, so it's like, hey, this could be my thing on the side that I could, you know, I could be a real whiz at. And I've always been interested in math and just sort of the you know, the compound interest calculators, or you know, I'd be in a somewhere and there'd be a scrap of paper and I'd just be frantically writing down like you know, forecasts of properties that I'd see and things like that. Yeah, I don't know, I just always had an interest in it. It's just fascinating me.

SPEAKER_01 21:08

That's fascinating. I love hearing people's money stories because to me it's like, wow, you know, how can you as a kid develop interests in money and finances? And then what do you end up, you know, doing 20 years later or 30 years later when you're

Money Upbringing And Future Plans

SPEAKER_01 21:26

grown up? Now that now that you're grown up, where where do you see yourself in the next five to ten years in this industry?

SPEAKER_00 21:38

Yeah, so obviously get into financial advising, so I'll do the investments and and personal risk. And yeah, I sort of thought, well, do I eventually open your own FAP? And people have asked me that sort of thing. And I think one thing I've learned from you know being out of the workforce for the last what is it, eight months now, is just that interaction with other adults is like it's absolutely huge. And the fabs that I'm sort of tossing up some. them are going, hey, we have we don't have enough people in Todunga yet, so it'll be like a work from home arrangement. Other people like, yeah, we've got an office, you know, that sort of thing. And I think ideally it would be, you know, run a successful sort of a successful financial advisor service underneath a larger umbrella. And then ideally scale up with like having an admin or or a couple of admins underneath me rather than go out on my own, sort of the logger I've thought about it. And I've always worked for bigger companies as well. So going off and sort of doing my own thing. Yeah, I don't know if it's my cup of tea. So that would be where I'll see myself in a larger firm with yeah, like a an admin underneath me helping out just so I can spend more time seeing people and helping them out rather than getting bogged in with the admin.

SPEAKER_01 23:08

Elliot, are you with me? I think it's super super windy today in Wellington and it just keeps killing all my internet connections.

SPEAKER_02 23:22

I see.

SPEAKER_01 23:23

My apologies. I don't know what's going on. I've never had so many issues it's just sometimes it happens when it's super windy somehow our internet connections get affected.

SPEAKER_00 23:34

Okay.

SPEAKER_01 23:35

Yeah. Cool. Sorry we were at where were we?

SPEAKER_00 23:40

You were talking about uh the five year plan?

SPEAKER_01 23:44

Your five year yeah where are you look where where do you see yourself in the next five to ten years?

SPEAKER_00 23:50

Yeah so I've been out of the workforce now for for eight months looking after the kids and and retraining and studying and things like that. And yeah I've sort of thought about starting my own fat you know sometime in the future and like listening to podcasts like yourself or people that have gone out on their own. But yeah I've always worked for larger companies and things like that and I think just the social interaction with with other adults that aren't a you know that aren't a five year old and a seven year old is so huge. And with Sunder and my wife been up in Auckland and come back for the weekends it's like just having someone that's sort of in an office environment that you can you know shoot the bird with or hey I've got this tricky situation with this client what do you think? I know people that go off on their own get sort of like a business coach or a or a mentor in the industry and things like that. But yeah I sort of think working under a larger firm or medium to large size firm and then scaling up with having like an admin or two underneath me as I progress and and things like that. I don't want to get bogged down with the admin like the reason I joined the industry is I want to have have face to face a video or phone calls conversations and you know see as many people and help as many people as I can so I think that'll be the that'll be the goal and hey look you know in years to come things may change but yeah that's sort of where I see myself in what is it 2031?

SPEAKER_01 25:19

Yep we'll do another one we'll do another episode in uh five years' time all right see how you check out Elliot what have you learned in terms of bad experiences with money in life like did you have any lessons in life where you went shoot I wish I knew that or I wish someone told me that yeah like I I was a stock picker in my youth.

Stock Picking Pain And Patience

SPEAKER_00 25:50

I you know I thought I could outsmart everyone and look I had some wins and some losses and I worked it out I think it was like almost a decade long from sort of 18 to 28 before I met my wife and she's like hey what's this stockbreaking thing I don't know if that's sort of part of what we want to do to buy first home and things and when the kids came along and my career took off you just have so little time to dedicate to it it's just not worth it. But yeah sort of you know you think you've you think you've made the right call and you and you pick a company and I had one company was a Australian based company. They were like a law firm and they went around little law firms and bought them up so they'd buy them for you know multiple of earnings and then they'd be valued on the stock market for three or four times as much as that. So that's sort of how they grew and they were merging with a company in the UK and all the reports they put in there all look fine. And I had it at the time sort of between 20 and 25,000 in this one company and it lost I think it lost 98 or 99%. It went from like eight dollars down to 11 cents. And and so luckily I you know had a few other companies and it all sort of balanced out but gosh that really stung and like I haven't stocked picked since and I think when you're young you can make those you know when you're young you can concentrate and you've got time on your side to recover from it. But you know if we were to lose 98% of our like investment now it would just put us back like you know a couple of decades I would think and I think people instead of playing the long game it just seems so boring and long because you go on social media and you go oh there's you know Zibonisa from school and and she's doing great she's got her own business and she's got a you know lovely home and I was just going on holiday and then you sort of go well you know the only way that I'm gonna get that is I've got to take these exuberant risks and you know get rich quick schemes and things like that. You know, I came up with all these business ideas and I tried a few and they flopped and things like that. Whereas I've I just used that money and sort of thought okay what do I want to do in my 30s 40s 50s sort of thing and just these little accumulation of savings and making sure that nothing catastrophic happens like it's just an eventuality that it's going to pan out. Whereas I think I was just in too much of a hurry. You know you'd you'd read books you'd watch people you'd see things and you go I want what they want now it's like I want what they want sorry I want what they've got but I'm not willing to put the time and the patience in to get it. It's like I want that now without seeing the huge learning curve and things that they've they've gone through. So my biggest lesson is as long as you've got the the right habits and the right sort of structure and the right long-term goal it's it's just an eventuality that's gonna pan out rather than try to hurry the process and have it tomorrow.

SPEAKER_01 29:12

I love that you know the more people I interview the same pattern emerges as that those that seem to have it all on Instagram you know that's where a lot of our younger people get trapped into that mentality that oh you know the Instagram looks so perfect. They've got a perfect life they've got it all how come I don't have it and how what am I gonna do to get it? But you're right it's the patience it's the habits it's the grit that you have to put into it and you just don't see the pitfalls those people would have had the the down days and the down years some of those people might have had to get to where they are now. And I love that you've identified it because hopefully people listening to this will really relate and go, okay, maybe my life is not going too much sideways. Maybe I still have the time to recover and get back on track. So especially like people like you that when I interview and you've gone you know from doing this career to that career now you've pivoted again and you're doing something really awesome and really cool that the age doesn't really matter sometimes like if you find your passion and you find what you really love doing the age is secondary. Doesn't matter at what age do you pivot and change your careers this is really cool.

SPEAKER_00 30:31

Yeah and you know if if I'm saying you know a 25 year old probably won't resonate with me whereas your financial advisor in your 27 they're gonna go well he's only two years older than me I'll go with him because he can relate to to me a lot better. So I think the days of old you go well they've got to have grey hairs they've got to you know be a certain age to be reputable as an advisor I think those days have gone and I think you know anyone that's sort of 10 years old or 10 years younger you can that's sort of your your target market. So you know if you're 55 you've probably got people that are between 45 and say 70 they will take advice from you but the younger generation won't and then you know if you're a younger advisor you're probably gonna have clients that are younger. So I've sort of thought about well who's my niche who's my target market and you know we've been a a single income family for some time now. We've got two young kids so it's like what's probably gonna be my target market is young families with kids that own their own home because they can relate to me.

SPEAKER_02 31:44

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 31:45

So I think age doesn't make a difference as an advisor but it just makes a difference in who you're giving advice to or who's going to resonate with you the most yeah I love that.

Reverse Engineering Goals That Stick

SPEAKER_01 31:55

One thing I want you to pick your brains on is you talked about goals and goal setting. I find this is a skill a lot of people don't have these days in thinking about goals. How do you what sort of tips can you give them to help think about the goals? Because a lot of people I talk to they may not even think past next month.

SPEAKER_00 32:20

They may not think past next year sometimes you know so what sort of goal setting tips could you give to someone that you might have used yourself I I mean it sounds pretty cliche but it's like what do you want people to say at your funeral or you know when when you're 80 lying on your deathbed or or 90 on your deathbed it's like what would you regret not doing and yeah I sort of thought long and hard about that and it's like okay well if I want this when I'm older I've got to do this now and you know another cliche is like you know you overestimate what you can do in the short term in a year or two but you underestimate what you can do in sort of 10 20 years and it's like if you go okay here's my overarching goal for example and then you just break it down into small steps. It's like what do I need to to get there and some people I think well that faraway goal is so far away they go well it's not even worth it it's just a puck dream but if you go okay I want to be this and then you work it backwards like Richie McCaw for example that captain the all blacks for many years he sat down with his uncle when he was a teenager and his uncle goes oh Richie you know what do you want to be and he goes oh you know I want to be an all black and he goes oh okay cool what how old do you want to be when you're an all black and he was like oh I don't know 25 or something he's like okay here's the goal 25 and you're not you know you're 15 now and he's like if you want to be an all black what do you have to be when you're say 22 and you go well I need to be a starter in the you know the crusader super rugby team he goes okay so it's a 22 what do you need to do when you're 20 oh I need to play in like the regional Canterbury team and the NPC whatever he goes okay what do you want to need to do when you're 18 and he's like well I need to make the New Zealand schoolboys you know under 19 team and okay cool and when you're 17 what do you need to do I need to make like you know the under 17 team okay then what do you need to do there? Oh I need to make the first 15 by fourth or fifth form and you know make the Canterbury teams and it's like because they reverse engineered it he moved it back and then it was like it's achievable because you go well I don't have to be six or seven steps up the ladder I just need to get to the first one by a certain time then you take that off then I need to be the next one. So yeah we sort of break it down and we've got like these bigger goals in the future my wife and I but we sort of work at like three or six month increments because if it's so far away it's just a dream and you don't do plans but if you go okay where do we want to be you know it's summer now where do we want to be in winter it's winter now where do we want to be in summer because yeah you break it down into small increments and they just seem more manageable and you go okay if I've got six months what do I need to do within three months what do I need to do within a month what do I need to do within a week what do I need to do tomorrow it just makes it a lot more achievable because you're not trying to eat the elephant all at once you're just taking these tiny little bites.

SPEAKER_01 35:48

I love that you said the elephant analogy because that's my favorite one. I always use it anytime people get overwhelmed I'm like what's the best way to eat an elephant they usually but you're right like you know I think if you reverse engineer the outcome that you want and often I ask people you know at what time do you at what age do you want to retire? What do you want to have when you retire? And then work it out backwards that way. But also start with right now of why do you even want to do any of this? Why do you want to buy a house or why getting insurance is important or not important. Because it's interesting I think I don't have the exact statistics on me right now but it's crazy how many New Zealanders are underinsured or not insured at all. And if something happens you know 90% of us don't even have enough savings to last us over three months or over a month in some cases. So it's it's really really scary when you start talking to people and then you try to understand what's driving them, what's important to them and really drilling into it, then you get those answers emerging and then you and then you can work with their goal settings and things. That's what I've discovered over the last few years.

SPEAKER_00 37:04

For sure. And I think people because they don't know the ins and outs and you know they're not putting calculators together themselves on Excel it's like you know that's where you come in and you go okay well I've got the tools you've got the goal and let's work together to get there. It's like you know having a having a coach or a trainer or something if you try to do you know if you try to become a professional athlete by yourself without having a coach it's obviously a lot harder and the same thing with having a financial advisor. It's someone who's an expert in your corner and you know guiding you to those goals.

Make The Future Feel Real

SPEAKER_01 37:37

But it's also you know like fundamentally we're human beings and our brain is developed in a way to protect us from the unknown right because unknown can be scary and unknown is danger and therefore the brain will not go there because it's dangerous. There might be a lion jumping out out of a cave and eating us. So the brain will automatically shut off anything that looks too scary. So if people thinking about the future and they're listening to this and going oh my god I don't even know what my goals are I don't know what I want to do the brain will then shut off and go okay don't think about it let's think about the party the barbecue we're gonna go to this weekend or let's think about this new fancy blender machine that you can buy right now. So there's a lot of there's a lot of temptations we're living in right now in today's world and thinking about the future is always scary and unknown and you don't want to be doing it and the brain will not be doing it. So you have to train yourself to do that to do the uncomfortable to do the unknown versus the instant temptations would you agree?

SPEAKER_00 38:45

Yeah yeah I think so and you know with a lot of finances it's giving up something today for something more tomorrow so you know you go do I spend fifteen dollars or do I save that fifteen dollars for the me in 40 years time and a lot of people it's just human nature go well I can see and feel that sandwich or whatever for lunch I can't envision myself in 60 years and I know through the Financial Advisor New Zealand that you're part of there was a a webinar a wee while ago and it was like you need to mentally picture yourself so instead of saying okay yep you want to save a house you go oh yeah I do but you know I want to buy my lunch today as well it's like you go okay close your eyes for a minute and picture yourself you know having a homemade coffee or or you're cooking your breakfast for you and your kids or something at your dream kitchen table and the sun shining through the window you know Zebonizer can you feel it on your face like what do you see outside and it's like if you can picture yourself and you've got that mental like all those different feelings and things like that it becomes real whereas you just go oh yeah when you're 65 you'll need this much blah blah blah blah blah people are oh you know I can't even imagine what 65 looks like that's so far away whereas if you go and make the the dream that they want or the goal real with all these different senses like you know can you smell the coffee at your kitchen table can you can you see what's out the window with that lemon tree that you've planted can you see the kids playing in the backyard of that you know house that you bought it's like if they can picture it and see it and feel it it's like that goal becomes a lot more vivid and I think people just see some faraway thing and go, oh it's so far away I'll deal with I'll deal with

Financial Date Nights And Daily Roundups

SPEAKER_00 40:47

it later. Yeah yeah I'll save I'll save when I'm old it's like well no it got us to the save save now you know save now I love that I absolutely loved it for your own self have you done those exercises with Sandra where you're like let's close our eyes let's envision what would be your couple couple advice to to those couples yeah we go we go on a date no every two months so yeah grandparents sort of do it on on and off and things like that so you know sometimes we go out for dinner and you know we're we're the couple that goes out for dinner at like five o'clock at night and we're like owning one of the restaurants because who else goes out for dinner at five o'clock right below it and we're home by sort of bedtime for the kids. But yeah like those are sort of like our financial date nights or our education for the kid date night or our personal development date night so it's like you know we're we're sort of going and we go okay once again what do we want life to look like in six months so we're talking about finances I generally take the lead on finances Sandra sort of takes the lead on our on the health and the education side because you know she's obviously starting to be a naturopath and things like that. And then we sort of work together on okay what about lifestyle and things like that. So we do that. And then every night we have this thing called a daily roundup so it's evolved over the years but we do what's your gems of the day so it'll be like oh you know it was great playing with the kids this morning in in bed when they woke up we had nice cuddles and things like that and got them off to school on time and this and that you know talk to yourself with the podcast it was great things like that and then we do points of discussion so it's like hey remember we've got that thing coming up in a couple of weeks oh did you set that up did you book that did you talk to your parents etc and then we do something you're proud of so you go yep really proud of myself I got to the gym I felt like rubbish but I still did it or I'm proud I had that difficult conversation with so and so or I'm proud of the way I handled myself in this podcast or what have you and then we do the plan for tomorrow and yeah the plan for tomorrow was quite a big one because when I was in my previous career in care for it would be you know it'd be very hard to tell what time I was going to be home because if it was all going smooth you'd be like well hey look I'm gonna probably get out of here a bit early and if it was all going to rubbish and the machines went working and there was staff problems and things like that you know I'd sometimes be there all hours of the night. And Sandra would be sitting home going, wonder what time this guy's gonna get home so we'd sort of go, okay, here's a rough plan so if Sandra was having a tough time putting the kids to bed it's like hey she knows Elliot's going to get home a bit earlier or vice versa and it's not like a surprise going you wake up in the morning go, oh what should we do today? And you're like Well we've planned this for weeks did you forget or what's happening? We've got to go here for the day. And you're like oh jeez what so we're having like these bigger bi monthly sort of date night things and what have you planning like longer term but then the micro ones we plan Sort of a day or two out. And I think just always having your finger on the pulse like that helps.

SPEAKER_01 44:15

And I love that. And that's a foundation for a very strong relationship and a strong marriage, I would say, because I think this is where a lot of people go wrong, is when they don't communicate the important bits, which is finances, which is well-being, which is the things that are coming up. And just having that really open communication going, that's brilliant.

SPEAKER_00 44:37

For sure. Yeah, like I talked to some other men that are mighty like a monthly fitness group that's run by a guy at the school and things like that. And yeah, you talk to other men and I say, Oh, yeah, we do this thing, and they're like, oh, geez, that seems like so much effort. And I'm like, but the payoff's worth it. It's like, or you hear these off comments, oh no, we didn't talk about that. Like I caught up with some friends the other day and they're moving over to the UK because he's going to start his own business and thing over there. And I asked them and said, Oh, how did you compartmentalize going back to London where you know obviously this business may take off and do really well, and the financial side will be really good, but you're giving up such a relaxed beach lifestyle, the kids seem to be thriving and this and this and that. And they looked at each other and sort of laughed a little bit, and they're like, Oh, we didn't really talk about it. And I was like, looked at Sandra and I was like, You've got to be joking. Like, how do you move countries without really talking about it? They're like, Oh, dunno, it just sort of happened. And Sandra and I are like, Man, if that was asked, like, every night we'd be like, What's happening? Are you doing this? Am I doing that? Some people might think it's overkill, but I don't know. For me, it's like if you don't know what your spouse is up to or your business partner or whoever else, it's like just being left in the lurch. Just you make up assumptions and then it's like a surprise when something happens. I just yeah, I can't operate like that.

SPEAKER_01 46:05

Love it. I love it. I feel like this podcast just turned into a whole relationship advice now. Yeah, yeah, that's right.

SPEAKER_00 46:12

Finance, finance tips, and relationship advice all in one.

SPEAKER_01 46:15

Yeah, yeah, we'll we'll caption that as uh you know, listen to this podcast if you want to recommend the title. Financial gold and second year.

SPEAKER_00 46:24

Relationships with a dash of finances.

SPEAKER_01 46:26

I love it.

When Paying For Advice Makes Sense

SPEAKER_01 46:27

Hey, one of the questions I had recently from one of our listeners was at what point does someone need to go and pay for the financial advice and whether it's worth paying for financial advice? Or what are the other opportunities? And I know you mentioned it briefly in the beginning, but if I just circle back to that, because I just remembered about the question. I thought maybe you'll share your thoughts on that.

SPEAKER_00 46:50

Yeah, I mean, it depends what kind of financial advice they're looking for, right? Like, are you talking investments or insurance or like that?

SPEAKER_01 46:58

I guess investment. I guess investment.

SPEAKER_00 47:01

Okay. Yeah, well, like advisors obviously paid two ways. You can do an upfront one-off fee, or you do a percentage of the the fees under management. So the the way the the remuneration is structured obviously changes it. Like if you've got only a couple of thousand dollars, say in a in a shares as you can or a managed fund or what have you, you know. I don't know whether I'd be personally forking out a couple of thousand dollars for a full financial plan sort of thing. But if it's fees under management, it's like, and say you've got a couple of grand in a managed fund, like you know, the advisor gets paid a small percentage of of the funds under management. So the advisor's not making a lot out of you, but the theory would be, okay, here's a long-term relationship here. Like, you know, if you're 25 years old and you're like, okay, yeah, I've paid off my student loan or I'm working on it, or I've finally, you know, got up my first full-time role or something like that. And you're going, I really want to get my finances sorted, and you know, I could DIY it, but I think for investment side of thing, you know, I think no reason why you can't start from the moment you set up your keys labor. Like you you're gonna benefit a lot by setting it up correctly instead of waiting sort of 10 years and then going, oh well, I've got you know 20 grand in my key slave now or more, and you're going now I feel like I'm at the level to get advice, but you know, you've foregone advice for that 10 years, and the 20 grand could have been 30 grand by setting it up correctly. So yeah, I mean if I was talking to that listener, I'd go, well, just what are you waiting for? Like I'd just do it from the beginning.

SPEAKER_01 48:51

Yeah, I love it. I

Career Pivot Courage And Closing

SPEAKER_01 48:53

love it. Elliot, thank you so much, and thank you for your time today. I can't wait to see what you get up to in the next 12 to 60 months, because we talked about your five-year goals, and I decided to put it in for you. And and I'm sure I'll see you around with the whole financial advice, you know, we're in the same circles. And this is exciting, and I think you're giving hope to those that think that it's hard to change careers in later in life, or it's hard to be a stay-at-home dad, or it's hard to do this and that. I think the heart is just in our hats, and we just need to really get out of our hats and just do it, you know, just be nice, just do it.

SPEAKER_00 49:33

And I think for me it was like, do I leave something I'm really good at, and I have a certain sort of status and reputation and pride in my work to go into something that I'm like, it's a bit of a risk and doing something new, and you gotta not start from scratch, but you know, you've got to start down a few rungs. And I think a lot of people just go, oh, you know, I want to stick to what's comfortable and what I know. But you know, deep down for me, it was if I'm doing that same thing in another 20 or 30 years, like I would regret not making this decision now. And now I've got into it. I'm so glad, so glad I made the switch.

SPEAKER_01 50:11

Love it. No, thank you so much, Ailet. And stay warm. Enjoy the last few weeks of winter that we have left, and yeah, can't wait to see where life takes you.

SPEAKER_00 50:22

Yeah, for sure. And I'll I'll end it. I did a bit of research. Yes. Correct me if I pronounce it wrong. Asalam alaykum.

SPEAKER_01 50:30

Wow. Well done. That's awesome. Thank you. That's a good surprise.

SPEAKER_00 50:38

I th I I googling that last night, that's the that's the response, wasn't it? Yes, I think.

SPEAKER_01 50:46

Correct. Correct. That's beautiful. Thank you, Elit. Enjoy the rest of your day. Take care.