THIS Determines Much Money Your Business Makes (ALLISON MASLAN)

So we talk about planning, business planning, growing your business, scaling your business, but how much of it are you keeping in your pocket at the end of the day? Be honest with yourself. Do you have a retirement plan in place? If you don't, or if you want it to be larger, then do not. Ms. Allie and you, right here, right now. Welcome to Ally and you'd the business success and lifestyle show. My name is Alison Maslin. My friends call me Allie. You can call me Ally. And right here on the show, every week for several years now, I have been blessed to interview the most amazing entrepreneurs and movers and shakers that are making things happen, happening in the world. And today, we are gonna blow your mind with how you can grow that nest egg, grow that retirement. Before I dive in and introduce our awesome guest, have you picked up a copy of my new book, scale or fail how to build you'd dream team, explode your growth and let your business soar. I am so excited to have this baby out into the world. It just hit the Wall Street Journal bestseller list. And here's the thing. I know how hard you guys are working in your business. It doesn't have to be that hard. Grab yourself a copy. Go to scaleorfail.com and make sure and subscribe to this show. Ali and you'd so that you get those reminders. And every single week, you can go to subscribetoally.com all right, so Pam Hauptman is the founder and president of the Hopman Group, llc. It is a chartered retired. She's a chartered retirement planning counselor. She's a tax, insurance, and financial planning extraordinaire. That is a mouthful. But she has worked with thousands of different clients over the past eight years to create a plan that's right for them. And Pam is amazing. I have had the honor of working with Pam in Pinnacle Global Network for several years now. And the work that I've seen her able to do with my clients and their wealth, it's amazing. And what is so unique about Pam is that not only is she working with people in their retirement, their financial planning, it's their money mindset. And that is so unique. And as we all know, it all comes down to mindset. So you're going to learn a lot about all this. Hey, Pam.

Hey, Alan.

I'm excited you're here.

I'm really excited to be here. And I love your new book.

Oh, thank you. Thank you. I'm pretty excited about it, as you know. That's all I've been talking about lately.

But.

But Right now I want to talk about you and how you help so many people with their wealth. And you know, I think this is such an important topic. I think people are like, oh, I know that already. But when you really pull apart the curtain, how much are people prepared?

Not very.

Not very.

Right.

For the most part.

For the most part. So I want to get into all that and so how they can prepare. But how did you get into this business of helping people grow their wealth?

It's a little bit of a story. I didn't grow up with a lot of adversity in my life. I had a very easy childhood and young adulthood. But one day after I married my husband, his brother was 40 years old and he dropped dead. He was running on a track on a Sunday morning and the police came to the door with the dog and knocked on the door and Paul's sister in the door to find out that her husband had passed away. She was a stay at home mom. She had three children, all under the age of eight. And as a result, she turned to me a little later on when we all went down there and she said, pam, I don't know what I'm going to do. Well, I'd been dabbling in taxes and financial planning and investments and all of those on a professional level, but still dabbling because I was a stay at home mom myself. And at that point I was at a position that I just said, this is it, this is the call. I've been waiting. This is what I need to do. So I actually got very serious about helping people with their finances. And you know, it's years later, the kids have all grown up now. She has two boys and a girl. They're all grown up. They're wonderful people. And, you know, I can actually say the planning that we did and the preparation that we made throughout those years has really paid off for her.

Yeah, that's fantastic. And you know, I mean, you can't plan for that. I mean, we don't know, right? We don't know what's gonna happen tomorrow. And I think people always feel like, well, I got, I got plenty of time for that.

That's what they always say.

Yeah, right.

Because it's gonna come up and surprise you. And no matter how old you are, I mean, gosh, the sooner you start, the much further you are ahead.

That's one thing about life. It will be, it will surprise you. Something will happen that you aren't expecting and hopefully it's good stuff that happens all the time.

Yes.

But occasionally we have Some things that are not so great. And so being prepared for those, or at least having some idea what you can do is really important.

Right.

And you know, we're talking to business owners, and so I think that a lot of times business owners, you know, they're putting everything in their business and that's great and that becomes their asset. But they need to be thinking about putting these things aside as well to support them. So how has the financial planning industry changed over the years? I mean, has it kind of been the same all along? What have the trends been?

Well, it really, it really wasn't available to the masses before. I mean, if you go back 30, 40 years from ago, it was really only the super wealthy that had anybody that was doing what is called planning. And even when I first started, it used to be you'd use this antiquated kind of computer program and it would tell you to save a gazillion dollars and nobody could do that. And then you'd go home with this book that was like a boat anchor and you wouldn't open it again because the things that it told you to do were so impossible to do. Well, that's not really financial planning. That's like pushing stuff at you that you don't really want to. You don't want to deal with at that time. So I think for me anyway, financial planning has become more nimble, and it really is about planning what's going on now, what's going on soon, and what's going on later. So there's three stages that you can look at, and in five years, the soon may be what's later now. So you're always updating it. And I think what happens is people get confused and they think that all planning is just about retirement, but it's not. It's about your whole financial life and what do you want to do? Do you have children that need to go to college? Do you? I mean, what are you going to. When are you going to buy your next car, when you're going to buy your next home? All of that has to be planned. And traditional financial planning really didn't deal with that per se. It was all about retirement planning. But it's so much more now, right?

Yeah, I just. My best friend who I went to college with, they just bought the house that their daughter is moving into as an investment because, you know, instead of helping with rent, they figure it just makes sense. And then she'll pay them rent, you know, for. From her job to, you know, for her responsibility and so forth. But instead of throwing it away, and if they had not planned for that, they would not have had the cash to be able to do that.

That's right. So it's not like you have an extra $70,000 to put down on a house, sitting in, just sitting, waiting to do that. Unless you've actually planned to do that.

Yeah, exactly. So who should work with a planter? With a planter. A planter and a planner.

I don't know about the planter. I do know a little bit about the planner. I think that most people should have a planner in their life. And the reason is because even if they're going to do manage all of the assets themselves and they're really going to study how to invest and what to put their money in, it's great to have a professional to bounce those ideas off to see if they're missing anything that they're not, that they don't know something that could happen that they're not aware of. Sometimes I just do plans. Sometimes I manage assets and do more, but sometimes I just do plans for people. And those are the ones that really want to do all the management themselves. But they really do run everything by me. And so we take a look and see how robust the plan is.

Right.

And so you help them make those big decisions at turning points and so forth. And this is like saving money on taxes.

Saving money on taxes is a huge one. A lot of people, you know, that's one of the things that makes me unique as a planner, is most planners don't touch taxes. They'll just do the. They'll help you with the financial planning, but they'll refer you to a tax person for anything to do with taxes. But because I started out in taxes in 1989, that's a long time ago. I've been around taxes pretty much most of my life. But most advisors aren't. Most planners are not. So helping people save money on taxes is huge. Because anything that we do, when I look at a plan and I make suggestions, I always look at the tax implications.

It's so important for a business owner because you could have a lot of money sitting there that you're paying out in taxes needlessly. And I've heard some of the advice that you've given because Pam has spoken on my stage a few times at my events and powerful advice. And I know in our business, we originally became an s Corp in 2004, and so now we're actually changing the whole structure, the business. And, you know, had I not gotten Advice on that, I wouldn't have even known to do it. But ultimately in the big picture, it's gonna make a huge difference. So even if you feel like you got advice years ago on setting it up, things have changed, you know.

Oh yeah. And this last tax change is huge, huge for business owners. And, you know, there's so many, there's so many ins and outs of what to do and what not to do. And you really want to get good advice before you make any major changes. But as you know, I've helped other people save lots of money on taxes just by changing the entity.

Yeah.

And that's the reason you're changing yours, is to help save money on taxes.

Yeah, exactly, exactly. So what are some of the false conceptions that people have about finances when they work with you? I mean, what, what do you think are some of the, you know, beliefs that are holding people back?

I think one of the beliefs that I think is one of the most hindrance, the biggest hindrance for people is because the way I plan, I like to work with a lot of different kinds of different things that people can do and different kinds of investments that people can make and structure it, really customize it. And what I think is that some people, they come in and they have a preconceived idea of what working with a planner is like and what kind of investments they should be in. And they've got some preconceived notions about different pieces of things that they can do. And I don't want to get into the details of which ones they don't like and which ones they do like. But the fact of the matter is that every single financial product was designed with a purpose in mind. And when you have a nail to put into the wall, you don't use a screwdriver. Most of the time you're going to use a hammer. The trick is to find the right hammer for each person and for each situation.

Right.

Instead of something cookie cutter. And I like that about you. Because if a financial planner is just using a few different products or a few different companies, they may. They're just going to use what's available instead of finding the right fit.

And that's the joy I have of being an independent and to be an independent advisor. I'm not affiliated with any of the big companies, so I can actually pick and choose from a wider variety options for my clients.

I love that. Well, let's talk about what I. One of the things I think is so unique about you is that you work with your clients on their money mindset. And what I will tell you is that if you don't have a good money mindset, it can destroy your business. You can miss out on amazing opportunities for your business. It will keep you small.

And.

And it's the same thing in your financial planning.

Here.

You have fear about your money, and so you end up creating scenarios that make you fearful and stressful, and you help people with that. So talk about how you help people with their money mindset.

Well, as you know, I created a proprietary financial behavioral analysis tool, which is a mouthful, called the Money Profile. And the reason I did it is because, first of all, I wanted it to create a conversation that was a little more fun than just saying you should do this and you should do that and not really deal with the emotions involved with doing financial planning. So when you take that quiz, you are a blend of different personalities. And I've got five different personalities. We have the champ, we have the chess master, we have the Tortoise, we have the Whirly Bird, and we have the Funster. And you're going to be a mix of those personalities. Some people are really strong in one, some are strong in two. Some are really across the board. They're pretty even across the board.

Tell us a little bit about what those are.

Okay, so, Alison, you know that you took the quiz and you were a chess master. And it isn't because you're. It's because you're very strategic in the way you approach all your money decisions. Doesn't mean that you're strategic everywhere in life, although you might be, but it doesn't mean when you're dealing with money, you're very strategic. And that's the thing.

Like when I bought that trapeze, I was really strategic.

Well, I don't think. I don't know how that was probably strategic because look at all the time you save.

This is true. This is true.

So there was some strategy. It may not have been a financial strategy, but it was strategy. So that's a chess master. And chess masters can be very much like an engineer or a mathematician as well. So they may be very minimalist. They may be minimalist. And they're always keeping score with the money in a way that they like to keep the spreadsheets in place. And they know to a penny everything that they. They have spent and what they're going to spend. And it's. It can be very. It's very interesting. Now, I have a lot of colleagues who don't like to work with people like that.

Yeah.

See, I don't mind. Yeah, it's something I can now I can speak to them and I don't have any problems.

I don't know that if I. I'm probably a little. Between that and the fun. Stir a little bit because, you know, I think I probably flip flop a little bit.

Right.

Do you have, do you have clients that flip flop?

Yes. And it depends on what the decision is. So sometimes they're a chess master in one place, but they're a funster in another place.

So let's talk about the funster.

Okay. I love funsters and I think funsters are the reason I created the quiz. Because fundsters have a hard time saving money because everything there's always fun to be had. Money is a tool to have fun with. You know, if I still have money in my bank account, that must mean I can spend it kind of thing. And they live for today. They're very present and they used to get very frustrated when we would sit down and talk about doing some kind of a plan because there was really nothing created for them. So I gamify the financial planning for them. So I turn it into a game with rewards and they love it.

Yeah.

So that works with them. That also works with the champ. Because the champ is always keeping score by how much money and things they have. The champ is very quick to make decisions. The fundster's pretty quick to make decisions as well. But the champ has a tendency to take some shortcuts whenever to get from here to there. They may take a shortcut in the middle which is not so good sometimes. But people that are really good at making decisions have champ in them. They don't have to think about it too long. The chess master sometimes is analysis by paralysis by analysis. That kind of thing may happen. The tortoise is slow and steady, wins the race. They're the millionaire next door kind of personality. They never live above above their means. They're always living below their means. They are. Again, I think that they are easy to work with at times, but they're also loyal to a fault. So sometimes if someone, they don't want to know that someone's not taking advantage of them and not treating them quite right. And sometimes they're a little hard to get. They don't like change. They don't want to make any kind of change in their lives.

It's so fascinating, I mean really, all the different personalities and because of that personality, the kind of decisions that you make in your financial life and it's so important, because it affects your relationships, it affects your business, your personal life.

Right?

Yeah.

And so let's say somebody is too much of one or the other. Like too much of a funster, too much of the chest.

Chess master.

Chess master. You know, and their analysis paralysis. So they're not making decisions. They're funster and, like, there's nothing left. How do you help them?

Well, sometimes with the chess master, if they will recognize that that's what they're doing, we can actually get them to make a decision. And we can have a conversation when we're proposing something for them to do. We can say, how much do you need to know before you can make a decision? You say that up front so that they're not spinning and spinning and spinning. I mean, we both know somebody who took six months to decide on what car to buy. Yes, very much the chess master. He got the car he wanted, though. But I think having some kind of timeline on that helps with the analysis for them. Now with the funster, it really is about turning life into a game. I mean, that's how they're approaching. The glass is always half full. They can always. And funsters, as a rule, make good money. So they're not. It's not like they don't. They don't have money to save.

Yeah.

They just don't have the inclination to save it. So if we turn it in, if we gamify it, we turn it into a game that if they accomplish certain goals, they get certain prizes, they're pretty, pretty happy.

Yeah. I did work with my husband. My husband is truly a funster. But he, you know, he taught because I'm more the planner and he's the funster. So think it's a good balance. And I had to really work with him on the saving thing. With automatic withdrawals.

Yes, automatic withdrawals. Those are really good. Funsters are great. They should be in anything automatic. If the company has a simple IRA or if they have a 401k, they should definitely be enrolled in that because the money will automatically come out before they have it to play with. But when we get beyond that, that's when we have to gamify it a little bit for them. And we have to stay on top of it, too. I mean, my fundsters, I have to talk to them often, otherwise they'll just slide. They'll stop. They'll just slide right back into it, and then they won't achieve their goals.

Yeah, yeah. And I think it's just, you know, business owners, the mindset Is, oh, I'll just, you know, I'll make that next year.

Right.

So. And they're capable of doing that, but you can also make it and lose it. So money is a part of life, and we have to be aware of our finances. But you can also, I think, become too anal. And that causes a whole other problem of being obsessed and worrying. Instead of taking that energy and put it into something that you can create. And that's obviously what we help people do. So what are your thoughts about the balance of that?

I think that really, when you. When you talk to people about money, that money is a tool and money is not evil. And money is. Money can accomplish all the things that people want. It help them accomplish all the things they want to accomplish, and they need to focus on really what it can accomplish as opposed to the money itself.

Right.

So I like that. I think it's. That is so true, because otherwise the money becomes like this thing that's bigger than them, you know, takes on a life of its own. And I think people feel like they lose their power.

There's fear. Yeah, they start to fear. I know. I mean, that. That creeps into everybody. I mean, it creeps into my life, too. I mean, I know what I used to keep in my savings account, and I was comfortable with it, and now it's like double that. And that's what I want. I don't like to go below that anymore. So we all have these little things that if we're aware of them, we can really, you know, they don't control us. It's being aware of them is the important thing.

Right.

Yeah. So. And, you know, again, back to business, which I love, and I feel that business is one of the best investments because you don't have a ceiling. It really is up to you. And there's so many things, so many ways that you can multiply your revenue. Now, do you work with people that are business owners and those that are in a career working for someone else as well?

Yes, I work with both. And it's funny what you said about the business owners. I just want to point out something, that there is traditional planning and there's traditional investing, but with entrepreneurs, at least initially, the best investment is themselves. And they need to put the money into their business to get it to a certain point before they start pulling the money out of the business.

Yeah, this is a big one. This is a big one. I think when people get into business, like, I was just talking to a woman yesterday, and she said, well, you know, I don't owe any money in my business at all. And, you know, I really just have to wait till I get some more cash flow so that I can pay for the coaching in full. And, you know, and that's great. That's her choice to do that. But what she's doing is actually losing money.

Yes.

Because it may take her six months or a year. And if she would just borrow that, then she would be able to make, you know, much more than that and be so far ahead in a year and then pay her as long as she pays herself back.

And you have the history to prove. I mean, people like me who have doubled their income being in your program, that's happened to most of the people I know, have done so much better by being in the program that the idea of not being in the program or not spending the money on the program doesn't make any sense. It just doesn't make sense. Even if I have to borrow it, it doesn't make sense.

Yeah. And it's just, you know, I mean, once you've been in business for a while, you start to think that way. Because it's like that in a lot of areas of your business, you need to buy a piece of equipment to get a certain job, then it makes sense to do that. If what you're gonna get for that job in the long term is much more than the investment. That's Pinnacle Global Network that Pam is talking about, that she's worked with me, and it's just been so great. And you're amazing. So let's see what I wanted to ask you. So you help a lot of people with their retirements and just wealth building in general.

Right.

What do you feel like is the biggest roadblock for people and their wealth? I mean, if there was one thing that people could overcome.

Well, first. First thing is getting started. Most people don't get started, or they keep putting it off, and then they're in their mid to late 50s and they're like, oh, I guess I should get started on that. Which isn't terrible if they get started at that point. But, you know, the statistics are awful in this country about saving money for retirement. If you look at how many people are retiring now that are trying to survive on Social Security alone and, you know, the questions about what's going to happen that, you know, that is the biggest issue is getting started.

Yeah.

And have it automated so that it isn't. So every time you get a raise or every time you make extra money, take a little piece of it and put it aside like people I have, that I work with that are working in companies, every time they get a raise, we have an agreement that they're going to keep some of it towards lifestyle or things that they've been waiting to do. But part of it's going to go where they've never, never see it. It's going to go into the retirement so that when they get to them in age, that retirement will be there.

And it's also too figuring out how much money you want, you need and want to have to live on every single year that you're going to feel comfortable that you can travel or do the different things that you want. And so once you know that number, it's kind of liberating.

Right.

So when you have something to work.

Towards and with wealth amplify, we sort of work on that because we have a conversation about what's most important. Saving money or play or getting out of debt. Which of those three is the most important? And the answer is really that they're all important because most people can.

I was going to say play, but go ahead.

Play is just as important. It really is.

It is because you know, my gosh, you work so hard. You want to continue to have fun in your life now and in the future. But yes, you really need all those things.

And you know that play actually allows you to be more creative.

Yes, absolutely.

So it's extremely important to have part of that to get that creative juices going to be able to play. Getting out of debt is very important as well. And saving for the future is very important. But you can't do one and ignore all the others. Yes, it just. Most people can't do it. They mentally can't do it. They can't, they can't sustain that kind of work.

And if you're putting it all towards your debt and then you're not putting anything aside and you pay up the debt and then you have no, you have no cash in the end. That's not good either.

No, no. So I try to work with people to make sure they have all three areas.

Yeah, well that's. See, she is one smart woman. So if you are looking to start your building your wealth or taking it to another level, you've got to check out working with Pam Hopman and the Hopman Group and any other advice that you would like to share.

Don't stop. I mean, once you get started, don't stop because that happens too. People will get started on a plan and they'll start putting away money and then Something will happen and they'll stop doing it and then they won't go back to it. So once you do start, keep going. That's important. And I think it's important to get good advice. Look for someone who has your best interest at heart, someone who's a fiduciary, someone who isn't working just for a big company and doesn't have any kind of planning background at all. You really want to find someone that is pretty much fee only when you're looking for an advisor.

Right.

Because then they're making the true decisions for you based on what you need and want. So. Well, this has been fantastic and very educational. You guys like this? Go ahead and comment below if this let us know what you think and how this has helped you. And if you want to learn more about Pam and how you can work with her, you can go to thehotmangroup.com yes.

Right.

Yeah. And we have a revamped website so.

It'S really, it's all been redone, it's all current. And you also give or your team gives a complimentary strategy session.

There is a opt in on the page. I think it's on every page inside the website itself that you can opt in and we'll contact you to schedule a complimentary.

Yeah, don't procrastinate. Make the decision. Success is all about making decisions and taking action on those decisions. Action in the moment. Go to thehotmangroup.com and thank you, Pam. Thank you for being with us. This was absolutely fantastic. And remember to pick up the book scale or fail. And so you can grow your business wealth, your financial wealth and everything will just be hunky dory.

Right.

So don't miss out on all of the episodes on Ally and you'd. We are on all the platforms out there. On itunes, on Spotify. You can subscribe to the audio version on itunes at. Subscribe to ally.com or if you want to check out all of the video versions because we do both, you can go to alisonmaslin.com forward/itunes. Until next time, get out there and elevate yourself because you are worth it. Bye, everybody.

Scaling a business is not for the faint of heart. Playing it safe causes 34 million American business owners to avoid risk entirely and suffer from smallness. I understand what you're feeling. No matter how hard you work, no matter what you sacrifice and you just can't seem to get to that elusive next level. That's because what got you here is not going to get you there. Scaling is not about working harder. It's not that one right strategy. It's the whole picture. It's you. It's your big beautiful vision. It's your team, it's your drive. It's how you show up. It's time to take a leap off the trapeze so you can soar high in your business. But you're holding on too tightly and killing your growth. If you're truly ready to leap, it will not be easy. If you want easy, there's always your comfort zone. Are you prepared to fly? You're well beyond the startup phase in your company. You've created a decent level of success. Your tenacity, your spirit have gotten you here. But my gut tells me you were not put on this earth to play small and stay inside the box. There is something about the ability to direct your own fate. That drive for freedom, expression of creativity, building your legacy that pushes your entrepreneurial.

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