325 Ways to Save Earn and Thrive: Wealth Strategies for Entrepreneurs

A lot of people are looking at the economy the way it is. People are a little bit fearful. Unemployment rates are a little bit higher. And people who truly have entrepreneurship in their blood look at it and maybe even not intentionally, but intuitively find opportunities in those times where people are fearful.

Just a matter of confidence and being able to run the room. If you start to doubt yourself, someone else is going to smell it. It's like blood in the water for a shark. Right? What is the purpose of all this financial advice? Why are we so instilled with reading a book after book that's the same kind of thing? And invest in index funds and don't go into debt and don't buy. You know, the millennials get all the information. The biggest thing I see is that, and I was guilty of this too, is that. And just you work so much in the business, you don't work on the business. Right.

Good day and welcome to the Wealthy Entrepreneur Podcast. I am your host, Bob Govreau. It is a pleasure to have you with us here today. Today's episode is going to be talking about financial Planning and specifically Financial 5's Smart Money moves for entrepreneurs with our guest, Gary Gruel. So Gary is a financial planner out of California, and in this episode, he's going to share his entrepreneurial journey, the inspiration behind launching two of his businesses, which he's going to touch on a little bit, and how he helps individuals and business owners align their finances with their personal values. We're even gonna talk a little bit about how to live a fulfilling life with intention, which I think is really important. And, you know, when you tie that into your finances as well, how to live a meaningful life beyond, you know, our business or any of our obligations, how we can turn the life into one by design as well. Gary's going to offer powerful real world advice for entrepreneurs who want to save smarter, plan better, and thrive financially, both in business and in life. I got to tell you, Gary is an easy guy to talk to, has a lot of experience and is going to share his journey, which I know we can all relate to many of the challenges along the way, you know, from when we're starting to getting through continuous growth and evolving our business. So without further ado, let's talk financial planning and bring Gary into the show. All right, guys, so I'm excited to welcome Gary to the show. Gary, thank you so much for joining us today.

Bob, great to be here. Thanks for having me.

Absolutely. And we were just chatting before we jumped in here. I'm in central Ontario, sort of central eastern Ontario, and you're in California. And we sort of have the same weather right now, which we will not be sharing six months from now, I guarantee that, unless the world absolutely goes in the wrong direction. But, Gary, once again, thank you for joining. You know, I'm really intrigued about your background. You've got a book that you wrote. We were going to talk about that, but I would love for you to just share with our listeners today what your entrepreneurial journey was from the beginning and how you got to where you are today.

Yeah, thanks, Bob. So I. It's funny. I actually started out, I wanted to be a dentist in college. The person my mindset was like, you know, that's a lot more schooling. I don't know if I really like school that much. And. And then my colleagues at my first job were like, well, you're gonna have how much debt to go to school? And the final straw was the dentist I was sitting with for internship said, you know, if you were my son, I'd tell you not to go. And, you know, he's like, do you really want to spend every day in people's mouths? I was like, okay, I get the picture.

As he's in your mouth.

No, he wasn't in my mouth. I was watching him in someone else's mouth. So.

Oh, gotcha.

I was observing to get my hours in, but I was like, you know, that I. I had to make a decision, and I withdrew my application to a dental school. And I said, you know what? I've always loved personal finance. Being a financial advisor is something that I've always thought I want to do because, you know, there were people. My parents never worked with a financial advisor, and their friends never did either. And, you know, when you have friends whose parents do, they're. They're better off. And so there's a better course of action. So I, after graduating, I started a full commission job. It was a recession. 2010 had no more market. And I was like, if I can pull this off, right, some biology major in some random part of Sacramento suburbs can be successful in the downturn, then maybe I can pull. I can make a career out of it. And fortunately, I was by creating niches with business owners and hospitality, retail, and different industries. So I did that for a couple of years, and then I decided that, okay, I want to be a certified financial planner. And as I increased my kind of exposure to the world of personal finance, going to conferences, whether it was speaking or volunteering, engaging in different networking events, I learned a lot And I read a lot of books and I, you know, blogging was really big back then. It's less now. Podcasts are the future. And so it was really just about learning how I can best utilize all this knowledge that I have and giving my friends a way to get advice, but without being very limited. So what everybody does is when they say, you should write a book on all this stuff. I actually finally went and did. And so it's just been really great to be able to be a financial advisor. When I was in college, I started a reusable moving box company called California Box Rental, because I'm. That's one of my passions is zero waste leaving the earth better than we found it. And it's also a good exercise when you're in your 20s to fail @ something. I didn't fail, fortunately, but if I did, it wouldn't have been bad. You're 20 something, you have no assets, no family. What's. What's the worst that can happen? And you, you learn a lot being an entrepreneur, right? You learn a lot about how to allocate your time trusting people, processes, taxes, profits, word of mouth, branding, everything. So it's been a really good experience.

Resiliency, leadership.

Absolutely. It's a never ending list, right?

Innovation, adaptation. Yeah, 100%. Yeah, I could go off on that all day. You know, it's funny, Gary, you talking about starting in 2010. I feel like I would say half of the people that I talk to, including myself, have all started their business in some form of a recession or economic downturn. I started in 2008, so it was like the beginning of the recession that you started in as well. And, you know, it's, it's interesting because a lot of people, and including right now, you know, we're looking at the economy the way it is. People are a little bit fearful, unemployment rates are a little bit higher, and people who truly have entrepreneurship in their blood look at it and say, and maybe even not intentionally, but intuitively find opportunities in those times where people are fearful. And, you know, it's, it's super interesting and good for you, 2010, to get through that, especially in the personal, financial or money management space where, you know, recessions essentially are. When people are saying, you guys are evil. You know, you guys, you got. It's your fault, Gary, that all of my money value went down. Not the companies or the, you know, the consumer interest or, you know, behaviors of the rest of the people in society. It's your fault, Gary. So kudos to you for getting through that one. That must have been a challenge.

Yeah, it wasn't easy. And you know, but the thing is, just like you started in 2008, it's, it's the silver lining of recessions, I feel like when they happen, that seriously is you, you learn to rely on yourself, right? Like you know your self worth and you're going to take a risk because what else is there to lose? And it's actually a great time to start because other people are calling it quits or other people are kind of doubling down. And you have an ability to hire great people because there's more of a talent pool. You can get better rates if you want to buy a building for your business or something like that. So there's a lot of good things that can happen too.

I usually say my sort of analogy is when everyone is pulling back and leaning back, it's your time to lean in and capitalize on that opportunity. And even business owners right now who are looking at their business and even maybe feeling a little bit of a pinch, it's like, okay, that's okay if you're feeling it, everyone's feeling it in your space, but you're a leader, right? And so what we want to do is prepare for this. And you know, once we come to the end of this hardship, a lot of people are going to have bailed out, a lot of people are going to have decided to retire and the business owner has the opportunity to capitalize on that when things start to turn. So like, position ourselves to be in a great spot in order to come out of this stronger than ever. Curious thinking of, of 2010 and, you know, starting at a super challenging time, especially in your industry, what would a couple of the challenges be that you sort of had and had to overcome that year? Aside from, you know, the conceptual, hey, financial advisors are evil at this point.

I mean, the challenges for that year, it really just, I mean, it would just have to come down to one meeting people who had money because a lot of is a really tough time. A lot of people were losing their jobs, their homes. And the other thing was finding people that were willing to trust you. Being a young person, not nothing to do with the profession, but being a young person with no experience being able to trust you with their money, because it was a very serious thing. And so I was very fortunate to meet a business owner locally who then introduced me to like the regional committee for business owners of that franchise group. And he introduced me to other business owners who had the same issues as he had and he said, gary helped me out with this. He said, I was looking for this. And Gary came at the right time. This is what he did. And I think that's one of the biggest things that you can do if you're starting in any business is you have clients, but then you have advocates. And advocates are the people that not only will do business with you or refer to you, they're gonna go out of their way to say, you need to do business with this guy today because he does this, this, and this. They really jazz people up to make them want to work with you. And if it's somebody with clout, right, Somebody who is successful themselves or is a member in their community, that's known. If you can find somebody like that who advocates for you, it will open so many doors.

Absolutely. Raving fans, right? Creating raving fans. And those are the greatest people to endorse you and provide referrals for you, right? So being able to track those people and. And not take advantage of them, but be like, hey, you know what? Here's a really great testimonial for what we can do. And maybe I need more people just like you. One of the things that I found, and I think maybe this is valuable for some of our younger entrepreneurs, and you sort of touched on it. I remember the same thing. So I think I was 25 or 26 when I started my own CPA firm, right? So I was a fresh CPA. I had worked my butt off for, you know, the last four years trying to be a sponge. And I remember the same challenge as a young person entering into the business world, going, you have no experience. How do you sort of overcome that? I will share with you how I did Gary, and maybe you'll have something to add to that as well. But I know for me, I had this line that I had, and I had somewhat perfected it, so I might be a little shaky now that I've got gray hair and whatnot, but I used to say when somebody would come in, they would actually come in and say, is your dad here? Right? And. And I was like, wow, my dad's a plumber, so. Great plumber, if that's what you're looking for. But, no, this is. This is my company. And you would get that look, sort of like you were explaining the. Oh, well, I'm not sure you're not as experienced as I had hoped. There's no gray hair. And I used to say, you know what? I understand you're looking at me, and I'm young, and I Said, I think this is a huge benefit for you for a couple reasons. One, I'm full of energy, and two, I'm willing to sit down with you and show you exactly how I can support you now to leave you in a better position than you came in here working with your experienced advisors. So give me the 30 minutes, let me show you what I can do. And at that point, you can make essentially an assessment of whether or not I am going to be good enough to work with you. And it was way more smooth when I was 25.

It's pretty smooth still.

I. I haven't had to use that one in a while, but honestly, everyone always gave me the 30 minutes, and they always ended up signing an engagement letter when I was done.

Look at that.

Right. And so that's more so for the younger people who are listening, too. You know, you're going to have that sort of feedback when you're young. There's no way to get around it. It's how you address it with confidence and a little bit of. A little bit of swagger and how you close that deal or get yourself the opportunity to get your foot in the door and then continue to move forward. I don't know, Gary, if you had anything similar.

Yeah, very similar. I think it's just a matter of, like you said, confidence and being able to kind of run the room. Right. If you start to doubt yourself, someone else is going to smell it. It's like blood in the water for a shark. Right? Like, oh, I got you. Right. But if you're confident and you know your stuff and you anticipate, you anticipate questions, you anticipate objections, right. You can be better prepared to handle the meeting. And if somebody is working with you and you're able to. To exude that confidence and feel the questions and feel their objections, then they're like, okay, maybe this guy knows what he's talking about. You know, it's similar. Like, I mean, you and I, maybe we go to the doctor or a dentist we were talking about, right? It's one that's really young. You're like, do you really know what you're doing? And, you know, but, but you have to understand, it's like this guy just graduated. His knowledge is fresh in his mind. He's not just, you know, doing the same thing, clocking in, clocking out. Oh, I know what I'm doing. He's fresh on his knowledge, and he's right. He's willing to put in the effort to do the right thing. And I would also tell my clients that is that I'm going to outwork the others because they are tired, they go and play golf after work, they go home to their families and make dinner and do their chores. And I'm here until 6 or 7 o' clock when I was first starting out anymore. But also is that I go do my continuing education, I go and learn the answers for you and I'm more responsive. So similar to what you say, give me, give me a little bit of time. Let me show you what's possible and if you don't feel confident then we can pause from there.

Yeah, see it's funny how this evolution happens too Gary, because that is not how I feel anymore because I'm not that 25 year old kid now. I'm like, I've seen it all. People come on in here I am a wealth of knowledge.

You know, what do you got for me that I haven't seen?

Yeah, different perspective. But again, it's all about like you said, the confidence of showing that you can help resolve people's challenges and that you can help be the solution. So yeah, love that. Thank you, thank you for that insight, Gary. Let's talk about your book. So we were chatting offline, love the idea of it. I want you to walk us through in a moment. But like this, this book is full of knowledge, right? Like you're talking 325 ways to save, earn and thrive. Like that's a lot of action items. You know, when I think of 325, I think of an action list to be like, hey, here, let's start with number one and let's work our way through. Tell me a little bit about your book and, and maybe highlight a couple of your favorite to do's out of it.

Yeah, I, so my book is just, I created in a sense of making a way that I could share and I'll just share the what it kind of looks like here. What is the purpose of all this financial advice? Why are we so instilled with reading a book after book that's the same kind of thing. And invest in index funds and don't go into debt and don't buy any. You know, the millennials get all the information. Don't buy coffee and avocado toast. That's why you can't buy a house. Very wrong. The very first financial book I read was by Ramit Sadi. You know, I will teach you to be rich. That came out in 2009. I think I was sitting in a Barnes and Nobles and I was like, and this is before I realized, hey, dummy, go to the library. But I was reading that book and I said, you know what, this is good information. I like that he has an action plan after each step and put it into action. And so what I wanted to do was say, okay, wealth is monetary wealth is one thing, but what about time wealth? What about friendship wealth or relationship wealth? What about health? Right. And so this book is really about. So the save earned is obviously pretty clear, right? There's a lot of ways in there and how to save, some pretty clever ways. You gotta, you gotta read it to find out. And then also how to earn, right. Whether it's side income, dividend investing, it's passive income, it's asking for a raise. And then the thrive part is really just about how to live a better life without feeling like you need to spend how to have better relationships or take care of your health or just do what's more fulfilling to you without feeling like you need money to do it. You know, there's this whole narrative going around now where friends are hanging out or people are lonely because it costs too much money, but it really doesn't, you know, it doesn't. There's a lot of things you can do that don't cost money but are still really enjoyable. You just have to be creative.

Absolutely. No, I love that and I love the, you know, here's your takeaways and it's broken down into three different ways. We will definitely make sure that we have the link to Gary's book in the meeting notes or following in the notes to this as well so that you can check it out yourself. I know we ordered it didn't get quite get here before today, but we're, I'm excited to get that in my hands and go through and, and see how many I'm doing and see how many I'm not doing.

Right.

Like, I think the fun part about reading and education is, you know, even as an experienced financial advisor myself, not in the, not in the money space, but as someone who provides a lot of guidance to people, I bet you I have a limited number of the items that you've put in here and can always learn from this. Right. And I. A takeaway for everybody here as well. Continue to learn. Continue like you don't know everything you never do. Someone will always know and be faster, stronger, you know, take every piece of feedback and research it and see if you know it's valid and if it can help put you in a better position, you know, like Gary was talking about self development and personal development. And, you know, I'm a, I'm a huge investor in myself too. And it's so important. And especially, you know, looking at, you know, the financial fives book that Gary's written and pulled together, that helps us come up with ways to really build for our future. And it's never too late to get started, but the sooner you get started, the easier it's going to be, right? So like, don't leave it until 64 and pick Gary's book up and be like, oh, he says thrive before 65. It's like, well, you know, if you started this at 25, you'd be in a better position and not be scrambling. But, but kudos to you for writing the book, Gary, because, like, we were just sharing offline. It's a tough thing to do. And really we write books because we want to provide and help as many people as we can in a way that, you know, is very, very cost efficient for them. Like, I don't care if I ever sell a book. We give it away all the time. It's just a method to help people who. We wouldn't be able to fit into our day and do that.

Yeah, it's a hundred percent, Bob. And it's just like, also, everyone's got their own unique life story and that's how you kind of capture their life story, their experiences, what, what they learned. And I think that's to your point. It's one of the cheapest ways to add value to your mental repertoire and put things into practice that you may not have before.

And you know what? It takes a certain type of person to get a book written, published, edited, you know, and in the hands of others. Not too many people do it. Even though there's lots of books out there, you know, the percentages of people who actually see that through is limited. And you know, you look at a book, someone who's written a book, and you know, yes, I, I have two. So I'm not necessarily poking my own ego here, but there is a lot of authority that comes with writing a book because you've got the knowledge and experience to share these methods, tools, tips with people. Like, that's why people look to books and create additional authority with people like Gary, right? It's like, yeah, you know, if he's willing to share all of these things for free, just imagine if I worked with him and what he would do to help us with, you know, his best stuff, you know, so, so again, kudos to you I think it goes a long way to show that you're an authority in your space and excited to, to go through all those 325 ways and find a bunch of ways that I can do better too. Thinking about business owners and entrepreneurs specifically, you know, and, and wealth planning tips. When I'm thinking of entrepreneurs, you know, there's a lot of people get it right. You know, you're talking about finding an advisor and you know, those people that you would see when you were growing up, those that had advisors and those that didn't, the ones that did tended to be in a better position. Where do you see that entrepreneurs maybe go wrong when it comes to their financial planning?

I mean, the biggest thing I see is that, and I was guilty of this too, is that. And just you work so much in the business, you don't work on the business, right? So you're like, okay, I gotta fulfill this order, I gotta do this, I gotta do this. And you're just like, it's just like, you know, you're just going day to day, day to day, day to day. And I mean, a lot of business owners, I think the founder of Sprinkles, I was watching one of her, her episodes once, her podcast, and she's like, she almost got foreclosed on or the rent was due and it was, you know, you just forget about these things because you don't, don't have that sense of organization. But the other thing is, is just, you know, it's, it's having, it's going into things either underprepared or not having the resilience to bounce back. You know, entrepreneurship is not like having a job. It's not like you go and you do the same thing and you leave and you have a job next day. You're ultimately responsible for the profit and generating the business and making the machine turn right. And so I think where a lot of entrepreneurs sometimes go wrong is not, is, is not looking through exactly what they want it to look like and creating a plan. You don't have to be everything. And I want to say this with an asterisk is you don't have to. Everything doesn't have to be perfect before you take action. Taking action is key. You got to take action. But then once you take that action, learn fast, fail fast, like they say, and, and be able to create a plan that's going to protect you and protect your business and protect your assets, number one. So, you know, having the right insurances, the right business designation, but really just being able to Foresee, okay, we're going to have a slow period for winter because not allowed to go move during winter or if this vendor cancels on us last minute, we have this person as a backup. Right. So just making sure that there's things in place so that if anything goes wrong, you have a backup. And I think if you have that and you have a smooth writing business, your customers will appreciate that because it's not their problem if you can't deliver on your service, you know, and so they're going to want to be able to do what they need from you. And so if you can create that experience, that smooth flow experience for your clients and customers, then they'll keep coming back and then that's how you grow.

Absolutely. And you sort of started touching on business finances there a little bit. And I know this is something that you've sort of identified and I'm sure you talk about it in your book too, and it's a pet peeve of mine. So I'm going to sort of alley oop this and say, what's your take on the separation concept of business and personal finances and the idea of that, whether they should or shouldn't and you know how that maybe helps individuals with their overall financial situation.

Yeah, I'm a, I'm hugely agree with separating your finances. Right. And not just for organization purposes, but also for tax and not getting into hot water with the irs. Right, Absolutely. If you're just starting out and like, you know, I'll share a little bit of an embarrassing story, but when I was 10 years old, I had a little hot chocolate stand outside of our house. Cause we had a Christmas light street and I was sell hot chocolate. Did I pay taxes on that money? No, I don't think so. But it was just people would drop $2 in your little tin can here and there. I don't know how much I made a couple hundred bucks a season. But that's fine, you know, that's not anything serious. But once you start having a legitimate business that you have customers and you have contracts and you have employees and you have income that's coming in on a regular basis, you have to set aside money for taxes. Right. You have self employment taxes, you have FICO taxes, you have to set aside money for a rainy day. And you know, when you have a separate bank account from your personal, it's a lot easier to kind of separate that give it to your CPA like Bob, or give it to some, you know, your, your accounting to make sure everything is clear cut so it's a very definite thing to do to have it separate. And also it's easier for business evaluation. Is my business making the profit and money that's worth it to me for the input I'm putting in?

Right, Absolutely. I couldn't agree more. And it's a huge pet peeve of mine if people don't separate it, it's messy. And you know what, you end up paying more tax if it's not separated because you can't easily identify what's deductible and not deductible. And it's a nightmare for most people. And the only thing that I would add to what Gary said as well is make sure that you're looking and working with an advisor, whoever it is, to make sure that your business structure is in the right way as well. You know, as a sole proprietor, as the hot chocolate stand, no problem, right. But if all of a sudden, you know, your street takes off and that turns into a couple hundred thousand dollars, that sole proprietorship structure is not going to be ideal for little Gary selling these. So make sure that you're just paying attention to that as well as your financial situation continues to evolve. Evolve. Make sure that that structure is constantly reviewed to make sure that it's the right one for you. Now Gary, I think this is a nice lead into this as well because I wanted to ask you, as business owners do start to realize different levels of success, of course you're working with your CPA to get your structure right and whatnot as well. But once business owners start to have some surplus cash, some surplus money, what is it like? What's a next foundational step that they should be thinking about in order to start getting that money working for them or growing that money to help support that eventual exit or retirement?

Yeah, it's a good question, Bob. And I think it, it, it relates to the, I feel like it relates a lot to what that business owner's vision is for their business. Right. If they want to exit, then they probably need to put all that back into the business to show profits, to hire people to expand. Right. If they're looking to, maybe they need to start a Solo 401K or a SEP IRA depending upon their employees and business structure so that they one, get a tax reduction on their income, but also are able to grow that money in tax efficient manner for retirement. And so I think, you know, having a sit down conversation with yourself if you're a solo or your business partner or your family and saying, where do I, where do I see this business in two years, five years, 10 years beyond. We can always expect what happens in our life, but you can still plan for it. And so a lot of business owners, what they do is they just reinvest into their business, right? Okay, I made $10,000 last month. I'm going to go and buy, for example, in my situation, 10,000 boxes or whatever they cost, right? So I can do more, or I'm going to hire another employee, I'm going to buy a new ice cream machine or whatever the case is, right? And that's fine. And I think once you get to a point where you're like, okay, we are doing what we're doing, we're at capacity, we, we're growing, you also want to put a little bit money on the side still, even if it's a little bit to your retirement, to your future. You know, you had mentioned that don't read Gary's book when you're 64. Do it when you're 25. Time is our biggest asset, right? If you leave money to grow, if you do the right things earlier as possible, it doesn't matter as much how much you do. Obviously, the more you do, the better. But the more important thing is that you do something, set something aside, right? It's just the old saying, the best day to plant a tree was 50 years ago. The next best day is today. And so if you do that along with generating profits is the best solution as it fits with your vision.

I like the tree analogy. I'm going to steal that at some point, Gary, so thanks for that.

It's not mine, so I like it.

I like it. And you know what, if you were 64, still read Gary's book, but just don't expect that you're going to solve all of your retirement problems within 12 months, right? So, like, manage your expectations. Start as early as you possibly can. You know, we talk about this with our business clients in our coaching program, the wealthy entrepreneur. And, you know, we've got some trainings and whatnot that are on this that are like, start with $100 a week, start with $50 a week, you know, and. And when you continue to have surplus cash in your business account, turn it into $200 a week and $300 a week. And, you know, there's some resourcefulness that we have as business owners that will say, you know what, we're going to replenish this bank account no matter what it takes. And if we start forcing some of those funds to go into a forced retirement plan of some sort. And I'm going to ask you what your advice is on that type in a second. But we force that in there and we continue to have the same money in our bank account. You know, there's psychology of spending, there's, you know, money psychology that goes into all of that. But there's also the resourcefulness of entrepreneurship where we're always going to find a way to replenish our bank account. So, you know, let's use that a little bit to its advantage and start putting some of that money away and continue to push yourself to increase it as well. You know, the younger you are and the faster you can get that started, the better position you're going to be in.

And you never know if you run into a rough patch with business. Right. Like I said, it's never guaranteed. And if you have some money set aside and savings and, you know, hopefully I'm to tap your retirement, but if you do, it's a lot better doing that than going to a loan shark or taking out a loan at 20% interest. And now you're really struggling. So having resources is important. Put it away while the times are good.

Absolutely. And so sort of to follow up on that, so we put in $100, $200, $300. As we build that up, obviously, you know, 100 to 200 is doubling our contribution annually. Like, that's a, that's a big step and a great step. Like, let's start small and continue to move forward. What would you actually put that in, Gary? Like, you know, a lot of times I suggest to people that they, you know, from my end, I am not a money manager. I do not provide advice on investments unless it's a calculated investment. And I'm doing the calculations, sure. But looking at the investment and saying, what type should this be? You know, more growth focused? Should this be more of a balanced portfolio investment? Where should people put that as they get started?

Well, I mean, as you get started, the thing, the thing about investing, the rule of thumb that's always out there is that the more time you have, the more aggressive you should be. Right. So a portfolio of mutual funds or growth ETFs, exchange traded funds, they now the job's really easy for target date funds. Right. If you plan to sell your business or retire in 2050, there are target date funds that say, okay, target date retirement 50. So it kind of doesn't work for you. There's managed platforms. There's now robo advisors through the large brokerages like Schwab Vanguard Fidelity. You answer some questions, you pay a little fee, but it manages the investments for you. And so the biggest thing is, you know, the stock market is one of the greatest drivers of wealth. Right. And so if you're young, 20s, 30s, even your 40s, most of your investments should be in that because you've got 10, 20 years until you need the money. So that's where it's really focused. And then once you get to the point where you're like, all right, I'm going to start scaling it back. I'm going to retire in a couple of years, you worked all your life. You want to start to turn the dial on that and say, instead of so much growth and risk, let's generate income from all these investments. Right. The bigger your portfolio grows, the more income it can potentially generate. And you can focus also more on Bond, CDs, whatever it is that's going to generate the income for you. And so it's important to be able to realize what's, what's my end game for this account and invest accordingly.

Absolutely love that. Okay, let's, you know, thinking every book, 325 Ways to Save, Earn and thrive. Let's move to thrive. Right. And I know you have a significant focus on living with intention money minimalism, meaning do you want to expand on that and, you know, your guidance on people, on the living with intention perspective.

Sure. So I mentioned earlier that I have a moving box company I started in my 20s called California Box Rental. And it's where you basically rent these green totes with the lids attached, and then we pick them up when you're done moving. So it's zero waste. And I learned about a company in actually Canada. Have you heard of Frogbox?

I believe I have heard of Frogbox, Gary.

So I believe they're in Canada. And that's where I got the inspiration to start something similar here. And now there's lots of companies, there's Bungo Box, there's different companies everywhere, but nobody was up in the Sacramento area doing this. And so I really felt the need to do generate, you know, start a business that also align with my passions. So the thrive part of financial flies is really just about how can you direct your energy to something that aligns with your values, whether, you know, maybe if you feel really into politics, can you get into your local city council, go to the meetings, maybe join a committee for the parks or the arts, and be able to direct your energy for the betterment of your community? Doesn't cost anything to do that. You might make a little bit money too, but the main thing is you're doing something with your values that's going to provide you fulfillment and that's going to feel a whole lot better than, you know, going out to dinner every night or watching Netflix. Right? And so living with intention is really just about what your values are and aligning them with, with what you do. So, you know, some people, for example, really love their pets and they want their pets to have a great life and give them the best toys and the food and a pet hotel, but they don't really care about what kind of car they drive. So maybe they drive a 14 year old Toyota Corolla, but they put a lot of money in their pets and that's totally fine. The only person that should determine what you do with your money is you. And so what? Living with intention is also just about, you don't have to spend money in order to live with intention. It doesn't cost anything to take your dog to the dog park. It doesn't cost anything to meet up with a friend and go for a hike. It doesn't cost anything to do a potluck. And you know, you can also get into, I talk about this in financial flies, but some of the best times I had at events and festivals is when I volunteered at them because you get a backstage kind of view at how things work, you meet other volunteers, it's free admission, usually there's perks and freebies, whatever, but ultimately you're also doing something. So me being passionate about sustainability, I volunteer for like the Zero Waste team. So to make sure that things get recycled and composted and all of that. And so it's fun and you're doing something good and you're engaging and it's not costing you anything. So I think the thrive part is really just realizing that, you know what, finding ways to enjoy your life intentionally, mindfulness, yoga, whatever it is, taking care of your health, your relationships, nurturing the stuff that really matters and will make you feel a lot better.

I love that. That's so great. For anybody who's listening, who's got a business, you know, when you're talking about cultural alignment or creating an environment that people want to be part of something, it comes down to that intention that Gary's talking about. Right. So we were ranked, I think, the 20, 26th best employer in Canada, between 100 and 1,000 employees. Pretty cool in the great places to work, sort of third party assessment. And the reason that we get there is because we focus very much on the vision of who we are and what we are planning on doing. So some of it is that we empower entrepreneurs with the financial knowledge so that they can confidently run their businesses successfully, and we as entrepreneurs can change the world. That's part A. Part B is what do we do to help advance our community?

And.

And I gotta tell you, you know, any of our marketing, our social, our employee engagement, it is always higher when we're doing something together that enriches the lives of those around us. And that's what people buy into. So not just. Not just even ourselves. Right. Like, Gary's talking about living with intention in our lives. But you know what's really cool right now? You can start living with intention and finding people with the same intention and. And that have the same values that we can align with. We're currently just finishing up a campaign where we have got 206 stocked backpacks for kids who are less fortunate to go back to school with all of the supplies that they need to be successful, including getting a haircut. We've got one of our clients and another hairstylist in town closing down their offices to help support this cause. And I gotta tell you guys, like, the most alignment we get as a team is when we're all in this, helping these kids who need our help, you know, need that community support. And everybody just aligns on that so much, and it feels so good. And I think what Gary's saying is you make that part of your life, you know, make that feel good. Do what you need to do to fill your soul, and it doesn't always have to cost money. You can. You can live with intention and be thrifty as well. So cool, Gary. I love that so much. I live that. And. And I think our team lives that in. In some way. And sometimes, because not everybody is in the same financial position, sometimes people live that intention through their work too. So, you know, if others aren't able to commit time and resources to helping in ways like that, they can help people who do. And again, that's where we get so much alignment. So love that. Live that. And I think organizations who adapt that sort of philosophy are the ones that really thrive and become successful. So thank you. Last question I have for you is we've got entrepreneurs and founders listening, and I usually ask all my guests, you know, if you were to go back and start all over for everything that you've learned from being the, you know, the person back in 2010 who was fighting to say you have no experience to now you know, what's one piece of advice that you wish you knew then that you could share now?

You know, it's so funny because it's something I try and I think a lot of people try to learn too. But, you know, they say life can only be understood looking backward. Life can only be lived forwards, but it can only be understood looking backwards. And I think that's the case, right? With hindsight's 20 20, if I could go back to 2010, I would have bought more real estate. It was really cheap. It was a great time to get started with Instagram and all these other things to take advantage of the algorithms. But you don't know that, right? You don't know where the world's going to go. I don't know what the next 20 years are going to look like with AI and everything else. But I would say that going back, if you're starting as a 23 year old, which was just a couple years out of college or a year out of college, really take time to get to know yourself. And what I mean get to know yourself is get to know yourself, spend time by yourself, eat by yourself, go on excursions by yourself. What do you want? Ride it out, read books, learn more about yourself. Because I think that some people, a lot of people are kind of molded into what they should do by their parents, by their counselors, by their friends. And maybe you think you should be an entrepreneur and that's great. And I'm not, don't want to discourage anybody from ever trying that. But is that something you really want, is working or being on the clock 24, 7? There's a lot of rewards, but it's also meant for people who are really willing to deal with that. And you can also live a very fulfilling life being an employee of something that you're doing, meaningful work and having good work, life balance. So it's all about getting to know yourself. So if I could just give any advice or just be, that is just spend time with yourself, get to know yourself, understand your personal values, what's important to you, what you like to do, and then maybe write down some ideas of what you love. And are there any careers you can make out of that? Right. You know, it doesn't have to be something that's going to create millions of dollars, but can you create a life doing what you love? You know, I mean, there's so many, so many ideas out there that people can do. There's graphic design, if you love to do that. There's, you know, there's architecture, if you love to do that. Some people love animals. They'll create a mobile pet wash, you know, something like that. So it's just about getting to know yourself. And the other last thing I would just say is just find somebody that is successful, like how you want to be and, and get to know them. Right. I think somebody in your circle, having someone in your pocket that can guide you along is really important because there's someone who knows you and cares about you and will guide you. It's not somebody who has a hidden, hidden agenda.

Absolutely. You know, the easiest way to find out how to go from zero to a hundred is to find somebody who's done it and let them guide you and use their wisdom of failing and winning along the way to take the shortcut to the final.

Right. Yeah, they've done it. They've been to the trenches, you know, like ass. It's all about paying it forward. Then one day when you're successful and you can give advice to the next generation, then it's your turn.

Absolutely. Gary, this has been awesome. Thank you so much. Appreciate all of your insights. Guys, we're going to make sure that we put the links to Gary's book on there. Again, financial fives. Gary, what's the best way for people to connect and reach you personally?

I do have a website, financial fives.com just for the book. You can contact me there if you have any questions. Always happy to share entrepreneurial advice or just any advice or any questions that you have. And I'm also on LinkedIn, so awesome.

Well, great. And we'll throw the link to your LinkedIn profile in here as well. So once again, Gary, thank you guys. This has been the Wealthy Entrepreneur podcast. I'm your host, Bob Goverow. Excited to always have you here. You know, this has been such an easy conversation with Gary talking about ways that entrepreneurs can live really a fulfillment, fulfilling life, but also help plan out their financials on a personal side to make sure that you get to enjoy your life in somewhat of a financial, free or a financially responsible way. So I'm sure that there's been some piece of advice, guidance that you've heard today. We're here to empower entrepreneurs to move the world forward ultimately and create success together. If there's a piece of advice that you know someone needs to hear, please grab it and share it. Again, we're here to help as many people as we possibly can at the same time. If there's any comments, questions, drop them in here. Give us a like for sure. We will. We'll make sure that we comment back or get you any answers to any questions you may have. Make sure you hit follow. We will release another episode next week. So excited to have you return with us and continue to follow on the journey. But ultimately just want to thank you guys for being here today. It's amazing to continue to grow this community, excited to continue to share great people like Gary and the resources and knowledge that they have and look forward to seeing you guys all again next week.