85. Infinite Banking Canada | Cashflow Canucks Unite – Peter Lount

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Another episode in the wealth of thou Bay Street Advisor series, we're joined today by Peter Lount in hailing from the greater Toronto area. Also joined today by Richard Canfield, of course, hailing from Chilliwack, bc, otherwise known as the wac. Gentlemen, it's a pleasure. And Peter, welcome. Welcome to the Wealth Without Bay Street Advisor series. Being such an incredible teammate, an authorized infinite banking practitioner with the Nelson Nash Institute, a amazing, amazing value creator here on our team at Ascended Financial and one of the best connectors I know. Welcome to the show, Peter. It's good to have you.

Yeah, thank you. Thanks for having me. To you both.

And we've been connecting all day. Peter and I were just doing this live streamyard deal on getting out on the LinkedIns and YouTubes and Facebooks and all of that. Then Rich and I hopped on to a live stream, did our own.

Not to be outdone, we had to do our own streamyard.

And so, Peter, why don't we begin with maybe, you know, share with, share with viewers and listeners a little bit about your journey. What inspired you to.

You know, set foot on this amazing path and to be a part of, you know, this, this growing team? What inspired you?

Yeah, I think, you know, for the most part I'd say my, my story is pretty boring. I just, you know, you know, it was, you know, really. I started out with, you know, I went to school, got a job. You know, I grew up in Mark Montero, so just outside of Toronto and headquarters for IBM Canada was there. So I, I started my first job there and I, you know, half my buddies graded class, all that, all their parents had these defined benefit pensions. Live really well and you know, I was like, yeah, I'll just do that. Got, got out of school, finish, finish my degree as fast as possible. I didn't really know what I wanted. I thought maybe I want to be in business or something or work at a bank would be just a logical thing. I guess I didn't really have a specific goal in mind and maybe that's, that's why it was kind of boring because not having a focus, not having a plan was, is a big part of what gets you or drives you to where you want to go. And I had a really Good career. I met many people there. I was. I was there for 14 years. And then I made a shift. I went to another company, big, massive company for a year, and then another one for two years, another one for two years. I'm like, it's not the company, it's me. Right? Like, there's so many things that were just going on around me that I thought that was, you know, I thought I would find something better. Just something better, right. The biggest shift for me was maybe 2008, 2009, when we saw the turn in the economy. And my define contribution plan, not defined benefit plan, took a massive hit. I lost like 40 or 50% of it. I thought, how the heck am I ever going to get out of that? And that's where it really started pushing me to get into real estate. So I started going to real estate and did some investments there and partnered with. With a family friend. We started getting to apartment buildings. And.

It was still. I still wasn't getting ahead though, right? I was there, but I didn't really have that. There was no liquidity. It was like I was getting a bit of cash flow. It was good, but I felt kind of stressed with the amount of debt that was piling up around me, you know, secured to the. To the properties, but still just didn't feel like it was. I didn't see the end to it. And so I went really deep into just.

Enabling myself. Right. And so part of that real estate journey was going back to read, listen to podcasts. I found podcasts. I stopped listening to the radio. I literally would go, you know, four hours a day just listening to podcasts. I got to reading a book a week and just kept. Kept going through it. I was actually listening to a real estate podcast in the US And I heard this guy talking about, well, you know him, Patrick Donahoe. Right. And so just talking about this process, and I was listening, I was in my car, and I literally had to rewind it like 10 times to hear what he was talking about. It was like, it seemed too good to be true. And it ended up being infinite banking. And it really. I really connected with it. I went to do my research, see who did it in Canada, if it was possible. That's where I connected with you, Jason. Actually, Sarboy I connected with first. But you guys were all together at that point, and, you know, that's about four years ago. And then I can, you know, it was. I had left corporate world by then. I was working at a small boutique IT shop, and with a friend, it Was. It was. It was great. I had tons of flexibility and all that, but I still didn't. It still wasn't like, I wasn't juiced to go to work every day. You know, I just didn't. Didn't feel it when I found this. Before I even became a practitioner four years ago, I went and bought ten books of. Ten of these.

Right.

And we had people over. You know, I was like, handing out the books and like, what is this? What do you like? They didn't. You know, when I. When I catch on to something, I get pretty eager, like to tell friends and family. But you'll find that I guess everybody has their moment. I think this is something that will work for anybody. They just have to be open to it. So continued on, and two years later, I think Jason, you and I ended up connecting. You were coming into town for. Into Toronto for Strategic Coach.

Yeah.

Quarterly. We had a couple of dinners, and it was around the time when you were about to launch Ascended. And I said, okay, let's go. And I haven't looked back. I mean, wasn't without its struggles.

Right.

I mean, I restarted.

I.

You know, you came in a couple times. We did some seminars. It was. It was all right. We filled the room. It was. It was really fighting tooth and nail to get the room filled. Yeah. And then I had Sarbo in for a couple, you know, couple road shows. And literally we had one or two people at a couple of them. Like, we were still. It was still pretty scattered. But if I look back now from where we are today, like, we literally had like 400 people the last one, 300 people at the last. The event before that. Like, it is insane.

We've grown just a little bit.

I would say. You got to be careful if you're going to be even thinking about looking back, Peter, because you'll have to have your chiropractor on speed dial. You'll get so much whiplash for how much stuff is behind you. Like, you could really hurt yourself. So just be. Just be mindful of that.

I will. I will.

You know, go. One thing.

One thing I really want to touch on with our listeners is that, you know, we've talked on a number of episodes about the Nelson Nash Institute, of course, which we're all, you know, authorized practitioners of, but specifically the annual conference that we have, the. The think tank event that we. That's hosted generally every February. And I remember, Peter, you know, one of the first times you and I had the chance to meet was at that event. And you. You Flew down from Toronto. Of course, we were coming from Edmonton at that time and you weren't even in the industry. You were just someone that had started this process in your life. You were practicing it as in your own life with your own family. And you were just developing this passion for. A vibrant passion for infinite banking and a gobbling up of knowledge. You know, you're a sponge for. You have a natural curiosity, which I really respect about you. And you're just a sponge for information. You're a voracious reader. And so you attended this event and not. It's not intended for people who really aren't in the industry, but you are already kind of taking yourself down that track a little bit. So maybe speak to what prompted you to go down to the event and what were some of the things you learned by being immersed in that community of people.

Yeah, I think I really just, I connected with it, you know, even before that, I think I had gone actually to one of the boot camps that Jason Sarbo running. I flew out to Calgary from Toronto and it really got me, you know, I was really connecting with it. I could see where it would be something that would. Able to help me and be able. I could help others too.

Right.

It just. My trouble was connecting myself to how do I help others do it. When I went to the, the think tank, that was at a whole nother level because it was just full of all these people who are all about becoming their own banker and. Right. Taking control back. And it's not just about the banking function. It's just like life in general. Right. In terms of.

Once you control that financing function, how much more enabled you are, you know, to live life now, but then also in the future. Like when I, when I went there, there was, I. I'm trying to think who was there that presented Richard. I think you were actually the host of the event and so got to connect with you that way. Which is. Which was awesome to, to see and, and get the. We had a nice core Canadian crew that I think Jason, you had us all down in the front row and you know, at every session, you know.

Jason cracks a whip on front row seating. So if you ever, ever get to go to an event with Jason, just, just expect to be front row and like you need, you just need to be there, basically.

Yeah. I think I actually made it in a documentary because I'm in the front row in some of the little pieces that are there. But so entrepreneurial. Right. It just my, my, I had grown up really in just staying you know, live a life that's very safe, stay under the radar, be risk free. And it was literally, I thought it was like the safe way to go was just be comfortable. Right. But, you know, I realized through, you know, through, through that just seeing how much energy there was in the room with entrepreneurship, I was, I was pretty much sold at that point.

That's awesome. And if you think about, you know, your journey in the business aspect of this, you know, really, really flourishing in your unique ability in bringing people together so that the message can be shared with more people. And so when you develop a relationship and you recognize an opportunity for collaboration, you recognize an opportunity for connection.

Your natural tendency is to do that and you bring people together. And that is a strength. That's a strength to continue to develop and to continue to leverage, you know, in your journey with us. And it's been incredible. You know, we've, we've been able to grow to having 300 people, 400 people show up at an event. And you've been a very big instrumental part of that. And so to have you as a teammate is a real privilege, and you're continuing to grow, and it's, it's awesome to see. And so, you know, when Nelson would say as often as he did, the more you see, the more you'll see, you didn't see. He wasn't just talking about the process.

He was talking about you as the person. And that's, you know, it's, again, it's a lot of fun. You know, I can't wait to get back to the live aspect of it where, you know, we're planning some, some pretty big things in the fall that, of course, we'll share with all of our listeners and viewers as well. But I'm super excited and looking forward to that.

Yeah, no, thank you. And I, I think, yeah, those belly to belly events will be, you know, I think people are, are looking forward to them. A lot of people are zoomed out at this point, but, yeah, like, you know, I think it, you know, the collaboration part of the connection piece is really about, I would say really came down to just, you know, building relationship over time. I think you talked about this with the team recently, Jason, just about, you know, know when to. It's. It's about give, give, give, and, you know, when it's time to ask, then you ask. And, you know, I think that some of those things that have taken place are a result of that not being like, in your face. You need to hear this right now. It's learning to have patience. The other part about the collaboration part is just, you know, I went in as, as a, you know, thinking I'm going to be a full time advisor. I just want to take all these opportunities and just, you know, learn the process and take this back for myself. That's kind of, you know, maybe overstating it for myself. But I would say, you know, I found collaboration has been so empowering working with an organization where I can do what I'm, you know, where my new capabilities lie. Focus on that and be able to, you know, collaborate with yourself, with Sarvo, with Richard, wherever else within the group. Even client services too. Right. Like they do so many things that I do not want to do. Right. And they're great at it.

Yeah.

Because it brings them energy.

Yeah. So we're accomplishing so much more together by doing that.

Yeah, I agree.

Now, when you consider the time that you've been in this industry now in this business, coming from a totally different, you know, an IT oriented, semi, you know, technology, but still a sales oriented type background and then into this, um, and, and having to go through a learning and training process, there's, there's industry stuff, industry knowledge about, you know, just being in the financial category, being licensed in, you know, multiple provinces, et cetera, that you need to learn. And then there's, then there's the, the other stuff which is, you know, in our opinion, a little bit more important and where we focus on is understanding and implementation and coaching of Infinite Banking and the concept within people's lives and, and the dynamics that come with that. Because everyone's got a different circumstance. They've all got their own unique financial junk draw. So thinking about that learning process and coaching and mentorship, Peter, what would you tell someone who's thinking that they would want to consider, they're even interested in exploring what that might look like for them down the road in the future. What should they be prepared for in understanding how much effort needs to go into really embracing and understanding this concept over time?

Yeah. I think at the end of the day you really have to be connected with your why, why are you doing it, who you're trying to serve. And that really drove me more than anything through the process because you know, I think I told you I was trying to get at a corporate, I didn't know how to do it and I looked at getting my mortgage broker license, looked at getting my appraiser's license, looking, get my real estate license, all these things and I just, I literally would fall asleep reading these textbooks And I'll tell you, reading a life insurance textbook is no more exciting than a real estate textbook. But I was driven. Like, it was something that I really wanted. Right. And it's something you have to have in order to be able to practice this. You have to have your llqp, Right. So, um, yeah, I just. You know, here. Here's what I would say, in addition to just having your. Why is really having that focus, too. Right. I literally dropped everything I was doing. I. You know, I think a big reason why I wasn't making that shift was I was one foot in one job and trying to get to the next. Once I fully left and was fully focused on what my objective was, I did it. And the. So I got through the hardest part was the LLQP for that was. For me, the exciting part was the Nelson Nash Institute. Right. I mean, it's stuff I already basically knew. I was just like, go back and learn. You can't read this stuff enough. Right? You just. You have to be repetitive to learn. And I think that's the great part about the group that we're surround ourselves with, is that we're always continually trying to get better, to learn. And either it's reading or it's podcasts or it's just masterminding with the team or learn with Jay, any of these ways that we can learn to help teach each other, but it'll also empower us to teach others.

Love it. And if you were to share.

One of the items from R. Nelson Nash's book that resonates with you the most, it's always so interesting to hear the different parts of the book and the reasons why. And so if you think of a section in Nelson's book that really, really resonates, could you share that with our viewers and listeners?

That's a bit of a loaded question because, I mean, we can kind of go anywhere in this route. I think that what I talk to most people about is just really just, you know, go back to basics without even getting into the tool or anything like that, because we know how powerful it is. Just is really. All the elements that he talks about at the beginning of the book is just about human nature, the things that we do that we don't even know that we're doing, where our money's going, like it's. But people have to take the time to connect. Like, you know, I think.

Or maybe this is Nelson saying this, but this is something I know that you guys always brought up in previous boot camps and. And presentations is about this is what you know, this is what you don't know. Or I think maybe Richard, you might have had a saying about this with a wine glass. Is that the, yeah.

Nelson, he would, it was something he actually picked up from his mentor, Leonard Reed. And it was, you know, you take his example, he would use something small like, like a wine glass. You put it on a table. He says, look, the table is everything in the known universe that there is to know. It's everything, all the possible knowledge in the world in the bottom of this glass, the rim of the glass, everything in the circumference there. That's what I know, that's what I understand. What the world he puts on the edge of the table. He says, now look how small what I know is and compared to all the knowledge in the world. But look at that outer rim, that outer perimeter. Look at where it's touching the fringes of the things that I do not know. And if I increase the size of my own knowledge and I expand the size of that bottom of that glass, well, I'm, I am dramatically more exposed to that which I do not know. And so you're always learning new things and your capacity to learn new things and then as you learn them, the exposure to things that you didn't even know existed is just automatically increased and enhanced.

And that's what I love about, really, about the environment that we work within, right. Is that we're all continually learning, we're trying to teach new people. The process, and it's so important too is that we're not going to do it on behalf of you. Right? We'll, we'll do as much time as you will. I always say to people is, you know, we'll put in the time as long as you put in the time because it's the whole process about self empowerment and you know, I, I, I love the, you know, you guys did that recent episode on the dividend scale and just getting to that detail, the amount of knowledge and information you guys have spent to, to get to that point is just that comes from passion and, and wanting to help serve others. And I think that's really at the essence of what Nelson was too. We talked about, you know, you hear about these stories about him just showing up these, doing these nine hour seminars and like maybe there's one or two people that show up and it's like crazy. He was passionate about it, right. And I think that, I think that anyone who is practicing this definitely feels that.

Connection with them that at least I do.

He had that impact and that effect. And when people, you know, watch the documentary film, they pick up on it. They say, wow, he just seemed like such an incredible person. And we, you know, we think about him every day and we, you know, express gratitude for him every day. And he shows up, you know, he shows up in ways where by creating that fifth golden rule, I think it's had such a big impact, everlasting impact on his legacy because there's no end to rethinking your thinking. It's not a one time event. And yeah, to be surrounded by teammates like the both of you is just makes it that much more fun.

And for anyone who's listening in, if you didn't get the opportunity to meet or see Nelson, we would absolutely encourage you to check out the documentary film. Easy way to get to it is nelsonnashfilm.com we just made it simple so it's easy to remember. And then of course there's also a tribute project that was done with a ton of great interviews and actually clips of Nelson teaching himself pulled up from the archives. You can go to davnelson.com and you can check that out. It's like 11 hours granted, you can skip through sections if you want, but ton of good value and like personal stories of people who spent that quality time with, with Nelson. Now Peter, you got to meet Nelson, see Nelson in person, you know, quickly. Just share maybe with our listeners what that experience was like for you and the impact it had.

Yeah, I would, I would say so. I think it was at the bootcamp that you hosted Richard, or it's not the boot camp, the, the, what do you call it? The think tank. And yeah, you know, I think it was more. I'd say the event was super powerful. I spent a very like, I basically said hi to him. I think I was really kind of still in a bit of my, my shell at that point. So I didn't, you know, go out and have a full conversation with him. But I did get a chance to see him speak and you know, he was.

Yeah, such, you know, by that point he was like pretty small in stature and kind of had had age to that point, but just.

Like you couldn't hear a pin drop in the room. He just, he knew how to control an audience. He added his humor and he was well experienced in what he did. And I think it just comes out of the essence of what he was trying to accomplish. I don't think at the end of the day he was, I don't know how long it was since he had, I assumed he dropped his, selling his, his life insurance license at some point. Right. But he was just spreading a message. Right. And that was basically it. He's like, you guys need to know this to empower yourselves. It's there for the taking. Right. And just, it's, it's people's time they just have to put into it. But yeah, I would say it was, it was a very brief. But you know, I did get the essence of him from that, from that think tank.

Love it. Awesome. Now, Peter, you may or may not be aware of this. I know you have a couple of kids and I would imagine that you've probably watched a superhero movie now and again with your kids. Now in those movies that we see today, not all those superheroes wear capes. In fact, we don't often think ourselves and what we do as superheroes. But anytime that you're showing up and adding value for others, which you do on a weekly basis, you have your own podcast program. You're interviewing experts and world class individuals who are sharing both passionate stories and real life experiences to help business owners and Canadians thrive in a financial world. And so when you show up like that, you're adding tremendous value to other people's lives. So the question we would have for you, of course, is who would you like to be a hero to?

Yeah, I would just, I would say I knew this question was coming too and I didn't even think of an answer. But you know, I would say yeah, I mean, that in itself was good. I think in, in general, I just want people to be able to know that, you know, you're not stuck in what you're, you're doing. You know, there's the opportunities out there to become self enabled. What we teach is so, so empowering from a financial standpoint. I think it just, I think it, it transcends. Now. I'm, I'm hopeful that, you know, I, I can pass this message on to my kids. I'm still working on that. But you know, I think this is something that the message can pass down generationally. That's not what I was even thinking getting into it, but it just, yeah, I think there's any way that I can help business owners, families and empower them. I think that would be, that would be fulfilling to me.

Wonderful. Peter, it was a pleasure having you on the Advisor series, Wealth Without Bay street and to all our viewers on the YouTubes and to all of our listeners on all the podcast platforms, thank you sincerely again for tuning in and for the YouTubers. If you look right over here, there's going to be a recommended list of additional videos that we would encourage you to watch so that you can continue your journey of learning and so make the rest of your day great. Thanks so much again for joining us, guys. This was fun. We're going to do it again. Peter, we will have you back and so have an awesome, awesome rest of your day.

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