In this Ascendant Financial interview, Che shares his personal financial transformation from a military background to becoming an American Advisor focused on infinite banking. He recounts how military service forced him to confront external control, prompting a mindset shift that later guided his financial decisions. After leaving college and joining the military, he earned $20,000 annually as an E4 but carried $40,000 in debt. A post‑service transition program helped him budget, leading to a decisive choice to leave the military and pay off the debt in 1.5 years through disciplined, incremental wins. Relocating to Tennessee, Che entered an insurance firm but left after three months because the product‑centric sales model conflicted with his client‑first values. This departure introduced him to his future business partner, Kurt Berry, who taught him the Infinite Banking concept. Attending Nelson’s 2024 think tank connected him with Jason, Richard, and the broader Ascendant Financial community, solidifying his purpose to serve others financially. The conversation also touches on tax‑optimization philosophy, encouraging listeners to pay only their fair share. Overall, Che’s story illustrates the power of mindset re‑evaluation, consistent small actions, aligning with purpose‑driven mentors, and leveraging infinite banking to build wealth.
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Today's guest is one of those people. Che is part of our growing American Advisor team and he represents what I believe is the next generation of leadership in the movement here at Ascendant Financial.
My mind started to shift from other people controlling my life, and so I acted on that partial truth for a large majority of my life. That's where my journey starts when it comes to infinite banking. And I knew instantly that I was where I was supposed to be When I got out of the military service, my, my mind started to shift from other people controlling my life. In the military, you have people who control where you live, when you eat, when you sleep, all that. And getting out of the military, I had to go through this program to kind of figure out how to start doing civilian life again. And so that was a really big eye opener for me as well as starting to rethink my thinking. And Nelson talks about that really, really heavily in his book, is constantly reevaluating your thinking when it comes to everything you do. So that is one big leap I had when it came to finances when I was getting out of the military. But I'm going to take us back a little bit. And my, my financial journey really started when I was, when I was getting out of high school, going into college. One of the things my dad told me was you need to build your credit, you need to get a credit card, you need to do all these things. And because he was my father, I believed him. I was like, that's what. Those are the things that I need to do to become financially stable in this world. So I started doing. But I feel that that is something that was a partial truth. I didn't get the whole truth. And so I acted on that partial truth for a large majority of my life. I went through college, I'm through two years of college before I joined the military, starting to realize that going to college really wasn't for me. And so after I dropped out of my college and went to the military, I started to really find myself and find out where I wanted to be. And I don't think I really found that until after I got out of the military. But the military was one of those things that really started to help me find out what I wanted to be, what I wanted to do when I grew up. Right. Going back to when I was getting out of the military, one of the things that was a catalyst for me is going through the program to get out. They start having you look at budgets, they start having you look at how to control your finances. So that when you get out, you can, you can start off with two ground or two feet flat on the ground moving forward. And I remember vividly going through my budget and really putting everything on paper. And I realized I made $20,000 a year as a, as a E4 in the military and I owed $40,000. That weight just, it just hit me and I was like, okay, well, I have a couple decisions to make. Do I stay in the military and in an environment where I'm not very comfortable, I'm miserable most of the time, or do I get out and figure it out? And for me it was, you know, the Lord, my heavenly father helping me make that decision to say, I've got something better for you. I just didn't know what it was at the time.
Look, we all think that we should be paying only your fair share in taxes. Just so happens I think your fair share is lower than probably what paying now. Well, we talk a little bit about that in our book. Key taxes away from your wealth. You can get a copy and access to the bonuses by going to keep taxes away dot com. That's keep taxesaway dot com head on over there and pick up a copy today.
So I took the leap of faith. Got out of the military, got a great, had great income moving from the military to civilian government service. It was a really great transfer. Got really great income out of it. And that helped me start the journey of finances. That was a five year journey. When I started that journey, I told myself that I was going to pay off all of my debt. I had a plan, I had planned to do that and I did it within probably about a year and a half. $40,000 paid it off within a year and a half. And in doing that, I realized that all I had to do to complete a task was to put my mind to it. Going back to Nelson's, rethinking your thinking, always putting your mind first and telling yourself you can do this and putting little steps along the way so you can see consistent wins. I, I believe most people see that they can do this, but it's the consistent wins that most people fail at. They try and get too big of a task and they build up all this momentum and then they get to the top and they get discouraged and they fall back. So for me, it was putting those little consistent wins that propelled me to actually getting it complete. And that was the beginning of my journey when it came to finances. I knew at that point I wanted to do something with finances. I believe God put on my heart that I needed to do something with finances. I still at the time didn't know what it was yet. Fast forward. My wife and I moved to Tennessee and that was a new start for us. It was a complete start over. New jobs, new everything. And I said, I want to get into finances. I don't know how, don't know where I want to get into it. Started working for an insurance company. I'm not going to name names, but that insurance company, I realized after three months of working for them that they didn't fit who I was looking to become. They wanted to sell a product and it was all product focused. This had nothing to do with the client. And I felt that from the get go. And I was saying, well, I'm just going to be different. I'm going to be different. But every time we would have our Monday morning meetings, they were like, well, why aren't you doing it the way that's supposed to make you money? And I said, because doing it the way you guys are teaching it is going to sell something to the client that they don't need. And it just, it wasn't a great fit. So they ended up firing me for it, which was the blessing that I needed because in doing that, I found my business partner, Kurt Berry, who taught me Infinite Banking concept. And that's where my journey starts when it comes to Infinite banking. I went to my first think tank in 2023, sorry, 2024. And from that think tank is when I met you, Jason, Richard. And sitting in that room of people that Nelson had brought together from his teachings, I felt at home. I felt around a group of people who were all about wanting to serve others. And I knew instantly that I was where I was supposed to be.
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