PipemanRadio is The Financial Guest on Ask Good Questions

0:12 The topics and opinions expressed in the following show are solely those of the hosts and their guests and not those of W FOURCY Radio. It's employees are affiliates. We make no recommendations or endorsements radio show, programs, services, or products mentioned on air or on our web. No liability explicitor impliedes shall be extended to W FOURCY Radio or its employees are affiliates. Any questions or comments should be directed to those show hosts. Thank you for choosing W FOURCY Radio. Welcome to to Ask Good Questions podcasts, broadcasting live every Wednesday, six pm Eastern Time on W four CY Radio at W four cy dot com. This week and every week, we will reach for a higher purpose in money and life, as well as a focus on health and well. Now, let's join your host, Banita bell Anderson, as together we start with Asking Good Questions.

1:13 Welcome. This is Benita bell Anderson and I am your host today. I have with me a special guest. His name is Dean K. Piper, and I'm going to give you a little bio on this guy. He's an influencer, an international radio personality and on air talent and podcaster. He's a featured creator, a master marketer, a publicist, a promoter, a published author, a speaker, a coach, and a trainer. He was named number two ranked podcaster on Apple and was recently invited as a celebrity talent on Cameo. He's been featured in the news, on the radio, in multiple newspapers and magazines, and on broadcast television. And he describes himself as a positive, ambitious, highly energetic, persistent, persevering, spontaneous metal head, punker, hippie, skater, surfer, youthful, chameleon, professional businessman, thriving on passion. He lives life to the fullest while experiencing a variety of active, active interests. He is the pipe Man, and he has been said of him that he is a hybrid of Tony Robbins, Batman and Howard Stern.

2:35 The Adventures of Pipe Man has received many awards and media features, and has been ranked for multiple categories on one of the top six live radio shows and podcasts in the world. Besides that, there is the Pipe Man Radio Tour, where he travels in the country and the world doing press coverage. When does this guy have time for major business events? Conferences, conventions. I know. He just got back from being on the Ocean music festivals, concerts, award shows and red carpets in the US, the UK, and Europe. One of the top publicists in music has named pipe Man the King of All festivals, and he says that pipe Man Radio is a show for you.

3:21 It is many things. It's informative, it's professional, it's motivational, it's inspirational, it's in enlightening. It's controversial, it's music, it's shocking comedy, but most importantly, it's just plain fun. And that's what we intend to have today with Dean K. Piper like to welcome him. Now, Hello, Hello, And I just have to tell you that it sounded to me like you looked up every one of my personalities because I kind of have multiple personality disorder and you just read off about all of them. I know, well, it makes it, it makes you more interesting. But I'm really seriously going, how in the heck do you find time to do all that stuff?

4:05 I don't like? Literally, I think that week I was doing radio coverage on the Ocean for Ship Rocked, if I got two hours a night's sleep, that was a lot. Ah see Dean, that's going to catch up with you eventually. Well, it hasn't so far, and I can still outdo my kids and my grandkids. And listen, I got plenty of time to sleep when you know, when I'm on the other side. Okay, got it, got it. Well, we're going to talk about a scintillating topic today in the financial industry, about choosing an advisor. Now, I think we're going to try to make this as fun as possible. But I'm going to tell you briefly. But before I have you tell your story, I'm going to tell briefly my story. It's been about twenty five years ago that I went through a horrific divorce and completely up ended my life, and I ended it up going into financial services. I would have never been in this industry. It wouldn't have been for that complete left turn in my life. And I basically studied the role of women in the industry because I saw a lot of guys out there and actually had different ones who said, you know, you'd be good at this, you should try this. So twenty five years later, here I am doing commentary on my own podcast. So tell me about you. Tell me how you became an advisor.

5:34 How long were you in that role, why you left, and especially what did you learn from that experience. It's kai ironic. I was listening to you and I thought to myself, I think I passed the baton to you, because I, when I left the business, went through a horrific divorce at about the same time as you were going through a horrific divorce and getting into the business, and we. Didn't know that twenty five years later we are going to be talking about this. I look at that, look at how the universe works. Is like, so I went into this industry and now you're in that, and.

6:15 If it wasn't for you, I wouldn't be in this industry. Right, So it's like it's like it just all you know, the universe put all the puzzle pieces together. Right. What really started it for me was Okay, So I was in retail for ten years. I worked since I'm eleven years old. I've been a salesperson since I'm thirteen. I lived on the streets from fifteen years old, brought myself off the streets, put myself through college no help from anybody. Even then we were talking about time. I also paid for college myself. Good for you. I love that because you get a lot more of it. Because this is what I saw while I was in college. I couldn't deal with the kids my age because mommy and Daddy was paying for their stuff. They didn't respect it, they didn't understand, and you know, I was on mission. So I was like, I was working eighty hours a week in a retail store doing pools and spas, which I was in that business for ten years. And I was pulling seventeen credits at semester at Rutgers, which is for anybody that knows, twelve credits is full time. So you know, basically, you know, you do what you got to do. But the thing is is I had a brother that was working at Prudential, and he would multiple times try to get me to come work over there, and you know, I was kind of in my comfort zone. I'd been in this in

7:45 the street since I was a kid. I was, you know, very good at it, and you know, I was doing well for somebody my age, you know, and so why switch? But then I wanted more? And so I one day, let's see, I was like I think twenty years old or something like that, and I'm like okay, I'll come in. And so then I started my career at Prudential, where I got my life insurance license, my Series six, my Series sixty three health insurance license, P ANDC license, all that, okay, And it was interesting. My journey is very interesting because so you work for a company like Prudential. Some people might not like what I'm about to say, but they're a very big company that does things that the smaller person would not be able to do. Yeah, okay. And so basically I was a go getter when I first started in the business. I was out, I was working from seven in the morning to eleven at night. That was who I was, you know. And my goal was to be number one in that office. And I was in office with eighty five agents, and of course, you know, in that business, you go for the try to win,

9:18 the trip to the business conference and all that stuff. So I wanted to do all that. Yeah, that's where I started with it. I started with my also with my you know, credentials, by getting the LUTCF and so I was the number one agent in that whole office, you know. And basically what I learned at Credential was that that was not financial planning. I learned it was selling a product val variable appreciable. Life is all you were supposed to sell to anybody who would have the weekly.

10:00 I think that's that they would give you a bonus if you did sell a lot of that. Oh yeah, yeah, well not only that, but they'd have the weekly meeting and you could sell fifteen health insurance policies, twenty auto policies, fifty home owners policies. But if you didn't sell any life, you better be hiding under the desk because you were a goose egg. Okay, you know, and all those things made you money. But what made them a lot of money was the life insurance. And that was it fits in everybody's pocket. They call it financial needs analysis, what you go out and do. Yeah, And then you had this thing it was called the Opser tray, which was this metal tray with all the people in your because you had an area as an agent, and your manager taught you to pull these Opser sheets out and read how much dividends there was and how much cash value, and doing illustration of how much more val that could buy for the person, you know, And so basically those are the things you could not do if you're an independent or a smaller shop, right, Why because it's kind of illegal just saying, but hopefully nobody heard that, okay, you know. And so I also was too young to be making the amount of money I was making. I was making like seventy grand a year

11:30 at like twenty one years old working for Prudential because I was out. There, like man, you were rolling in the dough. I was killing it, and nobody could afford to hang out with me my age. So I used to be the big shot, treating everybody and go like tavern on the green, Hey, let's go to dinner. Mine. My American Express bill alone was like twenty five hundred a month. I had thirty five credit cards. Listen, okay, you're doing financial stuff, but yet you have thirty five credit cards. Okay. And here's the thing. People don't give a twenty one year old thirty five credit cards, okay. And so I was basically making seventy and spending like one hundred and fifty.

12:12 Yeah. So I was going into a scenario where I was actually going filing bankruptcy because I listened to some stupid attorney that gave me bad advice. I got bills, I only owned twenty dollars. He wanted to put in a bankruptcy. But I was young and didn't listen. And I'm saying this stuff because you know, these are all part of things people need to learn about financial planning and advising, because it's not just hey, your investments or hey, you're insurance. It's the whole picture, you know, and a true advisor you're. Getting, you're creating a partnership with somebody. And a true advisor is not selling you product. They are looking at the whole picture and doing a true financial needs analysis. And that is the difference. And that's where things changed for me, because I did win this trip down in Florida and Marco Island, and there was a northeaster up in Jersey, and so I was and my dad lived down here in Florida, and so he lived now where I live now, and so we were sitting there. I was going through bankruptcy, losing everything. I did have a job that would get me out of a hole, because going bankrupt and then still making seven grand go out a hole. And I was sitting at this place shooters in Fort Laurredeal on the water with my dad sipping to Margarita, Well, there's a northeaster. And

13:44 I looked at him. I'm like, what the hell am I doing in New Jersey. I didn't tell him I was going to do next. But you know, when you go through hard times, sometimes you make decisions on the fly, just you just kind of change your life, because that's sometimes that's what gets you in a different direction. Well, for me, it was completely rethinking my life and what I wanted to be in the future. Yeah, and I remember very specifically. I went back to New Jersey and my sales manager at Prudential, he wanted me to do this deal that would made me one hundred granding commission. Uh. And my district manager wanted me to do it too, but it was basically replacing insurance like and not in the right way. And I refused, and they told me if I did not do it that they would have to let me go. And I told him, don't bother. Have a nice day. And I got in my car and I drove to Florida. Wow.

14:56 And so basically, but you had your integrity intact one. I mean, that would have changed my life, that sale. It had changed my life drastically. Okay, And we can't see that. If we're looking at the tree, we're not going to see the forest. And so basically I was looking at the forest, and yes, I want to sleep at night, and and yes I don't want to go to jail because that could potentially happen. Yep, and there I'm going to be the fall guy for sure. You know, I'm not you know, even at twenty one, I wasn't that stupid, right, And that's why they have a twenty one year old do that, you know, because they think they're gonna be that stupid. And so anyway, what happened was the minute I left there, and this is practice that was done all the time. This first time I've told this part of the story and like revealing what really goes on.

15:58 But basically, when you found out who really owns the clients. Oh yeah, because what they did the sales manager did is he lapsed every bit of insurance I wrote, gave it to another sales sales agent on his staff, so that what would happen is the other agent would rewrite it and the sales manager would get a bonus for double business and then it lapsed off for me. So I went to Florida, and I actually went to a Prudential to maybe work at Prudential in Florida here, maybe that'll be a better one. They wouldn't hire me because they said I had ten million of insurance lapsed off in the past month. So you know, I was no longer hireable by Prudential.

16:46 Yep. And then I saw this ad in the paper down here. I know, to the younger generation right now listening to this, they probably don't I'm speaking like a foreign language right now, because there was a time where we actually that's how we got jobs. We went and got the paper, looked into classified. Yeah, like what's that, you know? And I saw this. I saw this ad that said make one hundred and twenty five thousand plus blah blah blah blah blah. I don't even care what the rest of it said. I was twenty one years old, going through bankruptcy, just quit my job, had no money to even eat, and I wasn't gonna go work at McDonald's and I was looking to be in the financial business still. And so basically I went on this interview and there was no brokers, there no deaths. There's the three owners and they're telling me how I'm gonna make twenty grand a month. And they shot, like sometimes what you see in the movies.

17:51 They showed me their W two's from the year before they made a million dollars. You know, this whole thing was it. It was a come on firm, oh oh boy. Yeah, but a legal one, not a okay, you know license. So I don't know what they said sounded good to me. It said more my personality anyway, because I really hated going in people's houses and scaring them about death, like and how you have to pitch that crap, sure, you know, And it was more like my personality and you know, there's legit people and there's not legit people. Yes, okay. And so basically what I did was and the series three is one of the hardest exams you could take.

18:37 It's harder than the seven. Yeah, but I was. I remember I went home that day. I was talking to my dad and my brother, and I was talking about how I was gonna make twenty grand a month, blah blah blah blah blah, and They're like, you're you're bankrupt, you have no money. Maybe you should start with like making two hundred and fifty dollars why don't you get a red job, you know, And that's the line I got. So there there's significance to me saying that, because that was a fire in my belly for me. And I went and I sat on a Fort Laurnel beach on the beach for three days and studied that Series three exam and took it like on a Monday, like I just you know, rock went right through it. And like there were fifty other candidates in that brokerage firm that were being four you know, table spots. Basically, the guys had just opened a new firm. They were working somewhere else, they opened a new firm, and so I trusted in that because I was young enough to not be you know, like you know anything else. Yeah, I wasn't. I was.

19:50 I was young enough to not be pessimistic or skeptical, okay, and to believe what was going to happen. And I'm a big believer what the mind conceives, what the mind believes is what you conceive. So, you know, basically I went for all out. And then so that first month in the business, in that part of the business, they said to me, listen, I know you're a superstar Prudential. But even though it's the same world, the quote unquote financial world, this is a whole different world and what you did there is not going to work here. And they were teaching me how to sell. Now. I'd been a great salesperson since I was thirteen years old because my dad was one of the best salespeople, and he traded me and basically I said, you know, I basically was going to be like number one, and I didn't want to listen to him. I was a cocky twenty one year old, so I did not do what they told me to do and I'd sell it. I did what I thought would work well. That first month, I made zero because and I say this because if you want to succeed in life, no matter how good you are, no matter how much you know, you can always learn more.

21:10 And also being at cocky twenty one year old, I went home and I set this goal. I have this thing that I teach now at my motivational stuff of how to set goals, and it was something I did this day and I basically I wrote out it's I call it a goal getter, and you number one to ten and ten things you want most out of life. They could be short term, long term because you know, I read Thinking, Grow Rich, and I've read all those books, but most people don't follow the guidelines and Think and Grow Rich because it's a lot of work. So I basically simplified it. And what I put on there was make twenty five thousand dollars this month was the number one thing on the list. Now, I don't know what right I had to do that because I had never made twenty five thousand a month. They told me twenty.

22:02 So I wanted to do more than what they said and I just made zero, Like okay, and I'm bankrupt. But that's how I roll. That's how I think, you know, and you know, in order to succeed, you have to have nothing to fall back on because you'll always fall back on it, right, And I decided I was going to prove these people wrong and do it their way like I I wasn't gonna do it their way because I wanted to succeed. Now, I was like, I'm going to show that their way doesn't work either, and I'll never forget it. Alan Sadler of Savannah, Georgia, a Jewish attorney of Savannah, Georgia, can be a harder person to sell commodity futures and options too. I had gotten so many no's by the time I got to this guy that I did not know what to do with the yes.

23:01 Like you get trained on the nose and nobody teaches you what to do with the yes. So I the first time I did what they said to do. It was one line and he said yes, And I literally dropped the phone because we used real phones in and I ran into the boss's office that we're tapping in listening because it's what they did back in the day, and in fact, the NFA and to see IFTC they require that, and like, what do I do now? Oh my god? Well why They're like, well, you might want to go back to the phone because he's probably still on the phone and you just dropped the phone and so but anyway, so that was my first client in that business. End the story. That second month. You know, in that business, you get paid once a month and it's a big meeting, and if you have no money, you hide under the desk. If you're making big money, you're the big big macher, sure, as we would say.

24:06 And so I made twenty five thousand or not twenty five thousand. I made twenty four thousand, seven hundred and forty three dollars. Close enough, close enough, And it was in a check. Can can you tell me what the first where? The first place I went once I got that check? Oh what did you do? Go and buy a big, big honkin truck or something? No? No, but maybe no? Uh no. Literally I went to my brother and I shoved it in his face and I told him to get a real job. Oh my gosh, yep. And then I went to a bank cashed it. Then I had my bosses required me because they said, hey, those suits you're wearing, they just don't cut it here.

24:54 They may cut it. Insurance say okay here, and they're like, uh, now that you made some of my come back tomorrow and you should be wearing like an Harmani suit and Harmani time. We'll take your shopping for it, you know. And then oh, in that car you're driving, though, you have to get a different car, you know how it is in that business, it's like it's all image, you know, but it's true. Though. How can you tell people how to handle their finances if you don't appear like you have any Yeah. But I'm hoping that the discussion today about choosing a financial advisor is they're going to be able to look deeper because they're gonna have an initial response. They're gonna have an initial opinion about that person just by the way they look.

25:44 Well, that's why I'm bringing that up, because just because your advisor looks good doesn't mean they're a good advisor, Okay. And so now that wasn't enough for me, not the looking good. But you should look good because people are gonna it's first impression, right, But that's not all you do. Have to dig deeper. That's why I had gotten fifteen licenses and four professional designations, and like I was a knowledge junkie and I was addicted to CNBC twenty four to seven, so much so that when I first got married, it freaked out my wife, like because I would wake up in the middle of the night, pop up like a zombie and call like Singapore Hong Kong to find out prices and then go back to bed, and she'd be like, what the hell are you doing? You know, or she'd try to turn off Bloomberg on the TV at two in the morning. I'd wake up. I'm like what are you doing so well?

26:43 Yes, okay, so yeah, you've been there, done that. Yeah, that's the beginning. So that's the beginning story. That was the long answer to your short question. Yeah. So basically, in a nutshell, what do you think you'd learned from that period of your life? This is what I learned a few things. Number one, I learned that just because somebody is a big company doesn't mean they're a good company. So always do your research. Don't just trust because of a company or somebody's name. I mean, look at Bernie Madoff. People trusted him because he had a big name. I was just saying to somebody the other day, I don't get it. All you have to do is look at the statements and they looked fake.

27:23 And I'm upstairs that the printing press was upstairs from his office exactly. So that's part of what I'm bringing up, is like, you got to look at all the details, You got to look at all the little things. You have to be your own advocate, because they're not going to be your advocate. You have to do your research completely, you know, because at the end of the day, it's your money. Do you want to make sure that it's being handled by somebody that cares. So that's another thing that I got out of it, Like I became somebody that cared. There's not a lot of people sometimes that business that care, you know, and you need somebody that cares that don't treat your money as if it were their own. What I also learned from that whole experience there is that you know, it was better to be independent, so you can actually choose products for your clients. That's why fit the client, you know, not selling them a product, but actually gained to know your client more than just the financial needs analysis. But what are their goals, what are they looking to do, what stage of life are they in.

28:38 There's so many variables that come into play, and then creating a custom portfolio that fits their needs and their needs alone, because their needs are going to be different than every other person out there. And so that's the big thing I learned through the whole process was there's some things, even the investment that some people look down upon, they may be good for certain types of people. Yeah, you know, everybody's different, you know, and what their needs are. So you need somebody that is experienced and has the ability. Okay, this is a big one for me, has the ability to provide any type of product to you. So, in other words, if you're dealing with a financial advisor that only sells insurance, they're not going to be able to handle your other types of investments, so they're probably not going to tell you to do them. You know that, I would deal with somebody that has the ability to handle any type of product pretty much, so that they can give you a legitimate advice, you know, opposed to advice based on just what they have.

30:00 Well, how do you think you find somebody who's knowledgeable that fits like that? Oh? No, are you just gonna go by your gut instincts? What do you think? I don't think just gut. I think gut is always part of everything in life, in my opinion. But it's got to go farther than that. Okay, First of all, I think you have to actually I think you have to actually get along with your advisor too. Okay, it's just like a lawyer. Okay, I don't want a lawyer that's gonna browbeat me like they're better than me. Okay, you know, because that's the only way that you guys can work together. But so I think that's the first thing, because listen, if they have all the knowledge in the world, if they're not on the same page as you, it's not gonna be helpful, no find I think the most important things to start with is find somebody you connect with but also understands your needs and understands how you operate and asks you questions. I think that that's a big key we're on here. Ask good questions. Well, I don't think it's just the customer that needs ask good questions.

31:10 I think it's who you're looking to hire that needs ask good questions. That's how I'll determine if they're a good financial advisor. What questions are they asking me before they're trying to tell me how I should handle my money. One of the things that's interesting is what I have seen, and I'm talking about risk now, is I've seen people take too much risk because they got sold a product that wasn't appropriate. What do you think about how you figure out how much risk you should take? And again, I think it's probably I think your answer is going to be getting back to what kind of questions is that advisor asking you.

31:52 Yeah, it's like it depends on the person. If somebody has ten million dollars, if they put ten thousand in a risky investment, it's not really a risk. If somebody has twenty thousand dollars and puts ten thousand, that's a huge risk. I think it also matters what stage of life you're at and what your goals are. I'll give you a perfect example. When I was in the business, one of my brokers, his father worked for Mciworldcom. He was three years from retirement, had me analyze his portfolio. His portfolio was his pension consisted of one hundred percent Mciworldcom stock. At the time, Mciworldcom was at about eighty bucks yep. And I said to him, I said, listen, this has done great for you. You're three years from retirement.

32:50 No matter how good this investment is, it's time for you change from growth mode into preservation mode to prepare for income mode. Right, did you listen? Well, that's a good question. You would think anybody would listen. And what I said is, I'm like, you know, you should diversify some of it away into something safer and then start packing. Oh no, but blah blah blah blah. I'm like, okay, so take half off the table. You can keep half in there, take half off the table and put it in something ultra conservative, and then if it goes up, great, you're still making money if you if you lose my you're still ahead of where you were to begin with.

33:32 And he said, oh, but we just had a meeting and the head guy said it's going to one hundred and forty dollars. I'll never forget verbatim the conversation because it was so insane because he and he just would not listen to me. I'm like, listen, I'm not asking even put your money with me. I'm just I'm giving you free advice because your son works for me, so I have no stake in this. Whatsoever didn't listen to me to weeks later is when mciworlcom went to basically almost zero. So he lost he lose everything. Everything, everything, So now how are you going to get everything back to retire in three years? And that's the part people need to think about. No matter how good the investment is, you need to think of those things.

34:18 You need to think forward and present, you know. And so I'm a risk taker, but you only risk what you can afford to lose and don't need to replace. Right, Well, there's another type of person out there that I've run into, and it's because people have trusted me, which is very humbling to have people trust you a lot. But sometimes people will say, oh, you just take care of it. I don't want to deal with it. You just take care of it. Well, if you're a reputable advisor, that might be okay, But if you're not, what do you say to somebody who says, I don't have time, I don't want to I want to be completely hands off of my investments.

35:03 Well, part of my answer to that is is even though I had power of attorney because I was an RIA and a CTA and I didn't have to ask permission, I didn't have to I always talk to them and I never placed trades without them knowing. Even though I was able to, you know, and a lot of times they would say to me, why you call me, just do it? And they would say, exactly what you're saying. Why Because number one, I don't think you should give somebody that much control. Again, we could use the Bernie Madeoff example, you know, because at the end of the day's it's your money. You should always have a say, and our job is to advise you. In my opinion, if you're an advisor, it's to advise you, and then it's your job to decide whether that's good for you or not, or if you have to trust there. But still, you know, I would be worried to say that to somebody without it, especially if you don't know who they are, because again we go back to there's good people and bad people. And that doesn't even mean bad larceny bad.

36:14 Maybe bad because they just don't know how to manage money. Yeah. One of my favorite things just about life in general is that you need to be one hundred percent responsible for yourself. And that is completely not being responsible for yourself. So you may want to be hands off, but you've still got But I like what you said, You've got to still connect with the advisor, have some knowledge of what's going on and why you're doing it. There's some people that only talk to their advisor once a year. Yeah, I think that's insane. Yeah, I wouldn't want to do that as the advisor, and I never did.

36:57 That's the point is, like, and how much does your advisor care if he's only talking to you or she's only talking to you once a year, you know. And again I go back to that word care yacause I could tell you one thing. When I was in that business, I cared about other people's my way more than mine. Yeah, well, can you think of anything else? I mean, I'm thinking about some of the things. What are the risks of getting it wrong. I'm thinking of advisors who might have like conflicting interests or questionable credentials. Do you have any thoughts about advisors that just maybe this leads into checking their credentials make sure they're on the level.

37:44 Well, that's an interesting subject too, and to talk about the first thing that goes back to what I was saying before. Okay, it is the same thing. You know, you just have to know who you're dealing with, number one. And if they're selling products but not other products, that's something you have to take. Like, that's where that conflict of interest comes from. Because listen, I'm going to be blunt if I'm an advisor and I only handle fidelity and you know whatever else funds as an example, and you say, well what about blah blah blah fund If I don't handle it, I'm going to talk into the one I have, right. I mean, let's call what it is.

38:37 Advisors are looking to make money, and they should make money if they're doing the right thing. There's nothing wrong with advisor making money. But in the scenario of you have to think about are they giving you the advice because it's the best advice or the best advice of what they have to offer, Which. Leads me into the next thing, and that is, you know, what I see a lot is people going out on Google and looking and seeing articles about well, you should only deal with a fiduciary, and I'm a fiduciary, but. What do you pretty much every licensed person is.

39:18 Yeah, well, and what's interesting is that somebody that I know has no idea what they're even talking about and saying, well, are you a fiduciary? They don't even you know, how do you think people should what do they need to know about that whole term of being a fiduciary. Well, first of all, just because you're a fiduciary doesn't mean you're actually legit, you know, I mean, just to be blunt, you have a fiduciary responsibility, it doesn't mean you actually exercise it. Let's say that first I also want to mention too. We were talking about credentials. So there's somebody that I think is one of the most amazing speakers there is that speaks on financial stuff. But I think she's great as a speaker. I think the advice she's given people is garbage, okay, but people swear by her. She's not even licensed. So people, here's something you have to understand. There's people that are licensed registered advisors, and there's people that sell programs on how to invest.

40:33 They are not the same, okay, you know those that do and those that teach. Okay, And so if they're selling you a program, they're not giving you an they're not doing any favors, and they're certainly not being your fiduciary, that's for sure. And the point is not only because of the regulations, but because listen, there's certain things if you're in a regulated business that if you're licensed, you can't say that. Somebody that's not license can say. So somebody can get up there and be a speaker and say, hey, all you have to do is buy low and sell high and you'll make money. But it's a lot deeper than that. Okay, that's pretty obvious. And some of the advice these people give doesn't take certain things into account. Okay.

41:29 One of those things is sometimes you won't get a film, so they could say, oh, yeah, all you have to do is buy it at twenty five. But there's times that maybe there's not a market for it and you won't be able to buy it there, or they show you their charts of how much money they made. It's called paper trading. I've never met a paper trader that lost money, I can tell you right now. I did meet a lot of money managers that had long, great track records. As soon as I put money into their thing, it lost my and I couldn't understand why. Dean. We could probably go on for a couple hours, but we're running at a time. Yes, I want your bottom line. Thinking about how advisors get paid.

42:13 I think one hundred percent somebody that sold pretty much everything there is that the advisors you should be dealing with are people like you, people that that like I. Call myself a fee based it's a flash fee flatten. That's what I was going to say, fee based, the reason being, Okay, so you have fee base and you have commission based. Commission based. I'm telling you right now, every single broker that sells commission based are going to sell you based on the commission, not based on the product. Okay, so if they have how much they're going to get yep, And you hope. I hope, I hope, I hope that they would be good ethical people. But sometimes that's hard.

42:56 And maybe they're not being unethical, they just don't know better either, and this is like, this is what they have. You know, you only know what you know, right. But they also need to make their car payment. Okay. Yeah, Now when you're fee based like you are, you still have to make your car payment, but your car payment is based on performance, not based on product. Okay. So you're in it with the client, Okay. If the client loses money, you lose money. If the client makes money, you make money. Why is that because you're getting a percentage of the assets you can make. Me think of a big firm that does a lot of marketing that says just that we do better when you do better.

43:40 Yeah, see that, you know? And it is true? Because I think the decisions you're going to make as a money manager as an advisor are going to be way different because you want to make sure you do the right thing to keep that business, because that's an earth thing. When your feedbase, you're not making those big hits like the commission based is okay, So you're looking for your clients to stay with you a long time. If you do not do right by them, they're gone. And you made very minimal money off of it. You were making a living based on them sticking with you five, ten, twenty years, you know, And that's only going to happen if you're treating them right. And of course you're only going to treat them right when you're fee based right.

44:27 And so yes, one hundred percent, go with somebody fee base. Go with somebody that has letters after their name. Go with somebody that had also check. We didn't talk about this, but it's very important, and believe it when you read it, because I had prospects that didn't check with the government agencies that are regulating. In the self regulatory agencies, look at their track record, look at their customer complaints or reparations or anything, and see what they are because a lot of times you'll find their preconsistent anything there. And don't think, oh, my broker wouldn't do that. When you do that it wouldn't be in their record, right.

45:10 So we are running at a time and on the website, on the Ask Good Questions podcast dot com website, there's a bonus downloads where there will be a pdf on questions you know kind of I'm going to try to summarize all this into a pdf that you can download for asking you know, pertinent questions to that advisor. So any final thoughts on this whole topic. My final thoughts are, I'm not in the business anymore, so put your money with Benita Belle Anderson. I'm not paying him to say that either.

45:50 She didn't even know I was gonna say that's what I was. Gonna say that. But we really truly no matter what you do, we really truly, I think both of us can say that we truly want the best for you. We want you to be informed. That's kind of where I come from. I think Dean comes from that space as well, that please be informed, be educated as your responsible for your own self, so you need to be educated about these types of things. And with that, thank you so much for joining us today on Ask Good Questions. Today's episode is over, But we did ask Good Questions again, didn't we? Don't miss out as we broadcast live every Wednesday, six pm Eastern Time on W four CY Radio at w fourcy dot com. Joined Benina Bell Anderson next week for more conversations with experts on finances, retirement, behavioral finance issues, health and wellness, and more. Until then, remember to ask good questions.