Money Matters Episode 298- Navigating the Chaos: What Should I Do With My Money? W/ Bryan Kuderna

Bryan Kuderna: Money Matters Podcast Interview

November 8, 2023 . 12:25 PM . ID: 257805045

Transcript

00:00 - 00:02
[speaker unknown]
This conference will now be recorded.

00:04 - 00:11
Chris Hensley
Good, morning, everybody, you're listening to, Money Matters, I'm Chris Hensley, we have a great show lined up for you today.

00:12 - 00:17
Chris Hensley
We have with us today, Brian, who Derna, who is a certified financial planner.

00:17 - 00:20
Chris Hensley
Brian, I want to say, first, thanks for being on the show.

00:21 - 00:24
Bryan Kuderna
Yeah, thanks for having me, I'm happy to be here and look forward to our discussion.

00:25 - 00:33
Chris Hensley
Absolutely, And then I'm going to share a little bit with, with the listeners on your bio so that they can get to know you just a little bit better.

00:34 - 00:38
Chris Hensley
You know, you're a certain, I mentioned, you're a certified financial planner.

00:38 - 00:42
Chris Hensley
You're one of New Jersey top 10 financial professionals of 2021.

00:43 - 00:44
Chris Hensley
You host the ...

00:44 - 00:53
Chris Hensley
Podcast and then this year, you just published a book called, What Should I Do With My Money, Economic Insights to Build Wealth Amid Chaos.

00:53 - 00:54
Chris Hensley
That's a lot.

00:55 - 00:57
Bryan Kuderna
Yeah, I've been keeping busy.

00:57 - 01:00
Chris Hensley
And, you know, full disclosure here.

01:00 - 01:15
Chris Hensley
One of the reasons that I invited you on the show and when I was looking at your podcast, I saw that you had interviewed boss rotten before and then I noticed that you were into Jujitsu, which I'm also in did you just says, OK, another financial advisor in, did you get to?

01:15 - 01:16
Chris Hensley
This will be a good conversation?

01:16 - 01:18
Chris Hensley
So disclosure.

01:19 - 01:23
Bryan Kuderna
Vases, digits is it's fun.

01:23 - 01:24
Bryan Kuderna
It's a great support to keep up with.

01:25 - 01:26
Chris Hensley
Absolutely.

01:26 - 01:33
Chris Hensley
And, and so I know not only do you do Jujitsu, but you've also competed in the Iron Man and other marathon's as well.

01:33 - 01:35
Chris Hensley
So I know we'll, we'll kind of dive into that.

01:36 - 01:45
Chris Hensley
But let's start with, can you share a little bit about yourself, maybe something that I hadn't mentioned already with the listener so that they can get to know you just a little bit better?

01:46 - 01:48
Bryan Kuderna
Yeah, I mean, I think you hit some kind of key points.

01:48 - 01:53
Bryan Kuderna
You know, as I'm a Jersey Boy, I was born and raised in Jersey, right, by the shore?

01:54 - 01:56
Bryan Kuderna
You know, that, that's kinda where I'm from.

01:56 - 02:08
Bryan Kuderna
You know, I went down to Tampa for a bit to the University of Tampa, then ended up transferring back to the college in New Jersey, and ultimately, that's where I graduated with a degree in finance and economics and then always wanted to be an entrepreneur.

02:08 - 02:11
Bryan Kuderna
I like finance.

02:11 - 02:13
Bryan Kuderna
I liked investing, I like that conversation.

02:13 - 02:24
Bryan Kuderna
So, I just kind of, about 2008, I got right into, you know, my role that I'm in today, started as an internship, and then I just built my private practice.

02:24 - 02:28
Bryan Kuderna
Well, I guess, I've kinda been juggling that with a lot of different athletic endeavors.

02:29 - 02:35
Bryan Kuderna
Family, life, and I got a wife and three kids, and our dog, ..., so, yeah, it's never a dull moment.

02:36 - 02:37
Chris Hensley
Nice, Nice.

02:37 - 02:40
Chris Hensley
And my eyes are being drawn to the comic books behind you.

02:40 - 02:44
Chris Hensley
I'm a big comic book fans here, so I'm gonna give me a thumbs up on that as well.

02:45 - 02:45
Bryan Kuderna
Right.

02:46 - 02:54
Chris Hensley
So, so let's, let's dive right into it, because I think you have a lot to offer the listeners, as far as I'm on the finance side, For sure.

02:54 - 03:06
Chris Hensley
In your experience, as a Certified Financial planner, has a lack of personal financial education in our school system impacted the financial decisions of individuals that you've worked with?

03:07 - 03:08
Bryan Kuderna
Yeah, that's a great question.

03:08 - 03:12
Bryan Kuderna
And I gotta say, no, from kind of seeing the glass half full.

03:12 - 03:25
Bryan Kuderna
I think things are getting better, You know, I've seen it with my kids, and I'm sure you've heard it, There's more and more financial literacy courses that most high scores, you know, have to pass before they graduate.

03:26 - 03:28
Bryan Kuderna
So, like, back in my day, that didn't even exist.

03:28 - 03:32
Bryan Kuderna
There was no such thing as a finance or an accounting class in high school.

03:33 - 03:36
Bryan Kuderna
So, I think they are making improvements in that regard.

03:37 - 03:47
Bryan Kuderna
But, the economy that we're living in right now is a symptom of the way people were raised and taught 10 years, 20 years, 30 years ago, and so, it's it's constantly evolving.

03:48 - 03:55
Bryan Kuderna
I think that when I'm out there dealing with young professionals, they have maybe a base knowledge that was better than years past.

03:56 - 04:07
Bryan Kuderna
However, I think some of the more important things they're still not aware of, And what I mean by that is, I might meet with, you know, a young 25 year old that's settling in, his career, starting to do well.

04:08 - 04:15
Bryan Kuderna
And they want to talk more about maybe investing in Bitcoin or or a meme stock or something like that.

04:15 - 04:20
Bryan Kuderna
But they may even know quite a bit about, But then, when we talk about, you know, hey, how you doing that credit card balance?

04:20 - 04:24
Bryan Kuderna
Or what kind of down payment you think you're putting down on your home?

04:24 - 04:25
Bryan Kuderna
Where do you want to move?

04:26 - 04:28
Bryan Kuderna
Some of these things, it's like Greek to them.

04:28 - 04:33
Bryan Kuderna
And so, it's almost like they're putting the cart before the horse with some of these conversations.

04:33 - 04:40
Bryan Kuderna
Because I think, you know, that stuff, you know, talking about, the hot stock is more exciting than talking about your credit score.

04:40 - 04:50
Bryan Kuderna
So, I think that's where, maybe, as a society, we have to get back to basics, some of the boring stuff that we all need to know.

04:50 - 04:57
Bryan Kuderna
And then, as a kinda side point to that, I think really impressing upon young professionals, the value of the dollar.

04:58 - 05:03
Bryan Kuderna
And I think the best teacher for that is starting to work early, you know.

05:03 - 05:20
Bryan Kuderna
And when you're able to work at 14 or 15, I really think that kids should be and when they get that paycheck in there, they're actually using their own dollars to go buy their new sweatshirt or sneakers, that, that just understanding the value of the dollar, you can carry that with you through your whole life.

05:20 - 05:23
Bryan Kuderna
And that's not something that you just get in school.

05:23 - 05:27
Bryan Kuderna
So, those are the things in a nutshell, that I think help a young professional.

05:28 - 05:28
Chris Hensley
I love it.

05:28 - 05:30
Chris Hensley
I couldn't agree with you more.

05:31 - 05:37
Chris Hensley
You know, we, we've given my son a debit card that where he gets his allowance, if it's connected to the debit card.

05:38 - 05:46
Chris Hensley
And when he asked us for something, we now say, OK, if you have to put some of your money on it, do you still want to buy it?

05:46 - 05:48
Chris Hensley
And, that decision making changes.

05:49 - 05:51
Chris Hensley
He's like, Oh, wait, that's a little bit, something different.

05:52 - 05:54
Chris Hensley
So, so, that is extremely true.

05:54 - 05:59
Chris Hensley
You mentioned a lot, so let me unpack some of the stuff that you just told us there.

05:59 - 06:05
Chris Hensley
You know, when you talked about the basics, you said boring, but sometimes those fundamentals and the basics of what we need, right.

06:05 - 06:18
Chris Hensley
And you talked about, you know, some of this younger generation wanting to talk about Bitcoin and meme stocks, but then you know, maybe not focusing on things like credit card debt and things that they need to do right upfront there.

06:18 - 06:21
Chris Hensley
So a lot of really good information there.

06:21 - 06:23
Chris Hensley
Let's keep going here.

06:23 - 06:25
Chris Hensley
What financial advice?

06:25 - 06:31
Chris Hensley
Do you find yourself repeatedly giving to young professionals, and how does it tie into the concepts of your latest book?

06:33 - 06:39
Bryan Kuderna
Yes, so for young professionals, I mean, even to take a step back, I, I'll answer this a couple of ways.

06:39 - 06:41
Bryan Kuderna
I have a pretty simple planning process.

06:41 - 06:43
Bryan Kuderna
I always say protection first.

06:44 - 06:55
Bryan Kuderna
All right, so you wanna think about the things that are time sensitive, insurance's, things like that, You know, get your house in order, before you have any problems, you know, while you're young and healthy, take care of yourself.

06:55 - 07:00
Bryan Kuderna
Then, the second thing is, you know, building a good budget, you know, how much are we saving a month?

07:00 - 07:02
Bryan Kuderna
How much do we have in the rainy day fund?

07:02 - 07:03
Bryan Kuderna
Things like that.

07:03 - 07:10
Bryan Kuderna
Then the third item is going to be really focusing on any like toxic that, you know, the credit cards, the high interest debt, some stuff like that.

07:11 - 07:15
Bryan Kuderna
And then the fourth one would ultimately be the growth side or wealth accumulation.

07:16 - 07:20
Bryan Kuderna
And that's where we get more into retirement planning, and brokerage accounts and things like that.

07:20 - 07:23
Bryan Kuderna
So, I started, there were two young professional.

07:23 - 07:24
Bryan Kuderna
You know, what's have a process?

07:24 - 07:29
Bryan Kuderna
What's not just bounce all over the place and kind of no tackle, it tickles your fancy.

07:29 - 07:32
Bryan Kuderna
Now let's follow a real process here that's proven to work.

07:33 - 07:40
Bryan Kuderna
So we typically start there, and where that relates to my book, is in my book.

07:40 - 07:42
Bryan Kuderna
I try in, What Should I Do with my money?

07:42 - 07:52
Bryan Kuderna
I put this kind of umbrella around all the most important economic issues today, And I always tell people, I'm like, if you want to have an impact with them, you gotta be smart with your money.

07:53 - 07:53
Bryan Kuderna
All right?

07:54 - 07:57
Bryan Kuderna
If we have no money, we're, it's like, we don't have a ticket to the game.

07:57 - 08:05
Bryan Kuderna
We don't get to really cast a vote a meaningful vote if we're sitting on the sidelines and we're not privy to what's going on in the world.

08:05 - 08:11
Bryan Kuderna
And then those same things that we might want to try and be able to affect, they're having an impact on our money every day.

08:12 - 08:25
Bryan Kuderna
So, it's a two-way street that I think people really ought to get educated on, both the micro and the macro, and understand how the, those kinda go back and forth to really impact your everyday decisions.

08:26 - 08:27
Chris Hensley
Love it.

08:27 - 08:33
Chris Hensley
I love it, so, you know what what you're talking about, You know, you'd said micro and macro, but the way that you describe it in.

08:33 - 08:45
Chris Hensley
The book is the umbrella, and you're Kind of putting everything into the context of the different economic issues that are currently going on, but you give them a process which involves number one protection.

08:46 - 08:50
Chris Hensley
Who budgeting, Which everybody hates budgeting, but it's so necessary, right?

08:51 - 09:01
Chris Hensley
Toxic debt, you know, talking about toxic deck, and then ultimately growth, and the growth side, whether that's retirement, brokerage accounts, stocks, what have you.

09:01 - 09:06
Chris Hensley
I know a lot of times, people like to start backwards, They want to come in and start talking about the stocks and the growth burst.

09:06 - 09:07
Bryan Kuderna
And the.

09:07 - 09:15
Chris Hensley
Fundamentals, this process that you have in place to help them really is a great thing to get them on the right track.

09:16 - 09:17
Chris Hensley
Yeah.

09:17 - 09:23
Bryan Kuderna
If I could just kind of like answer on that same point in, a lot of people might be surprised.

09:23 - 09:25
Bryan Kuderna
You know, My book is titled What Should I Do With My Money?

09:26 - 09:32
Bryan Kuderna
And Personal Finance is the very last chapter of the book, and you know at face value you say, I don't get it.

09:32 - 09:34
Bryan Kuderna
That seems like backwards.

09:34 - 09:46
Bryan Kuderna
But what I lead in with what I try and, you know, encourage my readers to understand is that whenever I sit down with a client, whether they're just getting started or they've got $10 million, they say, Hey, What should I do with my money?

09:46 - 09:48
Bryan Kuderna
I give them that answer.

09:48 - 09:51
Bryan Kuderna
Alright, which are wheezes different based on who's across from me.

09:51 - 09:55
Bryan Kuderna
Then, inevitably, they're always going to say, OK, well, why?

09:56 - 09:56
Bryan Kuderna
Then?

09:56 - 09:58
Bryan Kuderna
I start to answer that why?

09:58 - 10:06
Bryan Kuderna
And then they said, All right, you know, that makes sense, but why, that's why that, then, those answers dive into economics, All right?

10:06 - 10:09
Bryan Kuderna
And that's where all of a sudden, we're talking about foreign issues.

10:09 - 10:10
Bryan Kuderna
We're talking about taxes.

10:10 - 10:12
Bryan Kuderna
We're talking about politics.

10:12 - 10:20
Bryan Kuderna
And so that's why the bulk of the book is kind of some of that other stuff that we need to understand, and then, we can answer that, why question.

10:21 - 10:25
Bryan Kuderna
And when we do, then, our financial moves start to make a lot more sense.

10:25 - 10:27
Chris Hensley
That makes a lot of sense to me.

10:28 - 10:35
Chris Hensley
I'm gonna, I'm gonna pivot a little bit from from what we're talking about, because earlier we mentioned a lot of different hats that you're wearing.

10:36 - 10:44
Chris Hensley
How do you balance the demands of being an entrepreneur and author, speaker, with your personal life, and then staying physically active.

10:45 - 10:47
Bryan Kuderna
So it's a time management.

10:49 - 10:50
Bryan Kuderna
Playing up in routine.

10:50 - 10:59
Bryan Kuderna
You know, I think a lot of the very successful people I've seen have a routine that they stick to, and it's something that I appreciate.

10:59 - 11:00
Bryan Kuderna
Like I try and tell.

11:00 - 11:04
Bryan Kuderna
You know, folks that I've mentored are people that asked me like, hey, what are you doing?

11:05 - 11:18
Bryan Kuderna
I think a routine is so key because it takes a lot of the guesswork out of your day and there's so many different things competing for our time that if we don't have that to-do list or that roadmap, we can just chew through half a day.

11:18 - 11:20
Bryan Kuderna
And then you look back and say, you know, what, what did I do?

11:20 - 11:22
Bryan Kuderna
I can't really remember what I did today.

11:23 - 11:25
Bryan Kuderna
So I like to wake up early.

11:25 - 11:35
Bryan Kuderna
You know, I wake up, you know, the same time that our kids are getting off to school, you know, six o'clock in the morning, I do the dishes, that it gets me going.

11:36 - 11:42
Bryan Kuderna
And then from there, you know, something I actually heard in a interview with Hugh Jackman gather please Wolverine.

11:43 - 11:47
Bryan Kuderna
And he said, Before he hits the chaos of the day, he likes to get a cup of coffee.

11:47 - 11:58
Bryan Kuderna
And then, just read, for no other purpose, that pleasure for like, 30 minutes, And so I do that before the whole day starts, Whatever book I'm reading, will just sit down with a cup of coffee.

11:58 - 12:01
Bryan Kuderna
Read, be by myself, for 30 minutes.

12:01 - 12:04
Bryan Kuderna
Enjoy that, start my day out, you know, kinda feeling good.

12:04 - 12:08
Bryan Kuderna
And then from there, that's where I start to attack the day.

12:09 - 12:10
Bryan Kuderna
It's based on my schedule.

12:10 - 12:17
Bryan Kuderna
It could be business meetings, podcasts, carve out maybe a few hours for writing.

12:18 - 12:20
Bryan Kuderna
And then the gym is either happening.

12:21 - 12:24
Bryan Kuderna
Because I'm an entrepreneur, I kinda customize my schedule.

12:24 - 12:27
Bryan Kuderna
So it could be first thing in the morning one day.

12:27 - 12:27
Bryan Kuderna
Or it could.

12:27 - 12:28
Chris Hensley
Be.

12:28 - 12:29
Bryan Kuderna
Lunch hour.

12:29 - 12:32
Bryan Kuderna
You know, that varies, but I always built fitness, you know, it's like that.

12:33 - 12:34
Chris Hensley
Love it, I love it.

12:34 - 12:45
Chris Hensley
I'm smiling here just the, the routine that you have in the morning, these rituals, these are fascinating to me waking up early night, have to edit out the part about doing dishes.

12:45 - 12:46
Chris Hensley
I'm worried my wife might hear that.

12:46 - 12:53
Chris Hensley
And then hold me to that statement, just joking, but reading, just being an avid reader every day.

12:53 - 12:59
Chris Hensley
Now, do you, do you prefer a regular tactile physical book?

12:59 - 13:00
Chris Hensley
Or do you do the Kindle?

13:00 - 13:02
Chris Hensley
Or how do you read when you read a little bit?

13:02 - 13:03
Chris Hensley
Both are.

13:03 - 13:04
Bryan Kuderna
Yeah.

13:04 - 13:12
Bryan Kuderna
So, I just, maybe, I'm old school, like, I just love having a good book paperback book and flipping pages in my hands.

13:13 - 13:19
Bryan Kuderna
Because, you know, I got some of my UFC or my bookcase, and it's just how I've always done it.

13:20 - 13:31
Bryan Kuderna
I would, I used to do, Maybe, the reason why I'm kind of old verse to the Kindle, is when I was reading, like, in high school college, and shortly, thereafter, every book I read, I had to have a highlighter in my head.

13:32 - 13:38
Bryan Kuderna
And I used to read a ton of non-fiction, and so I liked, it was almost like active reading where I'd go through.

13:38 - 13:41
Bryan Kuderna
And if I saw a quote, or an idea that I was like, Oh, I love it.

13:41 - 13:42
Bryan Kuderna
I would highlight it.

13:42 - 13:53
Bryan Kuderna
And then it's like, I always kind of had it there in my memory, where I'd, I feel like that might be a little more difficult to go grab the Kindle off the shelf and have that.

13:54 - 13:56
Bryan Kuderna
Now, I don't really do that as much anymore.

13:56 - 14:01
Bryan Kuderna
Now, I'm kind of a little more laid back with my reading but, you know, that's just the way I do it.

14:02 - 14:02
Chris Hensley
Love it.

14:02 - 14:03
Chris Hensley
Non ad.

14:03 - 14:11
Chris Hensley
But before I was, well while I was in college, I manage the bookstore, old Supra crown books so that was I'm a book person.

14:11 - 14:13
Chris Hensley
I love just being around books.

14:13 - 14:15
Chris Hensley
So that's, that's a great answer there.

14:16 - 14:26
Chris Hensley
Let's talk a little bit about, in our industry and financial planning, how has the rise of fintech affected traditional financial planning?

14:26 - 14:29
Chris Hensley
What tools are apps, do you see as game changers in the industry?

14:30 - 14:31
Chris Hensley
Yup.

14:31 - 14:34
Bryan Kuderna
So I think, you know, Tech is invading every space.

14:34 - 14:41
Bryan Kuderna
I mean, there's actually a chapter in my book just called Tech, and that's what we get into, is, it's, it's everywhere.

14:41 - 14:43
Bryan Kuderna
It doesn't matter what field that you're in.

14:44 - 14:57
Bryan Kuderna
And I think a lot of the, you know, the barriers to entry to get some knowledge, or to, you know, kinda take part in all the different areas of the economy, have been taken away, or knocked down by tech.

14:57 - 15:01
Bryan Kuderna
You know, back in the day, you know, you want to go buy a stock.

15:01 - 15:08
Bryan Kuderna
You might have to actually pick up a phone, call a broker, have at least $10000 to then go place this trade.

15:08 - 15:14
Bryan Kuderna
There was a process that, that was kind of off limits for most Americans, or most people out there.

15:14 - 15:19
Bryan Kuderna
Nowadays, you know, with tech, it's like, there's good and bad.

15:19 - 15:23
Bryan Kuderna
I mean, the good thing, yes, it's now available, so many different things to the masses.

15:24 - 15:29
Bryan Kuderna
But on the flip side, I always say there's a lot of information out there, but there's not always a lot of wisdom.

15:30 - 15:45
Bryan Kuderna
And so, you could go tune into 1 of 1 thousand podcasts, or read one of the one thousand blogs that somebody out there, maybe they're credentialed, or maybe they literally just opened it today this morning and they're just spouting their opinions off there.

15:45 - 15:57
Bryan Kuderna
And then, because of technology, somebody can gather that information or that knowledge, if you will, And then they can actually act on it with a couple of clicks of a button on their phone.

15:57 - 16:01
Bryan Kuderna
They could open up a new account with some wire house, with no minimum.

16:01 - 16:12
Bryan Kuderna
And then, boom, they're actually investing real money in something that some guy they'd never met before, was just going off about on a tangent on his blog.

16:12 - 16:18
Bryan Kuderna
And so, what I think is just as a financial advisor, you're seeing more of that.

16:18 - 16:35
Bryan Kuderna
The questions that I'm getting, it's just kind of an overwhelmed audience, that there's so much noise out there from major media and the july 24th news networks, to the blogs, the podcast, the, you know, the Reddit feeds, you name it.

16:35 - 16:44
Bryan Kuderna
There's so much out there that, I think a lot of individuals are just like, I don't know where to start, I don't know which one to read, which one to follow.

16:44 - 16:57
Bryan Kuderna
But they want to do something, and sometimes, you know, they either have paralysis by analysis or they might go the other direction and they make a mistake, thinking they knew something that perhaps they misunderstood.

16:57 - 17:03
Bryan Kuderna
So it's, it's having a huge impact, and I think that's where the Financial advisor or the CFP can come back in.

17:04 - 17:12
Bryan Kuderna
And say, OK, it's good, You're educating yourself educating, but now, it's kinda cut through some of this to find out facts from fiction a.

17:12 - 17:12
Chris Hensley
Lot.

17:12 - 17:14
Chris Hensley
And I'm gonna piggyback off of that.

17:14 - 17:17
Chris Hensley
Because everything you just said, totally agree with that.

17:18 - 17:20
Chris Hensley
You gave, you know, to two choices.

17:20 - 17:23
Chris Hensley
People sometimes are paralysis by analysis, right?

17:23 - 17:30
Chris Hensley
They, they're over analytic and then they do nothing or they are proactive, but they make bad choices.

17:30 - 17:33
Chris Hensley
And, you know, you talked about financial noise, really.

17:33 - 17:35
Chris Hensley
Technology is acting as a magnifier for that.

17:36 - 17:36
Chris Hensley
Right?

17:36 - 17:39
Chris Hensley
You and I both know that Anybody can go out there and call them.

17:39 - 17:42
Chris Hensley
So this is one of my biggest pet peeves, financial coach, right?

17:42 - 17:45
Chris Hensley
Or money coach, You could call yourself that.

17:45 - 17:58
Chris Hensley
But if you don't have the licensing, If you don't have the experience, you're really entering bad stuff out into the atmosphere ear where people can act on it and make some really poor decisions they are.

17:58 - 18:04
Chris Hensley
So so we started by talking about technology, and I can see how technology is a, you know, just just did.

18:05 - 18:08
Chris Hensley
Some ways making that worse, for sure.

18:08 - 18:21
Chris Hensley
So these are all important reasons for people to that tap, an expert, like yourself on the shoulder, and say, Hey, we need help, Especially the getting rid of that financial noise filter is a huge thing.

18:21 - 18:24
Chris Hensley
So thank you for doing what you're doing there.

18:24 - 18:42
Chris Hensley
Let's keep talking about technology there and then go just a little bit further, because now every, you know, you can't get on the Internet without seeing something about AI, where do you see the role of human financial advisors heading into the age of robo advisors and or AI?

18:44 - 18:45
Bryan Kuderna
Yep.

18:45 - 18:47
Bryan Kuderna
So, it's changing.

18:47 - 18:48
Bryan Kuderna
I mean, that goes without saying.

18:48 - 19:03
Bryan Kuderna
I think a lot of the things that a financial advisor used to be, again, going back to that, those barriers of entry, they used to kind of hold the key to open up the gate to say, OK, now you can invest, or you could get this product, or whatever it may be.

19:04 - 19:17
Bryan Kuderna
Since all those doors are effectively open through technology, I think a lot of these things are becoming a commodity where whatever insurance or whatever investment, I, you know, a tenured CFP could show, yeah.

19:17 - 19:21
Bryan Kuderna
You can go get them on the Internet or someone day, one could provide for you.

19:22 - 19:42
Bryan Kuderna
So, when you couple, the availability factor, also with the information that's brought about, by AI or robo advisors and things, I think that, um, again, I think that there's a use for it, OK, But I think that the person at the end of the day is got to make a decision.

19:43 - 19:51
Bryan Kuderna
All right, the robo advisor isn't going to do it all for them, eventually they're gonna, you're gonna have to say, OK, I'm handing over my money into whatever platform.

19:51 - 19:52
Bryan Kuderna
Or I'm answering a questionnaire.

19:53 - 19:55
Bryan Kuderna
Then, I think that's just one thing.

19:55 - 20:16
Bryan Kuderna
I always say, there's, there's the financial element or component, and then there's the emotional side, and when you kinda draw up a plan in a laboratory, maybe AI or a robo advisor can do that, but then when the world starts to spin in life unfolds, now there's all these different things going on that maybe we weren't ready for.

20:16 - 20:23
Bryan Kuderna
And it's almost like we need a friend, we need someone to say, Hey, Joe, hey, Chris, you may not want to do this right now.

20:23 - 20:37
Bryan Kuderna
Or maybe you should consider this and have candid conversations of, you know, the pros and cons of all these different decisions and that, that's where AI can get better and better, but it's never going to be human.

20:38 - 20:41
Bryan Kuderna
And that's where I, I'm not worried about my job.

20:42 - 20:49
Bryan Kuderna
That's why I tell people, my job will change, Then maybe there's certain accounts that will be available through other avenues.

20:50 - 20:57
Bryan Kuderna
But I'm not at all worried about being put out of business by robots, that will never be a person that we can connect to.

20:59 - 21:00
Chris Hensley
Love it.

21:00 - 21:00
Chris Hensley
I love it.

21:00 - 21:00
Chris Hensley
Yeah.

21:00 - 21:02
Chris Hensley
That's a, that's the exact feeling.

21:02 - 21:06
Chris Hensley
I had the, the technology part of it.

21:06 - 21:18
Chris Hensley
That's a whole nother bigger discussion but as far as it relating to us as financial advisors as, well, you know, they talked about robo advisors for many years now and what happened there.

21:18 - 21:19
Chris Hensley
Yes.

21:19 - 21:28
Chris Hensley
Some people using robo advisors, but it was almost a non event for my product, like, Traverse in.

21:28 - 21:30
Bryan Kuderna
Such as almost like proof of that.

21:30 - 21:39
Bryan Kuderna
I can't tell you how many people have come up to me and said, hey, Brian, what's your take on this robo advisor or this platform or this piece of AI?

21:40 - 21:48
Bryan Kuderna
And I'm like, just, if you have to come and ask me, for my opinion on it, it's almost not really doing its job.

21:48 - 21:57
Bryan Kuderna
Because it hasn't sold, you hasn't gained your trust and your confidence that you need to come back to a human for a human to say, OK, use it, but just use it for this.

21:58 - 22:00
Bryan Kuderna
That's where ultimately it's a tool.

22:00 - 22:11
Bryan Kuderna
It's almost like, if I'm a carpenter, and my biggest customer found a hammer, I'm not out of a job, OK, now, I can go show them how to use that hammer, But, you know, it's, I know that's kind of trivial analogy.

22:12 - 22:14
Bryan Kuderna
But that's what it is.

22:14 - 22:14
Bryan Kuderna
It's just another tool.

22:16 - 22:16
Chris Hensley
Yep.

22:17 - 22:26
Chris Hensley
I totally agree with that, I see it as a tool, It might even amplify some of the things that we're doing, but it's, it's not going to put us out of business there.

22:26 - 22:29
Chris Hensley
So I, I would just piggyback in on that.

22:29 - 22:31
Chris Hensley
I do agree with you 100%.

22:31 - 22:33
Chris Hensley
I'm gonna move a little bit.

22:33 - 22:43
Chris Hensley
I'm gonna step back a little bit and go back to the book here, I know that you talk about building wealth amid chaos in the book.

22:43 - 22:51
Chris Hensley
Can you provide an example of a financial principle that's particularly relevant in today's uncertain economic client climate?

22:51 - 22:52
Chris Hensley
Sorry, that's.

22:52 - 22:53
Bryan Kuderna
For sure.

22:53 - 23:02
Bryan Kuderna
So, I think one of the Timeless ones that you hear about, you know dollar cost averaging, that might be a good example of it and all that.

23:02 - 23:15
Bryan Kuderna
For people who don't know, that's making systematic investments, whether it's every month or every quarter, so that you're taking the emotion, you're taking the guesswork out of your plan, and you're just essentially following a process.

23:16 - 23:24
Bryan Kuderna
Then the idea of dollar cost averaging is that if we put it in the same amount in the same periods, we're buying less of the market when it's at a high.

23:24 - 23:27
Bryan Kuderna
And then we're buying more of the market when it's out of wow.

23:27 - 23:29
Bryan Kuderna
And we're kind of smoothing these entry points.

23:30 - 23:38
Bryan Kuderna
So the reason I just throw that one out there, is, again, it's removing emotion, And it's just saying, let's just follow the exercise.

23:38 - 23:40
Bryan Kuderna
So, you know, it's funny.

23:40 - 23:44
Bryan Kuderna
When I came up with the title of my book, we had, What Should I Do with My money?

23:44 - 23:46
Bryan Kuderna
My publisher, McGraw hill.

23:46 - 23:47
Bryan Kuderna
They loved it.

23:47 - 23:48
Bryan Kuderna
Everyone was like, That's great.

23:48 - 23:50
Bryan Kuderna
The subtitle.

23:50 - 23:51
Bryan Kuderna
We went back and forth, back and forth.

23:52 - 23:54
Bryan Kuderna
And we had building wealth amid chaos.

23:54 - 24:00
Bryan Kuderna
And one of the editors was like, all right, was we're starting to write this, you know, in the middle of ....

24:00 - 24:03
Bryan Kuderna
That's perfect, I mean, it's as chaotic as ****.

24:03 - 24:05
Bryan Kuderna
But what happens when we get outta coven?

24:06 - 24:07
Bryan Kuderna
And I was like, Don't worry.

24:07 - 24:10
Bryan Kuderna
It will be chaotic, because that's what the world is.

24:10 - 24:12
Bryan Kuderna
It never, ever stopped.

24:12 - 24:15
Bryan Kuderna
And so I think that's what I try and tell people.

24:15 - 24:17
Bryan Kuderna
It's like, you turn on the news tonight.

24:18 - 24:25
Bryan Kuderna
You can flip the channel and in five minutes, find something, inspiring, and hopeful that will energize you to the nth degree.

24:25 - 24:29
Bryan Kuderna
And then you could find something so terrible that you could just dive into a depression.

24:30 - 24:31
Bryan Kuderna
And you could do that every day.

24:32 - 24:38
Bryan Kuderna
So I think that's kinda the premise of the book, is like, let's take some of the emotion, in the opinion.

24:39 - 24:51
Bryan Kuderna
And, you know, the, the, kind of two sides of the coin that are constantly fighting each other, let's get rid of all of that and just look at, you know, the empirical evidence, and the story of what's going on.

24:51 - 24:54
Bryan Kuderna
And then, along the way, focus on what you can control.

24:55 - 25:00
Bryan Kuderna
And, you know, when you do that, and dollar cost averaging is just one example.

25:00 - 25:06
Bryan Kuderna
You know, we're following a process where now we're taking that emotion out and chaos.

25:06 - 25:08
Bryan Kuderna
All of a sudden doesn't mean that much to us.

25:08 - 25:16
Bryan Kuderna
And we can say, All right, chaos is going to present opportunity instead of just these never-ending threats that we want to panic over.

25:18 - 25:18
Chris Hensley
Love it.

25:18 - 25:22
Chris Hensley
You know, focusing on what you can control.

25:22 - 25:26
Chris Hensley
You gave us the example dollar cost averaging, which is which is a huge one.

25:27 - 25:28
Chris Hensley
I mean, a lot to.

25:28 - 25:36
Chris Hensley
Like you said, it's taking the emotion out of it and just having people exited that consistent, repeatable exercise of saving and putting money aside.

25:37 - 25:42
Chris Hensley
And we are, we're bumping towards the end of the half-hour here, a half-hour has gone by really, really quick.

25:43 - 25:52
Chris Hensley
So, I want to ask a few questions here, but in the Iron Man, being an iron man and pursuing athletic challenges affected your career.

25:52 - 25:53
Bryan Kuderna
Yeah.

25:53 - 25:59
Bryan Kuderna
So, I think it always just provides kind of like a, just stability to life for me, you know?

26:00 - 26:04
Bryan Kuderna
You have all these different things that you're trying to attack, and in some days, you have good days.

26:04 - 26:06
Bryan Kuderna
Other days, you have bad days.

26:06 - 26:09
Bryan Kuderna
But to be able to come back to something that's just so kind of basic.

26:09 - 26:12
Bryan Kuderna
Like, sports are running even.

26:12 - 26:19
Bryan Kuderna
You know, these are things I've done since I was a kid, You know, sports was always a big deal, so I never wanted to lose all of that.

26:20 - 26:27
Bryan Kuderna
So, when I was done playing competitive sports after college, you know, I was just kinda searching for like that next thing.

26:27 - 26:31
Bryan Kuderna
And that's where on a whim, you know, I signed up for the National Marathon in DC.

26:33 - 26:36
Bryan Kuderna
I went and I did that, and I was like, All right, I can't check that box.

26:36 - 26:38
Bryan Kuderna
And then everyone's, like, oh, how are you going to do that?

26:38 - 26:40
Bryan Kuderna
You know, that that kind of came out of left field.

26:41 - 26:44
Bryan Kuderna
So then the next New Year's resolution was like, All right, I'll try an iron man.

26:45 - 26:56
Bryan Kuderna
You know I've never done any triathlon or anything like it and I think just doing those you know, if I will get back in like 2015 the year that I did the Ironman, it was a great year in business.

26:56 - 26:59
Bryan Kuderna
And a lot of people said, Dude, you're training for the hardest thing in the world.

26:59 - 27:01
Bryan Kuderna
How do you even know it?

27:01 - 27:02
Bryan Kuderna
Even go to the office?

27:03 - 27:08
Bryan Kuderna
And I'm like, Yeah, I'm like, I'm working better than ever because when I'm at the office, I'm 100% dialed in.

27:08 - 27:14
Bryan Kuderna
Then when I leave the office, it's training time and it's like, you re-energize the physical side.

27:14 - 27:19
Bryan Kuderna
Then you re-energize the mental side and you go back and forth and it's kinda like everything rises together.

27:20 - 27:24
Bryan Kuderna
So, that's where I'm just such a huge proponent of, just fitness in general.

27:25 - 27:26
Chris Hensley
Love it, I love it.

27:26 - 27:28
Chris Hensley
I have to agree.

27:28 - 27:34
Chris Hensley
My, my jujitsu gym is less than 5 to 10 minutes away from here so I have no excuse.

27:34 - 27:36
Chris Hensley
It's usually Tuesdays and Thursdays.

27:42 - 27:42
Chris Hensley
Yeah.

27:51 - 27:53
Bryan Kuderna
It, Just cut out on me, Chris.

28:04 - 28:05
Bryan Kuderna
Sorry, I lost it.

28:09 - 28:10
Bryan Kuderna
Can you hear me?

28:15 - 28:16
Bryan Kuderna
I can't hear you.

28:24 - 28:24
Chris Hensley
How about now.

28:24 - 28:25
Bryan Kuderna
Ok.

28:25 - 28:25
Bryan Kuderna
Gotcha.

28:26 - 28:27
Bryan Kuderna
Yeah, OK.

28:27 - 28:27
Chris Hensley
Don't worry.

28:27 - 28:31
Chris Hensley
I'll get rid of that and post-production right.

28:32 - 28:36
Chris Hensley
My driver for the microphone just decided to come online right in the middle.

28:37 - 28:43
Chris Hensley
And I'm like, OK, so we'll keep moving out And that part out there.

28:44 - 28:46
Chris Hensley
So it's turned out the gym.

28:46 - 28:51
Chris Hensley
They're in a lead me, so we're right here at the end, so let me conclude here.

28:51 - 28:54
Chris Hensley
So, Brian, thank you so much for being on the show.

28:54 - 28:57
Chris Hensley
You shared a lot of really good information with us today.

28:57 - 29:03
Chris Hensley
Is there something that I forgot to ask you that you'd like to share with our listeners today?

29:05 - 29:07
Bryan Kuderna
No, I think we kind of covered a lot there.

29:07 - 29:13
Bryan Kuderna
I think what I would just tell listeners is, you know, find out what you're passionate about.

29:13 - 29:16
Bryan Kuderna
That should be something you kind of re-evaluate from time to time.

29:16 - 29:21
Bryan Kuderna
Just kinda take the pulse and say, hey, you know, am I on track for ultimately what I want to be doing with life.

29:22 - 29:28
Bryan Kuderna
I know that's a big thing, but I think it's good to kind of have those deep conversations or introspective thoughts from time to time.

29:28 - 29:35
Bryan Kuderna
So just kinda touch base with yourself and then then kind of bring it back to the basics and have that routine.

29:36 - 29:41
Bryan Kuderna
Now, please encourage everybody to go check out my book, again, called, What Should I Do With My Money?

29:41 - 29:54
Bryan Kuderna
I talk not just about wealth in the context of money, but wealth as a state of well-being, and that's where I think it's applicable to everyone, And if you like history, if you like economics, then you'll really enjoy them.

29:55 - 29:56
Chris Hensley
Love it, I love it.

29:56 - 29:58
Chris Hensley
And Brian, thank you so much for being on the show.

29:59 - 30:02
Chris Hensley
One, very last question for listeners, you'd like to contact you.

30:02 - 30:07
Chris Hensley
You didn't share with us how, you know where to or to the book, and where do they find you?

30:07 - 30:08
Chris Hensley
How did they get in touch with you?

30:09 - 30:14
Bryan Kuderna
Sure, sure, so they can check out my website is WWW dot brian ...

30:14 - 30:15
Bryan Kuderna
Dot com.

30:15 - 30:19
Bryan Kuderna
So if they check that out, they can see a lot of what I have going on.

30:19 - 30:23
Bryan Kuderna
They could sign up for my newsletter, it's called Weekly, Wealthy Wisdoms.

30:23 - 30:27
Bryan Kuderna
They're more than welcome to check that out free newsletter every Monday.

30:27 - 30:32
Bryan Kuderna
So, then, anywhere on social media, if you search Kadar, not probably gonna pop right up.

30:33 - 30:34
Chris Hensley
And you have the podcast as well.

30:34 - 30:41
Chris Hensley
So, if the Search Kunder Garner, they might hear that the U two to version of it, or the MP three, either way, they can find you.

30:41 - 30:41
Bryan Kuderna
There.

30:42 - 30:42
Chris Hensley
Brian.

30:42 - 30:42
Bryan Kuderna
Thank you so.

30:42 - 30:43
Chris Hensley
Much.

30:44 - 30:45
Chris Hensley
Thank you both so much for being on the show.

30:45 - 30:47
Chris Hensley
Thanks for sharing with with us today.

30:47 - 30:49
Chris Hensley
Have a good rest of the day.

30:49 - 30:50
Bryan Kuderna
All right, Thanks a lot, Chris.