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Budgeting For Future Happiness with Brad Berger (Episode #35)

Brad Berger is a Certified Financial Planner™ and holistic life planner with almost 30 years of experience in financial planning, coaching, and counseling. Listen to Brad and learn how to budget for future happiness!

In this episode, he drops a ton of actionable steps that we can take right away to improve not only our financial status but also our overall well-being.

Brad also shares some interesting information about one’s longevity such as calculating correctly how long you will live, your average age, and your “at birth” number. He then discusses how these numbers all tie-up with financial planning and why they can help our happiness and satisfaction long-term.

Resources Mentioned:

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Email [email protected] to connect with Brad or follow him on LinkedIn. Check out their website and learn new ways to live your most ideal life!

[00:01 – 02:38] Doing Important Work
  • Let’s get to know Brad Berger
    • a Master Certified Integrative Life Coach
    • Holistic Life Planner
    • Certified Financial Planner
[02:39 – 14:57] What is “Values-Based” Financial Planning?
  • Introducing Brad and the concept of “classically trained” financial planning versus “whole life” planning
  • Aligning your most important personal goals, with your most deeply held values
  • Why “what is your number?”, Is the wrong question
  • The problem with benchmarking ourselves against other people’s goals and values
  • Getting specific about your “why,” instead of just picking a number for a financial retirement goal.
  • What is important to you about money?… Does money mean security, or less stress, or more freedom, or what?
  • Money is the squid on your face
[14:58 – 19:11] Financial Planning is a Lifelong Journey, Not an Event
  • Why it should be something you do one weekend
  • Speaking to his daughter’s nursing class… Their best “class” ever
  • “The best time to plant a shade tree was 30 years ago. But the next best time, is today because that’s really all we have, is today. “
  • A new model in financial planning: “subscription-based planning”
[19:12 – 32:32] The Magic of Compound Interest
  • Why someone 30 years old might want to pay attention to this conversation
  • Why the “rate of return” that you are getting, is not the most important part of the equation
  • The things that are the most important:
    • 1) when you begin 2) Consistency 3) How much you put away 4) staying the course
  • EXAMPLE: Comparison of two people, with two different strategies of saving
  • The book “the richest man in Babylon”
  • When you get a raise, here’s the strategy to use with that new money: “5-5-10 Concept”
[32:33 – 46:04] Process and Success Fundamentals
  • The four components of your savings strategy over your lifetime
  • Why we distrust the financial planning industry: they only offer us solutions, but offer almost nothing related to planning and monitoring
  • Roth IRAs are contributing to the Roth component of your company’s retirement vehicle created for you
  • Understanding the taxation gifts fundamental to Roth IRAs
  • Monitoring
  • “Freeing up mental space” by getting confidence about your saving strategy
  • Learn desk link (and the ideal life 360 events and Brad’s free courses)
  • The five key steps
  • Having a “hard date”
  • The “25-year vision description” exercise
[46:05- 57:19] To Longevity
  • What would happen if we lived to age 147
  • The culturally conforming conveyor belt
  • Calculating correctly how long you will live
  • Calculating average age and your “at birth” number
  • Your genetics for living a very long life and aging well only accounts for 7 to 19% of the equation
  • “Retirement” is an old concept for problems
  • The “prime time myth” – that you are most protected from age 25 to 55, leftover from the Industrial Revolution
  • Information and wisdom economy your most productive years are age 55 to 85
  • The three killer D’s
  • Making a big impact on the world
[57:20- 59:57] Closing Segment
  • Connect with Brad!
    • Links below
  • Final announcements

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