[0:00] Shannon Warwick: What if something happens to you? And so we started this conversation, I started this conversation, "Ryan, what if something happens to you? I, I don't feel equipped. I'm not sure where things are." And then it really started bringing out more and more questions surrounding the complexity of our personal financial picture.
[0:18] Ryan Warwick: 90% women who we are serving who have lost spouses. If it's 80% here, but 90% of them are going to go first, then what we have is a situation where a very high percentage of women in these relationships are someday going to find themselves in charge of what we call a family business.
[0:45] Shannon Warwick: These are the two most stressful events in an adult woman's life. I've lost my spouse, I'm managing my finances alone. They're both happening simultaneously.
[0:55] Ryan Warwick: It's okay to not be okay.
[0:57] Shannon Warwick: It is.
[0:58] Ryan Warwick: And, and we want our listeners to hear that. It's okay to say-
[1:01] Shannon Warwick: So-
[1:01] Ryan Warwick: ... "I'm scared. I don't understand."
[1:03] Shannon Warwick: "I'm sorry. I-"
[1:04] Ryan Warwick: We, we want this, this-
[1:06] Shannon Warwick: "I feel guilt"
[1:06] Ryan Warwick: ... tool platform is intended to provide a space for having conversation. Welcome to the Worth Beyond Wealth podcast.
[1:17] Shannon Warwick: Where net worth meets personal worth. I'm Shannon.
[1:20] Ryan Warwick: I'm Ryan. We help families navigate the emotional, relational, and personal realities that money alone can't solve.
[1:27] Shannon Warwick: If you've built wealth but still wonder what it all means, or how to keep your family grounded while protecting your legacy, you're in the right place.
[1:35] Ryan Warwick: We sit down with experts, and with you, to talk identity, purpose, and connection beyond the balance sheet.
[1:42] Shannon Warwick: Because true wealth isn't measured in dollars. It's measured in the impact we make and the relationships we nurture.
[1:49] Ryan Warwick: So grab a seat.
[1:50] Shannon Warwick: Take a breath.
[1:50] Ryan Warwick: And let's redefine what it means-
[1:52] Shannon Warwick: To be truly wealthy together.
[1:54] Ryan Warwick: This is the Worth Beyond Wealth podcast.
[1:58] Shannon Warwick: Worth Beyond Wealth.
[1:58] Ryan Warwick: Welcome back for another Worth Beyond Wealth podcast.
[2:03] Shannon Warwick: Yes, welcome to you as well.
[2:05] Ryan Warwick: Today we're going to dive in a little deeper to this big project we're working on-
[2:12] Shannon Warwick: Yeah
[2:13] Ryan Warwick: ... uh, called The Life Raft, and, uh, really go into what it is, what it's about, who it can help, all the, all the pieces of it.
[2:22] Shannon Warwick: Yeah, The Life Raft, you know, it's obviously very personal, um, with how it started and, and we'll get into that. But when we talk about The Life Raft, I think the big question is, well, what is The Life Raft? And so we're painting this picture of this mindset of, of Life Raft, an overall mindset, but then we'll talk about just even some tools. Um, and we may even have another podcast coming where we really dive into those tools specifically. But today-
[2:50] Ryan Warwick: Sure
[2:50] Shannon Warwick: ... I think in general we'll have a broad overview of mindset.
[2:53] Ryan Warwick: So mindset and, and then paint a picture of some of the specifics.
[2:57] Shannon Warwick: I think so.
[2:58] Ryan Warwick: Yeah.
[2:59] Shannon Warwick: Broader strokes.
[3:00] Ryan Warwick: Okay.
[3:01] Shannon Warwick: Um.
[3:01] Ryan Warwick: So a- a- as a,
[3:04] Ryan Warwick: as a recap, we've probably talked about this on, on prior episodes, but what happened?
[3:10] Shannon Warwick: Yeah. I think the question is,
[3:14] Shannon Warwick: why and where did Life Raft originate, the idea of Life Raft? And I teasingly say, well, it was born of a panic attack.
[3:27] Ryan Warwick: Yeah.
[3:27] Shannon Warwick: My own. Not a literal panic attack, but a feeling of panic.
[3:33] Shannon Warwick: Um, woke up one morning and realized, wait a second, there's a lot going on in our own personal financial picture that
[3:47] Shannon Warwick: I do not feel fully versed in. I, I, I feel that I have this general awareness, but specifics I'm not comfortable with, and it left me feeling unsafe.
[4:01] Shannon Warwick: And I'll even go back and say,
[4:04] Shannon Warwick: w- why would that be? Why would I have a broad understanding but maybe not be really into the weeds with details? Our personal situation is that you are a financial advisor, but you're not just a financial advisor, you are my wealth manager, my personal wealth manager.
[4:22] Shannon Warwick: So we had always lived in default mode, correct?
[4:25] Ryan Warwick: Yeah.
[4:26] Shannon Warwick: Yeah. You, you were managing our accounts, our investments. Our portfolio was something-
[4:33] Ryan Warwick: It has, has-
[4:33] Shannon Warwick: ... that you had intimate knowledge of
[4:34] Ryan Warwick: ... as our daughter sang in, in her High School Musical play, it was the status quo.
[4:38] Shannon Warwick: It was the status quo.
[4:39] Ryan Warwick: Right. Yeah.
[4:40] Shannon Warwick: High School Musical quote right there.
[4:41] Ryan Warwick: Thank you.
[4:42] Shannon Warwick: Wow.
[4:42] Ryan Warwick: Yeah.
[4:43] Shannon Warwick: A High School Musical reference.
[4:44] Ryan Warwick: I've never watched the movie-
[4:46] Shannon Warwick: But-
[4:46] Ryan Warwick: ... but I've watched my daughter in the play, so there you go
[4:48] Shannon Warwick: ... well, there's points right there.
[4:49] Ryan Warwick: Yeah.
[4:50] Shannon Warwick: It's excellent work. I think that, um, that was it, it was the status quo.
[4:56] Ryan Warwick: Yeah.
[4:56] Shannon Warwick: Um, I, I, I'm a nurse by trade. Um, so, you know, I was doing volunteer work in nursing, raising the kids, keeping everything going at home so that we could have you on the front lines managing the business, doing all the, the details that had to happen there. A sounding board for you, but, but that was your world, and so by default, you were managing the accounts. You'd fill me in. There'd be some things that I needed to sign. There'd be quick little passing conversations, a quick meeting here or there. But overall, I knew and trusted that you were managing those accounts.
[5:34] Ryan Warwick: Right.
[5:34] Shannon Warwick: Right?
[5:34] Ryan Warwick: But I also was doing what we find many entrepreneurs doing.
[5:39] Shannon Warwick: Yeah.
[5:40] Ryan Warwick: And that is
[5:42] Ryan Warwick: making new, uh, investments without a lot of communication.
[5:49] Shannon Warwick: Right.
[5:49] Ryan Warwick: And, and investments beyond just adding dollars to an account, investments in a, in a small company or-
[5:57] Shannon Warwick: Right
[5:57] Ryan Warwick: ... or investments into a, a piece of real estate or, or various things. So-
[6:01] Shannon Warwick: So actually things were getting-
[6:02] Ryan Warwick: ... creating complexity- You know, no intention of, of certainly not hiding anything, but-
[6:07] Shannon Warwick: No
[6:07] Ryan Warwick: ... creating complexity-
[6:09] Shannon Warwick: Right
[6:09] Ryan Warwick: ... that, uh, i- given the right situation would create, uh, anxiety and, and potentially chaos for you.
[6:17] Shannon Warwick: Yeah. And again, yes, thank you for bringing that up. That's, I think, a critical part of the picture for, for myself, and I think for a lot of, um, entrepreneurial couples. It wasn't your typical 401 situation. It was... Well, there's private placements, and there's... Th- there, there were just so, as you... Real estate. There were just so many things.
[6:40] Ryan Warwick: Yeah.
[6:40] Shannon Warwick: And the list was fairly extensive.
[6:43] Ryan Warwick: Mm-hmm.
[6:43] Shannon Warwick: I just realized, a- and again, yeah, it wasn't that you were hiding anything from me, absolutely not, but you were making decisions that you felt were appropriate. You would ping me on those decisions. Sometimes I would show up and maybe meet the person that you were, um, investing in a startup or h- whatever it happened to be. But again, I would take, um, "Well, what do you think?" And then I would say, "As long as this is my comfort level," and then you'd pull the trigger. And I just trusted your judgment because you were my advisor.
[7:14] Ryan Warwick: Mm.
[7:14] Shannon Warwick: Right? So it's not that our relationship was inappropriate in that, but I really wasn't getting all of the nuts and bolts that could, that could lead to feeling confident, right? So-
[7:28] Ryan Warwick: Well, and, and keep in mind, some of these things
[7:31] Ryan Warwick: don't get reported on in regular cadence, so-
[7:34] Shannon Warwick: Mm-hmm
[7:35] Ryan Warwick: ... it might have been done five years ago. There have been no statements.
[7:40] Shannon Warwick: Sure.
[7:40] Ryan Warwick: Who, who do, who would I even talk to? How do, how would I even know it was there? Yeah, it's on a balance sheet-
[7:46] Shannon Warwick: Mm-hmm
[7:46] Ryan Warwick: ... but what does that mean? Is this something I can sell?
[7:50] Shannon Warwick: Right.
[7:51] Ryan Warwick: I- is this... A- again, I... There, there are a lot of moving parts-
[7:55] Shannon Warwick: Moving parts
[7:55] Ryan Warwick: ... which w- we'll talk about, you know, how we intend to address that in-
[8:00] Shannon Warwick: Right
[8:00] Ryan Warwick: ... in the Life Raft process, but, um-
[8:02] Shannon Warwick: Yeah. No, exactly. And so I started asking this question of just, okay, if I were to be in a situation where something happened to you.
[8:12] Ryan Warwick: Mm-hmm.
[8:12] Shannon Warwick: That was the big question. What if something happens to you?
[8:15] Shannon Warwick: And so we started this conversation. I started this conversation. "Ryan, what if something happens to you? I, I, I don't feel equipped. I'm not sure where things are." And then it really started bringing out more and more questions surrounding the complexity of our personal financial picture, questions that you hadn't even thought of. I mean, we, we were really well-prepared overall, we thought, right? Insurances were in place. Um-
[8:43] Ryan Warwick: By Sal's,
[8:45] Ryan Warwick: uh, will, living trust, you know, all the basic documents.
[8:49] Shannon Warwick: Mm-hmm. Yep.
[8:49] Ryan Warwick: Everything is in place, balance sheet, CPA, attorney.
[8:54] Shannon Warwick: Right.
[8:55] Ryan Warwick: But there were things missing.
[8:57] Shannon Warwick: Right.
[8:57] Ryan Warwick: And this is-
[8:58] Shannon Warwick: And I'll give examples of what, what we found, what, what pieces were missing. So for example, um, I would say, "Okay, well, where, where is this account held? Okay, well, what's the password? Okay, well, is it a dual authentication? Well, whose email does it go to? Whose cell phone does it go to?" And we started realizing how many email accounts you had. We started realizing how many times things were going to your cell phone. We started realizing, you would say, "Well, it's in the folder." And I would say, "Well, what folder?" "The one in the office." "Which office?" And just realizing things were here, there, and everywhere. There's two different offices. There's multiple folders. There's how many email accounts. And things were sort of, I guess, scattered.
[9:42] Ryan Warwick: Mm-hmm.
[9:43] Shannon Warwick: So we really needed to bring it all into one space.
[9:47] Ryan Warwick: Yeah. And we don't think we're alone in, in that scenario.
[9:51] Shannon Warwick: Well, what we realized is if two educated people who communicate fairly regularly, and probably, m- I would venture to say, as we've been going through this process, realizing we're communicating better than most in a lot of ways. Perfect? No. Have learned a lot in how to improve that communication. Still on the journey. But what we realized was that if we were in a situation where you... You're, you're a wealth manager. You're a financial advisor. You know what to do. And yet, we, we were missing so many components of how to be on the same page, how to transfer the knowledge to the spouse.
[10:34] Ryan Warwick: But I, but I think this, I think this speaks to why I started to see
[10:38] Ryan Warwick: that there might be a bigger project here, and that is I'm not sure that I wasn't... I, I was doing all of the things that are fairly standard in the industry.
[10:50] Shannon Warwick: Yes.
[10:50] Ryan Warwick: Right?
[10:51] Shannon Warwick: That's correct.
[10:51] Ryan Warwick: All the, all the tools. We, we had a plan. We had a will.
[10:57] Shannon Warwick: Mm-hmm.
[10:57] Ryan Warwick: We had CPAs. We were making investments. We were saving. We were doing all the right things.
[11:02] Shannon Warwick: Mm-hmm.
[11:03] Ryan Warwick: But what we s- as we started to peel off the layers of the onion, we started to realize there's actually a lot more here that can be of value to a lot of families with complexity in their lives. And the starting point is this, you know, what, all we've talked about so far is really just getting complete clarity and open communication around the pieces, uh, the, the tangible-
[11:38] Shannon Warwick: Mm
[11:38] Ryan Warwick: ... pieces in our life around, uh, surrounding wealth, right?
[11:41] Shannon Warwick: Correct.
[11:42] Ryan Warwick: Which gives security-
[11:43] Shannon Warwick: Mm-hmm
[11:44] Ryan Warwick: ... hopefully. Um-
[11:47] Shannon Warwick: Right
[11:47] Ryan Warwick: ... safety and security, we're, we're finding that that is a, a piece of this for many, uh, spouses. Um-
[11:54] Shannon Warwick: So I'm gonna talk about safety and security for a second-
[11:56] Ryan Warwick: Yeah
[11:56] Shannon Warwick: ... because what was the thing that I said when we started these conversations, I said, "I feel like I'm drowning."
[12:05] Ryan Warwick: Mm-hmm
[12:05] Shannon Warwick: I need a life raft.
[12:06] Ryan Warwick: Right.
[12:07] Shannon Warwick: And that's why we called it The Life Raft.
[12:10] Ryan Warwick: And you also said something else when I so proudly handed you a balance sheet on a single page that was in-
[12:18] Shannon Warwick: I did
[12:18] Ryan Warwick: ... eight-point font so that it got on the single page, but what did you say then?
[12:23] Shannon Warwick: I said, "Have you..." So, so for those who enjoy watching movies, um-
[12:29] Ryan Warwick: No
[12:30] Shannon Warwick: ... the Beautiful Mind reference came out, and I said it looked like it was from A Beautiful Mind.
[12:35] Ryan Warwick: Um, but you said something else. You said, "I feel like I'm a stranger."
[12:42] Shannon Warwick: Yeah. "I feel like I'm a stranger. I'm in a strange land. I don't understand the language, and I don't know where I'm going." I-
[12:50] Ryan Warwick: And you don't know anyone.
[12:50] Shannon Warwick: I don't, and I don't know anyone.
[12:52] Ryan Warwick: Yeah.
[12:52] Shannon Warwick: It is... Yes, that's correct.
[12:53] Ryan Warwick: Yeah, so-
[12:54] Shannon Warwick: And that's in the book
[12:55] Ryan Warwick: ... it, it started to reveal, I guess, a, a lot of things that-
[13:01] Shannon Warwick: The unknowns
[13:01] Ryan Warwick: ... are not just unique to you and I.
[13:04] Shannon Warwick: No-
[13:05] Ryan Warwick: Uh
[13:05] Shannon Warwick: ... they're not, and that, and that's what's... That's why we're sharing our experience because maybe if, if we could go through, two educated people, this is your, you know, playing field of the day, um, we communicate well, but yet we were in this situation finding ourselves feeling disconnected in the knowledge transfer, and a spouse feeling like they're drowning and they need a life raft. And I was saying, "If something happens to you, I, I'm gonna be surrounded by people that I, yes, that I don't know. And I don't want to be in a situation where I can be taken advantage of. I don't want to be in a situation where, um, people are talking at me-
[13:45] Ryan Warwick: Mm-hmm
[13:45] Shannon Warwick: ... or to me, but I need to be spoken with."
[13:48] Ryan Warwick: You're saying, "If, if I was not-
[13:49] Shannon Warwick: If something had happened to you
[13:50] Ryan Warwick: ... here."
[13:51] Shannon Warwick: Correct. So
[13:54] Shannon Warwick: we just realized how many unknowns there were, and how many gray areas there were, and how many loose ends we actually had when we had assumed that everything was pretty secured. So we had a good scaffolding in place, I will say that, but we really needed to flesh it out, and we needed to be on the same page-
[14:14] Ryan Warwick: Yeah
[14:14] Shannon Warwick: ... speaking the same language. And the only way to do that
[14:18] Shannon Warwick: was to sit down and for you to begin... What we did was we actually went to an interview process.
[14:24] Ryan Warwick: Mm-hmm.
[14:24] Shannon Warwick: I started asking you questions of-
[14:26] Ryan Warwick: We started recording.
[14:27] Shannon Warwick: We started recording. You initially, um, had written notes to me and that, that spreadsheet, but I said, "You can't build this for me. I need... You need to build it with me. I need to build it with you. I... It needs to be in my own hand, in my own voice, in my notes. I need to understand what's being written down. Why? What-"
[14:45] Ryan Warwick: So learning happens through the process.
[14:47] Shannon Warwick: Right.
[14:47] Ryan Warwick: And a big piece of The Life Raft, n-not only learning, but we call it knowledge transfer.
[14:51] Shannon Warwick: Knowledge transfer, right. Language matters. Needed to understand the language or at least basic components of the language.
[15:01] Ryan Warwick: Well, th- there... In so many fields, y- you know, if, if I came into a nursing scenario with you, I... there would be many things I wouldn't understand, many acronyms, shortened ways of saying things-
[15:16] Shannon Warwick: Right
[15:16] Ryan Warwick: ... or even just the words that I don't use in a, in a normal daily, um, part of my life. And so y- I would feel uncertain. Uh, I, I wouldn't know, "What did you just say? Can you say that in-
[15:29] Shannon Warwick: Correct
[15:29] Ryan Warwick: ... uh, in, in English?" Right?
[15:32] Shannon Warwick: Yeah.
[15:32] Ryan Warwick: Um-
[15:32] Shannon Warwick: Because, because you are speaking a different language
[15:33] Ryan Warwick: ... and, and so that exists in the world of, of wealth-
[15:35] Shannon Warwick: It does
[15:36] Ryan Warwick: ... advice, right?
[15:36] Shannon Warwick: It absolutely-
[15:37] Ryan Warwick: Investments
[15:37] Shannon Warwick: ... exists in the world of investments, yes. And again, just, just, just to reiterate,
[15:44] Shannon Warwick: it can be confusing when you're dealing with a l- e- even a more general plan, right? But when you add complexities, as so many entrepreneurial
[15:56] Shannon Warwick: pictures, financial pictures, they, they, they contain complexity-
[16:00] Ryan Warwick: Yep
[16:00] Shannon Warwick: ... often. W- would you say more often than not?
[16:04] Ryan Warwick: Of course.
[16:04] Shannon Warwick: Of course.
[16:06] Ryan Warwick: Yep.
[16:06] Shannon Warwick: So you add that level. No wonder one of the main questions that we found people were asking was, "Am I going to be okay? Are we going to be okay? Are we okay?"
[16:18] Ryan Warwick: Yeah.
[16:19] Shannon Warwick: Because there was a lack of understanding.
[16:22] Ryan Warwick: Right.
[16:24] Shannon Warwick: Right? Not that people were doing something wrong, not that people... It... You know, I think, I think we have to stop and say, "Give yourself some grace," because I think what can happen is we can go into a space of shame.
[16:39] Shannon Warwick: We're definitely in a space of fear, but then have we entered a space where, "I'm stupid. I'm, I'm uneducated. I'm ignorant. I don't understand this."
[16:48] Ryan Warwick: "I'm embarrassed to ask questions."
[16:50] Shannon Warwick: "I'm embarrassed to ask questions," or a defensive position. "Why didn't you explain this? Why didn't you tell me? Are you hiding things from me? Why do you do these things? Why do you always, um, make decisions and then you leave me in the dark? You're always..."
[17:06] Ryan Warwick: Yeah, or what we-
[17:07] Shannon Warwick: Yeah
[17:07] Ryan Warwick: ... ha- have found too is, "Why won't you talk to me about it?"
[17:10] Shannon Warwick: "Why won't you talk to me?"
[17:11] Ryan Warwick: You know, there, there are... Well, I'm, I'm tired at the end of the day, and I, I've already spent my-
[17:16] Shannon Warwick: Yeah
[17:16] Ryan Warwick: ... business acumen, uh, time, uh, at work.
[17:19] Shannon Warwick: Exactly.
[17:20] Ryan Warwick: Um, so, so everything we've talked about to this point creates a foundation-
[17:28] Shannon Warwick: Mm-hmm
[17:28] Ryan Warwick: ... of, of safety and security. In the book, we talk about Maslow's hierarchy.
[17:32] Shannon Warwick: Mm-hmm.
[17:32] Ryan Warwick: So, um, you know, we don't need to go through that entirely, but food, shelter, um-
[17:38] Shannon Warwick: Basic needs of, of safety-
[17:40] Ryan Warwick: Basic needs
[17:40] Shannon Warwick: ... and security are at the bottom of that pyramid-
[17:42] Ryan Warwick: Yeah
[17:42] Shannon Warwick: ... and you can't get to other... You c- you can't climb up into higher-
[17:47] Ryan Warwick: Yeah
[17:47] Shannon Warwick: ... level thinking unless you have safety and security.
[17:50] Ryan Warwick: Yeah. So one of the ways we, we are communicating that is, is you can't move on to talking about long-term goals-
[17:58] Shannon Warwick: Right
[17:58] Ryan Warwick: ... mission and vision. How, how do we flourish? And so I wanna step back for a moment and say, if this whole project... was about creating something that was a fancy or robust vault-
[18:16] Shannon Warwick: Yeah
[18:16] Ryan Warwick: ... of documents and information-
[18:19] Shannon Warwick: A knock box
[18:19] Ryan Warwick: ... that would protect you-
[18:23] Shannon Warwick: Mm-hmm
[18:23] Ryan Warwick: ... if I were gone-
[18:25] Shannon Warwick: Mm-hmm
[18:25] Ryan Warwick: ... then we wouldn't be doing it.
[18:27] Shannon Warwick: No.
[18:28] Ryan Warwick: And, and the reason is that there are plenty of tools out there-
[18:31] Shannon Warwick: Yeah, absolutely
[18:32] Ryan Warwick: ... that, like, like you said, a knock box. We can-
[18:35] Shannon Warwick: Mm
[18:35] Ryan Warwick: ... we can get a box, we can have files, and we can drop pieces of paper in, or we can do it electronically. There, there are good-
[18:43] Shannon Warwick: There, there are a lot of-
[18:44] Ryan Warwick: ... kind of vaults
[18:44] Shannon Warwick: ... robust products, yeah.
[18:45] Ryan Warwick: So
[18:46] Ryan Warwick: what we are trying to do is to say, that is, that is the base level-
[18:52] Shannon Warwick: Mm-hmm
[18:53] Ryan Warwick: ... of, of what a family needs.
[18:55] Shannon Warwick: But critical.
[18:56] Ryan Warwick: Critical. It's, it's, it's step one.
[18:59] Shannon Warwick: Yeah.
[19:00] Ryan Warwick: But, um-
[19:01] Shannon Warwick: Then what do we do with all of this beautiful information?
[19:04] Ryan Warwick: The, the-
[19:04] Shannon Warwick: We move to beyond that
[19:05] Ryan Warwick: ... the probability-
[19:07] Shannon Warwick: Mm-hmm
[19:08] Ryan Warwick: ... is not that Ryan at 48 is going to be gone tomorrow or even in the near future.
[19:14] Shannon Warwick: You just shared your age.
[19:16] Ryan Warwick: That's okay.
[19:16] Shannon Warwick: It's a big step for you.
[19:18] Ryan Warwick: It is a big step. So the, the probability-
[19:21] Shannon Warwick: Mm-hmm
[19:22] Ryan Warwick: ... is that we will live a long life together for, for many decades. So having a end of life protection for Shannon, yes, that's part of it.
[19:37] Shannon Warwick: Mm-hmm.
[19:38] Ryan Warwick: But what else is the main goal?
[19:42] Shannon Warwick: So why are you building your wealth?
[19:45] Ryan Warwick: Right. And, and what is the, what is the life raft intended to do? Okay, so we'll get into this in a minute, but we started to see there's the potential for drift in families.
[19:57] Shannon Warwick: Absolutely.
[19:57] Ryan Warwick: This, these... The, the entrepreneur is off creating a bigger, better thing, conquering the world, and there's somebody saying, "I'm uncertain. I'm, I feel unsafe. I don't have knowledge." And so what we, what we found is we wanna raise this person up through this knowledge transfer, everything we've talked about so far-
[20:18] Shannon Warwick: Right
[20:18] Ryan Warwick: ... and create better communication-
[20:21] Shannon Warwick: Mm-hmm
[20:21] Ryan Warwick: ... so that they can come together-
[20:24] Shannon Warwick: Right
[20:25] Ryan Warwick: ... and flourish in the most probabilistic way, which is to say the likelihood that they're going to live together, both be alive-
[20:37] Shannon Warwick: For many more years
[20:37] Ryan Warwick: ... for 30, 40 more years.
[20:38] Shannon Warwick: Correct.
[20:39] Ryan Warwick: So in- if we're in our 40s, okay, this could be 50 more years or... plus
[20:45] Ryan Warwick: considering all the health advances that your field is making, right?
[20:49] Shannon Warwick: Mm, so-
[20:50] Ryan Warwick: So we could... How... It's more important to, to start to think about how do we flourish together-
[20:56] Shannon Warwick: Right
[20:57] Ryan Warwick: ... over the rest of our lives.
[20:59] Shannon Warwick: Yep.
[20:59] Ryan Warwick: Not just, let's put something in place that protects you in case I'm gone.
[21:04] Shannon Warwick: For the worst thing that can happen.
[21:06] Ryan Warwick: Right. Planning for mar- for Armageddon. I say all the time-
[21:09] Shannon Warwick: Mm-hmm
[21:09] Ryan Warwick: ... a s- an investment strategy that plans or protects against Armageddon-
[21:16] Shannon Warwick: Mm-hmm
[21:16] Ryan Warwick: ... is not a strategy at all. That's just...
[21:20] Ryan Warwick: That, that may make you feel good, but that's not what's really, uh, beneficial to the likelihood-
[21:27] Shannon Warwick: Mm-hmm
[21:27] Ryan Warwick: ... of, of all the, the, the possibilities. So what we're trying to do is to create a platform-
[21:33] Shannon Warwick: Mm-hmm
[21:33] Ryan Warwick: ... that helps families flourish.
[21:36] Shannon Warwick: Um, so this is On Your Own. Um, this is written by, um, a PhD and a certified financial planner, both women. But in the book, it says, "Research indicates that for a married woman"... And, and I'm saying woman, we don't wanna discount that there are gentlemen that are also in a situation where they're feeling unprepared or uninvolved or under-involved.
[22:00] Ryan Warwick: Mm-hmm.
[22:01] Shannon Warwick: Right? Because the role could definitely be reversed. He's a professional in a different field. She's the financial professional. This could also be the case, and we've seen that. But for the sake of this particular quote, "Research indicates that for a married woman, the loss of a spouse is the single most emotionally stressful event in her adult life. For most of these women, the task of managing their finances by themselves follows closely behind this event." So imagine that. If, if we've, number one, lost our spouse, and number two, these are the two most stressful events in an adult woman's life. I've lost my spouse. I'm managing my finances alone. They're both happening simultaneously. They're right to- right?
[22:44] Ryan Warwick: And potentially for the first time, I'm involved.
[22:47] Shannon Warwick: And potentially for the first time involved, and that is a critical piece to this.
[22:52] Ryan Warwick: Yeah.
[22:52] Shannon Warwick: And that was something that we already talked about. What happens if I am dropped off in the middle of,
[22:59] Shannon Warwick: of a terrain that I don't know?
[23:01] Ryan Warwick: Mm-hmm.
[23:01] Shannon Warwick: I don't know the language. I don't know the people. I don't know where I am. I have no map, no guide.
[23:08] Shannon Warwick: I don't, I have no translation. I, I don't know what's happening.
[23:11] Ryan Warwick: Right.
[23:11] Shannon Warwick: I'm flying blind, and I'm afraid, and I'm grieving. So if we ask someone to experience these events
[23:21] Shannon Warwick: unprepared, uneducated, and unaware, have we done them any favors? We haven't.
[23:28] Ryan Warwick: Mm-hmm.
[23:29] Shannon Warwick: So that's where this beautiful life raft comes in, and you'll hear the term invitation to education because what life raft is, is yes, it is, it is information, and then there's this beautiful invitation for education that comes along. You can learn as little or as much as you would like, but there's an offer for you to understand, to ask questions in a safe space, to be prepared.
[23:55] Ryan Warwick: To be involved.
[23:56] Shannon Warwick: To be involved.
[23:57] Ryan Warwick: Yeah.
[23:57] Shannon Warwick: To be part of a team.
[23:59] Ryan Warwick: Yeah. And we, and we would still say... I mean, I, I think that's, um, we have people that we've talked to who say, "I don't wanna know" So how, how would you respond to that?
[24:12] Shannon Warwick: We have, yeah. Um, I've let them, I've let them have their feelings. Number one, I accepted that their response was a quick... And, and I will say it was a very quick shutdown.
[24:21] Ryan Warwick: Mm-hmm.
[24:21] Shannon Warwick: "I don't wanna know.
[24:24] Shannon Warwick: There's a vault. There's a folder in the vault, and if something happens, I know where it is." And they are immediately shut down.
[24:30] Ryan Warwick: Mm-hmm.
[24:31] Shannon Warwick: Almost as if there's fear or trepidation or uncertainty that causes them to go into a fight, flight, or freeze.
[24:39] Ryan Warwick: Yeah.
[24:39] Shannon Warwick: Almost to that level.
[24:42] Ryan Warwick: And, and my common back would be-
[24:44] Shannon Warwick: Mm-hmm
[24:45] Ryan Warwick: ... what if that folder was updated 10 years ago?
[24:49] Shannon Warwick: Right. And it probably was.
[24:52] Ryan Warwick: I mean-
[24:52] Shannon Warwick: Or within the last five
[24:54] Ryan Warwick: ... right, yeah
[24:54] Shannon Warwick: Let's say five. Five is still a long time.
[24:56] Ryan Warwick: Yeah.
[24:56] Shannon Warwick: Yeah. A lot can happen in five years in these entrepreneurial situations. A lot absolutely has happened within five years.
[25:05] Ryan Warwick: Yeah. I mean, we know of a situation where
[25:09] Ryan Warwick: this unfortunately did happen, and-
[25:11] Shannon Warwick: Yes
[25:11] Ryan Warwick: ... I, I was told that a lot did happen just in 12 months.
[25:14] Shannon Warwick: 12 months.
[25:15] Ryan Warwick: Um, so-
[25:15] Shannon Warwick: Because entrepreneurs by nature, and this is not a knock on an entrepreneur, this is something that is the beauty of how they work,
[25:25] Shannon Warwick: but what does an entrepreneur typically do? They are a striver, an achiever, a visionary, a go-getter. They're, they're kind of that hummingbird personality, right? And so if they're off and they're building the next thing and conquering the next, you know, conquest,
[25:44] Shannon Warwick: but they're not bringing that partner along-
[25:47] Ryan Warwick: Yeah
[25:47] Shannon Warwick: ... there's not a camaraderie in that. There's, there's no, there's no intentionality there-
[25:52] Ryan Warwick: Right
[25:52] Shannon Warwick: ... for, for the knowledge to be transferred so that
[25:56] Shannon Warwick: this person is not left in the dust and confused and frightened.
[26:02] Ryan Warwick: Yeah.
[26:02] Shannon Warwick: And this isn't the goal, right? This isn't why an entrepreneur is doing this. There's no in- We haven't seen ill intent,
[26:10] Shannon Warwick: right?
[26:10] Ryan Warwick: Nope.
[26:11] Shannon Warwick: So actually we've seen the opposite. "I feel, I feel badly about this. My spouse is, is in pain. My spouse is confused, is concerned, but I don't know what to do. Is there something we can do?"
[26:26] Shannon Warwick: Yeah, we've seen that response.
[26:28] Ryan Warwick: Yeah.
[26:29] Shannon Warwick: Um, but you know, I think let's talk about something. How, how did the realization of what, what came out of this, um,
[26:36] Shannon Warwick: feeling of panic, concern,
[26:40] Shannon Warwick: how did that shift our roles with home and work?
[26:43] Ryan Warwick: Before we do that, can, can I... I wanna... You started talking about entrepreneurs.
[26:48] Shannon Warwick: Mm-hmm.
[26:48] Ryan Warwick: Um, and
[26:51] Ryan Warwick: I wanted to make sure we got this in here. So just a moment ago you were talking about the personality of an entrepreneur-
[26:59] Shannon Warwick: Mm-hmm
[26:59] Ryan Warwick: ... who are they, et cetera. And, and while we're saying the word entrepreneur, I wanna draw out-
[27:04] Shannon Warwick: Yeah
[27:04] Ryan Warwick: ... for a moment that we don't necessarily just mean those individuals in the world who are-
[27:13] Shannon Warwick: Own their own business
[27:13] Ryan Warwick: ... have started or are running-
[27:14] Shannon Warwick: Right
[27:15] Ryan Warwick: ... their own business.
[27:15] Shannon Warwick: Absolutely not.
[27:16] Ryan Warwick: And-
[27:17] Shannon Warwick: No
[27:17] Ryan Warwick: ... because we think that the LifeRaft
[27:21] Ryan Warwick: concept and system can be useful for, for many people that-
[27:27] Shannon Warwick: Absolutely
[27:28] Ryan Warwick: ... that may not own, own businesses. And so we don't want it to be just, "Hey, I'm not an entrepreneur so this isn't for me." So, um, the... You're, you're gonna love this. The, the word entrepreneur actually comes from a French word-
[27:42] Shannon Warwick: Mm
[27:42] Ryan Warwick: ... meaning to undertake, often referring to someone bearing financial risk in hopes of making a profit. Okay, now a, a economist and philosopher, uh, named Jean-Baptiste Say went further. He said, "It is one who shifts resources from less to more productive uses." Okay. So
[28:06] Ryan Warwick: here we have the word entrepreneur, but that clearly doesn't just mean people who own their own businesses.
[28:12] Shannon Warwick: No.
[28:13] Ryan Warwick: An entrepreneur then can be pastors-
[28:18] Shannon Warwick: Yeah
[28:18] Ryan Warwick: ... people who are out investing in real estate-
[28:21] Shannon Warwick: Mm-hmm
[28:22] Ryan Warwick: ... people who are executives of large corporations or within large corporations.
[28:27] Shannon Warwick: Absolutely.
[28:28] Ryan Warwick: Um, managers and leaders within companies, uh, who have devoted their lives to, um,
[28:37] Ryan Warwick: making that company or, or the division-
[28:40] Shannon Warwick: Better
[28:40] Ryan Warwick: ... that they manage better.
[28:42] Shannon Warwick: Mm-hmm.
[28:42] Ryan Warwick: Uh, I talked to a neighbor the other day who had worked in, uh, companies, in, in two specific companies, um, large companies, household names, everybody knows them.
[28:54] Shannon Warwick: Mm-hmm.
[28:54] Ryan Warwick: And he said, "When you work in those companies," he's not an entrepreneur from this, you know, definition of do you own a small business, but he said, "You give them
[29:06] Ryan Warwick: 24 hours a day. You, you are on call"
[29:09] Shannon Warwick: They own you.
[29:10] Ryan Warwick: They own you. You could be called by a manager. You have to be on a call somewhere. So-
[29:14] Shannon Warwick: Right
[29:15] Ryan Warwick: ... um, those people, uh, what we, I think what we wanna say, and, and I believe you used the term a minute ago, these are all strivers. These are all people driving toward a bigger, better future. These are all people who are shifting resources-
[29:32] Shannon Warwick: Yeah. They're productive people
[29:33] Ryan Warwick: ... from a less-
[29:35] Shannon Warwick: Mm-hmm
[29:35] Ryan Warwick: ... to a greater productive use.
[29:38] Shannon Warwick: It's, it's really-
[29:39] Ryan Warwick: Um-
[29:39] Shannon Warwick: ... a superpower.
[29:40] Ryan Warwick: Yeah. It, it's-
[29:41] Shannon Warwick: There's a gift to it
[29:41] Ryan Warwick: ... people that are willing to take risk, but people that are, that have grit, that have a growth mindset.
[29:46] Shannon Warwick: Yeah.
[29:46] Ryan Warwick: Okay. Um, so the LifeRaft is for all of these people.
[29:51] Shannon Warwick: Yes.
[29:51] Ryan Warwick: It, it's for the pastor who is giving 24 hours a day to building a church.
[29:58] Shannon Warwick: Mm-hmm.
[29:58] Ryan Warwick: And, and we talked with Adam in our last episode-
[30:01] Shannon Warwick: Yeah
[30:01] Ryan Warwick: ... who had been in that world, who built a successful church-
[30:05] Shannon Warwick: Absolutely
[30:06] Ryan Warwick: ... really no different than building a successful business in the, the time, and activities, and-
[30:11] Shannon Warwick: Energy
[30:11] Ryan Warwick: ... and energy a- and, and-
[30:13] Shannon Warwick: Attention
[30:14] Ryan Warwick: ... hit a wall
[30:14] Shannon Warwick: ... family
[30:14] Ryan Warwick: ... and it, it was tearing the family apart.
[30:16] Shannon Warwick: It was, right.
[30:17] Ryan Warwick: So success can be a really big-
[30:20] Ryan Warwick: um-
[30:21] Shannon Warwick: It-
[30:21] Ryan Warwick: ... drain on these families
[30:22] Shannon Warwick: And what did we say? We didn't, we didn't want that engine to stop running. We just wanted to kinda put that governor on the engine so that this is sustainable.
[30:32] Ryan Warwick: Yeah.
[30:32] Shannon Warwick: Keep going-
[30:34] Ryan Warwick: Yeah
[30:34] Shannon Warwick: ... just don't rev so hard.
[30:36] Ryan Warwick: Yeah.
[30:37] Shannon Warwick: He-
[30:37] Ryan Warwick: I think he, he talked about making the hustle sustainable.
[30:41] Shannon Warwick: The hustle sustainable.
[30:43] Ryan Warwick: Um-
[30:43] Shannon Warwick: Mm-hmm
[30:44] Ryan Warwick: ... so yeah, the life raft is for all of these families.
[30:48] Shannon Warwick: Agree.
[30:48] Ryan Warwick: And, and then you used another word. So it's, we believe, um, that to create a flourishing family, there has to be a pretty good amount of intentionality.
[30:59] Shannon Warwick: Yes.
[30:59] Ryan Warwick: Like, this isn't just-
[31:00] Shannon Warwick: Infrastructure plus intentionality. Mm-hmm.
[31:01] Ryan Warwick: This isn't just going to happen by accident.
[31:05] Shannon Warwick: Mm-hmm.
[31:06] Ryan Warwick: And, um, I think that, uh... Anyway, that, uh, I, I wanted to, to talk about that because I want people to see that this is for them. This is for their family.
[31:18] Shannon Warwick: Absolutely.
[31:18] Ryan Warwick: This can be a tool almost for any family, and, and we're working on things that might be able to take it out for, for do-it-yourselfers, not just-
[31:27] Shannon Warwick: Yeah
[31:28] Ryan Warwick: ... the families that can come in and, and pay people like us to-
[31:31] Shannon Warwick: Oh, absolutely
[31:32] Ryan Warwick: ... walk alongside them. We, we want this to be a blessing to the world.
[31:36] Shannon Warwick: Well, and it-
[31:36] Ryan Warwick: Mm-hmm
[31:36] Shannon Warwick: ... it was actually really sweet. We had a, we had a lovely friend who s- who, who really loves this idea, but she said, "We don't need the, this really complex version 'cause we don't have a complex portfolio. But gosh, we need the Costco version." And I loved that.
[31:54] Ryan Warwick: Mm-hmm.
[31:54] Shannon Warwick: Absolutely, because how, how far can you go and what can you achieve with, with what you already have? It doesn't have to be complex. It, it, you can still do so much. And if you bolster that with this, this infrastructure and this intentionality and these tools, then sure, how far can you go?
[32:19] Ryan Warwick: Yeah.
[32:19] Shannon Warwick: It's real- It was a, I, I thought it was a really great, um, observation. I, I don't necessarily have this complexity, but do you have a Costco version? I, I loved that.
[32:27] Ryan Warwick: Yeah. It's-
[32:28] Shannon Warwick: Yeah
[32:28] Ryan Warwick: ... it's great-
[32:28] Shannon Warwick: It's for everybody
[32:29] Ryan Warwick: ... because we, we are, we are seeing it i- in almost every conversation-
[32:33] Shannon Warwick: Yeah
[32:34] Ryan Warwick: ... we have. Nope- nobody here, here, nobody says, "Oh, that's a dumb idea."
[32:39] Shannon Warwick: Yeah.
[32:39] Ryan Warwick: "No one needs that."
[32:41] Shannon Warwick: No. No. We've had the opposite. "Is this available now? Can I purchase a product today?" Uh, you know, it's kind of funny. But, um, but yeah, let's, let's kinda scoot back to-
[32:52] Ryan Warwick: So how did this shift-
[32:53] Shannon Warwick: How did we shift-
[32:54] Ryan Warwick: ... our roles
[32:54] Shannon Warwick: ... in, in roles?
[32:55] Ryan Warwick: You loved it when I used that term.
[32:57] Shannon Warwick: I-
[32:57] Ryan Warwick: "Hey, we, we have roles"
[32:58] Shannon Warwick: I did love it when you said that. You used to say that a lot. You know, if I, if I, um, if I would come and have, um, ideas or thoughts or questions around
[33:09] Shannon Warwick: your schedule probably, or y- you know, are you able to do this, or what about... And we, we were kind of in these spaces.
[33:16] Ryan Warwick: It was probably a way for me to get out of doing things I didn't wanna do at home, like-
[33:21] Shannon Warwick: Oh, that's interesting
[33:21] Ryan Warwick: ... cleaning the garage or... You know, I'm just, I'm speculating. I'm not saying that's totally true.
[33:27] Shannon Warwick: No.
[33:27] Ryan Warwick: It just might be.
[33:28] Shannon Warwick: Hmm.
[33:29] Ryan Warwick: So anyway.
[33:30] Shannon Warwick: It's interesting that you're saying this now because there's, there are witnesses-... that can... That you said it. You admitted it.
[33:36] Ryan Warwick: So-
[33:38] Ryan Warwick: So the roles, you know-
[33:39] Shannon Warwick: No. But you would say-
[33:40] Ryan Warwick: Before this too-
[33:40] Shannon Warwick: ... "We have roles"
[33:41] Ryan Warwick: And, and what's, what's interesting, before you... And, and I've told this to you, but I would go to... I think this is, this is common of entrepreneurs.
[33:52] Shannon Warwick: Mm-hmm.
[33:54] Ryan Warwick: I would go to conferences-
[33:56] Shannon Warwick: Yes
[33:56] Ryan Warwick: ... where we were, um, visioning, uh, about business strategies. You know, how are we going to grow things? How are we... You know, what are we going to implement? How are we gonna say things better? What are we gonna do, um, to, to, to build something better? And I would have pages and pages of notes.
[34:17] Shannon Warwick: Yeah.
[34:18] Ryan Warwick: And then there would be some time to, or space to, to go into the family.
[34:24] Shannon Warwick: Mm-hmm.
[34:26] Ryan Warwick: And, and my mind became a blank slate.
[34:28] Shannon Warwick: Mm-hmm.
[34:30] Ryan Warwick: And, and I was convicted of that. I, I was convicted by that.
[34:35] Shannon Warwick: Yeah.
[34:36] Ryan Warwick: But I, but I didn't, at that time and over, over the years, I didn't really know how to address that. And, and it's possible that
[34:48] Ryan Warwick: part of this journey
[34:51] Ryan Warwick: is one where there are moments, um, there are different times in, in our cycle where, where
[34:59] Ryan Warwick: we have more capacity to do things than others.
[35:01] Shannon Warwick: Absolutely.
[35:01] Ryan Warwick: So if our kids are young-
[35:03] Shannon Warwick: Mm-hmm
[35:04] Ryan Warwick: ... yeah, it, it is harder-
[35:05] Shannon Warwick: More grounding
[35:06] Ryan Warwick: ... it is harder to, um-
[35:07] Shannon Warwick: When you're building wealth, when you're building families. Um, w- and, and often there are defined roles, like I have to sleep because... And, you know, I have to get up. I have, I have a 7:00 AM meeting.
[35:19] Ryan Warwick: Mm-hmm.
[35:20] Shannon Warwick: So I, I, I can't get up with the sick kiddo tonight.
[35:22] Ryan Warwick: Yeah.
[35:23] Shannon Warwick: We have roles.
[35:24] Ryan Warwick: Yep.
[35:25] Shannon Warwick: I felt hurt by that. And, and we came to a space of realizing that language needed to change and that mindset needed to shift. Um, and there was healing over that-
[35:38] Ryan Warwick: Mm-hmm
[35:38] Shannon Warwick: ... which, which was beautiful, and then that helps us to come together. But I think, I think in those moments, specifically at this time where we really realized that we needed to make some big shifts in the way that we were approaching life, approaching financial decision-making, approaching, um... And I, I was, I was in charge of our personal finances. We've talked about that in past.
[36:05] Ryan Warwick: Mm-hmm.
[36:05] Shannon Warwick: But you were in charge of our big financial picture.
[36:09] Ryan Warwick: Yep. You were, you were paying bills. You were running the household checking account.
[36:13] Shannon Warwick: Right.
[36:13] Ryan Warwick: Operating account, if you will. But, but I was still building the, the-
[36:16] Shannon Warwick: But you were still building-
[36:18] Ryan Warwick: ...
[36:19] Ryan Warwick: wealth
[36:19] Shannon Warwick: ... the wealth and, and, um, handling everything that had to do with that, our taxes. You were working in, you've said unconscious competency. It was an automatic response for you. It was just, it was like breathing.
[36:31] Ryan Warwick: Yeah.
[36:31] Shannon Warwick: So you weren't even thinking about it.
[36:34] Ryan Warwick: Yeah.
[36:34] Shannon Warwick: And so everything-
[36:35] Ryan Warwick: And that said, it- by the time we had this conversation-
[36:39] Shannon Warwick: Yes
[36:39] Ryan Warwick: ... when, when you had your, uh, panic attack-
[36:41] Shannon Warwick: Mm-hmm
[36:43] Ryan Warwick: ... um, I probably had 60,000 hours-
[36:46] Shannon Warwick: Yes
[36:47] Ryan Warwick: ... of working in, advising, thinking about studying, earning credentials, becoming the best that I could be in this industry.
[36:55] Shannon Warwick: And you also said-
[36:56] Ryan Warwick: It was automatic.
[36:58] Shannon Warwick: Mm.
[36:58] Ryan Warwick: I don't even know what I need to communicate to you. You don't know that? How, how do you not... Right? That's the unconscious competency.
[37:05] Shannon Warwick: You never thought about it.
[37:06] Ryan Warwick: That's right.
[37:07] Shannon Warwick: It was just handled. But you, what you did think was, "Oh, don't worry. I'm taking care of you. I'm taking care of it. I'm taking care of our family. I'm taking care of the kids. I've managed this. I just need you to sign this and, and, and have some awareness about this, and... But, but don't, don't worry. I, I've, I've handled all of that. It's done."
[37:26] Ryan Warwick: Mm-hmm.
[37:27] Shannon Warwick: And then you trusted that I had the home front managed, and I trusted that you had this managed, and we were in these spaces. But we realized that we had to do some shifting around.
[37:38] Shannon Warwick: So we couldn't say any longer, "We have roles."
[37:41] Ryan Warwick: Well, having separate roles and creating silos-
[37:44] Shannon Warwick: Silos. I think that's a great way to-
[37:45] Ryan Warwick: ... is, is not a great way to have-
[37:48] Shannon Warwick: Connection
[37:49] Ryan Warwick: ... open and honest communication, to, to flourish together, to come together.
[37:55] Shannon Warwick: But we also had a re-
[37:55] Ryan Warwick: Those, those silos are what's creating this. So that, that concept of we have roles was creating the drift.
[38:03] Shannon Warwick: I would agree.
[38:03] Ryan Warwick: Yeah.
[38:04] Shannon Warwick: But we had a great marriage.
[38:05] Ryan Warwick: Sure. The, it, yeah, it wasn't like it was on the rocks.
[38:08] Shannon Warwick: No, but what could happen if we had continued in silos-
[38:13] Ryan Warwick: Yeah
[38:13] Shannon Warwick: ... after this moment of, of realization? There comes a moment of accountability, right? We have, we have this awakening. We have this, um, realization of what's going on, and we have awareness, and now there's a moment of choice. Are you gonna do something about it, or are you gonna continue in what's normal?
[38:33] Ryan Warwick: Mm-hmm.
[38:34] Shannon Warwick: Right?
[38:35] Ryan Warwick: And so, w- you know, back real quick to my... The reason I, I wanted that statement out there that I would go to these conferences and have-
[38:43] Shannon Warwick: Mm-hmm
[38:44] Ryan Warwick: ... this check, like, uh, and, and guilt because I, I think that
[38:51] Ryan Warwick: this idea is not
[38:54] Ryan Warwick: going to be news to many of the drivers and strivers-
[38:58] Shannon Warwick: No, it won't
[38:58] Ryan Warwick: ... that we're talking about. They just don't know, as I didn't know, what to do about it.
[39:04] Shannon Warwick: So here's what we're doing.
[39:06] Shannon Warwick: We're giving language to the felt need. People feel this. You feel it in your gut. It sits in your chest. It weighs on your shoulders. We know there's something wrong, there, missing, going on,
[39:25] Shannon Warwick: but we don't have language for it.
[39:27] Ryan Warwick: Mm-hmm.
[39:28] Shannon Warwick: And so I think what we're doing really is we are trying to give language, space, and then ideas on how can we address this-
[39:39] Ryan Warwick: And tools
[39:40] Shannon Warwick: ... and tools. Yeah, absolutely. Because once we have awareness, like we just chatted about, we enter into that space of now will you make a decision to do something about it? But what do I do, right? And so then we start to walk through a process. Here's what you could do. Here are some things that we've done. Here are some things that we are doing.
[40:01] Ryan Warwick: Mm-hmm.
[40:01] Shannon Warwick: And at the time, when you said, "Oh, let's work on this project," and, well, maybe it's not just for us. Maybe it's for other people, too. Um, when you first talked about
[40:11] Shannon Warwick: visioning and mission and purpose, I wasn't even ready to go there because I wanted the safety and security of my life raft being built. And then once we did that, I could think outside of that box. Yeah. And so I think we're also offering get your life raft built, know where everything is, get on the same page, transfer knowledge, understand what you have,
[40:36] Shannon Warwick: and then you can go into this really fun space, visioning, mission, purpose, why you're building wealth. What did it even matter? Why does it matter, right? Does it just matter to retire? I mean, I hope not. You know, I hope that's not the only reason that we're working our tails off.
[40:54] Ryan Warwick: Yeah.
[40:54] Shannon Warwick: At the end of the day, it's their mission, vision, and purpose.
[40:56] Ryan Warwick: Yeah.
[40:57] Shannon Warwick: So I think, though, again, just the shifting in these roles, you started to hear me.
[41:04] Shannon Warwick: We started to come together and make space and carve out time, and it was hard. It's still hard. But we said, "We're just gonna build the plane as we're flying it." You said, "Uh, we're building this plane as we're flying it," and I said, "That's okay as long as we're building it."
[41:19] Ryan Warwick: Yeah. And I think you, you said something there
[41:23] Ryan Warwick: that is, uh, really interesting. It's still hard.
[41:27] Shannon Warwick: It's still hard.
[41:28] Ryan Warwick: And it's, it's hard because when we're at, when we're at busine- uh, when we're at work in our business, we have boundaries. We have... We do have roles. We have roles and responsibilities.
[41:43] Shannon Warwick: Mm-hmm.
[41:43] Ryan Warwick: We have expectations, often put on us by other people.
[41:47] Shannon Warwick: Mm-hmm.
[41:48] Ryan Warwick: And we have to fulfill those expectations. And so, uh, that can mean there are regular meetings that we have to attend, that there are to-dos we have to, uh, achieve each-
[42:01] Shannon Warwick: Mm
[42:01] Ryan Warwick: ... each week. There are-
[42:02] Shannon Warwick: Right
[42:02] Ryan Warwick: ... you know, goals or, or things we're working on projects. So there's a lot of, um, uh, clarity and organization within, uh, our, our work environment-
[42:14] Shannon Warwick: Right. Yeah
[42:14] Ryan Warwick: ... that
[42:16] Ryan Warwick: is, is challenging, certainly could be done, but it's challenging to put that same structure in place in a house.
[42:26] Shannon Warwick: Yes.
[42:26] Ryan Warwick: So we have- We have kids going in different directions. We have, you know, uh, this or that emergency that, that pops up when we were supposed to be having that family meeting. Or hey, you know, if, if given the choice between I'm working on something that has to be delivered to a client, or hey, my, my boss or, or, you know, my partner needs something, and that, and there are deadlines, there are real timelines-
[43:00] Shannon Warwick: Yes
[43:01] Ryan Warwick: ... versus, well, we're preparing for a family meeting for this Friday night, guess what gets put off, right? Guess what gets put off when you get home and, uh, neighbor knocks on the door and needs help. Okay. So there are so many things that bring contingency or-
[43:19] Shannon Warwick: Or you're just flat out tired
[43:21] Ryan Warwick: ... you're, you're tired. So-
[43:23] Shannon Warwick: You're just tired
[43:24] Ryan Warwick: ... so it is, you know-
[43:25] Shannon Warwick: You wanna put your socks, your comfy socks on and your sweats and kick your feet up. You don't wanna talk about, "Oh, let's update, you know, our financial spreadsheet."
[43:35] Ryan Warwick: Yeah.
[43:36] Shannon Warwick: Yeah.
[43:36] Ryan Warwick: So we f- we are advising-
[43:41] Shannon Warwick: Mm-hmm
[43:41] Ryan Warwick: ... that for many families,
[43:45] Ryan Warwick: we're gonna talk about this in, in greater detail, but you have-
[43:47] Shannon Warwick: Okay
[43:48] Ryan Warwick: ... life raft that creates the foundation, that creates the awareness-
[43:51] Shannon Warwick: Mm-hmm
[43:51] Ryan Warwick: ... creates the, um, shared language. It, it creates the safety and security. That is step one. Step two, now we can start to m- have mission and purpose. Now we can start to dream together, have vision-
[44:06] Shannon Warwick: Mm-hmm
[44:06] Ryan Warwick: ... create core values, all the, the, that piece that we'll talk about. Okay. Let's just stop there for a moment. Are we done? No. Because this thing over here continues to change.
[44:21] Shannon Warwick: The life raft.
[44:22] Ryan Warwick: Values change, new investments are made, you know, on and on and on. That's, that's in constant flux.
[44:28] Shannon Warwick: Mm-hmm.
[44:29] Ryan Warwick: This continues to change because maybe it's, it's as simple as our kids are at different stages of life now, so our mission and vision is starting to change, or, you know, our core values are w- we, we need to adjust. So change happens. Okay. So can you be... Can you do this, put it on a shelf, and be done?
[44:48] Shannon Warwick: No.
[44:49] Ryan Warwick: No.
[44:49] Shannon Warwick: It's a living document.
[44:50] Ryan Warwick: So-
[44:50] Shannon Warwick: We talked about that
[44:51] Ryan Warwick: ... rhythms and patterns-
[44:52] Shannon Warwick: Yeah
[44:52] Ryan Warwick: ... the, the cycle. We call it-
[44:53] Shannon Warwick: Yeah
[44:54] Ryan Warwick: ... life raft, life map, life-
[44:56] Shannon Warwick: Cycle
[44:57] Ryan Warwick: ... cycle.
[44:57] Shannon Warwick: Mm-hmm.
[44:58] Ryan Warwick: And, and so we're-
[44:59] Shannon Warwick: Right
[44:59] Ryan Warwick: ... we, we have to keep this going. Okay. Now-
[45:01] Shannon Warwick: There, there's a cadence that will come in
[45:02] Ryan Warwick: There's a cadence.
[45:03] Shannon Warwick: Yeah.
[45:04] Ryan Warwick: Which is, frankly, the hard part, right? That-
[45:08] Shannon Warwick: The cadence is the hard part
[45:09] Ryan Warwick: ... that, that's when... So when you say it's still challenging-
[45:11] Shannon Warwick: Yeah
[45:12] Ryan Warwick: ... okay, we've, we've largely done this. Yes, it i- isn't perfect. We're, we're adding to it. It, but it, it's changing. We've done the mission and purpose. We, we've talked through it. We've, you know, written down the ideas. But what is continuing to be-
[45:31] Shannon Warwick: Yeah
[45:32] Ryan Warwick: ... hard is, is this rhythm and pattern of, a- and, and I love how, how, uh, a counselor called it a, a predictable pattern, right?
[45:41] Shannon Warwick: Yeah.
[45:41] Ryan Warwick: That creates-
[45:42] Shannon Warwick: That's a really good-
[45:42] Ryan Warwick: Mm
[45:43] Shannon Warwick: ... predictable pattern
[45:43] Ryan Warwick: ... that creates, um... Predictable patterns create safety and security, right?
[45:48] Shannon Warwick: Absolutely.
[45:48] Ryan Warwick: So-
[45:49] Shannon Warwick: Yeah
[45:49] Ryan Warwick: ... we think that, as in any hero's journey, the, the listeners here, the entrepreneurs, the spouses, the families, are the heroes of their journey, and they need a good guide.
[46:00] Shannon Warwick: They do.
[46:01] Ryan Warwick: And it's that, that guide that will take them through these cycles, these patterns, that will help build, because we know
[46:13] Ryan Warwick: as a wealth advisor, this is my, this is my world, creating this stuff, okay? The entrepreneur that's out there running a construction company may not be equipped to-
[46:28] Shannon Warwick: I-
[46:29] Ryan Warwick: ... build this-
[46:29] Shannon Warwick: That's a really good point
[46:30] Ryan Warwick: ... and communicate to their spouses. So we're saying, hey, a guide.
[46:33] Shannon Warwick: Right.
[46:33] Ryan Warwick: But also, the guide is, do we need to have conversations facilitated around mission and purpose as a family meeting-
[46:42] Shannon Warwick: Yeah
[46:42] Ryan Warwick: ... a- and including going down into next generations, um, educating them, potentially even for the succession and-
[46:50] Shannon Warwick: So I think-
[46:50] Ryan Warwick: ... transition things that will come up
[46:52] Shannon Warwick: ... what do, what do families ignore at first, and what price do they pay? I think family, at first, this is hard. This is a lot. There's so much here, uh, I, I just can't do this today, and you keep putting it off and putting it off and putting it off. But we talk about you've gotta choose your hard, right? This is a hard process, but once you do the work, the hard work, it's good work. It feels good. And then it becomes better as you get that fun, you know, those fun steps.
[47:23] Ryan Warwick: Mm.
[47:23] Shannon Warwick: Values, visioning, mission, its purpose. But if you don't do anything,
[47:30] Shannon Warwick: one day, that, that will come back to you, right? You could be in the situation where the worst does happen, and you've done little to prepare, and then someone is left in the weeds, right? And so I think the, the price that you're paying is living many years with this unsettledness instead of living with a lot of years of community and partnership and fun and vision and that mission and purpose, or you're living in this space of always unsettled, never really sure of what's going on, don't really know what we have, don't really understand it, just kinda confused and in the gray space.
[48:11] Ryan Warwick: So what is-
[48:12] Shannon Warwick: So choose your hard
[48:12] Ryan Warwick: ... s- so business people, investors think in terms of return on investment.
[48:19] Shannon Warwick: Yeah, your ROI.
[48:20] Ryan Warwick: Okay.
[48:22] Ryan Warwick: So shifting roles at home, okay, you're becoming my advisor, talking in ROI and, you know. All right. So return on investment-
[48:32] Shannon Warwick: Let's talk about that for a second. We've shifted in roles. What am I doing now?
[48:36] Ryan Warwick: Well, you're... For one, you're on the Worth Beyond Wealth podcast with me
[48:40] Shannon Warwick: That's right
[48:41] Ryan Warwick: ... you're writing a book, you're building a system, you're in here helping with marketing. Um, you're, you're taking on a lot of, of new-
[48:51] Shannon Warwick: I'm attending these conferences-
[48:51] Ryan Warwick: ... and uncomfortable-
[48:53] Shannon Warwick: ... and reading books that I-
[48:54] Ryan Warwick: Attending
[48:54] Shannon Warwick: ... didn't think I would read
[48:55] Ryan Warwick: Yeah
[48:55] Shannon Warwick: ... learning about the psychology of money. It's all fascinating.
[48:59] Ryan Warwick: Yeah.
[49:00] Shannon Warwick: Some of it is boring, I'm not gonna lie.
[49:02] Ryan Warwick: And, and, and not every spouse is gonna dive into-
[49:05] Shannon Warwick: Nor should they.
[49:06] Ryan Warwick: That's right.
[49:06] Shannon Warwick: And here's the other thing. I had to not just accept, but I think give myself permission to relax in. I don't have to be an expert. I don't need to become a financial advisor. I have one.
[49:21] Ryan Warwick: Mm-hmm.
[49:21] Shannon Warwick: And there's a great team here at RW.
[49:23] Ryan Warwick: Who not how.
[49:24] Shannon Warwick: Who not how. And bolstering up my knowledge base and, and getting, getting my feet wet, and starting to practice some of these principles, and learning more, that has been fabulous. That, that, that self-development has been great in this space, and maybe that's enough, right? For someone else, maybe all they want is to create the life raft.
[49:50] Ryan Warwick: Mm-hmm.
[49:50] Shannon Warwick: And they have the regular cadence with the updates, and that's enough, and that's also okay.
[49:55] Ryan Warwick: Yep.
[49:57] Ryan Warwick: So I'm gonna ask you a question.
[50:00] Ryan Warwick: You laid out two paths: do nothing-
[50:03] Shannon Warwick: Right
[50:04] Ryan Warwick: ... do something.
[50:04] Shannon Warwick: They're both hard.
[50:05] Ryan Warwick: Right.
[50:07] Ryan Warwick: Do nothing is, you know, hard and, and
[50:11] Ryan Warwick: drift and, and, and unsettledness and un- insecurity and lack of safety, potentially all, all of these things.
[50:20] Shannon Warwick: Mm.
[50:20] Ryan Warwick: And here it's hard because, look, doing something is hard. It- it's, it's organization. It might be expensive to-
[50:29] Shannon Warwick: Yeah. Time
[50:30] Ryan Warwick: ... pay somebody like us to walk through this with, with you because it's a very involved process.
[50:37] Shannon Warwick: Mm-hmm.
[50:37] Ryan Warwick: But when we think about-
[50:38] Shannon Warwick: And money's emotional
[50:39] Ryan Warwick: ... that expense-
[50:40] Shannon Warwick: Mm-hmm
[50:41] Ryan Warwick: ... time, money, um, investment, uh, of, of whatever it is, what is the return on that investment?
[50:50] Shannon Warwick: Peace, safety, security, shared, we've said it five times, maybe more, mission, goals, you know, we- purpose.
[51:00] Ryan Warwick: Can you put a number on it?
[51:02] Shannon Warwick: How do you mean that?
[51:04] Ryan Warwick: What is the... So, so a good investment in, um, in our, in our world, if, if I said, "Hey, Shannon, let's invest money in this, and it's going to return, um, 30% a year"
[51:17] Shannon Warwick: Mm-hmm
[51:17] Ryan Warwick: ... that would be a, a phenomenal investment. It... That, that investment, by the way, will double at, at something like, uh, in every, every couple of years.
[51:27] Shannon Warwick: So I'm gonna ask you, what do you think the return on investment is?
[51:30] Ryan Warwick: I think the return on investment for this is infinite. I think you cannot put a number on it. It's not like any other investment you'll ever make.
[51:39] Shannon Warwick: No.
[51:39] Ryan Warwick: You're investing in-
[51:40] Shannon Warwick: You can't quantify it
[51:41] Ryan Warwick: ... the flourishing of your family.
[51:43] Shannon Warwick: Yeah.
[51:44] Ryan Warwick: Yeah. It, it... Uh, but that's an important concept because-
[51:48] Shannon Warwick: Absolutely
[51:48] Ryan Warwick: ... we think in terms of return on investment. I love what Dan Sullivan said a- at Strategic Coach in, in one of my first sessions when I would... Uh, I had him in Toronto as a coach, and he said, "I view every expense as an investment."
[52:03] Shannon Warwick: Yes.
[52:05] Ryan Warwick: So-
[52:05] Shannon Warwick: I remember that. He shared that
[52:05] Ryan Warwick: ... this is an investment-
[52:07] Shannon Warwick: Mm-hmm
[52:08] Ryan Warwick: ... in the flourishing and joy and peace-
[52:13] Shannon Warwick: Mm-hmm
[52:13] Ryan Warwick: ... uh, of your family-
[52:14] Shannon Warwick: Mm-hmm
[52:14] Ryan Warwick: ... potentially for generations.
[52:16] Shannon Warwick: Yeah.
[52:16] Ryan Warwick: And I, and I think that's not-
[52:17] Shannon Warwick: And I think-
[52:18] Ryan Warwick: ... to be-
[52:18] Shannon Warwick: ... I'm gonna even bring that even into some really practical spaces. I think it is good for your physical health. I think it is good for your mental health. I think it is good for your relational health, your spiritual health. I think it's good for every aspect of your life.
[52:30] Ryan Warwick: Yeah. I mean, we're very much looking at, at-
[52:33] Shannon Warwick: It's holistic
[52:33] Ryan Warwick: ... life raft as a, as a very holistic system.
[52:35] Shannon Warwick: It's, it's holistic.
[52:36] Ryan Warwick: Um-
[52:37] Shannon Warwick: Yeah
[52:38] Ryan Warwick: ... so if you could summarize the wake-up call in one sentence,
[52:43] Ryan Warwick: what, what would it be?
[52:45] Shannon Warwick: I realize what I don't know. Please help me. I'm drowning. I need the life raft. I need to understand. I want to speak with people. I need to feel more control. It was an out of control feeling.
[53:02] Ryan Warwick: You felt out of control.
[53:03] Shannon Warwick: So I would say-
[53:04] Ryan Warwick: Yeah
[53:04] Shannon Warwick: ... it was a moment of, "I'm scared."
[53:06] Ryan Warwick: Yeah. And that, you know, like I said, I, I had my own journey in this. I, I had my own feelings, and that wasn't because of anything you were putting on me.
[53:18] Shannon Warwick: Mm-hmm.
[53:18] Ryan Warwick: I knew it. I knew that there was a, a lack of connection over these pieces in our lives.
[53:26] Shannon Warwick: Mm-hmm.
[53:27] Ryan Warwick: But, but again, didn't know how to do it. So-
[53:29] Shannon Warwick: I think the other thing that I would say is-
[53:31] Ryan Warwick: So I have, I have guilt-
[53:32] Shannon Warwick: Oh
[53:33] Ryan Warwick: ... right when I, when I hear that.
[53:34] Shannon Warwick: Yeah.
[53:34] Ryan Warwick: And I think that a lot of spouses do. So, now-
[53:36] Shannon Warwick: They do. But there was also something there-
[53:38] Ryan Warwick: Guilt isn't the point. It, it should be, okay, is that, is that moment going to ch- churn into, "Okay, well, let's do something about it"
[53:48] Shannon Warwick: It... I, I hope so.
[53:49] Ryan Warwick: Yeah.
[53:50] Shannon Warwick: And it, and it was for us.
[53:51] Ryan Warwick: Yeah.
[53:51] Shannon Warwick: There was, there was repentance and forgiveness and g-
[53:54] Ryan Warwick: Yeah
[53:54] Shannon Warwick: ... and, and community and relationship, and let's do something about this. We're not willing for this to, to go... We're not willing for this to, to get a foothold that it shouldn't have.
[54:04] Ryan Warwick: Yeah.
[54:05] Shannon Warwick: Um, but there was something, too, that came
[54:09] Shannon Warwick: probably in the proce- or before this. You ca- you did come to me at one point and, and said, "Well, what, what investment would you like to make next? What would you choose?" And I cried.
[54:23] Ryan Warwick: Right. And I think what's interesting about that, uh, you know, we hadn't gone through all of this. I was trying.
[54:29] Shannon Warwick: Yeah.
[54:30] Ryan Warwick: But did you have any perspective or, or context For even speaking into that?
[54:39] Shannon Warwick: No.
[54:39] Ryan Warwick: Right? So you didn't know-
[54:41] Shannon Warwick: I said-
[54:41] Ryan Warwick: And it's-
[54:41] Shannon Warwick: ... no one's ever asked me that.
[54:43] Ryan Warwick: Uh, yeah. And, and so, so I was putting the cart before the horse.
[54:49] Shannon Warwick: Mm.
[54:50] Ryan Warwick: Right? Because I'm now saying, "Hey, Shannon, make an investment," wh- which involves a lot of different things.
[54:56] Shannon Warwick: Mm-hmm.
[54:57] Ryan Warwick: But you don't even know, well, how much money do we have to make an investment?
[55:00] Shannon Warwick: Exactly. Well, yeah.
[55:01] Ryan Warwick: Wh- where, where's our other stuff?
[55:02] Shannon Warwick: Yeah.
[55:03] Ryan Warwick: What's the purpose of it, right? So-
[55:05] Shannon Warwick: Yeah
[55:05] Ryan Warwick: ... there's, there are all these things. Um, but I was trying.
[55:11] Shannon Warwick: You were trying.
[55:11] Ryan Warwick: But right now we think we have a better, uh, better mousetrap for, for putting this together.
[55:17] Shannon Warwick: Yeah.
[55:17] Ryan Warwick: I, I think, um, I wrote down something in thinking about this question. Uh, so I didn't have the, the wake-up call, but I'm summarizing it. And I said, "We all want to live a meaningful and flourishing life.
[55:35] Ryan Warwick: And at some point in each of our lives, we recognize that this can only happen with a great deal of intentionality."
[55:43] Shannon Warwick: Mm-hmm.
[55:43] Ryan Warwick: And I think that was, that's part of the awareness that we had, right?
[55:47] Shannon Warwick: It i- and it... But here's something that's really interesting. How would you summarize it? And I said, "I'm scared."
[55:52] Ryan Warwick: Mm-hmm.
[55:53] Shannon Warwick: And you would summarize it as we all want deeper meaning in our lives.
[55:56] Ryan Warwick: Yeah.
[55:57] Shannon Warwick: Well, the foundation of your pyramid, that safety and security-
[56:01] Ryan Warwick: Yep
[56:01] Shannon Warwick: ... was already there.
[56:02] Ryan Warwick: That's right.
[56:02] Shannon Warwick: You could think about vision. I couldn't-
[56:05] Ryan Warwick: Yeah
[56:05] Shannon Warwick: ... because I didn't feel safe.
[56:08] Ryan Warwick: Right.
[56:08] Shannon Warwick: So I think what we're offering here
[56:11] Shannon Warwick: is space to not be okay,
[56:16] Shannon Warwick: and then get okay.
[56:19] Shannon Warwick: Let's get okay.
[56:20] Ryan Warwick: Yeah.
[56:20] Shannon Warwick: Let's be okay.
[56:21] Ryan Warwick: Yeah.
[56:21] Shannon Warwick: Are we going to be okay?
[56:22] Ryan Warwick: We, we, we said-
[56:23] Shannon Warwick: Sure
[56:23] Ryan Warwick: ... we, you know, I s- I said the other day at a,
[56:26] Ryan Warwick: you know, a public speaking, uh, forum, I, I said, you know,
[56:31] Ryan Warwick: "It's okay to not be okay."
[56:33] Shannon Warwick: It is.
[56:34] Ryan Warwick: And, and we want our listeners to hear that.
[56:36] Shannon Warwick: Yes.
[56:36] Ryan Warwick: It's okay to say-
[56:38] Shannon Warwick: Oh
[56:38] Ryan Warwick: ... "I'm scared. I don't understand."
[56:40] Shannon Warwick: I'm sorry, I-
[56:41] Ryan Warwick: We, we want... This, this-
[56:43] Shannon Warwick: I feel guilty
[56:43] Ryan Warwick: ... tool platform-
[56:45] Shannon Warwick: Yeah, mm-hmm
[56:45] Ryan Warwick: ... is intended to provide a space for having conversations.
[56:51] Shannon Warwick: And questions are not stupid.
[56:53] Ryan Warwick: No.
[56:53] Shannon Warwick: We, we, when s- And this has happened. We've been in situations where you've been speaking, and I can see it on someone's face, and I know what they're feeling. I am afraid to ask what that means. And I, and I've put my hand on you and said, "Could you explain?" And then the person's thought, "Yeah, I didn't, I didn't know what that meant." But they were afraid to speak.
[57:13] Ryan Warwick: Right.
[57:14] Shannon Warwick: Was afraid to ask. We've got to get away from that.
[57:19] Ryan Warwick: Yeah.
[57:20] Shannon Warwick: We've got to get away from that.
[57:22] Ryan Warwick: I wanna add one thing before we move on to, um, topic two, and it relates back to
[57:28] Ryan Warwick: the, the book you brought out. This, um, you, you started talking about, um, often women-
[57:34] Shannon Warwick: Often
[57:34] Ryan Warwick: ... who, uh, have... Now, they, they lose a spouse, and then they also find themselves in, in charge of-
[57:42] Shannon Warwick: Yep
[57:42] Ryan Warwick: ... of money. So-
[57:43] Shannon Warwick: That's something that's really important. Often, statistically speaking-
[57:47] Ryan Warwick: Yeah
[57:47] Shannon Warwick: ... who dies first?
[57:49] Ryan Warwick: Yeah, and, and that's, that's where I was going. So you have, um, in these striving entrepreneurial households, from what we have seen,
[58:03] Ryan Warwick: it's sev-
[58:04] Shannon Warwick: And from the data
[58:04] Ryan Warwick: ... 70, 80% m- men.
[58:08] Shannon Warwick: Men.
[58:09] Ryan Warwick: And then of course 20 or 30% women.
[58:13] Ryan Warwick: And
[58:15] Ryan Warwick: w- what is the likelihood? So I, I looked through, uh, a lot of our clients and I said, "Okay, who, uh,
[58:24] Ryan Warwick: who are the clients in, in this practice that have lost spouses?"
[58:28] Shannon Warwick: Mm-hmm.
[58:28] Ryan Warwick: And I looked, and it's, it was something like 90% women who we are serving who have lost spouses.
[58:38] Shannon Warwick: Yeah.
[58:39] Ryan Warwick: So if it's 80% here, but 90% of them are going to go first, then what we have is a situation where a very high percentage of women in these relationships are someday going to find themselves in charge of what we call, and I said to you, a family business.
[59:05] Shannon Warwick: That's right.
[59:05] Ryan Warwick: Now, we don't want that to get lost in the terminology of, well, we don't own a family business. No, this is your family's-
[59:11] Shannon Warwick: Your, your family's wealth-
[59:12] Ryan Warwick: ... enterprise
[59:12] Shannon Warwick: ... is your business
[59:13] Ryan Warwick: So we call it living in family enterprise.
[59:15] Shannon Warwick: Living the family enterprise.
[59:16] Ryan Warwick: Right.
[59:16] Shannon Warwick: So these matriarchs are now in charge of this family enterprise.
[59:19] Ryan Warwick: Which-
[59:20] Shannon Warwick: And the 90% who died had 90% of the knowledge.
[59:23] Ryan Warwick: Which if-
[59:23] Shannon Warwick: So we'd better, better bring up this 10%.
[59:26] Ryan Warwick: These family enterprises are larger-
[59:30] Shannon Warwick: Yeah
[59:31] Ryan Warwick: ... than most businesses ever become. Most businesses never, uh, achieve more than a million dollars of sales, so-
[59:37] Shannon Warwick: Right. But they-
[59:38] Ryan Warwick: ... these, these family businesses can be far larger than any true business, right? So these-
[59:44] Shannon Warwick: Mm
[59:44] Ryan Warwick: ... this is an important thing they find themselves in charge of. And sometimes we hear, "Well, I, I, you know, it, my sons will help," or, you know-
[59:52] Shannon Warwick: Yep
[59:53] Ryan Warwick: ... but here's the problem.
[59:53] Shannon Warwick: I heard someone the other day, "Oh, I hope my son would help me."
[59:56] Ryan Warwick: And that may be, that may be okay. The problem is in our industry, a problem,
[1:00:05] Ryan Warwick: we do continuing education all the time on elder abuse.
[1:00:09] Shannon Warwick: Oh, thank you.
[1:00:09] Ryan Warwick: And where is the most common source of elder abuse? From people that are known to the person. So that may be a good solution,
[1:00:17] Ryan Warwick: and it may work out perfectly, but you, you and every spouse should have awareness and knowledge and at least have, as I love how you ta- say it, you, you use life raft language all the time. We can talk about that more, but-
[1:00:33] Shannon Warwick: Mm
[1:00:33] Ryan Warwick: ... you say there's an invitation to education. So you, you still need to know. You still, you still need to have awareness.
[1:00:41] Shannon Warwick: Yeah.
[1:00:42] Ryan Warwick: Um, in-
[1:00:42] Shannon Warwick: When we think about anybody who's in your life raft, they need to be invited into that life raft
[1:00:47] Ryan Warwick: Yeah
[1:00:47] Shannon Warwick: Right?
[1:00:48] Ryan Warwick: Yep.
[1:00:48] Shannon Warwick: They need to be people who have your interests at their heart, not just a fiduciary, but a steward. They need to be someone who's very much wrapped in what is best for you. You have to be safe.
[1:01:03] Ryan Warwick: Yep.
[1:01:03] Shannon Warwick: And if they haven't been invited into your life raft, they need to be excused if they're not a right fit. If they have been invited into your life raft but they haven't proven to be who they said they would be, they need to be excused because it's your raft.
[1:01:18] Ryan Warwick: Yep.
[1:01:19] Shannon Warwick: It's really important.
[1:01:20] Ryan Warwick: Let's, um, let's jump for a moment to a, a topic that summarizes a lot of what we've said already.
[1:01:29] Shannon Warwick: Yeah. Yep.
[1:01:31] Ryan Warwick: So
[1:01:32] Ryan Warwick: we've built a mindset scorecard for the life raft concept.
[1:01:40] Ryan Warwick: This, uh, a scorecard, a- and we'll, we'll put this on our website,
[1:01:46] Ryan Warwick: uh, where you can, you can get a link to it, um, on this show.
[1:01:51] Shannon Warwick: It- And I think we have this mindset, but there's also, there's also an assessment, a self-assessment.
[1:01:57] Ryan Warwick: Well, there... So there will be. When-
[1:01:59] Shannon Warwick: Yeah
[1:01:59] Ryan Warwick: ... when our book is published, there will be self-assessments throughout that-
[1:02:03] Shannon Warwick: Right
[1:02:03] Ryan Warwick: ... on specific topics.
[1:02:04] Shannon Warwick: And maybe, maybe that even helps to kind of build up to this mindset. I don't...
[1:02:09] Ryan Warwick: Yeah, possibly.
[1:02:10] Shannon Warwick: Maybe.
[1:02:10] Ryan Warwick: So we've, we've come up with eight mindsets. Um, shared vision and goals. We'll... I'm just gonna go through these and then we'll, we'll come back and, and talk in turn.
[1:02:18] Shannon Warwick: Yeah.
[1:02:19] Ryan Warwick: So shared vision and goals is, is mindset one. Mindset two, communication and transparency.
[1:02:25] Shannon Warwick: Mm-hmm.
[1:02:26] Ryan Warwick: Mindset three, time investment in the family. Four, emotional connection and support.
[1:02:34] Ryan Warwick: Five, financial security and understanding. Six, alignment on values and legacy.
[1:02:40] Shannon Warwick: Mm-hmm.
[1:02:40] Ryan Warwick: Seven, role clarity and partnership.
[1:02:43] Shannon Warwick: Mm-hmm.
[1:02:43] Ryan Warwick: And eight, crisis preparedness and resilience. So in a mindset scorecard, you go through, you think about it, where am I today?
[1:02:56] Ryan Warwick: Put a score down.
[1:02:58] Ryan Warwick: Where do I wanna be? Okay, so if we think about shared vision and goals,
[1:03:04] Ryan Warwick: on the low end, we rarely discuss our long-term goals as a couple or family. I feel disconnected from the entrepreneur's vision.
[1:03:12] Ryan Warwick: On the far side, the, um, you know, the, the highest point, we have a clear shared vision for our family's future that aligns with both our personal and professional goals, and we communicate about it. So-
[1:03:28] Shannon Warwick: Mm-hmm
[1:03:28] Ryan Warwick: ... that's, that's a, uh,
[1:03:31] Ryan Warwick: a sampling of these things. And, and I don't know that we need to go through each one here.
[1:03:35] Shannon Warwick: No, I don't think so.
[1:03:36] Ryan Warwick: We do provide, we wanna provide a link, but these are the things, all of the big, broad, 30,000-foot level things-
[1:03:44] Shannon Warwick: Mm-hmm
[1:03:44] Ryan Warwick: ... that l- that the life raft system is intending to address or think-
[1:03:50] Shannon Warwick: And I think it's important to say, if your score is initially low, that's okay. You have not failed.
[1:03:58] Ryan Warwick: Yeah.
[1:03:59] Shannon Warwick: That is your jumping-off point to improve your score. That... And that's encouraging.
[1:04:05] Ryan Warwick: Yep.
[1:04:05] Shannon Warwick: That's hopeful.
[1:04:06] Ryan Warwick: Yep.
[1:04:07] Shannon Warwick: I think, too, this score is dynamic. It can feel different at different times. So initially, I would've given it a low score, then I'd give it maybe a moderate score, then I'd give it a high score and go back to a moderate score.
[1:04:21] Ryan Warwick: Yep.
[1:04:21] Shannon Warwick: Just kind of where are we in the process? How is that cadence going? Oh, we've skipped a couple family meetings, and I'm just feeling really disconnected right now. Eh, well, that score's... I'm gonna tick it down a little bit now.
[1:04:32] Ryan Warwick: Sure.
[1:04:32] Shannon Warwick: That's okay. That, that's a temperature, that's a thermostat.
[1:04:36] Ryan Warwick: Yeah.
[1:04:37] Shannon Warwick: Yeah.
[1:04:38] Ryan Warwick: Financial security and understanding.
[1:04:41] Ryan Warwick: The low end of the score says, "I don't fully understand our financial situation, and it makes me feel anxious or insecure."
[1:04:47] Shannon Warwick: So I would've said-
[1:04:48] Ryan Warwick: Is that where you were?
[1:04:49] Shannon Warwick: Oh, yeah. I'd have given you a big old number on that one.
[1:04:53] Ryan Warwick: So we start at one. Would I have gotten a one?
[1:04:58] Shannon Warwick: Okay, I think-
[1:04:58] Ryan Warwick: Or was that a negative?
[1:05:01] Ryan Warwick: Would there be a-
[1:05:01] Shannon Warwick: Well, let's redo that. So you would've given me... A one to three, I would've given you a one.
[1:05:06] Ryan Warwick: Okay. Not a negative 10?
[1:05:08] Shannon Warwick: I would... Oh.
[1:05:09] Ryan Warwick: See?
[1:05:10] Shannon Warwick: Is that an option?
[1:05:11] Ryan Warwick: I guess.
[1:05:13] Ryan Warwick: As we move up the spectrum, I have a general idea of our finances, but I don't feel confident or involved in the planning process.
[1:05:22] Ryan Warwick: And then as we move up the continuum, I feel secure and well-informed about our finances, and I'm actively involved in planning and decision-making. So, y- you know, just one more I, I wanted to go through so that people get a sense of how we're intending to move from where you are to, to where you wanna be.
[1:05:44] Shannon Warwick: Yeah.
[1:05:44] Ryan Warwick: And that there is hope. There is-
[1:05:45] Shannon Warwick: Well-
[1:05:46] Ryan Warwick: There's process. There-
[1:05:47] Shannon Warwick: What, what do I want to see for... And I'm gonna speak to women right now.
[1:05:54] Shannon Warwick: I want women to walk away from this feeling... There's something you ask me a lot when I come back and I give y- I, I give you an update. "This happened today. I was able to answer in this way. I had this context. I was able to help this person, give them direction." You'll say, "How does that make you feel? Does that make you feel empowered?" Yes. It's very empowering.
[1:06:15] Shannon Warwick: I want women to walk away feeling empowered.
[1:06:18] Ryan Warwick: Mm-hmm.
[1:06:18] Shannon Warwick: There are six female advisors here at RW. That is something that we are so proud of.
[1:06:27] Shannon Warwick: They're killing it, and they're able to speak into other lives.
[1:06:31] Ryan Warwick: Yep.
[1:06:31] Shannon Warwick: Right?
[1:06:33] Shannon Warwick: So I want women to walk away feeling empowered. Often, women are, are, um, home manning the ship,
[1:06:42] Shannon Warwick: and often by default within those silos and those roles-
[1:06:47] Ryan Warwick: And we've even seen
[1:06:50] Ryan Warwick: That if, if it's a two-income household-
[1:06:53] Shannon Warwick: Yeah
[1:06:53] Ryan Warwick: ... that often women are still taking the, the brunt of the household activities. So they're, they're carrying often just a massive load.
[1:07:05] Shannon Warwick: Again, people have the misconception that if a woman works outside the home for pay, she is familiar with family finances as well. Often, the opposite is true. Working wives are often less involved in finances than non-working wives because they may feel they have no time to spare after coping with their job, household, children, and husband.
[1:07:24] Ryan Warwick: Yeah.
[1:07:25] Shannon Warwick: Okay? So I think it is very important to give this a little bit of attention.
[1:07:31] Ryan Warwick: Mm-hmm. How do we start to, to give some, some construct to it and some of the tools in, in the Life Raft? And, and I wanna say, again, LIFE is an acronym, living in family enterprise.
[1:07:46] Shannon Warwick: Yep.
[1:07:47] Ryan Warwick: We believe
[1:07:49] Ryan Warwick: that most people consider their family to be the most important organization or enterprise in their lives.
[1:07:56] Shannon Warwick: Absolutely. Mm-hmm.
[1:07:57] Ryan Warwick: And so when we, uh, stand up to give keynotes at events or, or talk to people, we, we wanna say, um,
[1:08:07] Ryan Warwick: "Hey, how many of you have mission, envision, purpose, core values-
[1:08:13] Shannon Warwick: Mm-hmm
[1:08:14] Ryan Warwick: ... in your business?"
[1:08:16] Ryan Warwick: Hands go up. "How many of you have regular cadence of communication, those rhythms and patterns we've been talking about?"
[1:08:24] Shannon Warwick: Mm-hmm.
[1:08:24] Ryan Warwick: "Yep, we do that."
[1:08:25] Shannon Warwick: Right.
[1:08:25] Ryan Warwick: "We, we have meetings, um, on the same time every week." Um, "How many of you have transferred really important key pieces of information to those people, uh, that need to know in case you weren't here?"
[1:08:38] Shannon Warwick: Mm-hmm.
[1:08:38] Ryan Warwick: "Yep, we've done that." Succession's an important part, a, a contingency plan. Um, and, and again, how many of you believe or would say your family is the most important organization in your life? Yeah, it is.
[1:08:52] Shannon Warwick: Yeah.
[1:08:52] Ryan Warwick: Yep. Okay, how many of you have any of those things? Not, not all, how many of you have any-
[1:08:57] Shannon Warwick: Any
[1:08:57] Ryan Warwick: ... of those things-
[1:08:59] Shannon Warwick: Mm
[1:08:59] Ryan Warwick: ... within your family? And, and so what we really are, again, building is
[1:09:08] Ryan Warwick: a platform or a system to bring intentionality into the family-
[1:09:14] Shannon Warwick: Mm-hmm
[1:09:15] Ryan Warwick: ... so that we can stop the drift occurring, and that could be drift between spouses. It could be drift between parents and children.
[1:09:25] Shannon Warwick: Mm-hmm.
[1:09:25] Ryan Warwick: So it, it's drift somewhere within families because of these things.
[1:09:31] Ryan Warwick: And, um, and how do we bring the same level of intentionality into the home-
[1:09:37] Shannon Warwick: Mm
[1:09:37] Ryan Warwick: ... uh, that we all, uh, take into the business? So, um-
[1:09:42] Shannon Warwick: So on that topic, can, can you think of a moment, or can we think of a moment, um, where living in family enterprise or LIFE turned potential conf- conflict into deeper connection?
[1:09:55] Ryan Warwick: I mean,
[1:09:57] Ryan Warwick: is there, is there one thing to draw... Do you have anything in mind?
[1:10:02] Shannon Warwick: I'm thinking about one family in particular where the husband, he began to have awareness that his wife was feeling insecure, and he went to her
[1:10:16] Shannon Warwick: and let her know that he,
[1:10:19] Shannon Warwick: he recognized it. I think he... Did he say he wanted to be intentional about it? He wanted to start doing something about it. And they hadn't even done the work yet, but her response was to throw her arms around him-
[1:10:31] Ryan Warwick: Mm-hmm
[1:10:32] Shannon Warwick: ... and to hug him and to cry. She was just so thankful.
[1:10:35] Ryan Warwick: Mm-hmm. Yeah, and this, to, to the point you, you said a minute ago, this was somebody who had been in the workforce, uh, an attorney, v- very, um, tech-savvy, but had been raising, you know, kind of stepped away-
[1:10:48] Shannon Warwick: Had stepped away for about a decade or so, raising a kiddo
[1:10:51] Ryan Warwick: ... and, and had lost, um, awareness or, or touch with what, what their wealth, what, what was happening, uh, with their wealth. And yeah, um,
[1:11:02] Ryan Warwick: that was, um, a really moving story. Um, hey, I'm going to do something, and that-
[1:11:09] Shannon Warwick: I'm going to do something
[1:11:09] Ryan Warwick: ... and that created that emotional response.
[1:11:12] Shannon Warwick: Yeah.
[1:11:12] Ryan Warwick: Um, I don't... Yeah, in, in our own life is where I was thinking, too.
[1:11:17] Shannon Warwick: Mm-hmm.
[1:11:17] Ryan Warwick: Um, are there things... You know,
[1:11:20] Ryan Warwick: I just think you being empowered and you having confidence
[1:11:28] Ryan Warwick: and, and knowledge-
[1:11:30] Shannon Warwick: Mm-hmm
[1:11:31] Ryan Warwick: ... is, is empowering for me. It's, it draws us closer together.
[1:11:37] Shannon Warwick: Mm-hmm.
[1:11:38] Ryan Warwick: We, we have more things we can communicate about.
[1:11:41] Shannon Warwick: Well, and I think there's something that's important to kind of piggyback onto that, and that is that
[1:11:47] Shannon Warwick: unintentionally, one person can be carrying that load alone,
[1:11:52] Shannon Warwick: but then as you're inviting somebody else in, you're sharing the load, right?
[1:11:57] Ryan Warwick: Mm-hmm.
[1:11:57] Shannon Warwick: So let's just give a really practical example. Is there enough insurance on the house?
[1:12:03] Ryan Warwick: Yep.
[1:12:04] Shannon Warwick: Normally, you would have grabbed that piece of mail. You may or may not have read it. I'm grabbing them now. I'm intercepting them. I'm going through them. "Ryan, hey, hang on a second. I'm just noticing, I don't know if we have enough insurance on the house." "I don't know."
[1:12:19] Ryan Warwick: Yep.
[1:12:19] Shannon Warwick: "Hang on. Uh, let me, let me make a phone call. Yeah, I'm not sure if that last appraisal, if, if, if we've insured appropriately."
[1:12:26] Ryan Warwick: Mm-hmm.
[1:12:26] Shannon Warwick: Sure enough, we hadn't. We were able to, to handle that, and everything was fine, but who caught that? I thought it was really helpful to you for me to have caught it, discussed it, and then managed it appropriately. And that might sound really silly, but I'm just gonna say I think there's two big wins there. The one person had been brought up and been allowed to enter in and had started to manage more. The other person didn't have as much on their plate, and it didn't get missed.
[1:13:00] Ryan Warwick: Mm-hmm.
[1:13:01] Shannon Warwick: Yeah.
[1:13:01] Ryan Warwick: I mean,
[1:13:03] Ryan Warwick: it, it's, it's huge to be empowered and to, um-
[1:13:07] Shannon Warwick: Yeah
[1:13:08] Ryan Warwick: ... there's something else that I was, was thinking about saying. Um, I think
[1:13:15] Ryan Warwick: part of the problem in trying to answer this question is I think it cuts off problems before they become problems.
[1:13:21] Shannon Warwick: Sure.
[1:13:22] Ryan Warwick: So-
[1:13:22] Shannon Warwick: It's a very proactive approach
[1:13:25] Ryan Warwick: ... so if I'm out making investments
[1:13:30] Ryan Warwick: and I, and I'm, uh, if, if somebody makes investments and, and uses cashflow that is needed for the next quarterly tax payment, and now when a tax payment comes-
[1:13:43] Shannon Warwick: Mm
[1:13:43] Ryan Warwick: ... they're scrambling for cash, which is just frankly, a very common thing for entrepreneurs to be out doing. They-
[1:13:48] Shannon Warwick: Absolutely
[1:13:49] Ryan Warwick: ... they get excited about the opportunity that comes across their desk, and, uh, lo and behold, you know, aren't so excited about keeping the tax payment, um, at the front of their mind. And-
[1:14:00] Shannon Warwick: Yeah
[1:14:01] Ryan Warwick: ... and so then that creates-
[1:14:02] Shannon Warwick: And it's not fun
[1:14:02] Ryan Warwick: ... that creates stress and risk. So-
[1:14:03] Shannon Warwick: Yeah
[1:14:03] Ryan Warwick: ... the more communication-
[1:14:05] Shannon Warwick: Mm-hmm
[1:14:06] Ryan Warwick: ... uh, we can have, um-
[1:14:07] Shannon Warwick: Oh
[1:14:08] Ryan Warwick: ... the better.
[1:14:09] Shannon Warwick: Right. So now in my phone, you know, I've got the alerts of when these tax payments are due. I can check in and say, "Okay, that money is sitting here in this account. It's ready to go. Um, hey, you wanna ma- okay, well, as long as we have enough set aside" But what, what if, what if that wasn't happening?
[1:14:28] Ryan Warwick: Yeah. Yeah, so there's, there is a, a lot of power in a lot of different ways-
[1:14:33] Shannon Warwick: Mm-hmm
[1:14:33] Ryan Warwick: ... um, that proactively cuts off conflict-
[1:14:36] Shannon Warwick: Mm-hmm
[1:14:36] Ryan Warwick: ... and-
[1:14:37] Shannon Warwick: Mm-hmm
[1:14:38] Ryan Warwick: ... and helps to, to start to, uh, flourish together. So, um-
[1:14:40] Shannon Warwick: And you're sharing the load
[1:14:42] Ryan Warwick: ... how do we, how do we start to educate? We, uh, I, I handed you a balance sheet. How do we start knowledge transfer? So you have somebody, in our case, who understood everything we had,
[1:14:55] Ryan Warwick: and then somebody who didn't.
[1:14:56] Shannon Warwick: Mm-hmm.
[1:14:56] Ryan Warwick: Kind of understood some of it, but-
[1:14:58] Shannon Warwick: Right
[1:14:58] Ryan Warwick: ... but many pieces you didn't.
[1:15:00] Shannon Warwick: Mm-hmm.
[1:15:01] Ryan Warwick: Um, I hand you a balance sheet, and, and this is where our, i- in, in the wealth advisory industry, that's often, you know, there's a balance sheet-
[1:15:10] Shannon Warwick: Yeah
[1:15:10] Ryan Warwick: ... or there's a financial plan.
[1:15:13] Shannon Warwick: Yeah.
[1:15:13] Ryan Warwick: And, and we can come back to that, but I, I think that overall,
[1:15:18] Ryan Warwick: the industry does a reasonably, uh, poor job-
[1:15:22] Shannon Warwick: Mm-hmm
[1:15:22] Ryan Warwick: ... across the board. I would say most people, most people that we come across don't have good plans.
[1:15:29] Shannon Warwick: Mm-hmm.
[1:15:29] Ryan Warwick: Uh, so I think the industry has a long way to go to, to achieve, to achieve that. And, and so
[1:15:37] Ryan Warwick: the balance sheet, though, doesn't cut it.
[1:15:39] Shannon Warwick: No, it does not cut it, and I think that there's just some funny, thinking back, just funny moments, and I think it's important, too. This is not a perfect picture. It's not always pretty. You have to give yourself grace, space. We talk about permission to pause. Um, when we were first going through this and I asked you, "Well, who would I go to if something happened to you? You were my advisor." "Well, you would go to these people." "Okay, so can I talk to them right now and just kind of, you know, kind of go over some things with them and that would be great if we could just loop them in?" You said, "No." I said, "Well, why not?" "Well, because they wouldn't understand this right now. I- I'm the one who understands this. I'm really the only one who understands this."
[1:16:23] Ryan Warwick: Well, I haven't, I haven't shared anything with them.
[1:16:25] Shannon Warwick: I haven't shared anything with them.
[1:16:27] Ryan Warwick: Yeah.
[1:16:27] Shannon Warwick: And I remember looking at you and just saying, "Well, a lot of good that's gonna do me if you're dead, buddy. You're my advisor, and you just died."
[1:16:35] Ryan Warwick: Yeah.
[1:16:35] Shannon Warwick: And I was, I was just, well, great.
[1:16:38] Ryan Warwick: Yep.
[1:16:39] Shannon Warwick: And, and, and just moments where we were sort of
[1:16:43] Shannon Warwick: muddling through, figuring it out. You know, it was kind of funny, you know? And I-
[1:16:47] Ryan Warwick: So-
[1:16:47] Shannon Warwick: ... K-1. I was like, "What the heck's a K-1?"
[1:16:50] Ryan Warwick: Well, let's-
[1:16:50] Shannon Warwick: You remember that?
[1:16:51] Ryan Warwick: ... let's, for the moment, though, the balance sheet.
[1:16:54] Shannon Warwick: It, it was-
[1:16:55] Ryan Warwick: So, so yes, it, it-
[1:16:56] Shannon Warwick: I felt like it was a mess
[1:16:58] Ryan Warwick: ... it's a mess, but it's, it's a mess... A balance sheet doesn't suffice because why?
[1:17:02] Shannon Warwick: It's just a reporting document.
[1:17:04] Ryan Warwick: It says, it says, "Here's a thing. Here's its name-
[1:17:07] Shannon Warwick: Mm-hmm
[1:17:08] Ryan Warwick: ... and here's its value." Like at its-
[1:17:11] Shannon Warwick: That's it
[1:17:11] Ryan Warwick: ... at its simplest level, a balance sheet says, "Here is an account and its value."
[1:17:16] Shannon Warwick: Yep.
[1:17:16] Ryan Warwick: "Here's a piece of property and its value. Here's a investment in a-"
[1:17:21] Shannon Warwick: Yeah
[1:17:21] Ryan Warwick: ... "small startup company and its value." Okay.
[1:17:24] Shannon Warwick: Right.
[1:17:24] Ryan Warwick: That doesn't even begin. So what I gave you was beyond a balance sheet, so I just wanna... That's why I'm kind of stopping and saying, "Let's hold on for a moment before we start talking K-1."
[1:17:35] Shannon Warwick: Yeah.
[1:17:35] Ryan Warwick: Because a balance sheet doesn't say that.
[1:17:38] Shannon Warwick: But there were funny moments.
[1:17:40] Ryan Warwick: Y-
[1:17:40] Shannon Warwick: That's the point, where we were just muddling.
[1:17:42] Ryan Warwick: Yeah. We're trying to figure it out.
[1:17:44] Shannon Warwick: Yeah.
[1:17:44] Ryan Warwick: So but, but this, the reason we think there's something to be done here-
[1:17:50] Shannon Warwick: Mm-hmm
[1:17:50] Ryan Warwick: ... in improving how-
[1:17:52] Shannon Warwick: Oh
[1:17:52] Ryan Warwick: ... communication happens over, over, uh, investments and, and, you know, wealth advisory, uh, items is
[1:18:03] Ryan Warwick: the things, the, the, the basic tools don't cut it.
[1:18:06] Shannon Warwick: No. And what I started to say to you, 'cause we had the interview process, "So okay, Ryan, if you, you're my financial advisor, so from the grave, what would you tell me about this investment?"
[1:18:16] Ryan Warwick: Yeah.
[1:18:16] Shannon Warwick: And we would go line by line. "What would you tell me? Should I sell this? Should I keep this? Okay, what do I need to know about this? Oh, okay, what would the capital gains be on that? Okay, what would..." I didn't, uh, we just went through one by one.
[1:18:28] Ryan Warwick: Yeah. And you learned a lot of things.
[1:18:30] Shannon Warwick: Yeah.
[1:18:31] Ryan Warwick: Like, well, there won't be gains on this because when I die, there will be a step-up in cost basis-
[1:18:36] Shannon Warwick: Yeah
[1:18:36] Ryan Warwick: ... and so you won't pay tax, and-
[1:18:37] Shannon Warwick: I'd never heard of a step-up
[1:18:38] Ryan Warwick: ... yep, exactly.
[1:18:39] Shannon Warwick: I had to understand that.
[1:18:40] Ryan Warwick: Right. And why would I-
[1:18:41] Shannon Warwick: But why would, but-
[1:18:41] Ryan Warwick: That's right
[1:18:41] Shannon Warwick: ... and why would I know that?
[1:18:43] Ryan Warwick: That's right.
[1:18:44] Shannon Warwick: Why would I have to know that?
[1:18:47] Shannon Warwick: Yeah.
[1:18:47] Ryan Warwick: So, so the balance sheet we felt was insufficient.
[1:18:50] Shannon Warwick: It's inadequate.
[1:18:51] Ryan Warwick: And so what we have started to work out is what we call a, a Life Raft Household Summary. And how do people learn?
[1:18:59] Shannon Warwick: Oh, that was something we had to talk about. So many different ways of learning, right? Some are auditory, some are visual, some are kinesthetic. You- so some have components of, of all of these learning styles-
[1:19:14] Ryan Warwick: Yeah
[1:19:14] Shannon Warwick: ... and they need to be able to do that. So we're trying to give people tools in all different modalities, right? We're trying, uh, AI. We're trying to look at, uh, flow charts. We're trying to look at household summaries.
[1:19:33] Ryan Warwick: So the-
[1:19:34] Shannon Warwick: Timelines
[1:19:35] Ryan Warwick: ... one of the things that we're going after though is we've, we've talked about a narrative.
[1:19:38] Shannon Warwick: Yep
[1:19:39] Ryan Warwick: ... a story.
[1:19:39] Shannon Warwick: A story.
[1:19:40] Ryan Warwick: So instead of a balance sheet, we're talking about a household summary.
[1:19:46] Shannon Warwick: Mm-hmm.
[1:19:47] Ryan Warwick: And what's on that household summary?
[1:19:49] Shannon Warwick: Your story.
[1:19:50] Ryan Warwick: Your story. Who, what, when, where, why-
[1:19:52] Shannon Warwick: Where, why, and how
[1:19:53] Ryan Warwick: ... and how. Right?
[1:19:53] Shannon Warwick: Mm-hmm.
[1:19:54] Ryan Warwick: So this is just the summary. This is the essential pieces of information-
[1:19:58] Shannon Warwick: Mm-hmm
[1:19:59] Ryan Warwick: ... about each financial-
[1:20:02] Shannon Warwick: Each asset
[1:20:03] Ryan Warwick: ... asset
[1:20:04] Shannon Warwick: ... each component
[1:20:04] Ryan Warwick: ... each liability-
[1:20:05] Shannon Warwick: Yes
[1:20:05] Ryan Warwick: ... each insurance policy, each piece of real estate, whatever it may be.
[1:20:10] Shannon Warwick: Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm.
[1:20:11] Ryan Warwick: This is the, the s- short story.
[1:20:15] Shannon Warwick: Mm-hmm.
[1:20:15] Ryan Warwick: Right? This is a summary. This isn't, this isn't the long form narrative-
[1:20:19] Shannon Warwick: Mm-hmm
[1:20:19] Ryan Warwick: ... but the short story of, of that, that thing. So, um, we had some aha moments, right? I mean, just-
[1:20:28] Shannon Warwick: We're still having them.
[1:20:29] Ryan Warwick: Just around things that are as simple, and, and when I say simple, I think it's simple. You may not.
[1:20:38] Shannon Warwick: Mm-hmm.
[1:20:38] Ryan Warwick: Our listeners may not. A 401. It's just an account.
[1:20:43] Shannon Warwick: Yeah.
[1:20:43] Ryan Warwick: We're putting money into it. But when I started to lay out the narrative around the 401, the things that I wanted you to be knowledgeable about,
[1:20:56] Ryan Warwick: tax-deferred savings-
[1:20:57] Shannon Warwick: How many pages was that document?
[1:20:58] Ryan Warwick: ... tax-deferred growth, Roth potential. It was a six-page document. Now, this is no, no... Now I've moved away from the summary, okay?
[1:21:07] Shannon Warwick: Yeah.
[1:21:08] Ryan Warwick: But there's so much there in every financial object. So that's the long form story. The summary we're building a tool for to get the who, what, where, when, why, how-
[1:21:22] Shannon Warwick: Mm-hmm
[1:21:22] Ryan Warwick: ... in a place where you can access it. This isn't just something you access if I'm gone. This becomes-
[1:21:30] Shannon Warwick: Right
[1:21:30] Ryan Warwick: ... a platform that you can interact with. And to your point, the potential of having some AI in there where you can say, "Hey, where is the 401 held? How's it invested? You know, what do I need to know about it that, you know, I may not think to ask?" And, and you can start to interact with the information in our, in our, uh, uh, surrounding our wealth that-
[1:21:55] Shannon Warwick: Mm-hmm
[1:21:55] Ryan Warwick: ... that, um, you don't have access to or capacity to interact with today, unless you're talking to me.
[1:22:02] Shannon Warwick: Right.
[1:22:02] Ryan Warwick: And, and guess what? Like you said earlier, I may get home and you may wanna ask a question, and I've been doing this all day long, and I don't feel like talking about-
[1:22:12] Shannon Warwick: That's never happened, right?
[1:22:14] Ryan Warwick: ... the 401. Right.
[1:22:14] Shannon Warwick: I don't know what you're referring to.
[1:22:15] Ryan Warwick: Um, I mean, and unfortunately,
[1:22:18] Ryan Warwick: and we're trying to address this,
[1:22:21] Ryan Warwick: sometimes families get the worst of each other.
[1:22:23] Shannon Warwick: Mm-hmm.
[1:22:24] Ryan Warwick: Right?
[1:22:24] Shannon Warwick: Mm-hmm.
[1:22:24] Ryan Warwick: We give our best at work. We give our best to our friends. We give our best to those we n- we wanna go help.
[1:22:29] Shannon Warwick: Mm-hmm.
[1:22:31] Ryan Warwick: You'll love me anyway, even if I'm rude tonight.
[1:22:33] Shannon Warwick: Yeah.
[1:22:34] Ryan Warwick: Right? So that's unfortunate. Um-
[1:22:36] Shannon Warwick: Or too tired.
[1:22:37] Ryan Warwick: Yeah, too tired. So household summary is, is one thing. We walk through that with every asset. In, in, in many of these, these households, there are, um, there are partnerships that own multiple sub-assets.
[1:22:50] Shannon Warwick: Yeah.
[1:22:50] Ryan Warwick: Okay, well, that needs to be clarified, and then becomes a place where the, the documents and all of the, you know, maybe the P&Ls and all the different things can be loaded in that now AI can start to use, and you can start to access-
[1:23:03] Shannon Warwick: And just, just a side note here.
[1:23:05] Ryan Warwick: Yeah.
[1:23:05] Shannon Warwick: Making sure that, that when you're communicating with professionals, let's just use a CPA as an example. This is actually a lived, uh, this is lived experience. It happened to us recently. Um, I went to access some documents,
[1:23:20] Shannon Warwick: uh, through our CPA. I couldn't access them because why?
[1:23:26] Ryan Warwick: Under my social.
[1:23:27] Shannon Warwick: Under your social.
[1:23:28] Ryan Warwick: Yep.
[1:23:29] Shannon Warwick: So I needed to contact them, and they needed to realize that we needed to fix this.
[1:23:34] Ryan Warwick: You needed your own login, effectively.
[1:23:35] Shannon Warwick: I needed my own login, effectively.
[1:23:38] Ryan Warwick: Yeah.
[1:23:38] Shannon Warwick: And so we were able to correct that.
[1:23:40] Ryan Warwick: Yeah.
[1:23:40] Shannon Warwick: And then they could communicate with me, and the documents could come to me, and then I could get things taken care of. So-
[1:23:46] Ryan Warwick: Yeah
[1:23:46] Shannon Warwick: ... just, it, it, it really will be eye-opening how many things start to reveal themselves as you're going through this process.
[1:23:56] Ryan Warwick: Yeah. And-
[1:23:57] Shannon Warwick: And they're wins
[1:23:59] Ryan Warwick: ... and, and-
[1:23:59] Shannon Warwick: They're celebration moments
[1:24:01] Ryan Warwick: ... so many families
[1:24:04] Ryan Warwick: don't have a comprehensive platform,
[1:24:10] Ryan Warwick: even provided by their wealth advisor,
[1:24:14] Ryan Warwick: that communicates to them about all of their assets.
[1:24:19] Shannon Warwick: Right.
[1:24:19] Ryan Warwick: Okay? This industry, wealth advisory industry, does a good job reporting on the pieces that they are managing.
[1:24:28] Shannon Warwick: That's correct.
[1:24:29] Ryan Warwick: And so we're trying to take that further and deeper, okay?
[1:24:34] Shannon Warwick: Your story, your whole story.
[1:24:35] Ryan Warwick: Mm-hmm. Your whole story. So your house, your cabin, your, y- you know, whatever it is, all, all of the-
[1:24:41] Shannon Warwick: 529s for the kids
[1:24:42] Ryan Warwick: ... insurance policies-
[1:24:43] Shannon Warwick: Your medical savings account, your health savings account.
[1:24:44] Ryan Warwick: Yep, yep.
[1:24:45] Shannon Warwick: Everything.
[1:24:45] Ryan Warwick: Everything. All the, all the private placements, all the-
[1:24:48] Shannon Warwick: Yep
[1:24:48] Ryan Warwick: ... the, the private equity funds. If, if there are things held outside of that advisor's purview-
[1:24:55] Shannon Warwick: Right
[1:24:55] Ryan Warwick: ... sometimes those are put into a financial plan. Often they are But that doesn't provide a great platform for somebody who's not involved to look at that and chew on it and-
[1:25:09] Shannon Warwick: Mm-hmm
[1:25:09] Ryan Warwick: ... understand it. It just-
[1:25:10] Shannon Warwick: Mm-hmm
[1:25:10] Ryan Warwick: ... is now a data point inside of an overall plan-
[1:25:13] Shannon Warwick: Well
[1:25:13] Ryan Warwick: ... that spits out a number and says, "You're gonna be okay."
[1:25:16] Shannon Warwick: Also, you're not, that person isn't aware of the action items surrounding those assets.
[1:25:22] Ryan Warwick: Sure, sure.
[1:25:22] Shannon Warwick: There are action items.
[1:25:23] Ryan Warwick: Sure.
[1:25:25] Shannon Warwick: Um.
[1:25:25] Ryan Warwick: Yeah, and, and those get, and those get missed. And as an advisor, well, that's not my action item-
[1:25:32] Shannon Warwick: Mm-hmm
[1:25:33] Ryan Warwick: ... because I have nothing to do with that asset. But we're trying to take that deeper with, with our clients and provide more, more concierge service in, in that respect.
[1:25:42] Shannon Warwick: Yeah.
[1:25:42] Ryan Warwick: So-
[1:25:43] Shannon Warwick: And more education and awareness-
[1:25:46] Ryan Warwick: Yeah
[1:25:46] Shannon Warwick: ... therefore leading to empowerment.
[1:25:47] Ryan Warwick: Yeah. So household summary, uh, LifeRaft household summary.
[1:25:52] Shannon Warwick: Mm-hmm.
[1:25:52] Ryan Warwick: Uh, who, what, when, where, why, how. Now,
[1:25:56] Ryan Warwick: cashflow and, and you mentioned a flow map.
[1:26:00] Shannon Warwick: Mm-hmm.
[1:26:02] Ryan Warwick: Did you always understand how money flowed through our household?
[1:26:05] Shannon Warwick: No, because how many accounts do we have and how many banks do we utilize?
[1:26:10] Ryan Warwick: I have to have my flow map to answer that question.
[1:26:13] Shannon Warwick: There we go.
[1:26:15] Ryan Warwick: Right.
[1:26:15] Shannon Warwick: Yes.
[1:26:15] Ryan Warwick: Right.
[1:26:17] Shannon Warwick: I can think of three banks
[1:26:19] Shannon Warwick: right off the top.
[1:26:21] Ryan Warwick: Yeah.
[1:26:22] Shannon Warwick: And the way the money flows through those banks, it, it, it is very interesting. The flow map, so this is something that would, it's just kind of a fun, uh, fun fact. Um, we had a gentleman here, um, actually interning with us, PhD, kind of a fun little twist,
[1:26:43] Shannon Warwick: genius. And I had him-
[1:26:45] Ryan Warwick: You can say his name. So you just called Pete a genius.
[1:26:47] Shannon Warwick: I did call Pete a genius.
[1:26:48] Ryan Warwick: All right.
[1:26:48] Shannon Warwick: He's a lovely-
[1:26:48] Ryan Warwick: We need to make sure Pete listens to this episode
[1:26:51] Shannon Warwick: ... Pete is a lovely, lovely man, and he is, he is a genius. But I asked Pete, you know, "Okay, Pete, if you, if you, you know, looking, looking at everything that you've seen here, all of our stuff,
[1:27:04] Shannon Warwick: and you're a PhD in economics, is this complex?" Yes. "Would, if you didn't understand any of this, what would that create? Could that be anxiety-producing?"
[1:27:15] Ryan Warwick: Mm.
[1:27:15] Shannon Warwick: Yes.
[1:27:17] Shannon Warwick: So I think it's so important for people to pause and understand
[1:27:23] Shannon Warwick: the complexity that comes often, again, in entrepreneurial financial pictures.
[1:27:31] Shannon Warwick: I don't think we can, I don't think we can, uh-
[1:27:34] Ryan Warwick: It's different than most-
[1:27:36] Shannon Warwick: It's... Yes
[1:27:37] Ryan Warwick: ... balance sheets, which is why we're trying to build out-
[1:27:40] Shannon Warwick: I don't think we can say it enough
[1:27:41] Ryan Warwick: ... trees and resources.
[1:27:42] Shannon Warwick: It's just so-
[1:27:42] Ryan Warwick: Yeah
[1:27:42] Shannon Warwick: ... different
[1:27:43] Ryan Warwick: ... it, it's complex.
[1:27:44] Shannon Warwick: It's so complex.
[1:27:45] Ryan Warwick: And I mean, we've talked to people with, with, you know, if we all, we all have seen organizational charts and-
[1:27:50] Shannon Warwick: Mm-hmm
[1:27:51] Ryan Warwick: ... and, and a labyrinth of accounts and, and investments and, and when I said, "Hey, what does your spouse say or think when, when they see this?" "Oh, they've never seen it."
[1:28:01] Shannon Warwick: They've never seen it.
[1:28:03] Ryan Warwick: So these, you know, there are, are things-
[1:28:06] Shannon Warwick: And we've worked with people, you've worked with people that they don't even remember what they have.
[1:28:12] Ryan Warwick: Mm-hmm.
[1:28:13] Shannon Warwick: It-
[1:28:14] Ryan Warwick: It's a,
[1:28:16] Ryan Warwick: we ask leading questions to try to keep drawing out more-
[1:28:19] Shannon Warwick: Right
[1:28:19] Ryan Warwick: ... and more information.
[1:28:19] Shannon Warwick: And then like a month later, "Oh, I forgot. I also have-"
[1:28:22] Ryan Warwick: Yeah, yeah.
[1:28:22] Shannon Warwick: "Oh, wait, I didn't remember this property. Oh."
[1:28:25] Ryan Warwick: Yeah.
[1:28:25] Shannon Warwick: Yeah.
[1:28:26] Ryan Warwick: So the, the flow map is to really understand-
[1:28:31] Shannon Warwick: To make it tangible
[1:28:32] Ryan Warwick: ... how does-
[1:28:32] Shannon Warwick: Sort of this nebulous thing when you-
[1:28:34] Ryan Warwick: You know, in, in, with this tool, we're not trying to say, "Here's the, here is the exact amount of money that's coming from this source-"
[1:28:41] Shannon Warwick: No
[1:28:41] Ryan Warwick: ... "going to this." We're trying to say-
[1:28:43] Shannon Warwick: It's a flow map
[1:28:44] Ryan Warwick: ... the flow.
[1:28:44] Shannon Warwick: Where's the-
[1:28:45] Ryan Warwick: Where does it come from-
[1:28:47] Shannon Warwick: Yeah
[1:28:47] Ryan Warwick: ... generally?
[1:28:47] Shannon Warwick: Think of it like water.
[1:28:48] Ryan Warwick: From that account, where does that flow?
[1:28:50] Shannon Warwick: Yeah.
[1:28:50] Ryan Warwick: How do-
[1:28:51] Shannon Warwick: In pipes
[1:28:51] Ryan Warwick: ... things get funded? We can put some notes on there. But it gives you, I think that's perhaps the one tool that's given you the most peace or the most-
[1:29:00] Shannon Warwick: I've really enjoyed it
[1:29:01] Ryan Warwick: ... insight.
[1:29:02] Shannon Warwick: Mm-hmm.
[1:29:02] Ryan Warwick: Right?
[1:29:02] Shannon Warwick: The other one that I've really loved has been the timeline-
[1:29:05] Ryan Warwick: Okay
[1:29:06] Shannon Warwick: ... with action items.
[1:29:07] Ryan Warwick: Yeah.
[1:29:07] Shannon Warwick: So I know on a calendar year when accounts need to be funded, when something needs to be paid, when distributions need to be... I, I now, again, I will say things that are very nebulous and kind of floating around because it's not in your everyday, uh, line of sight or thought, when it's on this concrete page with to-dos, it's so lovely.
[1:29:33] Ryan Warwick: Yeah.
[1:29:34] Shannon Warwick: Yeah.
[1:29:36] Ryan Warwick: A- a- and you know, what you're drawing out there is just the complexity that exists in o- the various points in, in a,
[1:29:49] Ryan Warwick: in our financial lives. So, so there's taxes, there's funding deadlines.
[1:29:54] Shannon Warwick: Yeah.
[1:29:55] Ryan Warwick: There's, there's different tax-based deadlines for putting money into different types of accounts.
[1:30:00] Shannon Warwick: There's state, there's federal, there's-
[1:30:03] Ryan Warwick: The-
[1:30:03] Shannon Warwick: ... distributions, there's, I mean, you go on and on.
[1:30:05] Ryan Warwick: There are all sorts of, of strategies and-
[1:30:08] Shannon Warwick: Mm-hmm, yeah, the strategies-
[1:30:10] Ryan Warwick: One of the things I, I wanna point out-
[1:30:12] Shannon Warwick: And I rely on you for that, and I've accepted I don't need to be an expert.
[1:30:16] Ryan Warwick: Yeah.
[1:30:16] Shannon Warwick: You're an expert, but we're working together
[1:30:20] Ryan Warwick: One of the things that, um, was an aha when we started doing this is-
[1:30:27] Shannon Warwick: Mm
[1:30:27] Ryan Warwick: ... the number of,
[1:30:29] Ryan Warwick: uh, very high net worth entrepreneurial families-
[1:30:34] Shannon Warwick: Yeah
[1:30:36] Ryan Warwick: ... that don't right now-
[1:30:40] Shannon Warwick: Mm
[1:30:40] Ryan Warwick: ... have a lot of liquidity.
[1:30:42] Shannon Warwick: Yeah.
[1:30:42] Ryan Warwick: And so they aren't working with a wealth advisor, a financial planner who is investing their money, which is often when many people go to an advisor like us is-
[1:30:55] Shannon Warwick: Mm
[1:30:55] Ryan Warwick: ... is when they have money to invest. And what we're seeing is these families have All of the needs, in fact, in many cases, more needs for planning and consulting-
[1:31:10] Shannon Warwick: Oh, absolutely
[1:31:10] Ryan Warwick: ... and, and all the to-dos and the strategies.
[1:31:13] Shannon Warwick: So they have high net worth, but they don't have a lot of assets under management.
[1:31:16] Ryan Warwick: And, and they're not working with somebody.
[1:31:18] Shannon Warwick: They're not liquid.
[1:31:18] Ryan Warwick: So a lot of things are, are-
[1:31:19] Shannon Warwick: They're not getting good advice
[1:31:21] Ryan Warwick: ... they're, they're getting no advice, right?
[1:31:22] Shannon Warwick: No advice.
[1:31:23] Ryan Warwick: And so, you know, we wanna say there, there is, um, a lot to do even before potential liquidity events. In fact, um, a friend of ours, uh, we'll, we'll probably have on, uh, at some point, um, has, has a business, uh, consulting companies to get exit ready.
[1:31:43] Shannon Warwick: Mm-hmm.
[1:31:43] Ryan Warwick: Hey, what are all of the things that you-
[1:31:46] Shannon Warwick: What do you need to be doing?
[1:31:46] Ryan Warwick: ... need to do in your business-
[1:31:47] Shannon Warwick: Mm-hmm
[1:31:47] Ryan Warwick: ... to get exit ready? And the big aha, as we've talked with him, was this is about getting your family and the entrepreneur exit ready.
[1:31:56] Shannon Warwick: Yeah. Yes.
[1:31:56] Ryan Warwick: Okay? So there's a lot of work, including-
[1:32:00] Shannon Warwick: Yeah, that's great
[1:32:00] Ryan Warwick: ... financial strategies-
[1:32:01] Shannon Warwick: Mm-hmm
[1:32:01] Ryan Warwick: ... including getting money potentially outside of the business to start to th-
[1:32:07] Shannon Warwick: Right
[1:32:08] Ryan Warwick: ... does it create safety and security and peace-
[1:32:11] Shannon Warwick: Yes
[1:32:11] Ryan Warwick: ... when every dollar that's made in the business gets reinvested in the business, gets reinvested-
[1:32:18] Shannon Warwick: So-
[1:32:18] Ryan Warwick: ... into illiquid investments like pieces of property?
[1:32:21] Shannon Warwick: So life raft language there-
[1:32:23] Ryan Warwick: Yeah
[1:32:23] Shannon Warwick: ... you would say throwing money over the wall.
[1:32:25] Ryan Warwick: Yep.
[1:32:25] Shannon Warwick: Are you throwing money over the wall to your family?
[1:32:28] Ryan Warwick: From the business-
[1:32:29] Shannon Warwick: Yeah
[1:32:30] Ryan Warwick: ... to the family, right?
[1:32:31] Shannon Warwick: Right. Or is it always just getting reinvested into the business?
[1:32:34] Ryan Warwick: Right.
[1:32:35] Shannon Warwick: Yeah.
[1:32:35] Ryan Warwick: In which case, the family has no visibility. You tell us, and this is, these are conversations we've had. You, you tell us,
[1:32:45] Ryan Warwick: "We're growing our wealth." You tell us-
[1:32:47] Shannon Warwick: The business is doing great
[1:32:48] Ryan Warwick: ... "We're improving."
[1:32:48] Shannon Warwick: Everything's fine.
[1:32:49] Ryan Warwick: But why don't we see anything? Why do-
[1:32:52] Shannon Warwick: Yeah
[1:32:52] Ryan Warwick: ... all of your employees have new cars and campers and snowmobiles and, and we don't? Because they don't-
[1:32:58] Shannon Warwick: Well, even something, let's go-
[1:32:59] Ryan Warwick: It may, it's not visible
[1:33:00] Shannon Warwick: ... let's go even something more base needs. We have this tax-
[1:33:03] Ryan Warwick: Oh, sure
[1:33:03] Shannon Warwick: ... bill coming.
[1:33:05] Shannon Warwick: I, I don't understand how we're going to pay it because my account only has this much money in it.
[1:33:10] Ryan Warwick: Yep.
[1:33:10] Shannon Warwick: Yeah. That's really scary.
[1:33:12] Ryan Warwick: Lots of, of things happening in these families.
[1:33:16] Shannon Warwick: Yep.
[1:33:16] Ryan Warwick: And so the life raft is, is all around, a- again, we can't say the word enough, it's, it's intentionality.
[1:33:24] Shannon Warwick: Mm-hmm.
[1:33:24] Ryan Warwick: We have to have the same intentionality in our families. Look, we don't wanna create
[1:33:32] Ryan Warwick: a cold rigor bureaucratic system within a family. Like, you may be thinking that your, your spouse lives in at work.
[1:33:44] Shannon Warwick: Mm-hmm.
[1:33:44] Ryan Warwick: We don't wanna create that. That, we think a lot of, a lot of spouses despise the, the structure that their, uh, spouse, working spouse or-
[1:33:54] Shannon Warwick: Yeah
[1:33:54] Ryan Warwick: ... you know, the spouse in the business talks about-
[1:33:56] Shannon Warwick: That's created the conflict in our home
[1:33:57] Ryan Warwick: ... Right? Yeah.
[1:33:57] Shannon Warwick: That's taken you away from me. That's taken you away from us.
[1:34:00] Ryan Warwick: But we do need intentionality.
[1:34:01] Shannon Warwick: Mm-hmm.
[1:34:02] Ryan Warwick: Right? So-
[1:34:02] Shannon Warwick: Yeah
[1:34:03] Ryan Warwick: ... um-
[1:34:03] Shannon Warwick: And we have some fun ideas too in the book on how to include kiddos, on how to have family time around this.
[1:34:09] Ryan Warwick: Another, um... So you've mentioned, we, we talked about, um, the f- the flow map.
[1:34:14] Shannon Warwick: Mm-hmm.
[1:34:14] Ryan Warwick: Cashflow.
[1:34:15] Shannon Warwick: Yep.
[1:34:16] Ryan Warwick: So cashflow's a really big one. Um, people often will think about, "Oh, how much do we make? Um, how much do we spend?" Don't really think about cashflow. And in, in entrepreneurial families, again, this could be a wide variety of, of definitions there.
[1:34:32] Shannon Warwick: Mm-hmm.
[1:34:33] Ryan Warwick: Cashflow doesn't come in the form of $10,000 every month or $100,000 every six months. It comes in the form of
[1:34:43] Ryan Warwick: sometimes a, a very consistent draw that represents a pretty small portion-
[1:34:48] Shannon Warwick: Mm-hmm
[1:34:49] Ryan Warwick: ... of income for that household.
[1:34:50] Shannon Warwick: Right.
[1:34:51] Ryan Warwick: And then big sporadic chunks as businesses might get sold.
[1:34:56] Shannon Warwick: Mm-hmm.
[1:34:56] Ryan Warwick: Transactions happen with, with outside investors.
[1:35:00] Shannon Warwick: Mm-hmm.
[1:35:01] Ryan Warwick: Um, you know, distributions come from profits in however your company pays those out, quarterly, semi-annually.
[1:35:09] Shannon Warwick: Right.
[1:35:09] Ryan Warwick: And so we need to, as a family, we need to understand
[1:35:15] Ryan Warwick: how that cashflow is coming into the household and, and when can we do, you know, what is the monthly cashflow for? What do we, w- how much do we have? Where is that going?
[1:35:28] Shannon Warwick: Yeah.
[1:35:28] Ryan Warwick: What's being funded from that? Is that the 401? Is that health insurance? Is that our regular, is that what we live on? And then the sporadic cashflows cover other things. Um, so do you wanna,
[1:35:43] Ryan Warwick: has that tool or that concept been, been helpful at all?
[1:35:48] Shannon Warwick: Yeah, I mean, again, these are all mindset shifts.
[1:35:52] Ryan Warwick: Okay.
[1:35:52] Shannon Warwick: These are all mindset shifts.
[1:35:55] Shannon Warwick: So once you've shifted the mindset, you can begin shifting the action. And once you shift the action,
[1:36:04] Shannon Warwick: the, the benefits start to, to, to come, right? You start to have that fruit being produced from that. And so what's, what's some of the benefit that we've seen? Um, better communication,
[1:36:19] Shannon Warwick: ability to connect, ability to be more intentional, to plan, to have that pur- All of those things have started to come. Kids understanding, kids asking questions, family as a whole involvement. So that's been, um, that's been fun.
[1:36:36] Ryan Warwick: Yeah.
[1:36:37] Shannon Warwick: Um, if a listener wanted to start tonight, what would be the very first action they could take?
[1:36:41] Ryan Warwick: One more thing that we're-
[1:36:42] Shannon Warwick: Mm
[1:36:42] Ryan Warwick: ... we're missing there on, on some of these tools.
[1:36:45] Shannon Warwick: Mm.
[1:36:45] Ryan Warwick: That's, I know is near and dear to your heart.
[1:36:48] Shannon Warwick: Mm.
[1:36:48] Ryan Warwick: Who's in your life raft?
[1:36:50] Shannon Warwick: Who's in my life raft?
[1:36:51] Ryan Warwick: Yeah.
[1:36:51] Shannon Warwick: You want me to tell everybody who's in my life-
[1:36:52] Ryan Warwick: No, no, no. But that is a, a tool that we think is, is so-
[1:36:56] Shannon Warwick: Oh
[1:36:56] Ryan Warwick: ... critical. It's important.
[1:36:57] Shannon Warwick: Okay, you're not asking me specifically-
[1:36:59] Ryan Warwick: No, no, no. Yeah
[1:36:59] Shannon Warwick: ... who's in my life raft.
[1:36:59] Ryan Warwick: It is.
[1:36:59] Shannon Warwick: Well, I can tell people who's in my life raft. Um, yeah, the who's in your life raft tool is really important to me. But I did hit on that earlier when I said, if they are in your life raft and they don't belong in your life raft because either they were not invited, someone put them there, or they haven't proven to be safe, they get excused Anyone who's in your life raft and will give you... There are-
[1:37:23] Ryan Warwick: It's a place of honor
[1:37:24] Shannon Warwick: ... it is a place of honor.
[1:37:25] Ryan Warwick: Yeah.
[1:37:25] Shannon Warwick: There are... The... And, and we will help you with who should be in your life raft because who are, who are some essential people for a life raft.
[1:37:34] Shannon Warwick: But being in your life raft, that is a place of honor. Yeah.
[1:37:39] Ryan Warwick: Yeah, I mean, we-
[1:37:39] Shannon Warwick: These are trusted, safe people who, again, are stewards.
[1:37:43] Ryan Warwick: We are in a lot of people's life rafts. We have-
[1:37:47] Shannon Warwick: And we take it-
[1:37:48] Ryan Warwick: We haven't called it that-
[1:37:48] Shannon Warwick: ... very seriously
[1:37:49] Ryan Warwick: ... we haven't called it that over time-
[1:37:50] Shannon Warwick: We haven't called it that over time
[1:37:50] Ryan Warwick: ... but as we work with clients-
[1:37:52] Shannon Warwick: Yeah. Mm-hmm
[1:37:52] Ryan Warwick: ... it is such a privilege to walk with people-
[1:37:55] Shannon Warwick: Yeah
[1:37:55] Ryan Warwick: ... through, we, we call it life's transitions.
[1:37:58] Shannon Warwick: Planned and unplanned.
[1:38:01] Ryan Warwick: Some are planned, weddings.
[1:38:03] Shannon Warwick: Yeah.
[1:38:04] Ryan Warwick: Uh, but we get to go through-
[1:38:05] Shannon Warwick: It's really exciting when we get to send the-
[1:38:06] Ryan Warwick: ... the exciting beings of new children, new grandchildren.
[1:38:08] Shannon Warwick: Yeah. Yeah.
[1:38:09] Ryan Warwick: Um-
[1:38:09] Shannon Warwick: It's fun when we get to send flowers for those things, then it's really-
[1:38:12] Ryan Warwick: Yeah
[1:38:12] Shannon Warwick: ... it's really, um, hard when we send flowers-
[1:38:13] Ryan Warwick: And then we walk with them through-
[1:38:14] Shannon Warwick: ... through death and loss
[1:38:15] Ryan Warwick: ... through deaths. Yep.
[1:38:16] Shannon Warwick: Yeah.
[1:38:16] Ryan Warwick: And, and yet often, and, and, you know, in some cases, um,
[1:38:23] Ryan Warwick: we've been the first call when-
[1:38:24] Shannon Warwick: First call
[1:38:24] Ryan Warwick: ... when there's a diagnosis. "Hey, I just got diagnosed with a brain tumor, and I'm so thankful that you're there to walk-
[1:38:34] Shannon Warwick: Yeah
[1:38:34] Ryan Warwick: ... with my wife."
[1:38:34] Shannon Warwick: Yeah. I think it brings tears to both of our eyes-
[1:38:35] Ryan Warwick: Right
[1:38:35] Shannon Warwick: ... as we think about these things. We're both getting a little emotional here-
[1:38:38] Ryan Warwick: Right here
[1:38:38] Shannon Warwick: ... because
[1:38:41] Shannon Warwick: it, there's so much weight-
[1:38:43] Ryan Warwick: Yeah
[1:38:43] Shannon Warwick: ... to being in someone's raft.
[1:38:47] Shannon Warwick: Yeah.
[1:38:48] Ryan Warwick: It is-
[1:38:48] Shannon Warwick: It's humbling
[1:38:49] Ryan Warwick: ... it is too important-
[1:38:51] Shannon Warwick: Mm-hmm
[1:38:51] Ryan Warwick: ... and too privilege- privileged of a position-
[1:38:55] Shannon Warwick: Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm
[1:38:56] Ryan Warwick: ... to allow somebody in there who just happens to be, uh, somebody you golf with-
[1:39:02] Shannon Warwick: Yeah
[1:39:02] Ryan Warwick: ... um, who doesn't know your wife, and who frankly doesn't really care about your family.
[1:39:08] Shannon Warwick: Right.
[1:39:09] Ryan Warwick: This is, i- is it, are these the people you trust to take care of your family if you were gone?
[1:39:16] Shannon Warwick: Yeah.
[1:39:17] Ryan Warwick: And if they're not, the change has to happen yesterday.
[1:39:20] Shannon Warwick: That's right. I think, I do think, I was just think- there's something I do wanna address here, and that is that during this process of, um, awareness and this, this process of learning, um, this journey,
[1:39:36] Shannon Warwick: one thing that's become so clear is that you have to be humble and vulnerable,
[1:39:43] Shannon Warwick: and those, um... Humble isn't something that we generally struggle with as far as like that's a hard thing for me to think about having to become humble.
[1:39:53] Shannon Warwick: Um, but vulnerable, that can stick in the craw a little bit, right? That, that one's a harder swallow.
[1:40:00] Ryan Warwick: Yeah.
[1:40:00] Shannon Warwick: Um, I have to be vulnerable.
[1:40:02] Ryan Warwick: And you're probably already feeling vulnerable. You were feeling vulnerable.
[1:40:05] Shannon Warwick: I was feeling vulnerable.
[1:40:06] Ryan Warwick: So now vulner- vulnerable means I have to
[1:40:12] Ryan Warwick: be vulnerable with somebody. I have to let it be known.
[1:40:15] Shannon Warwick: Mm-hmm.
[1:40:16] Ryan Warwick: Right?
[1:40:16] Shannon Warwick: Yeah. So I guess, you know, and Brené Brown has done a lot of great work in that space, um, and, you know, has, has been really helpful for me. Vulnerability, though, it... What I would encourage people to, to get their heads around vulnerability can be so freeing and empowering because you're just becoming okay with not being okay, like we talked about. You're becoming okay with not being the expert. You're becoming okay with an- asking questions. You're becoming okay with there are things I don't know.
[1:40:52] Shannon Warwick: I can't know what I don't even know to ask.
[1:40:56] Ryan Warwick: Mm-hmm.
[1:40:57] Shannon Warwick: So getting in that space of I'm on a journey, I'm learning, I'm getting stronger all the time, I'm becoming empowered, and there are days when it's still really hard. It's, it's still so difficult. And, and there is that, that, that mental game, right? You, y- but you have to just, I would say, reset
[1:41:21] Shannon Warwick: and start again. Be okay with vulnerability. It will serve you well in your life raft journey.
[1:41:28] Ryan Warwick: So, so far, has it been fulfilling?
[1:41:34] Shannon Warwick: Yes.
[1:41:34] Ryan Warwick: Okay.
[1:41:37] Ryan Warwick: But you didn't, you didn't start out with this idea that I need to do something that's fulfilling. You started out with,
[1:41:44] Ryan Warwick: "I'm scared. I'm anxious. We need to do something." But-
[1:41:47] Shannon Warwick: Mm-hmm
[1:41:47] Ryan Warwick: ... I think the, the message I'm trying to get across there is it's meaningful when we go do hard things.
[1:41:55] Shannon Warwick: Yeah, it's meaningful work.
[1:41:56] Ryan Warwick: Right. And, and so it's not that-
[1:41:58] Shannon Warwick: It's meaningful work
[1:41:58] Ryan Warwick: ... it's not that you wanna do this.
[1:41:59] Shannon Warwick: Mm-hmm. No.
[1:41:59] Ryan Warwick: Let, let's, let's be-
[1:42:01] Shannon Warwick: It's hard.
[1:42:02] Ryan Warwick: I think people need to hear that this isn't what I want to be doing-
[1:42:06] Shannon Warwick: Yeah
[1:42:07] Ryan Warwick: ... on a Friday afternoon.
[1:42:09] Shannon Warwick: Mm-mm.
[1:42:10] Ryan Warwick: This is hard.
[1:42:11] Shannon Warwick: Mm-hmm.
[1:42:11] Ryan Warwick: It's... You, you're grappling.
[1:42:13] Shannon Warwick: Mm-hmm.
[1:42:13] Ryan Warwick: And, and it's, you know, getting comfortable with, with doing hard things, being vulnerable and, and, and something that's challenging, and when you get through to the other side, boy, there's a sense of accomplishment. There's a sense of empowerment. There's... You've learned. You've grown. I mean, honestly-
[1:42:30] Shannon Warwick: Yeah
[1:42:30] Ryan Warwick: ... we only grow when we're stressed, right? We only grow when w- w-
[1:42:35] Shannon Warwick: Well, yeah
[1:42:35] Ryan Warwick: ... muscle only builds when it's under, under-
[1:42:37] Shannon Warwick: That's what's gonna make-
[1:42:38] Ryan Warwick: ... tension, under stress.
[1:42:38] Shannon Warwick: Yeah. That's, that's, that's the example right there is, you know, as you break the muscle down and you stress the body in a, in a positive way,
[1:42:46] Shannon Warwick: positive stress here, not, not a negative stress, the response is to build back stronger, better.
[1:42:52] Ryan Warwick: Yeah.
[1:42:53] Shannon Warwick: And that's what we're after here.
[1:42:56] Ryan Warwick: Yep.
[1:42:57] Shannon Warwick: That's what we're after. The, there are some things that we have to do that are stressful, and it can feel like breaking. There's humility and vulnerability in it. But, but the result, the, the end fruit, that, that product is that you should be building back better, stronger-
[1:43:14] Ryan Warwick: Yep
[1:43:14] Shannon Warwick: ... more empowered.
[1:43:15] Ryan Warwick: Yep. We wanna, um, help, help families, uh, build. So we've talked a lot today about the inception of the idea.
[1:43:24] Shannon Warwick: Yep.
[1:43:25] Ryan Warwick: The, the wake-up call-
[1:43:27] Shannon Warwick: Mm-hmm
[1:43:28] Ryan Warwick: ... um, and the The reasons and then, you know, some of the specific tools around building the, the wealth components- The how. Mm-hmm... of the life raft. And we start there-
[1:43:39] Ryan Warwick: Mm-hmm... because wealth, investments, money- Mm-hmm... is the playing field of what we can do as a family. Yeah. Right? That, that's the tool of the game. And so it's hard to play the game, we think- Mm-hmm... without knowing what the tools are. What are the, what are the pieces to the... Yeah The, the, the playing field, right? Yeah. Uh, so- And the thing. Yeah... um, that's why we start there. Mm-hmm. Yep. Now, we're, we went long today, and we're gonna have to come back and talk about the next components. Right. The, the, the rest of the system- Life map... where we get into- Life cycle, life moments... yep, mission, purpose- Mission, purpose. Mm-hmm... the rhythms and patterns, and the celebrations. Yeah, all the things. Yeah. So really excited to do that because that's the stuff- It's fun... that makes it come to life to build the culture. Mm-hmm. Knowing your family balance sheet doesn't build the culture, all this oth- other stuff. Yeah. And- Well, we did hard work today... and culture- We had to build the scaffolding... culture is so, is so good and fun and, and, uh, what we can get excited about. So- Yeah... um, soon to be back with- Mm-hmm... uh, with all of, uh, the rest of the system. And- Yeah... um, yeah, please reach out to us if you wanna have a conversation about- Yeah, abs-... your life raft. Absolutely. Be happy to chat.
[1:44:55] Ryan Warwick: Thank you for listening to the Worth Beyond Wealth podcast. If you liked this podcast, please like, share, and subscribe. The highest compliment you could give would be sharing this with a friend. Thank you. The opinions expressed in this program are for general informational purposes only, and are not intended to provide specific advice or recommendations for any individual or any specific security. RW Investment Management, LLC, DBA RW Investment Management, is a registered investment advisor. Testimonials given by current clients are not in exchange for compensation. This document is solely for informational purposes. Advisory services are only offered to clients or prospective clients where RWIM and its representatives are properly licensed or exempt from licensure. Past performance is no guarantee of future returns. Investing involves risk and possible loss of principal capital. No advice may be rendered by RWIM unless a client service agreement is in place. RWIM is not a legal or tax advisor.