Oct. 31, 2023

Family Matters with Wealth and Business Advisor Lou Cannataro

Family Matters with Wealth and Business Advisor Lou Cannataro
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Season 3

At the heart of every story is family, and sometimes, it's fear that pushes us forward. In this gripping episode of "No Wrong Choices," we delve into the remarkable life of Lou Cannataro, a distinguished Wealth and Business Advisor. Born as the youngest son on the raw edges of the Bronx and touched by the early loss of his father, Lou's trajectory led him to the prestigious realms of Park Avenue. His tale is a testament to determination, aspiration, and triumph.

Lou initially embarked on a career in TV production, honoring his family's legacy. Yet, he felt a pull towards the world of financial planning, driven by the dream of providing a better life for his young family. With no clients, no guarantees and no safety net - Lou dived headfirst into the challenge. Through sheer perseverance, he not only built a flourishing business but also brought his children into its fold. His journey is a beacon for those aspiring to penetrate the finance world or kickstart a business from the ground up.

In this episode, we also shed light on Lou's profound dedication to the Alzheimer's Association. Inspired and heartbroken by his brother Gene's battle with Alzheimer's, Lou's commitment transcends mere support. He's fervently championing a cause, transforming personal sorrow into a larger purpose.


To discover more episodes or connect with us:


Chapters

00:02 - Financial Planner Career Journey Uncovered

08:41 - Learning From Family and Work Experience

23:17 - Career Motivation and Financial Success

30:44 - Building a Financial Business From Scratch

41:29 - Financial Planning and Client Relationships

48:43 - Financial Planning and Alzheimer's

01:02:33 - Finance's Impact on Personal Lives

01:07:05 - Joining No Wrong Choices - Cantotaro

Transcript
WEBVTT

00:00:02.827 --> 00:00:10.951
Hello and welcome to no Wrong Choices, the podcast that explores the career journeys of accomplished and inspiring people to uncover secrets of success.

00:00:10.951 --> 00:00:15.631
I'm Larry Samuels, soon to be joined by the other fellas, tushar Saxena and Larry Shea.

00:00:15.631 --> 00:00:36.686
If you are a new listener or have been enjoying our show and haven't done this yet, please support no Wrong Choices by following us on your favorite podcasting platform, giving us a five star rating where you can, connecting with us on LinkedIn, facebook, instagram, youtube and X, or by dropping us a line via our website at NoWrongChoicescom, where you can also learn a little bit more about us.

00:00:36.686 --> 00:00:40.630
This episode features the financial planner, lou Canaterro.

00:00:40.630 --> 00:00:50.210
Lou has 30 years of experience, he's based in New York City, he has nine advanced degrees and he is the owner of a very, very successful practice.

00:00:50.210 --> 00:00:55.811
He's also deeply involved with Alzheimer's and we will dig into that as the conversation goes on.

00:00:55.811 --> 00:00:59.930
Larry Shea, why don't you lead us into this one?

00:00:59.979 --> 00:01:04.144
I thought you were going to give me the clearly, since you're the wealthiest and most successful of all of us.

00:01:04.185 --> 00:01:05.680
I paused on that one for that reason.

00:01:06.924 --> 00:01:08.109
Because it didn't fit at all.

00:01:08.109 --> 00:01:10.299
I didn't know how you would react.

00:01:10.299 --> 00:01:12.326
I'm excited about this conversation.

00:01:12.326 --> 00:01:15.290
I often think about financial planners.

00:01:15.290 --> 00:01:16.034
I have one myself.

00:01:16.034 --> 00:01:17.662
I have a great relationship with him.

00:01:17.662 --> 00:01:21.608
He takes me to play at his country club, which I can't thank him enough.

00:01:21.608 --> 00:01:23.825
I'll thank him publicly on this podcast.

00:01:23.825 --> 00:01:28.647
They mean a lot to us because it is a very personal thing.

00:01:28.647 --> 00:01:38.871
I'm really thinking that it's not about the numbers, that it's about the people, it's about relationships, it's about helping people at their best moments and their weakest moments.

00:01:38.871 --> 00:01:42.009
I'm hoping that's a lot about what we're going to hear from Lou today.

00:01:42.009 --> 00:01:43.322
I don't know Lou.

00:01:43.322 --> 00:01:47.370
I've done my research and he seems like beyond successful.

00:01:47.370 --> 00:01:56.688
Super excited to hear about somebody who is one of the best in their field and at a subject that I know very little about.

00:01:58.760 --> 00:02:01.266
I would say a lot of us know very little about it.

00:02:01.266 --> 00:02:07.611
Let's be honest, this could be a boring interview, but the whole idea is can finance be fun?

00:02:07.611 --> 00:02:10.125
That's what we hope to figure out with Lou.

00:02:10.125 --> 00:02:18.823
We've all seen the shows billions, wall Street, greed is good In many senses.

00:02:18.823 --> 00:02:19.887
We're all scared by that.

00:02:19.887 --> 00:02:34.913
Movies like the Big Short, which talk about the idea of the financial collapse, but at the end of the day, we are all still giving our money to people who we want to say we trust this guy to help us build wealth over years.

00:02:34.913 --> 00:02:37.586
We trust this man with our money.

00:02:37.586 --> 00:02:39.191
That's really what this is all about.

00:02:39.191 --> 00:02:46.085
It's all about a business of trust in many senses, because they really do, in many senses, hold our future in their hands.

00:02:46.447 --> 00:02:47.088
Absolutely.

00:02:47.088 --> 00:02:58.947
I should bring up the fact that Lou is my financial planner, so I do know him incredibly well and you're doing pretty well and things are going okay, you should have started off this interview.

00:02:59.901 --> 00:03:00.484
What the hell.

00:03:02.320 --> 00:03:11.430
But the reason why I chose to bring him in is that he's a character, he's extremely good at what he does and I trust him.

00:03:11.430 --> 00:03:16.512
He is like a therapist in a lot of ways, and our relationship is very unique.

00:03:16.512 --> 00:03:21.367
It is not a financial one, it is very much a personal one.

00:03:21.367 --> 00:03:25.389
So with that, I wanted to build upon that thought for a moment.

00:03:25.389 --> 00:03:31.231
As a business person, I'm really eager to hear how Lou got started, because it's a very difficult business to break into.

00:03:31.231 --> 00:03:32.544
How do you set up your practice?

00:03:32.544 --> 00:03:41.061
You hear horror stories of people walking into the field with no job, no money, no clients go.

00:03:41.061 --> 00:03:42.867
What does that look like?

00:03:42.867 --> 00:03:44.224
Well, lou's going to tell us.

00:03:44.224 --> 00:03:45.966
Here is Lou Canatero.

00:03:45.966 --> 00:03:47.786
Lou, thank you so much for joining us.

00:03:48.879 --> 00:03:52.188
Great to be here, especially after this Springsteen summer.

00:03:52.188 --> 00:03:54.343
Nice to come visit with you guys.

00:03:54.746 --> 00:03:56.281
You know what we actually got?

00:03:56.281 --> 00:04:00.009
Larry Samuels and I got to see Springsteen on Labor Day.

00:04:00.009 --> 00:04:02.362
We got to see him on Labor Day.

00:04:02.362 --> 00:04:04.729
Yeah, September 3rd it was great we got to see the Jersey Show.

00:04:04.729 --> 00:04:07.842
So absolutely Springsteen summer Lou.

00:04:07.842 --> 00:04:12.263
For those who don't know out there, the world of finance is a bit nebulous, a bit mysterious.

00:04:12.263 --> 00:04:14.004
What exactly do you do?

00:04:14.681 --> 00:04:29.711
Well, we are a multi-family office, so for our client's family, we help them grow, manage and protect their wealth and, just as important, we efficiently and effectively move it to the next generation.

00:04:29.711 --> 00:04:35.747
We call that bridging generational wealth and we've been doing that now for over 30 years.

00:04:37.160 --> 00:04:39.949
So, very simply, you're a financial planner.

00:04:39.949 --> 00:04:48.165
You work with people who come in, they lay out their dreams or goals and aspirations and ultimately, you help them get there.

00:04:48.607 --> 00:04:48.807
Right.

00:04:48.807 --> 00:04:51.547
We take a look at everything that they try and accomplish.

00:04:51.547 --> 00:04:53.216
What have they done in the past?

00:04:53.216 --> 00:04:55.346
What are they trying to accomplish in the future?

00:04:55.346 --> 00:04:59.507
We put it all together and we lay out the plan.

00:04:59.507 --> 00:05:02.812
We execute and we keep them on track.

00:05:03.860 --> 00:05:07.031
Lou at full disclosure I am not a Bruce Springsteen fan.

00:05:07.031 --> 00:05:08.807
I fear we're starting off on the wrong foot here.

00:05:10.142 --> 00:05:10.262
No.

00:05:10.403 --> 00:05:14.908
I'm totally teasing, but I want to know about your dream.

00:05:14.908 --> 00:05:16.425
I want to know how this all began.

00:05:16.425 --> 00:05:17.826
I want to take you back to the beginning.

00:05:17.826 --> 00:05:21.230
Tell me what your childhood was like, what you wanted to do.

00:05:21.230 --> 00:05:23.706
Was this always the goal or was there something else in mind?

00:05:24.427 --> 00:05:25.630
Hell, no, who knew?

00:05:25.630 --> 00:05:37.048
Sometimes I feel like I'm still trying to figure out what I want to do when I grow up, of course, Right, you know, originally I was born and bred in the Bronx and I don't know if any of you guys know the Bronx.

00:05:37.480 --> 00:05:41.966
I was born in the Bronx myself, I go to about 20 games a year.

00:05:42.949 --> 00:05:43.911
Yeah right, the Yankees.

00:05:43.911 --> 00:05:50.088
Well, I'm from Rivetale in the Bronx and so you know if I'm, because we've got clients across the country.

00:05:50.088 --> 00:05:59.966
So if I'm visiting and I tell them I'm from the Bronx, they're like oh my God, I'm like no, no, no, listen, bronx is a very nice place to grow up in Beautiful Come on.

00:05:59.966 --> 00:06:03.680
And live yeah and now.

00:06:03.680 --> 00:06:08.502
But if someone, if someone's from the Bronx, then they say we're in the Bronx and I'll say Rivetale.

00:06:08.502 --> 00:06:09.947
They're like that's not the Bronx.

00:06:11.781 --> 00:06:13.665
That was my reaction, as you said.

00:06:17.300 --> 00:06:21.911
And so born and bred in the Bronx, and so is my wife, collette.

00:06:21.911 --> 00:06:27.309
She's actually originally from Fordham Road and then Fordham, the neighborhood.

00:06:27.309 --> 00:06:33.387
We got bad over the years and she moved up like a block away when she was like 14.

00:06:33.387 --> 00:06:45.411
And that's where we actually went to college, at the College of Mount St Vincent, which is in the Bronx, in Rivetale, right there, and also Manhattan College.

00:06:45.411 --> 00:06:48.447
That's where I did my MBA in finance.

00:06:48.447 --> 00:06:56.831
So it all began in the Bronx and Collette I would see walking down the street because she lived down the block.

00:06:56.831 --> 00:07:02.411
But our first gig was working in McDonald's and that's where it all started.

00:07:02.591 --> 00:07:03.372
Wow.

00:07:03.372 --> 00:07:08.971
So you guys have been together since you were what like 14, 15, 16, whatever it was.

00:07:09.699 --> 00:07:16.211
Yeah, we worked together and we finally started going out, and we were just about 18 years old.

00:07:16.211 --> 00:07:16.630
A true.

00:07:16.670 --> 00:07:18.855
Bronx tale, a true Bronx tale.

00:07:19.826 --> 00:07:20.896
Yeah, we've been together.

00:07:20.896 --> 00:07:25.170
Now, God, it's 41 years.

00:07:25.170 --> 00:07:26.122
We're married like.

00:07:26.122 --> 00:07:28.189
I think we're married 36 now.

00:07:28.189 --> 00:07:30.127
We went out for six years, Wow.

00:07:31.060 --> 00:07:32.024
It's not long the closing deal.

00:07:32.024 --> 00:07:40.091
So, Lou, when you're growing up in the Bronx Rivetale, aka the Bronx, what do you dream?

00:07:40.091 --> 00:07:42.485
Enough, You've got the Yankees around the corner.

00:07:42.485 --> 00:07:46.750
What did the young Lou dream about becoming as a kid?

00:07:47.420 --> 00:07:48.124
Yeah, you know what?

00:07:48.124 --> 00:07:51.807
I didn't have any dreams about becoming anything in the beginning.

00:07:51.807 --> 00:07:58.031
Right, I have to tell you, growing up in the Bronx was the best.

00:07:58.031 --> 00:08:32.572
You would walk down that block and literally there would be at least 30 kids playing in the street, because all the houses are very close to each other, a lot of Irish families, so, like I had two older brothers, but most of the families they might have had six to eight kids, and so it was all about having a good time going to school, average student in high school at best, and even in college I did well, but there was no big focus just yet.

00:08:32.572 --> 00:08:41.595
You know, I look at myself as a typical kid and I didn't have any huge dreams other than to enjoy myself.

00:08:41.595 --> 00:08:42.542
I don't know about you guys.

00:08:42.542 --> 00:08:44.166
Were you guys all focused when you were young?

00:08:44.466 --> 00:08:45.649
No no I was.

00:08:47.682 --> 00:08:48.465
I'm really focused now.

00:08:50.720 --> 00:08:58.062
I could BS you three and say that I was very focused and saw this all coming, but that wasn't the case.

00:08:58.062 --> 00:09:01.085
I think I was unhealthily focused.

00:09:03.482 --> 00:09:04.787
So then, what did your father do?

00:09:04.787 --> 00:09:07.659
What were your parents like?

00:09:07.659 --> 00:09:11.067
I mean, obviously, as you said, he had a very idyllic kind of childhood.

00:09:11.067 --> 00:09:12.009
So what were your parents like?

00:09:12.009 --> 00:09:12.812
What were their jobs?

00:09:13.620 --> 00:09:16.470
Yeah, well, so my pop died when I was eight.

00:09:16.470 --> 00:09:22.131
So he had diabetes, he got an infection in his foot and then a week he was gone.

00:09:22.131 --> 00:09:35.109
So now, as a and, by the way, my mom did an unbelievable job and growing up I didn't think I missed anything, you know what I mean.

00:09:35.109 --> 00:09:38.469
Like, yeah, and that's how, that's how good of a job that she did.

00:09:38.469 --> 00:09:56.607
And then it wasn't till I started having kids and I remember, you know distinctly, I was laying down with my oldest, you know, putting them to bed, and I remember laying down and I was talking to them and then I realized, like holy cow, I didn't have any of this, like it didn't hit me to to years later.

00:09:57.259 --> 00:10:03.793
So the you know my, my mother, she went back to work.

00:10:03.793 --> 00:10:13.607
She wasn't working and she went back to work and you know, for her she worked out at the college amount, say, vincent right, which was down the block, you know, in the Bronx.

00:10:13.607 --> 00:10:25.613
And then she would walk, if you guys know, you may not know the school, but it's a beautiful school down on the Hudson River, but it's, it's all the way downhill right on the river.

00:10:25.613 --> 00:10:31.630
So she would walk from the house all the way down and then when I come, I would come home for lunch.

00:10:31.630 --> 00:10:45.865
She'd walk back up just to make me lunch and then go back down and she taught me about commitment and always showing up and being there and that that that woman worked.

00:10:45.865 --> 00:10:53.562
She retired, I think like at 68, and then she got diagnosed with pancreatic cancer and she was gone in three months.

00:10:53.562 --> 00:11:00.649
Unbelievable, unbelievable, but you know, she is probably one of the most you know.

00:11:00.649 --> 00:11:07.190
I had a big influence in my life, something I didn't realize or put together too much later in life.

00:11:07.960 --> 00:11:08.361
So what?

00:11:08.361 --> 00:11:12.427
What did you learn from her Perseverance, hard work, dedication, like what are you talking about?

00:11:12.427 --> 00:11:14.663
And your siblings.

00:11:14.663 --> 00:11:15.767
What were your siblings like?

00:11:15.767 --> 00:11:17.471
How many did you have and what was that like?

00:11:18.395 --> 00:11:20.659
Yeah, so the two older brothers, right.

00:11:20.659 --> 00:11:30.245
So, but Jean, my oldest had ten years on me and Frank had eight, and, and you know good thing, abortion wasn't big back then.

00:11:30.245 --> 00:11:41.226
I was a surprise and so, but you know when you think about it.

00:11:41.226 --> 00:11:43.758
When my, my pop passed away, you know I was eight.

00:11:43.758 --> 00:11:49.355
These guys were just on the verge of of leaving right there by this point.

00:11:49.414 --> 00:11:50.076
Yeah, they're adults.

00:11:50.197 --> 00:12:05.743
Yeah, so pretty soon Jean got married and and and left, and then Frank went he was in college and then him and three guys gotten a 69 mustang, went out to the West Coast and never came back.

00:12:05.743 --> 00:12:07.788
The other three eventually came back.

00:12:07.788 --> 00:12:20.115
He started his own electrician business out there and I remember, you know, I used to go out and visit during the summers For two, three weeks, sometimes a month at a time, fabulous trips out there.

00:12:20.115 --> 00:12:24.484
And I remember asking him hey, when he, you know when he gonna come back?

00:12:24.484 --> 00:12:28.378
And he used to look at me but well, why would I come back?

00:12:28.378 --> 00:12:30.903
And you know part of me was being sentimental.

00:12:30.903 --> 00:12:37.062
But you know San Diego's beautiful, right and so, and he's still out there all these years.

00:12:37.062 --> 00:12:43.264
So good relationship with them, but distant, yeah, and so it was.

00:12:43.826 --> 00:12:47.618
And again, you know, when you start to think about these things it's like God.

00:12:47.618 --> 00:12:54.474
You know, my pop passed away, my brothers left, so it was just mom and me.

00:12:54.474 --> 00:13:10.609
And you know she, she taught me, you know, to you move on and just to always be there and always be present, and and she didn't say much, she'd listen but she wouldn't say much.

00:13:10.609 --> 00:13:17.270
And you know that all also taught me, especially now and in what I do for a living.

00:13:17.270 --> 00:13:18.995
It's all about listening it's.

00:13:18.995 --> 00:13:20.119
It's not about talking.

00:13:20.580 --> 00:13:28.695
So, lou, yeah, you're at st Vincent and you're Taking classes, you're exploring, you're enjoying college life.

00:13:28.695 --> 00:13:38.269
It was there a moment where you started to gravitate towards something, and what was that, and what path to that set you on?

00:13:39.096 --> 00:13:54.160
Well, it was all about making money, right, because there was no money in the family and so whatever and this goes for Colette's family as well right now collect both parents for a life, but still neither one of us came for money.

00:13:54.160 --> 00:13:57.607
So if we wanted something, we had to go and make it happen.

00:13:57.607 --> 00:13:59.341
So it was all about work.

00:13:59.341 --> 00:14:03.134
When I went to school, we didn't you know, we weren't stayed on campus.

00:14:03.134 --> 00:14:08.807
We worked all through college and I this is how I got into ABC.

00:14:08.807 --> 00:14:12.105
I was a page during my college years.

00:14:12.105 --> 00:14:26.640
Now, again, my dad is tied into that, because my dad was a stage director for eye witness news, yeah, and so that was our in at ABC and that's where Jean, my oldest brother, he started working there and he was.

00:14:26.640 --> 00:14:31.575
He retired out of there after, like you know, I think it was all getting 40, 40 years.

00:14:31.716 --> 00:14:35.075
Wow, so being a page was dynamite.

00:14:35.736 --> 00:14:41.075
So, lou, before you dig too far into that, I know what an NBC page is from having watched 30 rock.

00:14:41.075 --> 00:14:42.779
What is an ABC page?

00:14:43.360 --> 00:14:50.538
Yeah, and we were the lower end right because NBC was always that like it seemed like the better page job, so what it was.

00:14:50.538 --> 00:14:55.349
I would give ABC my, my school schedule for the semester.

00:14:55.349 --> 00:15:00.807
So if I didn't have any classes in the morning I would get assigned GMA, good morning America.

00:15:00.807 --> 00:15:04.326
So I'd have to, you know, get there like at five o'clock in the morning.

00:15:04.326 --> 00:15:13.514
We would greet the guests to bring them into the green room, bring them to the stage and after that don't bring them back and then get them back into the limousine.

00:15:14.798 --> 00:15:26.538
We worked all of the best parties and, larry, you know in the business like we work, the upfront parties, yeah, sure, which were like on.

00:15:26.538 --> 00:15:28.842
And now, listen, you got a kid from the Bronx.

00:15:28.842 --> 00:15:34.817
I never seen shrimp that big in my life, you know.

00:15:34.817 --> 00:15:39.345
And and we did like they had FDR, they did a show for FDR.

00:15:39.345 --> 00:15:50.335
We're in these townhouses, you know, in the city we used to work the stockholders meetings when Elton rule and Lenin Goldstone Goldson was there.

00:15:50.335 --> 00:15:57.138
I mean, it was, it was, it was dynamite and so fantastic job.

00:15:57.138 --> 00:16:06.245
That, by the way, paid well and we just worked While we had a good time, while we went to school.

00:16:06.524 --> 00:16:08.912
So I now I know you're in college at this point.

00:16:08.912 --> 00:16:10.477
How old are you at this point?

00:16:10.477 --> 00:16:13.183
So a 18, you know.

00:16:13.183 --> 00:16:15.489
So this is like this is like freshman year college.

00:16:15.489 --> 00:16:20.464
Yeah, yeah, did you have the pages positioned throughout college?

00:16:20.464 --> 00:16:25.384
Yes, oh, my god, that must have been awesome, my god.

00:16:27.356 --> 00:16:27.618
It.

00:16:27.618 --> 00:16:39.881
I have to tell you it was because you know, think of all the people that we met, you know all the the stars and whatnot, and but I wasn't, we weren't star struck, it was, it was a job.

00:16:39.881 --> 00:16:41.798
You know what I mean.

00:16:41.837 --> 00:16:42.679
Like, I was gonna.

00:16:42.679 --> 00:16:43.181
I was actually.

00:16:43.181 --> 00:16:43.962
That's my actually.

00:16:43.962 --> 00:16:47.374
That's kind of what leaves me in my next question, like some of the stars that you came across.

00:16:47.374 --> 00:16:51.846
Now I understand it, because after a while you do it enough, it becomes kind of every day.

00:16:51.846 --> 00:16:55.984
But there had to have there had to have been at least one or two stars.

00:16:55.984 --> 00:16:59.724
The first time you saw them it was like, oh my god, I can't believe it.

00:17:02.057 --> 00:17:02.559
You know what?

00:17:02.559 --> 00:17:05.193
I never springsteen wasn't around.

00:17:05.193 --> 00:17:10.784
Then I Know there was nobody that I was like.

00:17:10.784 --> 00:17:11.365
Now listen.

00:17:11.365 --> 00:17:12.611
On the music side.

00:17:12.611 --> 00:17:27.703
I remember there was one party we were working and Billy Idol Was there and let me put it this way, he came in hot, he was having it, he was having a good time.

00:17:27.903 --> 00:17:38.949
He was Billy Idol, forgot he was Billy Idol, right, right, uh and yeah, so I really don't have, I wasn't star struck, so yeah, nothing really, it was a job.

00:17:38.949 --> 00:17:41.123
It was just that it was a job.

00:17:41.123 --> 00:17:44.384
There were just regular people that happened to be famous.

00:17:44.483 --> 00:17:45.105
I love that, though.

00:17:45.105 --> 00:17:46.519
What did it teach you?

00:17:46.519 --> 00:17:54.474
It must have taught you something you know how to, how to speak to somebody with confidence, how to handle yourself with confidence, how to be comfortable in a room, no matter who was there.

00:17:54.474 --> 00:17:59.034
There had to be lessons there that you're learning and picking up, that are gonna help you in your further career.

00:17:59.054 --> 00:18:03.700
Oh, yeah, because you know we're In anything you do.

00:18:03.700 --> 00:18:12.386
You know, if you're, whatever you doing your job Workthrone, a party, whatever it's you got to pay attention to the details, yeah, right.

00:18:12.386 --> 00:18:19.455
So any assignment we had, especially when it was gonna be a big party or they knew we got to handle the Talent.

00:18:19.455 --> 00:18:26.867
You know it was like they would line us up and be like I listen, don't screw this up, right, you know this is here's, who's gonna be here?

00:18:26.867 --> 00:18:28.194
No, this is what you got to do.

00:18:28.194 --> 00:18:57.275
All right, listen, you guys can have a good time, but it's later, you know, and and so what it taught us was like we got a lot of responsibility because, like there was in Radio City Music Hall I think it was the night of the 100 stars, so one of my jobs and I Forget who I had with me there was like three or four people that I were responsible for and I had to get them to the point at the stage.

00:18:57.275 --> 00:19:01.064
We you know where you can step in, and it comes up from underneath.

00:19:01.505 --> 00:19:07.483
Oh sure a riser yeah yeah, and so Now imagine if I screwed that up.

00:19:07.483 --> 00:19:23.362
But they're leaving this to an 18 year old, 19 year old, 20 year old a lot of responsibility, yeah yeah, right, and thank God, knock on wood, we didn't screw anything up right, he didn't kill anybody.

00:19:28.435 --> 00:19:39.758
And you know it was, and again, you didn't realize like we really could have made some major problems for many people, but we didn't.

00:19:39.758 --> 00:19:41.324
And you know what they?

00:19:41.324 --> 00:19:45.394
They trusted us and I guess there was a reason that they trusted us.

00:19:45.394 --> 00:19:50.847
Uh, it was, by the way, the job wasn't easy to get, yeah, right.

00:19:50.847 --> 00:19:53.759
So God knows how I got it.

00:19:53.759 --> 00:19:57.307
Well, maybe I do know right because because of my dad, because of my brother.

00:19:58.654 --> 00:19:59.778
You did have a connection?

00:19:59.778 --> 00:20:04.127
I had a connection, but you know what, if I wasn't performing, that would have been out.

00:20:04.976 --> 00:20:07.084
So how did you, how did you grow with them?

00:20:08.414 --> 00:20:14.234
Well, so you, the cool part is, you get to meet everybody within the television network, right?

00:20:14.234 --> 00:20:19.887
And so when you finally graduate school, you know, now you're looking for that full-time job.

00:20:19.887 --> 00:20:24.163
And so you and you're, you're exposed to the inner openings.

00:20:24.163 --> 00:20:44.686
And so I, you know, once I graduated, I got it, I got a job, uh, and then progressed through the, you know, through the company, as best I could, as, as time went on um, and you know, it wasn't in my mind, it wasn't that difficult, I think, because I was looking from the inside and they already knew who I was yeah.

00:20:45.615 --> 00:20:48.623
So, as you're, you're growing with the company.

00:20:48.623 --> 00:20:52.784
You know, ultimately, we we know that you pivot elsewhere.

00:20:52.784 --> 00:20:57.348
So, as you're growing with the company, did it always feel like a job?

00:20:57.348 --> 00:20:59.159
Did you feel like there was a future?

00:20:59.159 --> 00:21:03.147
Was there something that you were excited about, or or was something missing?

00:21:03.976 --> 00:21:04.739
So it was.

00:21:04.739 --> 00:21:05.804
It was a job.

00:21:05.804 --> 00:21:16.026
Listen, I, I gotta make more money, I gotta make more money, I want to progress, want to progress, and and I was, it was getting promoted, you know, getting into the lower level management.

00:21:16.026 --> 00:21:21.403
But understand, I, you know, I think my first job I, I I forget, but I think maybe it was like 18 grand.

00:21:21.403 --> 00:21:22.244
Do you know what I mean?

00:21:22.244 --> 00:21:32.980
Like, you know, income wise, we weren't knocking the cover off the ball, but you know, making money, having nice benefits and doing what I thought I was supposed to be doing.

00:21:32.980 --> 00:21:43.635
And then, um, as things progressed At abc, they would pay for your education if you wanted to go back for a masters, right.

00:21:43.655 --> 00:21:50.922
So I'm sitting there thinking like, okay, if they're paying me by then, you know, maybe it was 23 000 dollars.

00:21:50.922 --> 00:21:57.223
Like, well, wait a minute, if I go to school that cost a lot of money, oh hell, I'm gonna let them pay for it.

00:21:57.223 --> 00:22:04.747
And so I went back for my masters and I did marketing and I did finance.

00:22:04.747 --> 00:22:06.313
I actually got two masters.

00:22:06.313 --> 00:22:07.917
Now Now, why?

00:22:07.917 --> 00:22:08.559
Cool?

00:22:08.559 --> 00:22:13.434
Because I remember being in there and I'm like, well, you know, finance will apply to anything.

00:22:13.434 --> 00:22:16.041
Let me do finance and well, marketing.

00:22:16.041 --> 00:22:17.586
Well, if I ever start my business.

00:22:17.586 --> 00:22:22.847
I gotta know marketing and I remember being in the in the college and they're like, well, you know, that's like twice as expensive.

00:22:22.847 --> 00:22:24.441
I'm like, yeah, don't worry about it, I got.

00:22:25.516 --> 00:22:31.012
Not paying for it Because all, and back then I think I was the last one through the system.

00:22:31.012 --> 00:22:38.608
Literally, back then you had to get a B or better and they paid for it, and they paid for the whole, the whole thing.

00:22:38.608 --> 00:22:39.377
God love them.

00:22:40.194 --> 00:22:47.068
Yeah, so you just said something about if I start my business, I need to know something about marketing.

00:22:47.068 --> 00:22:54.047
That does that mean that Along the way you were thinking about starting a business, and what was that business?

00:22:55.276 --> 00:22:57.123
I don't think about starting a business.

00:22:57.123 --> 00:22:58.507
I do realize.

00:22:58.507 --> 00:23:09.345
I did realize, and still today I'm not a corporate guy, right, like you know, I need to be doing something.

00:23:09.345 --> 00:23:15.436
I'll tend not to follow rules that well if they don't seem to make sense to me.

00:23:15.436 --> 00:23:28.460
And as we progressed and Larry, if you remember the business at lunchtime 12 to two, nothing got done in that industry back then.

00:23:28.460 --> 00:23:30.396
Yep, a two-hour lunch.

00:23:30.839 --> 00:23:31.584
With martinis.

00:23:31.664 --> 00:23:36.277
Yeah, the martini lunch oh my God, yeah, it was just unbelievable.

00:23:36.277 --> 00:23:38.938
Unproductive but unbelievable.

00:23:38.938 --> 00:23:47.654
And so I can remember saying to the person I reported to after a while, like hey, listen, I'm gonna go home now.

00:23:48.571 --> 00:23:49.494
And he's like what do you mean?

00:23:49.494 --> 00:23:50.157
You're gonna go home.

00:23:50.157 --> 00:23:51.756
I said there's nothing to do.

00:23:51.756 --> 00:23:52.458
What are we doing?

00:23:52.458 --> 00:23:53.894
Is I just gonna go home?

00:23:53.894 --> 00:24:03.712
I'm sitting here and I'll use a term that many listeners may not be able to relate to I'm going through my Rolodex calling people just to have chats.

00:24:03.712 --> 00:24:04.717
Do you know what I mean?

00:24:04.717 --> 00:24:11.979
And that's something that just drives me nuts, like if I'm not being productive, I'm wasting time.

00:24:11.979 --> 00:24:19.436
I can't waste time, and I think part of that all goes back to my pop pass in a way early.

00:24:19.436 --> 00:24:22.699
How much time do we have on this planet?

00:24:22.699 --> 00:24:25.278
I don't wanna waste a minute.

00:24:26.653 --> 00:24:34.417
Is that what then spurred you to start your financial services company, this notion of wanting to help family?

00:24:34.911 --> 00:24:37.576
Oh, no, I'd be.

00:24:37.576 --> 00:24:41.194
Initially it was like, okay, I gotta progress.

00:24:41.194 --> 00:24:44.457
We had a child coming.

00:24:44.457 --> 00:24:46.722
There's five kids, right?

00:24:46.722 --> 00:24:48.796
So Louis was coming.

00:24:48.796 --> 00:24:55.076
And before Louis was coming I was like, all right, we've gotta, really, I gotta make things happen here.

00:24:55.076 --> 00:24:56.494
Right, how are we gonna have a life?

00:24:57.069 --> 00:25:07.659
I think initially the motivation was fear and fear of how am I gonna provide right and make this all happen.

00:25:07.659 --> 00:25:13.541
And I think that was the motivator.

00:25:13.541 --> 00:25:18.276
It's like, all right, after I get my MBAs, what am I gonna do with this?

00:25:18.276 --> 00:25:28.240
And I have to tell you, I graduated with the MBAs, louis was born and I took a six-month leave.

00:25:28.240 --> 00:25:32.439
Now, and God bless Collette, my wife.

00:25:32.439 --> 00:25:33.561
She was working.

00:25:33.561 --> 00:25:42.121
She was a sales assistant at Lazard Freire in the city, so we had income coming from her, we had benefits.

00:25:42.121 --> 00:25:45.537
But think of looking back.

00:25:45.537 --> 00:25:48.213
There's no way now that I would ever do that again.

00:25:48.213 --> 00:25:59.086
Right, because I'm taking a six-month leave, knowing that, not coming back, and I'm gonna go find the business.

00:25:59.086 --> 00:26:04.997
I'm gonna go find something to do because I really gotta make way more money than what I'm doing at the moment.

00:26:05.170 --> 00:26:13.756
So you didn't know what the business was yet no, no so during that six-month period of time is when you figured things out.

00:26:14.369 --> 00:26:15.794
Yeah, now I did have.

00:26:15.794 --> 00:26:18.951
I'm thinking finance, right, that's.

00:26:18.951 --> 00:26:37.134
I'm thinking, okay, this is where I've got maybe the potential to really earn a living, if you will, right, and if you guys have ever looked for jobs and if you ever look in the world of finance, that they're always.

00:26:37.134 --> 00:26:42.248
And now I'm talking about, like you know, sales right in finance, right, right right right.

00:26:43.131 --> 00:26:47.881
In this industry, the turnover ratio is over 90%.

00:26:47.881 --> 00:26:49.171
Wow, wow, right.

00:26:49.171 --> 00:26:50.236
It's crazy.

00:26:50.236 --> 00:26:55.112
Like if they got 10 people in a training class, they're happy.

00:26:55.112 --> 00:27:03.636
If two were still around after eight weeks and if one is still there a year later, right, it's very intense.

00:27:03.636 --> 00:27:08.275
But when you're looking for a job and you raise your hand, oh my God, everybody's calling.

00:27:08.275 --> 00:27:12.199
Right, you think, because you look so good to them.

00:27:12.199 --> 00:27:15.073
But you're just a number, right you?

00:27:15.093 --> 00:27:15.535
know what I mean?

00:27:15.752 --> 00:27:21.297
You're just the body right, yeah, right, because they gotta go 10, 3, 1, right, you know they gotta talk to 10 people.

00:27:21.297 --> 00:27:24.077
3, 8, we'll give it a shot and maybe one's gonna last.

00:27:24.077 --> 00:27:29.060
And so you know I'm down.

00:27:29.060 --> 00:27:32.759
And now, by the way, we are now for years.

00:27:32.759 --> 00:27:37.098
So when we got married I wanted to buy something.

00:27:37.098 --> 00:27:41.076
Right, and I don't know if you guys remember this is back 85, the.

00:27:41.518 --> 00:27:44.213
It was real estate markets like it is today.

00:27:44.213 --> 00:27:51.039
It was a very hot market and you know, anything near the city was just crazy expensive.

00:27:51.039 --> 00:27:54.536
Everybody was buying co-ops, but I didn't wanna live in an apartment building.

00:27:54.536 --> 00:27:56.020
You know where we ended up?

00:27:56.020 --> 00:27:58.637
We ended up down in Bucks County, pennsylvania.

00:27:58.877 --> 00:28:19.599
No kidding, I don't know if you guys know Newtown, right, which absolutely beautiful down there, and because we were looking in Jersey further, you go out like you can get something, and so we get this like townhouse down there and it was dynamite, but it was like a two hour and change commute each way.

00:28:19.599 --> 00:28:30.198
It was crazy, and as kids we didn't even check what the train ticket cost and when we first looked at the monthly it was like 120 bucks each.

00:28:30.198 --> 00:28:31.634
Now, remember that's.

00:28:31.634 --> 00:28:43.294
You know, now we're talking like 1991 or so, right, when, yeah, no, no, it was no, yeah, it was probably 87, somewhere in there.

00:28:43.294 --> 00:28:47.494
Like that was a lot of money and it was just like now.

00:28:47.494 --> 00:28:58.673
But that train ride and now, listen, it's Collette and I coming back and forth I was still working at ABC and so that's where I did a lot of my studying was on the train.

00:28:59.289 --> 00:28:59.853
Oh, interesting.

00:29:00.390 --> 00:29:10.211
Right, because so I had that downtime and I was doing something Right, and then I would hit the classes while I was up here, hit the classes at night, but it was.

00:29:10.211 --> 00:29:15.497
You know, that was torture, but we were lucky though.

00:29:15.970 --> 00:29:24.777
Yeah, lou, I just have to ask because you mentioned early on when we were talking, you weren't a great student, but obviously you had to get the B for them to pay for the education and so forth.

00:29:24.777 --> 00:29:35.257
So I guess I have two questions right here before we kick off on like what's about to be your rocket and career, which is, were you good at the financial stuff?

00:29:35.257 --> 00:29:38.333
Were you a good student at this point and did you enjoy it?

00:29:38.333 --> 00:29:39.958
I think, more importantly, yeah.

00:29:40.670 --> 00:29:46.701
When you go to grad school, I was tuned in because it all meant something.

00:29:46.701 --> 00:29:53.957
Right College was like I'm just learning stuff like high school, maybe a little bit higher level, like is any of this going to apply?

00:29:53.957 --> 00:29:58.575
But when you go into grad school it's like, oh no, no, this is.

00:29:58.575 --> 00:30:00.596
Oh, my God, this, I'm dialed in.

00:30:00.710 --> 00:30:01.955
You were dialed in, yeah, exactly.

00:30:02.491 --> 00:30:04.318
Oh, grad school, yeah, I was getting A's.

00:30:04.318 --> 00:30:09.182
I did a very good job in my MBAs, that's for sure.

00:30:09.182 --> 00:30:17.936
And listen, in college I think I graduated with like a 3.2, right, which is it's okay, right.

00:30:18.156 --> 00:30:19.641
Yep and and.

00:30:20.355 --> 00:30:20.738
It's a B.

00:30:20.738 --> 00:30:21.666
You gotta be it's a B.

00:30:21.666 --> 00:30:23.978
Yeah right, it's a.

00:30:23.998 --> 00:30:25.013
B, it means you show it up.

00:30:25.892 --> 00:30:32.082
Yeah, I show it up right, but this is what I try to tell the young people.

00:30:32.082 --> 00:30:36.258
It's like listen college yeah, you'll learn stuff, but you know what it is.

00:30:36.258 --> 00:30:40.595
You just show people that you can show up somewhere for four years and get it done.

00:30:40.654 --> 00:30:41.478
That's right, exactly.

00:30:41.478 --> 00:30:44.258
So you got all that stuff behind you.

00:30:44.258 --> 00:30:50.378
You started to talk about the process of going into, you know, one of these financial institutions.

00:30:50.378 --> 00:30:54.195
There are a ton of people walking in the door, nobody's sticking.

00:30:54.195 --> 00:30:56.797
Is that what you did next?

00:30:56.797 --> 00:30:58.862
Was that your step into this world?

00:30:59.685 --> 00:31:07.134
Yes, right, my six month leave, you know Colette would would be doing the commute to work.

00:31:07.134 --> 00:31:22.868
I stayed down in down in PA and hung out with Lewis and, and I was looking, while I was down there, I even took him on an interview with him, with me, and that's where I began.

00:31:22.868 --> 00:31:36.365
I began down in Philadelphia and then, after I think maybe 24 months, I said to Colette, like okay, we got to go back up because all of the business, all of the contacts were back up here in the city.

00:31:36.365 --> 00:31:42.077
Yeah, so I was working, philadelphia and the New York market, going back and forth, staying overnight.

00:31:42.077 --> 00:31:45.214
You know it was, it was torture.

00:31:45.214 --> 00:31:48.709
But eventually I said the clan, okay, we got to move back up.

00:31:48.709 --> 00:31:53.525
And she could not packed her bags fast enough because you know her parents were back up here.

00:31:53.846 --> 00:31:54.767
Of course up here.

00:31:54.767 --> 00:31:57.953
So so what is that process at the beginning?

00:31:57.953 --> 00:32:00.638
I mean, do you walk in with with no clients?

00:32:00.638 --> 00:32:04.252
No, nothing like straight commission, like, like what?

00:32:04.252 --> 00:32:06.698
What is your life when you walk into that role?

00:32:07.306 --> 00:32:09.314
Yeah, there is no base pay.

00:32:09.314 --> 00:32:14.413
There is, there's, there's nothing, if you you know they.

00:32:14.413 --> 00:32:19.991
They initially gave you a desk without rent and that was it.

00:32:19.991 --> 00:32:28.589
You had to pay for the phone, you had to pay for everything you have nothing I had nothing and you know, you know, keep in mind.

00:32:28.651 --> 00:32:43.059
Now I've got to tell Colette this and, more importantly and if Colette was in on this conversation, she's the one, yeah, I'm the one that had a Answer to your mother, because my mother would be like one I'm leaving ABC, right?

00:32:43.059 --> 00:32:44.724
So I'm leaving the family business, right?

00:32:44.724 --> 00:32:50.028
Yeah, right, I'm leaving ABC, and she would say to collect that.

00:32:50.028 --> 00:32:51.571
Explain this to me.

00:32:51.571 --> 00:32:53.797
He's leaving and he doesn't have a pay.

00:32:56.008 --> 00:32:57.191
No, there's no benefits.

00:32:57.191 --> 00:32:59.616
Apparently, your mother has spoken to my mother.

00:33:04.125 --> 00:33:12.565
Now, now understand Colette's scared, enough as it is right, and my mother's speaking logic Right and collects like I don't know.

00:33:12.565 --> 00:33:20.949
So to look, so, yeah, you start now, you start out and you start with nothing and You've got to build it from there.

00:33:20.949 --> 00:33:41.345
Now, the one thing that I did have and there's actually two things that are very different Than the now so one, I had all my contacts back up in the media industry, right, so I'm not fresh out of school, like I'm fresh out of my MBA, but not not out of college, right?

00:33:41.345 --> 00:33:48.189
So I got some years under my belt where people knew me and I said, hey, listen, you know, I finished up my MBA, I'm starting the business.

00:33:48.189 --> 00:33:52.664
I want to come and tell you what the hell I'm doing and how I may be of some help.

00:33:52.664 --> 00:33:56.310
All right, and we're off to the races.

00:33:56.731 --> 00:34:02.711
So how long did it take you to, let's say, land your first client, and what was and what was that experience like?

00:34:02.711 --> 00:34:04.978
How long did it take you to land that first client?

00:34:06.027 --> 00:34:16.146
Yeah, the first client is always like, and I do think my, my sister-in-law, and was that the first person that actually did some work with me, right?

00:34:16.146 --> 00:34:21.289
So those are kind of like they're helping out, right, right, but you know what I mean.

00:34:21.289 --> 00:34:34.344
I think they're the first Non family member you know might have been in like four weeks, you know, maybe took a month, but God, in the beginning, how many appointments that I have to go on.

00:34:34.344 --> 00:34:59.822
And, and in the beginning you know, luckily, I didn't have to make that many cold calls, right, because I had many people that I could reach out to, but still, in the beginning, had to make some cold calls, right, because you got, I always had two piles right, the cold calls and the people that I know, and I was not bashful at all beating.

00:34:59.822 --> 00:35:04.253
Anytime I met somebody, I always asked them hey, help me out, help my business grow.

00:35:04.253 --> 00:35:18.914
Who else do you know that you know I should be talking to and I have to tell you people, people are good, and especially in New Yorkers, that they they when you, you ask for help, that normally will help.

00:35:18.914 --> 00:35:25.525
And, by the way, if you did a good job for them, if you had confidence in what you're doing.

00:35:25.525 --> 00:35:32.177
I was in bashful asking because I know I would do a good job and people gave me referrals.

00:35:32.958 --> 00:35:37.393
And then it just you have to stay consistent, you have to stay active.

00:35:37.393 --> 00:35:42.708
It's all about activity, and one there's a.

00:35:42.708 --> 00:35:45.032
There's this person, al Granum.

00:35:45.032 --> 00:35:55.512
He passed away now, but he had a system and it was a hundred point system and so for every activity, each day, you got a point right.

00:35:55.512 --> 00:35:57.891
So if you had an appointment, you got a point.

00:35:57.891 --> 00:36:03.813
If you were able to Do a fact fine, which is gather info and whatnot, you got another point.

00:36:03.813 --> 00:36:08.679
If you broke bread, you know, if you had a meal with them, you got a point.

00:36:08.679 --> 00:36:11.192
And every referral, you got a half a point.

00:36:11.192 --> 00:36:14.322
And the goal was to get a hundred points a month.

00:36:14.322 --> 00:36:19.476
And I Delivied a hundred points and then some every freaking month.

00:36:19.858 --> 00:36:22.364
Wow, and, and that's and it's not easy.

00:36:22.364 --> 00:36:28.927
And I have to tell you, I remember you know, talking to the In the beginning, they would.

00:36:28.927 --> 00:36:31.353
You know the, the person that's trying to help you out.

00:36:31.353 --> 00:36:32.755
You know your mentor.

00:36:32.755 --> 00:36:36.047
If you will right, you know they are you killing it.

00:36:36.047 --> 00:36:38.552
Yeah, you know this is gonna really be fantastic.

00:36:38.552 --> 00:36:41.679
I'm like listen, the mortgage company doesn't take points.

00:36:41.679 --> 00:36:44.753
Yeah, right, you know what I mean?

00:36:44.753 --> 00:36:45.416
Yeah, and.

00:36:45.416 --> 00:36:48.505
And the answer was you keep doing what you're doing.

00:36:48.505 --> 00:36:52.605
I guarantee you that this will become a successful business.

00:36:53.286 --> 00:36:54.512
So how old are you at this?

00:36:54.512 --> 00:36:57.264
But you know, we've kind of it, we've kind of kind of danced around a little bit.

00:36:57.264 --> 00:36:58.730
How old are you at this point?

00:36:58.730 --> 00:37:10.333
So I am 26, all right, that's why you have so much energy to jump all over the place, oh my god right, right.

00:37:10.452 --> 00:37:13.778
I'm 26 and I'm ready to go.

00:37:14.867 --> 00:37:15.168
All right.

00:37:15.168 --> 00:37:19.364
So you've kind of thrown your shingle out there a little bit to get yourself, to get yourself up and running.

00:37:19.364 --> 00:37:24.713
How long was it, would you say, before you, let's say, got yourself to a point where you were?

00:37:26.347 --> 00:37:27.972
Were, you were more than breaking even.

00:37:27.972 --> 00:37:31.463
Yeah or not, quitting once a week?

00:37:31.543 --> 00:37:34.934
Yes, or being told to quit once a week.

00:37:37.166 --> 00:37:37.646
Once a week.

00:37:37.646 --> 00:37:38.469
Okay, we'll go there.

00:37:39.070 --> 00:37:41.518
Yeah, so you know it.

00:37:41.518 --> 00:37:46.697
In the beginning it's, it's very tough, but here's, here's the deal.

00:37:46.697 --> 00:37:50.411
If you have something to fall back on, you will.

00:37:50.411 --> 00:37:56.804
I had nothing to fall back on, right like I disconnected from the old job.

00:37:56.804 --> 00:38:03.380
You know I left and so I had to be successful.

00:38:04.206 --> 00:38:05.387
And so great motivator.

00:38:05.789 --> 00:38:06.449
No it is.

00:38:06.449 --> 00:38:11.659
We are at our best when our back is up against the wall and we are scared.

00:38:11.659 --> 00:38:25.221
And probably took ten years for me to be like, okay, right, and now listen, the the momentum was always there.

00:38:25.221 --> 00:38:36.875
People would say, oh my god, you know this is great, you know you're getting this, everything's progressing, but you know, internally you're still thinking like, oh my god, this could fall apart any second.

00:38:36.875 --> 00:38:45.369
Yeah, right, but after about a decade is when you you take a breath and go, okay, maybe I got this.

00:38:45.369 --> 00:38:46.655
It's a long time.

00:38:47.465 --> 00:38:49.693
So, Lou, we, we.

00:38:49.693 --> 00:38:54.795
We sort of Skipped past this question, and it's perfectly fine to put it here.

00:38:54.795 --> 00:38:57.570
Why did you choose this?

00:38:57.570 --> 00:38:58.192
What?

00:38:58.192 --> 00:39:02.099
Why did you step into this space versus using your MBA to do something else?

00:39:02.099 --> 00:39:04.208
It just fit.

00:39:04.349 --> 00:39:06.134
I don't have a magic answer for that.

00:39:06.134 --> 00:39:06.996
Do you know what I mean?

00:39:06.996 --> 00:39:19.523
Like, when I was out there interviewing and the these are the jobs that came to me, meaning like, hey, you want to be a planner?

00:39:19.523 --> 00:39:22.068
This, this, here's how.

00:39:22.168 --> 00:39:33.130
And I tell all the young people, everything that the recruiters tell you are true, right, that you're standing here to the left, right, everything they're talking about is way over here to the right.

00:39:33.130 --> 00:39:37.219
Right, meaning that the, the income potential is unlimited.

00:39:37.219 --> 00:39:44.896
You can have control of your time, you run your own business, but everything they're talking about is way over here to the right.

00:39:44.896 --> 00:39:49.847
And you got to walk through this valley and in this valley there's a lot of bones right.

00:39:49.847 --> 00:40:04.838
And so, when they described what it could be to me and the Ability, hey, the harder you work, the more this will build, the more you can provide for your family.

00:40:04.838 --> 00:40:06.710
You're in control.

00:40:06.710 --> 00:40:09.885
Control, I think, is extremely important.

00:40:09.885 --> 00:40:19.411
Um, you know, you know I, it's yours if you want to have it, but you got to want it because this is not.

00:40:19.411 --> 00:40:20.514
There's a lot of other things.

00:40:20.514 --> 00:40:26.860
You can do that to be mediocre in a way, less stressful, all right.

00:40:27.021 --> 00:40:34.880
So you just a moment ago said like this is that this is the profession that has fit with you the most, and I guess I kind of want to dive into that just a little bit more.

00:40:34.880 --> 00:40:35.543
Is it because it?

00:40:35.543 --> 00:40:44.809
Is it because of the idea of the, the fulfillment of it, because you're not just out there, you know, like like a shark, essentially, you know going out and scooping money from a river, so to speak.

00:40:44.809 --> 00:40:49.250
You are no out there Building wealth for others, you're helping others.

00:40:50.081 --> 00:40:52.465
Yeah, think about what I do for a living.

00:40:52.465 --> 00:40:57.914
Right, all I do is have great conversations with people that they don't have with anybody else.

00:40:57.914 --> 00:41:02.811
Right, when we're talking about their, their, their dreams, their fears.

00:41:02.811 --> 00:41:07.213
In act, you know things that they can't do on their own.

00:41:07.213 --> 00:41:10.927
They may not be good with money, it is.

00:41:10.927 --> 00:41:28.965
It is one of the best Professions and you make a difference in people's lives, like the best things for me is when a client and listen, now We've got clients for literally you know 30 years when they'll say to me hey, listen, man, you know, I first met you.

00:41:28.965 --> 00:41:35.724
All I had was debt and and, by the way that you know, I was never, A person.

00:41:35.764 --> 00:41:48.784
You know I was never a person like, oh, I'm only gonna talk to wealthy people, right, like Many of our clients, some of our biggest clients, when I first met them, they just had debt right.

00:41:48.784 --> 00:41:55.021
And so they'll say to me, hey, man, I, when I first met you, all I had was that you know what I want to thank you.

00:41:55.021 --> 00:42:01.280
You know we, we save for education, you know, for the kids, colleges, you know we put money away for the back end.

00:42:01.280 --> 00:42:04.469
That is just dynamite.

00:42:04.469 --> 00:42:13.119
And then, by the way, I get to live all the great things with my clients right, all the successes, you know promotions, buying and selling businesses, all that great stuff.

00:42:13.985 --> 00:42:29.077
And I also live all the crappy things in life and those moments when someone calls and says, hey, listen, you know, I just got diagnosed right, someone passed away, you know, disabled, and we did the planning right.

00:42:29.077 --> 00:42:31.581
Where, hey, hey, you're in.

00:42:31.581 --> 00:42:33.469
You put yourself in a very good position.

00:42:33.469 --> 00:42:34.110
We're okay.

00:42:34.110 --> 00:42:38.045
You know, we got the defenses up through this, this is what we planned for.

00:42:38.045 --> 00:42:50.199
I cannot tell you how Fantastic it is to be able to look back on that body of work and say you know what we did well for our clients.

00:42:51.141 --> 00:42:54.771
I love that you're talking about some negative aspects of it too, though.

00:42:54.771 --> 00:43:00.349
Right, like because life happens, like you say, someone gets diagnosed or what have you I want to ask you about?

00:43:00.349 --> 00:43:16.659
About something very probably personal, because you take pride in your work, but I'm sure it happens to everybody, and that's like how you're handling a miscalculation or a letting a client down, or you know, hey, I thought we had this handled and we're gonna have to pivot here because this isn't gonna work out.

00:43:16.659 --> 00:43:25.806
That's got to be devastating for you when you think you have all the plans in place and something Didn't work out the way you anticipated, or something of that nature.

00:43:25.806 --> 00:43:27.329
Talk about that downside a little bit.

00:43:27.992 --> 00:43:30.161
Yeah, and you know what On?

00:43:30.161 --> 00:43:33.367
I call it defense and offensive planning, right.

00:43:33.367 --> 00:43:39.226
So, on the defensive side, you know we cover all of the topics right.

00:43:39.226 --> 00:43:50.503
So, and it's pretty straightforward, right, it's your will planning, it's your life insurance, it's your disability insurance, a long-term care, right, life insurance.

00:43:50.503 --> 00:43:53.324
And so we cover all of those pieces.

00:43:53.384 --> 00:44:04.420
So I am very now also, I do realize too, like when I'm talking defense, I'm coming from a life knowing that shit happens, right, right.

00:44:04.420 --> 00:44:13.608
And so when I talk defense, I'm very much, I see, I think defense, see, everybody wants to talk offense, people will talk investments.

00:44:13.608 --> 00:44:24.690
I want the markets doing right, you know, for hours, but In a moment's notice our defensive conversations can become the most important.

00:44:24.690 --> 00:44:32.590
And so you know, on the defensive side, usually there there's never been I like, oh, I wish we did something better.

00:44:32.590 --> 00:44:33.664
Do you know what I mean?

00:44:33.664 --> 00:44:35.329
Because we're covering it right.

00:44:36.081 --> 00:44:42.311
The offensive side is very much Any, any offensive conversation.

00:44:42.311 --> 00:44:48.809
You know, if we're talking about the market, right, I'll always start in the conversation with look what I'm about to tell you.

00:44:48.809 --> 00:44:50.552
In three bucks, we'll get you on with some boy.

00:44:50.552 --> 00:45:14.152
Right, because, because nobody knows what the market's gonna do tomorrow, you know next week, you know, next year on the investment side, it is the the toughest part of the job there is managing people's expectations and Also managing all of the fear, you know is the fear of losing out.

00:45:14.612 --> 00:45:33.233
Right, it's a fear of loss, and a lot of the financial decision, the investment decisions especially people are handling them on on their own are come out of fear, and that's the worst position to be in, you know, if you're responding to what's happening in the short term.

00:45:33.233 --> 00:45:52.148
So when I look back over the years, I don't have, you know, moments of like, ah, man, I wish we did this or did that, because you know, quite frankly, it's like no, we, we covered it because that that's, that's what we're paid to do.

00:45:52.148 --> 00:45:53.231
Do you know what I mean?

00:45:53.231 --> 00:45:56.588
And and you got to be on top of it.

00:45:57.481 --> 00:46:07.054
Well, you know, I, as somebody who has been working with Lou for a very long time, I often hear you in my head screaming we don't time the market like.

00:46:07.054 --> 00:46:10.706
You say that all the time, and it's true, because you're not a gambler.

00:46:10.706 --> 00:46:16.751
That's not your philosophy and that's not how people grow and evolve.

00:46:17.795 --> 00:46:20.282
No, it's not about time in the market.

00:46:20.282 --> 00:46:22.927
It's about timing your investments to your goals.

00:46:22.927 --> 00:46:28.447
Right, like, if you've got short-term goals, well, we don't take money, we don't take risk with that money.

00:46:28.447 --> 00:46:30.885
Yeah, if we got midterm, we're all right.

00:46:30.885 --> 00:46:32.594
We're not gonna touch the money for three years.

00:46:32.594 --> 00:46:34.000
You know six years.

00:46:34.000 --> 00:46:35.123
We got time.

00:46:35.123 --> 00:46:36.288
So we invest in.

00:46:36.288 --> 00:46:37.291
The market gets beat up.

00:46:37.291 --> 00:46:38.215
We can wait it out.

00:46:38.215 --> 00:46:40.420
I know we're talking long term.

00:46:40.420 --> 00:46:41.101
Who cares?

00:46:41.101 --> 00:46:44.068
We got years, you know, before we're gonna touch the money.

00:46:44.068 --> 00:46:51.215
But dealing with those emotions, you know that is a major part of the job.

00:46:51.215 --> 00:46:55.934
My biggest job is to make sure my clients don't make the big mistakes in life.

00:46:56.396 --> 00:46:56.615
Yeah.

00:46:56.615 --> 00:47:06.663
So you know, with all of that laid out and and having talked a little bit about the philosophy, you know you've been in the business for 30 years.

00:47:06.663 --> 00:47:11.320
You've established a wonderful Community around yourself.

00:47:11.320 --> 00:47:20.695
You know how would you just describe your practice today, and and what do you see as the future of the practice and, in some ways, the future of loot?

00:47:21.436 --> 00:47:41.795
I looked at the practice now and you know it's a family capital partners, right, and what I'm really describing in that name is that we're a Multifamily office, meaning that our clients, we help them with all of their planning and decisions.

00:47:41.795 --> 00:47:49.224
Quite often, you know, we get all the calls right like hey, lou, I think I'm gonna, you know, shyly survive this car, right.

00:47:49.224 --> 00:47:57.367
I'm talking about the minutiae On top of the bigger hey, education, retirement and estate planning and all those other pieces.

00:47:57.367 --> 00:48:08.034
And we partner With other family members and their other trusted advisors and we approach it as a, as a team.

00:48:08.034 --> 00:48:11.795
But most importantly, it's all about education, right.

00:48:11.795 --> 00:48:23.661
So we educate our existing clients and, larry, like you said, you know I sometimes I hear you in the, in the, you know the back of my mind, right, and I hear that a lot on all different topics.

00:48:23.661 --> 00:48:42.947
And but here's the most important part, not only over Educating our clients, but for many of our families now we're three generations deep, wow, right, grandma and grandpa clients, mom and dad, and now the kids are clients, and so what we focus in on is educating the children as well.

00:48:42.947 --> 00:48:55.974
So quite often we're working with our clients children when you know that everybody's different, right, so it might be 15, 16, it might be so when someone, a child's finally 25 and they're starting to mature, if you will.

00:48:55.974 --> 00:49:08.403
But we start to teach them the basics, right, and so when they start their first job now, they're dangerous right, because they understand what a 401k is and investing and the planning.

00:49:08.403 --> 00:49:20.882
But more importantly, you know, we, the, the biggest job is to make sure our clients are okay for the rest of the lives and then moving this money to the next generation.

00:49:21.653 --> 00:49:34.083
And Often when I tell my clients, listen, we, we, we got to start educating the kids and and give them an understanding of what you do and why, and usually they'll say to me initially, listen, they're on a need-to-know basis.

00:49:34.083 --> 00:49:39.635
And I tell them no, no, no, listen, that's a huge mistake.

00:49:39.635 --> 00:49:44.402
Right is eventually we're gonna give them the keys to this Maserati, right?

00:49:44.402 --> 00:49:47.630
The Maserati is the network, right, we're gonna give them the keys.

00:49:47.630 --> 00:49:51.295
If we don't teach them how to drive, they're gonna wrap this car around the tree.

00:49:51.295 --> 00:50:00.070
You know, in this country, you know the the first generation to make money, you know, moves it to the next generation.

00:50:00.070 --> 00:50:07.414
That next generation loses 70% of it and by the time it gets to the third generation, it's gone Wow.

00:50:07.414 --> 00:50:27.005
And so you know the the future of this practice is, you know, maintaining those family connections, being able to Advise and service the families through a position of understanding and empathy.

00:50:27.005 --> 00:50:33.400
I think empathy is, is is key In everything that we do.

00:50:34.123 --> 00:50:38.278
I love how you're talking about Educating the clients too.

00:50:38.278 --> 00:50:39.382
I think that's so important.

00:50:39.382 --> 00:50:41.807
There's so much we all don't know about this world.

00:50:41.807 --> 00:50:56.983
But one of the things you said early on in this conversation is the most important thing you do is listening and and I have to be honest with you, I love my financial advisor, but I'm getting a little jealous that there's a little bit of a Financial therapy session that seems to happen when people are talking to you.

00:50:56.983 --> 00:50:59.248
That seems like a really viable thing.

00:50:59.248 --> 00:51:03.568
What is the absolute most important thing as a financial planner?

00:51:03.568 --> 00:51:04.431
Is it education?

00:51:04.431 --> 00:51:05.175
Is it listening?

00:51:05.175 --> 00:51:06.356
Is it all of the above?

00:51:06.356 --> 00:51:08.521
Just just expound on that a little bit.

00:51:08.862 --> 00:51:31.083
It's listening, you gotta take a step back, right, and when you're speaking with someone, and and, and whether they're talking about an opportunity or something that they're scared of, you really got to listen and find out what are the, the true concerns, right, what's most important to them?

00:51:31.083 --> 00:51:48.059
And the moment when you're talking and, by the way, I hear that quite often, this isn't financial planning, this is financial therapy right, because all the talk about numbers and whatnot kind of important, but what's more important is what's important, what are your goals?

00:51:48.059 --> 00:51:49.438
All right, what do you?

00:51:49.438 --> 00:52:10.501
And so when you're talking to somebody and you relay back to them, so what you're saying is this when they go, like, yeah, that's when you know you connected, right, because you stepped in their shoes, you have empathy for their situation, and now you're planning, right, from a position of clarity.

00:52:10.882 --> 00:52:26.344
And I think what happens often when we're working with our clients, we take these conversations and sometimes they might be complicated Conversations and I tell people, listen, if this was really, you know, brain surgery, I wouldn't be doing it, right, like, do you know what I mean?

00:52:26.344 --> 00:52:40.947
And so I'm able to take these, you know, complex Situations, like if we're talking about, like you know, gifting assets and, oh my god, the attorney's telling me dude, this is the miss, my neighbor's saying this and oh my god, listen, let's take a break, let's take a breath here.

00:52:41.416 --> 00:52:41.916
What's really?

00:52:41.916 --> 00:52:43.141
What are you trying to do?

00:52:43.141 --> 00:52:44.706
What's really important to you?

00:52:44.706 --> 00:53:08.007
Right, and the moment that we gain clarity on that right and we call that Above the planning horizon, right where where the missions and goals are if we get clarity above that planning horizon, then we go below all the tactics and tools, almost just rise to the top magically, because we now got clarity.

00:53:08.007 --> 00:53:19.298
And I think that's what we're able to do for our clients is is provide Clarity in their goals so they can go make some good decisions and Go back to enjoying life.

00:53:19.699 --> 00:53:35.637
Absolutely, and what a rewarding way to Spend your days and to have spent your years Lou, you know, pivoting from that to a, not a not a more meaningful conversation, but a Conversation that is.

00:53:35.637 --> 00:53:36.920
That is as important.

00:53:36.920 --> 00:53:41.170
We know that you're very involved with the Alzheimer's Association.

00:53:41.170 --> 00:53:43.280
Can he talk to us a little bit about that?

00:53:43.541 --> 00:54:05.838
Yeah, and and there's no, no magic there my my brother, gene, that we spoke of before my oldest brother, he got diagnosed when he was 60 and, you know, right after he retired from from ABC he gets diagnosed with Alzheimer's and he just turned 70 this summer and I don't know any.

00:54:05.838 --> 00:54:08.425
Any of you guys had any experience with Alzheimer's.

00:54:09.436 --> 00:54:15.282
My uncle my uncle near the end had was diagnosed with with Alzheimer's.

00:54:15.344 --> 00:54:19.474
Yes, I had a great grandmother who was very senile.

00:54:19.474 --> 00:54:23.927
I was young enough that that I might not be using the right word.

00:54:24.476 --> 00:54:30.206
Yeah, and I think we all know somebody who's struggling with, with, with Alzheimer's it's, it's very scary.

00:54:30.891 --> 00:54:32.157
Oh yeah, and and and.

00:54:32.157 --> 00:54:38.369
By the way, a lot of people relate Alzheimer's and they think it's an old farts disease.

00:54:38.369 --> 00:54:40.518
Right, and it's not.

00:54:40.518 --> 00:54:44.007
It affects many people that are, you know, younger people.

00:54:44.628 --> 00:54:49.780
And and by the way and the more I learn About this, the scarier it gets right.

00:54:49.780 --> 00:55:10.288
So Alzheimer's starts attacking your brain decades, decades before the symptoms arrive, and so many people Could be fighting this disease and they just don't know it because there is, at the moment, there is no early detection, although it's starting to come to the surface now.

00:55:10.288 --> 00:55:11.492
It's like cancer.

00:55:11.492 --> 00:55:13.918
Like you know, we're beating cancer.

00:55:13.918 --> 00:55:22.666
The the biggest factor is finding it early, right, and so the the old-timers, it can be in us now.

00:55:22.666 --> 00:55:27.067
It's like plaque on the brain affecting us and we just don't know it.

00:55:27.869 --> 00:55:29.739
And so you know I watch.

00:55:29.739 --> 00:55:39.420
It is at the moment it is a death sentence and my, my brother, jean, is leaving what they call the late moderate stage.

00:55:39.420 --> 00:55:46.601
You know, getting getting into the late stage of this disease, which is it, is it?

00:55:46.601 --> 00:55:49.222
And now you know?

00:55:49.222 --> 00:55:52.155
Going back to what we discussed, you know my pop died of diabetes.

00:55:52.155 --> 00:56:00.467
I watched my mother passed away from pancreatic cancer and got all the things I've lived through with my clients as well.

00:56:00.467 --> 00:56:05.987
When you watch someone suffer from Alzheimer's, you know it.

00:56:05.987 --> 00:56:11.739
You just watch them waste away and they Forget everything.

00:56:11.739 --> 00:56:31.378
Wow, and if you think about it, you always thought like how the one thing you'd have is all the great time and memories you spent with your family, and this disease takes that and everything else, and so, yeah, I'm involved deeply with the association.

00:56:32.827 --> 00:56:33.007
Lou.

00:56:33.007 --> 00:56:34.411
I mean we've seen some of.

00:56:34.411 --> 00:56:35.012
We've seen some.

00:56:35.012 --> 00:56:36.735
Obviously we've done some of our research.

00:56:36.735 --> 00:56:37.458
We've seen the resume.

00:56:37.458 --> 00:56:41.315
You're still on the Manhattan Board of Directors for the Alzheimer's Association.

00:56:41.315 --> 00:56:47.215
You still your firm is one of the lead sponsors for the Manhattan Walk for Alzheimer's.

00:56:47.215 --> 00:56:54.097
Would you consider yourself at this point in your career more of a philanthropist?

00:56:54.827 --> 00:57:03.507
No, I'm just Lou, I'm just trying to help and I did a.

00:57:03.507 --> 00:57:20.425
We had a party for the top-givers for the association a couple of weeks ago and you know I'm talking to the group and I'm like, listen, you guys got to understand, I'm not some, just some nice guy up here.

00:57:20.425 --> 00:57:31.746
And yeah, you know, I feel bad for my brother, I'm scared as hell, I'm scared about fighting Alzheimer's, I'm scared for my children, right?

00:57:31.746 --> 00:57:37.976
So am I trying to shake the trees and get people involved?

00:57:37.976 --> 00:57:52.637
Yeah, and, by the way, I do think that Alzheimer's is going to become one of the most important fights out there, meaning, so early detection is not here, but it's coming.

00:57:52.637 --> 00:58:11.148
So there's like 6 million people fighting this disease, closer to 7, and there's like 14 million family members trying to take care of them, and they predict that number is going to triple in a short period of time, especially when early detection comes out, and I, you know it's.

00:58:11.650 --> 00:58:17.806
I do think we're on the verge of the explosion of what we're dealing with.

00:58:17.806 --> 00:58:22.657
But just as important, man, this year they just came out with two treatments.

00:58:22.657 --> 00:58:27.431
Now, these treatments are for early stage, so can't help my brother, gene.

00:58:27.431 --> 00:58:29.969
So, but think about that there.

00:58:29.969 --> 00:58:37.150
For early stage, right, alzheimer's, but we got to know that you have it and this is where the early detection comes in.

00:58:37.150 --> 00:58:53.552
And for years and years, the Alzheimer's raised money for research and it was just hope, something's going to come, something's going to come, and this year is the first year where they got two treatments.

00:58:53.552 --> 00:59:07.554
Early detection is in the works and so, like, alzheimer's got like I think like 330 million dollars out there, you know, and that's within 54 different countries, right, and they got like a thousand different research projects cooking.

00:59:07.554 --> 00:59:24.817
You know, it's going to become a very important cause because people are going to realize how large and big it's affecting us and what a great time to be part of it, right, because I can't imagine the last 30 years and nothing was really bubbling to the surface.

00:59:25.478 --> 00:59:25.697
All right.

00:59:25.697 --> 00:59:34.394
So, Lou, I kind of want to circle back to the beginning again and this overriding theme that we've had in this entire entire conversation, the theme of family.

00:59:34.394 --> 00:59:40.204
Right, so you were raised in a rather you had, as you said, you kind of had a wonderful childhood.

00:59:40.204 --> 00:59:43.606
You had a wonderful mother, a very good father you were.

00:59:43.606 --> 00:59:51.485
You went into the family business at ABC, then you created your own business in which you helped families themselves, Would you say.

00:59:51.485 --> 00:59:55.777
Your work now with Alzheimer's is the next family business for you.

00:59:56.025 --> 00:59:57.150
Yeah, they're with us now.

00:59:57.150 --> 01:00:04.295
They're part of our family, right, whether we like it or not, they are now part of our family.

01:00:04.295 --> 01:00:10.077
And now I get to watch them in action and the services they provide.

01:00:10.077 --> 01:00:18.489
You know, because, listen, I watch my system Law, claudia, and God Lover has taken unbelievably good care of my brother, gene.

01:00:18.489 --> 01:00:23.086
But what a toll it takes on somebody, I mean literally.

01:00:23.086 --> 01:00:31.713
Now, you know, gene is like an eight year old with attitude, right, and he's always got to be with Claudia.

01:00:31.713 --> 01:00:40.248
And I think at the moment now, I think I'm the only person that can come and say let's go for a ride, right, and I can take him away.

01:00:40.248 --> 01:00:49.235
But it's about an hour, hour and a half and then he starts getting agitated, right, and he's looking for Claudia, you know, and I got to bring him back.

01:00:49.235 --> 01:00:56.436
So you know, yes, it's, alzheimer's is part of our family now.

01:00:56.436 --> 01:01:04.855
And you know the other thing mentioned in family three of my five kids work with us now, right, wow.

01:01:04.855 --> 01:01:06.297
And I have to tell you.

01:01:06.317 --> 01:01:07.137
What a great feeling.

01:01:08.139 --> 01:01:13.146
Yeah, now listen, it is so cool seeing your kids every day right Now.

01:01:13.146 --> 01:01:17.672
They don't think it's cool Of course not.

01:01:17.672 --> 01:01:27.373
But if you think about when, when your children get older, you're going to see them like twice a year, you know, because they start their own families.

01:01:27.373 --> 01:01:43.452
You got to share the holidays with the other side of the family and how dynamic it is to be able to bounce off of them and helping our family of clients and, of course, helping Alzheimer's as well.

01:01:44.425 --> 01:01:51.277
What an amazing run journey circle, if that's the right word.

01:01:51.277 --> 01:01:52.980
That's what popped into my head in that moment.

01:01:52.980 --> 01:02:12.650
You know, lou, as you deal with, as you dealt with, your kids coming into the practice, as you talk to other young people who are thinking about getting into this type of work, you know what advice do you have or did you give to your kids and to other young people before they enter this world.

01:02:12.804 --> 01:02:22.213
To me it's pretty simple and I've always told my kids you got three rules you got to get up early, you got to stay focused and don't be afraid to fail.

01:02:22.213 --> 01:02:24.389
Those are the three.

01:02:24.389 --> 01:02:32.333
If you run with those three, there's no way that you're not going to be successful Incredible.

01:02:32.333 --> 01:02:33.304
I've got two of those three guys.

01:02:33.304 --> 01:02:34.313
I can't get up early in the morning.

01:02:36.467 --> 01:02:37.670
No matter how hard we try.

01:02:37.670 --> 01:02:39.773
I think I'm out yeah.

01:02:42.246 --> 01:02:42.648
Now listen.

01:02:42.648 --> 01:02:47.291
I drive Colette nuts right Because I'll be up at 4.30 in the morning.

01:02:47.572 --> 01:02:48.215
Oh, my goodness.

01:02:48.646 --> 01:02:50.251
I'm ready to do something.

01:02:50.251 --> 01:02:55.173
I but you know, I think that all goes back to how much time that we have on this planet.

01:02:55.193 --> 01:02:55.755
Yeah, sure.

01:02:55.815 --> 01:02:56.856
The most of it.

01:02:56.936 --> 01:02:58.018
I'm going to bed at 4.30.

01:02:58.487 --> 01:03:00.224
I was going to say what time do you pass out at night?

01:03:00.746 --> 01:03:03.672
Yeah, usually I'm at bed like 9.30, 10 o'clock.

01:03:03.932 --> 01:03:05.556
There you go, there you go.

01:03:05.596 --> 01:03:05.836
Yeah.

01:03:06.885 --> 01:03:13.318
Well, lou, this has been an incredible journey and story, and inspiring one.

01:03:13.318 --> 01:03:19.617
It just feels good to hear about how you've created such an amazing life of purpose.

01:03:19.617 --> 01:03:22.414
So, lou, thank you so much for joining this episode.

01:03:23.047 --> 01:03:25.775
Lou, I got to tell you you made finance seem exciting.

01:03:28.548 --> 01:03:31.034
That's true because it is.

01:03:31.034 --> 01:03:33.297
It is because it's not about the numbers.

01:03:34.085 --> 01:03:35.652
Well, that was Lou Catataro.

01:03:35.652 --> 01:03:46.177
Hopefully he lived up to the expectations that I set going into this conversation and I think he did actually prove and demonstrate that finance can be fun.

01:03:46.364 --> 01:03:49.172
I understand why you trust him.

01:03:49.172 --> 01:03:59.231
You respect him, you consider him your therapist, as you said before we started this interview, and the reason is is because he really does think of his clients as family.

01:03:59.231 --> 01:04:01.728
That is an overarching theme in his life.

01:04:01.728 --> 01:04:19.532
This notion of wanting to take care of family Went into the family business at ABC created a family business which takes care of families, and now, as part of the Alzheimer's Association, he is not only taking care of his own family but he is branched out to say I want to take care of other families as well.

01:04:19.532 --> 01:04:24.134
That's a guy you would call a true mensch in a real sense of the word.

01:04:24.134 --> 01:04:27.713
He really goes out of his way to take care of others.

01:04:27.713 --> 01:04:34.871
And the real reward at the end of the day, yes, it's financial, but the actual reward is in the lives he touches.

01:04:34.871 --> 01:04:43.197
That's the real reward, you see, with a guy like Lou, and in many ways that's the more meaningful reward that he sees coming off of his many endeavors.

01:04:44.186 --> 01:04:48.646
Yeah, I love how he talked about having conversations with people that nobody else has with these people.

01:04:48.646 --> 01:04:54.114
You know that these are very private, personal goals, desires, dreams.

01:04:54.114 --> 01:04:56.972
He talked about offense and defense.

01:04:56.972 --> 01:05:07.378
I thought that was a fascinating conversation about how he's keeping people safe and how he allows them to set up their world so that they can achieve these dreams and goals.

01:05:07.378 --> 01:05:12.992
I think these are very personal things, right, and we all go through them and we all have these fears.

01:05:12.992 --> 01:05:17.494
We talked about fear being the great motivator with a lot of things.

01:05:17.605 --> 01:05:22.474
I know when I'm thinking about my money, I'm always thinking about should I have done this?

01:05:22.474 --> 01:05:23.407
Should I have done that?

01:05:23.407 --> 01:05:25.789
He talked about not worrying about that.

01:05:25.789 --> 01:05:29.769
You know that you play offense, you play defense and you don't really look back.

01:05:29.769 --> 01:05:35.876
I live my life with regrets there's a lot of you know, listening to this show and apparently Lou doesn't have any.

01:05:35.876 --> 01:05:44.894
You know he does the best he can for his clients and it is near and dear to his heart and that allows him to do things like he does for Alzheimer's, which is just so admirable.

01:05:44.894 --> 01:05:47.152
So a fascinating conversation.

01:05:47.152 --> 01:05:48.148
I really did enjoy it.

01:05:48.148 --> 01:05:52.155
I did kind of make financial planning fun and I learned a lot.

01:05:52.155 --> 01:05:56.036
So thank you, lou, for educating me on what this was all about.

01:05:56.304 --> 01:06:05.148
You know and picking up on that, I was very eager to hear you know how Lou's journey began and he grew up without anything, so you know everything he has.

01:06:05.148 --> 01:06:11.990
He had to go out and get and hustle and find a way to build up a life.

01:06:12.864 --> 01:06:15.652
And you know the quick story that I'll tell.

01:06:15.652 --> 01:06:20.974
You know, I've been working with Lou for I don't know close to 20 years and when I first met him I didn't have anything.

01:06:20.974 --> 01:06:25.813
But I knew that I needed to start on this journey and I needed to start doing something.

01:06:25.813 --> 01:06:28.512
And I walked in there.

01:06:28.512 --> 01:06:35.193
I had crazy student loan debt with high interest rates and everything else and I wanted to invest a little bit of money.

01:06:35.193 --> 01:06:36.168
He wouldn't take it.

01:06:36.168 --> 01:06:40.594
He said I don't want to take your money until you pay off that debt.

01:06:41.465 --> 01:06:42.449
So that's just.

01:06:42.449 --> 01:06:50.012
You know the quality of guy that we're talking about, because he's looking at long term, playing defense and doing the right things.

01:06:50.012 --> 01:06:55.856
So it's just how he lives and how he's been, and that has been my interaction with him.

01:06:55.856 --> 01:07:05.480
So just a very special person and a very special look into what it takes to become a successful financial planner.

01:07:05.480 --> 01:07:10.235
So, lou Cantotaro, thank you so much for joining this episode of no Wrong Choices.

01:07:10.235 --> 01:07:12.090
We also thank you for joining us.

01:07:12.425 --> 01:07:23.731
If this or another journey story inspired you to think of a friend who could be a great guest, please let us know by sending us a note via the contact page of NoWrongChoicescom, as I mentioned off the top.

01:07:23.731 --> 01:07:29.695
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01:07:29.695 --> 01:07:40.842
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01:07:40.842 --> 01:07:44.007
On behalf of Tushar Saxena and Larry Shea.

01:07:44.007 --> 01:07:45.275
I'm Larry Samuels.

01:07:45.275 --> 01:07:50.340
Thank you again for joining us and always remember there are no wrong choices on the road to success.

01:07:50.340 --> 01:07:52.809
We learn from every experience.