In this episode, President of SFG Wealth Advisors, B. Don Snyder, and advisor Ryan Johns, MBA discuss what it means to build your financial future, the importance of creating margin to meet your financial goals, and the benefits of generosity. They share their personal financial plans, how they make money as advisors, and who their ideal clients truly are. They discuss how to get the most out of their expertise and how to apply that to a foundation that will remove the stress and uncertainty of the unknown as it pertains to retirement and financial freedom.
Physicians can only Practice: Impossible if they have their financial lives in order and we hope that this episode helps you start your transformative journey.
Show Notes
In this episode, President of SFG Wealth Advisors, B. Don Snyder, and advisor Ryan Johns, MBA discuss what it means to build your financial future, the importance of creating margin to meet your financial goals, and the benefits of generosity. They share their personal financial plans, how they make money as advisors, and who their ideal clients truly are. They discuss how to get the most out of their expertise and how to apply that to a foundation that will remove the stress and uncertainty of the unknown as it pertains to retirement and financial freedom.
Physicians can only Practice: Impossible if they have their financial lives in order and we hope that this episode helps you start your transformative journey.
Show Notes
Intro 0:00
Welcome to the practice impossible podcast where your host, Jude a Pierre MD, also known as Coach JPMD discusses medical practice topics that will guide you through the maze that is the business of medicine, and teach you how to increase profits and help populations live long. Your mission should you choose to accept is to listen and be transformed. Now, here's your host, Coach JPMD.
Coach JPMD 0:25
So Happy New Year to the practice impossible podcast listeners out there. Thank you for listening. And thank you for for all the feedback and all the positive encouraging thoughts and wishes for for me and the practice impossible podcasts and, and, you know, I wanted to start off the year 2022 with something that's really important to most physicians, and that is financial planning. And many of our listeners have asked to speak more about the finances of medicine and but I wanted to actually start off this year with looking at the ways that you as a physician can manage their personal finances and what some of the things that you can actually do to prepare yourself for retirement to prepare your exit strategy in medicine. Too often we say that we don't have time to do things and we don't have time to set aside time to learn about investments and and so I wanted to bring to our podcast, my own financial, financial advisor, advisors, and that's Don Snyder and Ryan John's to the practice impossible podcast because I know they have such a wealth of information to share with our audience. Don graduated from Stetson University in DeLand, Florida, and studying international business and marketing. And he also received his MBA from Nova Southeastern University and is a certified financial planner. Ryan also grew up in Florida and graduated from FSU with a degree in accounting. And then went ahead and studied at Stetson University College of Law where he earned a law degree and a master's of business administration. So they've got lots of experience. And this is, this is gonna be an interesting episode because this is the first time I've actually interviewed two guests on the practice impossible podcast. So you guys get two for one knowledge infusion here on the practice impossible podcast. So thanks for listening, and thanks for sharing this podcast. Because sharing it helps us get the word out and helps us understand what you guys want to hear. So leave a review, share this episode with your friends, and enjoy. Welcome to the practice impossible podcasts. And so today we are here with Don Snyder and Ryan John's, from the Snyder Financial Group, or is it a new name now?
Ryan Johns 2:44
Wait it is SFG Wealth Advisors.
Coach JPMD 2:47
SFG Wealth Advisors? That's right. That's right, the change, and Happy New Year to all our of our listeners, it's been a pretty interesting 2021. And we are hoping to ring this New Year in with the some wise counsel some wise advice on financial matters. And thank you, Don, and Ryan, for joining us. And why don't you introduce yourself and let us know who you are and what you guys do.
Don Snyder 3:11
My name is Don Snyder, I'm the president and owner of SFG Wealth Advisors. And I'm excited to be on this call with my associate Ryan John's and Jude, we appreciate his allowing us to participate on this call. And we're an independent financial planning and investment advisory firm that have been in the Tampa area for about 37 years now and wanting to help people make wise financial decisions and sort through a lot of the noise and clutter and decisions that have to be made and try to help them getting some clarity about their financial decision making.
Coach JPMD 3:46
And right.
Ryan Johns 3:47
As Don said, I'm Ryan Johns, I'm an associate advisor at SFG Wealth Advisors going on seven and a half years, I think now. So I get the pleasure of working with many of our clients and meeting with new clients regarding their Financial Planning and Investment Management, tax mitigation concerns.
Coach JPMD 4:04
Cool. And I have to say, This is my first episode with two guests. So if I fumble around this, or if I, if this sounds weird, then I apologize in advance, but we're gonna try to make this fun and make this make this exciting. And you know, one of the things that I wanted to kind of bring up off the bat because many, many of us physicians just don't understand the finances and the business of medicine. And that's one of the things that prompted me to start practice impossible and the podcasts and all the things I'm doing any my kids sometimes telling me daddy you’re annoying and at times, it really triggers me. And I have to say one of the things that annoys me in the in this business world is, is when I hear accountants and business professionals say that doctors are poor financial managers, and it's just really for me annoying and I wanted to hear your thoughts on that. Are physicians really? That bad at finances?
Unknown Speaker 4:56
Well, I'll take the first stab at this although I feel like this is a loaded question right out of the gate here. But I would say it may not be doctors in particular, but certainly high income earners, business owners that have their minds elsewhere, can become hyper spenders, people who have an experience with lifestyle inflation, where their income is increasing, and their desire or just their ability to consistently spend that income increases with time as well. So not to be judgmental. I'll give the doctors a little bit of a free pass and say, I think we see that with a lot of business owners and high income earners as well.
Coach JPMD 5:33
So is that your experience also? Don?
Don Snyder 5:35
Well, I would say that part of it might be the fact that they're in a busy profession and have a lot to manage, and a lot to think about. And I know they're used to seeing a lot of patients on a daily basis and managing that. And so it can be difficult sometimes to get the dedicated time to sit down and really go through and understand certain options or concepts or principles to apply. And so from that standpoint, I think that there's always opportunity to be more laser focused about what they're doing. So I think that it's like anything, you have to decide how important it is and how much time you want to spend with it. But obviously, generally, doctors are quick learners, right, they've had a lot education. So from that standpoint, it's just a matter of probably dedicating a little more time for that.
Coach JPMD 6:24
Yeah, I think that that's a good point. Because even as I practice medicine, and especially in this pandemic, 2021, just, you know, I hear physicians saying things and doing things that are a little different. And it seems like physicians, sometimes, like you said, don't have the time to research, different things that are happening even in medicine. So I can imagine how those physicians that may be feeling overwhelmed about their practice may be having difficulty understanding the finances and what we need to do with our monies. Especially when you start when you go from making, let's say, 50 $60,000 a year to making over 150 to $200,000 a year, within a year. I know that happened with me 20 years ago, where you know, income jumped significantly. So, you know, what I wanted to do in this episode is similar to what I did with the, with my attorney, Josh Keleske, in one of our episodes where we went over some case scenarios, and one of the scenarios that I wanted to discuss maybe a physician making over or with over $200,000 in debt, working for a hospital. And, you know, do they need a financial advisor? Starting off is a question, because you kind of touched on some points that I've made in previous blog posts about Dr. It is, and I have blog posts on Dr. It is where doctors will. It's a syndrome that where doctors will feel like they're owed the opportunity to buy the expensive car and they expensive Tesla and feel the obligation to buy the million dollar house because they've worked so hard for it. And but yet they have $200,000 in debt. So what do you tell that physician? And how do you how do you work with them? I’ll start with Ryan?
Ryan Johns 7:59
Yeah, yeah, we're navigating two guests at the same time still? Yeah, listen, I think I think financial planning is paramount, or Don, and I wouldn't be in this business. So we're certainly big proponents of taking a laser focused view of the budget of the different moving pieces, and with doctors, with physicians, that's going to have debt come into play, the high amount of debt that's unique in that industry, and it can be overwhelming and it can slow down retirement savings, it can cause some other bad decisions. Because as you mentioned, Jude that kind of doctor it is of feeling like you're, you should be able to reward yourself and you should. I know Jude, you're familiar with Dave Ramsey, as we've talked about, in, you know, Dave has, has stated that his concept of every dollar assigning a duty to every dollar, it will find one on its own. And that's very true, whether you're making that $50,000, you're you're making that 150 or 200. And so it's it's very important to get ahead of the game, have a financial plan put into place so that you can prioritize those dollars. And you can live uniquely by paying off debt early because most people aren't doing that.
Coach JPMD 9:08
So Don, why are most people not doing that? I mean, if you have, if you're making a good amount of money, why wouldn't maybe I should ask the other question, why shouldn't I just keep the debt and you know, pay it off over 20 years and invest the monies, because my you know, the debts may be at 3% 4% 5% interest and you can make 10% on that, that investment or an investment?
Don Snyder 9:33
Yes, well, it's it's, there's no quick reward there right for eliminating debt of that size over a long period of time. We know that we want to pay as little bit of interest as possible. You're paying the interest back after tax. And you're also assuming that you can earn that level of return over time. We've certainly had great years of late and our job or emphasis is for people to get margin and to allocate the dollars, as Ryan said, in a way to be most productive use of that money. And so from that standpoint, it's going to be competing with lifestyle with taxes with saving for retirement, and with other important goals. And so the opportunity there is to ultimately be debt free not have that payment, have that behind you, you know, it's gonna be working in conjunction with other things. And so, sometimes people say, where do we use the same strategy for everyone now, not necessarily, there's a lot of different moving parts there. And so from that standpoint, but that payment is going to be pretty high on 200,000. And I know that was some different arrangements that might be forgiven, but my general experiences unless, you know, a lot of doctors, it isn't necessarily forgiven, you know, there's certain criteria for that. So outside of that, we've certainly had situations with on an ongoing basis with people with student loans, that we're trying to help them accelerate that debt obligation.
Coach JPMD 11:07
So what do you think is the motivation for them not paying off their debts sooner than cuz I know, on average, it could take, you know, if you're really focused on the debt repayment, three to five years to pay off your debts, which is what I ended up doing after 20 years of practice. But, you know, if I had been laser focused 20 years ago, and paying off my debt, then, you know, you'd have all this the extra monies to invest. So, what do you think is the thing that keeps physicians from doing that? Early?
Ryan Johns 11:37
I think I would say, and Don references just a couple minutes ago, it's difficult to feel traction, when you have that large of an obstacle in front of you. Right. And And to your point, Jude, you said earlier, well, what if the interest rates 3%, and you can earn 10? Well, that's, that's another distraction some ways. And I think, Don, and I might argue that you lose a little bit of motivation there, because you say I could get some return elsewhere. But what we see a lot of with physicians, and with other high income earners, is a lot of stress in the workplace. And that is compounded by financial obligations. And if you don't feel like you're getting any traction and cracking that big nut of $200,000, you're not going to be real motivated to pay it down early. Oftentimes, with physicians, you'll have loans from multiple entities, maybe you've got some subsidized loans, maybe you've consolidated. And so there will be multiple balances, you know, they're $200,000, could be 12 notes. And so if you'd like a little bit of motivation, you certainly can adopt the snowball plan, and attack those debts one by one, but I think it's a, it's a daunting task. And if you don't take a bite of the elephant, you'll never finish eating. So you got to get started.
Coach JPMD 12:47
Yeah,
Don Snyder 12:48
I would just add one more thing. There's a lot of people that have high income, but they don't have much margin. And they don't have much net worth. Right. And so from that standpoint, you're really trying to build your net worth. And that means eliminating debt, being disciplined about your saving, savings, and also creating margin, so that you can do the things you want to do. And so if you're spending most of your money on lifestyle, there's certainly an appeal there. But it doesn't, it's fleeting, and it can provide some immediate gratification, but it doesn't help you improve your position for the longer term.
Coach JPMD 13:26
And I tell physicians, and I tell even colleagues that my friend said, you know, if you were to not have the debt payments, and save that money, over 15-20 years, you'd be a millionaire. So you know, if you can focus your attention within, you know, between 25 and 35, and paying off that debt, then between 35 and 55, you'd be building the wealth that we all should have as high income as hard working physicians who, who spent a lot of time you know, practicing medicine and helping other people, but yet, we still don't do it. So that's what I hope that we can teach our physicians out there. So what about the Met managed care physician with 30 years of experience making over 500k? Then they're not happy with their advisor. So they've been with their advisor for 30 years? Do they switch advisors? Do they try to tweak them? What would you say that, that you would recommend for those physicians?
Don Snyder 14:22
I would say, without asking another question, but it does kind of depend on what is it that they're not happy about? Obviously, it could be service related. Maybe they don't feel like they're getting enough attention or enough communication, or maybe they're not being challenged or educated enough about new opportunities or new things to consider. That's certainly important as part of having a good relationship. The other piece may be well, I'm not earning enough money. You know, I'm not keeping up or kind of this. What is it? FOMO fear of missing out right?
Coach JPMD 14:58
Yeah.
Don Snyder 14:59
And someone's doing better than me and half their portfolios and cryptocurrency and I don't own any cryptocurrency or whatever the situation. And so from that standpoint, yeah, I think that it doesn't hurt to interview others and there has to be a fit there. So I think they just have to do their due diligence and ask the right questions and find out what it is that they're trying to gain and accomplish, because markets will change, investments will change. And so, you know, the ongoing service advice and relationship is important.
Coach JPMD 15:34
Do you guys deal with a lot of managed care physicians or physicians who have their own practices? Or is it mainly a non physician clients?
Don Snyder 15:42
Alright, Ryan.
Ryan Johns 15:43
Yeah, we have, we have a handful of physicians as clients, I think, and then and then the vast majority would be non MDS. But as for the managed care physicians that own their own practice, we have a significant amount of business owners as clients in various industries, some legal, some CPAs, etc. And so there certainly are some corollaries there in terms of someone who's providing a high level service, without being pulled in a lot of directions during the day trying to run that practice, and not really having time to devote to the household finances, which, let's be honest, in the household finances, for someone like that are very dependent upon the finances of the practice, right? How do you determine how much you can reinvest into your practice, if you don't first understand the amount of cash flow, you need to cover your expenses on the home front. And so we've we have gone down that road specifically with a handful of physicians and other business owners to say, let us let us help you understand even 30 years in what you need to be doing to make sure you're teed up to live the way you'd like to in retirement. And once you've clarified that question, you should be well armed, even though we're not medical practice consultants, you should be well armed to determine how much additional surplus do I have available to grow the practice? And I imagined Jude would have some opinions on how to go about deploying those funds.
Coach JPMD 17:09
Yeah, yeah. So it's interesting, because I think you bring up a great point. And many, many physicians look at the practice as independent of their personal lives. But I think physicians need to understand what they what they need, at home, what they what do they need to survive and not saying what they want. Because you know, you don't need a $5 million house, you don't need a, you know, $200,000 car. Because if you do need those things, then you're going to have to make more money in your practice and cause more stress and more anxiety about having to make more money. And if you can live within your means and live a decent life lifestyle. Then I think that speaks to your point. So what about a physician who has no debt, married, kids, real estate, they've got assets, and they eventually want to donate to their church, they want to do more to to give back, be more of a philanthropist. And I know that full disclosure, Don and and Ryan are my financial advisors. And one of the things that I talked about with them was a way of giving back and a way of doing things to to help the community and one of the projects I was trying to do. And Don, you had mentioned that you were in a was it a kingdom advisor or you were an advisor that helps people who want to give back to organizations? Tell me a little bit about that.
Don Snyder 18:32
Well as a kingdom advisor, part of our role, our opportunity is to help people learn to expand their level of generosity to make an impact not only in their families in their personal lives, but also in the community around them. And I think that we've never met an unhappy generous person, right. And I think from that standpoint, there's opportunities to just be more focused about what you're passionate about what you might want to support or get behind. There has to be a heart connection there. And I would say that a lot of people they're giving is kind of the last thing they think about, and maybe it's whatever is leftover, or it's not necessarily a priority. And I think the thing is, is that to have a more deliberate giving strategy. It's like part of any other strategy. It's really helpful and beneficial, and it can help. Also your relationship with your spouse and your wife, and you need to be on the same page with those type of things. And some people are honestly more generous than others. And so it's kind of like a muscle that has to be used and exercised. And so from that standpoint, we certainly like to help people kind of explore different ways to be generous. There's a lot of different tools out there, doesn't mean you have to give away a bunch of money as much as you just start understanding the tools that are there, how to use them, and how to leverage what's available. And honestly, there can be some tax benefit as well. And so for high income earners, that's one way to help of many to help reduce or mitigate some of the tax side of it.
Coach JPMD 20:19
So you said something that's a huge nugget. And that was, you have never met an unhappy generous giver is that which isn't?
Ryan Johns 20:27
That's right. That's right.
Coach JPMD 20:29
Tell me about those that you've seen or worked with that are not generous. Who How do you? How do you…
Ryan Johns 20:38
By name?
Coach JPMD 20:39
No no not by name. Please don't get me in trouble. So tell me about the most non generous or ungenerous, ungenerous. I don't know if that's a word, but a client that you've worked with.
Ryan Johns 20:53
We’ll say closed hands.
Coach JPMD 20:59
What would be your experience with them, I guess is the question.
Ryan Johns 21:00
I would say that there's something going on there. And I think as as advisors, you know, it's up to us with our clients to draw out some of these other elements that are happening behind the scenes, because I think someone who really struggles with generosity has some fear, or some greed. Those are, you know, opposite sides of the same coin, right? And so, we we endeavor to, I think we aspire to be not only advisors who are talking about the allocation, the opportunities and the return, but also to help draw out some of these deeper concerns. And that comes through some in depth conversation. It's just not looking at the spreadsheets and the numbers. But why are you why are we fearful? And Jude, you know, we've had some conversations where we talk about history with finances, personally, with investing or saving, and we talk about with spouses, you know, what's the husband's experience with investing? Or saving, if any? And what is the wife's experience with investing or saving, if any, and those life experiences with money as growing up even can really drive someone to be closed handed. Right. And so I think, when we experience someone who's hesitant to be generous, we have some work to do to help them understand the plan that they have, and have some confidence in what they're doing, that they're going to be able to land the plane when they get to retirement. And there's so much fulfilment on the other side of that, if you're able to say, You know what, I'm going to make it and because I'm going to make it, I can help so and so. Or I can I can further this cause that I'm passionate about right?
Coach JPMD 22:40
Do you find that they're more stressed, more anxious?
Ryan Johns 22:43
I think that's the root of it. I think there's you'll typically find someone who's, who lacks generosity like that also be pretty fearful of the markets more. So. Yeah.
Don Snyder 22:54
I would just add, and maybe this is Ryan touched on it well, part of it is yes. You know, he's kind of like, how much is enough? Or did you have, can you set a financial finish line? Are you willing to because if it's like, if all you're concerned about is the what ifs and trying to cover all the different options and basis, then I guess you could say, in theory, you won't ever have enough to do that. And so if you can set those financial finish lines and determine how much is enough, and, but also, we know, we spend so much time trying to plan for people's future and what might happen, right? We don't know any more than anybody else. And you should set long term goals and have a defined plan. That's important. But ultimately, we have to, I believe, you know, do the best with what we have right now and manage it in a way. You know, that's proper. And so from that standpoint, generally, people that do well with what they have now will do well in the future as well. And so from that standpoint, generosity is is part of that. And I'm sure most people would acknowledge that, whether it's helping their church or community or even their family, there's probably always some opportunity there, and they're month to month spending, to find something if they really had to, because we live obviously, in a great country with a lot of opportunity. And, and so, yeah.
Coach JPMD 24:26
that's great. And I love that answer those answers. So it kind of speaks to the next question. And that was something that really makes you happy about your clients when you meet them. Who would be your ideal non physician client to help us understand what how you guys think?
Ryan Johns 24:45
Yeah, I think for me, that's an easy answer is well, in terms of what makes me happy. We recognize that our clients hire us to be experts in an area that they either have no interest in, spending time in or don't have time to. And so what's certainly rewarding for me is simplifying the complexity for a client and, and developing action items to say, here's what's going on, here's your choices. Let's decide what to do. And then that kind of exhale or relief to say, okay, all these moving pieces have been simplified into an action plan. And now we've got to plan and now we can move forward.
Don Snyder 25:24
I would just add, I mean, I was certainly add a similar, similar aspects from the standpoint of, if we can make allow people to be more confident, more generous, more content, right with where they're at. And comfortable, then that gives them peace of mind, and certainly gives us some validation that we're helping them get organized, move forward with a plan that can adjust and change, but give them kind of the, as our founder said, the well designed boat to take their journey on. So and feel confident about that. And a lot of it is kind of, not to use a sports term, but it's kind of that boring blocking, and tackling, you know, kind of gets you there, and kind of the basic principles. But, you know, we live in a society and an investment world where, boy, there's a lot of choices. And there's a lot of options. And there's a lot of good opportunity to. And so we're excited about that. I mean, you just think about all the new businesses and innovations and technology, even in the medical field. From that standpoint, through different cycles and different environments, there's always going to be good investment options and opportunities. And so I think in some regards, what happens is people get overwhelmed and overloaded, because in general, I think we're over overloaded with information and how to process it. So we try to bring that back to well, what's the money for, you know, what's important to you? It's a tool, really, and so how do you use it, and to get, as Ryan said, the best life possible. So we just enjoy helping people and, and we enjoyed the relationship side, because they're all different, and the needs are a little different. And it's interesting to see how people live and accumulate wealth and, and how they spend their money. And so our goal is to make that connection and help them use the money in a way that gives them return on life instead of return on investment.
Coach JPMD 27:27
Yeah. Have you ever fired a client?
Don Snyder 27:31
Well, we probably had conversations about things that we don't agree with, or recommendations maybe that we don't make, or it's against our recommendations that we either agree to disagree, or maybe they move on. Because of it. Sometimes, we have people that might come on board and then leave a year or two later, not often, but it happens maybe because they still wanted to really be totally in control and make all the investment decisions. And they really didn't want us that involved, or maybe to be that involved. And we kept trying to be involved, because that's part of our role. And we never got a chance to not very much. And so honestly, in that situation, it probably wasn't a good fit. Maybe we compromised or they compromised, but either way, it kind of sorted itself out.
Coach JPMD 28:22
Sure.
Ryan Johns 28:25
I would say we're probably more likely not to hire a client, when we identify that they're not dependent upon us. And that's an important conversation we have with our investment management clients, and really kind of dovetails into who our ideal client would be people who really value us, and what we in the value add that we offer to our services and investment management, are those who are dependent upon us. And so we don't we don't work well with do it yourselfers, because our value add requires us to be involved. We work well with, you know, whether it be physicians, as business owners, practice owners or other professionals that don't have time to do it for themselves or the interest or they recognize that they're not the expert in that area. And so they need the help.
Coach JPMD 29:11
And so how do you guys make money?
Don Snyder 29:13
So someone advertises that we make money when you make money? I've heard that before. But you know, there's a lot of different approaches to fees and how they're charged. And as a general rule, I mean, we have different services, whether it's hourly consulting, or flat fee planning, and or ongoing investment management and advice. Generally, from a fee based perspective, generally we get paid a percentage of the money that's invested with us and that schedule or scale can differ and I won't get into those details here. But basically, as your portfolio grows, we will get paid generally more because we're getting a percentage and if it doesn't do as well Then we don't get paid as much. And that's not necessarily just because we aren't doing what we're supposed to, but markets changed and cycles change and but we believe in the idea of earning the right to continue to provide a service, and maintain that relationship and get paid along the way. And so, but I think it's like anything, you have to understand what services you're getting for what you're paying for, right? Yeah. And they don't get delivered, then maybe you're not talking about so much in our scenario. But as an example, if you don't feel like you're getting the services that were outlined, then you should leave. But if you're getting the service and the expertise and advice, then there should be value there. And I could say that, you know, Tiger Woods has a coach, right, he has a performance coach and other coaches and most high end athletes, Tom Brady has a coach for nutrition and mental. So from that standpoint, you know, I think there's always opportunity for us to learn, because we're not experts in everything, we know that you wouldn’t want us treating your patients for medical issues. So ah..
Coach JPMD 31:15
As long as as long as you get Google to help you.
Don Snyder 31:19
Or we stayed in a Holiday Inn Express is that cow?
Coach JPMD 31:24
So you say as your portfolio grows, you make more, are you saying you make a percentage of the increase? Or the percentage of the total?
Ryan Johns 31:32
So we make a percentage of the total.
Coach JPMD 31:34
Total? Okay.
Ryan Johns 31:35
So if the total grows a little bit, then we'll make a little bit too. If we have a down year, we'll make a little bit less.
Coach JPMD 31:42
Okay. And, you know, it's something that I've always wanted to ask a financial advisor, and that was an I've never asked you guys this, what is your plan? Like? What do you guys? How have you structured your plans? Personally? Oh, and. And or do you have a financial advisor?
Ryan Johns 31:58
That's a good question. My wife, and I handle it side by side. And so we don't, the two of us don't have a financial planner, per se. But I do through my relationships at my church, I've got what we call an accountability partner. And so while he's not a financial adviser, he's someone I trust that I bounce things off of, and my wife has a similar relationship. So as we're setting up our plans, financial, college savings for the kids, insurance, we try to have an open line of communication and set goals.
Coach JPMD 32:34
Fair enough. Don, can I ask you the same question?
Don Snyder 32:36
Sure. Well, my father started this firm. So I've certainly gained from his insight and wisdom. And he's helped me make a lot of financial decisions along the way. So I've benefited from that. I have peers in my industry, and even through organizations like Kingdom advisors that I can talk to and collaborate with as a relates to my own business and financial planning decisions. As I'm a little bit older than Ryan, I've had the benefit of, you know, raising kids that are going through college, I, my youngest is now just finishing up college. And you know, I'm getting to the stage where I can accumulate more, because my kids are out of the house. And I've been working long enough that I've continued to build a successful business. And so from that standpoint, you know, I still have the same temptations and the same decisions to make every day when it comes to money like anyone else. And it's interesting that you would ask the question, because sometimes you'll find that I don't believe that's the case with me or Ryan, but hopefully not, you'll find that sometimes, maybe the financial advisors or business owners spend so much time helping their clients, they don't do that for themselves, right? But I certainly have my own planning that I do with my wife, business planning, strategic planning. And so from that standpoint, and there's a lot of value in that, because you have to know where you're at and where you're going and how you're going to get there. Right.
Coach JPMD 34:11
Yeah, that's a flight plan. You don't get in a plane and fly to nowhere, you have to have a flight plan in order to know where you're going to go. Otherwise, you're going to either crash or run out of fuel.
Don Snyder 34:22
So the other thing I'd add, which we haven't really touched on, specifically, but I think it's important. The financial planning process is an ongoing process. But you don't have to necessarily spend hours upon hours each year going through it. If you built the plan up front appropriately and spent the time upfront. Then you can go in and enhance or adjust or modify the base that you're working from, and kind of build from there now things in life changes and we deal with a lot of life transitions. And that's something that people don't always anticipate because you might have your parents, right start to need care. Or your kids have marriage issues or whatever I mean, so from that standpoint, that's what continues to provide the challenges, but goals, also your goals change. So.
Coach JPMD 35:16
So that was a great insight, because I don't think I, like I said, never asked that question before. And so it kind of speaks to, you know, what your exit strategy would be, and that it was just continue to plan to what is your exit strategy? As a financial advisor? Do you plan? Do you have a succession plan? Or how do you continue that business, I guess, like your dad, pass it on to you. And for those that are afraid that, you know, once you're you retire, then they don't have a financial planner?
Don Snyder 35:43
I think the goal for our firm is, is to continue to add advisors and a team that's growing in experience so that we have the ability to continue to provide the same level of service and advice. So sometimes you have other advisors that maybe you partner with, or come in, or other firms that you can join. But at this point in time, we have a strong team in place that can all share the workload and will continue to grow the advisors that are available to help people. And so yeah, I have, I have two sons and a daughter, I don't know yet if any one of them would come in, but that opportunity is always a possibility as well. So there's, there's another number of ways that that can get handled.
Coach JPMD 36:29
This has been a great conversation. Thank you for inaugurating my two guests. podcast interview. I think it's been it's been cool to get the the insight from both you and I appreciate what you do for me and, and, you know, I think the recurring theme and that what that from what I've heard is, is creating a margin, you don't have to have a margin when you're dealing with finances and, and also you've mentioned your spouse's several times, and just having a plan that's congruent, or that's that's merged with your significant others, is really helpful in developing that plan. And I hope our practice impossible, audience will take these nuggets. And if they're interested in learning more about you, where do they find you? Where can they find you,
Ryan Johns 37:13
They can go to SFGtampa.com. That's our website. There's a lot of good information on there. And there's a contact form, obviously on there as well and all of our contact information.
Coach JPMD 37:24
Wonderful. And I'll also put that in the show notes at the end of the description. And if there's any questions that you have for them, feel free to contact them on their website. And, again, thank you for listening to the practice impossible podcast. Thank you, Don. Thank you, Ryan, for a great episode. Happy New Year.
Don Snyder 37:41
Happy New Year.
Ryan Johns 37:42
Happy New Year.