Hey guys, good morning! This is Val Campbell. Welcome to my Sunday episode, I’m gonna be talking about a couple things here. First, I’m gonna share some thoughts. I just finished reading this book, Heads I Win, Tails You Lose by Patrick H. Donahoe, and if you’re looking for a great resource—and eye-opening resource—on financial planning, I want to commend it to you. I think he’s straightforward, and he talks about a lot of things that, you know, most of us—like life insurance—we don’t want to talk about. Financial planning? We don’t. But you know, as the old adage goes, if you fail to plan, you plan to fail. So here’s a heads-up for you—no pun intended—but great resource.
But I want to share some thoughts that he laid out because they’ve really related to me as an entrepreneur versus an employee, and then some short thoughts from Eric Worre that he shared Tuesday from his GoPro Online 20/20 Live and how they kind of coincide—the mindset of an entrepreneur versus an employee’s. So here we go.
He shared a couple things here—just talks about beating the system. Okay? And hear me out here. He says retirement and financial freedom are not the same thing. And think about this—something most people, a lot of us, think they are. They’re not. So here I’m out because the definition of retirement is to take out of service or to stop contributing. Okay? Maybe that’s employee, and most of us have that mindset. You know, we retire, we’re done working, etc. But it’s to take out of service or to stop contributing. Okay?
Now, the definition of financial freedom here is very important, and I agree with him 100%. Financial freedom is a state of mind, he says, that’s achieved when money is not the primary motivator of your decisions and is achieved when you have efficiency of both your financial statement and human capital statement. Think about that. And again, his book is totally contrary to what most of us have learned or most of us are taught or deal with in financial planning—if we’re even involved with it. But his points are well worth hearing out.
Now, get this—this is what he said that’s where I find myself: Don’t retire. Okay? My wife and I were able to walk away from our jobs here a year-plus ago—thank God, we’re very fortunate—but don’t retire. I wasn’t ready to retire. We have a pretty good portfolio, but I know the realities. And he says—and recommends—as a financial planner here: Start a second phase of your professional life as an executive-level consultant or freelancer, or simply find a business—which I’ve done, working with Jeunesse Global—whose culture aligns with your values and drives.
Guides my job—and I’m just gonna talk about—I’ve never liked any job I’ve ever done. I didn’t love it; I didn’t have passion for it. I did it because it paid; I was able to provide, support my family. That’s not the case now. In my last job I left, I just couldn’t align with the culture and the values anymore. But now I found something where my cultures and values are aligned. And guys, my culture, my core values—again, their authenticity, integrity, and the leadership. It’s important, I think, to find out what are your core values and do they align. I think most of us—we don’t know what our core values are. Maybe think in the back of our mind we’ve got it there, but find a business whose cultures and values align. And I found it, guys.
He says you can reinvent yourself at 59—almost 60—and create a more flexible second career. Use your skills and your expertise, your mastery, to stand at the top of your game, to contribute to society, and still get paid. And the key here—he says the world we live in has made this possible. And yes, it most certainly has, guys.
I’m gonna jump into the financial planning mode here, but most of us here—we’ve got a million-dollar portfolio. Good for you; that’s awesome. But it’s 401(k) or combination stocks, mutual funds, etc. But if you’re drawing out 4% a year—and he thinks that’s too high; probably more realistic, we should be 3%—4% a year is $3,300. If you collect Social Security, you’re gonna average about $1,300. That’s about $4,800 a month, about $55,000 a year before taxes. That’s not a lot of money living. And if your portfolio dips—which has certainly happened with our situation going on right now—now what do you do? Your portfolio shrunk; your take-home income before taxes is dwindled.
You can take advantage of that—take advantage of the economy. Find a bulletproof business opportunity like we’re involved in and create a second store of cash flow. I’m gonna share my screen and jump here real quick, guys, because this is what Eric Worre says.
I’m gonna—I’m gonna switch gears here a little bit, but just a humorous illustration here: employee versus an entrepreneur. And the big thing here is the employee—work is something that they want to get away from. That was my guess—maybe it’s not your case. You love what you do. But I think most of us—we don’t love what we do. We do what we do because we have to, to make money. So employee says work is something to get away from.
And entrepreneur—which I am now, again, I jumped back into this realm after about 15 years out—work is something to be excited about. Now, that’s exactly what Patrick Donahoe was saying.
Now, here’s what Eric Worre said—he goes, It’s all about our mindset, right? And it always is, guys. Success—whatever we’re doing—it’s about our mindset. You guys, you got to change how you think about work. And I want you to look at this diagram here. Entrepreneurs think differently—of course they do. They have to learn the difference. We’re in a different deal. Their work is—he says—something to be excited about: their purpose, their passion, and how they add value.
Guys, when I jumped back into the entrepreneurial realm a little over a year ago—serving, working, doing a lot of stuff on social media—it was all about adding value. John Maxwell talks a lot about that. But I want to leave you a question here: Are you an employee or an entrepreneur? And what are you gonna do to mitigate or deal with the effects of being a lifetime employee? If your portfolio is dwindling or it’s crashed—guys, there’s not much money out there. A million-dollar portfolio isn’t what it seems. You’re a millionaire maybe on paper, but that’s gonna produce you—like I said—maybe $50,000-plus income before taxes. Not a lot.
So something to think about today, guys, as we enjoy the rest of Good Sunday here. Thanks so much for joining me. I hope I gave you some food for thought. Certainly, you’re welcome to reach out to me—message me. You can catch me on the social media links provided when I get this posted on YouTube. And reach out to me too—let’s have a conversation. Have an awesome day, guys. Bye-bye!
