Intro:
Broadcasting live from the Business Radio X studios in Detroit, Michigan. It's time for Detroit Business Radio. Now, here's your host.
The Mag
Lee Cantor here, another episode of Detroit Business Radio, and this is going to be a good one. Today we have with us Joseph Samples with Samples and Young. Welcome, Joseph.
Joseph Samples:
Good morning. How are you?
The Mag
I am doing well. I'm really excited to learn about what you got going on at samples. And now, tell us how you're serving folks?
Joseph Samples:
Well, its a serving in many different capacities, and grateful to be able to serve, you know, one of the things outside of helping people make better financial decisions and doing that in education and providing the information, we also find ourselves many times, I'm not going to call myself a counselor to take away from the work of people who do counseling. But we do find a lot of stress nowadays when it comes to finances, and especially coming around the holiday season, we find ourselves being voices of objectivity with our clients, and a lot of times with people who are becoming clients to help them just feel more confident and better in their decision making process when it comes to their finance. Oh, yeah, it's keeping us busy nowadays. With all this going on in the world.
The Mag
I'm sure it is. Now, for those people who aren't familiar with a financial advisor or financial coach, can you explain how the relationship works with your client?
Joseph Samples:
Great question. And I'm so glad you use what I would call the operative word of how we work for and with our clients. You use the word relationship. And that's really what comes into play. So we are not what I would call a transaction one time, hey, come in, let me buy this. And that's it. No, we actually take a very holistic approach with our clients. And that holistic approach starts off with a client sharing with us what is their vision? What is their goal? You know, how would they ultimately want to see their financial picture, whether it be something that's in the near term or long term. And so what we try to do is take that vision or that way the person sees their finances, and then we actually try to put actual measurements to it. So for example, anybody can say, I want to retire. Okay, well, we need to understand what age so we can actually have a timeframe associated with it. And then also, when someone says, Well retire, and be financially well off, well, financially well, off sounds good. But that's not the $1 amount. And that financially well-off can mean a lot of different things. So a lot of different people. So we try to get more specific, make it measurable, put a timetable to it, and make sure the goals and objectives are realistic. And then our role is to assess where the person is today, in relation to what they say they want to see in their financial situation, measure that out and say, Hey, you're right on pace to do that, or here's some things you can do to improve the situation. So we're coming in add value, to help them be more efficient and effective with their finances.
The Mag
And isn't an additional part of your job to really clarify to the client, what retirement means. Because retirement for some people means I'm just going to be sitting at the beach, or I've been playing golf and fishing all day. But for other people, they want to have kind of more of a life of purpose and meaning and they want to have a legacy. Like there's other kinds of intangible parts of retirement that aren't just kind of financial.
Joseph Samples:
Oh, true. So true. You know, one of the things that I've seen over the years, Lee. I've been doing this for over 24 years now, is the landscape of how people view retirement has changed tremendously. This is you started off in your question, yes, some people still have the desire of, hey, when I'm done working, I'm done working and I'm sitting on a beach. But nowadays, we find more people who are looking to maybe go into what I would call retirement where they're trying to actually do something meaningful and purposeful for others, now that they don't actually have to go in for a nine to five. And in some instances, it may all be completely volunteer. In many instances, it may be where there's some form of compensation. But ultimately, you're right. And the other thing is to people are looking at ways to say well, what can I do to make sure my overall, you know, estate and succession plan is in place outside of just looking at me comfortably retiring, the things I've accumulated, how can I make sure I have those things asked on whether it'd be to another organization or individuals within your family.
The Mag
And what age are you typically beginning work with a client?
Joseph Samples:
Great question. So, you know, it used to be a point in time where I would say I work with pre-retirees, people who are planning and saving solely toward retirement. But nowadays, I find myself helping a lot of well call young accumulators people who are just starting off in the workforce. because of what has happened, a lot of my clients are making it generational. And what I mean by that is going back to the relationships that I've had with my clients, so many times, I've heard people say, I wish I would have done this earlier. And we start to have the conversation of, well, it's good that you're starting. Now, that's the first thing. But the other is, and let's turn around and reach out to our children. So I have a lot of clients who have referred their children who are in college, some are actually setting up savings accounts. Now, investment accounts, and some who've just graduated from college. And that's the thing, you know, Lee is that there is a myth out there, that many people believe that you have to have a lot of money to work with an advisor. Again, there are many different advisors here in southeastern Michigan and across the country. So I can't speak for everybody. But I can speak for myself, I require two simple things. One is that you have an advisor or advice-friendly mentality, meaning you're looking for someone to help you and you're ready to receive the help. And the other is that you have some means or ability to save. So either you have an income, or you have access to means to say, and so we have those two things, we can definitely help you come up with good savings or financial plan.
The Mag
Well, kudos to you for that attitude of serving the entire family. I do this every day. And I talk to business owners and I've talked to plenty of financial advisors in my day. And I've found I don't know what the stats are, you probably know the stats better than I do. But a very small percentage of the financial advisors of say the parent actually become the financial advisor of the child. I don't know what the industry numbers are. But I would imagine it's very small like the adviser tends to focus only on the person who has the money and doesn't care as much for the kids. But to really look at the family as a whole, that's kudos to you. Because I think that's a missed opportunity for a lot of advisors.
Joseph Samples:
It is I mean, the thing is, you referenced it too is when I used to hear it years ago, especially when it came to when we talked about insurance as an example, ultimately, to pass on some form of legacy. Truly, you can accumulate investment accounts, buy a rental property, and things of that nature. But we've seen it, you know, we went through the recession of oh seven and oh eight, property values can go down the same with equity or stock or mutual fund portfolio. So you never know when your day is up for us to transition from this life. But in order to make sure you have a certain dollar amount that you want to pass on to a family member, it can only be done through life insurance. And I've heard people say it in the past, and they don't hear it as much today. But they would say I'm not leaving that much money for my kids because I don't want them to squander it or blow through it or waste it. And so what I also stressed to parents is that the earlier we talk to our children about how to better and manage money, the more confident you are with passing on and leaving a legacy with them. And so a lot of parents have also agreed with that. And one of the questions I'm always asked is, How soon should I start talking to my kids about money? And I say the moment they ask for something because they and I will see you have an idea of the value and the concept of how it works?
The Mag
Well, I think that if you're not educating your children about the power of compounding, you're doing them a disservice.
Joseph Samples:
It's right, that's right. I like to say compounding interest when it comes to investing is your BFF's best friend forever.
The Mag
It's what makes it work. Right? And the sooner you start, the better it is it doesn't even have to be a lot. It's just the discipline and doing that activity over and over again is what's going to pay off. Got it. So now, when you're working with your clients, and they are kind of coachable, I guess is I'm reframing your words a little bit, but they're open to learning. Do you see them kind of have these lightbulb moments that after talking to you or that something they didn't realize that they thought they knew?
Joseph Samples:
Oh, definitely yes. And that is also again, you know, our primary focus, again, is on education. And so what happens for most of us, just as you touched on if parents aren't talking to their kids about, you know, money and how to handle money, they're doing a disservice. But really, if we look at it, poor mainstream America, talking about investing and managing money really didn't come into play until the late 90s, maybe the early 2000s. So you'd have a generation of us that would call you to know, middle-income America that didn't ever have conversations with their parents about money. And so what happened is whatever they gained or learned it was through trial and error, or what they heard someone else saying and when you sort of explained to them, that's not really how this works.
And that's when you have that light bulb moment like oh, wow, I didn't know that or, you know, or I always wondered how this actually came to be. So I think right now, where are we are in the next generation time era that we're living in the 21st century is now more than ever, people, no matter what your economic level is in America are having to talk about how to have better money management, because it's ultimately dependent upon us at this stage no longer are the days of working somewhere 30 years and getting a healthy pension and expecting healthy check security. If you want to have financial wellness, it's going to be up to you and setting aside a portion of every piece of a dollar that passes through your hands.
The Mag
Now, when you're working with your clients regarding this and putting the systems in place, I'm sure that's part of your conversations is put systems in place. So it's not relying on their willpower to do it on a regular basis. How do you kind of create a roadmap and end with checkpoints that are showing that they're doing the discipline but it does also kind of there's a psychological element of it? You mentioned earlier, where any market has ups and downs like you know, there's no sure things in this world when it comes to finance? How do you kind of tuck them off the edge when eventually it's cyclical? Well, you know, the market goes down, or the housing market goes down, or rentals go down? How do you kind of do that part of your job, because I think that that's, again, it's one of those parts of the job that you may not be compensated for? But that's the key part to help them have the discipline to stay stick it out during tough times.
Joseph Samples:
That's right. And that's a great point. And so the first thing is there is for most of America, that outside of their home being their largest investment that most of us will make in a lifetime. Next is going to be a workplace retirement savings plan. And the primary reason why a workplace retirement savings plan is going to be the largest investment account that most people have is because it comes out of their check before it even gets into their hands. But when you talk about processes, I think that is first you, you just benefit to saving for retirement that that money goes in before you even get a chance to touch it. So it's out of sight, out of mind. And it continues to accumulate over time. And that's what I stress to people. And that is the best way to build a portfolio even outside of work. So one of the processes that we put in place is we'll have electronic contributions, we'll make a bank account with an investment account, have a specified amount, and a date for it to go out. So that way again, then manually having to save and invest. But the processes that we put in place as we create a plan. And the plan is actually documented, I have a copy, I have a copy. And we will actually review it at least one to two times a year to check back in to see how are we progressing based upon the plan. So those are the mile markers, you know, all of us, it's the mile markers on the freeway that just give us an idea of how we are between each of the exits.
And where we are. Those are the days when people used to read maps. Now we knew the GPS. But for lack of better terms, that's our GPS we create to see where we are in relation to the plan. And then, of course, there are going to be instances when there are external events that take place in the world, it could be a job layoff, the passing of a loved one, or many different things that could affect or take us off the plan, but no different with a GPS when we sit down or meet, we will recalculate and recalibrate and figure out how we can get back on or are we changing the course of the destination because of some of the external events in life. So that's that counseling part I talked to you about earlier as well that comes into play, where people can vent the frustration that concern their fears. And a lot of times, it's good to go back and remind ourselves as we look at the plan to help them see many times that we're not far off, even though it may feel that way. But we're not far off. And it's just a few investments we have to make. So that's that objectivity part, I think that helps ease you know, the nerves when you have very tenuous moments in life with things that we can't control.
The Mag
Now, does that also come into play when we have like these kinds of once in a lifetime, things like the pandemic like there's one thing when like a housing market in one region goes up or down, or all of a sudden become hot or it doesn't become hot? But when you have like kind of a global pandemic that's impacting everybody, is that a different kind of conversation? Or is it just it's just similar of just hanging there hold the course.
Joseph Samples:
I'm gonna say it's both that the reason I say that is, you know, I've unfortunately seen some individuals who have had family members pass from endemic with just had to change their financial situations. And so that's the, you know, I obviously can't say that hold on, you know, hang in there, you know, because now it's still the pandemic still going on, and they themselves are even exposed to it. But it's a matter of reminding them of what people already put in place. And so you know, we have a plan. And that's the best thing is that we were proactive with the plan before anything happened, anything that's unforeseen. That's the whole point of planning, you plan for unforeseen events. So we're going through it right now. But at the same time, one of the things I like to always share with clients, as we look back over history, we've had over I believe it's 15, different recessionary periods that have occurred from many other events, which I'm sure those who lived through them at those times, were just as concerned, as we are during this pandemic.
But you know, it is stated that there's nothing new under the sun. So meaning that life's events will happen. And we'll just continue to hope and pray that things will get better. And what I like to keep it this simple, especially when it comes to equity investments, Lee, is that all of us are consumers, you know, we're consumers here in America, and our economy is a capitalistic economy. So meaning that it only works when we consume. And the stock market is made up of publicly traded companies that sell us goods and services. So as long as we continue to consume, even though the radar our consumption may slow, whether it's unemployment or other things, such as the pandemic, but ultimately, as long as we consume, there always will be a market. But it's just a matter of us getting through this rough patch, and allowing things to return to what we will call quote-unquote, normal.
The Mag
I think it's interesting that you what's important in, in a solid plan is to have some historical context, and understand history to remind ourselves that, hey, we've been through, you know, this may not be exactly what has happened, you know, 20, 50, 100 years ago, but it rhymes, you know, like, it's, it's in the neighborhood and, and look at the history and look at how the markets behaved historically. And if you kind of believe in America, like it sounds like you do, and believe in that we're our economic engine is a driver for not just America, but the world. And do you believe in that, yes, or no, like, if you don't think we're an economic driver, that maybe you shouldn't be in equities, you know, but if you do, then it makes sense, just hang in there?
Joseph Samples:
You're not in and that is part of the education, sharing history, having the conversation. And that's the other thing too. I mean, so in terms of how we work with our clients, obviously, just like how you and I are talking today, this is just one conversation. But going back to, as I said, we have to have a relationship. So there's multiple phone calls, there's multiple meetings, and nowadays, more zoom meetings and Skype meetings, and FaceTime meetings that we're doing with clients to just have those conversations. Each and every time we talk to our clients, it's always not about, you know, making an investment or changing an investment, it's actually to make sure that they can be heard, and that we can address the concerns and that they can have a better understanding of where things are and how it's affecting their portfolio.
The Mag
Well, duh, it's like you mentioned that most people are busy living their life. And they are not kind of paying that much attention to all these historical trends and all this stuff, in the equity markets, and all the kind of minutia of this, but they see these headlines, and they see these kinds of doom and gloom, messaging from all different kinds of probably not the most reliable sources, and it's easy to go, you know, what, I better, you know, I gotta make a move, because the world, you know, the sky is falling, and to have kind of a steady hand on the wheel that's kind of reminding you to look, that is true, this happened, or this didn't happen, or maybe you're misunderstanding that somebody, you know, that's kind of watching your back is a critical, you know, part of the team, I think, in anybody's, you know, kind of portfolio of trusted advisors that hopefully they're surrounding themselves with.
Joseph Samples:
That's right. And that's the part that I always like to share with people is that when I'm working for them, serving them, they're delegating the responsibility to make sure we monitor what's going on with the portfolio, and then make sure that we still are in line. So you know, that's the thing. So with people, it all depends upon where you are on your roadmap to your goals and objectives. So for those individuals, for example, who have been saving for their children's college, their child is a senior in high school right now and markets at High Point or maybe going into the second phase and emic that could cause a recession. While we want to make sure those funds you've set aside for your son or daughter that's going to school in the fall. We've put them in a position where they won't be so adversely affected by what's going on in the world. The same thing with the person who ultimately had already planned on retiring in 2021.
The main thing that creates risk with a portfolio is when you have money in an area that is exposed to the market volatile already, but you're also needing it in a very short timeframe. So as long as it's funding you've earmarked or identified, you know, you don't need for at least five years or more definitely equities is an area you still want to look at. But if the goal or objective of you needing money is within, you know, the five years, and especially at this stage in the game, with a lot of clients, we've already repositioned them out of the market into more of a little bit of stable areas, such as bonds or cash. So that way, they won't have had that concern of, hey, I thought I had 10,000 here, and now it's only seven. Now, we've already secured that, because we know you plan on using the funds. But for those of us who had those funds, funds earmarked for my retirement still 20 years from now will hold the course.
The Mag
Right? It's not it doesn't have to be all earned or all or nothing, you can have piles of money, that's job does different things, like one pile could be for 30 years from now, one pile could be for 21 could be two for 10. And one could be for two.
Joseph Samples:
Exactly, exactly. I always like to use the analogy, you're looking at your investment portfolio, your investment accounts, very similar to our wardrobe. So meaning, you know, over this last week, unfortunately, we've had to start pulling back out the big coats and sweaters and the hats. But these were things that we didn't touch, you know, the months of May through August, we were wearing different outfits at those times. So just as the seasons change, and we talked about the seasons, where you are in life, you have different accounts to meet the different seasons or meetings or objectives that you have.
The Mag
Well, Joseph, if somebody wants to learn more, have a more substantive conversation about their finances with you or somebody on your team, what's the website, and what's the best way to get a hold of you?
Joseph Samples:
Best way to get a hold of me actually, if you're one of the things I'm ashamed to say I'm not as what we would call nowadays social media, as I need to be. But I do have a LinkedIn page. You can find me there, Joseph samples. You can also email me directly my email address is joseph.samples@prudential.com. And also, I'll just share for those of you who like to use what I would call the antiquated way of speaking by phone, my phone number, it's 248-304-1005.
The Mag
Good stuff. Well, congratulations on all your success. And thank you for doing the work you're doing. We really appreciate you.
Joseph Samples:
Well, Lee, I appreciate having the opportunity to come on this morning and to dialogue with you. And just to you know, hopefully for those of you who are listening and heard our conversation. It's just a matter of having a plan, staying the course, and trying to be as objective as possible when it comes to your finance.
The Mag
Good stuff. All right. This is Lee Canter. We'll see y'all next time on Detroit Business Radio.
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