A little about me...and why I do this...

"To be clear, I’m not a big advocate of the tools we have because I’m in the planning business. I’m in the planning business because I’m a big advocate of the tools we have." Jeff Woodard

Hi, I’m Jeff.  

Sometimes I focus too much on business, and skip the personal. This article is my somewhat belated attempt to begin to change that...

Well, what about me? ...we don't have to spend a lot of time on me. I've been blessed to have had a very strong, brilliant Mother, who implanted the seeds of hard work, discipline, and love of God, Family and Country in her children. She had little money, but gave us brains and drive...and also a bit of an independent, questioning nature. She also stoked my interest and got me involved in investing when I was only a teen-ager; I've been doing it ever since, from mutual funds, stocks, bonds, options, and commodities - to real estate, crowdfunding, private equity, and cryptos.

The shortened version of my (lengthy) mission statement - developed over 3 decades ago is:

To live well, have fun and help others...

To Learn, Earn, and Return.

My wife of 43 years, Lori, is one of the most giving, down-to-earth people in the world. She balances me amazingly well - there's no way I could have done alone anything near what we've done together. I dragged her all over the world, and she almost never complained, adapting to all the circumstances she encountered with grace and fortitude.

I have 3 wonderful children, who are making their way in the world. For at least two decades, my hope and prayer, in my daily diary and goals list has been: "our children are independent and self-confident contributors to society." and they are (finally) there.

With a long background in the international IT and oil businesses, and training and coaching, I have wide and varied experience. Much of my professional career was spent in Asia, working for large companies, then starting my own business in executive coaching covering 15 countries. There, I was fortunate to work with outstanding CEOs and other highly-placed international executives. I learned a lot. Gave up a lot. Lost a lot. Gained a lot.

And upon returning to the U.S., I saw a mess - a retirement crisis brewing in slow motion. Good people being taken advantage of by sheep in wolves' clothing. 'Advisors' who are just overpaid salespeople on the hunt for the next fee, brokers seeking only more assets. A regulator who simply cannot keep up (and often is in cahoots with) the scoundrels in a business which seems to attract the best and the brightest; but sadly too often those with no moral compass.

It didn't take long to learn: Traditional financial planning has failed.

The dismal statistics speak for themselves. A Gallup survey showed that 75 percent of workers want to retire before age sixty, yet only 25 percent actually think they will. 

Only 1 in 4 feels financially prepared for retirement.

According to a study conducted by the U.S. Department of Commerce, only 5 percent of all Americans are financially independent at age sixty-five. This study further indicated that 75 percent of all retirees are forced to depend on family, friends, and Social Security as their only sources of income. An article in USA Today showed that the number-one concern for American retirees is the fear of running out of money. Fifty-one percent of retirees today have incomes below $10,000 per year. 

In a world filled with financial advice, few actually enjoy financial success.

The magic pill the entire financial planning industry is built on—and that most Americans are swallowing whole—is that financial success comes from investing in the right products, employing the right strategies, and basing calculations on countless unknown variables and simulations. This, despite the fact that it’s not working for most Americans. 

Folks, 

Financial planning has failed.

I have developed a passion for cutting through the noise and confusion in the industry to helping people see the truth about the Financial Services business...to helping people see the truth about money.

… what this really means is, I work for people.

I see myself as a financial coach – a tax-free retirement coach- using my background in executive coaching and real-world engineering and management experience to help people. 

I have a moral, professional and personal obligation to do everything in my power to get you what you need and want to retire. I have some letters after my name. But even if I didn't, the focus still would be on you - that's why I find even writing this article a challenge!

I’ll show you we can work together to get the retirement lifestyle that you deserve.

if you’re looking for a big-name financial firm that functions as a profit center with a long history of product sales, then we are probably not the right fit for you.  We want to look at your finances from every angle so that you become an informed investor rather than a ‘consumer’ – so that you are a part of the process.

Our process is used throughout the country, because it’s been such a consistently reliable tool – it’s a reliable process that can work for you.

Now why am I doing this? Well, the reason I'm doing this is because I've been there…Six boys to feed is a big houseful. I remember the water being shut off at our house growing up. I won't forget not having new clothes; relying on hand-me-downs from one of my older brothers. The bald tires on the car, with no way to replace them..."just don't drive in the rain."

I’ve struggled to get my ducks in a row for a long time. For years, we seemed to 'have too much month left at the end of the money.' To take a big risk and to lose.

But I found a system that's made all the difference.

...Oh, I did so many things wrong...

I made more money in the stock market than my salary in the late '90s and built a nice account in 2000 (enough to buy a very nice California house at the time) and then you know what happened after that…a devastating market drop…lost most of it.

Invested in real estate around the world including failed projects in Dubai, Canada and Mexico.

Bought real estate in the Carolinas in 2005...had a sizable portfolio...then 2008 hit and all the renters vanished along with the rent checks.

I put money with a hard money lender and also invested in a can't miss private offering …which of course missed…

Then what did I do Right? 

Well, I decided to study and read what the banks do with their capital.

I really began to understand the risks of investing in the market and other things often touted as roads to wealth. I read literally hundreds of books on the market and investing.  

You see, most people focus only on what they can gain; they don’t concern themselves with losses…this is not how the great investors think...

Author and trader Nassim Taleb summed it up best in his must-read book, Antifragile, when he wrote, ‘The learning of life is about what to avoid.’ Taleb calls this idea "via negativa," which is Latin for the "negative way." More from Taleb in Antifragile...

‘Charlatans are recognizable in that they will give you positive advice, and only positive advice, exploiting our gullibility and sucker-proneness... Yet in practice it is the negative that's used by the pros, those selected by evolution... people become rich by not going bust (particularly when others do).’

It's easy to keep investors engaged with positive advice... Anyone can see a connection between buying a stock, a bond, or an option and making money. It's much harder to keep investors engaged with "negative advice"... foundational guidance like don't lose money, don't take too much risk, or don't blow yourself up.

It's just not sexy – even though it's more valuable.

It's more valuable because you can't make any money unless you first avoid losing what you have. You must avoid loss with every asset and investment.

Only a deep understanding of via negativa can prevent that from happening...

That's why via negativa is the primary secret of the wealthiest investors. Ask any of them, and that's exactly what they'll tell you...

Warren Buffett once said, "The first rule of investment is don't lose and the second rule of investment is don't forget the first rule, and that's all the rules there are."

 A single edict, don't lose, is all the rules there are.

I also learned about the Banks, the Fed and how money really works. And I learned keeping control of your money is a primary key to financial success.

And I asked a question I don’t even think you’re allowed to stay out loud in the world of finance: I said ‘what is guaranteed?’ because almost everything they say is that ‘past performance doesn’t indicate future results’ - there are no guarantees.  The thing about asking that question is that it changed the game for me.   First off I recognized the game was rigged….with an engineering background, I took out the emotion, and looked at the numbers.

And I said, I'm not going to lose any more money. 

So then I discovered and implemented a system that works for executives to build a carefree retirement.

Really what I’ve seen is it comes down to 3 things.  

Eliminating concerns about the market, taxes, and inflation.  And, the above combine so you can have a monthly income you can count on. And if you don’t then you are in trouble…!

So really the secret to knowing how much you'll be able to have is being able to reliably predict how much you need to save, how much return you need to make on that money.

And then calculating with precision your income stream in retirement.

But you probably know this already. 

What you may not know…

Is that there are methods to position your assets so you can know how much you need and how much you'll be able to live on without guesswork or depending on the variability in the market.  

You see… it's not how the market performs this month.

It's not whether you make 7 or 8% on your money. It's finding money you're losing unknowingly and unnecessarily…Using those dollars found to solidify your financial future preferably without impacting your current lifestyle. 

…using a process which positions your assets for maximum safety while giving you maximum liquidity, use and control of your money.

..and also minimizing or completely eliminating losses.

I’ve heard people say this sounds too good to be true.  It isn't and I'm proof.

The REAL PROBLEM is focusing solely on the traditional things – returns, interest rates, performance.  Just building assets. What’s the problem you say…?

The focus as you move into retirement needs to shift to INCOME.  A guaranteed consistent and predictable stream of income you can count on!

It's that simple. And it's not the mainstream advice. But it's what my team and I do every day.

"A good man leaves an inheritance to his children's children, but the sinner's wealth is laid up for the righteous."  Proverbs 13:22