Succession

He's gone from clerk to CEO twice. Mark is classic proof that the American dream is alive and well, here's your host of always in Fashion, Mark Weber.

we need to be soothsayers. That's a person who's set to see into the future, but back to the future. Illustrated how hindsight could be twenty twenty. Have the answers in advance, and you be a genius, the richest man.

can ply this to life. You go to school, you graduate, you get a job, you work hard, you find a significant other, you have children, and you create the life cycle for their lives. In business, your plan, execute, replan, re execute. They are no guarantees. The one lesson I've learned, the one lesson we've all learned. No matter how brilliant the idea, no matter how strong the brand, no matter how brilliant the product or the creativity of the marketing

it takes people. People are the ultimate resource in a business. Brilliant plans need brilliant people to develop them, and people dedicated, hard working, loyal people to the point. In order to have a thriving company, your people, your associates, need to be happy. Your need is to motivate them and then

retain them keep them in the company. You do it through compensation, commending them on jobs well done, motivating them, and ensuring that the company messages and goals are clear and selfishly ensure that all key executives want to stay. Having said this, well run companies ensure that people assets are protected. Well run companies I love that phrase. More

on that later. The most senior or critically skilled people in the company have contracts, then your HR team and senior managers should understand it's okay to lose people as long as you lose them to yourself. Make sure the openings are there when they exist. The future is clearly spelled out in positions delineated, and that whenever possible, you promote from winning. And lastly, your board if there is one, your lenders, if you have them, your shareholders want to

ensure a documented succession plan is in place. If your CEO leaves, it gets hit by a truck, how will the company go forward? Who will succeed him? It could be the president, chief financial officer, the head of marketing, could be anyone that may be the most critical decision in the plan. Should our CEO leave, we have to be prepared to go to the outside to find the next one. A well crafted succession plan includes a backup plan for every significant operating job in person. Now, succession

plans don't always work. Sometimes people really get angry. I have a clip I want to play for you.

four to seven, so he's not gonna be with us tonight. However, I'm gonna go it alone and I want to talk to you about succession plan, my own personal succession plan that you might find interesting. Back in my PVH days, my CEO was a young man. He was basically I'm fifty four years old, and he started to talk about retiring. I thought he was a Nazi's the CEO of the company. I'm the president of company. It's running well. We have a great chief financial officer. We're running the company. He

doesn't come in every day. He lives a life. He's on the strategic side. Why would you possibly resign? Why would you give that up? He says, I have other things I want to do. I said, I don't believe He says, well, don't believe me, but I'm going to be leaving. And the more we spend time together, the more he was driving home the point that he was going to retire early and I was the president. Where did that leave me? On top of which him and

I grew up together, and I was concerned. So one day we're having a conversation and he said, uncategorically, Mark, you better get ready. I'm getting serious. I'm going to retire and move on, and you're going to be my replacement. And I said, how do you know that? He says, because I'm going to insist. I said, how do you know that? I said, Look, if you're serious about leaving, which I don't understand, if you want to stay here for the rest of your life, I'll be your number

two president. I'm happy. I love working with you. That's fine with me. But if you decide to leave and I don't get to become the CEO, I want to leave. I don't want to be stuck here with someone new. I don't want to be stuck here thinking that the company didn't think I was good enough to have the number one spot. After all this slime, I need to

be taken care of. So what does that mean? I said, I want a provision in my contract that says that if I'm not made the CEO, I can walk off into the sunset with you, and I henceforth called it a sunset contract. And he looked at me and said one of the dumbest things I ever heard in my life. Sindmy, what are you talking about? Mark? This makes no sense. If you can't get the CEO job, then you'll just behave poorly and they'll fire you and you'll get your contract.

And I looked at him, I said, did you just say that to me? I've been here for twenty five years. I look at this company as if it's my own. I treat the money as if it's my own, my heart, my time, my life, my family invested here. And you're telling me that should I not become the CEO, I should behave like Peck's bad boy and hope to get fired. That's what I want to do with my career. Unacceptable. I want a contract that illustrates if I'm not going

to be the CEO, I can leave. I think it's fair for the amount of time I've been here, for the contribution I make to the company, He said, let me talk to the board. The board had a compensation committee. I don't know how the conversation went, but Lo and Behold. A week later, he came back and he said, you're going to have your sunset contract. Namely, if in fact I leave and the board doesn't name you CEO, you'll

be able to walk off into the sunset. You'll be able to get your package and leave and go with me. And I thought that was amazing, and I won, and I wanted using my brains and it was the right thing to do. And after all is said and done, in this life, you always have to plan. You always have to have a succession plan. So what is a succession plan? I'll tell you what it is. It's not

a Chinese menu. Contract is not a Chinese menu. You don't get to pick what you want from column A or column B. A succession plan outlines every single critical role in the company. And you might wonder why am I talking about this tonight, which, by the way, the show is called succession. And I'll tell you why. You know what got me thinking about this? Twice former person in Trump was almost assassinated. Where would that have left us as a country? And then the vice presidential debate

talk about succession? Hold that thought. If you're a family business, I've found family business is very interesting and very peculiar. No matter what happens, family members run the business. But if there are three children, does the oldest get it and the eldest what happens if the eldest son is an idiot, or for that matter, what is the eldest woman is an idiot. I'll tell you what. One of the things impressed me most and my travels around the world.

In Hong Kong, the woman, if she was the most capable, got it over the sun. They didn't fool around, they passed it along. I'm not so sure that's the way it's done here in the United States Corporate America, the seriousness in which a planned discussion for succession is planned and put and set in stone. The first thing you have to ask yourself is what I was saying before about contracts. The top most executives in the company have to have great contracts. You want them with the company.

You want them to know that there's a future, and there's a story and told and should they get fired, they have a severance package. But here is the key. There's always a non compete that mirrors the severance package. So if you are a president of the company and you get fired for not cause, if nothing, you did wrong, cause generally is about legal things. You did a bad job, you can get fired, it doesn't matter. You still get

your severance. But if you have two years, then you're going to sign a non compete that says you can't go to a competitor for the next two years. Now, some come copanies will list every single company in the industry that you're in to try to avoid you getting a job anywhere. That's not valid. Can't stop a person working forever, but they say, hey, I'm going to pay you for two years. I don't want you working in this industry. So you have to be smart when you're

negotiating a package. My severance package, the only thing it included with companies that we considered taking over and buying the rest I was free and clear. I refused to sign a severance package and a non compete that would keep me out of the industry forever. The second thing that a good succession plan does it protects the executives, the CEO, the president, and sometimes the chief financial officer.

In my case, the first thing they did after nine to eleven they brought a consulting firm who specialized in security, and they told us to build special rooms as bunkers in our houses, so gofa bit something happens, you had a room that was impregnable, that had its own air system, its own water supply, conditioning, and food that they would detail on what need to do. They wanted you safe.

The second thing that probably nobody thinks about when it comes to a good succession plan is the senior VPS, the executive VPS, and certainly the CEO and president can never be on a flight together. We were not allowed to fly together because God forbid something happened to the CEO. The president needed to be available. In my case, I was the successor to the CEO. I had to be available. So nobody thinks about that, But there are detailed things

that go involved in each of those things. It also includes a detailed job description of every position held in the company and who that success it would be. If you were a vice president in the warehouse, they wanted to know if you disappeared, was there a vice president available to pick up the place and walk right in. If not, the HR team was told to have a list of potential candidates should we need to press a

button to fill those positions. This was a very detailed, heart, well thought out plan, and having said that, it was presented to the board and generally speaking, an entire board meeting would be set aside for the discussion of succession. And when it came to the CEO to the president, I was asked to recuse myself, which means you walk out on your own volition, recognizing that it's confidential information that in this case, because you're involved, the board might

not want you to hear. And what got me thinking about it is the presidential election, as I started to say, politics, It's always been said, but very few people think about the vice president as a heart beat away. That's what it is, a heart beat away that if something would have happened to Trump, or something would have happened to

whom I wanver is President Biden. Now there's a succession plan, believe it or not, it's the vice president and then the Speaker of the House, Nancy Pelosi, or was Nancy Pelosi? Mike Johnson? Is that his name? Anyway, There's never been a time in our country where our populace was more aware and evolved with the country than it is right now. Whether it's a combination of the Internet, social media, Opinion

News twenty four to seven. We're all involved in the government now, we're all invested citizens, and we're all aware of what's going on in this presidential election. And let me state it upfront before I tell you what I think. I have tremendous respect for each candidate. For that matter, anyone who runs for office and wins has my respect, even if I don't like them personally, even if I don't like their policies. I was trained to respect the office that they hold. Kamala Harris is a woman. I

don't care. Woman makes no difference from me. Is she capable? Is she strong decision making? Does she get what's important? I'll come back to that. I want to play a clip from you from a movie I saw when I was thirteen years old. It was a comedy. It was called No Time for Sergeants Andy Griffin anybody who knows them. But I remember how young I was when I saw this movie because it left an impact on me, and I'm gonna play it for you.

He did have a lot of great ideas. He did make things happen, he did have strength. Now, obviously I'm leaning towards him based on the way I'm saying, but it doesn't matter. I'm only one vote you get to decide. But back to succession, no one knows what life brings. Remember I said it, I respect all. But what really got me thinking about succession was the vice presidential debate. Now, I was pleased as there was cordiality. I was pleased

that they shook hands, they respected one another. It's the way debates should be in reality, I thought Jad've answers a far right religious Yahoo. Turns out he's a brilliant, accomplished served in the Marines for his country, and he's a humble human being. The reality was in succession, I saw him as a president, and I thought that was important considering we're discussing a heartbeat away. On the other side, Tim Walls, a self described knucklehead with buffoonish behavior. I'm

not making this up. He said it himself. Oh and he admitted he was a liar and a truth changer, this own version of the truth. And when he got caught, he could have answered this whole thing in Tenement Square. He could have said, I wasn't there for Tenement Square, but I was there in the summer when the riots were still going on and the problems were still going on. But he made it come out differently. And I'm told

he did the same thing with his service record. Look at you never come to it, But can you really see that guy as president? A heart beat away. That's what got me thinking about succession tonight. But we are always in business life, politics and now this we have to consider succession back in a minute, always in fashion. As one of the world's most celebrated fashion designers. Carl Lagafeld was renowned for his aspirational and cutting edge approach

to style. His unique vision of Parisian shit comes to America through car Lagefeld Paris. He has women's collections, men's collections, ready to wear, accessory, shoes and bags. The fashion house Carlagafeld also off is a ring of watches I wear in premium fragrances. You can explore the Carlagophil collection at carlagofilpowers dot com. But it's more than that. I, for one, love to shop. I love going around and seeing what's happening and what catches my attention, what would make me

feel good to wear now. I don't wear the women's wear obviously, but I can appreciate it and they look amazing. If you want to look right, you want to have clothes that fits you well. You want to look like you're wearing something that's very expensive, that's exclusive for you and yours. You can find it at very affordable prices at Macy's Orcarlagofel dot com Paris. The women's ready to wear fashion is extraordinary, as well as the handbigs and the shoes. I for one wear men's clothes, unlike my

appreciation of women's clothes. I'm a modern guy. I want to look current, I want to look the way I want to feel. I go out at night, I'm in black and Carlagofel is my buddy. Calls are great. They fit great, and they have little tweaks and touches, whether it's a stripe on the sleeve, button at the neck, or on the shoulder. There's a lot of details that go into Carl Lagafel because he's always been, he always had been one of the world's great designers, and this

legacy and goes on and on. I can't speak enough about it except to say to you, you want to feel good about yourself. You want to know that you're dressing properly. You want to clothes that fits you well. Carl lagafeld Paris at Macy's Orcarl Lagafel dot com. A favorite brand has always been ISOD. My company at one time bought that brand. The CEO of the company handed it to me and said, you better make it work.

And I put everything in my career to make Isaod work, and I fell in love with that brand, and to this day it is one of the most exciting endeavors I've ever got involved with. ISOD is an incredibly strong golf brand. If you play golf, if you play tennis for that matter. They make a great polo shirts. I mean great. They're fit perfect. The material is unique because it's a PK fabric, that waffle weave you see, and it's made of a blend of cotton and microfiber that

allows you to stretch. And very often they are treated with solar protection as well, so they stretch, they're comfortable, and they breathe well. And one thing about ISAC they always fit. They'll never tug on you. You put it in your waist, they'll fit you great. The colors, patterns are sensational. Now I will also tell you ISOD makes great shorts and great golf pants. You're a golfer and you want to look good. You don't have to think about how do I look. You want to think about

how you play, not how you feel. ISOD is the brand for you. I know I was there when it was created. The strategy behind that brand is brilliant. It's one of my favorite brands. Will I talk about it? I should tell you about the men's sportswear. ISOD wasn't enough being a golf brand. It wasn't enough being just great polo shirts with logos, without logos, incredible branded story

and history. ISOD makes salt weather programs. They have great printed woven shirts, short sleeves that look excellent with colors, excellent with shorts, excellent with cotton pants of which they also make this whole salt order relaxed line from ISO, whether it be fleece, cotton sweaters, knit polos, woven shirts and pants of a range of colors and fabrics that are perfect for a guy wants to go casually in the spring and summer of this year. And here's the thing,

ISOD is affordable. Everyone listening to me talk about this brand can afford to buy it and know that there are a lot of other brands that also have a look like ISOT. Although I don't believe it's fun as ISOD is. The brand has a lot of energy in it, but at the price points no one can compete. You can find Isaac at your leading retails and online at isad dot com. Talk to you later, guys. I wish you.

I'm very happy spring in summer, and I help you by telling you if you were isaid, you're going to look great.

one of them would be a good presidential candidate. God for bit, you know, we're talking about the most powerful position in the world, the leader of the world. And not only that, they're clearly I're gonna be decision making policies for the rest of our four year policy if something should happen, so it really matters, and that is what they say. Words matter. And while I'm atter, I want to talk about the rich paying their fair share.

I've told you that I used to be important. Then I no longer am, and I guess, Jesse, if you see us, say stop whining. You're still important. Your family thinks you're important. You're always important. I used to be important. I had huge jobs, considering I grew up in the city projects. To get two CEO jobs, I think it was pretty huge. And to work for one of the largest companies in the United States in the paril sector,

and then the largest luxury company in the world. I used to be important, and I don't think I am now. But I tell you what that importance had done. It taught me a lot of stuff. And when someone talk stupid, get the rich to pay their fast share. Billionaires and millionaires that have to pay their fast share. It is the dumbest, stupidest lie in the world fair share. I made a ton of money and everything I made was tax through the roof. I've worked for a public company

who published my salary. They gave me the check, they took my taxes out of it. I had no deductions other than when anyone else had. At the time, I guess I was in the thirty six thirty eight percentile, and that's just for federal tax New York State tax. I was seeing less than fifty percent of my money. You think about it. Person works, they make one hundred dollars and at best they get fifty dollars for their effort. Don't tell me the rich don't pay them have fair share.

Of course, we pay our fair share. Now, this is where it gets stupid, and where they bend the truth and they try and work you up. I always work for a public company. I guess the honesty is during those days, I would be afraid to start my own business. How do you do that? I mean, we'd even begin, And yet these brilliant entrepreneurs figure out how to build businesses. You could be a plumber. You went to plumber school. You have your own business, you hire your own crew,

you work your own hours. You have to make customers happy, and you build a business on your own. And that plumber has to have a truck, he has to have equipment, he has to have people to do his bills. He needs staff, he needs plumber's assistants. He's making an investment in his business. It's not like me. I go to work and I show up, I get a salary. That plumber has to do a lot, has to invest his

own money to establish himself in the plumbing business. In this world, in every world, when you're paying your taxes, you're allowed to deduct your expenses. If you're Louis Viton and you invest thirty five forty fifty one hundred million in advertising that brand to make it interesting to people. You're allowed to deduct your expenses if you have a store and it does one hundred million dollars on fifty seventh Street, to pick a number out. It's not free

and clear, one hundred million dollars. You have to pay your rent, you have to pay employees. Your profit is based on what's left over, not the total number. And because you're investing and you're taking a risk, corporations are taxed at a different rate than individuals because it makes sense, it's only fair. Which brings me to capital gains. That's where the billionaires make their money. That's where many millionaires make their money in capital gains. What is capital gains?

Before I go there, I would tell you any time I've ever been in my position and an entrepreneur showed up by my doorstep to offer me a service, to sell me something, to talk about me, all we talked about is whether they get the courage to start on their own. You think about all the immigrants, and I am in favor of legal immigration, not illegal immigration, but

whichever the case may be. Think about the risks they took to come to this country, how they were willing to do anything, to be in a caravan, to walk through the jungle, through the woods, through the course rivers, to come here to start anew It's really an extraordinary set of experiences. If you ask an immigrant, weren't you afraid to start your own businesusiness rather than get a job, they'd look at you and say to you, after what I went through to get here, how can I be

afraid of anything else in my life? Fascinating? Don't tell me the rich don't pay that their share. Entrepreneurs are investing their own money, which brings me back to capital gains. I have two choices in theory what to do with my money. As to you, you could have put it in a bank or treasury bill, but it's guaranteed by the government. You put it there, it gives you a return and no matter what happens, you get your money back. A stock, however, is a risk this country is built

on selling companies to the public market. I own Apple shares. I'm an owner of Apple. I own a portion of that company. I invest money and I wait and I wait and I wait, and the stock can go up, the stock can go down. But the government recognizes that I'm taking a risk and to you move the economy along to understand how it helps hire workers give people jobs.

The government understands that you are taking a risk investing in companies, and for that, we're going to give you a special tax break, which at the moment is between twenty and twenty five percent instead of thirty six percent. It tacks you at a capital gains rate to recognize the fact that you are taking risk. That's where billionaires make their money. They're not taking salaries, and if they do,

they pay the same tax as you do. But if they invest in their company, like Elon Musk, and he decides to sell this company, and the rule with capital gains meaning you'll get a benefit on the tax rate if you hold it for more than one year. You buy a stock Apple tomorrow goes up ten points and you sell it, you're gonna pay regular tax on that. But if you buy a stock and you hold it for a you're gonna pay capital gains twenty percent a

lot less big companies create jobs. All entrepreneurial companies create jobs. What are these puntings saying there'd be no country without entrepreneurs. Jobs aren't created by the government. Well, there's a lot of jobs, but none of them make money. They're a service sector to the country. So please, guys, I'm telling you, nobody gave me anything in life. I came from the city projects. I worked hard, I worked smart, I got lucky. I made money. I paid my taxes the same amount

as any one of you. I want to be an Uber driver, I gotta pay Uber, I gotta pay for gas, I gotta buy a car. I have to pay for maintenance on that car. So if you come in my car and I charge you one hundred dollars, I didn't make one hundred dollars. At least fifty or sixty percent of that one hundred dollars goes to other people, or it goes to costs. So of course I only pay tax on the forty dollars that's left. Oh wake up, don't be dumb.

are endless and every one of them looks right. You could really really look the part. I believe that packaging yourself is as important does the products you package, and wearing a suit is one of those things that make men look their best. Venues and invented a new idea. It's called the cool flex suit. It's been engineered with stretch technology, giving you the most comfortable fit and mobility. It's wrinkle resistant fabric, it's cool moisture WICKI it makes

it perfect for all occasions. As we discussed just now, this new style of looking sharp while feeling cool and comfortable is amazing and I'm so excited that the van Using company is involved in this new technology and is embracing the whole idea of dressing up. Let's not forget van Usen made it's name with dress shirts. It's only proper that the suit business follows strongly in its way. You can find van using Kolflex Men's stretch suits at

jcpenny are online at jcpenny dot com. Guys, they're great. You should go look at them. D Knwhy Donna Karen, New York. Donna Karen began her career as one of the finest, most successful, powerful women in the fashion industry. She developed a collection aimed at the luxury market for women on the go, women who were powerful in their workplace, women who had lives that extended beyond the workplace, and her clothes went from day and tonight. An extraordinary collection.

But the interesting thing Donna Karen had a young daughter, and she had friends and they couldn't afford to buy the Donna Karon collection, and Donna invented dk NY Donna Aaren, New York. It's an offshoot of the Donna Karen collection. The same concept a lifestyle brand. Now we talk about lifestyle brands, what does that really mean? Simply what they say,

there are brands that follow you throughout your lifestyle. You get up in the morning, you start to get dressed Donna Karen dcaan why as intimate apparel, as hosiery, as all those products. You're getting dressed for work. You get accessorized shoes, handbags, and it takes you through the day. The remarkable thing about DK and Y clothes for work, they work into the evening. The dresses, the suits, the pants, the sweaters, the blouses, extraordinary clothes at affordable prices that

go from day in tonight. Part of your lifestyle is active. You have weekends, you have events, you participate in sports. Donna Karen's casual clothes did that under the DK and Y label. A vast array of casual sportswear that make women look great as they navigate their busy lives. Whether you're going to soccer games for your children or whether you're going out to the movies, whatever you want to do, DK and Y, Jenes dc HY sportswear is there for you.

That's what a lifestyle brand is. And I need to mention DKY Activewear, which is extraordinary, the leggings, the sports bras, the sweats. You can wear DKY active Wear certainly in the gym, certainly when you're working out at home, and certainly if you want on the street, because it's that well done. The quality of k Y is nothing short of exceptional. And why shouldn't it be? Because it was born from the idea of luxury made affordable for women

of America. Dk and Why a true lifestyle brand that takes you from day and tonight, from the week into the weekend. DCN Why you can find DCNHY and Macy's DKNY dot com.

be talking about this. It's hard to believe. It's amazing how hard it is to believe you want to talk about heroes and brave people. Oh my gosh. I mentioned well run companies before. There are uncertainties in every business. They're uncertainties and changes that happen that people have to figure out what to do with to take the luxury industry right now, luxury industry is taking a bath. It's

getting hit fairly dramatically. For one of the reasons is is there is a move towards silent luxury, stealth looks. There's a move towards buying great looking products without logos, not bragging about who you are. You look at Laura Piano, Nobody knows you're wearing Lorda piano unless there's another Laura Piano person there who appreciates the quality, understands the looks. Luxury industry is under attack. Another thing that has happened

is that luxury companies have driven their prices up. I'm told to as much as fifty percent or more. And some of the cork items that you would heretofore buy something that costs one thousand dollars now costs three thousand. And the world is changing because at one thousand dollars, there's a lot of people who had saved their money to purchase that one handbag and feel good about themselves when they walk around carrying and put it over their shoulder.

It's not as easy selling three thousand or five thousand dollars handbags. So I'm told what's happening is their numbers are holding up, but they're selling less units. So they're relying on a smaller group of people to buy and spend more on the same items that they were spending on before. We're losing that entry level person into the luxury business, and it's starting to have an impact in general.

Of course the board. So what do you do? I remember the last time we had a major recession that the world went to crazy, not COVID, when we closed the country, The question was what do you do? Even during COVID, what do you do? I'll never forget. October seventeenth, I think two thousand and eight, I get a call from the Manning Gen, director of EL. He was in Paris.

I was in New York. I remember I was walking on the street and I just tourned into the the LVH compound on fifty seventh Street in Manhattan, and I was in the lobby and he said Mark, we're very concerned with the recession that's taking place in the country and the world. We wanted to talk to you about what you're seeing going on in America and what you think about it. And I'll never forget what I said to him is, yes, you should be concerned. The best

retailers are going to buy less. There's going to be less opportunity to save money. Everything will be at a premium. And you have to manage your business well. And I said to him, well run companies thrive in difficult environments. And he said, what does that mean to you, Mark, I said, the first thing you need to consider is inventory. Inventory is the lifeblood of the company. How much you sell or how much you don't sell is the key

to your business. How much markup, how much you make on the items you sell versus whether you lose on those items you sell or as what makes or breaks a business. At a time like this, everyone should clean out their inventory. Now. In my case, mister managing director, we've been talking about this recession for the last six months, and I reduce my inventory levels across the board in the company. Was it easy.

in the world is going to buy less. And I was right. I said to him at the time, here's a way of looking at it, mister managing direct I said, there are things that you should do. There are things that would be nice to do, and there are things that you must do. You have a business. You better pay your electure bills. You want the lights to come on. You have an office, you have retail stores. You have to pay your landlord, otherwise he's going to lock you out.

I don't know that i'd be opening new stores right now. I know I wouldn't. I'd wait. I don't know that I would renew any lease higher than what I paid for it at this time. But I would deal with those things that only you had to do. And the things that made me feel good are the things that you should do. No if advertising wasn't proven. You know, I've talked about this before. John Wanna make a famous businessman famous retailers said, I know fifty percent of my

average tising works. I just don't know which fifty percent. None of us know what works. Well run companies thrive in difficult environments. Unless I was sure that an advertisement or an expenditure would directly relate to increased sells or to sales that I needed to capture, I wouldn't spend the money anymore. Because well run companies must thrive in difficult environments. Back in a minute, always in fashion, then using for over one hundred and fifty years now has

been a mainstay in American fashion. This brand that was invented for dress shirts was given to coal miners when they exited the mills dirty and dusty. The Phillips venues and company Phillips families there to give them fresh, new shirts that they could wear at home and feel their best. Over the course of time, venues and dress shirts grew and grew and grew to suit shirts and ties for the dress up, and now sportswear has become a dominant

part of the using collection. You can find these products including sweaters, polos, quarter zips, trousers, and even the best of fashion has to be preserved. I don't know if I ever mentioned to you the advent of the men's necktie. There's nothing better in a men's necktie business than the business lunch because guys we go out, they'd have their lunch that have their salads or their beef and potatoes and snow stout about it. They would always stain their

die and therefore the business grew and grew venues. And today doesn't want to make money on your hardships. They want to do it and prevent you from having to go through that. And they invented stain shield. It's the technology that was invented to protect your favorite items. The stain Shield collection provides extreme defense against water based stains by causing spills to beat up before they can be

absorbed into the fabric. This collection, by the way, in addition to regular fits, is also often in all body sizes, including big and tall. You can find Vanues and Stainshield and the great venues in style sports were at Vanues in dot com. That's Vanusen dot com. As one of the world's most celebrated fashion designers, carl Lagafeld was renowned for his aspirational and cutting edge approach to style. His unique vision of parisianshit comes to America through car Lagofeld Paris.

He has women's collections, men's collections, ready to wear, accessory, shoes and bags. The fashion house Carlagofeld also offers a range of watches, I wear and premium fragrances. You can explore the car Lagofl collection at car Lagofelparis dot com. But it's more than that. I have for one, love to shop. I love going around and seeing what's happening and what catches my attention, what would make me feel good to wear Now. I don't wear the women's wear obviously,

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like everyone else. I've been running air conditioning all along, and I had to switch to heat, or at least make sure in order to keep my warranties. I had to make sure that I made official adjustment. And they come in and check my air conditioning and heat. So they come in and after the workman is there for around a half hour, he says, I'm afraid I have some difficult news to you. You have two boilers running your house. You need them because you have a big house.

One is the main, the other is the they call it the slave helps the main, and both of them are in trouble right now. Ye that it's a relatively new unit, he said. I know it should have lasted much longer, but it doesn't. And I have to go out in the market and try and find parts. I said, why are in the market? He said, Well, the company that we installed this from you went bankrupt, so we have to go out and try and track down parts.

And the problem is, let's say we find him now, what's going to happen to the next time, and there'll be a next time. I suggest you have to replace this units. I said, what about the other one? He said, that's also bad news. It has to be replaced. If not now, it'll be six months from now, and it could come at the worst possible time when it's cold outside, freezing, and these things aren't generating the heat that you need for your water or your house swell. I have to

ask you a question. You guys told me to buy this brand. Are you responsible or I am? And after clearing his throat, he said, well, you should call the owner, but of course not, we're not responsible. We install this in good faith, wear and tear. I don't know what to tell you. Then he tells me the price, and I thought my head would go through the roof. I bought a system, put it in this house ten years ago, the entire system. I have six processes outside, I've got

six inside. I got all this going on, and everything has turned over in the last ten years. And the cost of this is crazy. And what are you supposed to do? You know what I did? I vented how can you do this to me? Ba ba b b b b b b b And you know what I gotten for it? Nothing. I'm on plumbers tonight. If I knew what I knew now, maybe I would have been

a tradesman. While I'm on the subject of stuff and I'm off the subject of succession, those of you who still listening want to learn how There's a few things I have to make sure I get off my chest. I was with one of my son's friends the other day and I asked him, does your company match your four oh one K contribution? And he said, I don't invest in four o one k. I started screaming, are you out of your freaking mind? But before I really get great, do they match it? And yeah, they match

it up to six percent. A four oh one k a company gives you free money. You put your money in. You put fifteen thousand dollars a year, and what is a four oh one k? The government says you do not have to pay any taxes on the income that fifteen thousand dollars makes until you retire in your seventies. You get all of those earnings free of charge until you retire. Now, from the government point of view. Thank you when I'm making the least amount of my money.

When I'm retired and I'm not making money, that's when you want to tax me. That's when you should leave me alone. I spent my whole life paying taxes, which, by the way, you want to talk about taxes, rich don't pay the fair share. I live in a nice neighborhood. I pay taxes on my house some crazy number, and of the crazy number, I don't want to say it, ninety percent is school tax I'm like hymen Roth and the Godfather. I'm just a retiree living on a pension.

I'm not going to school. I have no children going to school. I have no grandchildren living in this house going to school. I have nothing to do with the school system. And most of my taxes on my hom are for schools. What's wrong with that system? Back to four o one K. Anyone who doesn't find a way to contribute to their four oh one K force themselves to save money is a moron. Now you are a

more on for one or two reasons. Either you're spending too much money or you're not taking advantage of one of the greatest perks that God ever invented companies matching your contributions, giving you free money, and the government telling you don't have to pay anything. And while I'm on the subject of this and money tonight tax the rich. I'm not sure my son's friend talks to me anywhere, by the way, after I let loose on them. But again it happens something else for someone else. The other

woman talking about bonuses. We're talking about you know, is Trump good for the economy? What's going to be with interest rates? And I happen to say, do you shop with credit cards? She said yeah? I said, do you pay your credit card bills off every month? And know I just pay a small amount and just keep charging. I went crazy. I went crazy. Do you know what credit card interest is? It's like twenty percent or more. That means like you're borrowing money from people who are

taking incredible advantage of you. Do you imagine you borrow one hundred dollars you're based only one hundred dollars and by the andy die, oh, I'm one hundred and twenty dollars. It's crazy. I'll tell you what. All of you out there, anyone who wants to borrow money from me, call me up, I'll charge you twenty percent. I'll do it with you. The problem is you have to give me some collateral. You have to sign over your children, or your house

or something that really has value to me. But the reality is charging you twenties percent, I go to jail. So how come the credit card companies can do that I want? I don't know. Tonight is a lesson in finance, I suppose, or succession. Hopefully you're learning from what I have to say, If not, replace me. Jesse's here and he'll do a better job than I will. That is a backdrop. I hope you enjoyed tonight's show. Good Night,