Sorting out matters related to your retirement isn’t something you should wait until the last minute to take care of. What can you do to make sure you’re ready for retirement when time arrives? Learn about 6 things you can do right now to ensure that you’re indeed ready for retirement. If you are within six months away from retiring, there are certain things you need to do now to help prepare yourself for the transition into retirement throughout this retirement preparation process. While, at ti...
Jan 26, 2022•10 min•Season 2Ep. 4
How can a mindset shift help you avoid one of the most common retirement planning mistakes? And how can you know assets you should set aside to generate the income needed to retire? Learn about the Five Minute Retirement Plan and why it’s an invaluable resource to leverage as you’re planning your retirement. The most common mistake people make when planning their retirement is assuming that the way wealth was created is the same way they should hold wealth in retirement, with the added twist of ...
Jan 19, 2022•10 min•Season 2Ep. 3
Most people think about what investments they should be making or what stocks they should have in their portfolio when they approach retirement age, but they are going about it backwards. Brian Skrobonja breaks down the calculations you need to make in order to understand how ready you are for retirement and what your retirement plan needs to factor in to be truly financially free. How do you know when it's safe to retire? The answer depends on your plan and understanding the most important numb...
Jan 12, 2022•10 min•Season 2Ep. 2
What can you do right now to make this year the best year financially that you've ever had? And what is the one thing that makes some people achieve financial freedom faster than others? Learn about the simple mindset shift that will change the way you think about financial freedom and a quick mental exercise you can do to make that shift right now. There is a hidden danger that most people don’t even realize is a risk to their wealth and it’s the status quo. The slow slide of entropy limits you...
Jan 05, 2022•12 min•Season 2Ep. 1
The Chinese proverb “rags to rags in three generations” says that family wealth does not last for three generations. The first generation makes the money, the second spends it and the third sees none of the wealth. The Chinese aren’t the only ones who acknowledge this as a problem. In the U.S. it is referenced as “shirtsleeves to shirtsleeves in three generations,” and in Japan it’s “rice paddies to rice paddies in three generations.” These sayings contradict what I hear clients tell me they wan...
Dec 29, 2021•14 min•Season 1Ep. 49
When I talk about my definition of retirement, I think it sometimes catches people off guard. In my mind, retirement is not who you are or where you’re at in life, rather it is the transition of your time and money. In other words, it is a process you go through … not your identity. The transition for money is a transition from accumulating money to utilizing it. For time, it is a transition of reallocating the 40-plus hours per week you spent working. This distinction of what retirement means i...
Dec 22, 2021•11 min•Season 1Ep. 48
We all have blinders about various things in our life that leave us blind to things we do not know or understand. What is a blinder? Well, it could be a bias about something, it could be a protection mechanism to ignore something, it could be immaturity about something or it could simply be ignorance of not knowing any better. In fact, what I have found is that for most people who are experiencing investing immaturity is that once they are provided more education about how to invest, they often ...
Dec 15, 2021•13 min•Season 1Ep. 47
We often hear the mantra that debt is bad. Yet that doesn’t stop the majority of people from assuming they will always have bank payments. For many, using credit to purchase vehicles, take vacations or fund home improvement projects is a normal mindset for making their lifestyle work. They believe borrowing money to fill income gaps is the answer to supporting their lifestyle. In reality, it enters them into a money hamster wheel, which means they work to earn a paycheck and then spend the money...
Dec 08, 2021•11 min•Season 1Ep. 46
Employees love their 401(k)s, but love can be blind. These plans are riddled with traps, restrictions and caveats that are not apparent until you attempt to access your money out of the plan. Retirement savers need to open their eyes to some serious flaws built into these accounts. A 401(k) is a type of employer-sponsored retirement savings plan utilized in for-profit organizations. Related types of plans are the 403(b), used in not-for-profit and education, and 457 plans, designed for governmen...
Dec 01, 2021•11 min•Season 1Ep. 45
Finding Yield In a Low Interest Rate Environment It is no secret that savers are having a difficult time knowing how and where to hold their cash in this low interest rate environment. Storing money in traditionally “safe” places no longer makes sense and has pushed some into more risky alternatives — such as fixed income securities like bonds and, in some cases even the stock market — in search of yield. However, while fixed income securities may offer a potentially higher yield than deposit ac...
Nov 24, 2021•10 min•Season 1Ep. 44
When my kids were growing up, many days my wife would sit with them on the floor putting puzzles together. They would laugh and talk as they worked together arranging the pieces to create the picture on the box. When the kids were young, the puzzles consisted of 20 pieces that could be put together without much need for the picture on the box. The older the kids got, the more complex the puzzles became and the more important the picture became for them to fully study, understand and refer back t...
Nov 17, 2021•8 min•Season 1Ep. 43
The Chinese proverb “rags to rags in three generations” says that family wealth does not last for three generations. The first generation makes the money, the second spends it and the third sees none of the wealth. The Chinese aren’t the only ones who acknowledge this as a problem. In the U.S. it is referenced as “shirtsleeves to shirtsleeves in three generations,” and in Japan it’s “rice paddies to rice paddies in three generations.” These sayings contradict what I hear clients tell me they wan...
Nov 10, 2021•14 min•Season 1Ep. 42
I’m an entrepreneur and just so happen to be in the business of providing other entrepreneurs with financial advice. But I don’t typically offer up the usual status quo advice that tells you to do things that aren’t always in alignment with growing your business. My views originate from my experiences and at times are contrarian to what’s being recommended by the usual tax preparer and other financial advisers, because I am in the trenches running a business just like you. I know what it takes t...
Nov 03, 2021•12 min•Season 1Ep. 41
When I talk about my definition of retirement, I think it sometimes catches people off guard. In my mind, retirement is not who you are or where you’re at in life, rather it is the transition of your time and money. In other words, it is a process you go through … not your identity. The transition for money is a transition from accumulating money to utilizing it. For time, it is a transition of reallocating the 40-plus hours per week you spent working. This distinction of what retirement means i...
Oct 27, 2021•11 min•Season 1Ep. 40
We all have blinders about various things in our life that leave us blind to things we do not know or understand. What is a blinder? Well, it could be a bias about something, it could be a protection mechanism to ignore something, it could be immaturity about something or it could simply be ignorance of not knowing any better. In fact, what I have found is that for most people who are experiencing investing immaturity is that once they are provided more education about how to invest, they often ...
Oct 20, 2021•13 min•Season 1Ep. 39
00:00 – Opening 1:03 – Joe's Story 11:10 – How The Dominos Fall 12:28 – Brian's Final Thoughts On this episode, Brian shares a story about Joe and his mental tug of war about how to best utilize his cash assets… Pay off a mortgage? Keep the cash in the bank? Build Wealth? Listen to the podcast to hear the full story and Brian’s thoughts about the situation. “Every financial decision you make – big or small - is like the first domino, each decision has a domino effect and it is best to see how th...
May 03, 2021•14 min•Season 1Ep. 38
The truth is that we all, as human beings, carry around this proverbial backpack of beliefs and emotions, and we carry it everywhere we go. And when we show up somewhere that's in a relationship and a conversation having to make a decision, we unpack the backpack. There's no hiding the backpack. It's with us all the time. It is full of of a lot of good things, but mixed in with it our limited beliefs that can wreak havoc with our decision making. These beliefs are just an accumulation of informa...
Feb 17, 2021•44 min•Season 1Ep. 37
You hear me reference and emphasis the importance of having a financial plan in nearly every topic we cover and estate planning is an area of that plan discussed in todays podcast. In this episode of The Common Sense Financial Podcast, I have a conversation with Jessie Naeger of the Law Office of Andrew Weinhaus about estate planning and other important consideration for protecting your estate. Jessie and I have worked on several client cases together over the years and I felt bringing her on to...
Jan 06, 2021•44 min•Season 1Ep. 36
Traditional public markets have been historically viewed as normal when it comes to investing but over the last decade we have seen a shift in this attitude toward finding alternatives to the stock market. Though we have been seeing a shift in investor behavior and attitude about markets for quite some time, COVID has brought a sense of urgency to the conversation for finding an alternative to traditional markets. And it is not difficult to understand why. The abrupt volatility that investors ha...
Oct 21, 2020•41 min•Season 1Ep. 35
I am sure you would agree that if you talk with ten people regarding any subject, you're liable to get ten differing opinions from those people. Opinions are everywhere and I believe they are the #1 reason most people live their entire lives thinking a lot of things are true when they are actually false. I became a Christian in November of 1998, I was operating my financial business and raising kids while learning as much as I could about my new faith as a Christian. What I learned fairly quickl...
Sep 16, 2020•36 min•Season 1Ep. 34
CSFP 033 | The #1 Thing That Successful Investors Are Doing That Average Investors Aren't by Brian Skrobonja: Author, Financial Advisor, Entrepreneur
Jun 19, 2020•22 min•Season 1Ep. 33
One thing I have learned over the last six months during a time of growing markets and economy to a sudden shift of social distancing and virtual workplaces due to the covid-19 pandemic, is that people are motivated by two emotions, Fear and Greed. I know reading this can almost seem insensitive or downright offensive but it’s the truth. Think about it... As a parent, business owner, friend, employee, spouse or neighbor, our emotions can lead us into making decisions that we can reflect back on ...
Jun 19, 2020•12 min•Season 1Ep. 32
“The Truth Will Set You Free!” This is a phrase we have all heard and it originated in the New Testament in John 8:32, when Jesus said to the new believers, “you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.” Whether you are trying to figure out the destination of your soul and the meaning of life or simply trying to figure out how to be smart with money and build real wealth, you have to know the truth. You have to know what is real and not just theory, what is fact and not fiction, wha...
Mar 06, 2020•14 min•Season 1Ep. 31
The most wealthy and financially independent people I know realize something that most people don’t. They realize that wealth…true financial independence… is not found in the amount of money that you have. That is what most people believe… they think that if they have a lot of money saved that they will have this sense of independence. And there is some truth to that…accumulating a lot of money is a great accomplishment in this consumer driven society. In this podcast I want to share with you th...
Feb 11, 2020•14 min•Season 1Ep. 30
Pensions are becoming more and more of a dinosaur as companies are moving away from them and are replacing them with 401k type plans. There are multitudes of reason why this shift is occurring but the primary reason is due to the simple fact that pensions are unsustainable. Pension had their hay day in the 1960s but began to fail opening the door for the government to enter the picture. The truth is, pensions have been struggling to keep their head above water ever since and outside of governmen...
Jan 07, 2020•14 min•Season 1Ep. 29
The goal of every business owner is to increase and expand income sources and grow profits while minimizing what is needed to generate the income. To grow your income, you can do more of what it is that you do that creates revenue or find ways to tweak your systems that will result in an increase in cash flow without the need to create more revenue. Know and understand your cash flow needs. Plugging leaks in your spending can increase cash flow and your ability to invest back into your company. ...
Dec 03, 2019•11 min•Season 1Ep. 28
Money is a HUGE part of our life yet schools don’t spend time teaching us how to manage it and most families don’t share their experiences with one another. Without guidance and learning best practices to achieve success, we are set up for FAILURE before we even begin our relationship with money. It seems reasonable to believe that it would be a good idea to acquire some training on how to effectively think about and handle money BEFORE we get started. These are a few basic points about handling...
Oct 31, 2019•10 min•Season 1Ep. 27
It’s interesting to me how little people really know about life insurance. Most people when they think of life insurance they think about its use to protect families, pensions, liabilities and business. But there are other uses such as banking, retirement, tax reduction, long term care and portfolio diversification that is not often considered when thinking about life insurance. I think one of the limitations people have about life insurance is its complexity but its also the negativity that sur...
Oct 01, 2019•14 min•Season 1Ep. 26
The older I get the more I realize the impact our mindset has on every aspect of our life including our finances. What you think about, what you believe and the way you go about making decisions and living life is a direct result of how we think. We all know that there is no shortage of information and opinions on the topic of money. Turn on the TV and you are inundated with commercials for products, services, books and seminars that are screaming for your attention. How do we process so much in...
Sep 24, 2019•13 min•Season 1Ep. 25
CSFP 024 | The Family Office Model by Brian Skrobonja: Author, Financial Advisor, Entrepreneur
Aug 19, 2019•12 min•Season 1Ep. 24
