Glenn Harper [00:00:00]:
Hello, everyone. Welcome to another edition of the Empowering Entrepreneurs podcast. I'm Glenn Harper.
Julie Smith [00:00:04]:
Julie Smith.
Glenn Harper [00:00:04]:
What's going on, Julie?
Julie Smith [00:00:05]:
Well, you know, we made it through the first of the year. Right? Here we come.
Glenn Harper [00:00:09]:
I can't believe it. We're here. Buckeyes are national champions, and, we're almost into Feb. 0.
Julie Smith [00:00:14]:
Which means it's gonna get warm soon.
Glenn Harper [00:00:16]:
That's all we can hope for. Well, we've got a wonderful guest on the docket today. Can't wait to get into this guy. I'd like to introduce Matt Ruttenberg, co owner of Business Development of Life Inc, Retirement Services. Try saying that 5 times fast. Matt is a hardcore retirement plan specialist who got fed up with charging clients rent to hold their money to provide real value for his clients. Making the jump from the run of the mill financial advisor, he decided that moving money was not as satisfying as coaching and helping clients provide better solutions for their employees. When he's not surfing or golfing in sunny Kaneohe, Hawaii, he is spending time with his wife, Nisha, and his 2 kids.
Glenn Harper [00:00:50]:
His work experience in the financial sector is long and distinguished. Eventually, 1 must go through the valley to get to the other side and do what 1 is destined for. Some pick Alaska or the desert, but Matt picked Florida and Hawaii. Matt Matt makes working look fun as he navigates the retirement plan industry to be the authority in the room. Thanks, Matt, for being on the show.
Matt Ruttenberg [00:01:09]:
Absolutely. Thanks, Glenn. Julie, appreciate it.
Julie Smith [00:01:11]:
So it's much warmer there than it is here right now.
Matt Ruttenberg [00:01:14]:
It is. It it is warmer. It's you know, there's never, like, more than a 10 degree swing in any direction at any time of day, day or night, summer, winter. So it's it's usually pretty consistent and mostly sunny.
Glenn Harper [00:01:29]:
That explains your unhappy attitude at this point. Well, we love to I love to stalk the guests, get a little little facts on them, and then try to figure out, see where this conversation goes, because it's all about the journey. All of our, listeners are probably entrepreneurs at 1 or currently trying to be 1, and they just wanna know what that's like because it's a very hard space to be in.
Matt Ruttenberg [00:01:50]:
Yeah.
Glenn Harper [00:01:51]:
And, you know, it looks like you grew up in Stow, Kent, Ohio where the in the farm country is still vibrant, where you attended the prestigious Stow Monroe Falls High School and proudly wear the Bulldog swag. Nothing like a small town kid making in the big leagues. What was that like in Stow, Ohio?
Matt Ruttenberg [00:02:06]:
Yeah. That was that was, you know, it's 1 of those things that you think this town is bigger than it actually is. And if you go back to it and visit and you're like, wait a second. I can walk everywhere here. But, yeah, it was good. You know, it's 1 of those things that you grow and you're happy and you're and you're, happy with where you're at, and then all of a sudden you wanna spread your wings and and see the rest of the world and see, you know, the warm weather, basically get out of the, Northeast Ohio, cold front and, like, effect of of every single year. I I remember distinctly waking up at 1 and saying looking at the snow and and and saying, okay. This this is my last winter here.
Matt Ruttenberg [00:02:44]:
I'm not gonna do this anymore.
Glenn Harper [00:02:45]:
Everybody's got a breaking point.
Julie Smith [00:02:47]:
I say that I've said that for thirty nine straight years, and here I am.
Matt Ruttenberg [00:02:50]:
We, we grew up
Glenn Harper [00:02:52]:
we both grew up just due, west of you. I was in a little town called Nova near,
Matt Ruttenberg [00:02:57]:
Okay.
Glenn Harper [00:02:57]:
Lodi, and Julie was in Ashland. So we're very familiar with your spot there. Now when you grew up there, was it did your, were your parents entrepreneurs? They worked for the man? How did they go?
Matt Ruttenberg [00:03:07]:
Yeah. So my dad was in the financial services industry. So I'm a third generational finance guy, if you will. My grandfather was in that. My mom was a stay at home mom, raised us. And, but so he he my my dad worked and owned his own business practice, his own financial practice. So I I was I was a finance kid. I I was raised through it.
Matt Ruttenberg [00:03:31]:
I I knew it. It's kind of like all I knew as I was growing up. And, but it really taught me, you know, the basics of finance. Now he was in a completely different sector where I am now, but it was a great starting point to get me going in the finance industry. And and being able to do that is just, you know, having the fundamentals and growing up with those fundamentals is so so helpful when you're talking to people.
Glenn Harper [00:03:57]:
Was you were you a slave labor at a young age working for them in the office doing things, random tasks, or no?
Matt Ruttenberg [00:04:05]:
Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. It's a tax strategy too. Right? So Oh, nice. Absolutely. Yeah. I was I remember doing the filing and and and doing the, you know, there's a lot more paper back then.
Matt Ruttenberg [00:04:17]:
Right? You know, letters went out, not emails. There's a lot of a lot of, envelopes, and things like that being being worked through. So, yeah, I remember those days. And going to the conferences and and, shaking hands with with some of the other finance guys and learning their side of it, and it was really interesting interesting to grow up with. Yeah.
Glenn Harper [00:04:37]:
But you were you were you were allegedly collecting a paycheck, but you actually never saw the money, which is why we call it slave labor, which is kinda funny. That's right. But that's the best part. You get enough for, like, a Snickers bar.
Matt Ruttenberg [00:04:48]:
That's right.
Glenn Harper [00:04:48]:
Did you, did you have any, siblings that worked in there with it with you guys, or was it just you that did it? Or how did that work?
Matt Ruttenberg [00:04:56]:
I'm a twin. I'm a identical twin. We went to we we actually won a few, awards over there in Twins Berg. Right? They have the Twins Day.
Glenn Harper [00:05:04]:
That's awesome. Yeah.
Matt Ruttenberg [00:05:05]:
Much smaller back then. But, yeah. So we both got into it. We he I think he lasted in the industry. Let's see. Let me think. He he was maybe two years into it, and then he's like, I'm out. And that's and he he went to Florida, and that's where I I followed him a few years later.
Matt Ruttenberg [00:05:24]:
He kinda came back into it for a for a minute, and then he he said, nah. Okay. What
Glenn Harper [00:05:28]:
what's his name? Brad.
Matt Ruttenberg [00:05:31]:
His name is Brad.
Glenn Harper [00:05:32]:
How do we know that you're not Brad?
Matt Ruttenberg [00:05:34]:
I might be. I might be.
Glenn Harper [00:05:36]:
We're gonna have to do some some more forensic research here. So, you know, part of the things that that, you know, we see that entrepreneurs, some of them are programmed that way from a very early age, and some of them kinda learn and get mentored into it. And others just, at 1, can't take the real world and just jump right into it. Do you feel like as a as a as a young lad in the in the farm there that you were destined to be an entrepreneur just because of your mentor, your dad, and just in that in that industry and in in just running your own shop, you're like, I can I like this? I like this uncertainty. I like the anarchy. I like nodding having just 1 job. I like doing everything. Is that something you're just you do, like, drew there and you're like, this is awesome, or you're like, man, this sucks.
Matt Ruttenberg [00:06:18]:
No. Yeah. It it great question. I I I would say yes. That was and that there's a distinction between my brother and I too. Like, there I I thrive on the chaos on that kind of thing, and, it is, you know, it is a journey. My goodness. Is is entrepreneurship a journey and the ups and downs with it? But it's you know, the highs are higher, the lows are lower, and, it's exciting once you hit 1 of those achievements that you're looking for.
Matt Ruttenberg [00:06:45]:
So, absolutely, I I tried it, but, you know, I worked for a bank a little bit out of college in the finance side of there over there and did the investments over there, and and it was, you know, comfortable with the the salary. But after that, I just I was bored. I got bored is really what it was. So anything outside of the entrepreneur side, I got bored.
Julie Smith [00:07:08]:
Did you, play sports growing up, or what did you do in your free time besides go to the office?
Matt Ruttenberg [00:07:13]:
I was a I played every sport you could imagine. Was I good at all of them? No. But I was pretty I'd golfed a lot. I was on the the through the high school golf team. That was my thing. And, so I had a lot of balance with that too. That was a great way to you know, it's funny when you look at the way I golfed. I was I was the guy who the coach said, Matt, stop going for it.
Matt Ruttenberg [00:07:43]:
Stop going for it. You can lay up sometimes and, you you know, had a few discussions that way. And then sometimes I didn't then it was like, okay. I laid up a few times, and it made more sense. But, so it kind of, like, very similar with the way I worked through my career is, you know, kept pushing the envelope. I can't go fast enough. I like to push the agenda, if you will, go a little bit faster. And same same thing with how golf was back then too.
Matt Ruttenberg [00:08:12]:
It's funny.
Julie Smith [00:08:13]:
So were you the first born twin or the second born twin?
Matt Ruttenberg [00:08:17]:
I was the first. I got a minute.
Julie Smith [00:08:20]:
I would I would have guessed that based on your personality.
Matt Ruttenberg [00:08:23]:
Yeah. You
Glenn Harper [00:08:24]:
came out, oh my beer. That's how it's gonna be. That's it. That's right.
Matt Ruttenberg [00:08:28]:
You know?
Julie Smith [00:08:28]:
I'm guessing Brad kinda beats to his own drum. Right? Yes. Doing his own
Matt Ruttenberg [00:08:32]:
Yeah. Yeah. Exactly. Exactly. You know what?
Glenn Harper [00:08:35]:
It's funny in the, the golf is did your dad push you into that? Because as we know in business, for whatever reason, golf just seems to make the world go round. Right? It's just a thing you do Yeah. In the business world. I can't ex people that don't know it, they don't understand it, but it's just a thing. Right?
Matt Ruttenberg [00:08:50]:
Yeah. Me. Yeah. It's I I mean, I started when I was 5. So, I was and then I kind of, I guess, weaned off of it because I was doing so many other sports and and didn't really focus in on it too much until I really got back into high school. And then I when I really focused on it, that's when I really started getting to the upper echelon on that side of it. But, but, yeah, it was it was a it seems it's it's funny. I don't golf that much anymore.
Matt Ruttenberg [00:09:17]:
You know, you think I'm in Hawaii. It's, like, beautiful, but, it's it's not as popular here. But, you know, when you have resident pass, you know, I can play 18 holes for $18 here when you're on the local courses. It's it's comical, but I don't I don't do it as much.
Glenn Harper [00:09:33]:
Well, it's just tough in Hawaii. I think, you know, when you get past, like, noon, one o'clock, the winds come in. It's just hard to play on the hills with all the winds. Right? So you gotta play in the morning, and it just limits you. And it takes so long.
Julie Smith [00:09:44]:
Well, he's up real early this year. So maybe he can be out there by 8AM, and he'll be back by noon.
Glenn Harper [00:09:48]:
Oh, you take it for granted. Right? You live on a beach, you never go to the beach. You live in Hawaii and a golf. Yeah. You can play golf. It's just the weird how the world works.
Matt Ruttenberg [00:09:55]:
We're in the we're in the you know, kids are middle school or approaching middle school, so we're in the, let's just drive them around. Do you work or drive? That's where you're going and drive them to everything they gotta do. So that's where we're in that world at the moment.
Glenn Harper [00:10:08]:
Well, you know, at at some point, you're like, alright. I gotta go get edumacated. Wait.
Julie Smith [00:10:12]:
I have 1 question. So did you ever deliver newspapers or, you know, what do people do? Like paint rocks, lemonade stand? Did you ever do any of that growing up?
Matt Ruttenberg [00:10:22]:
Oh, yeah. Yeah. I didn't. I did let's see. We had a lawn mowing business. We kinda took it over from an older gentleman, in this was in Stowe, and we had maybe 15 lawns, did their driveways in the winter, things like that. But that was our main, yeah, that was our main job growing up was mowing grass on our own, did the flyers, brought in new clients. You know? It was it was fun.
Matt Ruttenberg [00:10:50]:
It was fun.
Julie Smith [00:10:51]:
So Brad did that with you?
Matt Ruttenberg [00:10:53]:
Oh, yeah. And what we brought in other business partners, our friends, our cousin, and everything, and merged, merged our client book and everything. It was it was fun.
Glenn Harper [00:11:03]:
Ain't it funny when you're when you grew up in the country, you're and when there's nothing else to do, you might as well keep busy and make some money. So it's just a different mentality than people that live like city city. There's so many other choices, but you're in the country. Well, let's go right right next to mine.
Julie Smith [00:11:16]:
A pretty big city.
Glenn Harper [00:11:17]:
I mean, it's a crossroads. That's for sure. Yeah. But that's the deal. So but at some point, you're like, alright.
Matt Ruttenberg [00:11:24]:
Quaint. Right?
Glenn Harper [00:11:25]:
It is. There you go. But you're you're near some cool town. So you decide, I wanna go up to college, and you you picked University of Toledo. And then you're like, you know what? After a year, I think I wanna go back to Kent State. And so how did you decide UT, and then how did you decide to come back, to Kent State?
Matt Ruttenberg [00:11:44]:
Yeah. You UT was just far enough from home. Right? It was two hours from home. It wasn't, nothing beyond that. It was, you know, my my friends, my cousin, my brother, we we all had our we actually all paired up into 1 single dorm, believe it or not. And then, and then we wanted to go back, maybe after the first year, we went back to Kent, which is closer to home. We had some other friends that we wanna get a little bit closer to and and miss them, but they had a great finance department for 1. The, and then we wanted to buy a condo.
Matt Ruttenberg [00:12:24]:
We wanted to buy someplace, so a property where real estate investing is is I'm very interested in real estate investing, and, so we bought the condo. And back then, this is my dad was a real estate investor as well, and he was doing all the, you know, the BRRR method and all these other things that are quite popular in the real estate world, and I didn't even know it. He didn't he those words weren't weren't candid back then of, all the places he had. So we got the condo. We rented out to our buddies, and and held that for a long time held that property just off campus at Kent State for a long time. But they had a better con they had just a better, finance department is basically when I realized, okay. Finance is where I wanna go. Let's just go back over here and go down that route.
Glenn Harper [00:13:12]:
I feel like, you kinda left something on the table. If you're gonna do a finance degree, why don't you just do the counting too? I mean, I feel like you missed an opportunity there.
Matt Ruttenberg [00:13:23]:
Let's just say I'm more of a creative type mind. I'm more of a creative type mind, but not the analytics. Yeah. And you'll you'll learn here shortly what my role is in our company and with what my business partners do versus what my role is. So, you know, I'm the 1 on the podcast. Let's put it that way. Got it. So I'm more of the creative the creative guy.
Matt Ruttenberg [00:13:41]:
So I like building the plan, and then I'll pass it on to the, the analytical, side of the company. So
Glenn Harper [00:13:47]:
Well, the, like, the trolls in the corner with the funny shirts. So, you know, at some point, you ended up in, you know, you had a long career working with different companies, doing a thing. You started your own, working your own, and and you're in Fort Myers, Rhode Island. Then you then you decided to to to live on the island of Waian, Kanoe, and the the bamboo man, Hawaii, is the literal definition. Like, how did you end up there? And, you know, that's Oh, yeah. Thousand residents. That's way different, and it's on island. Like, how did how did that transpire? Most people would not you know, that's a a a destination that says I'm going there versus just accidentally show up, 1 would think.
Matt Ruttenberg [00:14:27]:
Yeah. So, you know, being growing up in the finance industry, that was the the location. You know, Maui and all that was the location for all the conferences everywhere. It was so back then, it was just Hawaii was the place with the finance industry for every conference you can think of. And so I I actually settled in Florida because So I was like, this that's a little Hawaii is a little much. Let's let's settle for Florida kinda thing. And then, you know, so I was in the I I started straight out of college, in Akron, Ohio. And then I worked with my dad.
Matt Ruttenberg [00:14:59]:
I partnered with my dad, and I was like, I gotta get out of here. So went to Florida, straightened to the bank side of it, did the investments there. And then I went independent after my dad passed away and, grew a book of business for ten years down there. I guess, fifteen years now I think about it, on the independent side. And but being in Florida, I was working with, you know, retirees and doing the b to b to c, you know, working with clientele, who are purely retirees, and it was just boring for me. I did not wanna just it was the same plan over and over and over again, essentially. So, and my wife and I were like, we we wanna spread our wings. I tried to go a little bit more virtual so we can, travel a little bit more.
Matt Ruttenberg [00:15:45]:
We didn't wanna be in that area anymore living. So, we sold that right before COVID, and and, we actually RV'd for a year up in the out of the, just the East side of the country and absolutely loved it. Had so much fun. It was during COVID. And, we actually tried to come here a few times, but it that's when it was really shut down. And then there was there was a point where, the real estate market started pumping, and we're like, you know, let's just go for a little bit. Let's just do it. This is a lifelong dream of mine to to live here for even just a short time, and that was, three years ago now.
Matt Ruttenberg [00:16:22]:
And, we're like, let's just let's just go. Let's just do it. And we did it, and we haven't looked back yet.
Glenn Harper [00:16:29]:
The RV end, did you have the young kids doing that? Yeah. That's insane. Love it.
Matt Ruttenberg [00:16:34]:
I mean That was fun. Yeah. That was a lot of fun. That was a lot of fun.
Glenn Harper [00:16:38]:
Because they went in school. Right? You could just go anywhere. Right?
Matt Ruttenberg [00:16:41]:
Exactly. Exactly. Yeah. It was all homeschool, you know, and and everything. So that was, that was a quite the adventure. That was that was a lot of memories there. A lot of memories.
Julie Smith [00:16:51]:
What was your favorite stop on that? You can only pick 1.
Matt Ruttenberg [00:16:56]:
Oof. So, Michigan is amazing, believe it or not.
Julie Smith [00:17:03]:
I can't believe you're gonna say that after you said you're from Ohio.
Glenn Harper [00:17:05]:
Right? Michigan is beautiful. I know. It's important to pray.
Matt Ruttenberg [00:17:08]:
You're like, yeah. Michigan is so sorry. It could stay over there. But, no, we spent a a month and a half all the way to the UP and everything. It's 1 of the most geographically diverse, places. But then, honestly, New England was awesome. I love New England. I thought New England, the area the whole I mean, the whole New Hampshire, the history of it was phenomenal.
Matt Ruttenberg [00:17:29]:
So I'd say those 2 areas were
Julie Smith [00:17:31]:
my favorite. Areas which are very not specific, but I'll let it slide.
Matt Ruttenberg [00:17:35]:
Almost a while. I know. Okay. Alright. Yeah. Well well, I can't. It's impossible.
Glenn Harper [00:17:42]:
I know.
Matt Ruttenberg [00:17:43]:
We were only in certain areas for, like, two days at a time sometimes, so we're like, okay. Let's just keep moving. You know,
Glenn Harper [00:17:48]:
it's it's kinda cool. A lot of the times when we see entrepreneurs that make the transition from real job to being an entrepreneur and doing a thing, it it's really helpful to have people that, you know, support and believe in you. And it sounds like your spouse is definitely that way, your wife. Absolutely. And then knowing that you've watched your dad go through ups and downs and back and forth, you're like, I got this. Hold my beer. We can do this. I mean, that just that genuine support and added support and attitude that you had with that, you you weren't didn't seem like you're stressed at all the whole time.
Glenn Harper [00:18:19]:
You're like, yeah. I got this. No problem. I mean, you did have the financial means when you sold the company to kinda get get along and do it, but you knew that wasn't gonna last forever. So but you did take the time to clear your head and do that, and and that's a a big plus. I mean, most entrepreneurs might not have the financial luxury for time. Right? But to have the support and mentorship, that's that's a really big plus for you.
Matt Ruttenberg [00:18:39]:
Absolutely. Yeah. My I don't I don't think I don't think we'd be if my wife wasn't so supportive and and a entrepreneur at heart as well, I don't think we'd be where I don't think we'd still be as an entrepreneur because the it wasn't like, yeah. Just stop and go pay we gotta just gotta pay the bills. You know? Just stop and do that. It was push through it. You got this. You got this.
Matt Ruttenberg [00:19:04]:
You got this. So it's extremely supportive. And if if I was by myself, I would it would be so much more difficult, to do that.
Glenn Harper [00:19:13]:
You know what? It's you know, as we always talk about the journey about how you think you're gonna do 1 thing, and then you're all of a sudden, something happens whether it's life or a change of attitude or circumstance, but you always gotta do these pivots all the time. And it's not you had, you know, 3, you know, major pivots from what I can tell. The 1 pivot was I'm gonna have a real job. Yeah. That isn't gonna work for me. I'm a do financial services in this way with retirees. That's not doing it for me. And then you got to where you are right now where you're, you know, teaching the people.
Glenn Harper [00:19:42]:
Right? And so how did you, when you landed where you're at now, is this like the final destination? Like, you just love it and and this is all Absolutely.
Julie Smith [00:19:51]:
I want him to tell me what he's doing now, how he stumbled upon it, how did you build it, how did you create it.
Glenn Harper [00:19:57]:
He's a tarot card reader now. That's what he does.
Julie Smith [00:19:59]:
I know. But how did you do that?
Matt Ruttenberg [00:20:01]:
Yeah. No. Yeah. So I I so I was I skipped a big step here, actually, in in between here. And, between selling my business, my or my, yeah, my my my b to c side of the business. My brother and I created a a and my wife actually, all 3 of us created this, podcast, and we were going to go more into the financial education side of it. That did so we had a podcast. We had, I'm still integrated into the financial media quite a bit.
Matt Ruttenberg [00:20:36]:
I I run a a financial media networking group of a 60 bloggers and YouTubers, across the country, across the world, actually, and, through an organization called FinCon. It's where finance meets media is the whole mantra there. And so we did that. That didn't work well because my brother's mindset wasn't as, he didn't have the same, I guess what's the best what's the best way to say this? Fortitude. Didn't have the same, yeah, motivation and and and and push to get through that beginning part of that business to you know, the whole first five years of any business is really difficult. So so that kinda went to the wayside. And then, I was big so what I'm doing now is I'm a co owner of Life Inc Retirement Service. So we're we're a four one k administration company, and we are a unicorn business.
Matt Ruttenberg [00:21:32]:
We're very we do everything very custom. But the whole point was is, like, I loved working with entrepreneurs. I love working with businesses. They evolve constantly. Every single client is completely different. And I just love talking to business owners because you learn so much from talking to business owners about what they're doing and what's working and what's not working, and then you're able to implement it into your own, business as well. But, and absolutely love love the so my role in our company is to talk to clients and bring them on, bring on new clients and and build the plan for them. And I'm using all my past, knowledge.
Matt Ruttenberg [00:22:19]:
I'm using, my entrepreneur spirit to help build that and say, hey. What what if you took this path instead of, you know, going this path and being able to build that and then pass the and say, okay. Great. We've done that. Now let me bring in the rest of my team to get that administered and get keep you compliant and and keep the plan going the way it is. And I just keep talking and talking and talking and be able to, speak with entrepreneurs. So where I'm at now is absolutely where I absolutely where I love to be, and it was it took a long time. I mean, patience is the story here.
Matt Ruttenberg [00:22:52]:
It's like, it's okay if you start off in the wrong path, but figure out what your, you know, what you actually like about that and try to evolve. There's a point where I sat down and like, okay. I know a lot about finance. I know a lot about finance because I've been in so many corners of the industry. I know what I'm good at. I know what I like to do. Now how do I make money off of that? And that's where we've built, and that's where I partnered with with my team now, with this company. And, I I think it's it's it's focused on you know, there's a book called, there there's a book.
Matt Ruttenberg [00:23:33]:
Oh, no. I'm gonna blank out on the book. I'll remember before we finish up today. But it's all about, like, the path. It's okay to take the long route to where you need to go because you need to learn the path. You need to take that path in order to really know and understand what is that next step in the final piece. So, I'm gonna remember it. I I I it's my favorite book of all time, and I'll remember it and I'll say it before you finish up here today.
Matt Ruttenberg [00:23:57]:
But it was it was quite the journey to get to this point because I had to understand that I don't like working with individuals on the just the retiree part of it. I don't wanna just do the 1 to 1 thing. I want to be able to talk to business owners, and I know what my strengths are. I needed to learn that. I need to know what my weaknesses are so I can have other people do that. And then you build that team around you, and it is such a a a strong point, once you get to that part of your career.
Glenn Harper [00:24:26]:
Are you so you're a or I see clearly a third party administrator? Is that kinda what you guys do? Okay.
Matt Ruttenberg [00:24:31]:
Mhmm. So, yeah,
Glenn Harper [00:24:32]:
we gotta deal with those all the time. It is in the industry, from our standpoint, is, you know, at a CPA advisory practice and and deal with it, like, you know, the people that actually say they do four zero one k's, they know nothing about them. They maybe can just do investing. And then to try to find a competent TPA, it's really hard because Yeah. They're generally not good at talking, and they generally don't wanna bring in all the parties to look at it from the multilevel, not just the plan design. We're allowing to look at, well, what's it mean big picture from the tax standpoint, what NDs, and all those things. So the corroboration is just rare. So if you're the unicorn in this space, that would be awesome.
Glenn Harper [00:25:13]:
And maybe offline, we'll have to chat on that because it's Yeah. I think that's definitely an industry that that's needed. But, yeah, bring in you're not just moving money around. You're you're solving problems and creating value for people. Right? And and that is something that is, you know, needed in the entrepreneurial space. Right? We're we're all trying to get to that space. And it's funny how, you know, some CPAs and some financial advisors, they they don't do a very good job of their circle of of what they're doing for their client. The client thinks they do the same thing, but but they don't.
Glenn Harper [00:25:44]:
Like, we cross about 1% if we lay ourselves next to each other. And and just once you can convince the, you know, like a TPA or someone like yourself that we're not in your wheelhouse, we're over here, but we can bring value to that, and you're not in our wheels, and you can Right. To the client, it's really kind of nice to do. Right? And and just know the space and who you get your clients from is really the value there.
Matt Ruttenberg [00:26:07]:
Yeah. That is that is you know, we we bring I talk to a lot of business owners. I mean, I hundreds and hundreds a year, easily, and they don't have the team. They mass majority don't have a team set up. You know, they might have a guy, or a CPA firm or but that's it. That's it. So they're looking at everything in this very small scope of, fat expertise, or they have maybe a buddy of theirs or their sister or something that is kind of competent in the area. They're like, yeah.
Matt Ruttenberg [00:26:42]:
Let's just do that. And the reality is is in my side of it, we're working with 1 IRS code. And we know it very, very well, but the whole IRS code is built for entrepreneurs. So let's go outside of that because we're just 1 side of the coin. We're just 1 piece of it. And you have to absolutely have a team set up, and, communication with that team is vital, especially for entrepreneurs. My goodness. Like Well
Glenn Harper [00:27:15]:
yeah. And that's the thing. Like, if you're just investing the money or you're that's a compliance thing. Right? You're just doing a thing. You're not really bringing the value. If you're just doing somebody's taxes or doing their financial statement, you're just doing a task. You're just compliance work. To bring value on the advisory side is kinda like you're building the plan that's gonna gain value.
Glenn Harper [00:27:31]:
You know, from our side, if you have most entrepreneurs don't have the advisor in our capacity that can put that all together. They just feel like they don't can't afford it. They don't see the value, and it's just, this industry has done a horrible job of marketing that to to share what Yeah. What they do for clients. But that's why referrals are so great because you get to grease the skids on that. And, and it's rewarding when you can walk into a like yourself, you walk in a client's office and, like, look. You've been doing a a SEP and putting all some money for your employees. Well, why don't we do a solo k or bolt on a DB plan and, like, you're you're you're loving life Absolutely.
Glenn Harper [00:28:06]:
Putting away 90% of the money to yourself. And, oh, by the way, we're not paying tax. So that is
Julie Smith [00:28:11]:
Glenn Glenn's got googly eyes over here. No.
Glenn Harper [00:28:13]:
No. I just I just know his and a lot of people don't. They they might know it in your industry, but they don't know how to communicate it to everybody else to implement it. Right? They'll implement it if you tell them, but they're not gonna be proactive in that. Right? That's that's the difference.
Matt Ruttenberg [00:28:29]:
Absolutely. Yeah. There there we there's 2 questions that kinda answer what the goal is. Right? And we do this every single client same way. It's 1, why are you talking to me? What's the purpose? Why do you want a four zero one k? Why were you told to get a whatever that however you got to me, what what's the reason? It's multiple choice. It really is. It's is this for you? Is it because your state mandate tells you they have to do something, or is it because your employees are bugging you? Or is it because you, as the owner, want to stockpile or save taxes or whatever that is, or is it all of the above? And then the second question is, okay. Great.
Matt Ruttenberg [00:29:03]:
I don't care what the first answer was. What is it that you wanna do, business owner? Like, how much do you wanna save? And we'll get answers from, you know, depends on on the profitability of the company, obviously, but, what is, you know, as much as humanly possible, is it, $20? I'm still investing in my business. Or, it's I don't like traditional investing. I don't like mutual fund. I don't like index funds. I don't like stock. I'm I'm a real estate mobile. I like I like doing commercial, development or something like that.
Matt Ruttenberg [00:29:33]:
And it's like, okay. Let's hold all that together and use all these tax codes and use all these different strategies and and put it together. And and that's exactly what you have to do. You can't it's, a lot of professionals. We ones that even focus on four zero one k's or investing or whatever it is, they still don't know. There's so much to it and layer to it. It's the amount of gray space in the four zero one k industry is is beyond, what most people realize. And there's 2 kinds of plans.
Matt Ruttenberg [00:30:05]:
There's prototype and there's non prototype. Prototype is like you going to LegalZoom and filling out the form that's on the website. Right?
Glenn Harper [00:30:13]:
Mhmm.
Matt Ruttenberg [00:30:13]:
Boiler plate document, versus hiring an attorney who's gonna build a custom legal document for you, and that's when you get really creative. That's when we have a lot of fun. That's what we do. That's our thing is we like to be really creative with the plan and solve a problem. I I was I was working with my business partner. I was doing 4 and k before. Even I still did 4 and k's, but I was doing it because I wanted to get to the business owner and then talk to the business owner. And I actually won an award.
Matt Ruttenberg [00:30:41]:
I was top, top 50 under 40 in the country with 4 and k advisers, back when I was sub 40. Let's put it that way. And Twenty years ago.
Julie Smith [00:30:51]:
It was five years ago.
Glenn Harper [00:30:52]:
Oh, yeah. Right. Right.
Matt Ruttenberg [00:30:54]:
Five years ago. And it was it was, so I still I did it, but, I I was using my partner that I'm use I work with now, and I called him the four zero k Smith. Like, we could solve any problem there was, and it's because that that non prototype, custom design that's like, okay. Let's just solve the problem. But the amount of, advice that I see that comes through, I can almost look at the plan and say that that can be improved. That can be improved. That can be improved. So if it's not done the right way and it's okay to start off with 1 of those prototype.
Matt Ruttenberg [00:31:30]:
It's okay because if you're saying, I just wanna do something better than the bad IRAs that my state is doing. I mean, Ohio has 1 coming. There's it's passed. There's a state mandate coming down the pike for for our case in Ohio, but there's a lot. Like, 35 states have something coming, if not already implemented, and the states are offering a bag of IRAs. That's all it is. And and a lot of times, the visit. You know, we're in business not only to win our customers and our clients, we're in business to bring in the the best employees to set yourself apart.
Matt Ruttenberg [00:32:02]:
So a lot of them are saying, I I just don't wanna offer that. I don't wanna give an IRA. I wanna offer something better and also take advantage of that through tax credits, tax deduction, whatever it is for myself, and I'm ready to do that. And that's when usually we're talking to somebody.
Glenn Harper [00:32:17]:
Well, I think that the the takeaway for our listeners is the fact that, you know, if you're doing something, you don't know if it's really right. Right? You you just this is what you do, and most people don't like the change on that. But every once in a while, it really probably doesn't cost much for somebody just to come in and take a look. But it's just expanding your horizons because we're all gonna grow into something different. That's part of being in business. Right? You this is good today, but five years from now, we gotta change it to this. Absolutely. But but the key to this is that you've got to hire the professionals that are advising you, not just maintaining you.
Glenn Harper [00:32:53]:
Right? You you need that. And as the entrepreneurs are out there, you're you're never too small to get the advice. If you set things up at the beginning, you solve years of going through the valley of death. But people just we just did a everybody's not doing a good job, the professionals of sharing that we can help you with that. And and as an as an entrepreneur, if you're trying to go through that, have somebody come and talk to you. You'd be surprised what you're gonna learn. And then, again, you can evolve through that, but but just you're always the money you're gonna pay your professionals is an investment. It's not a fee.
Glenn Harper [00:33:29]:
It's not a cost. You're always gonna get a return on that Yeah. If if they're good. If you're hiring someone do a task, you're just spending money to do a task. You're not getting anything in value. And so that's that's the mantra we try to preach to, you know, not our clients, but also to entrepreneurs listening is that you're trying to get a value proposition, not a task.
Matt Ruttenberg [00:33:47]:
Yeah. Well, very well put. Absolutely. It it's you you it's okay to to ask questions and constantly and and don't settle is really the key there. Like, don't sell. It's okay to start, you know, where you're at. And if you need to start there, that's fine. But when you're ready, just start having conversations.
Matt Ruttenberg [00:34:07]:
It's not something that it needs to don't do don't wait till the last minute and say, okay. I'm ready. Because there's a lot of things that you need to figure out and iron out because I mean, again, foreign k is just 1 tax code. It's 1. 1 piece. 1 piece. So many pieces to it that needs to be, to be looked at and how it all connects and how it all it's a huge puzzle. It's a huge puzzle.
Glenn Harper [00:34:30]:
Well, you know, it's funny. The speed of business is so fast, and you're always making quick decisions and rehashing better. But on certain things, you're way better off to plan and not make it a poop show Yeah. And and grow into it versus just trying to jam it in on April 14. That just sounds terrible. Dec. 30. There's the worst.
Matt Ruttenberg [00:34:47]:
There's a lot there's a lot of money being left on the table, that I see every year right now. Anytime that Yep. There's so many deadlines out there that you have to think about, and you're like, oh, shoot. You should have waited. Oh, it takes that long to do? Oh, no. That's not gonna work. So, it take it's it's just have the conversation. I don't care if it's two years out.
Matt Ruttenberg [00:35:07]:
We I that's what we do. We'll take two years and say we're we'll talk to someone two years before they're ready to do it and say, this is what's available, assuming no changes, and we need this much time in advance to to to figure this out. So
Glenn Harper [00:35:21]:
Yeah. There's never change. It's okay. There's never change.
Matt Ruttenberg [00:35:24]:
Yeah. It's usually norm.
Julie Smith [00:35:26]:
I'm gonna make a hard pivot here.
Matt Ruttenberg [00:35:28]:
Go for it.
Julie Smith [00:35:29]:
So you said before the show started that you have an office back here in Ohio. How did that come about?
Matt Ruttenberg [00:35:36]:
Well, my business partner lives in Columbus. He was, no. So I'm in I'm in Hawaii. Right? So I tend to do some later meetings for business owners that wanna do some later meetings, and I accidentally set set a meeting up for, the day of the championship for Ohio State. What the
Glenn Harper [00:35:56]:
heck were you thinking?
Matt Ruttenberg [00:35:58]:
I you know, there is tension? Time zone thing. Right? You're like, wait. Where where am I? So You're probably another Dame fan. Yeah. Yeah. That's right. Actually, you know what? I think I think they're both Ohio State fans, to be honest with you. But, yeah.
Matt Ruttenberg [00:36:12]:
So my my my buddy, my business partner, he's I've known him forever, and he's, he's in Columbus, Ohio. Our other business partners in Maryland, we're a national company, but we're we have we have employees all the way out as far as I mean, don't include me, but as far as Colorado. And we we do a lot of marketing in almost every state mandated state at this point. But we have clients everywhere everywhere, all over the country.
Julie Smith [00:36:40]:
Gotcha. So you you're in Hawaii and you start this business. At what point obviously, you have a business partner. But at what point or was it already set up like this? Did you decide you wanted to get a team? It couldn't just be you couldn't just have, you know, a little show. It had to get big.
Matt Ruttenberg [00:36:57]:
Well, it it I joined I would say I joined the team, but really early. So it was the there's 3 owners to our company, and we, this myself and my the third owner, joined at the same time, joined the Columbus partner at the same time. And back then, it was just, I think it was just Ohio and Florida, I believe, were the 2 states that we were in. And and then so that brought us to, or, actually, it was just Ohio, and then I brought in Florida. I was in Florida at the time. And then our other partner, in Maryland, so that kind of turned us into 3 states. And then since then, we've expanded to, at least, you know, 15, I think it is, in terms of marketing, you know, where our footprint is. But then, again, we're all over.
Matt Ruttenberg [00:37:50]:
We have clients everywhere.
Glenn Harper [00:37:51]:
Yeah. Yeah. You can't do it on your own. You gotta have a team. I mean, that's if you're ever gonna scale or
Matt Ruttenberg [00:37:57]:
just be good at what
Glenn Harper [00:37:58]:
you're doing, you have to have a team. And entrepreneurs, god love us, we just feel like we have to do it all and be an expert in everything, and we just don't. We just gotta recognize that you gotta bring an expert experts for it.
Matt Ruttenberg [00:38:08]:
That is a great lesson. It it you know, if it's between your team and a, and and 1 other person, that's you verse your team versus 1 person, you're gonna win against the for that client because they they wanna see a team. They wanna see succession. They wanna see, a collaborative approach, and I think that's absolutely a great lesson.
Julie Smith [00:38:30]:
So I have a slew of questions here as we kinda wrap up.
Glenn Harper [00:38:33]:
Speed round.
Matt Ruttenberg [00:38:33]:
Speed round. Yep. Go for it.
Julie Smith [00:38:35]:
So I think I know the answer to this 1, but who is your mentor? Who was your mentor? How did you get to where you are? Is there a very specific person? Or
Matt Ruttenberg [00:38:45]:
I have multiple mentors, to be honest with you. You know, obviously, my dad was in the beginning of that, and he passed away at age 60, unfortunately. So, I was I was pretty alone for a long time. I had, you know, I dabbled. I had some, higher ups that I would teach me things. But now I have multiple mentors. I have 1 who helped, invent deferred comp, back in the is 1. And I have another 1 who really helps me with, strategies as far as tax rate.
Matt Ruttenberg [00:39:20]:
I every periodically, we'll go to this compound in Arizona, who's who's a I won't mention his name, but he's a a fluent writer, and his ex business partner. So we'll get together with CPAs and attorneys and and, advisors and insurance agents, whatever. We'll collaborate together in this compound in in Arizona, and, we'll just have a blast talking about strategies and, like, what works and what doesn't. So I have multiple multiple mentors that I lean on, and that has been a humongous game changer because I went ten years without any. And then all of a sudden, it was just jump forward in my career. Yeah.
Julie Smith [00:40:02]:
I assumed the easy answer was your dad. But,
Matt Ruttenberg [00:40:05]:
He was. Yeah. Absolutely. That's a no brainer for sure.
Julie Smith [00:40:08]:
So the next 1 the next question is is, what is your superpower?
Matt Ruttenberg [00:40:15]:
I would say it's connecting people and communicating with people and speaking with people, and on a 1 on 1 basis. Absolute like, 1 on 1 and getting to know them very, very closely and creating a a a personal, connection with them. So when I was doing the podcasting, everything, it there was some I was missing something. Right? I was I wasn't there was no back and forth conversation with people. And, then I very quickly realized that's that was my superpower. So that's where I formed my current, role in this company was that's all I do is is connect and and help them build their next step into the into the into their journey of entrepreneurship, whether it's through you know, four one k is 1 big part of that conversation, obviously. But there's so many other pieces. We talk I'll have two hour conversations with people and just talk about, like, hey.
Matt Ruttenberg [00:41:12]:
What what if you did this? You know? What if what about this? That you could go this path and think of your business as a multigenerational kind of situated. There's so many different ways you can look at it, and that's what I absolutely love doing. So I was able to mold my current role in this company because I I really understood, what my superpower was.
Julie Smith [00:41:33]:
But it took you a long time to get there. Right? That was that long path that
Glenn Harper [00:41:36]:
we talked
Julie Smith [00:41:37]:
about. Right? Like, so Fifteen years.
Glenn Harper [00:41:39]:
Bam. There it is.
Julie Smith [00:41:39]:
I think that's something to our listeners is you don't have to have it all figured out. You just gotta get on the path to take the journey. Right? And at that point Yeah.
Matt Ruttenberg [00:41:46]:
Keep walking.
Julie Smith [00:41:47]:
Hit you with a 2 by 4 maybe.
Matt Ruttenberg [00:41:49]:
Yes. Yes.
Julie Smith [00:41:50]:
Last question. Best question.
Glenn Harper [00:41:53]:
The best 1.
Julie Smith [00:41:54]:
What is your endgame?
Glenn Harper [00:41:59]:
Mic drop.
Julie Smith [00:42:01]:
Oh. Uh-oh. Wait. He maybe really did freeze.
Matt Ruttenberg [00:42:04]:
He broke. Oh, no.
Julie Smith [00:42:06]:
No. That question just really was the best question. We've never had that happen before.
Glenn Harper [00:42:22]:
Ever. I must have cut the cable from Hawaii to San Diego. Yeah. He He needed a moment.
Julie Smith [00:42:45]:
We've never had that happen. Did that Wow. Did that question really get you?
Matt Ruttenberg [00:42:49]:
We we I was so stumped. I didn't know what to say. I heard you I heard you say last question, and then just my power flash. We have a really big storm coming. I was like, oh, I hope we get this through before. So okay. So you
Julie Smith [00:43:02]:
so I ended the question. You were, like, froze then, and we were like I'm
Matt Ruttenberg [00:43:05]:
like Oh, no.
Glenn Harper [00:43:06]:
We didn't wanna freak him out.
Matt Ruttenberg [00:43:07]:
Oh, no. He's so scared.
Julie Smith [00:43:10]:
Last question. Best question. What is your endgame?
Matt Ruttenberg [00:43:15]:
Oh my. What is my endgame? Well, I I don't think I have an endgame. I I don't think I have I think that's that is such a loaded question because, evolution is inevitable. That's, boy, that's a powerful phrase. So evolution is inevitable because you don't know what the next step is. I don't even know what tomorrow's gonna look like. So, I don't know because I'm always learning something new by talking to these entrepreneurs. So, I don't know.
Matt Ruttenberg [00:43:45]:
I I I am not the kind of guy who's gonna just say, hey. Let's retire and don't do anything by any stretch of the imagination. And so it's probably gonna be, I'm also the kind of guy who I'm a rich dad, poor dad kind of mindset. Right? I wanna, like, build income producing assets and and then let those kind of be more passive and then and build something for the next generation, my kids and things like that. So, the endgame is I don't know. I have 1. I would probably say, I
Julie Smith [00:44:14]:
don't have 1. Be the first one that had enough awareness to say that because most people are you know, they dabble with, like, well, I wanna retire. What am I gonna do? Or maybe I'll do this. The correct answer is for most entrepreneurs is there is no end game. You may not be doing four zero one k's in ten, twenty years, but you'll be doing something with whatever passion has evolved in you. You're not gonna probably be sitting on the couch eating bonbons, I'm guessing.
Glenn Harper [00:44:44]:
You know too much. Why would you
Matt Ruttenberg [00:44:45]:
No way.
Glenn Harper [00:44:46]:
You can impact so many people. Why would you stop being productive and say, oh, I'm just gonna sit on the beach and drink all day? Like, that just isn't gonna happen for
Matt Ruttenberg [00:44:54]:
a while. That. It doesn't work.
Glenn Harper [00:44:56]:
I mean So, yeah, it was a trick question. You answered it well. So
Julie Smith [00:44:59]:
Somehow you answered it. It was a trick question, and you still got it right.
Matt Ruttenberg [00:45:02]:
Awesome. Love note. Yeah.
Glenn Harper [00:45:05]:
Well well, Matt, we do appreciate you being on the show. I I really think there's a lot of good nuggets in here for our listeners. If you wanna give a quick plug to your company
Julie Smith [00:45:13]:
And if you remember that book.
Matt Ruttenberg [00:45:15]:
Yeah. You know, I've been sitting here just, like, brain I'm gonna I'm gonna,
Julie Smith [00:45:19]:
It's okay. If you send it to us later, we'll add it to the show notes. We'll love that.
Matt Ruttenberg [00:45:23]:
I will. Okay. Yeah. So, anyway, my company, you can get to us through 401k.expert is is a is a pass through web domain, but it's Life Inc Retirement Services. Life,incrs,.com is another way to get to it. And we have all sorts of tools on there. If you don't know what plan you're trying to do, then we have something called the evaluator. We have a tax credit calculator, so we'll estimate what your tax credits are gonna look like.
Matt Ruttenberg [00:45:51]:
And, and we have all sorts of tools. And then at at the end of the day, we love having conversations. So conversations, conversations. And that's the best way to really know what's best because every company is different. They always evolve, and and that's what we like to do.
Glenn Harper [00:46:05]:
Facts. Total facts. Well, hey. We appreciate you being on the show and getting up early. It means a lot to us, and I will get everything out to you. And, again, another fabulous edition of Empowering Entrepreneurs. I'm Glenn Harper.
Julie Smith [00:46:15]:
Julie Smith.