Podcast Episode 6
Daniel Hiebert: Greetings everybody, and welcome to another exciting episode
of mad money. Podcast.
Daniel Hiebert: I'm your host, Dan Hiebert, and we've got a special treat
here today. We've got Ben and Jerid
Daniel Hiebert: and I'm going to just let Austin take it away, Austin. I
think these are your good contacts and networks, and you've got the floor. So
take it away.
Austin: Yeah, thanks, Dan, as Dan said. My name is Austin Dieke, and we got a
good treat for you guys. We got the opportunity to talk to Jared Sebesta and
Ben Taatjes. These are 2 men from my hometown that I've been able to listen
to
Daniel Hiebert: they both co-host a podcast called Retire, repurposed based
out of Tages financial group in Wilmer, Minnesota.
Daniel Hiebert: Jared Ben, I really appreciate you guys taking the time to
talk to us. How are you guys doing today?
Ben Taatjes: Doing phenomenal? I appreciate the time you're taking to do
this. And in the introduction so appreciate that. Austin.
Jerrid Sebesta: Yeah, thanks for having us.
Daniel Hiebert: Yes, so I could sit here. You guys have an impressive resume
and a lot of life experience, and I could sit here and to everybody about
that for hours. But I don't want to miss anything. So, could you guys? Just
give us a little brief, excellent explanation about yourself, and you kind of
explain the brand. Retire repurposed.
Ben Taatjes: Yeah. So, I'll just start out by just introducing who I am. And
Ben Taatjes: you know I'm. I'm from this area from Wilmer, Minnesota area.
So, now work here as a financial advisor. So, you know that's under the
brand.
Ben Taatjes: kind of moved into the space of you know what we're we've
branded, retire, repurposed, and that entity is owned by myself and Jared.And
I got to tell you that that's probably the most fun I'm having right now, I
mean, I still love working with clients on a daily basis. But when Jerry and
I get to create and work on content, and things that help not only retirees,
but people of all ages you know about living with purpose about.
Ben Taatjes: You know there's so much that I think when I started my business
in the financial world that I want to share with people, and I think this has
been an outlet for that. So that's kind of who I am right now, and kind of
what I'm excited about. Do you want?
Jerrid Sebesta: Yeah, definitely. Ben brought me on a team just over 8 years
ago 2,014. My background was in in media. I was in television news. I was a
TV weatherman back in the day, so I have a kind of a I don't know.
Jerrid Sebesta: not a real typical background for somebody in this space. We
probably should never hire Jared honestly. They're still kind of wondering if
that was the right decision 8 years later. But so yeah, I mean Ben and our
team, you know they're the experts, you know. My job is just to really make
sure that people know who we are. And so that's kind of how I align myself in
the company and am able to use a lot of my background and media to bring this
message to people. But
Jerrid Sebesta: you know, you know, is retirement. You know the thing that
I'm passionate about, maybe not necessarily. But I'm very passionate about
spreading a message that's very relevant, and this idea of purpose is great,
and I think it's. I think it's. I think it's a great differentiator. A. But
B. It's just totally needed and necessary. So yeah, we spend a lot of time
talking about the non-financials of retirement, which is ironic because we're
a retirement planning firm. So I think that that makes us very unique
Jerrid Sebesta: in a lot of ways, and it's a conversation that we wish would
happen more, and we think it's very necessary. So yeah, that's what we do.
We? We're retirement planners. We do it very, very well. But I think that we
really understand the life side and bring that into our business, and, you
know, bring a ton of value to our clients.
Daniel Hiebert: Yeah. So, what is what is looking becoming repurposed into
retirement? Look like with your guy's brand?
Ben Taatjes: So yeah, I'll handle that. I think I'll handle that best by just
telling the story, a little bit about how the brand got started guys is. I
met with a client, on paper, who, when I looked at the spreadsheets when I
looked at the numbers, was very ready to retire.
Ben Taatjes: He was about age 62, came in to see me, and I remember I'm
saying, you know I want to want you to plan for me to see if I can retire at
age 65,and I took the information, and, like many people today, some people
just don't prepare at all. Some people over prepared. We can talk about that
later, about how people actually have a hard time spending their wealth and
anything but this. This is one of those guys. He was a career saver. He just
had a a significant asset, and he was still doubting if he could retire.
Ben Taatjes: and I actually put some numbers together and built the
spreadsheets and the full financial plan, and he came back into our office
and shared with me that, or I shared with him that he could not only retire
at 65 he could actually retire right now. And that's exactly what he did.
Surprisingly, he just quit cold turkey it was. He gave his to ignorance. He
was done.
Ben Taatjes: And I think what? What? What happened after that? What
transpired over the next 3 months?
Ben Taatjes: It was the perfect storm of things that we tried to get retirees
to think about today that I didn't back down.
Ben Taatjes: These are things that we cover with.
Ben Taatjes: you know, like you, if you've heard from our podcast about
having purpose, making sure you understand how dangerous isolation as we're
talking about that right before we got on the show today that we understand
how what role community plays the guardrails that are work gave us. I mean,
our work is not a bad thing, and that's
Ben Taatjes: a key component in in becoming repurposed in retirement to kind
of finish. This Guy's story that 3 months when he came in to see me.
Ben Taatjes: it was as if he had aged 3 years, and I'm not I'm not
exaggerating. He moves slower, he thought, slower. His everything about him
was not the guy that had bounced into my office, excited to retire.
Ben Taatjes: And what we learned is that he had almost everything. All these
non-financial issues that could have gone wrong did go wrong for this client
Ben Taatjes: and kind of out of that.
Ben Taatjes: out of that experience, and just out of work with Jared and
talking through kind of what I was feeling like. I had really failed. This
client. I gave him what was bad advice.
Ben Taatjes: and it didn't have to do with money financially. He was very
ready to retire, but non financially he wasn't there, and so becoming, you
know, repurposed in retirement, really addresses all these parts of life that
are non-financial, and by addressing them
Ben Taatjes: the people can come out into retirement which should be their
most impactful years coming through. They're looking, and people are asking
them like what's different about you. You know they're asking them like you.
You seem to have more energy than you did before you retired. That's becoming
a repurpose to me.
Ben Taatjes: So Jared's always one that will say, Well, this is, you know Ben
spends most time with the clients, etc. But I think I'd like to hear what
Jared would say to that that question, too, because, man, we have been so
close on working together on all this content.
Ben Taatjes: And he he's really gotten a good hang of what it looks like to
be. Re repurposed in retirement.
Jerrid Sebesta: Yeah, it's an interesting conversation, right? Because you
can.
Jerrid Sebesta: You know we talk about how retirement is a huge life change
and some massive life shift, and you need to be prepared for that more than
financially. But then, as we talk it out, you know we'll do podcast, and
we'll talk it out, and we'll say, you know we'll kind of conclude. Really, it
shouldn't be this giant black and white earthquake in our life that just
radically shifts a lot of things. It is a life change. Yes, but really, when
it comes to the life side.
Jerrid Sebesta: you know it really should be a seamless transition into doing
what you're already doing. We kind of came to that epiphany, I think, last
year, Ben, you know, as we just kind of work through some of the stuff it was
like. If you're going to be repurposed in retirement, you must be living with
purpose before you retired.
Jerrid Sebesta: Ben has always said, if you're unhappy while working you're
going to be unhappy in retirement. There's not this there's not this. You're
not a different person, you know. If you didn't like traveling before
retirement. You're probably not going to like traveling in retirement, you
know. So really, again, it's kind of a it's kind of a double edge sort. Yes,
it's a massive life change. But what people need to understand is that it's a
continuation. What you're already doing. You're just removing work out of the
equation.
Jerrid Sebesta: or paid, or even just paid work because a lot of people may
continue to work. And again, we don't even like using the word work, because
work has such a bad name. We talk about adding value. When you're working,
you're adding value. You're getting paid for it. But even though once you
retire, you still must add value. You still must have structure. You still
must have guard rails. We just did an entire mini-series on our podcast just
about. You know the template of each day in the template plate of each week,
and how there's these rhythms that we have in our life, and those rhythms
shouldn't go away and so it really is just. It's just the removal of work
which really, again, does cause a cataclysmic shift in a lot of people. But
really it should be the seamless transition where I'm just not working for
money anymore. It's just that. That's basically the biggest thing, but it
it's a real struggle. So again, it is a big shift. It shouldn't be, but it
starts with really trying to get at the people before they retire again. We
need to have fine joy. We need to be living in alignment with how God created
us before retirement, and then once we retire. It's just a continuation. It's
just the next season, so we kind of it kind of sounds like we're talking on
both sides of our mouth. We're not.
Jerrid Sebesta: But it's really trying to encourage people that you know
retirement. If you're if you're unhappy now, retirement is not going to save
you it. It very few people do we know that they retire, and suddenly, they
have all this new phone joy. They may have less stress. They may see family
more. They may travel more, they may be able to relax more, but really, it's
about it's really a deeper side of life. It almost seems like as I'm talking
about retirement is the thing that showcases all those things that maybe
aren't right in your life before retirement. So, there's many facets of re
purpose. It's not just the continuation of our finding purpose and
retirement. It's really this continuation of living a really fulfilling life
that starts hopefully before retirement. So, it's a very dynamic concept, and
that stretches far beyond, you know, just volunteering a little bit. So, I
think a lot of people they hear a message like you're going to encourage us
to, you know, may volunteer to join a board. Well, that may or may not be the
case but I think I think there's really something. I'm deeper to this to
really have a fulfilling life all the way through the end. Not just before
working or post-retirement.
Ben Taatjes: Yeah. And you as you're talking about work. I mean, Austin your
student. Right? You're not in. You're not actively working today. Okay, Dan's
us on the line. Of course, you know the host, Dan, you're working obviously,
but I often like to ask people like what's the worst part of your day job,
right? What's the worst part of your job? And then what's the best and most
people as they're gearing up, getting ready for retirement. They'll start
listing off all these great things about their job.
Ben Taatjes: And I sort of thing, okay, Remember, you're going to miss some
of that. Your job gave you certain things that you know purpose the ability
to use your guide. Given the skills and talents to make it difference in
people's lives, and whether you're a person of faith or not, I mean what? How
I look at it is you're created a certain unique way. You're different than
the person sitting by you.
Ben Taatjes: That's for a reason. There are things that you're made to do,
and guess what that you're only going to find real good value when you use
that work to impact your community or the people right by you.
So again, there's things that you will miss from your work when you retire,
and when we're all about repurposing people into finding the new thing right,
what's the new thing that you can use all those talent, those abilities and
skills to impact people. So that, I think, is, you know, nutshell, how we
look at what a real repurposed retirement should be.
Daniel Hiebert: Yeah, you look at it, and you can think retirement is so
opposite of college. Yet in the same way they are so similar, heading into
retirement. You're leaving a career where you may be found your purpose
beforehand, and you're leaving it into a new stage of life or a student in
college.
Daniel Hiebert: We are in the same place of kind of rest we're studying and
everything. But we're also looking at it as we're preparing for a career that
we would hopefully find purpose in, and that's kind of where I was at when I
stumbled upon your podcast heading into our class right now we kind of headed
into college, and isolation with the quarantines going on and it really puts
you in a place of I'm not able to talk to people, and you really just lost
all your skills in your accounts that you were given. So when I listen to
your podcast, I took an inventory on my life. What am I doing right now? I
figured I'll go to school, and then I'll just kind of sit in autopilot, and
then I'll head into my career, and I'll be good.
Daniel Hiebert: But then I listen to your podcast, and I just replace the
word retirement with becoming repurposed in college. What can I do? What am I
good at is that leadership, charismatic? Communication? Maybe I'm not good at
that. Things arts whatever that is. I started implementing myself into
groups, and just like, take inventory what I'm good at, and as I did that I
still had. I never had like a major change within trying to go into a
different career. But as I did that it really followed me down.
And how can I start serving my purpose now where I feel like college
students. They often think, okay, we're going to do the college things, and
then we'll find our purpose later.
What would you guys say to a college student that's looking, taking inventory
on their life Kind of looking at it like I don't know if I really serve a
purpose, or I think I'm going to find my purpose in my career. I know Ben and
your book. You talk about the showroom effect, and I saw that, and I was
like. Oh, that's my financial planning career. That's my that's my showroom.
Ben Taatjes: question, Austin. I mean that that is such a great question. So
in every stage of life we should have purpose, and we should never base it
on. You know our like, our true-life purpose on a career, or our college, or
in you know I,
Ben Taatjes: that that's so good, Jared. You. You speak to a lot of younger
groups, and I think I know how you'd answer this, and I think you'd answer it
better than me. So, I'm going to defer to Jared first. But I'm going to
compliment you, Austin, on that question because I see it. You know I can see
that the hard parts of what society has been through in the last couple of
years.
Ben Taatjes: We, you know. I was like to say it's hit it's hit the aged group
the worse. Right? So, the isolation, you know we can't, you know, for older
people, I mean, and the health stuff is much more significant for older
people, I mean, they are the people that should have been concerned for the
very, very beginning with what was going on. But what has come out of you
know it is. It's everybody. Everybody's kind of come pulled away from others
and kind of almost afraid of others. There's this isolation in this division,
too. So, for college kid today.
Ben Taatjes: you know, my quick message would be- don't. Think that you know
even your full career. What? What that's going to be. I think one of the
worst things we do to kids today is we're like, hey? By the way, now, you got
to go get a bunch of debt at school, which I did, too.
But I don't even know what life is all about yet, and you got to make that
huge decision as a height. My, I got a 17-year-old, daughter. She's looking
at colleges right now, and she must decide where she is. Spend all this money
and get an education, and she isn't even sure 100. That's where she's going
to be right. So, I think, and I think, being a parent hard today. But I
would, I would tell you, being a kid, I mean, and I'm going to say a young
person, a college student, a teenager. That's hard work today. So, Jared,
what? What do you think? How would you answer that question?
Jerrid Sebesta: Yeah, you know it's a good question, and it's it.
Jerrid Sebesta: It makes me think that they are really isn't that much
difference like you, said Austin. Between somebody, maybe 1920 years old,
going through college in a pre-retiree. You can look at life the same way.
And to me, if you're ever saying in your life, you know, one day when fill in
the blank, then I'm going to be happy.
Jerrid Sebesta: You know you kind of set it awesome like, you know some I'm
in college right now, and someday when my financial career takes off, then
I'm going to be happy, and then I'm going to feel this fulfillment that that
doesn't anytime. You have your source of happiness on something somewhere.
Your kind of in the that should pose a red flag, and we can say that about
anything. You could say that about a relationship. You could say that about a
shiny new toy. And again, in our platform we are using that in the context of
retirement. I'm working. But in 5 years I'm. Going to retire.
Jerrid Sebesta: I retire. Then I'm going to be happy, and I get is there
anything wrong with looking forward to that 100? No. But when you put that
thing on a pedestal, whatever it is, a career, money, whatever retirement
you're walking a real fine line, and then you can almost take it too far we
use. We use the analogy of farmers. We deal with a lot of farmers, and a lot
of our clients are farmers where now a son. Now they've almost put their
identity in the thing right now again is being, you know, being committed to
your job and your career.
Jerrid Sebesta: and even finding some shred of identity in that wrong? No.
But then, you know now you have the set of people who have now taken almost
too far where they can't let it go, because without it they don't even know
who they are. Well, that kind of falls into a gray area as well, you know. So
again, I would. I would challenge you, Austin, and people listening, you
know.
Jerrid Sebesta: Whatever it is in your life. If you're running, run it
through the filter. Do I have to have it to be happy, yes, or no, and if the
answer is yes.
Jerrid Sebesta: it. It falls into this kind of like, I would say uneasy,
shady ground. You've got to find something that fulfills you that cannot be
taken away from you, because as soon as it could be taken away from you. But
then, then, then, then, who are you, and that that's
Jerrid Sebesta: that's the analogy I use, especially of farmers. If you ask a
farmer, who are you? They're going to say a farmer.
Jerrid Sebesta: You ask them what their purpose is. They're going to say
farming. What's your calling? I'm a farmer. I mean that's their entire being
is farming.
Jerrid Sebesta: which again is a wonderful trait to have. But what if you
can't farm, then? Who are you? And that's it that farmers can't even
comprehend what that would feel like?
Jerrid Sebesta: So again. I think that that's a that's an interesting mental
exercise for everybody to go through, and when you start stumbling on the
thing that cannot be taken away from you, and you can start answering that
question. What is my purpose? And no matter what it cannot be taken away from
me.
Jerrid Sebesta: then then I think you're getting into more of your I think
you're starting to answer that question more accurately.
Ben Taatjes: Yeah. And to follow up and follow up, Guys, your purpose will be
outside of yourself.
Ben Taatjes: You cannot have it any other way. God made you that way. So,
when you look at your live, your work, whatever it is.
Ben Taatjes: you will not find it lasting happiness, nor a purpose that you
were created for. If it's solely focused on you, I'm glad you brought up the
book, and I'm glad you took the time to read it that that's a compliment, but
I appreciate that, Austin. But man, that for me when I was a kid it looked a
lot like that dirt bike. You know. I had to have that dirt bike that their
bike in the showroom, and we talk about the showroom effect. Whatever that is
in your life is going to somehow complete. You make you happy. That could be
for today. Maybe that's a new ice fishing house that I just bought right for
a while, and I did. You know I look at it differently today.
Ben Taatjes: you know, I do those things. I'm like, yeah, it's part of fine.
If it's gone. I'm, okay there's nothing wrong with having the shiny things
and the fun stuff, and to have a great career. But when it becomes your
purpose, and when it becomes your, when it becomes more than what it is. And
again, when it starts looking too much like something is only going to impact
me. My happiness, and that's that. And when it's something that can be taken
away from you. That's a great word from Jared that.
Ben Taatjes: and that that's when we would throw up the caution flag and say,
I don't know that you're quite there yet one of our last couple of podcasts
we talked about kind of the financial stop. So, how to do budgeting? And it
seemed like in those conversations'- good conversations. It started out with-
do you see how goals and a purpose are kind of tied together. Maybe you could
speak about that if you could.
Ben Taatjes: Yeah, to some extent. I mean, I look at goals. I would much
rather have you know, commitments, right? I'm going to do certain things,
because then I will accomplish and make up shorter. Lived right? So I'm going
to commit to, you know, putting away a certain amount of money every single
paycheck. I'm going to commit to doing this. I'm going to build habits into
my life, Jared and I are huge fan fans of the Atomic Habits Book. If I knew
your listeners or are interested in a great book, Atomic habits, James clears
wonderful, but he talks a lot of building habits in your life because habits
are kind of the compound interest of self-improvement, and I believe I think
the more we can make.
Ben Taatjes: Do you think that somebody, if you're trying to build wealth and
that's important, You know. I'm in that business. What! What would a what
would somebody who bought a wealthy person make this decision on it? They buy
something just for today, or they do something that will be lasting right.
Those are things that you could make little bits of incremental change right
now and make decisions, and make those commitments versus setting a goal.
It's fine. I will have clients once, and I'll say, you know my goal is to
retire at this age. That's okay. My goal is to have so much money saved, or I
want to be a whatever, however many millionaires they want to be. I think
that that that's okay, the problem is there's it's too long. It's. It's too
long to wait to see if you're making progress on that. So, I love having just
think about. Okay, I know I want to be. I want to look a certain way. I want
to have so much in my, you know, for wealth or whatever it is, or I want to.
Ben Taatjes: you know. Make sure I'm. You know, having my financial freedom
someday. There are things that people that get financial freedom. Do you
know, they don't have credit cards that they ring up a lot of debt they don't
have. They save. They don't buy junk they don't need. You know there's a lot
of those little decisions tying it back to purpose.
Ben Taatjes: Yeah, that that's a little bit more difficult. But there
certainly is a is a tie in there, Jerry. You want to?
Jerrid Sebesta: well, yeah, I mean I was. I was listening to your answer, and
you know you bring up the financial goals, right? So, we're in the retirement
planning business. This is, you know we we're always coming up with goals.
You know what what's a benchmark that that a lot of people would attain to
from the financial aspect. You know a lot of people are like, you know. I
want to have. And again. Let's just pick up. Let's just pick a number that
everybody has used over the years. Let's pick a 1 million dollars, right? So,
let's say you know you're young. You're a young man and woman getting into
the world of saving You're like. I want to have a 1 million dollars, you
know, and like, Ben said, that I mean, that is such a long-term goal.
But be, I think, like I think you must analyze like. Why, why is a 1 million
dollars? Why is that the goal? You know what I'm saying? Because you could
spend your whole life getting a 1 million dollars, and Ben would a test this.
We've helped people get there and then to what? To what extent? Okay? And
it's almost. If you make that goal. Now, of a sudden once you get there. Now
you're going to be so focused on not dipping below that we've seen that in
the last year, you know markets go down, and so my account balance goes from
1 million dollars to 999,000. And now a sudden I can't sleep at night.
So, it's like now we've crossed we. We've made this goal.
Jerrid Sebesta: You kind of made it an idle in a lot of ways. And now it's
things like now I'm just grasping a hold. Now it kind of owns you and I'm
like, now you've kind of made this. I would say a fair goal several years ago
to make it. You made it. And now you got this twisted relationship with it,
and that's not the point.
That's not the point. So again, having goals wonderful. But I think you
always got to ask at Why? Why do I want that? Why? Why is it a 1 million? Why
is my goal to retire? In the first place. Why am I doing it? Because the
world tells me that that's the is all end all of life. Or is it because
there's something more for me? And I think again, Ben would probably test
this. Too many people retire just because the world has told them not only
that they are supposed to retire, that they're supposed to retire at a
certain age, and I think we challenge that, you know, and I've said that on
in our podcast many times we we're probably the most anti retirement planning
firm I know of, because maybe you shouldn't retire at 65. Maybe you should
have never, never retire, especially in in in the world's view. So again if
you have a goal. Wonderful! But I think you would always self-check that run
it through the filter. Why is this important? Why you want to retire at 65.
Why, you want to have a 1 million dollars in the bank. Why? Because there's
got to be something more to it?
Ben Taatjes: Yeah, I would agree. 100 and to your point there I do see it
every day. I meet with hundreds of now, now thousands of people we've met
with, and I've yet to have somebody who made the decision to retire. Based on
You know the Social Security guidelines right what full retirement age or hey
I'm 62. Now I can retire
Or not, you know we hear all time, but no 62 that's when you can start taking
so scary 65 is where people used to was their full return age. Now it's 67
and 3 quarters, and people come into the office. Say, well, I've got to work
a little longer now, you know, because they change the full retirement and
social security. I'm like- What are you talking about? There are 2 totally
different things right, so I would. I would go, Jared, on that. If you're
going to set goals, make sure there's a reason for the goals and make sure
you're actually had run them through. That filter of is this best for me? Is
this best for my family, and ultimately are they getting me closer or further
away from living it to my purpose.
Daniel Hiebert: Yeah, yeah, what I'm getting from that. What we talked about
last time is just be intentional with your goals. Make sure you know where
you're going, and it sounds like you should use those goals to motivate you
to keep going. But don't let them define who you are and where you find your
purpose.
Ben Taatjes: And certainly, don't let them derail you, or I think sometimes
people set these lofty goals, and they don't hit them.
Ben Taatjes: They're like, oh, man, this is- you know this is this is bad.
I'm a bad person. I made a mistake. I mean clearly. Things happen. That's why
I don't like annual goals, or you know, 5 years ago, you know. Make them
incremental, make them smaller in our business. We do that we take very short
windows. Yeah, there's things that we're going to try to accomplish like this
quarter, and they're we're trying to do this year, and there's a 10-year
plan. Yeah, we've got those goals out there.
Ben Taatjes: but these little ones better help us get to that that spot.
Daniel Hiebert: Good. You guys, this has been fantastic. This is great
information only about your purpose and goals and kind of tying those things
together and like we've gotten some really good information. Yeah,
absolutely. Thank you guys so much.
Ben Taatjes: It sounds like we're done. Are we done?
Daniel Hiebert: Yeah. Well, we got to head into class here.
Ben Taatjes: Oh, man, I get started. This is fun stuff, but we do appreciate
yam us on, and, you know, share a little time with us today, too. And yeah, I
mean if I'm a kid today and I'm working through college, I'd be listening to
stuff just like you're sharing because it goes beyond.
Yeah, you know you call mad money, or whatever your to your title is. It
probably goes a lot. It sounds like a lot beyond money, and it goes down to
people and helping kids become better, just people. And I love that. So,
thanks for doing it. Well, we'll work on that title, you guys, you know, at
our next marketing rebranding meeting.
Daniel Hiebert: Thanks. You guys - appreciate it a ton. You guys do great
work and let's make sure we keep in touch.
Daniel Hiebert: all right, gentlemen. Have a great day. We'll see you bye,
bye, bye.