The Benefits of Self-Directed IRA’s with Terry White on Episode #0131

Intro [0:00]

EA Interviews Episode 131. Inspiration, transformation, success stories, and the Imperfect Action Round seven days a week. Join Mario Fachini for today’s Expert Authority Effect Interview. 

Mario Fachini [0:14]

All right. So business is going well and you have a successful company, but have you ever thought about the future? I know I have. And there’s times I’m going, “Oh, I’m so excited about it.” And there’s other times I’m going, “Maybe I should be doing more.” And that’s why I’m excited to have Terry White, author, trainer, he’s a podcast host, and he’s the CEO of a retirement company where he specializes in helping people with self-directed IRAs. And he’s going to be sharing with us today how we can have a better future financially from all the hard work that we’re doing today. I’m going to bring him up right after we thank our sponsor. 

SPONSOR Pipedrive [0:50]

There’s money in the metrics. Do you know yours? Pipedrive is the simplest and easiest CRM to close more deals, deepen your relationships, and increase your business profits. Get your free trial today at EAInterviews.com/Pipedrive. 

Mario Fachini [1:06]

Here he is ladies and gentlemen, Mr. Terry White. Terry, how are you feeling today? 

Terry White [1:10]

I’m doing great, Mario. How are you? 

Mario Fachini [1:12]

I’m excited to hear what you have to say. Because so many people are working for today working for this year and everything. But I mean, I got to admit myself, I haven’t always put the future first and foremost. And I know it’s an important thing. So tell us a little why future planning and how did you get into it? 

Terry White [1:31]

You know, why future planning? That’s just a really easy question. Because we’re all going to get there. I know, you know, you’re a young guy so you’ve got several years. But when you get to be my age, I’m 59 years old, and you start thinking, “How am I going to take care of myself for the rest of my life if I want to retire?” I’m not the type that’s ever going to retire probably but most of us are. And so if you don’t start thinking about that when you’re younger, it’ll get there before you know it and then you’ll think, “Well, how am I going to make it?” And then we end up being a greeter at Walmart or something like that. And that’s just not what we want for people. 

Mario Fachini [2:08]

How long have you been doing it? 

Terry White [2:10]

Well, I started an escrow company – I graduated from a university here in New Mexico and went to work for a title company. And I did that for four years. And then I started what’s known as an escrow company here in New Mexico. And in New Mexico, an escrow company is a, for lack of a better term, it’s a mortgage servicing company but for owner financing. So if someone’s going to sell their house, and they decide to be the bank themselves, my company accepts the monthly payments and disperses the money to the seller and takes care of taxes and insurance and that kind of thing. So I started that company in 1987. And then, in about 2003, I decided we needed to have another line of business. And so I had already knew a little bit about self-directed IRAs. So I started a trust company, Sunwest Trust. And in 2004, we opened for business. And here now 15 years later, we service about 8000 accounts for people all over the country. Mario Fachini [3:12]

That’s impressive. Congratulations. 

Terry White [3:14]

Thank you. 

Mario Fachini [3:15]

Have you seen some changes in not just people but the market in the last 30 years? 

Terry White [3:21]

Yeah. You know, so since we specialize in nontraditional type assets, so when people think of an IRA, they think of stocks, bonds, mutual funds. And that’s simply because the banks and the brokerage houses have had more money and they do a much better job of advertising than we do. And so people just don’t even realize that they can invest their IRA in something like real estate or precious metal, or private companies. I’m not sure about it. But I’ve been told that some of the investment money that started Facebook way back when was an individual retirement account. So people have the opportunity to invest in their neighbor or their buddies budding new business using their retirement account. And they simply just don’t know about that. So we’ve been very fortunate over the last 15 years. We ran across a really good search engine optimization person that helped us out. And so people are looking for us and they find us on the internet and then set up their account with us. So it’s worked very well for us. 

Mario Fachini [4:27]

Yeah. It sounds like it’s going well. I want to touch on you said the retirement account for Facebook. There’s no [inaudible [00:04:34] for withdrawn if you want to invest in someone? 

Terry White [4:37]

Well, no. You wouldn’t withdraw though. That’s the cool thing is you take your IRA. So the majority of people end up with a sizable IRA. And I’m talking, you know, $30,000 to $100,000 in it. Because they worked for some company and then they quit or left for whatever reason. And they had a 401(k) there. Well, you can roll that 401(k) over into an individual retirement account. And then that’s what people did. So when I say an individual retirement account was maybe – this is what I’ve heard. I mean, I don’t know this for a fact. But in any situation, you can take your individual retirement account and invest it with your next door neighbor who’s starting a FinTech company or some kind of a new dot com company or something. And so that’s what happened. It never leaves your IRA. It stays in your IRA. And you just your IRA and invest in that. And then the returns that you get from that come back into your IRA, either tax deferred or tax free. So that’s the exciting thing about it. 

Mario Fachini [5:40]

For someone who doesn’t know, what would you say is the main pro and con to a IRA versus a Roth IRA? 

Terry White [5:48]

So what you’re talking about is you have what’s known as a traditional IRA. And when I say traditional, I don’t mean traditional investments. But that’s what the first IRA was started by Congress. And the idea behind that is the money that you put into it is tax deductible. So you put that money in pre-tax. And then you don’t pay taxes on that until you start taking it out. And you can’t take it out until your 59-and-a-half. And then you have to start taking it out when you turn 70-and-a-half. So at that time you would start paying taxes on it. That’s a traditional account. And then the next one that came along later – I believe it came along in, like, 1984 – was the Roth account. And the Roth account, you put money into that, that you’ve already paid taxes on. So I put after tax money into the Roth. But the really cool thing about the Roth is, if you’ve had it five years – if you had a Roth account for five years and you’re over 59-and-a-half, all of the income that builds up in that Roth over time comes out tax free. So again, we talked about it at the very beginning of the program about when to start. Man, if you start when you’re in your 30s or hopefully even in your 20s, I mean, just think how much money you could have built up in that over the years even without a huge return. Just the time value of that money, you get all that out tax free. I mean, that’s like a gift that the government’s given us is to use that Roth account. 

Mario Fachini [7:19]

Now, if someone’s going, “Well, I don’t want to pay taxes down the road.” Or someone else is also being devil’s advocate saying, “I’d rather pay them now.” Or “Not pay them now. I’d rather pay them down the road.” Do you think taxes would be more or less 30 years later? 

Terry White [7:34]

That’s a great question. Before I started my trust company, I have a degree in accounting. And so when I got out of school, I kind of planned on being a financial planner and helping people that way. And what they always tell you then was, you save money and you try to avoid taxes. Now, you try to defer your taxes because when you get old, you’re going to have a lower – you’re going to be in a lower tax bracket. And what was typically meant by that was, you’re probably going to make less money. So your tax – what is it called? – a progressive tax rate where the more you make the higher percentage you pay. So if you’re making less money, you’re going to pay a lower percentage. But man, we’ve all seen over the years, the taxes don’t go down. And I don’t know about you, Mario. But when I get older, when I retire, if I ever retire, I’m planning on making more money and spending more money because I want to enjoy myself. So it’s not a bad idea to pay the taxes now and put that in a Roth account and then have it tax free later. 

Mario Fachini [8:37]

I appreciate the Expert Authority insight on that. Because this is a great topic that I think less than majority of people talk about and discuss. And two things about it. One, when you’re considering these things, I love that you said that you want to be making more. Because I’ve heard that too, you know, fixed income. I actually saw something or heard someone said it in the last week or two and I Googled, I’m like, “What the heck is fixed income?” Because if you’re referring to you’re on a fixed income when you retire, the mindset is your monthly check from Social Security is only so much. And I’m thinking, “How is that any different from a job you had for 40 years where the check is the same?” It’s just less. But potentially, who wants that? So what would you say to someone like yourself that wants to make more down the road than less? And the second thing I got to ask is, do we need to make any disclaimer? I’m not a tax advisor. I don’t know what you have to do. Feel free to say it. I’m not a tax advisor or attorney but I want to play one on TV. 

Terry White [9:45]

Yeah. No, you’re exactly right. And I am not a tax advisor. I don’t do – at one time, I wanted to be a financial planner and I used to have the Series 7 license and all that stuff. But that’s not what I do now. And so the information that probably you and I, both, are putting out here people need to – and I would encourage them to do that anyway. They need to figure it out for themselves. They need to research it. Just because you hear – you read it on the internet or you hear it in a podcast doesn’t mean it’s true. So it’s just we’re giving people the idea to go do the research themselves and figure it out for themselves. And man, education is the most valuable thing you can do in this. Get out and there’s tons of available things out there to read. And a lot of other people out there besides me that probably know a lot more about it than I do. So get on YouTube and watch the videos and do the reading, do the research for yourself. 

Mario Fachini [10:43]

Yeah. I remember when I set up and learned about the Roth myself years ago, I was excited for down the road. I’m like, “I don’t want to have to wait until I’m 59-and-a-half.” But I mean that little piece alone, that’s a big difference, you know, if 30, 40 years later when you’re going, “Oh, I have to pay taxes on this. No one ever told me.” Well, what do you do at that point versus, “Oh, now it’s playtime.” 

Terry White [11:08]

Yeah. No. Like I said, it’s a gift. And I’m kind of surprised that the government – in fact, they’ve actually over the last few years – I say, the last few years when in 2010 and 2011, they literally encouraged people to convert their traditional accounts to Roth accounts because they wanted them to pay the taxes on it. Now, the interesting thing about the government and probably most people don’t know this, they don’t look out past ten years. And so me as a business person, I was looking at what they were doing and saying, “Well, what’s happening is you’re getting people to pay taxes now. But you’re giving up all that income when they start taking that out.” But unfortunately, I think the government doesn’t – they don’t care. It’s what happens in the next ten years. We got to get as much income as we can in the next ten years. So we should all take advantage of that and start those Roth accounts. 

Mario Fachini [12:04]

I totally get where you’re coming from because I also think down, down the road but don’t say too loud because it’s still good. But to the point of after the recession, they probably – like any business, would want the money now so they can use it too. But it’s also from a business standpoint. I also feel it’s a reactive state to always be in. It’s fun to go, “You know what? I might not profit for five or ten years from this but look out 20, 30,40 because I’ll still be here. 

Terry White [12:35]

So be proactive. You’re exactly right. I mean, instead of being reactive and how many people do we see, you know, they get to be in their 60s, they get close to 65, which everybody thinks that’s when you’re supposed to retire. And then they look and say, “Well, how am I going to do that? How am I going to retire and maintain the lifestyle I have?” I don’t know but I sure don’t want to retire and have to move into a smaller house and eat cat food or whatever. I want to be able to go out and travel and enjoy myself. And so if nothing else I can get across on this podcast is, if you’re young – no matter how old you are, start saving for your retirement now. Whether you use a self-directed account or you just put it in the bank or you put it in a mutual fund, start right now. And if you work at a company – my company, we provide a 401(k) for our employees. And we match it to a certain extent. And it took me a few years to convince everyone that, “Hey, you’d have to lose 50 percent of your money in the stock market to even breakeven. If you just put money in this 401(k), I’m giving you some money. And if you lost half of everything, you’d still have your own money there.” So it’s a no lose situation to start putting money away now. 

Mario Fachini [13:55]

Again, great Expert Authority insight. What does it take to retire, age or in income? 

Terry White [14:02]

Income. Income, definitely. Because you and I both heard of people that are in their 40s that retire. Or you also hear of people that are in their 80s that still can’t retire. So that’s the key thing. And you talked about fixed incomes. And I understand what you’re saying about what that – why that’s not any different than a job. But what people want to be able to do is have a large enough sum of money, that that fixed amount of money that they’re able to earn on that is enough to live on. And so that’s what I meant by saying I want to spend more when I retire. I want to have a big enough [inaudible [00:14:37], if you will, that the return that I can generate on that is enough for my wife and I to travel together and sometimes take our kids with us and enjoy that stuff together. So the whole idea of trying to saying, “Well, when I get older and I retire, my income tax will be less.” Number one, I’m not positive that the rates are going to be lower. I think they’ll probably be higher. Number one. And number two is, if you still got a decent income, you’re going to be in the upper parts of that tax bracket anyway. So I’m sorry to interrupt you, but I don’t want to really say that a traditional account is bad because anything you do to put money away is better than nothing. But if you’re in a position to pay the taxes now and put it into a Roth, that would be a smart thing to do, I think. 

Mario Fachini [15:31]

That’s more great insight. And I appreciate you for clarifying that. Because as much as somewhat making a joke, because all I’ve ever heard it from, the way it was described was not that eloquent. Let’s just say that. And it’s been numerous times the other way. I’m like, “It’s the same thing.” But what you’re saying makes sense. You want to have so much that the dividends are the fixed amount and that’s what you’re living off of. 

Terry White [15:52]

Yeah. And that’s a number that you can afford to enjoy yourself with. And I appreciate You’re using the word expert all the time. I don’t know that I consider myself an expert but it makes me feel really important. So thank you. 

Mario Fachini [16:06]

That’s how I know you’re an expert because all the ones I talked to they’re not going around going, “Look at me. Look at me.” They’re actually trying to help people. So speaking of helping people, let me ask you, who do you help? And how are you really helping them? Because there’s something you do differently. And we made the joke about, you know, we’re not advisors. But why don’t you tell Expert Authority World about that. 

Terry White [16:31]

So I’m not exactly sure what you’re asking. 

Mario Fachini [16:34]

Who are you ideally looking for to help? 

Terry White [16:38]

Well, so in my business, I think that there’s only – so we talked a little bit off air about the number of IRAs there are out there. There are said to be about 42 million IRAs in the United States right now. And, unfortunately, the majority of those people probably don’t have the desire or the knowledge to self-direct them themselves. So the client that we’re looking for at Sunwest is the client that is interested in investing on their own. They understand that particular investment. And they’re willing to do the research and put in the work to educate themselves about that investment. The people that I see that I worry about, and I’m afraid in just losing their money are the people that jump into something because it promises a huge return. And then they find out they don’t understand how that investment works or how it’s going to pay them back. And that’s a tragedy because they end up losing their money. The other thing I would recommend to people, I don’t care what kind of investment you make, don’t put all your eggs in one basket. I mean, that’s an old saying that we’ve heard for years but it holds true. I mean, I’ve seen situations where people find this investment that they think is great. And it’s going to be the next big thing. And they put their entire IRA into it. And then it’s not the next big thing. And if they had only put 10 percent or 15 percent of their investable nest egg into it and it went bad, that wouldn’t be good. That would suck. But it would at least – you’d still have money left over. You know what I mean? So I would encourage people, make sure you’re diversified. I mean, truly diversified. And don’t put all your money into one investment. 

Mario Fachini [18:24]

Is there an amount you’d say is the threshold of somewhat safety? I heard you say 10 to 15 percent, would you ever recommend 20 over five assets? 

Terry White [18:34]

I’m not an advisor. I’m not a financial advisor. So I think that is all going to depend on – my opinion is – it’s going to depend on your age. And then if you’re young enough, and you lose 20 percent of your retirement account and you’re still in your 30s, you got a lot of time. So you can make that back. If you’re my age at 50 – you know, 59, I don’t know that I would put that – I would maybe diversify a little bit more. Because I don’t have the time if I lost a part of it to earn that back. So it’s really not possible to give a set number simply because it depends on each person’s – it depends on their risk tolerance and it depends on their age. And it also depends on how much they want to have at a certain time. I’m getting to the point where I’m looking at my own personal financial, my own assets. And I’m thinking, maybe I want to put maybe 60 percent of this in something very, very safe that may not make that big a return. But I know it’s going to be there. So when I’m 75, it’s still there. I didn’t take a chance of losing it. And I may have not made a whole lot of money but it’s still there. 

Mario Fachini [19:46]

But the fact that you’re keeping it, I know that’s a big thing. I tell my clients, it’s not how much you make, it’s how much you keep. Because, I mean, that’s a whole other topic in itself. But you could argue that keeping it for another 16 years is making it because you didn’t lose it. 

Terry White [20:02]

Yeah. Yeah. Absolutely. I think I would agree with that. 

Mario Fachini [20:07]

Let me ask you about some of your clients. You don’t need to say their names or anything. But what’s the biggest success story or transformation you’ve been able to give someone? 

Terry White [20:17]

I’ve got a couple of success stories that I think about when people ask me that question. One of them is a friend of mine here locally in Albuquerque took his – he had a rollover of a 401(k) and put it in his IRA and he bought a house. Free and clear, his IRA on that house completely. And he was in his 30s at the time. And so the rent coming in from that house built up. And when he built up enough money, he bought another house and another house. And now, last I checked, I think he had seven houses, free and clear houses in his IRA. And they were generating about nine grand a month. So y he’s got this asset that probably – here in Albuquerque, realistically, seven houses is probably worth a couple million dollars. And he’s making $7,000 or 8,000 a month income that he can start taking out. And he’s about my age so he’s not ready to retire yet. But that was a great success story, I think. And another one that I think is a little older lady that I’ve talked on the phone. I’ve never met her in person but I talked to her on the phone. And she had a nephew that flipped houses. So I don’t know if anybody knows anybody who’s a house flipper. But those guys are always looking for money and always looking for places to borrow money. And so she had some money in her IRA. And so she uses that money in her IRA to lend money to her nephew. And it’s had a better rate than he could get from a hard money lender. But it’s also at a better rate than she could get somewhere else. So it works out as a win-win situation for both of them. She’s really happy. I think last time I talked to her she even got another of this kid’s aunts. So these two aunts both lend him money to flip houses and he pays them a good return and he’s able to do his thing. And they make a good return on their investment. 

Mario Fachini [22:06]

That’s awesome to hear. Because I’ve heard stories where people – you know, it’s interesting because the banks, they don’t want to lose their money either. But there’s so many people that want to pursue something. And I get why they’re cautious because if you’re not established and can prove yourself, essentially, they don’t want to lose the money either. But at the same time there are so many people out there. I’m thinking back to when I started my business, I never took a loan for it or anything. But it was just like, I knew I was going to make it in. And It’s like, how do you convey that? How do you look ten years down the road and tell everyone else? It’s like, just prove it. You know, you got to wait. But there’s so many people out there that want to do this and they are good, reputable people, like you’re saying. So I’m happy to hear that she could help him and he could help her. And I’m sure he only had to do it one or two times and it’s just going to keep continuing. And I don’t know what the rate is, but it’s not like the banks are paying 10, 15 percent. 

Terry White [23:04]

Yeah. Absolutely. I think at the time – and I don’t remember this so don’t hold me to it – but I think he was paying or 10 percent or something, which was more than she could earn in the bank and was less than he would have to pay if he went and borrowed it from what we call a hard money lender or something. So it worked out very well for him. 

Mario Fachini [23:23]

That’s an interesting scenario because when you were saying you want to be more cautious the older you get, you might find a situation like that where she might be able to make more in these ten years than the previous 20. 

Terry White [23:35]

Absolutely. And the nice thing about that, you mentioned family and friends, I mean, where a bank wouldn’t lend him money because they don’t know him and they don’t know his – I’m thinking about you saying you started your business, the people that knew you, they knew how tenacious you were and how hard working you were. And you weren’t going to give up. Well, the banker doesn’t understand that and that’s not his fault. It’s just the way things are. But friends and family that have known you all your life, it’s not as risky a bet in that situation. Now, I’m not going to say that this lady’s nephew couldn’t make a bad deal and lose his money. But number one, he’s going to be a lot more likely to work his tail off to make sure he pays his back than he has a bank, maybe. And just because of the fact that she believed in him, he’s going to work harder to make sure he gets the money back to her. 

Mario Fachini [24:32]

Yeah. And that’s the thing about business is you can do whatever you want, whether you’re family support it or not. Because it’s not like everyone’s like, “Oh my gosh, here you go.” That wasn’t the case at all. But business allows you the opportunity to serve people and create sales. One of the best things I ever learned when I was young was, mom and dad go, “You can have anything you want as long as you pay for it.” And dad always said, “Need more money, make more money.” I’m like, “I’m getting my wave runner,” which I did in high school, cash. 

Terry White [25:04]

Yeah. No. And you and I sound like we were both very fortunate to have parents that explained that to you. That, “Hey, you can have whatever you want, you just have to work a little harder.” You have to figure out how to go out and get it yourself. And I didn’t have a wave runner but I was always the type that I wanted things, you know, different things. I wanted a new car and stuff and so you just figure out, if it’s important enough to you, you figure out how to make it work. 

Mario Fachini [25:33]

It sounds like you’re a lot like me, greedy. You like clothes and food. 

Terry White [25:38]

Yeah. Yeah. Exactly. 

Mario Fachini [25:41]

All right. So with all the people you’ve helped, what would you say is been the most rewarding for you overall? 

Terry White [25:51]

Ah, you know, I think because it’s closer to me, I think the most rewarding thing for me is my employees that I’ve helped. We don’t have a lot of employees. We have 25 employees. The very first employee I ever hired, she’s worked for me for 32 years. She’s my vice president and she runs this company for me. And we have other employees. Another one that’s been here 22 years, several that have been here over 15, 16 years. And so because those people are close and I see their families and I know them, those are the ones that are most rewarding. The people that they helped, basically. And I don’t do any of the work around here. They do the work and make sure things get done. And so maybe they would be more able to tell you about an individual and how they felt because they helped them on the phone and helped them set up their account or something. But I just really enjoy helping those people and knowing that we provided a livelihood for them and we provided a nice place to work where they enjoyed coming in and hanging out with people that they liked. 

Mario Fachini [26:58]

Well, that’s a huge testament because there’s – you might say it’s only 25 people. But that’s a pretty decent sized company. And the fact that you’ve had the first one the whole time, that’s a huge testament. 

Terry White [27:13]

Thank you. 

Mario Fachini [27:15]

So one question before we go to the Imperfect Action Round, where do you see yourself with the company ten years from now? 

Terry White [27:24]

You know, that’s a great question. I have three boys that work with me and we’re doing some other things. And so I don’t -we’ll see how it goes. I am not the type of person to retire. So I might continue doing this where we’re getting into a lot of other things that I don’t know much about that I’m learning about. We opened a tap room here and we’re going to start a winery and stuff like that. So I see myself just doing something new. When I’m 75, 80 years old, I love what I do. And it’s not that I love this particular business. I just love business. I love coming in and not knowing what’s going to happen every day, who’s going to call on the phone. I’m going to get to talk to you today. And tomorrow, I may talk to somebody else. And it’s just a lot of fun. So I enjoy that. 

Mario Fachini [28:13]

I can definitely relate to that. When you’re doing something that you really truly enjoy, it’s like, “Yeah. There’s some official business in there.” But most of it, it’s like, “I get to live my dream that I had when I was 18.” Yeah, bad. 

Terry White [28:28]

Yeah. And not to make anybody think you go into business for yourself and every day is just great. I’m sure you’ve had struggles and you have months, maybe weeks, that you’re really having to struggle but you get through them. And the nice thing about it is, you can look on the other side of that and say, “I got through that and I did it. And I was very fortunate. My parents were very supportive and my wife is very supportive of being in business. So it’s worked out well for me. 

Mario Fachini [28:54]

Overall, though, we get to beat the spread. 

Terry White [28:56]

Absolutely. Yeah. 

Mario Fachini [28:59]

All right. We’re going to thank our sponsor and come back for the Imperfect Action Round. 

SPONSOR Pipedrive [29:03]

Don’t stay stuck in startup mode. That’s what I tell my audiences and clients and why I advise using Pipedrive for all of your customer relationship marketing needs in your business. You want more leads, you want more deals, and ultimately more clients. Who doesn’t? But when I deliver you a hundred more deals a quarter, can you handle it? A month, a week, a day? Which one of those made you the most nervous? Saying you want it over and over like a record on repeat is one thing. The reality, however, is that your subconscious is stopping you at some point. And it’s because you want A but your business is set up for B. Whether you have a system or you are that system, Pipedrive will upgrade your deal closing experience, increase your profitability, and make your day-to-day more enjoyable. Get your free trial today at EAInterviews.com/Pipedrive. Don’t waste another day being the system or using a subpar system to grow your empire. There’s no need to make it harder than it already is. Once again, that’s EAInterviews.com/Pipedrive. 

Mario Fachini [30:05]

All right. We are back with the Imperfect Action Round. Terry, are you ready to take imperfect action? 

Terry White [30:11]

I’m not sure what that means but let’s see what happens. 

Mario Fachini [30:13]

I’m sure you’ve done that just once or twice in your business. 

Terry White [30:16]

Oh, I’m sure. 

Mario Fachini [30:18]

I’ve got three rapid fire questions, 60 second answers. And the first one is what is the fastest path to the cash? 

Terry White [30:27]

The fastest path – I don’t know that there is a fast path to cash. It’s hard work and perseverance is what I think I would say. 

Mario Fachini [30:38]

Number two, what is the biggest problem you see your prospects making? And the fastest way they can fix it?

Terry White [30:46]

The biggest problem I see my prospects making, you mean people that are, like, potential customers? 

Mario Fachini [30:53]

Yes. 

Terry White [30:53]

Okay. The biggest mistake I see them making is not doing their own due diligence and making sure that the investment that they want to invest in is a good one. And that they understand – the key is understanding what you’re investing in and how are they going to give me my money back with a return. 

Mario Fachini [31:12]

Very good advice. Number three, what is the best way to maximize customer lifetime value? 

Terry White [31:22]

I think is to treat your customer the way you want to be treated. And I tried to do that – I try to get that across to my employees. I say, think about a company that you had a good experience with and that you enjoy dealing with and then treat people the same way that person treated you. I just made a call yesterday. Can I mentioned names of other companies? AT&T DIRECTV, and it was the most unpleasant experience I have had on the phone in months. And so I would use that as an example. Don’t treat people that way. But it’s kind of like the golden rule. Actually, it’s the golden rule but with a little twist, treat people better than you want to be treated. 

Mario Fachini [32:06]

I like that. And that’s the thing is there’s so many companies out there that you can put anything you want in the marketing and the whole 5G thing. I was just talking to my company I’ve been with for 13, 14,15 years, Verizon. And I go you, “What’s the spectrum?” I was asking them different things. Because so many companies are going, “Oh, we have 5GE.” and it’s just branding. It’s not technically anything different. 

Terry White [32:33]

Yeah. It’s kind of like with 4K TVs. I mean, you can get a 4K TV but most things aren’t broadcast in 4k. 

Mario Fachini [32:40]

Exactly. 

Terry White [32:41]

What good does it do? 

Mario Fachini [32:42]

You know, I’m happy you brought that up specifically because guess what? This is recorded in. 

Terry White [32:49]

In 4k. You look beautiful on the screen. You know, I’m telling you it looks great. 

Mario Fachini [32:52]

Well, I appreciate that. But I have it streaming in 1080. And that’s Facebook and YouTube’s own doing. But I wanted it, again, that future focus. Three, four or five years from now you’ll be able to share this and it will be right on par. 

Terry White [33:08]

Awesome. That’s great. 

Mario Fachini [33:12]

Speaking of future focused, books are a great way to foreshadow and have a vision for the future. What are some books you could recommend to Expert Authority World? 

Terry White [33:21]

Man, you know what? I am not a huge reader. I don’t know specifically why. 

Mario Fachini [33:27]

What about audio books? 

Terry White [33:27]

Audio books, I listen to a lot of podcasts, you know. 

Mario Fachini [33:31]

Nothing wrong with that. 

Terry White [33:32]

So where I get them. I love to understand and know what other people do to make a living. So one of my favorite podcasts is how I built this. It’s a NPR podcast. I listen to that a lot. There’s another one called Growth Everywhere that I listen to that’s really good. And a lot of people may not be interested in that but I just am fascinated by the way people build a business. And that was what my podcast was is just talking to business owners about. And to try to get across to people the fact that you don’t have to be a genius to build a nice business. The normal average everyday person that is willing to work hard and has a good idea can build their own business. 

Mario Fachini [34:21]

There’s at least one book you got to recommend. 

Terry White [34:26]

You know, this is maybe going to sound a little corny for some people, but I think the book that I read the most is the Bible. So anybody who’s of that mindset, I think that’s a place with some great advice. 

Mario Fachini [34:40]

I’m happy you said that. That’s a great one I’d recommend also. It’s not corny at all. 

Terry White [34:46]

You never know in today’s world if that’s going to be – how that’s going to be accepted. So I guess that’s why I said that. 

Mario Fachini [34:53]

That’s not our personal problem. That’s there’s. 

Terry White [34:56]

True. Exactly. 

Mario Fachini [34:57]

I have to modify what I said. And not the last comment at all. There’s two books you have to recommend. One of them is yours. 

Terry White [35:07]

Well, that’s true. I guess it’s a good book. I don’t know. My book is strictly about what we’ve been talking about, self-directed IRAs. And I’m sorry that I’m so – it took me so long to figure out. You had to actually prompt me for that. But yeah, my book is called If All I Have Is a Hammer. And the idea behind that was that people don’t know that they can use their IRA to invest in these other things. So if you think all you have is a hammer, then you’re looking for nails. But a self-directed IRA is another tool that you can use to invest in other things. So people can get that book. I think they can download it on our website at SunwestTrust.com. Or if you go to our website, you can order it and we’ll send you a hard copy of the book for free. So anybody who’s interested in that, feel free to reach out to us and we’ll get that to you. 

Mario Fachini [35:56]

Excellent. And you don’t need to apologize for that. Like I said earlier, there’s some many people that may not be qualified and they’re going, “Look at me, I’m the greatest.” And then I found a lot more people. It’s just very impressive what you’ve done. And you’re like, “Who? Me?” “Yeah, you.” So I believe there’s a happy medium because it’s a thin line. Like, you need to promote your business in what you do. But you always want to be humble about it. So no apologies needed. I’m glad you did mention it. I was going to mention that either way. And it was an easy segue into where would you like people to learn more about you? 

Terry White [36:32]

Well, so the best thing to do if they’re interested in self-directed IRAs is go to SunwestTrust.com. There are some links to my videos there. You could go to YouTube and our channel is called Sunwest.Ira. We have, I think, 240 videos. The majority of them, you have to look at me and I’m the one that’s talking. But some of them my son is in and he’s much more attractive than I am. So but they’re all just short three to five minutes so you’re not going to waste a lot of time, You listen to it. Hopefully, the description – the title is descriptive enough that it’s something you can tell if you want to listen to it or not. But even if it’s not, you’re only going to waste a few minutes and you can go to the next one. 

Mario Fachini [37:13]

I would argue that they’re making a good investment into the future because  knowledge applied knowledge is power. 

Terry White [37:17]

They are. Yeah. No, I agree. I guess what I meant by that is, you may not want to listen to one about investing in a private company if you’re looking to invest in real estate or something like that. But that’s why we kept them short. Because I just don’t think – it depends on what you’re listening to. If you want to invest 20 or 30, or 45 minutes or something. But these are short and they get the point across. And the more you can educate yourself, the better off you’re going to be. 

Mario Fachini [37:46]

Excellent. Well, it’s been an absolute pleasure. And I appreciate you for sharing with Expert Authority World. 

Terry White [37:53]

Thank you. 

Mario Fachini [37:55]

All right. Expert Authority World, we have another great episode here today. I will see you tomorrow. Have a great day. And God bless. 

SPONSOR Pipedrive [38:04]

How do you know where you’re going if you don’t know where you’re at? Pipedrive CRM makes your business easier, more enjoyable, and more profitable by allowing you to easily organize your deals and move them through your pipeline whether you’re in the office or on the go. Get your free trial today at EAInterviews.com/Pipedrive. Stop wasting your time continually looking for your information when you can be investing it adding more value to your prospects and clients. Once again, that’s EAInterviews.com/Pipedrive. 

www.EAInterviews.com [38:34]

Hey, thanks for listening to today’s episode. I hope you got a lot out of it. I know I sure did. If you haven’t done so already, I invite you to subscribe to the show. And also be sure to check out EAInterviews.com for complete show notes, the full interview video experience, links to the resources we mentioned, and more. Have a blessed day and I’ll see you tomorrow.