Charge Forward Podcast

Money, Mindset & Protection: Eddie Knight’s Roadmap to Security

• Jim Cripps • Season 2 • Episode 16

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Money isn’t just numbers—it’s about balance, purpose, and protection.

In this powerful episode of the Charge Forward Podcast, financial advisor Eddie Knight of 1847 Financial joins host Jim Cripps to tackle one of the most common problems in personal finance: disorganized, disconnected decisions that leave families vulnerable.

Eddie shares how his unlikely transition from biology and forensics into financial planning turned into a mission-driven career—especially after helping a grieving family file a life insurance claim for a client he’d just met months before. That life-changing moment reshaped his perspective: “You’re no longer just in the business, the business is in you.”

💥 What you’ll learn in this episode:

  • Why most people operate with a “financial junk drawer” and how to fix it
  • The 3-part formula for financial balance: protection, savings, and growth
  • How to teach kids about compound interest and the value of early saving
  • Why your CPA, advisor, and insurance agent should not work in silos
  • The mindset shift that makes insurance a privilege—not a burden
  • How to uncover and close dangerous gaps in your financial plan

Jim and Eddie also explore financial literacy for kids, the impact of unexpected life events, and how small, intentional actions can reshape your financial future—starting today.

Whether you’re just starting your financial journey or reevaluating your strategy, this episode will inspire you to take a more holistic, balanced, and purpose-driven approach to money. 7792677SC_Apr27

📲 Follow or Connect with Eddie Knight

📌LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/eddieknight1847

📘Facebook:https://www.facebook.com/Eddie1847Financial/

📆Book a call: https://calendly.com/eddieknight/phone-conversation

 

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Jim Cripps:

There was a statistic that was put out by lifehappensorg a couple years ago that said people would rather get a root canal than talk about insurance.

Eddie Knight:

Ben Affleck talking about how his youngest son was angry because he wouldn't buy him a pair of $6,000 shoes. Hey, team, jim Cripps, here with the Charge Forward Podcast. I want to say thank you for joining us today. I have a special treat for you, mr Eddie Knight. He is a financial advisor, proud husband, proud father, proud Christian, helping lead others to financial freedom. Eddie, thank you for joining us today. Glad to be here, jim, absolutely so. You know a lot of our, I just think, core beliefs are very similar and I've got to give a big shout out to the person who introduced us. So, ms Valerie Kemp, cpa there in Ashland City, who's just, in my opinion, the best CPA in Tennessee, introduced us what? Maybe six, eight months ago.

Jim Cripps:

Something about that. Yeah, valerie's one of a kind the nitty-gritty in Ashland City.

Eddie Knight:

That's right, that's right Big personality and takes great care of clients, both small and large. The thing I love most about her, other than her personality and the fact that I've known her, let's just say, a long time. I'm not trying to put an age on her, that's inappropriate but she does tax planning and tax strategy, whereas a lot of CPAs just take care of your taxes when you drop them off.

Jim Cripps:

I find that that's one area where, being in the financial advising industry, you know there's, you realize there's really two kinds of CPAs. There's the historian kind and the kind that really think outside the box, and I agree that Valerie is one of those that she'll, you know, think out there and put some ideas together instead of just saying here's what you did, here's what you owe.

Eddie Knight:

Yeah, absolutely. Well, a lot of those things can't be done in the rear view mirror. You've, you've got to connect the dots as you're, as you're going through the year.

Jim Cripps:

There, there's a lot of things that December 31st eliminate. That's right.

Eddie Knight:

That's right, Um, you know, and and well, kind of speaking about timelines, this is a busy time for you guys.

Jim Cripps:

It is First of the year is always fast. It picks up usually about the third week of January. People get through that holiday lull and oh my goodness, how much money did we spend over the holidays. And then it's like, okay, new Year's resolutions, I want to save better, I want to plan better, whatever it is. And it ramps up and gets busy really quick. And then you've got the typical stuff oh, busy really quick. And then you've got the you know the typical stuff oh, april 15th is coming. I got to make a contribution to something to reduce taxes. And I mean you get a call from somebody like Valerie or another CPA saying, hey, can you help a client out? So it is, we're hopping pretty good.

Eddie Knight:

That's right, well, and this is going to come out about mid-April, so odds are, when this comes out, there's going to be just a couple of days for people to button some things up.

Jim Cripps:

Yep, Unless they're wanting to file extensions and think outside the box. But April 15th is coming.

Eddie Knight:

Now if you will share the extension piece real quick, just to kind of throw that out for people, because I honestly didn't know that you could file an extension and some of those things could be done past April 15th.

Jim Cripps:

There are some things again. I mean you want to consult with your advisor, um, whether it's a CPA or if you're. I mean there's a lot of CPAs out there that do financial advising as well, um, but there are things that you can and things that you can't. Um, and when in doubt ask, don't just assume.

Eddie Knight:

That's right. Be be right. Be interested enough in your own destination or your own future that you ask the question.

Jim Cripps:

100% Assumptions are dangerous.

Eddie Knight:

That's right. That's right. So you know we've talked a couple of times about how people get into the careers that they get into and you know mine has been an interesting path and yours has too an interesting path, and yours has too. Most people would say getting into the financial industry in 2009 would have been a very risky proposition. But how did you get to that?

Jim Cripps:

Well, I guess you say I kind of got lucky and fell into it. 2008 rolled around, the employer that I was working with was not in this business. I graduated from college with a degree in biology and chemistry and went into work with a chemical company right in Ashland City and worked for them until 2008. And evidently I was the easy overhead maybe to get rid of, because I was the young guy, the young low on the totem pole guy, and found myself right before Thanksgiving, the young low on the totem pole guy, and found myself right before Thanksgiving, unemployed in 2008,.

Jim Cripps:

And then met the gentleman that's my managing partner or managing principal today. He said have you ever thought about a career in insurance? And I regrettably laughed at him. I said I don't even know how to spell insurance. I was like you're talking to the wrong guy, but fortunately I gave him the time of day, sat down with him March 31. So a week from this coming Monday will be 16 years in the financial services business, so to speak, and it's changed a lot over the years. But never intended on getting in here, but I love it. You couldn't pay me enough money to do anything different.

Eddie Knight:

Well, and I think a lot of people cringe when they hear insurance.

Jim Cripps:

People. There was a statistic that was put out by lifehappensorg a couple of years ago that said people would rather get a root canal than talk about insurance. And that was a legit I forget exactly what the percentage of people, but it was unreal and it's like why do people not want to talk about those things? And you think about mortality, you think about life is not certain and it makes people nervous and some people they avoid it. For that reason. They avoid it, because they're oh, that's going to be expensive. There's a lot of different reasons, but it is one of those subjects. If you don't want people to talk to you on an airplane, just say, hey, I sell insurance and some other stuff too, and they might turn around and look the other direction.

Eddie Knight:

They very well may, but at the same time it's critical, especially if you have a family, and I'm not just here pubbing your business or or padding your ego here. You know some of my best friends or some of my favorite people that I get along with just fantastically. Our insurance is, is is either a piece of their business or, uh, is their business and it's because, even though that is such a I don't want to say taboo that's not really the right word People are so apprehensive about talking about it. Insurance agents suffer through that in order to help people.

Jim Cripps:

It is a very I was told very early on. I mean this is extremely noble industry if you do it the right way. There's gentlemen out there. He gets quoted in insurance circles a lot Zig Ziglar about. If you help enough people get what they want, you'll never be in need of anything.

Eddie Knight:

That's right.

Jim Cripps:

So there's a big nobility. That's one of the reasons that I stuck in the business. I was fortunate, unfortunate. It's kind of one of those things where you're you're, you're glad, you're not glad it happened, but it changed how you view this business. Um, I'd been in the business a little over right at a year. Um, when I first got in this business, it was one of those things of hey, I'll do this until the economy turns around. I'll go back to what I was doing About a year in, maybe about nine months, I met a lady that called into our office that I worked out of at the time, up in Springfield, tennessee, and met with her, ended up writing insurance on her, some of her children, and not even a full year after that, probably about seven or eight months later, got home late on a Tuesday afternoon, been running appointments, you know, over the dinner table meeting with people, and the 10 o'clock news came on probably 30 minutes after I got home.

Jim Cripps:

It'd been a long day and as they're, you know, panning across an on-the-scene accident up in the ridgetop Goodlettsville area, I was like I recognize the front of that car, that tag, that vanity plate on the front of that car that looks familiar? Nah, it's probably not. And next morning I'm going out hopping the truck to drive to the office and about 7.45, phone rings and it was the mother that I had met with and her adult daughter, who was about a year and a half, two years younger than me, been hit by a drunk driver and lost her life. Eight or nine year old daughter. Um, our grandchild of the mother that you know originally started all this and I sat at the same table where I'd sold the policy and made the promise of if something happens to you, we're going to pay, because that's what I mean, that's what insurance is, it's what it does for people, and then to turn around less than a year later and be filling out the paperwork to file the claim. It changes how you look at this business. You're no longer just in the business, the business is in you and it changes your mentality, and you know I will. There was a couple years ago.

Jim Cripps:

You know the magic of Facebook. If you've got it synced with your contacts on your phone it'll throw up. You know friend suggestions and stuff like that, and I had one pop up and I went. I recognize that name because I don't look at my phone. I probably got contacts in there that are 25, 30 years old and the the contact that showed up as a friend suggestion, I clicked on it and I was like, oh, that is that's the mom that I met with and I'm thumbing through there and there was a picture of the granddaughter, who's now a junior in high school, with her grandmother going to prom and I was like I was like that's awesome to see. Yeah, you know, it's not just that immediate impact of we paid for a funeral, we did some other things, it's we not only paid for a funeral, but we made it where grandmother could adjust because she became the primary caregiver for that child, and that's I mean, you can't put a price on that.

Eddie Knight:

Well, it's one thing I mean inevitably in that scenario there's going to be a grieving process. There's no reason to exacerbate the grieving process by the panic of how financially is this going to work, or can it work. But you know, uh, it just removes a lot of the stress. It's. It does not remove the stress because there's a lot of stress with the passing of a loved one, but it does take a huge weight off of that person. As they figure it out 100%.

Jim Cripps:

I mean it's you know, if there's stories upon stories that you can Google and search online at lifehappensorg, and I've already mentioned them once but, that's a great resource that I've used, you know, in putting some things out there to clients when they go well, what's the whole purpose of this? And I mean, while there's good stories like that, there's also bad stories. I mean, I've experienced the I don't want to say begging someone, but almost, you know, you have a wife that's, I think, of a specific instance and there's a wife that's bought in. You know we need this honey. You know we've got a mortgage, we've got all these other things.

Jim Cripps:

And the husband says, oh, you know, I've got this accidental death policy, it'll pay, Cause I'm probably going to die as a result of an accident because of my line of work, which statistically is not probable, right, not, it's possible, but it's not probable. And then, literally, I don't know why seven to eight months is always like a timeframe but just a few months later, you know you hear a funeral announcement. It's like wait a second, turn that up. And it's that, literally, the guy that I had said hey, you really need to do this because your wife sees the value in it. You know you really need to do it.

Eddie Knight:

And and your heart hurts for that person.

Jim Cripps:

I went to the funeral home and I had the wife looking at me and she goes Eddie, I don't know what I'm going to do and I'm like I. I'm sorry. I'll pray for you because of that. You know, it wasn't my choice not to sell it to you. It was your husband's choice not to go through with it.

Eddie Knight:

Sure, well, and I would, I would say this just across the board I mean being a good steward of finances. Steward of finances, investing, insurance, all those things. They're not sexy, they're not fun, but they are necessary and you know it's hard to separate them, you know, I guess I guess years ago I wondered why people that were in insurance were also in financial advising, or why they were kind of married and now, as a dad and a husband, you know it really does kind of make sense because it's to protect your family.

Jim Cripps:

Yeah, I mean it's real easy and there's guys in this business and they do a great job in the area that they work in. We talk about in our office all the time. A lot of people take that siloed approach to any kind of financial decision. You know, they've got their money manager over here. They've got their insurance guy over here, they've got their. I mean there's a specialty in advising for just about everything anymore, but marrying all those together is such an important thing because they all affect each other.

Jim Cripps:

Clients ask me all the time because we talk about auto insurance. I don't sell auto insurance. I don't want to sell it. I've got some great friends that sell it and do a phenomenal job. But I have clients ask me well, what in the world does my auto insurance have to do with my investment account with you? I'm like it has a lot to do with it. If you hit the wrong person, that's right and you don't have proper protection, my job is not to sell it to you. It's just say, hey, you need to talk to your guy about this, this and this, to make sure that the work that I'm doing is protected and you don't end up with a lawyer or somebody knocking at your door saying hey, you owe my client some money because you did something wrong.

Eddie Knight:

Yeah Well, and I hate, I hate to just keep coming back to her, but that's one of the things I love about Valerie is Valerie has people sign off on her talking to their other advisors, and I would suggest that to anybody that is looking, is watching this. This video right now is if you are an adult and you have children, you have a net worth, you are headed towards a goal your advisors. If you have multiple advisors which I encourage you to have multiple advisors you need a great tax and CPA person, you need someone in the banking industry, you need real estate professionals. Potentially, if you're in that space, you need a financial advisor and an insurance person, a couple of insurance people, most typically because you're going to have auto, you're going to have life, you're going to have homeowners insurance, et cetera, hopefully, a good umbrella policy, all those things. Umbrella policy, all those things.

Eddie Knight:

And there's no reason for you to be the middleman, because your advisors may have a conversation that just occurs organically and they come up with a better strategy for you, because you weren't playing telephone, you weren't relaying messages back and forth. So I highly encourage anybody out there, especially if you have a net worth of, let's just say, a half a million dollars or more. You have a family and you are headed in a certain direction with goals and aspirations. Please make sure that you connect your advisors so that they can speak and create the best strategy to present to you on your behalf. Would you want to add anything to that?

Jim Cripps:

Yeah, I mean we talk about again. I mean we're meeting with clients. I ask them all the time you know is there, I'll go through the round robin if you will of you know, do you have a CPA, do you have an attorney? Do you have a real estate professional? Do you have a banker that you deal with? And yes, yes, yes, yes, you know they check all the boxes, or at least some of them.

Jim Cripps:

And I was like, okay, when is the last time that all these people sat down in the same room with you and said, okay, what are we doing together to make your life better? And that's where working with a holistic advisor that really is looking at every angle and has the tools to do so, that's where they can almost become a quarterback for you. I know that's kind of sounds cliche, but you know the client's still a coach. They still set the tone. Here's the goals, here's what we're shooting for. You know, here's what I want to accomplish. But having that person that is down in the weeds a little bit, so you don't have to be where they're saying, hey, you know, you've got options here. We need to coordinate with those other advisors and I, you know, I've coordinated with Valerie on clients in the past and other.

Jim Cripps:

You know financial professionals and other lines of work that you know it's important to have everybody on the same page because if somebody is out of sync, if you will, it can be catastrophic. You know you've. You know you've got money placed in one. You know the. The thing that I talk about sometimes is you know, your investment guy may be great, but if he's only focused on investments and growing that nest egg or or generate if he's generating it and where it's positioned, it's creating a tax issue your CPA is going to have a fit. Because they're going. What are you doing every year that's making it? Because they're the ones that are having to deliver the bad news of, hey, your taxes are go up, going up. They get the blame, so to speak, when it's really not even their fault, and so it's like, hey, we all need to talk together and collaborate to move the ball, so to speak, and everybody wins.

Eddie Knight:

Yeah, absolutely. Well, you know I kind of look at it like to use your coaching analogy is the customer, or whoever that is, is the head coach. But you need an offensive line coach, you need a defensive coach, that you need people who are more well-versed, know the law, especially in taxes and other things that get affected by legislation. What has changed for this year? Because last year's great strategy may be this year's terrible strategy.

Jim Cripps:

That's definitely. I mean just change is constant, regardless of what line of business that you're in, and you know regulatory changes and not know regulatory changes, and not just regulatory, but law changes as well. I mean, anytime you have a new administration in, we get a little busier, because people, what do we need to do? Um, you know, whether it's positive or negative, there's changes, and then tax changes and then you've got every company that you buy things from, whether it's a financial product, they're changing their rules all the time. New products we talk about. The thing that's overlooked by so many people is just planned obsolescence. Now, I mean, stuff wears out a lot faster than I think my mother is still using. I think in the last year she finally bought a new microwave, and it was one when I was like four or five years old. Stuff doesn't last that long anymore.

Eddie Knight:

No.

Jim Cripps:

And companies figured out well, we might need to not make it last so much, so we can still turn a profit, like it, or don't? That's just the reality that we live in.

Eddie Knight:

Yeah, so what do you? What do you suggest as far as a what's a good cadence for? Let's just say, somebody's working with you. They've got, um, they're, they're headed on a path. They've got, let's just say, somewhere between a half a million and a million dollars in investments, and they've got teenage kids. They're looking at college. They've got, you know, they've got normal life going on. What, what's a good cadence for you to meet with them and kind of optimize?

Jim Cripps:

It uh, my, my favorite answer to give to any questions that depends, um, it depends on how many moving parts they have at a bare minimum, at least once a year. Um, at a bare minimum, uh. With some of our clients that we're working with, we started utilizing some very unique software when it comes to cash flow management and just having visibility of what's going on. We don't budget, we're big on like that's a. Nobody likes that word.

Jim Cripps:

I don't like that word. I like to fish. So I really don't like the word budget because it cuts into my fishing budget or my fishing allowance, whatever. But with somebody like that, that's really they're wanting to get a little more granular. I mean, we have clients on a quarterly we call it a quarterly calibration where they come in and it's like okay, here's the ebbs and flows in your world. Do you like what you see, do you not? Do we need to make changes? Is there like red button issues? It's like there's a warning light flashing that we need to address now.

Jim Cripps:

But those are typically with people who have a lot of, you know, ups and downs and moving parts going on in their world at the same time. So it just depends on where you're at and just your level of comfort. I mean, some people are set it, forget it. Give me the cliff notes version once a year and we'll keep moving. And some people are like, look, I want to, especially when they're nearing retirement. It seems like, you know, not just with myself but with other advisors in our office, it seems like as people start nearing retirement and big decisions, those those gaps between hey, we need to talk, get a little shorter, and a little shorter, you know, down to just a couple months it gets more real.

Jim Cripps:

It does make it a lot more real.

Eddie Knight:

Yeah, what do you see as just some overarching typical? If you're going to win long term, this is a good basis for that strategy.

Jim Cripps:

Balance Again one of those things that we talk about a lot and balance between protection, savings and growth. Anytime you get lopsided on any of those things, it creates a potential for something catastrophic. You know, if you get, if you do a great job investing, and you know, grow your assets, but you don't have, you're still running with your state minimum coverage that you had when you were in your early 20s and you hit that guy that's a neurosurgeon at Vanderbilt and do damage to him. Oh, now we have problems, there's a potential for loss, um, but it's all maintaining balance all the time. And that's where that review comes in, so important because you may not even realize that you've gotten unbalanced. You have a good couple of years in the market. Things grow. Yes, you need to rebalance investment accounts, but you also need to rebalance the other parts of your model that aren't directly connected to your investments.

Eddie Knight:

Yeah, no, that makes absolute sense. I kind of look at it like having tires rotated and balanced. You know that's going to be every three or four months, depending on how often you drive, and the investments are kind of the same way. I'm not saying that we need new tires every three months, but we just need to take a look.

Jim Cripps:

Exactly. You know, and it's the the thing that a lot of people get really tangled up in is they? And and there are advisors in the world that prey on this is they? They focus on rates of return. Is it a? Rates return important? Yes, is it the most important? Nah, that's up for debate.

Jim Cripps:

But finding an advisor that is looking for the potential lost places in your world and plugging the holes in the bucket, if you will, I mean, it doesn't matter. You have the greatest rate of return in the world. But if there's holes in your bucket and you're losing more water than you're putting in, the bucket's never going to fill up. You're never going to achieve those goals. So we find again, it goes back to that balance. If we make sure that we're avoiding unnecessary things that disrupt our financial world, whether it's taxes, fees, you've still.

Jim Cripps:

I mean, it's amazing when we've gone through planning process with people, the stuff that they uncover, and I'm like, hey, what's this all about? And they're like, oh, that's something I bought back, you know, when I was 24, 25 years old at my first job, and I'm like, do you know what it does? And they're like I don't know. Can you tell me? It's amazing how many times that happens. 20 years down the road and they've been spending, you know, a couple hundred bucks a year on it and it's like, well, does that really add up? It does, eventually.

Eddie Knight:

Especially with compound interest.

Jim Cripps:

Oh goodness, it's like well, that little $500 a year mistake. You know, if you factor in inflation the rate, or you know, if you'd have kept it in your world you could have done something with it to grow wealth that number gets really big really fast and people don't realize. You know I'm costing myself money. Um, you know, 20, 30 years down the road from that singular decision that I made, that I forgot about.

Eddie Knight:

Yeah, what do you see as kind of a typical aha moment or wake up trigger for people that maybe have been disengaged from their future planning and all of a sudden they're knocking on your door?

Jim Cripps:

I think the misconception that if I and we've all seen the examples of it but the misconception of if I pour the money to it, ie I start saving, I figure out how to save 25%, 30%, 35% of my income, I can overcome the 15 years I've just been sitting there doing nothing and it's the the. The law of compound numbers does not work in your favor, even if you and we've all heard this whether it's you listen to one of the financial gurus on the on the radio or Internet or whatever, or you're reading financial books. I mean starting early, even if it's just a small amount of money, and building that momentum. The way an exponential curve works. It gets steeper and when you shave off a year or two, you're shaving off significant amounts of potential in the future. Sure.

Eddie Knight:

Well, and I could be creating a monster here, so I'm going to, I'm going to share what we do in our house. So, uh, you saw Castle the other day. We were, we. We saw each other out at, uh, the Depot in Springfield. So, uh, shout out to the team over at the Depot. They do fantastic uh business, they great food, and we were actually both there for birthdays.

Jim Cripps:

Yep, father-in-law's birthday was a couple of weeks ago. Some travel, weather, everything else had gotten in the way. But yeah, I looked up and I was like hey, I was like there's Jim, I was like he's coming in and I'd sent you and I think I'd mentioned to you, I typed a text message I don't know if you ever do this, but I unfortunately do this more times than I care to admit to you type out a message and then somebody calls or something happens, draws you away from the phone and you never go back and hit send. And I'd sent you. I intended to send you a birthday text that morning to say, hey, happy birthday, have a great day. But I got to do it in person.

Eddie Knight:

So yeah, no, it was just a happy accident there. But yeah, yeah, no, it was just a happy accident there. So I started taking Castle to the bank before he could walk and introducing him to everybody. And then again I may be telling on myself here. So I taught him very early on that if we went to the bank and we were putting money into the bank or we were transferring money to savings, then he got a sucker. And if we were taking money out of the bank, no sucker. So he always wanted to know how much money we were putting in the bank. And this is a big shout out to Larry Roberts and his team there at Pinnacle Bank in Ashton City, because those ladies that work in that bank, they have been there Again. I'm not trying to date people here, but Miss Betty Jo, shout out to her because she set up my first checking account when I was six years old and that was a while ago. So I take Castle Inn and he always called it the nice ladies bank because it was all nice ladies that worked there. And but he knew if we were putting money in the bank then he got a sucker, and if we weren't putting money in the bank. Then there was no sucker.

Eddie Knight:

And so he's been mowing yards the last few years and this past year it got a little more serious about it. He's got a commercial mower. These days and you know, he mows his first two yards and he's got a couple hundred bucks to put in the in the in the bank. And we're trying to decide how much are you going to keep out to spend, how much are you going to save and how much are you going to invest? And I said, well, how much do you? How much do you have there? And I think it was $220. Okay, well, how much are you going to invest? How much are you going to put in the bank? How much are you going to spend? And he goes I think I'm going to go ahead and invest $220. Great plan long-term. But I said, buddy, you're going to have to spend some money. You're going to need weed eater cord and a few things. And You're going to need weed eater cord and a few things. And of course he, he wanted to spend my money for that. So we had to have the discussion of how business works. And so he he, you know made his three piles and we went to the bank and he ends, you know, put that into the bank and then made his investments.

Eddie Knight:

But he is a whiz on a financial calculator when it comes to planning out investments. So he knows that at his age every four I think it's $4,700 that he socks away is a million dollars at retirement. You, you take just a couple of years off of that and now you got to get more like 7,000 is a million. And so at 11 years old he knows if I put this much money in there on an average return of X, then that's a million dollars. So he's looking at that going long-term. And then it even factors into what kind of vehicle he's going to want to purchase when he turns 16, much like Dave Ramsey.

Eddie Knight:

I kind of stole this from him. So, uh, he, dave Ramsey, matched the first X number of dollars that their kids put in and then learned later that he needed to put a cap on that. So we will match the first 10,000. So if he wants to buy a $20,000 car, we'll match 10 to his 10. And then he can buy up to a $25,000 car if he wants to put 15 in. But then we also have to factor in how much does he really like that car Because at 16 years old, let's just say that number is $6,000 equals a million. If he wanted to spend that extra $5,000, well, that's almost a million dollars that he's essentially taking out of retirement by spending it on the car. And I think the earlier you can have those types of conversations with your kids, probably the better off your family tree will be. What are your thoughts? Am I, am I too far off the, uh, the path there? Am I creating a monster or uh, what do you think?

Jim Cripps:

No, I mean having those conversations early. Uh, the value of a dollar? Um, you know how compound interest works and the potential of it. I mean teaching them how to use a calculator and looking at it. I mean I've handed off a couple of books to my oldest. As a big reader, she loves to read and she's read one or two and she's like, oh, wow, that is interesting.

Jim Cripps:

And all of a sudden it changes the conversation and they're asking questions about, well, what if I did this, or what if I did this? You know that's where you, you want, pete, you want them to engage, um, and have that hunger for learning about it. Um, you know, and there's, you know, a lot of different systems for making it work. Yeah, my, like part of me, you know you don't want to, you don't want to rain on the parade of. You know, this is the value of doing it. But then there's like my my over the top, because of the line of work that I'm in, I'm like, well, yeah, but you need to be aware of doing it the right way and this and this and this and this to avoid, you know, potential pitfalls in the future Because that and that. But I guess that's where you graduate from teaching it to a kid to. They've got that basic understanding and building blocks.

Jim Cripps:

And now, as an adult, when you have those conversations of do you understand what lost opportunity cost is in your world and what things can make, so you're laying a great foundation. Um, it is something that that we're you know, me and my wife are still trying to get better at. Um, but it's a challenge, um, because goodness knows everything has an ad. They come on your phone, they come on TV, they come in the middle of you know shows that you're watching, you know even if you're paying a subscription fee to something there's. But getting them to understand things cost money and the value of you know saving a piece of everything that you make is the point that you've got to drop. That's the thing that's missing from so many people is they just don't understand the value of saving a dollar. And that's the biggest trouble that we have when we're working with clients is their income is less than their outlay.

Eddie Knight:

Yeah, and that's a huge problem just across the board. And you know, randomly, I was. I saw a video yesterday, in fact, and it was Ben Affleck talking about how his, his youngest son, was angry because he wouldn't buy him a pair of $6,000 shoes, and it was some limited edition Nike. Blah, blah, blah. Fill in the blank with whatever it is Right, and my, my son is a shoe fanatic, and so we have, we have these types of conversations and, um, so Ben Affleck's explaining to his son you know, I'm not spending $6,000 on a pair of shoes for you.

Eddie Knight:

And his son will you know why not? We have money. And he said no, son, I have money, you're broke. But he said I'll tell you what. I'll buy you a lawnmower and if you want to work for it, you can mow yards and get that $6,000 pair of shoes. Well, no big surprise, once he started mowing yards, he no longer wanted the $6,000 pair of shoes. And so I think it comes back to understanding how money works, how you earn money, how you use money to make more money. You know all those factors and I don't think enough parents are having those conversations with their kids.

Jim Cripps:

No, I mean they, they don't. Um, you know, and I and I'm I can preach to myself on that. You know, should I be having more and maybe some more focused in certain areas? Absolutely, and you can't. It's just like with anything with kids. You can't wait until they're about grown and ready to leave the house to start trying to instill, because you've missed a lot of the time for that message to bake around in their mind and to really set in and to lay those fundamentals.

Jim Cripps:

I mean, my mom did a great job of saying you know you need to save money. Was I always perfect at it? No, but it was one of those things where she always drilled it in my mind. Um, and her parents as well, you know, have money set aside because you never know when factors might change. The way I view it now is you never know, it may not be a negative change, maybe a positive change, um, and having access to capital to invest in a business or to avoid, you know, debt because of something that goes sideways. It's no longer just an emergency fund. Now. It's okay. My savings are an opportunity, good or bad.

Eddie Knight:

Yeah, absolutely. Well, it absolutely reduces stress. You know, we were very fortunate in that, right after we we got married, we went to and some people will love this and some people will hate this, but we went to a Dave Dave Ramsey total money makeover event and my wife got completely on board, and before that, neither one of us I don't think at that point were terrible with money, but we weren't great with money and there were five couples. We all went to this event and fast forward. It took us 39 months to pay off all of our debt, including the house. Another couple did it in 45 months. His brother did it in 49 months. The other two couples went backwards. One was in a worse financial situation three, four, five years later. The others lost their home, and so it really showed me that everybody can receive the same message and interpret it differently, or their willingness to execute the plan will have variable levels of commitment.

Jim Cripps:

Sure, and you know, and it there's a lot of different. Uh is, you know, I'll use a. I'll use a phrase from my grandmother there's, there's a lot of different ways to skin that cat when it comes to building your financial future. Dave Ramsey, I don't agree with him on everything. I do agree that his fundamentals of living within your means, saving money and having a system, 100% you have to have a system.

Jim Cripps:

Financial success doesn't just happen. You don't just wake up one day and go hey, I'm successful, even people that win the lottery. I mean, that's evidence right there that success doesn't just happen. Because what is it like? 99% end up broke within a year because they don't have a system and they don't know how to handle money. You know for and they don't know how to handle money.

Jim Cripps:

Um, but it's, you know, find a, find a system that works for you. I mean, we've got a very uh unique system for us that looks more at how to make your money. Um, stay flexible, depending upon whatever the outside circumstances are, to where we can pivot with whatever happens in the economy, whatever happens from a political standpoint or just from life changes, to where we're not locked into something that we've got a great net worth, but it's all locked away and we don't have any access to it, because that is, unfortunately, that is where some people end up. They, they wake up and they have all these goals and aspirations. They go wait a second. I've locked myself out of all my wealth.

Eddie Knight:

And I do see that and and I I will say that I have I struggle with that question because I really like, really liked the Roth Um, and that is the majority of what we do but there are, there are restrictions, there are there are downsides to that Um. You know. So you're constantly at battle with yourself, or you're constantly trying to make sure your strategy is still the right strategy.

Jim Cripps:

A hundred percent, I mean, and it just goes back to that maintaining balance, because even with things like a Roth or an IRA or 401k, all those retirement vehicles, that's an important part of most people's financial world. I mean, if you statistically look at it, other than a person's home, their 401k is where they have the bulk of their net worth when they get ready to retire. They have the bulk of their net worth when they get ready to retire and change affects them as well. Legislation changes, tax law changes. You have to look at what your situation is right now, look where you want to get to and what the potential changes could be in the future. It's not that you sit still waiting to see what happens, but it's like okay, where are we right now? What is my we say present position, or where's my present position? Where am I wanting to get to and where? Where are the connections to get there?

Eddie Knight:

Yeah, um it's kind of like using a GPS.

Jim Cripps:

I. You've got to find out where you're at before you know where to go. That's right. I mean I can.

Eddie Knight:

I can hand you the most detailed map on the planet or the best GPS on the planet. If it can't figure out where you are today, it doesn't matter. Yeah it. It can't advise you, and I think the same is true in a lot of different disciplines, but especially in in in finances.

Jim Cripps:

A hundred percent. I mean it. It most people live in. I don't know, you may be unique. I've got it in my house. You probably have it in yours a financial junk drawer, or not a financial, but just a regular junk drawer. It's got scissors and batteries and maybe probably a screwdriver. I think that's like a requirement of all junk drawers and some tape.

Jim Cripps:

Most people live that way from a financial standpoint. They've made decisions over their entire financial life and some of those decisions were made at the spur of the moment with no real thought or guidance put into it, but it has lasting effects. You know, I use with a lot of clients I use the analogy of buying a car. I mean, you make a lot of financial decisions when you buy a car that don't have anything to do with. How much is this going to cost me a month?

Jim Cripps:

Um, you know, the thing that nobody ever thinks about is like you know, uh, they call their their auto or home guy and they're like, hey, I just bought a car and they say, well, you need to come by the office within so many days and sign, and they never give another second thought to. Well, how did he build that policy? And there are some really good, you know auto insurance advisors out there that really do a great job and really slowing people down and go wait a second. Let's talk about this for a second before we just say, hey, let's go. And that's where you know people get messed up is they make a purchase, they never really think through it. They get 10 years down the road and something happens. It doesn't always happen, you know, but something happens and all of a sudden that decision that I made 10 years ago, that I didn't put any thought into now, has enormous effect in my world, because now I'm in trouble.

Eddie Knight:

Well, one, that one that for me just yesterday and I was so thankful, um, and I'm gonna give you and a couple other people some shout outs right here, because I love the fact that you, you look at things holistically and I really won't work with anybody that that doesn't so yourself from a from a financial and life insurance prospectus. And then Stephen Williams, or Bubba Williams, there in Pleasant View at Farm Bureau. Jb Kent, financial advisor, up in Clarksville, and then Kurt Curtis, who saved my tail yesterday. So I bought an antique. You know I struggle with the word antique when we're talking about a 1999 model.

Jim Cripps:

Oh, that's not an antique.

Eddie Knight:

Yeah, but it does qualify for antique insurance. And so, you know, sent over to him. Hey, this is what I bought. This is the VIN. Need to add insurance to it? Okay, here's what I bought. This is the VIN. Need to add insurance to it? Okay, here's your two policies. Is the difference between the two?

Eddie Knight:

And he said, at the bottom had a big star and it said if you have an umbrella policy, we need to make sure that this reaches the minimums on that insurance, on that umbrella. And you add it to the umbrella and I would have completely missed it. Now, luckily, because he knows he knows a little bit about me he had already put them where he thought they were going to be and, sure enough, it was exactly the requirements of my umbrella policy. So he's protecting me from that standpoint. Um, but he also put that big star there and it caused me to double check. And so that's exactly one of those things you're talking about.

Eddie Knight:

I could have missed that if he didn't remind me and really kudos to him for having built that in to start with, assuming that I had a umbrella policy. And if, if I had, if I had not done that, if he had not done that, and that was missed and let's just say, knock on wood, hopefully never do. But let's just say I got into an accident five years from now and it did not meet the requirements in order to fall underneath my umbrella. Well then, it's worthless at that point and because of something I did inadvertently, just because I didn't, didn't, didn't catch it or they didn't help me catch it. So a big shout out to all you guys that that do this from a very holistic standpoint in order to take care of your client and their family and what they you know the way they live life.

Jim Cripps:

A hundred percent, I mean, and that's you know. Kudos to them for doing that, cause you know, I've met a few individuals, unfortunately on the back end of something, and that's the thing about you think about, I think. When we were talking the other day, I think I said, you know, if you keep, if you keep financial products in the lane that they're supposed to be and you keep insurance, insurance, savings, savings and investments, investments, and use them appropriately, don't try to bridge them across and cover, you know, multiple things with the wrong thing, or so I say all that to say um, you know, with protection, and I'll just, you know, speak to the industry. Our industry has done a and I say industry, the, the, the insurance industry has done a phenomenal job of convincing people that insurance is an evil and that it's a waste of money. Early on in my career, when we moved firms to where we're at right now, I was having a discussion about insurance and I was still in that mindset of you know, it's a, even being in the industry, because everything I did was a, you know, needs based. You know, if you only need this much, then and if you shift your, you know, what I was encouraged to do is to shift my perspective to insurance is really a privilege because it means you have something of value that you're wanting to protect.

Jim Cripps:

At that point it's like, okay, if you really look at something, let's just take homeowner's insurance, for instance. Do you really need the home that you live in? Well, no, I mean, you could make do with a hut out in the woods, as long as it kept the rain off and it was warm, and that's not throwing shade at anybody that lives in a hut, that's right. But what do you want to happen? Are you paying for something to get the wants back in your life, the comfortable home that you have, the nice vehicles that you drive, the lifestyle that your family has, if something happens to you? Or, hey, let's look at it on the side of you become disabled? Do I want to interrupt my life or do I just want to have what I need in order to survive? Because there's a million miles between those two options right there.

Jim Cripps:

And that's where convincing or not convincing, but getting people to understand you know, use products the right way and know what you've got. I mean, the biggest thing that we do is helping people unpack that junk drawer and say, ok, do you? I go through like a I guess you say a review and I ask a whole lot of questions. It might I've told clients you might feel like you're being interrogated. That's not my intent, right? But I want to know the who, what, where, why, when, how on everything in your world.

Jim Cripps:

And when I have that clarity, that color in the background, then I can look at the stuff that you have and say I don't think this is really doing what you think it's doing. And that takes me like there's a lot of products and services that I do sell, but there's a lot that's in their world that I don't touch. But I want to make sure they're done right because it affects my client and that's my job. My job is to make sure that they're properly protected, that they're moving in the right direction and having that granular understanding of, yes, the stuff you bought, you're paying, you're paying the appropriate amount for it because it's going to do what it says it's going to do. It's not just a well, I hope it works the way that I thought it was going to when I bought it, because that's not a hope, it's not a plan.

Eddie Knight:

Well, I really do see what you do for people, very similar to what I do for businesses, isn't it? We're coaches, but there is a fine line I mean, it's not a fine line, it's a hard line where I can advise you on the pitfalls, I can advise you on what to do next. I can, I can do all those things, but much like Nick Saban is not going to go out on the field and throw the ball or catch the ball, I don't do that for you. Like you tee up, you, you ask all the questions, you, you, you really prescribe, much like a doctor, you prescribe a solution, but you can't sign their name. You can't make them do it. You, you give them what you believe is is the right thing for them and their future, their family. It's up to them to sign their name, to check the box, to make it happen.

Jim Cripps:

Yeah, I mean the action, that old adage you know, you can lead a horse to water. I mean we can show them the biggest lake in the world, but it's up to them to take a drink them the biggest lake in the world, but it's up to them to take a drink. And we can back it up with empirical data and research and all these visuals and things of how money really works and how this decision is going to affect the future. But at the end of the day I mean and you do have clients like that occasion, I'm sure you've had business clients that you're coaching, I've had clients that I'm coaching at the end of the day they go. I just don't see the point of this and I'm like you know, I'm not here to browbeat you into submission and maybe we're not a good fit for each other.

Eddie Knight:

That's right.

Jim Cripps:

And when I learned that lesson, that was a major turning point of oh, I don't have to do business with everybody I meet with because they just may not be a good fit for me, that was that is so such a freeing thing as an advisor that you know it frees me up to work with the people and gives me more time. I've got a friend who does a lot of coaching with people in the business that I'm in that you know. He says you know you have two jobs, you know. Number one is being in front of your ideal client and number two is Team is Jim Cripps here with the Charge Forward podcast.

Eddie Knight:

I just want to tell you I love you, I appreciate you listening, I appreciate you for subscribing and sharing the Charge Forward podcast with people you know and you love, because that's what we're here for. We are here to share the amazing stories, the things that people have been through, the ways that they were able to improve their life, so that you can take little nuggets from theirs and help improve your story and be better tomorrow than you were today. I hope that this is the tool you needed at the right time and that you find value in the amazing guests that we bring each and every week. Thanks so much and don't forget new episodes drop every Thursday.