Speaker 1: 0:30

My name is Linda Black and I am with LifeMark Securities and I provide financial advisory services for the accumulation and distribution of wealth.

Speaker 2: 0:42

I love that. Now, before we get into the nitty gritty, can you give me a background about yourself and how you got started in your industry? Thank you, very much.

Speaker 1: 0:49

As a matter of fact, when I started working in this industry, I was such a neophyte. I came in to a financial planning practice as the receptionist so they were looking for someone to answer phones. My kids had just all ended up in school at the same time which was wonderful and I had time and I really didn't have much of a focus as far as a career, didn't have much of a focus as far as a career. And when I started answering the phones for this financial services company, it just clicked Like I was so excited every day to go to work and I I found that a lot of what people were asking from this company aligned perfectly with my own questions and the conversations I was having with friends and family at that time. So so that was the beginning of a love affair with with getting organized and financially redirected.

Speaker 2: 1:50

Yeah, I love that. No, I've every time like I asked somebody this is a different story or it's unexpected, but you kind of like found your way through the situation you were in with your kids and here you are now, and it's one of those fields where the more you educate yourself, the more you're required to get designations or licensure, or or move in that direction.

Speaker 1: 2:13

And that direction just always um excited me. I had a lot of fun learning about that.

Speaker 2: 2:21

Fun is good. We always love fun. Now I would like to ask you, what inspired you um, besides, I guess, trying to find your direction in your career to get into financial like? Was there something that happened where you were like, wow, I had a financial advisor that helped me. I want to be able to provide that for somebody else?

Speaker 1: 2:40

So when I as I was, you know, going through my thirties and forties, it, my family was aging and I, it occurred to me that a lot of the solutions to their problems involved things that should have been focused on or planned into years before. So it's kind of a roundabout answer, I think, but it occurred to me that providing people with a good foundation as early as possible was the best way to help them in their planning for retirement or later year financial goals kids in college, new home, things of that matter. So it was just very educationally beneficial for people who were not in my industry, love it.

Speaker 2: 3:33

Great answer. And then, for someone new to financial planning, what would you say are the most critical first steps in your opinion.

Speaker 1: 3:41

So I think that the first thing that that individual would want to do is embrace the next part of their journey, because it can be very intimidating, it can be very fearful. I think the best thing that they can do is just put on their walking shoes and decide this is the path that they are going to enjoy and expand and amplify their abilities to manage so much more of their life Absolutely so. That's the first thing. Don't be afraid of transparency. Don't be afraid of what somebody else is going to think of your situation. The financial advisor has seen it all.

Speaker 2: 4:28

Yes.

Speaker 1: 4:29

And I guarantee yours is going to be a good experience because you know it's just as you grow together. It's just a very positive relationship, absolutely.

Speaker 2: 4:41

Yeah, I love that. And then can you explain your approach to retirement income planning and how it differs from traditional retirement strategies?

Speaker 1: 4:52

That's something I spend a lot of time on and I like to equate it to a library. Go into a library, you have to be able to speak the language that the books are written in, and I find that building wealth is one language and distributing that wealth as income is another language. So when I go into my library and I have my resources, I have to make sure that not only can I understand and utilize the resources that I have, but that I can translate to the client a clear and concise understanding of what they need to focus on. Did that answer?

Speaker 2: 5:40

the question. Yes, it does, yeah, and it's super important because sometimes things can get lost in translation and I'm sure there's big words or words that people like they're coming to you because you're the professional right. So if you can break that down and look in your library of how to help them and how to break it down so that they can be on the same page with you and have that confidence is, I think, super important.

Speaker 1: 5:58

That's absolutely critical. I find that my industry is very male-centric, and when I say that, I mean that most of the advisors who are successful now were in this field in the 90s and 2000s. They were trained by people who were productive and successful in the 70s and 80s, and so there's a lot of terminology in my industry that is not very female friendly. 85% of my clients are females, women who suddenly find themselves solely responsible for their finances, and then they are in a world in which there's a lot of very easy ways to not be transparent or to use terminology that feels very hard hitting. It's intimidating, and I think that there's a certain aspect of my industry that benefits from that. So bringing it to the focus of the client and making them realize and embrace the fact that this is not rocket science, this is not something that they can't completely understand, and, in fact, they shouldn't move forward if they don't completely understand. You know what they're buying, what's being sold, what, how it benefits them, how it works, all of these things. It's critical that they absolutely understand that as they move forward.

Speaker 1: 7:40

The second piece of advice is don't get advice from somebody who's not qualified to give it in the same way. You know you, you can't ask a photographer. You know how to paint a picture. You know there's. There's different fields of expertise and they all are very valid in financial planning. Um, just make sure you're talking to the right person, yeah.

Speaker 2: 8:04

I like that answer. And now, as far as marketing goes, what do you find is working for you to get the word out there about the services that you provide? Are you using social media as a platform? Are you going to networking events? Talk to me about that a little bit.

Speaker 1: 8:19

So I teach classes. I teach at George Mason University's OLLI program, which I highly endorse. Olli is the Osher Lifelong Learning Institute and they offer classes to the community fascinating history classes, poetry, cooking and also financial services or financial planning. It's kind of a do-it-yourself, but I think that's the first step in understanding. It's a very comfortable way to slide into saying what don't I know Because you don't. You can't learn until you know what you don't know, and since then I've actually started teaching a series that's called Building Financial Confidence.

Speaker 1: 9:00

My next class is in February and it will be on how to get organized, how to pull all your documents together, how to see own what you own right. So how do you have knowledge of all of the resources that are that are in your mailbox or in your safe? Pull it all together, get organized. The second class in the series is how to read statements like they're sending you information. It just needs a translator because it this information is um, is just not meant to be informative to most people, and that can be overwhelming. Absolutely, it is absolutely so, um. So that's then we progress. You know, what does an investment allocation look like? What does a distribution plan look like? These are all industry words that I use deliberately. But once I'm able to translate and explain, people are like oh, we've been doing this forever. We just didn't call it that it's a different terminology.

Speaker 2: 10:01

Always got to stay up to date because it's like sorry, that word changed Next week. Who knows, I love that. And now you mentioned to me a little bit about how there I think you said 85% are women and that the terminology is not really representative of that. As a recipient of the LifeMark Securities Ethos Award, how do you incorporate ethical principles?

Speaker 1: 10:26

into your daily work? That's a fantastic question. When I received that award which was, I want to say, 2018, it was prior to the FINRA and the SEC regulations for the BIC what we call BIC regulations which is best interest of client which just blew me away. I mean, I had thought that anybody would have acted in the best interest of a client in any situation, and I think that's what allowed me to work with clients that were just exploring financial services. I was very happy to sit and talk and move them in the direction that I needed to go in. I'm not always the perfect fit for them. I have a network of people who can help them. I work very well with other advisors, other financial advisors, other accounting attorneys, things of that nature because it's a, it's really everybody playing well in the sandbox.

Speaker 2: 11:31

Yes, that's. That's very important yeah.

Speaker 1: 11:34

So I think that um you, my ability to um to understand me and what I do best and what I don't do best, and my desire to have my clients have the very best advisors in any field it goes back to I don't give my clients advice on tax situations or estate planning. It's not, I stay in my lane. I think that allows me the freedom to say this is in your best interest. Yes, I love that me. The freedom to say this is in your best interest.

Speaker 2: 12:05

Yes, I love that. For someone new to financial planning, what would you say are the most critical first steps?

Speaker 1: 12:12

That would have to be getting organized. That would have to be identifying what you have and what your goals are. It's easy to fall back on these articles that we see on social media all the time you must have a million dollars in your checking account. I mean, it's just not true. There's so many different things that will integrate into a very successful outcome to goals, and I think that's the next thing you would do. You want to find out what you have, find out what you want and then you want to figure out how to get there.

Speaker 2: 12:52

Yeah, and if you, let's say, a client is struggling with that getting organized, is that when they would come to you and you could maybe they bring all their stuff and you can help them figure all that out?

Speaker 1: 13:07

Well, it's interesting. Typically, a person will come to me when something has happened in their life which has forced them to come to me. Um, so that's the beginning of a relationship. We're starting from a point of of. You know, they can be very it can be very fearful. Life can be a very traumatic, um experience. And so when that happens and they don't know what to do, they will often come to me and say I just need help with this one thing, and I can easily say I've got you. This is something that I've done many, many times and we'll get through this.

Speaker 1: 13:39

And then, as we solve that problem, then we open the door to okay, well, what other situations can we anticipate that we can plan for now? So the importance of planning comes out. We call these learning moments. You know, these educational opportunities. Any way you want to phrase it, something happens in your life. You realize that you're unprepared to move forward financially. What can you do about it? And I can't think of any situation in which we didn't come up with a solution that was a huge relief and also extremely implementable. Is that a word? Implementable?

Speaker 2: 14:21

We're going to use it. Yeah, I love it. 2025. Implemental that's the word of the year. I love it, yeah. And then, if you could influence one major change in the financial industry, what would it be and why? Transparency, that's the easiest question. That was quick.

Speaker 1: 14:40

Why can't clients get statements? They understand, why can't they sign contracts? They understand. Or that magazines are written, you know, at a level in which the vocabulary is on par with you know, discussion points and purposes, and written in a way that's concise. You know, it's not unusual for me to hand a client a one-page information sheet with three pages of disclosures behind it. It's just what? Why? Yeah, transparency, I love it. That's what my industry needs.

Speaker 2: 15:30

You heard it here first, y'all, if you're listening. Industry transparency is key, love it. And then, how do you empower clients to take ownership of their financial futures?

Speaker 1: 15:41

Great question. So to take ownership of your financial future, you have to first understand what tools you have to move forward to that future and then what you want your future to look like. So it's a multi-part process. That's very, very individual process. That's very, very individual. One person's ideal retirement is another person's I don't want to get up in the morning. So I think defining and being very honest with yourself and not buying into what other people are telling you is critical.

Speaker 2: 16:19

Love it and now talk to me about your podcast.

Speaker 1: 16:22

Tell me the name of it and why you started it, so I started a podcast called Money Talks a while ago. You have done your homework.

Speaker 2: 16:30

I sure have.

Speaker 1: 16:32

And a lot of the podcast was actually interviewing many of my clients. I found that many of the people that I worked for had fascinating stories and had overcome so much, were so capable beyond what they could possibly imagine and came up with solutions that were so unique and so creative that I just wanted to share it. I think that's part of empowerment, isn't it Like empowering all of us to to learn from each other in a, in a safe environment, and there's, there's been quite a change in my lifetime of women taking control of their lives and their finances and their relationships, and that has caused as as any, I guess I don't want to call it a social revolution. I guess I could, but it seems strong. But I think the idea that change happens easily or conveniently is just not true. There's always stress involved, but they overcome it and they come out the other side feeling wonderful, and I think for people looking on the beginning part of stage received their diploma and continued through, you know, other parts of their life very confidently and very happily is very empowering. It sure is so.

Speaker 1: 18:14

That was the purpose of Money Talk was. You'll see a lot of my clients on there. I'm not sure that's regulatorily correct that. I should admit that, but that's true.

Speaker 2: 18:25

It's okay, I love it. I mean it's transparent, yeah, exactly.

Speaker 1: 18:28

So, um, just some incredible people. I often a lot of my client events center around getting you know you really need to meet so-and-so or you know this. You would really benefit from this person's experience and just pulling them together for brunches or, you know, happy hours or things of that nature and um, and getting a really nice support group.

Speaker 2: 18:49

I love that. That is awesome.

Speaker 1: 18:50

Yeah, you've made like a community there and it is very much, it's a good word for it it's a very much a community.

Speaker 2: 18:56

That's great. And now, where do you see yourself in the next five years as a person and with your business? Where do you hope to be? Any new goals or anything, or products or services?

Speaker 1: 19:06

I'm always evolving. I very much see myself in the next five to 10 years looking at modeling for other financial advisors. I would love to see the type of work that I do amplified out, and I think that the failure rate for women in financial services is quite high and it's shameful and there's no reason for it. I think the message that I would give to women who are coming into financial services is find a mentor who has your best interest your. Bic right, and I want to be that person.

Speaker 2: 19:47

Good. And then as another woman helping other women who has gone through the experience and I'm sure in your industry was again very male dominated and you coming in with that perspective, I'm sure they let all their walls down too, cause sometimes it can be intimidating when you're like a guy and you're like where's your husband? And it's like, well, I'm the breadwinner.

Speaker 1: 20:04

So hello, it's really interesting that the changes that I've seen, that the terminology very again very, with the intention of dominating somebody. You know my target market, you know that's. You just see somebody with an archery bow right. Excuse me, you eat what you kill. Oh my gosh, who do I have to kill today?

Speaker 2: 20:30

No killing today, please.

Speaker 1: 20:32

Just the terminology in sales is somewhat intimidating Aggressive, aggressive, thank you very much. To many people it can be frightening and there's a purpose of that. There's an intent to dominate. You will buy what I sell, that type of thing. I know more than you do about this. Well, there's a problem. So I think that turning that on its head and acknowledging that your client is your boss, you work for them, you meet their needs. It's not the other way around.

Speaker 2: 21:10

Yeah, I feel like sometimes people don't have that self-awareness and that can be a problem. Maybe some people like that, but honestly I feel like the majority would not, especially new people. They don't want to feel intimidated or scared. No, I don't know, but I mean whatever works for everybody, right, but I definitely prefer your approach personally.

Speaker 1: 21:30

And there seems to be this attitude of if I can't handle my own finances, there's something wrong with me, and it's. I kind of flip that back to people and say you know, well, I can't do my own photography and I can't do my own accounting and I can't do my own real estate. I go to specialists for that. But I'm very, very good at other things. So I think this idea that a smart person is financially aware and competent is just. I think there are many, many smart people who do amazing things that depend on financial advisors to take that load off of their you know, off of their shelf.

Speaker 2: 22:08

So 100%, yeah, yep. And then, um, let's see, I've got so many good questions that I want to ask you wish I had more time Um, what unique challenges and opportunities do you see in estate planning and asset protection for high net worth clients?

Speaker 1: 22:26

So the the challenge for high net worth clients. So the challenge for high net worth clients really is change. We're going to see a tremendous amount of change going forward in taxation, in your ability to manage in a platform that is easily understandable If you, if you go back to the seventies and eighties again, when we invested in cash and bonds and stocks and then, you go a little bit more further and we now, as an individual investor, could do international or real estate investment trust.

Speaker 1: 23:07

and then you go a little farther out and now we have commodities and hedge funds. You would have to be an expert and as your wealth grows, your need for tools and solutions exceeds your ability to educate yourself without becoming a financial advisor. So that is a shift. Inheritance laws are going to change. Wealth accumulation strategies are going to change. I think income strategies are going to change because we're so.

Speaker 1: 23:41

Let me simplify this and let me be transparent, please. Our kids are not going to have pensions. Our incomes are going to be taxed quite a bit more. We're going to be much more fluid in our job choices. We're not going to be with one company in which we work our way up. We're going to have to be able to strategize in our ability to go from opportunity to opportunity, and we're going to have to plan as individuals as well as couples. So you put all of those changes in place for the average person and that's life right. You put it in for somebody who has high net worth in it. It again I've used this word several times, but it amplifies the complications and the manipulations and how things work together.

Speaker 2: 24:34

Yeah, that's quite a bit of stressors, like not having pensions, I feel, like anything that involves money. The laws and policies are always changing. And it can be quite frightening. But you have to be aware of those things so you can be better prepared. It's just something. Maybe some people hire you because they're like I'm scared. I don't really want to think about it. I know I have to, but can you please help me. I'm scared.

Speaker 1: 24:55

I'm scared it is. It's terrifying. I mean, we're moving into practice now the requirement that any company and think of how many small companies and businesses we have in our community will be required to have a 401k plan if they have more than five employees, and for some states it's more than one employee. In Virginia it will be more than one employee in two years. So keeping up with regulations like that, as a small business owner in which a lot of our high net worth clients come from that environment, keeping up with many of the reporting regulations now there's a need to have a person in your business that focuses on that, and a lot of times, if they can't produce a product or show a result, they're less valued. So I think those changes have to happen.

Speaker 2: 25:50

For sure. And then is there anything that I have not touched on in regards to yourself or your business, or maybe a cause that you like or an organization you have the floor to share all of that Well.

Speaker 1: 26:02

thank you so very much. My favorite hobby is quilting. Actually I'm a fabricolic, I guess.

Speaker 2: 26:10

That's a new word.

Speaker 1: 26:11

A new word, but I very much enjoy a lot of solitary hobbies. I work with people a lot and so when I go home I read, I quilt, I walk my dog, but I also am very excited about other people's causes. There's many different causes that have come to my attention through my clients writing therapy, for example, writing books. You know, one of the things that I talk to about my clients all the time is wealth. People you know attach the word wealth with money. In many, many ways. Our wealth is our legacies, and so doing oral biographies on our families is critical, as we have this melting pot that comes together and we have relatives. Now In my family we have relatives that are Asian, that are African American, that are just Hispanic. All of these influences come together.

Speaker 1: 27:17

We need to record them. We need to interview people who have lived through these changes. When I look at my mother, for example, she was born in 1934. She lived through the Great Depression. She lived through civil rights. She lived through the women's movement. She lived through the Vietnam War. She lived through the Nixon era of losing a president as we go through it, the assassination of John F Kennedy. She went through a lot of historical things, as everyone in her generation did the moon landing.

Speaker 1: 27:52

You know the assassinations of so many peaceful people like Martin Luther King. It impacted her in her life and how she raised her family. I think that documenting that is going to be important to my granddaughter's grandkids For sure and to be able to hear it in her voice. You know my dad's from Appalachia. I've heard about the people up there in the Appalachian. It's just an amazing community, very misunderstood. My dad's accent was something I just loved, and to know that my great-granddaughter can hear. He passed away last year she can hear him talk about his life.

Speaker 1: 28:35

His perspective On you know, whenever he you know was coming from one environment and then had to engage in the world to be successful on another you know platform. So I think that that we have to grab while we can, our history and see it as wealth.

Speaker 2: 28:58

And I'm sure that your family in the future and family present now are going to be so grateful and so excited to have. A lot of people have pictures with not even words on the back of their head the back, who was this? Who's who? So this is incredible. I love that you're doing that. Good for you.

Speaker 1: 29:12

We should all be more like this, and that's one of the things I've done with some of my clients is like I have got to get your grandfather's biography and I'll go to his house and record it. It usually takes about two to three hours, but I have recorded fascinating histories of one gentleman who, immigrated from Norway, said that he had come on in Ellis Island in the late twenties and he was escorted off the boat. He was three years old and his parents were taken to the clinic and he never saw him again.

Speaker 1: 29:43

No, that's so sad and he said I thought I had a sister, but I'm not sure.

Speaker 2: 29:47

Oh my God, Imagine not knowing it's unbelievable.

Speaker 1: 29:50

And so I said what happened? And he said well, the Women's Temperance Society housed me and then they put me on a train and took me to the Midwest to meet my new parents. And so he stood at this train station and was picked out from a group of kids. There was probably he said there was probably like 15 kids of different ages. And his, his new parents, picked him out. They had lost a son and so he was that replacement to work on the farm.

Speaker 1: 30:24

Um, cause, they had a high child mortality rate in the Midwest, you know, in the twenties and thirties, and an overabundance of immigration. So that was their solution for it. And I said what does your family like? This comes from directly from the stories in the orphan train. I don't know if you've read that book I have not. You should definitely look that up, the orphan train. But but I said, what do your family think about this? I mean, there was a book recently written about these experiences. And he said, oh, I would never tell my family this story. I said your family doesn't know. He was 92 at the time. Oh my, what a life he's lived.

Speaker 1: 31:00

I know I said I'm just stunned that you didn't tell you. He said I was adopted. That's humiliating and during that time, that would have meant that you came from an impoverished background. But look at the fact that he came from no wealth to having this wealth of experience and a lifelong journey in which he ended up owning a home in Chevy Chase. So it's like Quite the story, it's quite the story. And when he passed um, I handed that recording to his family and they were just stunned. Um so. So I think that, um, that's one of the things that I would highly recommend to people is even if you don't like your uncle Bob.

Speaker 1: 31:46

Even if you don't, you know, your cousin Gertrude drives you crazy like learn about where they came from yes. You know, absolutely.

Speaker 2: 31:54

Well, thank you so much for sharing. This is incredible. I would never would have just sitting here with you. I never would have guessed like, hey, she likes to write books and document biographies.

Speaker 1: 32:03

This is so cool to know.

Speaker 2: 32:04

This is why we have these podcasts so we can learn about what lights entrepreneur souls on fire, Like, yes, we can read about you online, but having these podcasts and conversations is very awesome.

Speaker 1: 32:15

Well, thank you very much. On my website it's lyndajblackcom I have the oral biography of questions from the Genealogical Society. It's 100 questions and you can just sit down and ask your grandparents or your parents or your uncles or aunts this list of questions which are designed to generate storytelling, and you don't have to give me your email address or your login. Just go and help yourself to some of those documents. That's incredible.

Speaker 2: 32:46

Thank you so much for coming on the podcast today it was a pleasure, thank you.