“The answer to successful investing doesn’t lie in intellect or what we know. You can study PE ratios and alphas and betas all day long, but when a crisis hits, people still sell in fear. It’s not which investment you have — it’s what you do, not what you know.”

“The human brain wasn’t programmed to survive the uncertainty of financial markets. The same instincts that protected us from life-and-death threats thousands of years ago now push us to make the worst possible financial decisions — reacting quickly, avoiding short-term pain, and selling when we should be thinking long term.”

“The one defining characteristic about the future is that there are no facts about it. It doesn’t matter if a PhD on television says something or a junior high student says it — neither of them has one more fact about the future than you do. Successful investors learn to operate rationally without certainty.”

“When you hear phrases like selling a life insurance policy, it can feel uncomfortable. Some people associate it with late night commercials or aggressive financial tactics or the idea that someone might be taking advantage of a vulnerable situation. That reaction is understandable. And it’s exactly why conversations like this one matter. Because what most people don’t realize is that life settlements are not a loophole or a gimmick. They’ve existed in U.S. law for decades and are regulated primarily at the state level with licensing requirements, disclosure rules and consumer protections.”

“About 90 percent of the country doesn’t know what this is. If you don’t know what the words ‘life settlement’ mean connected together, that’s just noise on the screen going by you. It’s an education deficit. People let policies lapse or surrender them simply because they don’t know another option exists, and that can mean leaving money on the table.”

“We like to think of this as a financial planning tool. If you own a life insurance policy, it may be one of the largest assets you have — sometimes the second largest asset someone owns after their home. Just like a house, you should know what it’s worth in the open market before you decide what to do with it.”

“At some point in midlife, financial advising stops being about numbers and starts being about people. Financial planning is ultimately a form of communication — a way of showing the people you love that you’ve thought about them, not just today, but in the future. When you get things out of your head and onto paper, you’re reducing stress for the people you care about, and that can be one of the most generous things you ever do.”

“The beauty of my dad’s love letter is that I know how he felt. I know what he thought. I understand what he expected of us because he kept saying it and he wrote it down. Most people don’t get that gift. If something sudden happens, you don’t have that opportunity. That’s why I encourage people to write a family love letter — to communicate what matters, who depends on you, and what the people you love need to know.”

“When families don’t have these conversations, it can destroy relationships. It shouldn’t, but it does. If expectations aren’t communicated, money becomes the elephant in the room and siblings end up fighting during the most emotional moments of their lives. Writing things down and talking about them gives families a better shot at staying connected.”

I didn't have to change my cash flow. I never took any additional risk or lose or lost control of my money. I simply added one step in my financial life. So, I became really passionate about this concept. “

“I do very well. I don't starve at all. I don't miss meals. I do well. But I do take a 60 to 90 percent cut in my commission because of the way I design the policy. And I design the policy this way because it's the way I design my own policy. I am an open book. I show you everything that I'm doing in my own financial life and my own policies. I don't have anything to hide.”

“I thought to myself that these guys are basically throwing up all over me about how this is working financially in their life. So I thought to myself there had to be something to this method, right? There's no way that eight or ten of my colleagues are lying to me. Maybe one or two, but not eight or ten. So I came home and I told my wife in February of 2008, I said, honey, we've got to start implementing this concept in our life.”

“ I'll give you this example. I actually work with a very large apartment complex. I've been working with them for almost 15 years now. For a lot of the residents who are on the top who are non-ambulatory, they're not walking down the stairs.We actually gave them a sled. It's an inflatable sled.”

“I can look at your backpack and without asking you a single question, if you follow the method that I've laid out for you, you don't have to tell me a single thing. I could tell you in your backpack where your primary evacuation location is going to be and where the secondary location is going to be. I should be able to say the city, the location, and how to get there. I should have the key. I should have everything. The security code to the house, all that stuff. Because you don't have to write it down. It should be in there.”

“Execute plans. Don't just plan. It's the execution. Let's move the other piece. Let's pretend, let's not pretend this is real, right? You've got a lot of our listeners that are people with aging parents, not necessarily living anywhere close to them either. So how does getting prepared or helping them or doing it for them change when you might need to help somebody else quickly and that somebody else might not live near you?”

“I spend all my time facing the job market, so I’ve got battle-tested expertise and insights that I think will be helpful for your audience. And on the ageism side, I’m over 40. Up until I turned 40, I wasn’t part of any protected class. There are things people can do strategically to get in front of decision-makers and ultimately get hired.”

“When you submit your resume, or when someone is looking at you as a candidate, they will Google you. You will have a LinkedIn profile, and they will look at it. If you have anything else out there—photos of you being a Boy Scout leader or whatever—that’s fine. They’re just going to see all of it.”

“ Personality is a big piece of it. You’ll hear people say, “They were great technically, skill set-wise, but I just don’t see myself grabbing a sandwich with this person.” If you’re going to spend a third of your life—or more—at work, you want to be around people you genuinely like. People who are authentic, selfless, and team players.”