Pam Krueger: Your Wealthramp to Fiduciary Advice

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[Music]

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foreign

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with annuities where every single week I

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welcome a celebrity guest expert that

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can help you maximize chapter 2 of your

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life listen learn laugh and love every

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minute of the most unique Financial

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podcast on the planet let's get to it

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[Music]

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welcome to fun with annuities I'm your

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host Stan the annuity man licensed in

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all 50 states as you well know thank you

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for joining us all of our YouTube

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viewers and podcast listeners across the

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fruited plane I'm very happy to have a

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special new guest on the program Pam

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Krueger she is the founder of

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wealthramp.com we're going to get into

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that in detail and ask her how that uh

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flight is from San Francisco back to

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Cape Cod every other day that she flies

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back and forth because that's where she

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kind of lands but uh welcome to fun with

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annuities Pam thank you for joining us I

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love being a guest on your show this is

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great I'm just smiling the whole time

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well you know that as people know we

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have a bunch of listeners out there this

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isn't all about annuities I mean I put

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out enough content if they want to learn

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about annuities they're going to do that

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but really what we want to talk about

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today is

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is you and the company that you founded

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and the fork in the road moment that

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made you do this you know a lot of us

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went through that 2008 weird time period

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wealth ramp is a very interesting

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company I know people are leaning in

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wanting to know a little bit more so I'm

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going to let you tell them the story

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about wealth ramp and then we'll start

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digging in from there okay

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thank you all right so let's start with

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what is wealthramp so when I do talk

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about how it happened and how I gave

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birth to it why it mattered I I needed

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to solve a problem I needed to solve a

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problem I did not want to solve I feel

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like Stan the annuity man

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when it comes to financial advisors

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seriously

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it's the same thing you and I are doing

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the same thing but in different areas

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you saw a problem you saw a knowledge

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Gap you saw how there was this huge

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disconnect right and you saw where there

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are good annuities and there are

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annuities are nothing but a tool and it

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depends on when you need that tool and

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then there are bad tools right same

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thing with the world of financial advice

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Financial advice is an industry

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it is not to be confused with a

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profession

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it's not a doctor it's not a lawyer

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there's no medical exam there's no

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license it's literally the bar to entry

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is pretty low

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and as a result you have 500 000

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individuals running around the United

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States who self-identify as I am a

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financial advisor oh really are you

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really

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so the problem that I saw that needed to

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be solved

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how do you organize this hodgepodge Mass

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how do you separate the business models

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first and foremost and

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so what I created with wealthramp is a

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service an online service where people

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can come knowing that they're going to

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be introduced if they so choose to want

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to work with an advisor don't go

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anywhere but me because I'm going to do

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everything I can to protect you just

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like you too with educating people

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annuities so when you come in

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too well through it when you come

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through the front gate I'm going to ask

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you some questions you're going to

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answer those questions if you think you

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want an advisor I'm not going to tell

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you that you need one or you should have

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one I'm going to help you if you think

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you're ready for an advisor and I'm

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going to take you through and I'm going

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to wind up matching you referring you to

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as many as three advisors who I have

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personally vetted myself I've got 240

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plus advisors in the network of 248

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something like that in the network

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they're a constellation

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of different expertise different types

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of clients

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and when people come to me they come to

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me because they say I don't want to walk

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into a brokerage firm and get who I get

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right you need to get an advisor you

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need who's going to fit your specific

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situation because we know advisors are

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not all the same now who are these

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advisors

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they are vetted fiduciary and we've

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heard this F word a million times yeah

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I'm gonna have to talk to you about that

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real quick but that's okay yep eat only

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advisors that Pam Krueger has vetted

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herself why because I'm paranoid

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I can't have an advisor associated with

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my name and I can't have any

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consumer individual person employee of a

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company come in to wealth ramp and meet

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an advisor who I have not personally

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vetted and continue to read that year

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over year

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now

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the reason that I did this and the

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reason I say it the way I say it is this

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solving of this problem

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um it isn't something I ever wanted to

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do if you had told me 10 years ago that

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today I would be making referrals for

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financial advisors I would have been

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like

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and if people say wait a minute she

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looks kind of familiar I mean she had a

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a long-running very successful PBS show

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I believe was called money track and you

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know money track and then you're on

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track and now you're on this track

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um but getting back to the fiduciary

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thing

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and I have my own opinion about this is

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I think that every single person in the

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financial advice business should

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automatically and voluntarily and

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instinctually be

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a fiduciary which the translation is

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putting putting people's best interests

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ahead of yours

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it scares me just a little bit that

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there's a plaque that could be hung on

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the wall that says fiduciary or

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something like that or a something you

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can put on a card because if that's the

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case I'm just going to put a something

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on my wall that says really good guy

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um I've been validated I mean it just

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it's interesting how how do you overcome

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that well you know

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with Bernie Madoff would he pass the

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fiduciary sniff test because he's a

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sociopath I mean I'm assuming how do you

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get through that

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I guess objection for lack of a better

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phrase talk about the fiduciary question

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yeah fiduciary is not a frame of mind

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fiduciary is not a mood you're in you

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don't wake up one morning you work at

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Wells Fargo and say I pledge allegiance

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to the fiduciary flag because damn it I

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believe in it right this is not the way

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it happens right the reality in the real

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world is fiduciary standard is a legal

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legal legal standard what that means is

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that remember how I said there's 500 000

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self-described advisors 90 of them

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are working at brokerage firms for

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insurance companies that does not make

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them bad people or bad advisors it means

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they're working for a business model

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that has consciously chosen to not be

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held to the legal fiduciary standard so

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do I want the 90 of advisors that work

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at brokerage firms or insurance

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companies to advise me and they're not

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held to the fiduciary standard or do I

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want the minority of the 10 of

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independent advisors who the FCC in the

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state does

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what's the fiduciary standard what's

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that bar I'll tell you exactly what it

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means you are a client

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you feel you've been harmed by Johnny

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Joe advisor at Merrill Lynch or any firm

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I'm picking on that question where I

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used to work Dean Witter years ago yeah

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me and you both Deanwood the onus or the

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the I should say the burden of proof

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that I've been harmed you misrepresented

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you sold me an annuity in my IRA account

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now you can do that in an IRA so stop

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and that was wrong no it's not well what

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no what I'm saying they sold me a high

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commission index okay okay

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you did something inappropriate so but

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but

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I gotta I've gotta I'm kind of I gotta

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dig in here because

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why what's the stand you're saying

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standard someone did something wrong

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let's just say a person an advisor wants

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to go to your network and they say I

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want to be a fiduciary I want to go

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through that process I want to get that

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stamp of approval from your form firm

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how do they go about doing that I'm not

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going to get it from me they have to be

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legally held to the fiduciary standard

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how do they do that they have to

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register as an Ria as a registered

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investment advisory firm they have to

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register with the rate then and then

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what you're an Raa and then what and

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then you're held automatically to the

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fiduciary standard and what that means

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legally is let's get back to

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Mrs Smith who says that Johnny Joe

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misrepresented that annuity that I just

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mentioned okay if under the under the

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non-fiduciary the suitability standard

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the brokerage firm here too that means

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that the burden of proof for Mrs Smith

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is Mrs Smith has to prove

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that there was misrepresentation on the

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fiduciary side I'm wearing the fiduciary

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hat and I'm I'm registered with the SEC

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or the state the burden of proof Mrs

9:57
Smith is feeling misrepresented here

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she's gotten bad information from me

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the burden of proof is on me I'm the Raa

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I am the advisor the burden of proof is

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on me to show that I didn't harm her

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financially

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so let me get this straight every single

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registered investment advisor is just be

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just because they've registered like

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that is a fiduciary yes or no correct

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because of that no no it means that

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there it means that they're held to that

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stand held to that stand that's where

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the vetting comes in okay so you're

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taking the people that want to take it a

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Next Step

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I'm already an Ria and I want to be

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vetted by wealth ramp to make sure that

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I've been stamped of approval from that

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what does that process look like with

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you okay so I am not very nice I'm

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pretty no I mean I I look at everybody

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like you know look beautiful background

10:57
checks you pull all kinds of things what

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do you do okay yeah that's the first

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superficial sure that's the most

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superficial

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um I'm going to want to look at way peel

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back the onion I want to understand

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you know Way Beyond once I see your

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squeaky clean and once I see that you

11:16
don't have any complaints and once I see

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that you've been in business established

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as a fiduciary ra for at least five ten

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years

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I'm going to want to look at the whole

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firm I want to look at everybody in the

11:26
firm I want to understand how you all

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came together I want to understand your

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back story I want to understand the

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culture I want to know what kind of

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software you use I want to know how many

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clients you have I want to know what

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your capacity is what your retention

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rate is with your clients I want to know

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that you can demonstrate to me that you

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do have Proficiency in the areas where

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you say you're a specialist and I also

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want to know that when you communicate

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with anybody who I'm going to refer you

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to you're never going to have that

11:58
arrogant attitude of

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let me allow you to mask in the glow of

12:04
my knowledge

12:05
advisors communication skills styles

12:09
and I hate to just call it what it is

12:11
humility

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and their their love of their client and

12:16
their ability to be flexible and meet

12:18
the client where they are that's what

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defines what fiduciary best practices

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means there's fiduciary and it's legal

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I certainly wouldn't want an advisor

12:28
from my mother

12:30
who is not going to be she's deceased

12:33
but I mean let's just you know this is

12:35
just hypothetically if the advisor is

12:37
not a fiduciary legally but then beyond

12:40
that legal

12:41
you know you're in the realm of X Factor

12:44
stuff like what else matters

12:47
um I want to make sure that they

12:49
actually behave

12:51
to the highest bar of fiduciary

12:53
standards so that I can say

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I am so proud of this advisory firm I am

12:59
proud to say that I can refer a client

13:02
to this advisor so you approve them they

13:05
go into your approval Network

13:09
do you follow what's the follow-up

13:12
what's the oversight what's the ongoing

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vetting look like I know them and every

13:17
year I bet that re-vet them and look at

13:19
them and up look at their updated ADV

13:21
ask questions they keep in touch with me

13:23
they're talking to me all the time

13:25
they're talking to my team all the time

13:26
so I know when somebody's mother has

13:29
died I know when something has happened

13:31
in the office and the administrative

13:33
assistant is now going to be replaced so

13:36
we know a lot about the firms I'm not

13:38
looking to add on a lot of new advisory

13:40
firms it took me three years to curate

13:43
this network

13:44
did you did did you say fee based or fee

13:48
only

13:49
yeah let's explain that real quick for

13:51
people out there fee only are people

13:54
that do not sell product there's a lot

13:57
of people double dipping that will say

13:58
I'm a fee based advisor and then all of

14:00
a sudden you sit down and they're trying

14:02
to sell you some annuity product that

14:05
you shouldn't own a very complicated one

14:07
that's a fee based they're double

14:08
dipping they're charging a fee and

14:10
they're selling product

14:11
what Pam's talking about here is a fee

14:14
only

14:15
where they're not doing that

14:18
um they they are they're literally

14:20
charging a fee on the assets and and

14:22
while we're on fees let's let's dig in

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can you kind of explain the fees yeah

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and I'm going to circle back to a couple

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of quick little things yes I'll explain

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the phase the the fee only means that

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when people think of fee only I want you

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to think of it as their only only paid

14:38
by the client they do not accept any

14:41
kind of placement fees on real estate

14:42
deals there's no backdoor deals going on

14:45
they literally work for you the client

14:48
and only and directly for you so you're

14:51
on the same side of the table

14:52
and they become your Advocate okay so

14:55
there's no such thing in my world as fee

14:57
based and we and we work with hundreds

14:59
of fee only advisors that obviously

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don't sell annuities but that trust us

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to place them a good one this morning

15:07
um with a fee only that that you know

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the annuity was suitable and they know

15:12
that we're going to do exactly what

15:13
they're exactly I just got off the phone

15:15
with one myself we're just in a

15:16
conversation I just referred them to um

15:18
the um the the two things I want to

15:21
bring up really quickly is sure I want

15:22
to Circle back to when you mentioned

15:23
Madoff I'm pretty sure yeah

15:26
Bernie Madoff wasn't registered until I

15:30
know isn't that crazy so so no he wasn't

15:32
hell because The Regulators didn't even

15:34
do their job in making sure that he was

15:36
registered now number two if he had

15:40
registered then yes yes he would have

15:45
been and I don't know if any regulator

15:47
would have looked at the fact that he

15:48
was actually taking the money one thing

15:51
stand that people don't get straight

15:52
because they don't know

15:54
you're not giving your money to the

15:56
advisor right that's what people did

15:58
with Bernie Madoff they wrote the checks

16:00
am if anyone if anyone ever tells you to

16:03
make the check out to them don't make

16:05
the check out to them your money is held

16:08
at Schwab your money is held if Fidelity

16:10
is Vanguard perfect custodian

16:13
paying for advice and guidance okay now

16:15
get that clear how much are you paying

16:18
it doesn't have to be asset Center

16:19
management I just got off the phone with

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uh with an advisor that I'm just

16:24
bringing on in Texas and he's a PhD

16:27
is way overeducated and he's really good

16:30
at what he does he's been in the

16:31
business for 20 years he loves his

16:33
clients and he does a lot of portfolio

16:36
management and financial planning and I

16:38
just asked him I said Andy if I have a

16:40
client that comes to you and they have

16:42
500 000 or a million or whatever it is

16:44
and they don't want their portfolio

16:46
managed would you be able to work on a

16:48
retainer fee of course yes flexible so

16:51
what they do every really good fiduciary

16:54
or again vetted Fisher is going to I

16:58
don't I don't know if they're saying you

17:00
know whether it's AUM or whether it's

17:02
retainer whether it's hourly it's all

17:04
going to come down the same formula time

17:07
and complexity how much time does my

17:11
team and I have to put into this client

17:12
case per year

17:14
based on complexity that's it

17:18
if you pay it on an asset Center

17:20
management because you're having your

17:21
portfolio managed that fee

17:24
even if it's a retainer fee will be

17:26
about the same because it's time and

17:28
complexity that's the formula that's

17:30
used I mean you both were around back in

17:32
the day when the whole assets under

17:34
management charge a fee for everything

17:36
was introduced by the brokerage firms

17:37
because I was with like Eugene Woodard

17:39
and then Morgan Stanley Payne Weber and

17:41
UBS I remember when that was the push to

17:44
wrap everything and I always tell people

17:46
the only reason that the brokerage firms

17:48
were doing that was to track future

17:50
Revenue they could give a crap about

17:52
anything other than tracking future

17:54
Revenue otherwise why would you wrap

17:57
Bond portfolio exactly it's not so

18:01
um that it's it's a business model

18:03
that's gotten out of hand and I think

18:04
that that what's happened is it's it's

18:07
forced people like you to create

18:11
um alternatives for people that other

18:13
than the big marble buildings where you

18:15
walk in and and we even we used to call

18:17
it broker of the day you were broker of

18:19
the day so whoever walked in you got

18:21
you've got that whoever rookie was that

18:24
got broken

18:25
you and I were broker of the day no I

18:28
never took those I never did those I

18:30
never took those I was like

18:33
oh okay I started when I was 24 years

18:35
that's true that's true that was just a

18:37
few years ago right yes yes

18:40
thank you so listen

18:43
what I want to tell you is

18:45
I'm not trying to make people bad that

18:49
work at brokerage insurance companies

18:51
because people get mad at me and they

18:52
email me I say I I thought you it's the

18:56
business model yeah it's broken this is

18:58
broken yeah the old bit is broken how do

19:02
you make how do you make money Pam I

19:03
know you're a philanthropist at heart

19:05
but there's a vein of capitalism running

19:07
through your veins as well how does

19:09
wealth ramp make money I have to get

19:12
referral fees from the I want to get

19:14
referral fees and I expect after all

19:17
this work I've done that I'm going to

19:18
get a referral okay but

19:20
I don't want the referral fee until

19:21
after the relationship has not only

19:23
landed safely

19:26
but they're off and running in probably

19:27
about three months I don't I don't

19:29
collect it now I'm going to tell you a

19:31
little funny secret I shouldn't just in

19:33
case anybody but this is the truth

19:36
I don't have any way to audit the

19:39
advisors to see the accounts it's an

19:41
honor System it's a flipping honor

19:43
System so the integrity

19:46
these advisors want to pay me because

19:49
they want to stay in like basis so so a

19:52
lot of times I get phone calls from the

19:54
advisors they'll say Pam did Mrs Smith

19:56
kind of show up in your system because

19:58
she came to us and I want to make sure

20:00
wealth ramp gets the credit yeah now

20:02
sometimes that somebody can slip through

20:04
by mistake and that's fine but it really

20:07
is an honor System that's how I get paid

20:08
but it works out great and it's an honor

20:10
System that I'm assuming and I know this

20:12
is true you're just going to verify it

20:14
you know that's the that's the advisor

20:16
paying the fee out of their own pocket

20:17
they're not they're not if I'm not

20:19
understanding they have a contract that

20:21
cannot change or alter or bump up the

20:23
fee because of that they have to pay

20:25
marketing expenses no matter what

20:27
anywhere of course and they they and

20:29
that we like working together and so

20:31
forth so it's but I'll I'll tell you one

20:35
last thing about the the way that I came

20:37
to this so here I am and I'm producing

20:41
and co-hosting money check and I'm

20:43
loving it it was so much fun we have

20:45
John Bogle was a regular patients

20:49
and I have all these people after 2008 9

20:53
10 and into 17. and they're saying to me

20:56
Pam you're Negative Nancy about

20:59
financial advisors in general for what

21:02
if I want one aren't there any good ones

21:05
I went to Napa I don't know how to

21:07
choose I'm like oh my God and I love

21:09
Napa

21:10
sure National Association of financial

21:13
advisors yes I was the recipient of the

21:15
special Achievement Award two years ago

21:17
great organization but

21:20
the typical person who's coming to look

21:22
for an advisor their eyes are going to

21:23
glaze over and they're it's not it's not

21:26
meant to be a referral yeah it's hard

21:28
one woman viewer said to me

21:32
if you don't give me a name of an

21:35
advisor

21:36
I feel like you're kicking me to the

21:38
curb because I'm going to end up going

21:41
back into the waters where the sharks

21:43
are yeah and I need someone to hold my

21:45
hand and I thought to myself

21:48
how do I do this at scale because what

21:51
if that woman has a child on the autism

21:53
spectrum

21:54
and even if you had the best most

21:56
General Napa advisor in the world if

21:58
that advisor's never seen a Special

22:00
Needs Trust

22:02
it's not fit that's true

22:04
that's why I I kind of said oh my God I

22:08
don't want to do this but you know what

22:11
I think I'm gonna do it because I kept

22:13
saying if 97 of advisors who live and

22:17
breathe in the United States can't pass

22:19
my vetting

22:20
why don't you celebrate the three

22:22
percent who do and can and that's what I

22:25
did I turned Negative Nancy upside down

22:27
and now I'm in love with doing this I'm

22:31
in love with it

22:34
that's a strong statement where do you

22:36
see it going I mean 10 years from now

22:38
we're on the fun with annuities podcast

22:39
obviously I look exactly the same and

22:41
you look younger what's gonna what

22:44
what's gonna happen where are we at with

22:45
wealth ramp I wanna I wanna dominate

22:48
this industry I want

22:50
um people to to sort of say to

22:52
themselves

22:53
um yeah that's a fiduciary advisor

22:56
ostensibly and they're fee only but have

23:00
they been vetted by wealth ramp

23:02
you know do they do they you know that's

23:04
that's really where I wanted to go I

23:06
want people to know that there's someone

23:08
out there

23:09
who is vetting these advisors sorting

23:14
them categorizing them organizing them

23:16
so that when you want to meet an advisor

23:18
and you have 250 000 I'm not going to

23:21
introduce you to an advisor who's going

23:23
to say I'm sorry I think I think it's

23:26
really interesting because you know I

23:28
have been in the brokerage firms and and

23:30
the big buildings and worked in World

23:31
Trade too and it's um before it fell you

23:34
know I call a Masters of the Universe

23:36
and they think that you know yes they do

23:39
know where rates are going in yes they

23:40
do know where markets are going in yes

23:41
they don't but but the interesting part

23:44
about it there is a humbleness to go

23:46
through a vetting process it almost

23:48
tells you that that fee only advisor

23:52
does not think they're a master of the

23:54
universe because a master of the

23:55
universe narcissist advisor is never

23:59
going to let Pam look under the hood

24:01
they're going to say Pam schmam I don't

24:03
want I don't need to pay I'm a master of

24:05
the universe a person that

24:09
really has their heart in line with it

24:12
as an advisor they're going to say yeah

24:16
I'd like a second pair of eyes in this

24:18
and I'd like to be a part of that in a

24:20
group setting of of wealth ramp advisors

24:24
that kind of have their egos in place am

24:27
I right about that instance that's

24:29
exactly what I mean by the humility you

24:31
nailed it it's what I call the X Factor

24:33
does it make a difference oh yeah it

24:36
almost if a person applied now you don't

24:39
you I mean you're vetting stuff and not

24:40
everybody makes it through but just

24:42
applying tells me something about that

24:44
advisor

24:45
just them wanting to me in my account

24:49
well no let me let me rephrase I know

24:51
there's the the the marketing sociopaths

24:54
that just want to get the leads and run

24:55
but but that's an easy one to vet I'm

24:58
just saying people that really want to

25:00
go through it and be be analyzed with a

25:03
fine-tooth comb by someone like yourself

25:04
that's a different cat not only that not

25:07
only that they want to be on the mission

25:09
to educate

25:11
um they really do they want to be just

25:12
like with you with the annuities and by

25:14
the way when I was just talking with

25:16
Andy the new advisor that I just brought

25:17
on in Texas

25:19
um you know I asked him the same

25:20
question one of my vetting questions is

25:22
now what do you do when a client really

25:24
does really an annuity is going to be

25:26
the right answer and they all say the

25:27
same thing we work with you know very

25:30
low cost low fee we you know they don't

25:33
sell it they don't get commissions but

25:34
wouldn't you rather have someone

25:37
evaluate yeah and tell you if you're

25:40
over insured or underinsured or annuity

25:42
is good someone who doesn't sell

25:44
annuities for a living and I mean that's

25:47
what's beautiful about this book I think

25:49
that this kind of advisor in my network

25:52
and they probably would never touch an

25:55
annuity wrong as Stan the annuity man

25:58
says and has taught us annuities are a

26:01
tool they need to be contracts some

26:03
people need them some people some people

26:05
don't now we talk a lot you throw around

26:08
the word holistic advice I feel like I'm

26:11
laying on a table getting a rub down to

26:13
get my spine readjusted that's not what

26:15
we're talking about right holistic

26:17
advice it sounds pretty pretty earthy

26:21
it's not earthy crunchy it's practical

26:25
okay if I'm going to talk to you about

26:28
Investments like back in my Dean murder

26:31
days how am I going to have an

26:33
intelligent conversation with you and go

26:36
straight to the talk about where your

26:38
next investment should be or might be

26:40
when I don't even know your cash flow I

26:43
don't know your real estate I don't know

26:45
how much debt you have I don't know your

26:47
husband's situation oh you didn't tell

26:49
me that you were in the middle of a

26:51
divorce oh my God if I don't know

26:55
holistically the whole pizza so there's

26:58
no candles

26:59
see to me holistic means I'm lighting

27:01
candles that's what that means you could

27:03
do that too

27:05
annuity camera but what you're saying is

27:08
all-encompassing they're looking at the

27:09
whole sure

27:11
and basing the you know all the

27:13
recommendations it's like I'm I'm like

27:16
the stupid queen of annuities I swear to

27:18
God people I drive people I give that

27:21
award every year you're up for it I got

27:23
it you got a sweater you pull on the

27:25
thread over here what does it do it's

27:27
just you can't touch this over here

27:30
without affecting tax planning over here

27:34
and if you do then you're not doing it

27:38
right you're doing back what we used to

27:40
do when we were in the dean winter days

27:41
and by the way I want to defend one

27:43
thing about The Brokerage visits that we

27:46
worked in we before the internet

27:49
we had a purpose and what was our

27:51
purpose our purpose was we had

27:53
information that you guys didn't have

27:56
and we gave you access to information

27:59
through our bunker Ramos and through our

28:01
magical tools where we checked with our

28:03
research department and then guess what

28:05
happened along Randy you think about the

28:08
internet Yahoo finance Google so nobody

28:11
needed that information anymore so I was

28:14
there during the Go-Go times like you

28:15
when there was the internet you know the

28:17
the IPOs and all I need to tell people

28:20
is the person and me and my partner

28:22
within that region were in charge of all

28:25
the IPO allocations which means we you

28:27
know we were powerful but they called it

28:29
Syndicate managers Syndicate you

28:32
remember that well you know you're The

28:34
Syndicate manager for the region that

28:36
sounds like the mafia back in the day it

28:38
kind of was you know because because uh

28:41
advisors will be like you know I need I

28:43
need this and no it it's just such a

28:46
broken business model

28:48
um I just the only thing I wish I just

28:49
wish I kept all that Dean wood and pain

28:51
Weber swag I know the swag was pretty

28:54
good swag was pretty good because it

28:55
would be like if you're walking through

28:57
an airport with Dean wooder on people

28:58
going to look at you and go first of all

29:00
who's that and the people that know like

29:02
holy crap you're old I guess you've been

29:04
socks and stocks man I remember that

29:07
back in the day right when they bought

29:09
Sears

29:10
um yeah that was that was a good fit

29:13
oh my God yeah that was great going to

29:15
Sears and when people walk through

29:17
looking for tough skins for their kids

29:19
try to sell them a mutual fund obviously

29:22
I did not participate in the Sears

29:26
they're like damage you have to I said

29:28
listen I don't have to do anything I'm

29:29
not you know got to give them credit for

29:31
trying okay but you know over the course

29:34
of time you know as the internet

29:37
replaced the need for the information

29:38
Keepers and then the Robos came along

29:40
what happened it was only about 10 years

29:43
ago everybody it was only about 10 years

29:44
ago advisors at the brokerage firm

29:47
started to call themselves advisors they

29:49
were called Brokers we were called I was

29:52
a broker that was a broke I was a stop

29:54
when I first started I said stock broker

29:56
right I was a stock broker and then

29:58
magically after the internet it was like

30:04
I Was An Architect wealth architect is

30:07
what they started calling something like

30:09
Morgan Stanley or something it's like

30:11
what and then the SEC said and to make

30:15
things really clear

30:17
let's spell ER versus or advisors oh

30:21
gosh I remember that

30:23
oh my gosh yeah I mean I remember those

30:26
days and the reason that we're talking

30:28
about this not because we're like

30:29
skipping down you know Memory Lane like

30:32
The Wizard of Oz is to point out that

30:35
that business model still exists to this

30:37
day

30:38
but they're now called advisors and the

30:42
payout structures with these big firms

30:44
are based upon ratios and things that

30:46
you sell that they want you to sell

30:48
whether it's a credit line or a mortgage

30:50
or whatever the mutual fund is you know

30:52
the Family mutual funds it's not as

30:55
autonomous as it once was which is the

30:57
reason I'm no longer there because back

30:59
in the day if you wanted to just be a

31:01
municipal Bond specialist you could yeah

31:03
or a closed in bond specialist you could

31:06
or a preferred specialist you could you

31:07
could just build your business no more

31:09
that that does not does not exist and

31:12
they want you to wrap it and they don't

31:14
want

31:15
um small accounts which leads me to my

31:17
next question

31:18
people out there

31:20
and I grew up without money so the

31:23
levels of money to me don't matter if

31:25
it's important to you it's important to

31:26
me what's more important when you have

31:28
less of it you know I just listen I

31:31
always say billionaires started at zero

31:34
most of them okay unless they're trust

31:36
fund baby but most really rich people

31:38
Millionaire Next Door type people built

31:41
it and they didn't have a lot of money

31:42
with your network at wealth ramp of

31:46
these vetted fiduciary advisors fee only

31:49
are there are there uh minimum account

31:53
sizes or is it just up to each one of

31:56
the advisor and how they run their

31:57
business yes and no I have a

31:59
constellation

32:00
I have to have an array of different

32:03
advisors with different types of clients

32:05
I have advisors whose typical clients

32:07
are 40 million I have advisors who have

32:10
clients with zero minimum zero love it

32:15
and a lot of the advisors in the I can

32:18
call right now I can tell you this right

32:20
now if I picked up the phone to call Bob

32:21
Carroll or if I call Jeff Wright I would

32:23
I would like I have someone who's in the

32:25
military

32:26
who didn't have who had very little and

32:29
they were older they were worried really

32:31
worried about how they're going to make

32:32
everything work get on the phone and I

32:35
call a this advisor he's a former Army

32:37
Ranger all I had to say was he's a

32:39
military service member and he's really

32:42
concerned we got this say no I'm the

32:45
same way I have a brand new sales

32:48
assistant that's that's fantastic and

32:50
she came in just very sheepishly the

32:53
other day and said you know this person

32:54
just doesn't have a lot of money

32:56
um do you want to take the call went

32:57
absolutely man are you kidding me I'm

33:00
from rural North Carolina for God's

33:02
sakes I mean yes

33:04
that I want to reach and help the most

33:07
are those people who have you know

33:10
between they've they've saved maybe 250

33:12
000 and they're 60 years old those

33:15
people can't afford to make a mistake

33:17
and they are so disappointed by their

33:20
experiences with advisors you guys all

33:23
have had these experiences where your

33:27
expectations are so tamped down you're

33:32
like this you're like I want to see an

33:34
advisor but I don't want him to judge me

33:36
and I'm telling you it's like this your

33:39
expectations need to be up here

33:41
keep them up there and nice and high

33:44
because no you're not going to find this

33:46
advisor at every strip mall down the

33:48
street

33:49
but they do exist they're hiding in

33:51
plain sight they're humble they're damn

33:53
good at what they do and they do exist

33:56
yeah I think that's very very good to

33:58
point out now obviously we're going to

34:00
have a page for Pam and wealth

34:02
permanently on our site where you can go

34:04
and and connect with them Etc we don't

34:07
have any monetary connections other than

34:09
I just high fiber if I'm ever in San

34:12
Francisco I'll take her out to dinner or

34:14
in Cape Cod well

34:16
um absolutely man absolutely

34:20
um but I do think that what I'm gonna

34:24
hopefully implore my advice my listeners

34:27
and viewers to do is please take this

34:31
series

34:32
because it's not this isn't Yelp for

34:35
financial advisors this isn't some made

34:38
up thing out of midair okay this is

34:41
taking

34:43
financial advisors who've chosen to be

34:46
fee only which is a very good first step

34:48
okay and then taking that person who has

34:51
agreed to have an expert like Pam look

34:54
at them

34:56
and sign off on them naked yeah I mean

35:00
as as they say in the South when the

35:02
water recedes you see who's naked

35:05
and she's looking at them and saying not

35:08
only do are there intentions good coming

35:10
in we vetted everything about them and

35:12
the firm and it's still good and we're

35:15
going to ongoing look at them and I get

35:17
so many calls from people that I really

35:21
would just like a good advisor have you

35:22
broken it down

35:25
regionally state by state when people go

35:28
to wealthramp.com by the way that's one

35:30
word wealth ramp ramp.com when you go

35:34
there

35:35
can you say I'm in I'm in Boise Idaho

35:39
is there anyone in Boise you really read

35:42
my mind by the way yeah we do in Boise

35:44
but you read my mind when people come to

35:47
wealth ramp and I have them fill out the

35:48
survey questions that I need to be able

35:51
to by the way confidential non-shared no

35:53
don't sell it they just take the

35:55
information that's how you know I'm not

35:58
a lead generator yes you know it because

36:00
what I do is I work with companies with

36:03
employees and everybody's sensitive

36:04
people come through it's private right I

36:07
don't want to share your information

36:08
with advisors or anybody else I want to

36:11
make sure that you're the one who has a

36:13
one-way mirror you get to see the three

36:16
advisors I've referred you to they can't

36:18
see you you have to be the one to

36:21
initiate the communication very nice and

36:24
I'm right there I I give you the two

36:27
questions that I want you to ask each

36:28
advisor do you want to tell you what

36:30
those are real quick sure because I have

36:31
two questions too as you know but go

36:33
ahead okay the two questions that I want

36:37
everyone to ask after they've met a

36:39
vetted advice who passes my screen then

36:42
you can breathe take your time slow down

36:45
there's no rush be very thoughtful ask

36:49
the question number one

36:52
can you tell me about who are your

36:54
typical clients describe them and

36:57
describe what are you doing for them

36:59
like you're getting a fee year over year

37:02
what are you doing for them to describe

37:05
it I want them to draw a picture for you

37:07
right and I want you to see if that

37:09
feels feels like it fits second

37:11
follow-on question is please explain

37:14
your fee Arrangements how do your

37:17
clients pay you and what does that

37:19
typically amount to

37:21
by the way for people who keeping score

37:23
my two questions are what do you want

37:24
the money to contractually do and when

37:26
do you want those contractual guarantees

37:29
to start that's my two that's my two

37:31
questions but it's it's in the same

37:33
realm which is just stripping away all

37:35
the nonsense let's get down to business

37:36
there's you know there's no sales pitch

37:39
I've committed those two questions about

37:41
annuities to memory yeah

37:43
exactly because it

37:45
if you're doing what we're doing is just

37:48
such the same thing we're taking yeah I

37:50
just do it with a bunch of videos and

37:52
people like to see southernisms and hear

37:55
about my mom and all my clients because

37:56
all my ideas for videos come from my

37:58
conversations with my clients I mean the

38:01
best ideas come from that absolutely you

38:04
know I'm I'm excited that we found each

38:07
other a little bit late but it's it's

38:08
early right that's what they say in the

38:11
South

38:12
um and we look forward to pointing

38:13
people in your direction that need very

38:16
good advice and you know I tell I I'm

38:19
gonna tell people when when I send under

38:21
wealth ramp you can push put your fists

38:24
down you put them down

38:26
no one's going to come at you just put

38:29
just take a breath it's going to be okay

38:31
you're gonna go ahead and breathe out

38:33
and take time and you're gonna and

38:35
you're gonna find someone that fits and

38:38
I think I would I would assume the

38:39
reason that you put three in front of

38:42
people is you're you're you know that

38:44
one of those three is going to be a fit

38:46
personality wise or or goal wise with

38:50
that person is correct is that correct I

38:52
want you to have three for two reasons

38:54
number one for that reason but number

38:56
two because even though it seems I I

39:01
want you to have a conversation with

39:02
more than one advisor I don't care if

39:04
you say to me Stan if you said to me I

39:07
am in love with Edge capital and

39:09
Kendrick and oh my God Pam I don't want

39:11
to talk to the other two advisors if you

39:13
talk to me Stan I'm gonna say email or

39:16
when we talk I know okay but you're

39:19
gonna learn something

39:21
I agree with that slow down slow down

39:24
just have the conversation with Eric or

39:28
with Jolie as well because you're going

39:31
to hear things

39:33
and you're now in a different frame of

39:34
mind

39:35
you're no longer panicked and anxiety

39:37
ridden now you're now you're really

39:39
taking it in so that's why I think you

39:42
learn more and that's the last thing I'm

39:44
going to say about one of the

39:45
characteristics about advisors is the

39:47
generosity of the knowledge share No

39:50
you're going to have some people are

39:51
going to say I don't want the knowledge

39:52
I'm not interested but really the what I

39:56
always tell people even when I have

39:57
clients who come to me

39:59
and they might be really super busy

40:01
executive women in their 50s and they

40:03
might say oh you know I don't really

40:05
want to know how the water comes out of

40:07
the faucet and I'm not even just right

40:08
and I say and I'm and and I'm going to

40:11
tell you that I'm really good at what I

40:12
do over here in marketing but I know

40:13
nothing about this and I say to them you

40:16
know what

40:17
you're not going to recognize yourself

40:18
in five years because your conversations

40:21
are going to change you're going to hear

40:23
yourself becoming more calm more

40:26
confident because whether you know it or

40:28
not the advisor was generous was sharing

40:30
nuggets of wisdom and knowledge that's

40:33
how you wind up with a good plan and a

40:35
good strategy that you can believe in

40:37
and stick with we're not getting

40:39
advisors because we want an advisor that

40:42
we want to pay we're getting advisors

40:43
for one reason

40:45
peace of mind I don't want Financial

40:48
stress

40:49
I want to know I've got someone to

40:51
collaborate with that's going to

40:53
actually over time I become more

40:56
knowledgeable because you're generous

40:57
with your knowledge share

41:00
I like the passion You Can't Hide

41:02
passion you know obviously this is

41:04
something that means a lot to you I

41:07
think both of us going through the

41:08
brokerage Wars and you know we see how

41:12
we don't really want it to be done

41:13
nothing against those people but you

41:16
know if there is a better way to do it

41:17
so

41:19
um one of the things I didn't tell you

41:20
about early uh in this podcast because I

41:23
surprise all my guests at the end is at

41:24
the very end of the podcast we're

41:26
getting ready to close everything up is

41:28
I ask my guests

41:30
I'm going to give you a mic drop moment

41:32
I'll count it down from five and then

41:34
you've got to wow Us in about 30 seconds

41:36
with something about wealth ramp and you

41:39
and

41:40
what we've been saying so you got to

41:42
synopsize and I'm not going to give you

41:43
much time to prepare here we go in five

41:46
four three two one Pam Kruger go

41:52
I just want you to be confident I want

41:56
you at the end of the day to feel

41:58
comfortable and confident that you have

42:02
a plan and that you have a strategy that

42:04
you have stressed tested your worst

42:07
money fears and that you have someone

42:09
with whom you can collaborate to do that

42:12
I know that I I don't know that's not a

42:14
mic drop moment but it's coming from my

42:16
heart

42:17
that's and that is a micro moment and

42:20
that person is Pam Kruger the founder of

42:23
wealthramp who is changing lives

42:26
changing the industry disrupting the

42:29
financial services and financial advice

42:31
industry and will eventually dominate it

42:34
and this will be

42:36
how it's done in the future you're just

42:39
seeing a very early glimpse of it

42:40
because you're listening to Stan the

42:42
annuity man and fun with annuities I

42:45
would like to thank Pam and all the

42:46
people that joined us today and I will

42:48
see you next time

42:54
[Music]