How Much is Enough with Dawn Dahlby

george grombacher 0:00
Come on Bob Leffler This is George G. And the time is right welcome today’s guest strong, powerful Don Dobie. Don, are you ready to do this?

Unknown Speaker 0:18
Let’s go.

george grombacher 0:19
Let’s go. Don has a CFP, a BF a, a CRP C, she is the first certified behavioral financial adviser I think maybe in the world Dom But certainly the United States. I’m definitely excited to have you on. Tell us a little about your personal life smart about your work and why you do what you do?

Unknown Speaker 0:40
Well, that’s a loaded question. So not to bore bore anybody but I’ll tell you personal life. 3030 years ago, I was a singer dancer on a cruise ship. I decided to get a degree after that in finance. I am married to my husband, Gary, we are highschool sweethearts, dated since flippin middle school, I have two teenage daughters 171 18. I’m a wealth advisor, I’ve been giving fiduciary financial advice out for the last 22 years, I’m finally bringing it digitally to people that want to have a million dollars that might not have a million dollars yet, because our firm just typically in the past has helped people with a million dollars plus, but I realized there’s so many people out there that need our advice that we weren’t able to serve in the past. And so I’m opening up the doors. And that’s why I’m here talking with you, George, because I want more people to get the right type of advice.

george grombacher 1:36
I love it. That’s an example of technology helping us for good instead of evil done

Unknown Speaker 1:43
similarly.

george grombacher 1:46
So I think that maybe there’s some parallels there, you’ve been at this for you mentioned 20 plus years, has the way that we interact with money changed and evolved over that 20 year period, just like technology has changed?

Unknown Speaker 2:03
You know, yes. And no, I think in all aspects, I think I’ve been so deep in helping people build their comprehensive financial plan. And I believe everyone still has that same fear over even the last two decades is, am I gonna have enough? Am I running out of money? And how much do I need to have for the future? And you know, your company talks about alignment of money. And that’s why I wanted to connect with you so much, George, because I believe that it’s the proper alignment with money. And I think people’s emotions and money really hasn’t changed that much.

george grombacher 2:42
Yeah, that’s an interesting thing, right? Like, we may get smarter, we may have more information. But it’s still, there’s still that that really strong, heavy emotional tie.

Unknown Speaker 2:53
And it doesn’t go away, like I have been, I’ve sat in over 10,000 client meetings, and I’ve helped some of my clients today are still the same clients I had, when I started in the business in 2021. And I looked at you know, they started maybe with $17,000 in their investment portfolio, now they have $3 million. And, you know, if you don’t work on your relationship with money and understanding how, how important that is, people still have this fear of not having enough. And so not only have I opened the doors up to wanting to help people that don’t have the million dollars yet, yet. I also believe that helping people build their wealth that they needed more than just this financial plan to help them build money, they needed a little bit different angle. And I believe what’s most important, and I teach people this philosophy is how to build wealth and live wealthy, which is w e LLTHY. And living wealthy is, you know, if you don’t deal with your fears, or your negative emotions with money, you’re never going to have enough. And so this living wealthy is really twofold is really about living life at the intersection of being able to have a good relationship and spend guilt free today. So you can still live for today. And plan for tomorrow at the same time if you have that right alignment that we talked about. And living wealthy is also about living life at this intersection of having financial freedom, but at the same time building your personal internal security as well. So it’s this merge of security and freedom to create this fulfillment and happiness of what we all really want in life. Because just working on the money is not enough.

george grombacher 4:53
I think that that’s really well sad. Is this something that the technology is enabling you Whoo, I know that, that you’re now bringing it to more people. But it sounds like and I also, the kinds of conversations that I like to have are in depth and they’ve been enabled by technology so that people are able to do a little bit of the work on their own, instead of me having to walk them all the way through it. Is that been your experience? How? How do you structure it?

Unknown Speaker 5:27
100%. So here’s the thing, I have just spent the last three years creating a digital platform, because I realized in these 10,000 client meetings, that 50% of the time, you’re saying the same thing, I’m helping people build their financial plan, right, so we’re helping them with all areas of finance, but 50% of the time, I’m saying the same thing. So why not record that and get that out to the generalized public at a weight discounted rate, versus me having to use my time to explain it. And then so I’ve created this platform that allows people to build their financial plan at like, 90% off and they’re still getting fiduciary CFP advice, but they’re, they’re doing it privately, they’re doing it on their own time, the stuff that I repeat, over and over is already pre recorded. And then when, when people need that extra accountability, or that extra, like implementation and how they’re going to take action on their financial plan that they get to sit down with an advisor. And it’s, it’s so much more streamline. So we’ve been able to not only scale, but you know, and help more people, but do it in the efficient way that I think works for the consumer now, and especially after, you know, I say post COVID Are we really post COVID? Who knows, but right now, this new world we live in as people want information efficient, fast, and they need it at the right price, because we all know what inflation and everything else, life’s life’s getting expensive, but we still need to take care of our finances. Yeah.

george grombacher 7:02
Yeah, I think that that’s awesome. One of the challenges that that we have as human beings when we’re trying to make substantive changes, and if we’re in the business of trying to help people do make those changes, if I’m a strength coach, or a diet coach, whatever it might for financial advisor, is getting people to really take ownership and and and grab a hold of it and see it through how is your experience been with that?

Unknown Speaker 7:26
You know, ownership and just see it through, I think that’s a hard thing for all of us. I mean, we’re all human beings. And if things aren’t right in front of us, we live in this on this treadmill of life, right? And there’s so we were talking about right before we hit record like the kids, right? Where there’s so much, so much coming at us, we’re working full time we were parenting we’re trying to live, we’re trying to survive. And I think, you know, most people, if they’re honest with themselves, that they don’t have this, we don’t always have this motivation to self help or to do things on our own. And so, you know, when we use our digital platforms to like part of my, my platform, probably just like yours, George is that there’s a part of it that is pre recorded. But there’s another part that you we need accountability, we need to be held accountable. To take action, we need support, because we all know life throws us challenges every single day of the year. And we need we need that community and that support and that live allow allowing us to go live in those platforms to because I think that’s important for people that they need help with that ownership.

george grombacher 8:41
Yeah. So the behavior piece, you talked about how half the things you say it’s, it’s we had the same conversation over and over again, because it’s extremely valuable. And it’s information people 100% need, the behavioral peace, the messy stuff, the sticky stuff, the stuff that we don’t want to think about or talk about the stuff that it’s hard to talk about. I don’t know how when did it click for you that you needed to be talking about those things? Have you always known that or is that more recent?

Unknown Speaker 9:15
Well, it’s not recent, it was probably 1214 years ago, but it was when I was dealing with my own pain. And so I got into the business I remember I went from a singer dancer to getting a degree in college and finance just because I didn’t know whatever what I wanted to do. I just know I wanted more money. And I wanted more life. And that’s what this is about, right? We all want more money so we can have more life. And it wasn’t until I built my income up to five times more than I ever dropped. I would have from an income perspective, but I still felt broke. And I’m like, What’s going on with me? I’m always chasing the dollar and I’m always feeling like there’s not enough. And in when it resonated with me, and then I saw it in my clients too. And I’m like, okay, something needs to be changed in fix here. And I realized that the technical advice of building your financial plan and how to invest your money and not getting ripped off from a cost perspective, and how to minimize your taxes, and all that kind of stuff is valuable, super valuable, we all need that. But that alone is not going to get you to the desire that we all want. You know, we all want to live a purposeful life, and, you know, have have passion, and be fulfilled and content and happy, we all want that. And I found through my clients and through myself that that is, you know, building a financial plan is not enough. So, you know, so in my belief about how to build real wealth up, and how to live wealthy is really going through a process that I call on it, earn it and grow it. And it’s because it involves the psychology around human beings and money. And not just the technical part, the technical part is all there. I’m a CFP, I get everything you needed to know, to have enough money. But, but I’ve incorporated that technical part. So Own It is where you’re getting clarity, and you’re aligning yourself and understanding who you are, who you are, as a human being your values, your strengths, your weaknesses, your purpose, your vision, your goals, all that kind of stuff. So you’re crystal clear on making decision, how you want to lead your life, that’s the ownit part. And the earning part is I’m making sure that people are earning the right type of income, that they are getting paid for what they’re worth, that they’re earning this right to live in elevated life. And that’s the personal development to it’s hard. You know, just like I know, everyday is full of challenges and lifestyle, how we react to those challenges, especially your challenges with money. So I’ve created this platform that allows people to incorporate in their financial plan, this personal development, and it’s really helping people understand they’re in charge of the way they think. And they’re in charge of the way they react with their emotions, to money and to life. And when you when you figure that out, you’re able to earn more money, and live in more clarity. And so that’s the ERNIT part. And then the gorilla part is just here’s the technical piece about growing your wealth. So it’s own it, earn it and grow it. And that’s the financial plan that I’ve designed. And I was, like I said, it’s taken me three years, I have a book coming out on this. Just so many things, as I so strongly believe that in order to to really get to the level, we all are striving for it to live, we all want to live wealthy and have the right amount of money just to support that a little bit. To answer George, I’m so it’s great.

george grombacher 13:05
How do I know if I’m ready to to to really engage in that process?

Unknown Speaker 13:13
Do you have a pulse? I do? Are you breathing? Yes. Okay. That’s how you got it. All have, we all are at different levels, we some of us have a lot of debt, some of us don’t have enough income. Some of us have a lot of money, we just don’t know. Like, we don’t know how much is enough. And it’s really about getting, you know, it think about financial planning. And building wealth is it’s a puzzle, it’s a puzzle. And there’s always one or multiple pieces missing. And it’s just plugging in those for sometimes it’s people need more income. So we have to figure out we got to solve that we got to add that piece of the puzzle. For some people, it’s like I have enough income but I’m not managing my debt appropriately. So we figure out that piece, some people are just not managing their taxes. Other people are like I’m investing my money without a plan or um, they don’t even realize the the extra cost they have for investing in their 401k. So we’re trying to minimize those costs. Like all that kind of stuff matters. So it doesn’t matter where you’re at in your journey. I think that it along with a pulse and being able to breathe, I think it’s for the person wanting, knowing that they want a better life. And if they want more out of life, then they’re ready to love it.

george grombacher 14:41
How much is enough? How often are people able to answer that question?

Unknown Speaker 14:45
I would say never. That is there has been studies out there. I mean, they’ve they’ve interviewed billionaires all the way down to you know, poor people. And they’ve asked them the same question. How much is enough? And their answer is always a little bit more. And I think because we’re always searching, you know, I think we’re always searching for more. We’re human beings, we’re always growing. And I think it’s okay to maybe not feel like you ever have enough, I think there’s, there’s actually a sweet spot to not having enough because we’re continuing to evolve, like and grow and, and become something more that’s just you know this earth, you just look out the window, nothing’s ever stagnant, right, everything’s always changing. But it’s nice, here’s, here’s the thing, it’s okay to want a little bit more, at the same time that you know that there’s enough. So when to know through a financial plan that there’s going to be enough is really cool, but to want a little bit more than enough. I think that’s frickin cool.

george grombacher 15:57
Yeah, I think it’s awesome. Like that that’s really well said and, you know, the only way to answer that question is to ask it and to really think about it and spend time, which is essentially exactly why you need to go through this process that you’ve been talking about, because just knowing that on it to save a percent, and it needs to go into my 401k, and that that’s not getting the job done, that’s not going to lead to happiness, that’s not going to lead to that sense of feeling wealthy that you’re talking about, you need to do that other work first.

Unknown Speaker 16:28
Yeah, and you need to do both, you know, you can’t just build the money, you can’t just do the personal development to because we need money, just like we need oxygen. So you have to do both of those things. And I think it’s so important that when people take the time out to do those that work, they’re able to see a completely different lifestyle. Because I’ve been in the business long enough, where I’ve seen client a and client B, with the same income, the same resources, the same opportunities, and one has 3 million in their portfolio, and the other client has $30,000 in debt, with no portfolio. It’s all in the decision making and following the plan. And it’s not that difficult. If you just put in some time, like you said, to take a step back and think about what’s really important and the things that you value. Because we all have this opportunity for something super powerful. And it’s just are you gonna, you know, you’re gonna embrace it or not

george grombacher 17:31
love it? Well, Don, you’ve already given us a lot that people are ready for that difference making tip, what do you have for them?

Unknown Speaker 17:38
You know, we’ve we’ve talked about it, but I would say this that, you know, money alone will never provide you happiness, just like we said. But building this worth and and your wealth combined? Well, and I think I’ve been clear with that. But I think there’s nothing more powerful on this earth than saying that differentiator is really about building your wealth and your worth combined.

george grombacher 18:07
Well, I think that that is great stuff that definitely gets come up. Building your wealth and your worth at the same time. That is awesome. I love it. But Don, thank you so much for coming on. Where can people learn more about you? How can I engage with you and your new platform?

Unknown Speaker 18:21
Yeah, well, my web address is Don Dalby, D H. lb yy.com. I have something for everyone there. There’s a ton of free resources, all the way up to allowing me to partner with people to really help them implement their wealth building journey.

george grombacher 18:38
I love it. Well, if you enjoyed this as much as I did, show down your appreciation and share today’s show with a friend who also appreciates good ideas go to Don adobe.com. That’s D a WNDAHLBY. And take advantage of the great resources that Don has been sharing with us and been working so hard on to complete and start building wealth as well as worth the same time. Thanks again, Don. Thank you, George. And until next time, keep fighting the good fight. We’re all in this together.

Transcribed by https://otter.ai