The Retirement Trainer

Over the course of the last year, demand for veterinary care has exploded. No one in the industry can remember being this busy, and this growth has come with plenty of positives, but some very real challenges as well.

Knapp Veterinary Hospital, here in Columbus, Ohio, has faced massive demand, but also had to cancel and postpone lots of important visits and procedures. As the world reopens, they continue to handle that demand and the animals in their care, while passionately serving their community and continuing to build their legacy.

Today, owner Dr. Robert Knapp joins the podcast to share the story of how he became the third in his family to launch a veterinary practice, take care of his people, and provide incredible care in difficult times.

In this podcast interview, you’ll learn: 

• The two major challenges Knapp Veterinary Hospital faced as COVID-19 spread in March of 2020.
• How the veterinary industry has changed across a multi-generational practice.
• Why Dr. Knapp’s business hasn’t had to change its marketing at all in the last several years.

Show Notes

To get access to today's show notes, including links to all the resources mentioned, visit TheRetirementTrainer.com/48

How Fit Is Your Retirement Plan? 

We can help you manage your finances so you can pursue your goals. To learn more, visit EGSIFinancial.com

The Winchester Institute of Chiropractic Health and Wellness, here in Dublin, Ohio, stayed open as an essential business–even at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic. With a team of chiropractors, massage therapists and exercise physiologists, they’re able to deliver a combination of supplementation, functional medicine, and rehabilitation for a total wellbeing experience. 

Dr. Dana Winchester faced many challenges in order to keep her business afloat and her patients safe over the course of 2020. By having all the proper processes and procedures in place, she was able to make it through the year and emerge even stronger on the other side with a team that is dedicated to helping their community achieve wellness and become pain free. 

Today, Dana joins the podcast to share how she built an authentic practice to serve people in need, how she’s solved problems facing modern business owners, and found a work-life balance in the toughest of times.

In this podcast interview, you’ll learn: 

• How Winchester Chiropractic continued to operate safely despite constantly-changing guidelines.
• Why no one comes out of medical school equipped to run a business–and the unique issues practitioners face as they build and operate their own clinics.
• What happened when Dana needed to hire a new employee–and how COVID has changed her search and interview processes.
• How Dana launched a virtual community outreach program.

Show Notes

To get access to today's show notes, including links to all the resources mentioned, visit TheRetirementTrainer.com/47

How Fit Is Your Retirement Plan? 

We can help you manage your finances so you can pursue your goals. To learn more, visit EGSIFinancial.com

When everything shut down due to Covid-19 in March 2020, the uncertainty was crippling for many businesses. In this episode, you’ll hear how Hand & Stone Massage and Facial Spa was able to turn lemons into lemonade thanks to their membership-based business.

Located in the Lewis Center in Columbus, Ohio, this outpost of a well-known franchise provides customers with high quality massages and facials at extremely affordable prices. And with the stress and anxiety that a lot of people were dealing with last year, having a business that couldn’t be replaced by internet shopping proved to be very valuable.  

Today, Chris joins the podcast to share how he became a business owner decades into his working career, why he didn’t lose members (and actually got new ones) in 2020, and what keeps his customers coming back each month.

In this podcast interview, you’ll learn: 

• How Chris used his experience as a business reporter to become a business owner himself after getting downsized in 2013.
• The criteria Chris used to determine what kind of franchise to get involved in.
• Why franchises are less likely to be failures for first-time business owners–and the important questions Chris asked as he found a franchise to get involved in.
• How their membership-based business allowed them to weather the storm when everything shut down in March 2020.
• Why Hand & Stone hasn’t experienced any business slowdown since reopening last May.

Show Notes

To get access to today's show notes, including links to all the resources mentioned, visit TheRetirementTrainer.com/46

How Fit Is Your Retirement Plan?  We can help you manage your finances so you can pursue your goals. To learn more, visit EGSIFinancial.com

Bill and Sandy Wymard own and operate Aquarium Adventure in Hilliard, Ohio. Guests can see fish from all over the world in their public aquarium, take home fish for their own aquariums, and purchase retail merchandise as well.

Aquarium Adventure has carved out a truly unique niche for themselves as a specialty retailer with loyal, long-term customers and employees. When the COVID crisis hit, they needed to stay open, going the extra mile to keep their customers safe as they bought supplies to keep their fish healthy and fed.

Today, Bill and Sandy join the podcast to share the story of their 30 years together as a couple and 24 years in business together, what they learned from operating an essential business in the midst of a global pandemic, and how they emerged on the other side with what might be their best year of sales ever.

In this podcast interview, you’ll learn: 

• How Bill and Sandy got inspired to start a niche business with an eye-catching retail location that differentiates themselves from their competition.
• The value of running a business that requires education for customer success–and why it’s so important to train employees well.
• Why Aquarium Adventure pivoted to digital marketing when COVID hit–and how a year of “staycations” proved to be good for business.
• Why it can be so hard to get someone who’s truly great at customer service to answer the phone.

Show Notes

To get access to today's show notes, including links to all the resources mentioned, visit TheRetirementTrainer.com/45

How Fit Is Your Retirement Plan?  We can help you manage your finances so you can pursue your goals. To learn more, visit EGSIFinancial.com

Iron Pony is one of the largest motorcycle dealerships in the Midwest. They grew from a NAPA auto parts store into a thriving business selling parts, apparel, accessories, vehicles, and more. The company has never stopped evolving, and this proved true again in 2020, when they didn’t just survive, but thrived, over the course of the COVID-19 pandemic.

In this episode, Chris joins the podcast to tell the story of how he went from dreaming of owning a business to becoming an entrepreneur, the value of honesty and transparency in everything you do, and how teamwork and community empowered the business to be busier than ever when they reopened.

In this podcast interview, you’ll learn: 

• How Chris paid his dues and took Iron Pony from a NAPA auto parts store into one of the largest dealerships in the Midwest.
• The value of bringing in and retaining great talent to fill in your gaps as an entrepreneur.
• Why Chris never wanted to sell new motorcycles–and how he ended up innovating in his industry when he ultimately became a dealer.
• The one major mistake Chris made as the pandemic hit, and how he fixed it.
• How Chris is working to maintain work-life balance in uncertain times.

Show Notes

To get access to today's show notes, including links to all the resources mentioned, visit TheRetirementTrainer.com/44

How Fit Is Your Retirement Plan?  We can help you manage your finances so you can pursue your goals. To learn more, visit EGSIFinancial.com

2020 has been one of the toughest years in history for small businesses. Many companies have needed to pivot, change their entire operational model, and adopt and adapt to new technologies in order to keep the lights on. 

However, a number of businesses didn’t just survive over the last year - they thrived. One of them is Columbus Car Audio. For over 40 years, they have customized and accessorized motorcycles, cars, boats, and buses. In fact, they even once installed a stereo in a canoe. 

Today, company president Todd Hays joins the podcast to discuss how he kept going to help fellow small business owners make the most of difficult situations and flourish in the face of big challenges.

In this podcast interview, you’ll learn: 

• Why great customer service and creating great employee experiences puts Columbus Car Audio ahead of their competition.
• How Todd created a survival plan for his company and his employees at the onset of the COVID-19 crisis - and why he chose not to stay open as an essential business when he didn’t feel it was safe to do so. 
• Why empowering an entire team to make high-level decisions contributes to overall growth.
• How Columbus Car Audio’s marketing director effectively shifted the focus of their operations from radio to online last year.
• What Todd and Danielle learned as they took over the business 10 years ago - and why it was so important to work with mentors and business coaches.

Show Notes

To get access to today's show notes, including links to all the resources mentioned, visit TheRetirementTrainer.com/43

How Fit Is Your Retirement Plan?  We can help you manage your finances so you can pursue your goals. To learn more, visit EGSIFinancial.com

For years, the conventional wisdom has been to grow your assets tax-deferred while you work, then pay taxes on that money when you’ve entered a lower tax bracket.

Unfortunately, that wisdom has gone out the window. Why? It’s simple: America’s massive unfunded liabilities in Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid, and the interest on the national debt. Taxes are all but guaranteed to go up in the years to come, and this makes having a real tax strategy - and not just a tax plan - more important than ever before.

In this episode, we discuss strategies for people nearing retirement to help pay fewer (or even no) taxes in retirement, protect themselves from rising taxes, and better understand why our tax code is all but guaranteed to change after 2025.

In this podcast interview, you’ll learn: 

• Why the conventional wisdom of growing tax-deferred assets and paying taxes when you’re in a lower bracket has gone out the window. 
• Why interest on our national debt is likely to lead to significant tax increases in the years to come.
• Why it’s so important to avoid taking the 50% penalty by failing to take your required minimum distributions.
• How to use Roth conversions between the ages of 59 ½ and 72 to avoid paying extra premiums on Medicare B, C, and D. 
• Why tax preparation and tax planning are not the same thing.
• What may happen when our current tax laws sunset in 2025 - and why this makes planning right now even more important.

Show Notes

To get access to today's show notes, including links to all the resources mentioned, visit TheRetirementTrainer.com/42

How Fit Is Your Retirement Plan?  We can help you manage your finances so you can pursue your goals. To learn more, visit EGSIFinancial.com

Why is it important for women to have a written income plan? Why is it more important for women than men? It’s simple: 80% of all men die married, while 80% of women are single when they pass away. To make matters worse, 50% of all women die broke.

Women need more than someone who charges them a fee to manage their investments. They need someone who can provide them with answers to tough questions, who can help them understand how their spouse’s financial situation applies to them, and how to address problems relating to taxes and inflation. 

On today’s episode, we’re talking about how an income plan helps tackle these challenges. We explore how women can get the financial education they need, craft a strategy to figure out where their money is coming from, and how to make sure it’s going to last.

In this podcast interview, you’ll learn: 

• Why running out of money in retirement is like running out of oxygen while climbing Mount Everest - and why it happens to 50% of women.
• The added costs women face in retirement when compared to men. 
• The average amount women need to save to cover out of pocket healthcare costs in retirement.
• What women need to know about Social Security and life transitions, including divorce.
• The value of Roth conversions. 
• Why you shouldn’t bother looking at the ups and downs of financial news every day. 
• How to build a risk budget.

Show Notes

To get access to today's show notes, including links to all the resources mentioned, visit TheRetirementTrainer.com/41

How Fit Is Your Retirement Plan?  We can help you manage your finances so you can pursue your goals. To learn more, visit EGSIFinancial.com

Staying in shape has a huge impact not just on your physical health, but your mental and financial health as well. If you want to make changes, you probably have some big questions: how do I get in shape? And what’s the connection between health and wealth?

Joining us to help answer these questions is Alex White, who is back for round 2 on the podcast! Alex is the co-founder of Peak Human Performance in Columbus, Ohio, where he creates customized private training plans for active people including nutrition coaching, mental performance, Pilates, weightlifting, and small group training.

Today, Alex and I are talking about the value of setting health and wealth goals, why it’s never too late to adopt good habits, and simple things you can do right now to have an immediate, dramatic, and positive impact on your life.

Sign up to the "7 Golden Nuggets" to Planning Your Physical Fitness - GET ACCESS TODAY!

In this podcast interview, you’ll learn: 

• Why our finances and our health go hand-in-hand.
• The value of tracking and monitoring your physical activity alongside your finances.
• How regular exercise and cardiovascular activity can boost your immune system and help you recover more quickly from illness.
• Why failure and loss are such powerful learning tools in business and in life.
• Easy steps you can take to improve your daily routine and transform your mindset.

Show Notes

To get access to today's show notes, including links to all the resources mentioned, visit TheRetirementTrainer.com/40

How Fit Is Your Retirement Plan?  We can help you manage your finances so you can pursue your goals. To learn more, visit EGSIFinancial.com

Every new year, people make resolutions to lose weight or just get in shape. 

So, what does that have to do with retirement? It’s simple: working out can be a stress reliever, can help us get healthier, and allows us to be more productive. And being healthier later in life gives us more time, strength, and energy to do all the things we said we were going to do before we retired.

Joining me today to talk about this is Alex White, co-founder of Peak Human Performance. Alex creates personalized, athletic-based approaches to training for people who live active lifestyles. If you want to live a happier, healthy, more active lifestyle, Alex’s training encompasses not just what you do in the gym or when you’re on a hike, but how you manage your sleep, nutrition, stress, and more. 

In this conversation, we discuss the importance of staying active in retirement, the power of purpose, and the mental and physical changes that happen when retirees (and those on the road to retirement) choose to make fitness an active part of their lifestyle.

Sign up to the "7 Golden Nuggets" to Planning Your Physical Fitness - GET ACCESS TODAY!

In this podcast interview, you’ll learn: 

• How 2020 rocked the fitness industry - and how retirees are staying active despite gyms and other facilities being closed down all over the world.
• The value of coaching in fitness (and almost everything).
• How to find motivation to exercise even if you absolutely hate hitting the gym.
• The power of setting goals and tracking key performance indicators in your fitness.
• Why the little things make the biggest differences in our finances and our health.

Show Notes

To get access to today's show notes, including links to all the resources mentioned, visit TheRetirementTrainer.com/39

How Fit Is Your Retirement Plan?  We can help you manage your finances so you can pursue your goals. To learn more, visit EGSIFinancial.com