0:01
Ever wonder what happens when passion
0:03
meets discipline in the world of
0:05
finance? Today's guests build Greenberg
0:08
Financial Group on those exact
0:10
principles and the results speak for
0:12
themselves. Stick around. This is going
0:15
to be a powerful conversation.
0:26
Hello everyone, Karen Glasser here and
0:28
today I am thrilled to sit down with
0:30
Dean Greenberg whose journey is a true
0:33
example of how vision, integrity and
0:35
hard work can create a lasting impact.
0:38
So Dean, welcome to the author
0:40
Thank you for having me, Karen.
0:42
Well, I am delighted. You have quite a
0:45
background and we're just going to be
0:47
touching on pieces of it. Um,
0:49
specifically, I'd like to just kind of
0:51
start at the beginning, not when you
0:53
were born, but you know, with Greenberg
0:55
Financial Group. So, take us back to the
0:57
beginning of that and what was the spark
1:00
that got it all started?
1:02
Well, I mean, the spark that got it
1:04
started was actually before that. Okay.
1:06
I was work working for a corporation in
1:08
New York named Ford Motor Company. And I
1:12
realized at that time what I needed for
1:15
myself in my journey of growth was not
1:17
to work for a corporation.
1:20
So it was it was one of those things and
1:22
I understand why people do it and you
1:24
know and I understand how you climb the
1:26
ladders and I understand the pension at
1:28
the end is the reward but it it wasn't
1:31
exciting to me. So I wanted to go into
1:33
something exciting. So at the time I
1:35
went back and got my MBA in in in uh um
1:38
finance and investments. Okay. And I
1:41
thought I'd always be on Wall Street
1:42
working. I thought that was going to be
1:44
what would excite me. So that's how I
1:48
And then how did Greenberg Financial
1:51
evolve though? Because it obviously
1:53
you're you're not on Wall Street.
1:55
Well, Greenberg Financial evolved out of
1:58
being what you called back as a stock
2:01
broker in the business. So in the 80s
2:04
when I was a stock broker, it was like
2:06
just selling stuff. And I and and I've
2:09
always said I'm the worst salesman in
2:11
the world because, you know, I don't
2:13
like to be sold. I don't like to sell
2:14
anybody. But what I like to do is
2:15
educate people and do things, but that's
2:17
not the way they were doing it. But it
2:19
all starts back in 1987 how we got to
2:22
Greenberg Financial Group. I was in
2:24
Atlanta working for a company called uh
2:27
JC Bradford. And it was 1987 that Monday
2:30
when the market crashed.
2:32
There were 600 some odd brokers in that
2:36
in that uh in the uh in the office in
2:38
the in the in the company and I was the
2:40
only one out of all of them that opened
2:42
up a new account that day and was a
2:45
buyer of stock and not a panicker of
2:48
I and one of the reasons was I was
2:51
always a strategist and I had cash so I
2:54
was buying. So the guy that opened the
2:56
account, he's the main subject here. He
2:59
came in, he gave me the 500,000. He We
3:02
ended up doing some other things to his
3:04
account and a week later they told me
3:06
all the stock that I owned was uh was I
3:10
never got it. I said, "What do you mean
3:12
I never got it?" They said, "Well, they
3:13
couldn't cross it in the back office
3:15
because back then when you did a billion
3:17
shares, they weren't prepared for it." I
3:19
said, "Okay, I I understand that, but I
3:22
think my client needs to be made whole
3:24
here." He came in, he paid for it, he
3:26
expects it, and IBM now, which was 106
3:30
or so, is now 140. He deserves to make
3:34
And so the next day I come in, they had
3:36
my box waiting for me and they fired me.
3:40
And so that was one of those things that
3:42
was a turning point in your life. And
3:44
what I realized was I hate didn't want
3:46
to be in the business anymore. Not
3:48
because I didn't like the business, but
3:50
because I didn't like the way they did
3:52
the business. I cared about the clients.
3:55
The clients came first and that's always
3:56
what I've always believed.
3:58
So it was the same time a lot of people
4:02
go through it in their in their early
4:03
30s that your turning point in your
4:05
life. You get fired, you get divorced.
4:07
You you you have nothing. You feel like
4:10
you just want to shoot yourself and you
4:12
say, "Oh, I don't want to do that. I got
4:13
to figure out a way to to do something."
4:16
I had friends that were in Tucson,
4:17
Arizona that I knew from high school
4:19
that were supposedly financial planners.
4:21
I moved out to Tucson, Arizona, and the
4:24
next thing I know, we're getting
4:25
involved with doing real estate. I
4:27
realized everything they were doing was
4:28
wrong. Everything they were doing was
4:30
wrong. And I told them, "Guys, this is
4:32
just going to get you in trouble. I'm
4:33
not going to do it." And they said,
4:35
"Well, what do you want to do?" I said,
4:36
"I've always had this idea about
4:38
managing money for a fee. Tell us."
4:41
Boom. We did it. We started managing
4:43
money for a fee. Everything I told them
4:46
happened. they got run out of the
4:48
business, sued out of the business, and
4:50
I then said, "I'm never letting anyone
4:52
take my my business away." And that's
4:55
You know what's important with all this
4:56
because there's a thread and things that
4:59
I've read about you and things that I've
5:00
read that you've said um from the very
5:04
beginning that education, discipline,
5:05
and integrity are at the heart of your
5:08
work. And just what you said, you you
5:11
stood up for a client. Um, and in turn,
5:14
it did not go well for you, but it looks
5:16
like it went very well for you because
5:17
you were able to pivot eventually. What
5:20
doesn't kill us makes us stronger. I I
5:23
it is true. And you don't know what your
5:25
journey is going to be,
5:26
The last thing I thought was a kid from
5:29
New York would be living in Tucson,
5:32
and loving it. You know what I'm saying?
5:34
And growing a business and doing the
5:36
things you want. But it's like in my
5:38
book, it's all about understanding who
5:40
you are and what you want and what makes
5:43
you tick and how you're going to get
5:45
Well, that's a great segue. Let's just
5:47
jump in, right? Let's jump into the
5:48
book. The book is called The Endgame.
5:52
And uh this is a cover. You can see it.
5:54
It's launching today. It's in the
5:57
bookstores. You can go and get it. It's
5:59
across the board. We put it up as
6:01
Kindle, but it's paperback. You can get
6:03
it in all different functionalities. But
6:04
let's talk about the endgame. What's it
6:08
Well, let's first look at the cover.
6:11
People are like, "What is that on
6:12
there?" Because if they're not sports
6:14
people, football people, they're like,
6:15
"That's kind of a weird looking cover,
6:17
in the endgame." Well, obviously it has
6:19
something to do with that. Well, that's
6:21
that's a football play. And why is that
6:24
important? It It's because I've been a
6:27
coach also for 25 years. Right.
6:30
That's one of the reasons I love doing
6:31
what I do in Arizona because it allows
6:34
me to also do something I love to do
6:36
because the markets close at 1, two
6:38
o'clock. I'm able to go at night and
6:39
coach kids and make them better. So, at
6:42
the end of the day, everything I do is
6:45
got a plan. You play a football game,
6:48
you have a game plan. If you're going to
6:50
be a financial advisor, you need to have
6:52
a game plan. So, the whole book is about
6:54
planning. And when the plan isn't
6:58
what do you do? In a football game, what
7:00
do you do? You change it,
7:01
You do in real life, you change it. So
7:03
many people won't change. They won't
7:05
accept what's going on because they
7:08
think they're a failure. And you have to
7:09
look at where you want to get to and
7:11
understand it's not a straight line. So
7:13
the endgame is about retiring, getting
7:15
to that part in retiring. And in the get
7:18
in the book, it's not about how you're
7:20
going to make the money or what you're
7:21
going to do, even though there are some
7:23
suggestions on how you get there, but
7:25
it's about understanding who you are,
7:28
what your partner wants, what you want
7:29
out of life. What do you want to do
7:31
those next 10, 20, 30 years of your
7:35
Why was it important to do this now? Why
7:38
I mean, why is the book coming out now?
7:41
The truth. I started this a while ago
7:44
because pretty much someone said you
7:46
should write a book and I don't know I
7:49
just left it there and then you know uh
7:52
my my wife is actually an author and I
7:54
and I finally looked down I said you
7:56
know what why don't you take this and
7:57
and co-write this with me and see what
7:59
we can do with this and go because I'm
8:04
like my wife told me when I first
8:06
started my radio show you're going to be
8:08
great because you're honest but your
8:10
English is horrible and your addiction
8:11
is worse and I don't know what we can do
8:13
with that, but I certainly can make sure
8:15
that you stay truthful to everybody
8:17
else. And so writing wasn't like my
8:20
specialty, but it is hers. So, we kind
8:23
of collaborated on the fact I gave her
8:25
what I wanted and she put it into like
8:27
the terms that the the person could
8:30
understand. And it comes from, I guess,
8:33
as I've gotten older and I see what's
8:35
going on, I can't help everybody
8:37
directly, but if they read this book, I
8:40
can help them indirectly because I talk
8:42
to them about how they should talk to
8:44
their financial advisors, what they
8:46
want. It's nothing about how much money
8:48
you're going to make me. It's all about
8:50
what, who, and what you are on an
8:52
individual basis and putting a plan
8:54
together that makes you happy and
8:58
stressless and allows you to live the
9:00
next 20, 30 years without worrying about
9:02
running out of money.
9:03
So, I I'm guessing that you believe in
9:05
uh this next line that I'm going to say
9:07
from Steven Cvy, begin with the end in
9:09
mind. Um, if if your clients or if
9:13
individuals don't know what they want at
9:15
the end of the day, it's going to be
9:16
pretty hard to make a plan. So
9:18
now most people don't know Karen, we
9:20
have to get it out of them,
9:22
I mean I I I I do have that ability and
9:25
I've taught my team like we've gone to a
9:27
whole team approach like I got younger
9:30
people. You have to have younger people
9:31
in order to keep the legacy of your
9:33
Don't talk to them like you're 30 years
9:35
old or 20 years old. Talk to them like
9:37
you understand them at 60, 70, 80 years
9:39
old. And that is the key. You need to
9:42
know what they're doing. You have to
9:44
know what their children are. You have
9:45
to know what's going on. taxes, social
9:47
security, Medicare, all those things to
9:50
be able to help somebody understand to
9:53
put together their plan. And you've got
9:55
to be able to talk to them. I've been
9:57
born with that. You know, God gives us a
9:59
budget. One of my bu things he gave me
10:01
was the ability to actually care about
10:03
others and be able to talk to them. Not
10:06
everybody can do that.
10:07
And so, you have to learn to be able to
10:09
do that so it doesn't come across a
10:12
How important is is that in the world of
10:15
finance? this skill, this superpower
10:18
that you have that so many people don't
10:20
have. I have to guess that's why you are
10:24
so successful is because people know you
10:27
100%. I've been doing a radio show for
10:30
35 years. What they hear on it is the
10:32
same thing they see when I come here.
10:34
You can't teach people to care, but if
10:36
you don't care, you're not going to be
10:38
very successful because or really like
10:41
the business because you're always going
10:42
to have to be building new
10:43
relationships. Everything's about
10:45
relationship building and you know
10:47
people go for sales classes. I tell them
10:50
go for relationship building classes,
10:52
Okay. If you learn how to build a
10:54
relationship and in our business, you
10:56
don't have to be super close or friends.
10:58
What you have to do is be able to listen
11:00
and understand and to be able to
11:02
communicate with them on what they want,
11:06
We say whiff it. What's in it for them?
11:08
Um what? So you you literally get into
11:10
their heads and you're not going to tell
11:12
them to do something that they they need
11:14
to know what direction to go in and
11:16
you're there to make that assistance.
11:18
Yeah. Well, with today's technology and
11:20
the programs we have, that's how anyone
11:22
can guide them through and start with
11:24
those questions. You know what I mean?
11:26
Because it's like what do you want to
11:27
do? What do you need to do? What's your
11:29
budgets? Uh when do you uh how much your
11:31
money you got coming in? You got to it
11:33
it's a lot of work to get to that point
11:36
and if people aren't willing to do that
11:38
the key is here it seems planning used
11:40
to be insurance people coming to you and
11:42
say let's do this plan and they all sell
11:46
that's why it didn't work right
11:47
now planning is about what you want as a
11:52
how you want to live your retirement and
11:54
then you back into how much money you
11:56
have and what is going to give you that
11:57
income stream it's all about income
12:00
stream when you retire it's not about
12:01
how much you can make if you have a high
12:03
net worth obviously you get a higher
12:05
income stream what kind of lifestyle do
12:09
and then are we able to do that for you
12:12
so you know I'm I'm assuming it it's
12:14
much easier to reach those goals if you
12:16
start sooner and and not later is it too
12:19
late for people that are in that the
12:21
golden years you know 60 70 to start
12:26
no their planning is different okay you
12:29
come to me and you're 70 years old Okay,
12:32
obviously you got what you have. Now,
12:34
how are we going to la make that last
12:35
for the next 20 25 years?
12:37
Their planning is who am I going to give
12:39
this money to. One of the big things I
12:41
do is, you know, because obviously
12:43
people that have wealth don't have to
12:47
worry about how they're going to live
12:48
dayto day, but what they want to do is
12:50
what am I going to do with my money,
12:52
I always talk to them about spending
12:53
their money while they're alive with
12:55
their children so they learn. If they
12:57
don't have Roth IAS, help the
12:59
grandchildren, the kids with Roth IAS.
13:02
If they if they're going to do you're
13:03
going to give them money, don't give
13:04
them money to pay off a credit card.
13:07
Give them the money as a down payment
13:08
for a house. Give them the money to
13:10
build start a business. Be part of that.
13:13
Mentor them. Be mentors to them while
13:15
you're alive instead of just giving a
13:17
millions of dollars later on and they're
13:20
I I I love that. And to go back to your
13:22
point about relationships, people do
13:24
business with people they know, like,
13:26
and trust. And so it doesn't matter if
13:28
they're not close to you, but if they
13:30
know you from an advertisement or a
13:32
radio show, a podcast, or from somebody
13:34
else, and they like you and they trust
13:36
you, they're going to do business with
13:37
you. I 100% I I have a wonderful
13:40
financial planner. Um, but I've had
13:42
multiples in the past that I just didn't
13:44
have that same fit. I found the person
13:47
who we knew cared about me and cared
13:49
about what our money could or could not
13:52
do. And he and I totally get that and I
13:54
know that you are that that person. So,
13:58
uh, you mentioned your podcast. I want
13:59
to let people know where they can like
14:01
listen live. They can listen why every
14:04
Sunday to you and your team from 8 to
14:07
10:00 a.m. on iHeart Radio or they can
14:10
listen to you anytime whenever they want
14:12
wherever they stream wherever they get
14:15
their streaming you know podcasts and
14:16
it's all over or they can go to your
14:18
website and we're going to put the link
14:20
down below in the comments so they can
14:22
just click on it and go check it out. So
14:24
what do you hope people take away from
14:26
this book? They read the book, they're
14:28
they're going to they're going to
14:29
obviously get a lot out of it, but what
14:31
is that one thing that you hope they
14:33
remember the the book isn't about
14:36
telling people how to make money,
14:38
The book is about people understanding
14:40
who they want and what they want versus
14:42
what they need. Okay? You always starts
14:44
with your needs and your wants, but then
14:46
it shows you how to plan stuff. And
14:48
again, tells you what you the type of
14:50
advisor really at the end of the day, it
14:52
tells you the type of advisor you need
14:54
to be with and talk to. And if your
14:56
advisor isn't doing that, you got to
14:58
find someone else that's going to do
14:59
that. That's kind of at the end of the
15:01
day what it's about. Um I I I a big
15:05
supporter of financial advisors that
15:07
work on fee business. Um I'm not about
15:10
people that are out there just trying to
15:12
make people money commissions here and
15:14
putting money in their pocket. That is
15:16
not a plan. A plan is someone that is
15:18
going to sit down and spend time with
15:20
you and review it year after year. And
15:23
then at the end, the one thing that we
15:25
do differently than others is we
15:27
actually do manage the money.
15:29
Okay? So, we put that whole plan
15:30
together. But I've been a money manager
15:32
since the 80s. I'm not giving it to
15:34
someone else so I can blame them when it
15:37
I want to be accountable because when
15:39
you're accountable, you can make the
15:40
changes you need to do to make it work.
15:42
Say Karen, you know, you got all these
15:44
things and all of a sudden you have a
15:45
health problem, right? You don't care
15:47
about how much more money you make. It's
15:49
like, how much money do I have that I
15:50
can pay for the things I need right now?
15:53
And we can and instantly change the
15:55
whole portfolio, the whole mix to be
15:57
able to help you what for your needs.
16:00
And that's what's really important. And
16:01
when you're dealing with outside people,
16:03
they can't do that. They, you know,
16:05
because everyone has has a mandate of
16:07
what they have to do.
16:09
So I think I think we kind of answered
16:10
the question of what happens when
16:13
passion and discipline in the world of
16:15
finance meets. We get Dean Greenberg.
16:19
You are the epitome of what I would hope
16:23
everyone would strive to be and and so I
16:26
thank you for that. I also want to thank
16:28
you for coming on the show. Um if you
16:32
have questions for Dean, put them in the
16:33
comments down below. We're all over the
16:35
place. It's being streamed everywhere.
16:36
So put them in the comments. We'll make
16:38
sure that Dean gets them. If you have
16:40
any questions for him, I'm sure he'd be
16:42
happy to respond. Um and we just want to
16:44
thank you, Dean, for sharing your
16:46
I just want to end with this. Okay.
16:49
The biggest reason people don't want to
16:50
go there, there's, let's put it this
16:52
way, 75% of people say they need a plan,
16:55
only 32% of people actually have a plan.
16:58
Why? They're afraid they don't have
17:00
enough. They're afraid they're going to
17:02
be embarrassed. They're afraid that they
17:03
don't understand what they actually
17:05
have. Put that fear away and start
17:07
today. Because if you don't plan today,
17:09
that plan just gets harder and harder as
17:11
you get closer to where you're going to
17:13
You heard it here first, everyone. Go
17:15
out, give somebody an awesome day, and
17:17
we'll see you next time on the author's
