69. Shifting Gears: Emmanuel Gambrah On The Entrepreneurial & Mindset Journey From Car Detailer to Financial Advisor

Episode 69: Richard Di Biase and David Moskowitz are joined with guest Emmanuel Gambrah. From starting his own car washing and detailing business in his neighbourhood, to becoming a financial advisor today,  Emmanuel Gambrah has a unique perspective on career shifts and financial planning. He joins us for an engaging conversation where we peel back the layers of financial planning for first responders and those wanting to leave their 9 to 5, the need for an entrepreneurial mindset, and the unexpected challenges of being your own boss.  Emmanuel sheds light on the misconception of financial security in a pensioner's life and the importance of constructing a roadmap for a successful financial future and how he overcame obstacles as a business owner.

Emmanuel also shares his passion for law enforcement and entrepreneurship. Listen as we explore the inherent entrepreneurial potential in police officers, the crucial role of interpersonal skills, and the empowering influence of his parents. If you've ever felt unsupported in your entrepreneurial journey, Emmanuel's triumph against the odds will resonate deeply with you.

In this episode we also talk about his transition from entrepreneurialism to law enforcement, something different for the MWMS. We also learn how to overcome hurdles, his mindset and leveraging connections. Get ready for a deep dive into financial planning and entrepreneurship.

Emmanuel Gambrah can be found at:
https://poplme.co/egambrah
Instagram: @_frontlinefinancial
https://www.linkedin.com/in/gambrahowusu/

Transcript

Speaker 1: 0:14

Alright, welcome everyone to another fine edition of the Making Waves Mindset show.

Speaker 2: 0:19

Welcome, welcome. Here we are once again. So if you're listening to our show for the first time, thanks for joining. We have a fantastic show ahead of us today, but if you've been following us along with our journey, make sure to subscribe to this episode. Subscribe to the other episodes, just subscribe to the page, and if you're following us and you're enjoying it, please share, share, share. If you don't enjoy an episode, share it anyways. You never know who you can inspire. And we lost Richard. What happened? Oh no, we can just go without it. Screw it. No, I forgot why we lost Richard. Richard got booted out. But, as I was saying, if you are subscribing, watch us. And if you want to hear us on any other podcast show Spotify, apple, all the other ones please subscribe to those. Let's figure out what's going on with Richard, see if we can get Richard back here. Guys, there we are, richard.

Speaker 1: 1:28

First time in our show history. I'm in it. It just closed. I was like what?

Speaker 3: 1:36

Thanks for joining your podcast, yeah.

Speaker 2: 1:39

So we have Richard DB Aussie here. Welcome to the podcast, Richard what do we do?

Speaker 1: 1:45

Dave, you want to do that again? I'll play the bloopers, but no.

Speaker 2: 1:48

Let's just continue with it. Let's continue with it. Yeah, so welcome back Richard, dave.

Speaker 1: 1:54

So this is the show where we talk about mindset. This is where you have an opportunity to learn the entrepreneurial journey, and both Dave and I have left the nine to five and we want to talk about the ugly side of being your own boss. The entrepreneurial space is not all Ferraris. It's not all high-end cars and yachts in Miami every day. There is a lot of work that goes into it and, unlike most on social media, we're going to talk about that because it is important. You need to have the entrepreneurial mindset and the passion to keep going, even when the waters are rough. So, dave, you did your little thing, I did.

Speaker 2: 2:29

I did. Well, we have our MIA for a bit, but we did it.

Speaker 4: 2:34

That's okay, we did it.

Speaker 2: 2:35

We got through it. We're talking about podcasts, we're talking about YouTube. We're talking about Emmanuel today, and we are thrilled and honored to be in the presence of Emmanuel today, Gabra who is joining us for the first time on our show and who's going to share his journey, his story and who he is as a person. So welcome, Welcome, Emmanuel. Thank you for coming.

Speaker 3: 3:02

Thank you, david, thank you guys for having me on your show. So yeah, my name is Emmanuel Gambra, you can see below. You can find me on Instagram at underscore all front line financial, and essentially what the page is about is we provide comprehensive financial solutions for members of Ontario emergency services, whether you're a civilian or a uniform member, as a firefighter, police officer, paramedic and whatnot. Yeah, we provide services helping clients understand the benefits of their providers. If you're with OMERS or with your pension plan, we kind of help people kind of plan around that you know, if their spouse is working in a different industry, how to help them reduce their taxes and get them in a position where they can focus on their future goals.

Speaker 1: 3:52

This is a great topic, emmanuel, because we know a lot of first responders and those who might not be in the first responder space are not very good with money per se and understanding how to build that roadmap of entering the entrepreneurial space.

Speaker 1: 4:07

Like the common thing I think Dave and I always hear is well, I don't want to be my own boss because I have a pension. You know, I have these great benefits and Dave and I roll our eyes when we hear that because we all know like it's not a really good pension. The benefits aren't so great, but they need to get into the mindset of how can they be set for our financial future and so having you on is going to be great and trying to break some of that ice and then building a roadmap to having that cash flow, have the emergency reserve funds and then being prepared to enter entrepreneurial ship. Let's dive back to how you got into this role and I think you wanted to share with us some of your stories of where you came, what you did to get to be where you are today.

Speaker 3: 4:51

Yeah, absolutely so. I strongly believe that there's always two types of advisors in this industry those that wanted to be an advisor and then those that somehow just ended up being advisors, and I think that's me, my story.

Speaker 2: 5:15

We are having technical difficulties.

Speaker 4: 5:17

today we need one of those like two hours later I can all insert that Did. I get cut out.

Speaker 2: 5:26

But, don't worry, we're having a day of technical issues.

Speaker 3: 5:29

It's all good, it's all good. Where did you guys hear me?

Speaker 2: 5:33

last we heard you saying hi, my name is Emmanuel, you just got started. You just got started.

Speaker 1: 5:44

You're just getting started, the two kinds of advisors.

Speaker 3: 5:48

Yeah, so there's, I believe there's two kinds of advisors those that wanted to be an advisor and that just kind of ended up being in this industry. And I feel like that was myself, because my story actually started. I was washing cars. I was working at a car dealership for a bit after college. I just graduated police foundations and you know, I just kind of looking to do something different before. I was kind of looking to get onto a service somewhere and I wanted to be in a position where I was cleaning cars. For some reason I was just kind of fascinated with that. Ended up here I get cut out again.

Speaker 1: 6:31

Yeah, a little, that's okay. So you're working at the dealership post college and Did I get cut out again? Yes, yes.

Speaker 3: 6:41

Yes.

Speaker 1: 6:43

You were talking about working at the dealership after college.

Speaker 3: 6:47

Yeah, so I was working at the dealership. I didn't actually end up washing cars, I was actually the law attendant, so I was the one, you know, making the parking lot look very fancy, taking the cars. But then, after I did start washing cars at the dealership and I realized, wow, you know, they're charging $250 for this package. And here I am working, for I think it was at the time like 16 bucks an hour for the full day and I started to think myself, like what if I started to explore an opportunity where I could do that for myself, right? So, surely enough, I went to Canadian Tire when this kind of was kind of sitting on my mind. I bought like some random car cleaning supplies, probably the lowest quality materials, and then I just started knocking on doors I had a little shop back.

Speaker 3: 7:43

Yeah, I had a little shop back with me and you know I went up to people and knocked on the door and said, hey, you know, like I'm providing this service, like, would you like your car wash in your driveway? And then they'd be like oh, yeah, sure. And then I'd say, by the way, I don't have any water with me, so can you pull out your hose?

Speaker 3: 8:01

And then after, you know, let's start washing their cars. So from there I actually ended up partnering with a guy who's local. What he was doing was he was wrapping cars and you know it was kind of my interest. I'm like, hmm, if I partner with this guy, maybe everyone he brings in that's, you know, getting their car wrapped, they can get a car detail Right.

Speaker 3: 8:24

And then, after we partnered together, we had a little shop by Pearson Airport. But it was nothing that I imagined. It was a greasy truck repair shop just in the back. You're only paying $500 a month for it, love it, love it. But you know it started to get me going because I'm like, wow, like you know, now I'm making what the dealership was making. Right now I don't have to stay for a full day, I could take a couple days off. But you know, if I work a little bit harder at this maybe I can get a little further.

Speaker 3: 8:59

So we were in a little strip plaza and, funny enough, our neighbors was a collision repair center. So saw you know a list of services that they provided. And I saw car detailing and I saw we're in for it because their business was, you know, set up nice. They had a whole bunch of customers, recurring customers, coming in and you know to go up to the owner one day and say, hey, you know we're kind of trying to start our car detailing thing over here and I understand that you know you guys are also providing that service. Is there an opportunity for us to work together?

Speaker 3: 9:36

Nice, and he said, wow, that's crazy that you ask, because he actually just got a lease for the unit next door, completely empty. Wow, and he said I will provide you guys all the materials, we'll do all the advertising, you guys do the work and you guys can split 50%. So we're each making 25%. We put no money into it. And, yeah, like people just saw my journey, right, people were watching this happen. You know, knowing me as a little kid growing up, a lot of people were in the background. And I think in business you know there's going to be a lot of times where you're starting out very small and not many people are going to understand your journey. And, funny enough, my friend who got me the job at the car dealership he was working with me on the side for a little bit and you know, I guess he didn't really see the vision that I had. So sometimes when I would align some you know business to kind of go clean people's cars, he wouldn't show up.

Speaker 4: 10:43

Right.

Speaker 3: 10:44

So sometimes I would lose business or I was left on my own. But now when I was in a position where, wow, I had this shop, it was built for me, you know like we got to put in a lot of work. It was really nice. We had high-end cars coming in and I remember one time he messaged me. He was like oh, like, where's my cut?

Speaker 3: 11:01

You know, oh, like knocking on your door and I'm like you know, I kind of had to leave you behind to move forward. Good for you, good yeah. So later into my car detailing experience, I started to realize that, you know, this is much harder than just working a job. I have to put in countless amount of hours. I remember my parents even telling me, you know, maybe you should go get a job again. And you know I didn't let that discourage me, I kept going for it. And you know, eventually I realized that. You know, it was great, but my business partner also ended up being very lazy, right.

Speaker 1: 11:47

But back to when I said See man, you know what I love about this here. For Dave and I, this is the personal grit, perseverance and resiliency of a story that we love on our show. You went from door knocking. You probably had a thousand nos, but you kept going.

Speaker 3: 12:04

I loved in those.

Speaker 4: 12:05

Yeah.

Speaker 1: 12:06

See, this is what we want to hear. So let's come back, because a lot of people don't understand what to do after the first know. They get like analysis paralysis. They are paralyzed in their inability to continue to go forward. So what was that mindset for you? When someone said, no, I don't want your services today Because people freeze, they're like, ok, I'm done, I can't do this anymore.

Speaker 3: 12:29

Yeah, Well, really what I had in mind was my parents. My father was self-employed his entire life. I've never seen him work for anyone, ever. So I think for some people, when they're thinking about becoming an entrepreneur, they don't really have anyone to see that, wow, they did it, they can do it. So I think for my father, seeing how hardworking he was for himself, I knew that it was something that I could do. That's kind of what drove me. But also on the other side, I saw that there was more for me to do to benefit the future of my future family or whatnot. And with those people closing the door on me, I enjoyed it because it let me get to the next step much quicker.

Speaker 3: 13:24

I knew at some point somebody was going to say yes and that would give me an opportunity, let's say, maybe even to buy more materials, because that's what was motivating me.

Speaker 3: 13:36

I knew that if I were to get more yeses through the nose, I'd be able to purchase more materials and just expand, and that's really what happened. So along the way I lost some friends. In the moment it's tough, but I think in the end of it you start to attract more people who are actually encouraging you to do more. And that's what happened. There were people in the background, like I said, who were watching this, and I had a friend who I grew up with as I was younger and he was a financial advisor and that's who was watching me in the background, saying, well, this kid has some drive right and this doing a lot for himself, and, you know, kind of approached me I think it was probably over a year, wanting to talk to me about maybe transitioning to work in financial services, and I absolutely was not interested until the point where car detailing was very taxing on the body.

Speaker 3: 14:45

Some people wanted their cars done like very fast right, and you know I'm a person that loves to produce quality and I don't think I was able to keep up with that kind of demand in that industry. So, you know, I kind of kept an open mindset and I think as an entrepreneur, that's something that you should always have, because one business might lead to another business, which might lead to another business right, and there's so many transferable skills right, especially for coming to the law enforcement community or first responders. There's so many transferable skills that I have as an officer, as a paramedic, as a firefighter, that you can put into a business like. Imagine how much success you could achieve with the amount of hours you put into your job.

Speaker 2: 15:40

I was having this discussion with an officer the other day. He's been on the department in Toronto. He's been on for, I think, about 14. He's almost halfway there. So he's. And I said to him, because he's got interest in business outside of policing, so he has a, he has a company does mortgage-brokering, brokerage, and he's got interest in in a couple of the things that he wants to do. So I said to him well, what's stopping you? And he goes oh, I don't, I don't have business skills. And I said don't diminish what you've learned as a police officer for the last 14 years.

Speaker 3: 16:16

You have those skills.

Speaker 2: 16:18

Yeah, you have those skills. You have people skills. Which is probably the most important thing when you're in business is people skills right. Being able to understand people and talk to people and relate to people and see them on their own ground and treat them like human beings right, that's, that's probably one of the most important. So if you have that skill, everything else is easy. You have negotiation skills. You have time management skills, right? These are all different things that some people, when they're in the bubble of policing, they don't consider a learnt or even gained skill. They just look at it as oh, this is the course of my job and this is just what I do, and it's just a job.

Speaker 2: 16:54

No, no, you spent 14 years doing stuff. Those are great skills and, if anything, you learn report writing. I wanted to. I wanted to just go back for a second and and just sort of pick your mind on the hardest thing that an entrepreneur goes through, which is the nose right and when they're trying to validate. So your story, you're trying to validate your car wash business by knocking on doors and getting those nose. What in your brain when you forgot you know, five doors in and you had five nose, what was your mindset other than you know, considering your father motivation in the back, what was your mindset? To say, okay, hold on a second, there's five people that just said no to me. What's gonna validate this business? What was? What was that mindset going in, so that you can get into that, saying okay, if I get to a hundred doors and hundred people say no, I'm out. Or if I get to a thousand doors and a hundred thousand people say no, I'm out, what was your plan going into that?

Speaker 3: 18:05

well, I first off, I think the main thing that I struggled with probably the most was support from family and friends. I feel like that was very tough. A lot of people didn't understand my vision. People would often, you know, question why it is. I did what I did and I feel like, you know, that can be a little bit devaluing when you know there's people that you look up to that you're hoping will kind of support your, your drive and your ambition to kind of succeed. Right, the lonely journey, mm-hmm, but I feel like for an entrepreneur that's that's only an initial stage, right.

Speaker 3: 18:50

Going back to what I do now, kind of how I segue into serving the first responder community is I've been in the industry for five years as an advisor and the first couple years are always hard and it was hard to find clients. Initially I wanted anybody to be my client, right, great compensation plan. You know you're looking to help people. You have a really good intentions, but it was kind of hard to find that person that I wanted to work with, right, I reached out to family and friends. They didn't want to sit down with me, right, and you know I had, I feel like every reason to quit. You know I've probably thought about quitting so many different times. Right, but at the same time I still had a goal in mind. I thought. You know my parents worked very hard for you know what they've accomplished, you know what their children, just seeing from where we grew up, where we ended up now my brother play soccer in Portugal my sister's speech pathologist in Edmonton and I'm a special constable now with the service and the GTA.

Speaker 3: 20:02

I think they really set out aside their challenges to get us where we want to be.

Speaker 3: 20:09

So I remember there was at some point I was thinking, you know, who is it exactly that I can help? And I looked through my phone contacts and I'm like, I'm gonna find the majority, like the most common denominator in my contacts and I realized that over 60 percent of the people my contacts were people in law enforcement. Right, I said, wow, like, maybe this is who I should start connecting with, maybe this is who I should start reaching out to. And I did, and it still didn't work, right, it was. It was still very tough, right.

Speaker 3: 20:49

But you know what I went with it and over time I think I started to see people who weren't believers become believers. Right, they start to see that you know what, like, he's still going for it and maybe I'm gonna ask him a question about something. I'm gonna test to see what he knows. So people would start asking me well, imagine, what should I do? Like, should I get an RSP or should I get a TfSA? And I say, well, you know it depends, right, let's sit down, talk about yours financial situation, let's see what's the best plan for you, right?

Speaker 3: 21:23

And I think people were surprised with my responses. You know, oftentimes it maybe just get a general response because you know, oh, do this, do that. Or the water cooler conversations, right, like people at work, you know saying that oh, my cousin told me to do this, right. I feel like once they softened their hearts to what I was doing, they started to realize that, you know, I was actually giving valuable advice and it kind of built a referral work from there. Right, people started reaching out to me and, yeah, that was great.

Speaker 1: 21:59

So well, good for you. This is that's, the excitement of having a vision, pushing through it despite all the roadblocks and even having, you know, previous business partners and you know, they want to do their own thing. You're stuck on your own and you're trying to solve these problems like. It shows the true resilience that you have to get where you are, and that's what's incredible yeah, there's.

Speaker 2: 22:21

There's a great speech by Tyler Perry. I don't know if you heard it.

Speaker 3: 22:27

Let me play it real quick this is one at the University, I think so yeah there are people who come in your life, sometimes to be there for a season.

Speaker 4: 22:42

They weren't meant to be there always. Sometimes we find ourselves hooked up with people that we like are there for a lifetime, but they were only supposed to be there for a season. There are people who come in your life like boosters go rockin. If you ever watch a rocket go into space, the boosters fall off and it reaches the third altitude. Some people are not equipped to handle the altitudes that you're going to, so don't be afraid, when they fall off, they're not bad people.

Speaker 2: 23:13

They just don't know where you're going when you're telling that story about your friend, right, those, those I once. I heard that a couple months ago. It rings in my head all the time because it is his words in relation to referencing. You know spaceship and referencing, you know going up higher and and falling off and it's not.

Speaker 2: 23:39

They're not bad people next level yeah, they're just couldn't keep up with you. And this is where your friend, yeah, couldn't see your vision. He couldn't see that you were starting something bigger and better and moving forward. And there's a so many people like that. But I was having a conversation with a count of last night and he said, because he works with a lot of large businesses across Canada nationwide in his accounting firm, but he goes, he goes. I give you credit as an entrepreneur, you're a different breed. And he says entrepreneurs don't think like everyone else. Entrepreneurs take risks and are willing to take those risks and are comfortable in those risks that they take and look at those risks as potential.

Speaker 2: 24:29

And opportunities, and opportunities and the abilities to grow, rather than them as risks, whereas the other people, like your friend who comfort zone? Yeah, he wasn't in it to win it, he was there just to see how far he can go and couldn't get to that same level as you. Yeah.

Speaker 1: 24:53

Yeah. So, emmanuel, for that individual, because they're showcaters to those who are thinking of leaving policing or the nine to five, because they might not be a first responder or somebody who is maybe very early on in that journey. What piece of advice could you share to that individual to help prepare them for that exit or that early entrance into the nine to five? And, of course, in the future, we'd love to have you back so we can have more in depth advanced intermediate conversations as the show grows. As we're now in the third season I don't know if you knew so there's great opportunity to get really detailed even in the future. Right now. That beginning entrepreneur what can we do to prepare?

Speaker 3: 25:33

I would definitely say plan. You know there's many stories of people who kind of just kind of took risk and went for it all at once. But you know, the case is not everyone is going to achieve success in that manner, right. So I would definitely say plan right. For people who are police officers specifically, you know you're putting into your own suspension for several years. Sure that you know what. Are you going to be taking the money to a locked in retirement account? How much money are you going to have available to you, let's say, in your emergency fund? How are you going to sustain yourself during this time? You're pursuing entrepreneurship, right? The bills still have to be paid, right. So maybe it's, you know, for some people doing enough pay duties, so they have enough money to maybe be even encouraged enough to take that leap.

Speaker 3: 26:36

Right, and I would say the most important thing would be to speak to someone in the industry you want to get into. That is very important, right? There's a lot of businesses that came out of other businesses, right. So you have to look at, you know, pizza stores, for example. One came from the other, you know, because somebody laughed and they started something. So make sure you have someone who is going to be a mentor to you and is going to guide you through what you're going to be doing. Don't just go in blind. I think it's wise to kind of know the people that you're going to be serving.

Speaker 2: 27:16

Right.

Speaker 3: 27:17

So, for example, when I was part of the owners that we partnered with, he was someone who was very motivating Right. He was a user mentor. He was very encouraging, right. You want someone who is going to be supportive, and it's crazy because the people who are most supportive are not your family and friends for some people Right.

Speaker 3: 27:42

So that's an important thing to do in your planning. And emergency funds are very important. I'll just touch on that a little bit. But generally what I recommend for clients is that they have about six months worth of expenses and an account that's liquid. I mean they can access it fairly easily with the hopes of it. You know growing past inflation, so year after year, your money is actually not losing its purchasing power. It's maintaining its value and that, yeah, you have enough to cover you over a period of time.

Speaker 3: 28:22

And you know, for those officers, firefighters, paramedics that are married and have a spouse, before you quit your job, speak to your spouse about it, don't just tell them that you put in your paperwork and you're leaving. Have a conversation with them, you know, see where their mindset is on it, see how they can support you with that, because it's likely going to be a very emotional roller coaster Right, like a lot for a lot of people in law enforcement or emergency services. Like we love to kind of support the community and be there, and when you kind of step away from that, from being there for a long time, it can be kind of nerve wracking Right, and that's why I love serving the community that I have is because there's a lot of similar conversations we get to talk about. Different calls are on and when you're no longer in that environment you can kind of feel like you know, did I make a mistake, right? Like should I go back? Right, so you really want to see kind of where you are within your career and maybe it might not even be stepping away all at once, right, so you might be doing something casually or part time and working yourself up to it, kind of like myself.

Speaker 3: 29:41

I think I kind of did it backwards. I think for you guys. You talk about a lot of people leaving enforcement. I was in business joined enforcement as a special console, so I'm not leaving yet. I'm actually looking to get a little bit further and get on with the police service in the future. But yeah, I think when you're doing it backwards and the other way planning beyond the expense of a business and speaking to family and things like that getting support in the mentor is very important.

Speaker 1: 30:15

I like that you're going into it because this is a first for us. On the show, dave I can't recall anybody else kind of doing a reverse role and I do a coaching service where I talk about building confidence and empowering people, and a common conversation is the need to fulfill this life goal. This need to fulfill, want to do it. I've always wanted to do it and I commend you for it's a bucket list. I want to be a police officer, I want to be a constable, I want to do this. You're going to do it and I commend you for not giving up. Yes, you're still an entrepreneur and you're going to pursue that while you continue your career. But you're going to say you did it and whether or not you're there for you know more than two, three, four, five years, that's okay, but you did it and then you can go on to the next chapter in life. It's funny.

Speaker 1: 31:02

There's an individual I'm working with and wasn't policing, didn't really have a financial plan, was big into fitness and we had recent conversations where he's like I'm thinking I have to go back. You know he's kind of panicking because he's blown through the budgeting or whatever. I kind of don't think there maybe was a budget in this situation. But my advice to him was like listen, you've made this decision, commit to this decision and go 120,000 million percent into it. You have to stick with your goal and your ambition, and he does incredible work. I see his stuff. I'd like to get him on the show one day. And at the end of the day it's don't give up on what you committed to here. So don't fall back on that because there wasn't the planning or maybe you didn't budget. Figure it out and make it work. You're already here. You've left. Don't go back, because you're never now going to restart that goal. You know you've left for a reason, so just push through and make it happen.

Speaker 3: 31:59

Yeah, and that's the thing I feel like if you haven't planned properly, you leave your job and then you go work. Then you start experiencing all this negativity and then you start questioning yourselves hey, maybe I should go back. And then you do go back, and then when that courage to become an entrepreneur comes again, it's very hard to leave again. It's almost excruciating pain that you're feeling because you know what's coming for you, right, and you might not believe that You're going to get your report sent back to you.

Speaker 3: 32:35

You're going to get your report sent back.

Speaker 2: 32:38

You know, entrepreneurship is not easy. It's not easy to be in your own business, it's not easy to run your own business. If it was easy, everyone would do it. Right? It's very relatable to working out. If it was easy, everyone would do it. There's a point when you're working out and you're running on a treadmill, running outside lifting weights, where you're just like, okay, I could do one more rep of this, I can go a little more faster on the treadmill, I can do another hour of working out, or I could just give up. And it's the people who decide to push through that wall who are very successful entrepreneurs. And to give up once you've already committed means that you'll never go back to that. Or if you do, it's going to be excruciating right and everyone understands that from working out right, whether your goal was to lose weight, whether your goal was to gain muscle. Once you stop, it's hard to get back on that treadmill.

Speaker 1: 33:47

Yeah, that's so true, and that's something that we've shared, even recently on the show is my journey right?

Speaker 1: 33:52

We talk about the downs on the Make your Ways Mindset show because I've run into so many roadblocks and if I had just given up we wouldn't be here. But it's having to push forward and you have to be a different breed, you have to be stubborn. That's probably why I'm a Taurus, so you got the Taurus scopers out there. You have to have a little stubbornness and you just to keep going. You have to brick and climb that wall or break through it to make it happen, emmanuel.

Speaker 1: 34:18

So the other thing that's a great topic and I've helped some people with pension advice who have left. What can you say for those who they want to package out early? Because a lot of people don't understand this. They're like, yeah, but I lose my pension. I'm like you don't lose your pension, you've already contributed to your pension and if you resign you get your pension. You have that. It stays locked in and in Canada it's stuck there until you're 65. It can be accessed, for there's a few unique reasons. You can take it out Very complicated, very complicated, but you can do that. So I've helped so many people in giving them advice of where to put their pensions I don't want to take away your thunder, but what would you advise somebody to plan for that? Because there are multiple avenues and there are ways to still grow that wealth even though you've left policing.

Speaker 3: 35:11

Yeah, well, yeah, so. So, like you said, not to speak about any pension provider in specific, we have clients that you know have various pension providers, like I mentioned earlier. But prior to you retiring, when you're leaving your employer, that money, like you said, it's going to be locked in, and locked in retirement accounts can be called a lira. It's a whole bunch of different accumens for a lot of these accounts. But something that you want to consider whether you're going to be leaving early, where you're going to be staying, and you get that option to either commute your pension, which means you can take it, or you can leave it with the prevention that pension provider and continue the benefits of having that monthly income. Something that you're going to want to consider is the health benefits that they might come with the COLA, which is the cost of living adjustments, which is basically your pensions going to be indexed to inflation throughout that course, and as well as how much you've actually contributed to your pension. Right, because some people think that you know I'm being taxed so much, you know the pension is taking so much money, but what they don't realize is when you retire, you're actually hopefully you live, you know, a long life To enjoy your pension Right to enjoy your pension. But let's say you're contributing, you know that $10,000 a year, for example, over the next 30 years, only about $300,000 that you put into that pension right, and you're getting much more out of it when you retire, right. But that's obviously if you stay the full course, you know of your career and you qualify for your pension.

Speaker 3: 37:09

But if you're leaving earlier there's very few options to kind of just access that money and spend it. You're not going to be able to spend the whole night. You're going to have to wait for that vesting period, I'd say until you're 65, in order to access those funds, and then it will turn into a locked in income fund sorry, life income fund where then you would start receiving benefits. There are some cases where you can access a portion of those funds pre-retirement, but those are obviously subject to taxes and you kind of want to plan that accordingly. If you're leaving your job, you might not want to take that cash portion in the same year where you've already worked the full year's worth of work, because then you're just increasing your tax liability. You want to kind of position it in a way where now, next year, where you're no longer working, you have that money and then you're being taxed as if that's your year's worth of income, right? So that's something that would be important to consider.

Speaker 1: 38:14

Yeah, this is a great episode. We have a lot of first responders who again it's the conversation of there's more to life than policing or law enforcement find a passion, do something. They all think when they hit that golden years of service right, dave? That all that money is going to support them, they're going to be living the luscious life, the beaches it's like nope. 99.9% of the people Dave and I know are all hitting the head with a brick and realizing I have to work at a grocery store, I have to shuttle cars for a dealership, because they think that staying in this job they may or may not like, but most of them have been a little jaded. They're going to support them and it doesn't. So it's having these conversations, like you say, understanding, speaking to an expert like you that can position yourself for a successful future. Don't heavily rely on that. Seek an expert like Emmanuel to get you where you want to be, especially if you want to move on and plan your business life outside of law enforcement or in the night to five.

Speaker 3: 39:18

Funny enough, when I was working back at the car dealership, they had the shuttle drivers that would drive clients who were leaving the cars for getting fixed, and those guys were actually former police officers. I know they were tired and I remember them telling their story and they mentioned that, yeah, you know here, for you know the extra bit of money and yeah, because they hit them like a sack of hammers there.

Speaker 1: 39:49

You know, oh, my pension's amazing, my benefits are amazing. Then they retire and realize I have to work still. Yeah, you, I don't know why you stayed to the end, just oh, anyways, it's a whole other conversation.

Speaker 3: 40:02

Yeah, emmanuel, is there anything?

Speaker 1: 40:04

Oh sorry, go ahead.

Speaker 3: 40:07

Yeah, I said, there's a lot more to retirement than the money you get, and you know what. It really depends on your lifestyle, right? You're used to making, let's say, $107,000 a year. Now you're getting only a portion of that from your pension, which can be good, right, but some people might not realize that. Okay, in retirements, yeah, my kids are older but my health is deteriorated, so now a lot of money is going to my health and it should be going to, you know, those beach vacations, right? So you really got to be weary and aware of those things pre-retirement, right, so that you can plan for those things. And yeah, in retirement, you want to know am I actually, am I going to be working a second job, right? Because that's also going to affect your tax liability, right? You're getting a pension. You're getting, let's say, your old age security, your CPP, and then now you're working another job, you might actually be putting yourself in a higher tax bracket than when you were working which is kind of not the purpose.

Speaker 3: 41:15

You're supposed to be saving money in retirement right, Not paying more money in taxes.

Speaker 1: 41:20

Retirement-less though. So, emmanuel, as we wrap up the show, do you have any kind of general overview, great advice that we can offer to anybody looking to leave and what they can do from a financial perspective?

Speaker 3: 41:36

Yeah. So from a financial perspective, what I would say is you know a lot of people go to advisors and you know they're seeking for advice. Whether you reach out to me or someone else, what I would say is look for someone who has the heart of a teacher. Right, your advisor should be teaching you how things work, not just telling you what to do. Right, and that's really what I want from my clients. I want them to kind of understand at the level that I understand right how things work.

Speaker 3: 42:15

And what's important is having an emergency fund. You know, investment industry can be very predatory when you have money to work with, especially your pension. So be very cautious if you're going to be taking your pension early or sorry, not taking it early, but if you're going to be leaving your employer and locking your pension where you're putting that money right, make sure that it's not being, you know, feed to the point where you're losing more than you would have gained. And, yeah, have an emergency fund. That's very important. That's going to sustain you, because your employer is not going to cover your car breaking down on the highway, right? Things like that can really derail you. So that's very important.

Speaker 3: 43:05

And, you know, for the people with that entrepreneurial mindset I'd say surround yourself with people who understand your vision, who want to see you do better. And, you know, set a vision board. I have a vision board of you know different goals that I have. Here's somewhere in your room. I have a vision board of you know different goals that I have that I want to accomplish and you'd be so fascinated when you see it might not be a year or two for now, but you'd be so fascinated when you see that you know, when you focus on something you start to, you know produce that drive to make those things come true and you know, it really does help, so that's very important yeah.

Speaker 1: 43:52

Emmanuel, it's funny, you talk about the vision board. So yesterday I had a chance to speak to two individuals who were in this, like they were younger, entering the academic space, you know, and I explained like a vision board. They were completely clueless, they didn't know what the hell I was talking about. One of them was so pressured to become a dentist from their parents I'm like, but what do you want to do? And it was just this blank stare.

Speaker 1: 44:15

So I said listen, do you know what a vision board is? No, I have an episode for you. So on the Making a Wave show, we did an episode, episode 36, if you go back, everyone, I did a whole recording on how to do a vision board, how to set it up and why it's important, and explaining it to this young mind was just like an explosion. He's like, yeah, so you have all these sections, these headings, I can have images that come into play and I'm like, I'm telling you it's going to work magic. You're going to see it every day, have it in your office, your bedroom, wherever you need it, so you can see it and remind yourself of why you're doing what you're doing. So, yeah, that literally was not even 12 hours ago. This conversation happened and the episode what I say? 32, 36 something, yeah, it's on there. Episode 36, the Making Waves Minds the Show. So great advice, emmanuel. Well, thank you for coming on. Where can our listeners and viewers find you?

Speaker 3: 45:07

So you can find me on Instagram. That's at underscore frontline financial. You can also find me on LinkedIn, which is Manu's, uganda. My LinkedIn is private. Usually I connect with people in the law enforcement community, but definitely feel free. A lot of my business card links are on my Instagram page. You can find me over there. Perfect, wonderful.

Speaker 2: 45:32

Amazing.

Speaker 1: 45:34

Well, everyone, thank you for coming to this amazing episode. We appreciate Emmanuel for being here and we'd love to have you back again. I think there's a great opportunity to learn more and to hear your success in the financial space and see what has been like after five years to six years, seven years, all that stuff.

Speaker 2: 45:52

So yeah, thanks for joining. Thanks for coming out. Pleasure to meet you. It's been great information.

Speaker 1: 45:59

Thank you, David.

Speaker 2: 46:00

Wonderful guests, thank you.

Speaker 1: 46:03

All right. Everyone continues to dream bigger, make waves and take action and life. We'll talk to you on our next episode.