Jeff Panik shares his journey from overcoming a childhood stutter to building a mission-driven business. His passion for financial literacy is evident as he discusses teaching kids the basics of managing money and helping business owners plan for sustainable futures.

Jeff emphasizes the importance of succession planning and creating businesses that thrive without their owners. He shares actionable advice on avoiding common pitfalls like fragmented communication and a lack of contingency plans. Craig and Jeff explore why leadership is about empowering others and the value of clear communication in building lasting legacies.

Jeff also introduces his book, Your Future Is Now, a practical guide for young adults navigating financial independence. This episode is a masterclass in leadership, resilience, and planning for impact beyond oneself.

Want to learn more about Jeff Panik's work? Check out his website at  https://www.jeffreypanik.com.

Connect with Jeff on LinkedIn at https://www.linkedin.com/in/jeffpanik/.

Key Points with Timestamps:

• [00:01:17] Introducing Jeff Panik
  Founder of Balance Wealth Partners, Jeff’s mission is balancing living well today with future planning.

• [00:01:40] The Importance of Financial Literacy
  Jeff explains why teaching kids financial basics early lays a foundation for future success.

• [00:03:00] Overcoming Adversity
  Jeff recounts overcoming his stuttering challenge as a child and how it shaped his approach to communication.

• [00:08:53] Simplifying Complexity
  Jeff highlights the importance of breaking down financial concepts for better understanding.

• [00:12:07] Succession Planning Essentials
  Jeff warns against the dangers of poor planning and fragmented communication for business owners.

• [00:23:00] Planning for a Business Exit
  A well-run business can function without its owner—a critical factor for a successful exit.

• [00:27:00] Lessons from Jeff’s Book
  Jeff introduces Your Future Is Now, a guide to financial literacy for young adults.

Transcript

00;00;00;00 - 00;00;30;20
Craig Andrews
I was in a coma for six weeks while the doctors told my wife I was going to die. When I woke up, she told me the most fantastic story. My team kept running the business without me. Freelancers reached out to my team and said, we will do whatever it takes. As long as Craig's in the hospital. I consider that the greatest accomplishment of my career.

00;00;30;23 - 00;00;51;10
Craig Andrews
My name is Craig Andrews and this is the Leaders and Legacies podcast where we talk to leaders creating an impact beyond themselves. At the end of today's interview, I'll tell you how you can be the next leader featured on the show.

00;00;51;10 - 00;01;17;09
Craig Andrews
Today I want to welcome Jeff Panik. He is the founder of Balance Wealth Partners. And his big mission is to help his clients. Strike a balance between living well today and planning for the future. Jeff also has a huge passion for financial literacy and kids raising kids that have financial literacy. And so we're going to hear a little bit about that.

00;01;17;09 - 00;01;20;18
Craig Andrews
But we're also going to talk about, you know, for business owners.

00;01;20;18 - 00;01;37;09
Craig Andrews
There's it's really easy to get focused on your business and not do good planning. To help you exit the business and turn it into an asset that funds your retirement. So anyway, we're going to dive into that. Jeff, welcome.

00;01;37;15 - 00;01;40;01
Jeff Panik
Thanks. Thanks for having me, Craig.

00;01;40;04 - 00;01;40;21
Craig Andrews
So,

00;01;40;21 - 00;01;48;24
Craig Andrews
I am and you've mentioned a number of times just your passion for helping kids understand financial literacy.

00;01;48;24 - 00;01;53;13
Craig Andrews
What's why kids in particular? Why is that such a passion for you?

00;01;53;15 - 00;02;13;17
Jeff Panik
Well, you know, I think especially as you're looking at your finances, the earlier that you can start doing the right things. And the most important thing is to know what to do. The earlier that you can kind of figure that out, the further that you can get ahead. You know, whether it's someone start that younger starting a business or whether you're looking to buy a rental property.

00;02;13;20 - 00;02;38;02
Jeff Panik
You know, if you don't have the basic knowledge, financial knowledge, and if you have just accumulated debt because you didn't know any better, it's going to be very difficult to do a lot of things, whether it's, you know, forming a household or starting a business. And, you know, I think if you can give a young person the tools that they need, one of the biggest tools is financial literacy, you know, that will help them be successful in life.

00;02;38;04 - 00;02;53;14
Craig Andrews
Yeah. Yeah. Well, absolutely. And, you know, one of the things that you were telling me about in the green room that I found fascinating, you're very well spoken. But when you were a kid, it was

00;02;53;14 - 00;02;54;20
Craig Andrews
it was not fun.

00;02;54;23 - 00;02;56;10
Jeff Panik
It was not.

00;02;56;10 - 00;03;16;14
Jeff Panik
I went to a Catholic school, and the, the nuns pretty much had given up on me because I had a severe stuttering problem. I couldn't talk, and, you know, it was very frustrating for me because I knew what I wanted to say, but I couldn't communicate it. And, you know, I really feel for anyone now that has that issue because I know where they're coming from.

00;03;16;14 - 00;03;17;09
Jeff Panik
And,

00;03;17;09 - 00;03;30;10
Jeff Panik
there's nothing worse than really wanting to say something or do something and not being able to do it. And, you know, luckily for me, my mother persevered with me and found a person that would help me. Really looking at a,

00;03;30;10 - 00;03;37;08
Jeff Panik
I would say pre Hooked on Phonics, the person really did it with me and spent probably about a year or two working through.

00;03;37;15 - 00;03;54;19
Jeff Panik
And I came out on the other side, you know, being able to communicate very well. And you know, it's probably one of the things that, you know, was the most difficult challenge for me, not even knowing, you know, starting out, you don't really know as a young kid what what really a challenge is,

00;03;54;19 - 00;04;03;28
Jeff Panik
but, you know, you really I felt it at a disadvantage, really, to the other kids because they were doing things while I was sitting there, not even able to say what I wanted to do.

00;04;04;01 - 00;04;04;18
Jeff Panik
And,

00;04;04;18 - 00;04;06;25
Jeff Panik
you know, I, I know what it feels like,

00;04;06;25 - 00;04;14;18
Jeff Panik
to be in that position. And so, you know, anyone that stutters, anyone that has trouble communicating. I completely understand.

00;04;14;20 - 00;04;18;15
Craig Andrews
Yeah. Well, I mean, you do it very well now.

00;04;18;15 - 00;04;35;12
Craig Andrews
I mean, it's, you know, I think it's really hard for people to understand, you know, something you said when you have the words and you, you know what you want to say, but you can't get it out. Yes. And, I mean, that took me back to just over three years ago.

00;04;35;12 - 00;04;40;17
Craig Andrews
I was waking up from my coma and I had to rake in. And when you have a break, you can't talk.

00;04;40;19 - 00;04;41;03
Jeff Panik
Yes.

00;04;41;09 - 00;04;48;11
Craig Andrews
And when you're waking up from a coma, you don't have muscles. And so I couldn't write. I couldn't talk.

00;04;48;11 - 00;05;02;26
Craig Andrews
And your brain's a little bit clouded. I knew what I was thinking, but I couldn't communicate. It's just incredibly frustrating. And I can't imagine what that would be like as a kid. To just see this world around you that you want to communicate with and not be able to do it now.

00;05;03;02 - 00;05;08;23
Jeff Panik
And, you know, the other kids, other kids around you, they're kids, you know, and they're not exactly sensitive often,

00;05;08;23 - 00;05;13;01
Jeff Panik
to your to your feelings. And so, you know, if someone's a little bit different,

00;05;13;01 - 00;05;28;00
Jeff Panik
you know, they treat they treat you differently. And that's kind of the experience that I had. And I work through it. And, you know, it always makes me feel more, as I mentioned, sensitive to anyone that has any sort of communication issues because, you know, life is hard enough.

00;05;28;03 - 00;05;30;24
Jeff Panik
And if you can't communicate with other people,

00;05;30;24 - 00;05;36;15
Jeff Panik
or you have the ability to, it just creates a whole nother cascade of issues, you know?

00;05;36;17 - 00;05;40;27
Craig Andrews
Yeah. What was the key to breaking through that?

00;05;40;29 - 00;05;59;24
Jeff Panik
Finding the right person that could help me and finding someone that was patient and it could walk me through just, you know, just in terms of, I would say to speech therapy, to work through it or, you know, over time. And it was one of those things I say, like a lot of things, you can't expect something to change in a month or two.

00;05;59;25 - 00;06;02;00
Jeff Panik
A lot of times it will take years.

00;06;02;00 - 00;06;21;10
Jeff Panik
But you know, my mother, I would say I owe her, you know, more than I could ever give back for the time that she spent. And, you know, she persevered through. Spent a lot of money trying to work through and just take me to get to someone that would actually help me and help me get to the other side of it.

00;06;21;13 - 00;06;41;21
Craig Andrews
Yeah. Wow. Yeah. I mean, I've run into other people that had stuttering issues. I know one that's a pastor and his wife, and he actually, you know, he felt like he was called out to this mission trip, and he was supposed to speak on the mission trip, and he still had a stutter, and he went out. It's like, they're going to hate me.

00;06;41;21 - 00;06;47;24
Craig Andrews
And it was funny. He started speaking and a stutter just went right away.

00;06;47;26 - 00;06;50;11
Jeff Panik
It's and it's I look at it almost like, you know

00;06;50;11 - 00;07;13;03
Jeff Panik
on my end I feel I have to do more preparation because I always have that. I still have it in the back of my mind where I could start stuttering and it, you know, it can kind of play with your mind a little bit. But I think in the end, having that experience, I think it really it really kind of, I think in some ways sets me apart from the perspective of understanding,

00;07;13;03 - 00;07;15;07
Jeff Panik
what it's like not to be able to communicate.

00;07;15;07 - 00;07;19;10
Jeff Panik
And it's one more way that you can appreciate the life that you have now.

00;07;19;13 - 00;07;37;14
Craig Andrews
Yeah. Well, you know, and it's funny, another area where I've felt frustrated is I feel like the financial folks speak a different language. You know, I'll sit down and I'll be like, here's where I won't go. And they repeat something back to me. I'm like, I have no idea what you're saying.

00;07;37;17 - 00;07;39;06
Jeff Panik
No, it's it's definitely,

00;07;39;06 - 00;08;01;23
Jeff Panik
it's it's like alphabet soup, if you will. And that's really the way that I've always kind of looked at a way a lot of, you know, the people in my industry act where they just expect people that know things, and in some cases they don't necessarily care. You know, they in a lot of ways, they just want the people to feel like they're never going to be able to learn these things and not really understand kind of what's going on.

00;08;01;23 - 00;08;19;21
Jeff Panik
So, you know, the people, certain people can feel like they're in a higher position, you know, from the standpoint of being able to give the advice. You know, really I look at it and I've always said, you know, if you don't understand after somebody's explaining something to you a couple of times, it's probably not the best thing or best investment or best idea.

00;08;19;23 - 00;08;53;07
Jeff Panik
You know, really you want to find someone that can break it down, whether it's, you know, it can be a lot of things are very complicated, but really, you want to understand what you're doing and have someone break it down for you so that you can feel comfortable with your decision. Because if you don't feel comfortable and you don't understand something that's really, I would say a red flag that is really, you know, is really something that needs to be explored to see why you don't understand it, because it's certainly something that could, you know, someone could walk through and explain in a better fashion.

00;08;53;10 - 00;09;13;13
Craig Andrews
Well, when first when I run into somebody who takes a complex subject and explains it in like 30s. That's when I realize I'm talking to somebody who's really, really bright. You know, I just, you know, and I've had some of those

00;09;13;13 - 00;09;29;04
Craig Andrews
some of those situations where somebody would take something. I mean I remember I had a professor in college that reduced multiple PhD dissertations down to like a two minute explanation in common language that anybody in the room would understand.

00;09;29;04 - 00;09;37;16
Craig Andrews
There was some basic understanding you needed to be in that room. Yeah. But at the end of it, I was like, oh my goodness. I just saw hundreds of,

00;09;37;16 - 00;09;56;19
Craig Andrews
PhD dissertations go up in smoke because he just he's like, well, it's really this simple. And, and I think that's when I realize I'm dealing with a real pro is when they make the complex simple, and they can put it in their language.

00;09;56;22 - 00;10;06;09
Craig Andrews
I get worried when somebody makes something seem more complicated and then tries to tell me it's beyond my understanding.

00;10;06;12 - 00;10;21;09
Jeff Panik
Well, and I will say as well, you know, I look at where I went to college, which was in Pennsylvania, in Pittsburgh, and the best professors I had were actually business owners and people that actually did something other than be professors,

00;10;21;09 - 00;10;40;20
Jeff Panik
where they would come in and lecture and teach because, you know, they, they could take a subject and, you know, get, get rid of all the things that really make your eyes roll the back of your head and actually talk about things that created, you know, a means for them to become successful and really explain it in a fashion that would really work.

00;10;40;22 - 00;10;57;15
Jeff Panik
You know, and a lot of times, whether, you know, I would talk about financial literacy, you know, it's it's everything. There's so much information out there. But how do you find the right information and how do you, you know, get it down to the level where it actually is dealing with you. And I think that's really the challenge these days.

00;10;57;15 - 00;11;07;25
Jeff Panik
And I think if you, as you mentioned, if you can boil it down and have someone really just cut to the chase, they can explain it and make you feel comfortable. I really look at that being invaluable.

00;11;07;28 - 00;11;19;13
Craig Andrews
Yeah. Now, I think one of the challenges that a lot of business owners have is most business owners don't come from a financial background. They're not, you know,

00;11;19;13 - 00;11;19;29
Craig Andrews
and,

00;11;19;29 - 00;11;36;11
Craig Andrews
advisors are not CPAs. And but they have to interface with advisors and CPAs, and a lot of their focus is just really on growing their business sense, like, geez, I don't have time to think about ten years or 20 years from now.

00;11;36;11 - 00;11;40;08
Craig Andrews
I just need to grow the business. So there's something there.

00;11;40;10 - 00;12;07;16
Jeff Panik
No, there's no question. And I mean, in a lot of ways, it's very fragmented because really you're meeting with different professionals at different times. A lot. Very little is really very little is communicated between the professionals. And in a lot of cases, you know, if you if you as you grow things can start working against you. You know, whether it's the way the entity is set up, whether it's a type of retirement account you have through the business, you know, how you're paying the employees.

00;12;07;22 - 00;12;23;10
Jeff Panik
There's so many, we would say potholes that you can come across. You know, one of the biggest things is if you can find a group of people that you know, whether they know each other or not, you know, they can be introduced to one another that can work on your behalf, that can just really go a long way.

00;12;23;13 - 00;12;25;21
Jeff Panik
And I think that really throws,

00;12;25;21 - 00;12;43;26
Jeff Panik
avoids a lot of things that can happen down the road as opposed to, you know, having a situation where you don't get the full value of your business is for most business owners. I mean, their business is their biggest asset. And they put everything into it, you know, blood, sweat, tears and, you know, more, more hours than most people could think of.

00;12;43;28 - 00;12;53;25
Craig Andrews
Yeah. What's what's a pothole that you've seen a few times. What's one that a lot of people are headed for and don't realize it?

00;12;53;28 - 00;13;14;22
Jeff Panik
I would say, you know, really not having a succession plan, not having people you're key people in place where you really want to take a step back and say, well, what happens if something happens to me? You know, like in your case, what, you know, you had people I would imagine that stepped up when you became ill and you were out of, you know, out of you, weren't you?

00;13;14;28 - 00;13;43;24
Jeff Panik
You couldn't do anything, probably for six, you know, a long period of time and, you know, there's nothing you could do to go at that point that that happened when you're in the hospital and say, well, I need to put these people to do this, or I need to put someone in charge or incentivize. So, you know, really, you hope this never happens becoming disabled or becoming incapacitated, that what you want to do is you want to plan ahead for it, especially if something happens where, you know, you unfortunately have an accident and you you pass away.

00;13;44;01 - 00;14;03;13
Jeff Panik
You know, you want to make sure your family is protected and you want to make sure your family gets the maximum they can out of the business. And if you don't really take a step back and really work through that and work to that goal, you know you're in fortunately going to have, you know, a big pothole at some point.

00;14;03;15 - 00;14;08;16
Craig Andrews
You know, it was closer than you is than most people realize.

00;14;08;16 - 00;14;23;20
Craig Andrews
Two weeks before I got sick, I'd moved over to QuickBooks online from QuickBooks desktop. Had no idea that I was about to get sick, no idea that I was about to go into a coma. And so,

00;14;23;20 - 00;14;27;03
Craig Andrews
while I was, you know, while I was out,

00;14;27;03 - 00;14;27;18
Craig Andrews
the,

00;14;27;18 - 00;14;37;18
Craig Andrews
there was a guy named Cameron who was working with my wife to make sure she got paid, made sure the employees got paid, made sure the vendors got paid.

00;14;37;21 - 00;14;52;12
Craig Andrews
I was literally this close to really creating a problem for my business and for my family, because I don't think anybody would've been able to figure out how to log in to the desktop desktop to get all these things done.

00;14;52;15 - 00;15;18;26
Jeff Panik
And there's and that's just something that's very simple. But, you know, you have even the even the key people in your company not really communicating about things, you know, you want to have. You want to have people working together where if one goes down, it just doesn't throw a wrench in everything. And, you know, if you could. I've always said a, you know, a business is well run when the business owner can just kind of disappear for a week or two and nobody really knows or is worse for the wear.

00;15;18;29 - 00;15;34;17
Jeff Panik
And, you know, it's easier said than done, obviously. But, you know, really it all comes down to planning, you know, incentivizing people the right way and, you know, keeping people, you know, to grow, grow and really have a partnership over the long run.

00;15;34;19 - 00;15;43;18
Craig Andrews
Yeah, yeah. And I was thankfully that was taken care of. And my team was just amazing. I mean, they didn't have a notice. I mean,

00;15;43;18 - 00;15;57;10
Craig Andrews
you know, I, I said good night to my wife one night about 6 p.m., and then six hours later, they're calling her in the middle of the night saying, hey, we're going to put them in a coma and put them on the ventilator.

00;15;57;13 - 00;16;02;04
Craig Andrews
And, you know, so, neither of us saw that coming.

00;16;03;02 - 00;16;04;03
Craig Andrews
And,

00;16;04;03 - 00;16;30;09
Craig Andrews
but, yeah, the team was amazing. They really they were really amazing. But these it's not because of actions I had done the week before or the month before, or even six months before. There were things that have been going on for years that set my team up for success. When I checked out. And, you know, I think,

00;16;30;09 - 00;16;42;13
Craig Andrews
you know, one of the things I think this is probably where you're heading, you know, if you're going to sell your business, that your business isn't valuable if it can't exist without you.

00;16;42;16 - 00;16;59;14
Jeff Panik
Well, that's and that's the first thing that I believe, whether it's a, you know, a private equity group or a somebody, whoever is looking to try to come in and acquire you, their first concern is going to be how do we retain the employees, you know, and how do you retain the customers? And,

00;16;59;14 - 00;17;05;21
Jeff Panik
you if you don't have a good relationship with your employees and you don't have a good transition plan, you're not going to retain them.

00;17;05;21 - 00;17;09;21
Jeff Panik
And, you know, with most deals, typically you're going to see,

00;17;09;21 - 00;17;23;09
Jeff Panik
a fair amount of money on the back end. You know, they're just not going to throw all this money out there and just say, you know, will you ride into the sunset? You know, normally you have to work over time and you have to transition the business to whoever the owner is.

00;17;23;11 - 00;17;33;08
Jeff Panik
And, you know, if you don't have, good relationships with your employees and if you don't have good relationships with your customers, you're just not going to get the embedded value that you should have.

00;17;33;08 - 00;17;35;25
Jeff Panik
For all the work that you put into the business.

00;17;35;27 - 00;17;38;23
Craig Andrews
Yeah. Well, and I know,

00;17;38;23 - 00;17;43;27
Craig Andrews
a number of businesses that sold to private equity, specifically in the private equity,

00;17;43;27 - 00;17;56;20
Craig Andrews
required that they retain 10 to 20% interest in the business. Just for that, that reason is, you know, they want to make sure that you didn't take the money and run.

00;17;56;23 - 00;18;23;20
Jeff Panik
Exactly, exactly. And then, you know, there are a lot of there are a lot of business owners that sell that, you know, other people, whether they're in their company or whether they're, you know, just they're they just have resources and they buy the company. But, you know, if if they don't know really what you're doing and how you've run the business and they come in and they completely change everything, they're going to create a mass exodus for the employees, and a lot of times lose customers and a lot of cases, a lot of the,

00;18;23;20 - 00;18;30;02
Jeff Panik
you know, the money that you should have gotten or would have gotten is back ended and, and over time.

00;18;30;02 - 00;18;37;16
Jeff Panik
And you know, what happens a lot of times is that money just doesn't, you know, it's just not there because the business just ceases to exist because,

00;18;37;16 - 00;18;49;04
Jeff Panik
of just communication issues. And I, I've said whether, you know, it's with parents and their children, whether it's owners, employees, it all comes down to communication. I mean, that is the essential.

00;18;49;04 - 00;18;59;25
Jeff Panik
That's the essential linchpin in anything. If you don't communicate properly and you don't have communicate honestly, properly, tell people the way you feel,

00;18;59;25 - 00;19;01;24
Jeff Panik
you're going to end up at some point, really,

00;19;01;24 - 00;19;14;11
Jeff Panik
you know, having problems whether you, you own the business, whether you're the employee, you know, whatever your function is, you know, it's important to be able to feel that you can communicate if there's a problem and not just sit there and watch it, just,

00;19;14;11 - 00;19;19;21
Jeff Panik
you know, metastasize into something that creates a whole nother set of issues.

00;19;19;23 - 00;19;34;07
Craig Andrews
Well, I'm kind of coming back to what you were talking about, you know, can you be gone for a week and nobody notice? It would seem if you're moving towards an exit, you probably want to start scheduling, you know, hey, I'm going to be gone this entire month.

00;19;34;09 - 00;19;35;00
Jeff Panik
Yes.

00;19;35;03 - 00;19;40;02
Craig Andrews
And say, I'm not taking phone calls. I'm not checking email.

00;19;40;02 - 00;19;45;05
Craig Andrews
You know, here's here's what you do. If you have to hit the panic button. But, you know, this.

00;19;45;05 - 00;19;47;00
Jeff Panik
Is it, no pun intended. Right?

00;19;47;02 - 00;20;08;03
Craig Andrews
Right. Good point. But the reason. Yeah, that gives your team an opportunity to prove that out. And but also imagine, you know, when you're going to the point of selling to be able to show, hey, I've done these events where I've stepped away,

00;20;08;03 - 00;20;12;20
Craig Andrews
and, you know, and the business has gone on. But I also know somebody,

00;20;12;20 - 00;20;12;29
Craig Andrews
actually,

00;20;12;29 - 00;20;17;21
Craig Andrews
somebody who took a three month sabbatical.

00;20;17;24 - 00;20;30;04
Craig Andrews
And while he was gone, the team that was left dug a nine month financial hole. Yeah, a nine month financial hole dug in three months.

00;20;30;07 - 00;20;48;00
Jeff Panik
And that's that gets, you know, and again, I mean, you could do all the things right in the world, but, you know, if you have the wrong person there that could shift things and that that's the challenge. I mean, it's it's people are human and humans make mistakes. And you hope they don't make mistakes, you know, on your behalf, if you will.

00;20;48;03 - 00;20;50;09
Jeff Panik
But it's it's definitely,

00;20;50;09 - 00;21;09;16
Jeff Panik
it's a challenge because, again, most business owners, their primary asset is their business. And the biggest thing that they should be thinking about is how they can get the most for it down the road. But it's easier said than done to actually take a step back and look at the pieces that you have to put together to do that.

00;21;09;19 - 00;21;36;07
Jeff Panik
And the problem with putting the pieces together is, you know, you have attorneys, tax attorneys, you have CPAs, you have, you know, financial advisors, you have all these different people involved, you know, business succession people, and they're all communicating in different terms a lot of times that are hard to even put together or piece together. And, and really it boils down to, you know, like I said before, trying to find someone they can speak a language that,

00;21;36;07 - 00;21;47;25
Jeff Panik
you know, it may not you may not understand everything, but is really understanding that, you know, the person has your best interest in mind and they can, over time, explain, you know what some of the

00;21;47;25 - 00;22;13;11
Jeff Panik
options I always say, anyone that tells you you need to do specifically this, you know, that's fine and everything, but they should give you a couple different options. You know, I always say there's door number one or door number two or door number three. Even in most times, you know, and a lot of decisions that business owners, various people make, you know, it's you're you're doing the best you can with the decision, but it doesn't mean it's going to be the right decision.

00;22;13;14 - 00;22;34;23
Jeff Panik
And, you know, whether it's the way your your entity is put together or you know, how you're paying the employees. You know, different people do things completely different. And they sometimes they work out both ways. So it's really a matter of, you know, at some point taking a step back, understanding, you know, what? What would you like to, you know, what are you going to do after you retire?

00;22;34;23 - 00;22;52;20
Jeff Panik
We say sometimes people just sell their business and then they they think they have all these things are going to do like play golf and do these different things. And they realize they hate golf. Well, you know, it may be, you know, you may want to have something. I always say you want to try some things out before you retire and you want to put your position first.

00;22;52;21 - 00;23;11;16
Jeff Panik
Put yourself in a position over time where you can transition, and it's just not something that's sudden. You know, we talked about disability before and some of the other things, you know, a lot of people were forced out because of health issues. And, you know, when that happens, typically you're not going to get the most value for the business to to themselves and their family.

00;23;11;18 - 00;23;33;08
Craig Andrews
Yeah. Well, and, you know, finishing the story about that guy that took the sabbatical about five years later, he took another sabbatical. But in those five years, he had been applying the lessons that he learned and came back from that latter sabbatical. And everything was great. And that's and I think that's the reason why you have to start doing that,

00;23;33;08 - 00;23;36;14
Craig Andrews
is because you're going to learn these things.

00;23;36;14 - 00;23;42;13
Craig Andrews
It's, you know, it's it's I mean, there yeah, there are people out there that have built and sold, you know,

00;23;42;13 - 00;23;50;24
Craig Andrews
half dozen businesses, but most of us are working on our first business. Yes. And there's a whole lot less lessons along the way.

00;23;50;27 - 00;24;07;29
Jeff Panik
And it's constantly changing. I mean, that's the thing versus something, you know, I'll use an example of a professor, you know, that's teaching history. I mean, you can adjust the textbook a little bit, but it's going to stay more or less the same. You know, if you look at if most business owners, if they look at the way things were ten years ago to the way they are now,

00;24;07;29 - 00;24;17;18
Jeff Panik
it it is just it will make your head kind of steam when you think about just the way everyone communicates and just all the regulations that are there that weren't there before.

00;24;17;21 - 00;24;23;11
Jeff Panik
And you wonder how you survived, but everybody usually does. It's just more of a matter of,

00;24;23;11 - 00;24;27;02
Jeff Panik
you know, kind of learning and working through things.

00;24;27;04 - 00;24;29;00
Craig Andrews
Yeah. Now, Jeff,

00;24;29;00 - 00;24;31;27
Craig Andrews
before we wrap up, I want to talk about your book.

00;24;31;27 - 00;24;36;04
Craig Andrews
You've got a book called Your Future Is Now.

00;24;36;06 - 00;24;36;29
Jeff Panik
Yes.

00;24;37;02 - 00;24;38;01
Craig Andrews
What's that about?

00;24;38;03 - 00;24;55;28
Jeff Panik
Yeah. So, you know, I was getting I was getting out of college. Wasn't sure what I wanted to do. I ended up, I having a lot of student loans, probably about $80,000 back in the mid 90s, and I had no idea or understanding. And I was the first one to go to college of my family. And so I ended up going in the army, going through the process.

00;24;55;28 - 00;25;16;19
Jeff Panik
They paid off my loans. But throughout the process I realized how just illiterate I was understanding, you know, basic financial knowledge. And I just it just wasn't communicated. You know, my mother worked and my father passed away when I was very young. So, I mean, she worked and did everything she could for me, but she just didn't. You don't know what you don't know.

00;25;16;19 - 00;25;34;05
Jeff Panik
And, you know, having not having those tools in the toolbox, you know, it put me in a position where, you know, luckily, I went in the Army. They paid off the loans. But I see kids now, you know, they have no idea what you know. How do they even. How do you even fill out a check? You know, most people, kids don't even understand that.

00;25;34;05 - 00;25;51;05
Jeff Panik
Or, you know, when do you get your own health care and go off your parents place? There's all these things. And so, you know, I decided to kind of put together a blueprint or a framework for young adults that they could use. And whether graduating high school or college that they can look at and say, well, you know, I'm not sure when I should get health care.

00;25;51;05 - 00;26;06;24
Jeff Panik
I'm not sure about what a 4 or 1 K is or I'm not sure. Should I buy a car or lease a car? You know, get a used car. You know what? What all these different topics that when you're an adult, you know, there's no real playbook for. And, you know, unfortunately for a lot of people, they,

00;26;06;24 - 00;26;08;22
Jeff Panik
learn from their mistakes.

00;26;08;24 - 00;26;28;15
Jeff Panik
And, you know, I've tried to make it. So the book is something where it provides examples. It provides a way that you can work through the various things that you have to, you know, sometimes you can say, well, you know, I, I don't necessarily need to do this. Well, you know, you need to have health care, you know, you need to have car insurance, all these things.

00;26;28;15 - 00;26;39;19
Jeff Panik
But what kind of health care, what kind of what is it all mean. And so that's what I try to do, is put together a book that someone with little or no knowledge could really benefit from.

00;26;39;22 - 00;26;43;21
Craig Andrews
Yeah, well that's awesome. And I just,

00;26;43;21 - 00;26;54;18
Craig Andrews
you know, some of us were raised with good sense, but I think so many are missing many of the pieces for whatever reason. It's just not something parents teach their kids.

00;26;54;18 - 00;26;57;15
Craig Andrews
And honestly, if you live in my school district,

00;26;57;15 - 00;27;07;22
Craig Andrews
I think a lot of the kids, what they're being taught is in go get the most expensive car you can finance in the house, the most expensive house you can finance.

00;27;07;25 - 00;27;34;06
Jeff Panik
Yeah. It's everything is driven by influencers and a lot of cases, and it's all about what you have, you know, not what you're going to have in the future. And I think, you know, people are so focused on now that they forget that the future is is overriding and it's going to be here, as you know, or anyone that is probably listening knows, you know, as time goes by, life is a blink of an eye and, you know, you can sit back and look and say, well, I feel like I was 20 just like a year or two ago, you know?

00;27;34;06 - 00;28;02;07
Jeff Panik
And it's just like time just passes so quickly. And, you know, unfortunately, if you make the wrong decisions, just like compound interest, you know, the more you save, the earlier save, the better. Well, you know, there's also the compounding of debt. You know, in terms of interest that you pay on that. And so if you can be put in a position where you can make the right decisions and, you know, a lot of people don't have their parents are working, they don't have a whole lot of, you know, time where the parents will talk about it.

00;28;02;14 - 00;28;10;01
Jeff Panik
You know, I've always said, you know, whether it's someone listening now, it's always a good idea, the best way people learn is from,

00;28;10;01 - 00;28;24;26
Jeff Panik
lessons, other people's mistakes and really humanizing. You know what? You you know what you've done wrong because no one is perfect. And I think sometimes the kids, you know, they would rather just, you know, make mistakes than actually come for help.

00;28;24;28 - 00;28;27;07
Jeff Panik
And so I think if you can show them that,

00;28;27;07 - 00;28;36;15
Jeff Panik
you know, you're there, you know, you've made mistakes before, but you're there as a level of support. I think it can go a long way and be invaluable to them.

00;28;36;17 - 00;28;40;14
Craig Andrews
You know? Well, this has been awesome, Jeff. How can people reach you?

00;28;40;16 - 00;28;40;29
Jeff Panik
Sure.

00;28;40;29 - 00;28;46;19
Jeff Panik
I have my website, Balance Wealth partners.com. I also have Geoffrey Panic. Com through the book.

00;28;46;19 - 00;28;51;26
Jeff Panik
And I'm always available. If anyone you know, for, you know, for a conversation.

00;28;51;28 - 00;28;55;06
Craig Andrews
Well, excellent. Well, thanks for sharing this. Leaders and legacies.

00;28;55;09 - 00;28;59;26
Jeff Panik
Thank you so much. I appreciate the time today, Craig.

00;28;59;26 - 00;29;26;22
Craig Andrews
This is Craig Andrews. I want to thank you for listening to the Leaders and Legacies podcast. We're looking for leaders to share how they're making the impact beyond themselves. If that's you, please go to Alize for me.com/guest and sign up there. If you got something out of this interview, we would love you to share this

00;29;26;22 - 00;29;28;17
Craig Andrews
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00;29;28;19 - 00;29;51;29
Craig Andrews
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00;29;52;01 - 00;30;00;06
Craig Andrews
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00;30;00;06 - 00;32;02;11
Craig Andrews
It means a lot to my team. If you want to know more, please go to Alize for me.com. or follow me on LinkedIn. Thanks for listening. We'll see you next time.