Derek Coburn

So I got a question for you. Hit me. And we can talk later if you don't have time. So do you think, this is relative to your TED Talk, what you've been going through in your life, what I've been going through in my life in a similar way. This is like an existential question that I've been pondering for a while.

So I got a question for you. Hit me. And we can talk later if you don't have time. So do you think, this is relative to your TED Talk, what you've been going through in your life, what I've been going through in my life in a similar way. This is like an existential question that I've been pondering for a while.

Do you think it is possible to play a different game than the game that most people are playing without winning the primary game first? And I got we had money in the bank. We had like time.

Do you think it is possible to play a different game than the game that most people are playing without winning the primary game first? And I got we had money in the bank. We had like time.

We had, you know, things that we had on our side that allowed us to sort of like go through all that shit to emerge on the other side, like wanting to do something different that I don't know that like a single dad with a 96 job probably couldn't have done it the way that I did it.

We had, you know, things that we had on our side that allowed us to sort of like go through all that shit to emerge on the other side, like wanting to do something different that I don't know that like a single dad with a 96 job probably couldn't have done it the way that I did it.

You know, I started writing the book. I had the idea to write the book in 2017, and that sort of just stemmed from, like, I've been a financial advisor for almost 27 years.

You know, I started writing the book. I had the idea to write the book in 2017, and that sort of just stemmed from, like, I've been a financial advisor for almost 27 years.

I sold my practice to a private equity company in 2019, had an earn-out, have my clients, handful of clients I've been working with for a long time that I want to continue to work with, but I'm not really looking to grow my practice anymore. And when I started writing the book, None of that was on the table. And I was like, I want to write a book as a way to attract more clients for my practice.

I sold my practice to a private equity company in 2019, had an earn-out, have my clients, handful of clients I've been working with for a long time that I want to continue to work with, but I'm not really looking to grow my practice anymore. And when I started writing the book, None of that was on the table. And I was like, I want to write a book as a way to attract more clients for my practice.

And it was going to be written for people that have, like, you know, minimal investable assets of, you know, $5 million and more. And then I was approached out of nowhere about selling the practice. Then COVID happened and my father got sick in the meantime.

And it was going to be written for people that have, like, you know, minimal investable assets of, you know, $5 million and more. And then I was approached out of nowhere about selling the practice. Then COVID happened and my father got sick in the meantime.

And because I got some money and I got some space and I got to really kind of take a step back and look at my life, I was like, oh, I don't need more clients. I don't want more clients.

And because I got some money and I got some space and I got to really kind of take a step back and look at my life, I was like, oh, I don't need more clients. I don't want more clients.

I get to come back to this book and focus on writing it for a broader audience in a way that will hopefully be helpful to a lot more people than if I would have just plugged along and tried to write a book that was going to be a fancy business card to grow my practice. Yeah. But I was having these conversations with clients since 2005, 2010.

I get to come back to this book and focus on writing it for a broader audience in a way that will hopefully be helpful to a lot more people than if I would have just plugged along and tried to write a book that was going to be a fancy business card to grow my practice. Yeah. But I was having these conversations with clients since 2005, 2010.

I always thought it was very interesting that when people meet with a financial advisor, financial advisors don't say, do you want to retire? They say, what age do you want to retire? We're automatically opted into this thing. And most people say, I don't really know. And they say, well, why don't we just go with 65? Because that's what everyone else picks and people say, sure.

I always thought it was very interesting that when people meet with a financial advisor, financial advisors don't say, do you want to retire? They say, what age do you want to retire? We're automatically opted into this thing. And most people say, I don't really know. And they say, well, why don't we just go with 65? Because that's what everyone else picks and people say, sure.

And then they get this number that feels really big and unattainable. It stresses them out. It causes them to skip workouts and skip family dinners and have less sleep and really take them away from where they want to be. And what we're seeing is that a lot of people are getting there. They're finding this retirement thing is not what they were promised it would be.

And then they get this number that feels really big and unattainable. It stresses them out. It causes them to skip workouts and skip family dinners and have less sleep and really take them away from where they want to be. And what we're seeing is that a lot of people are getting there. They're finding this retirement thing is not what they were promised it would be.