Dustin's Book: Introduction Chapter (#119) — Transcript
Updated: Oct 26
THE PICTURE OF WEALTH · EPISODE 119
Dustin Serviss introduces his book and reflects on saving for the future, enjoying the present and the assumptions that can shape a picture of wealth.
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This transcript was generated from the episode audio and lightly edited for readability. It may contain transcription or speaker-attribution errors. Refer to the recording for exact wording.
Chapters
[00:00:00] Introduction: the cruise that never happened
[00:01:13] Why are you saving?
[00:02:28] Rethinking the retirement timeline
[00:03:04] The pandemic changes the picture
[00:04:16] Learning from people living well
[00:05:24] Changing the habit of saving for later
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Transcript
[00:00:00] Dustin Serviss: Welcome to the picture of wealth or t pow as we call it. I am your host, Dustin Service. Listener, this is your trusted host, Dustin Service. I'm gonna be reading a book that I wrote for the next few weeks, each chapter, each episode. Enjoy. Man's Picture of Wealth, written by Dustin Service, introduction chapter. My grandmother dreamed of going on a cruise her whole life. She talked about it with my mother for years. After she passed away, we found an envelope wedged behind the microwave, stuffed full of brochures and rate sheets for luxury cruises all over the world. She had the money to go on all those trips, but she died having
[00:01:13] Dustin Serviss: never gone with extra money in the bank. Why didn't she book the trip? What was she waiting for? Does this sound familiar? It's a story I see again and again with my wealth management practice. Mid career professionals striving to save for a secure future at the expense of their health, relationships, and mental well-being. Why are you saving? If we take away the idea that we are doing it for money because we already have that, why do we do it? We say we're doing it for our family or for our fame, future opportunity, security, and on and on. But what it boils down to is that the vast majority of people continue
[00:01:52] Dustin Serviss: to save to achieve more happiness. We think we'll be happier if we could just do one more deal, open one more store or office, sign one more contract, hire one more employee, buy one more piece of real estate, or put another fifty thousand in our investment account. Or maybe we'd be happier if we did another course or worked one more weekend or gave up one more hour of family time. We justify the sacrifices by telling ourselves that it will all pay off in the future. Will it? Who said this was the right way to live? Our parents? Who told them? I don't know about you. To me, that belief in saving for the future doesn't seem to make sense
[00:02:28] Dustin Serviss: anymore when work life balance is so hard to attain right now. For most of my adult life, I played along. I too believe the sacrifices now are supposed to lead to a better, happier, more amazing life in the future. But I never really sat back and wondered how far out in the future was. If I had to draw a timeline, I would say retirement age was sixty or sixty five. That's when my father retired, and that's what all the financial planning books said. Government pensions start at sixty five. It all seemed to make sense. Then COVID nineteen happened, and like everyone else, it hit me like a ton
[00:03:04] Dustin Serviss: of bricks and caused me to rethink my whole life, especially my work, how I make money, and how I spend it. I remember the precise moment when it sunk in that everything was going to be different. It was a Tuesday at ten AM, and I was having a morning beer with my neighbor. That's right. A morning beer. We had both thrown up our hands for the day and packed it in because there was no more business in the hopper. Nothing more to do. We were out of work. Something neither of us had ever imagined would happen smack in the middle of our careers. Over a three week period from March into April twenty twenty, we both saw
[00:03:38] Dustin Serviss: most of our incoming business dry up. The business did eventually start to come back, but boy did that experience make me think. And like many of us, it made me see firsthand what we as a family had been missing while we were full steam ahead in working, earning, and saving mode. We started to think about what the business was for. I believed it was for peace of mind and security. Over many years, I had manufactured a story in my mind that we had financial alligators swimming around us all the time. We didn't, But you never know, I always thought. I was operating from a place of fear of losing everything. I started looking into happiness.
[00:04:16] Dustin Serviss: I have a strong wealth background and planning and goal setting background, but I thought there had to be a more balanced belief system to live by. This curiosity about happiness led me to make a few new connections and to revisit old ones with people I've met throughout my life, people who were financially comfortable and living wonderful lives, but without all the stress and flash that so many of us all fall prey to. This book emulates those conversations. These people are not celebrities, social influencers, or billionaires. Most of their names, I guarantee you have never heard, but they have great relationships with their adult children.
[00:04:49] Dustin Serviss: They have been married to the same spouse for decades, and their financial lives are in line with the lifestyle they lead. Some have stocks, others have real estate, some are entrepreneurs with small businesses, some work jobs they love and have neither stocks nor real estate. What can you learn from these people right now to ensure that when you look back on your life, you can say, I didn't miss a thing? The old beliefs we were sold tell us that if we succeed financially, we are guaranteed happiness, health, and enough money to live amazing life. They tell us to achieve wealth first, and happiness will follow. But what is wealth?
[00:05:24] Dustin Serviss: It's a bigger picture than you think. This book can be your key to unlocking a new way of thinking about wealth, lifestyle, savings, spending, scarcity, and financial fear. We're told to work hard, be good, do the right thing, consider everyone's feelings, take the path least resistance, don't spend, and above all, save, save, save. But if you do, as you're told, your whole life and always keep your powder dry, think about this. Will you be able to ramp up your spending in retirement to live those phantom dreams without a huge conflict of beliefs? Or will you be like my grandmother who, even when she finally had the
[00:06:00] Dustin Serviss: means and the time, she still wouldn't spend the money and take herself on the trip of a lifetime? She was still saving for later. How will you suddenly change your thinking, your whole way of life when you're too tired, too sick, or let's face it, not even around anymore? That's why taking your foot off the brake now while you have the resources and the agility is so important. Thank you for tuning in to this episode. If you enjoyed the show, please like and rate the show, share with a friend, or use your new knowledge in your next conversation. If during the show something gave you a peg of inspiration, motivation, or sense
[00:06:34] Dustin Serviss: of uncertainty, act on it now. Get the clarity you're looking for. Find the permission you seek. Go to service wealth dot com to discover how others are learning how to take Fridays off, or buying a recreation property, or spending more money. If you're an organizer of an event where you believe my philosophy on finance and lifestyle design would be applicable, go to servicewealth dot com and book me as a speaker at your next event. If you want a copy of our new book coming out soon, send me a message on Instagram or Facebook and we will be sure to get you a first copy.