EPISODE #1 – June 5, 2020

“Whatever you’re going to do, you got to be all in.”

Kevin Ellman Certified Financial Planner learns lifelong lessons at age 16 on an African safari during summer break.

In this first episode, Kevin shares the story of his first failure at the age of 16. As a young man living in New York City when his primary interest was playing the drums, he was transplanted to Africa on Safari for an entire summer. The lessons he learned have lasted a lifetime and continue to contribute to his philosophies on work, life and money.

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Transcript:

Elizabeth D’Aleo:

Welcome to Work, Life and Money Insights with Kevin Ellman, where Kevin shares his stories of his life as the foundation for his outlook on the economy, market and current events. Hi, everyone. Elizabeth D’Aleo here. I’m standing alongside Kevin Ellman once again today. Kevin, how are you?

Kevin Ellman, CFP:

I’m great. Thank you. How are you?

Elizabeth D’Aleo:

Good. Thanks. I’m excited for another one of your stories and a conversation with Kevin. So here we are. Kevin. I know you and I have only worked together a short time, but you have made me laugh multiple occasions and a lot of it is from your real life storytelling. So that’s really why we’re here. You and I decided through the various conversations that we’ve had, that there is something here and that we want to do something with it. So why don’t we just kind of take our listeners back to the beginning and tell us a little bit about how conversations with Kevin came to be.

Kevin Ellman, CFP:

Sure. Well, at the start of this whole crisis, a couple of my clients said to me, “We’d really like to hear from you more often because things are really terrible right now.” And you can’t call everybody all at once. So I started sending out a little email blast every Monday, talking about my view of the world. And then for some reason I started including some of my personal stories and my sort of funny things that have happened to me. And I started getting calls and people commenting they enjoyed hearing the stories. And I suspect that’s because people are at home, that not having a lot of outside contact so any kind of entertaining story is fun, but I decided to keep it up. So today I’m going to talk about another story of mine and it starts with walking my dog.

Kevin Ellman, CFP:

So in February, my wife and I got a new dog, he’s a hound mix and we call them talk and I started a morning routine of going for walks and that was great. But as the virus started settling in, I felt, “Oh, gee, I don’t think I want to walk around the street anymore.” So I said, “That’s it no more walks.” And I decided I’m going to start working out on my treadmill, lifting weights at home, and then chasing the dog around the living room.

Elizabeth D’Aleo:

Probably have a much bigger living room than I do, so [crosstalk 00:02:25] that would have worked very well in my house.

Kevin Ellman, CFP:

And the challenge is we’ve got to chase them around the living room, but we don’t let them on the furniture. So we’ve got to keep good control over everything. So, that was fun. But then, and it was okay while it was kind of wintry and cold outside. But as it got warmer, I felt “Gee, I really would like to get outside.” So I decided to start walking up and down the driveway. So, we live on a hill, overlooking the city and we have a pretty long and very steep driveway. So I started walking up and down the driveway with the dog. And as you’re walking up, of course, your heart’s really getting going, and you’re really working at it. And all the way down, you get a little bit of a recovery. But what’s interesting is that since we don’t spend a lot of time walking downhill, our downhill walking muscles are not in shape and you can really feel it in the front of your legs and in your ankles and your knees.

Kevin Ellman, CFP:

And you can really tell, you’re not quite in control. It’s not quite, it doesn’t feel quite as good as going uphill. And while I’m doing this, it made be think back to the summer of 1968. So I’m in high school and I’m a kind of a wise ass teenager and I’ve been in a little bit of trouble. And my father thinks maybe it’s a good idea to get me out of the city and away from my bad friends. And he announces he’s going to send me on safari. I said, “Really, really Dad? On Safari?

Elizabeth D’Aleo:

It sounds like real torture.

Kevin Ellman, CFP:

Well, exactly. This wasn’t a shooting safari, it’s supposed to be a photographic safari. We’re taking pictures of animals. And I said, “gee, I really would rather stay here in the city.” He said, “Listen, Kevin, by the time you could afford to go on Safari, it’s going to be gone.” So I said, “Okay, I’ll go.” So this wasn’t like a week or two. He sent me on Safari for the entire summer. So I’m traveling around Kenya, Tanzania and Uganda with, I think 10 other kids from high school, two guys who are from the Peace Corps as our counselors, two drivers and a guide. And we stayed in tents for the entire summer. So now the challenge was the first few nights, you close the tent, you go to sleep, it’s nice and quiet, but you would not believe the racket. The hyenas are cackling. The lions are roaring. The elephants are doing what elephants do. And I was terrified that any minute we’re going to get a trampled by rhinoceros.

Elizabeth D’Aleo:

As a true city kid would think.

Kevin Ellman, CFP:

Exactly. So the guides kept saying to us, “Look, all the animals think that you’re just a giant rock. Nobody’s going to bother us. Nobody’s going to run us over. So don’t worry about it.” So finally, after a couple of nights, I learned how to sleep, but then you wake up in the morning and no matter how tightly we close the tent, we’d be covered with bug bites. And I don’t mean like a little mosquito bite, but like a one inch long bite all over us. So, sleeping was a challenge and I don’t even want to tell you what, going to the bathroom in the middle of the night was like. That was terrifying. Absolutely terrifying.

Kevin Ellman, CFP:

So, we’re traveling around, we’re taking pictures and the highlight of the summer, was supposed to be climbing Mount Kilimanjaro. Now this is not like mountain climbing, with ropes and all that stuff. This is like a very, very steep hike, but a very, very steep hike for three days in a row. So we’re climbing up the mountain. We have a backpack and this guides we’re carrying the food. And every day, every night at the end of the day, we’d come to a campsite with a hut and we’d sleep in the hut with sleeping bags. And after the first night, and we woke up in the morning, the sun is rising over the clouds. So we’re above the clouds, which was crazy.

Kevin Ellman, CFP:

So we have another day of walking up the hill. And finally on the next night we have to wake up, I think at some ridiculous hour, like two o’clock in the morning to make the summit because you have to get to the summit by a certain hour and then get down by a certain hour. Otherwise the whole thing doesn’t work. So this is the steepest portion of the climb and it’s cold and it’s at very high altitude, almost 20,000 feet. So unfortunately as we’re climbing, I think about an hour into the climb. I get altitude sickness. I’m completely bent over doubled, puking my guts out. My feet are freezing. I was miserable. And unfortunately, I quit and I decided I got to go down. And then in the course of that, I think two other guys got the same kind of sickness and came down, but a few guys made it, but I didn’t make it.

Kevin Ellman, CFP:

So now the next day we pack everything up and we started heading down and now it’s a two day downhill walk back to base. So you wouldn’t think that would be so hard except that nobody’s in shape for walking downhill. So finally by the time we got to the bottom, we could barely stand up. Nobody could walk anymore. The whole front of our legs were completely sore and charlie horsed and all we could do is lie down. So I think we were able to spend a day hanging out by the pool kind of recovering. And then we had to go on our way.

Kevin Ellman, CFP:

So this was my first big failure in life. I had this fantasy, I’m going to be a mountain climber. I’m going to make it to the summit. I’m going to see the sunrise, but it didn’t happen. And it really kind of, it bothered me for years that I didn’t make it. And it was a real wake up call that it’s not enough just to like get up one morning and climb a mountain. You got to prepare. And at the time I was not in shape and I was smoking cigarettes.

Elizabeth D’Aleo:

Of course.

Kevin Ellman, CFP:

I was just the furthest thing from being ready to climb a mountain.

Elizabeth D’Aleo:

I’m just curious how long, how advanced notice did your dad give you to, not that at 16 years old, you would have said, “Oh, Hey, let me start training for this.” You probably would have had the same exact outcome because 16 year olds get up and put their superhero capes on every day. But how long did you know before you were going on the trip that you were going on this trip?

Kevin Ellman, CFP:

Well, I probably had a month or two, but even if I had, I wasn’t big into sports. I was spending my time playing the drums in a rock and roll band. And of course I’m living in the city. So while the other kids are out playing basketball and maybe they’re playing baseball in the park, I’m home practicing or rehearsing with my band. So it wouldn’t have mattered how much notice I have, I wouldn’t even have occurred to me to start getting in shape.

Elizabeth D’Aleo:

Right, right, right.

Kevin Ellman, CFP:

So, unless you call, practicing on a drum pad getting in shape.

Elizabeth D’Aleo:

Not for this, no.

Kevin Ellman, CFP:

Exactly. So, maybe I would’ve cut back from two packs of one pack but it didn’t even occur to me. And even if I had been in shape, the whole summer we spent basically living in a tent, riding around in a Jeep taking pictures. So I would have been out of shape by the time it got to the mountain. But it was a real wake up call about if you’re going to accomplish something, you got to be prepared and you’ve got to really focus and you got to be prepared to work at something for a long time before you get a result. And I mean, honestly, I think that was one of the last time that I had that kind of failure.

Elizabeth D’Aleo:

Right. Well, it was the first time. And I would say that as you mentioned, first time is the hardest and we don’t always realize the level of impact it’s going to have when it happens. But to your point earlier where it took you a couple of years of kind of letting it sit with you before you kind of figured out, okay, I don’t like this feeling. I really need to do something different. So I’m curious, when you came back, what was one of the first things you told your dad? Because obviously, when you were there, you weren’t tweeting your pictures and tagging him on Instagram and Facebook so that he could travel along with you. I mean, it’s something that’s foreign to certain people who are going to be listening, but you had to come home and actually develop your pictures. Imagine-

Kevin Ellman, CFP:

Well that was the big thing. Yeah, that was the big thing because to this day for instance, my kids have some of my pictures on their walls. So, that was the point of the trip to come back with some… And I come back, I did come back with amazing photos. But I also had to report on one thing that happened during the summer.

Elizabeth D’Aleo:

And what was that?

Kevin Ellman, CFP:

So this is junior year in high school and junior year you take the SATs and you start applying to college. So when I took the SATs, I didn’t get a good enough score to satisfy my father to get into the kind of schools that he wanted me to get into. So he told me I was going to have to take them again during the summer, but where was I during the summer? I was in Africa. So he arranged for me to take my SATs in Nairobi. So it turns out, so I don’t know if you’ve ever heard of it. There’s something called Un’Goro Crater and it’s in East Africa And it’s a giant crater, I guess, created by, I don’t know what, a meteor and it’s like its own ecosystem because all the animals that live inside, they can’t get out. So we traveled into a Un’Goro Crater, and it’s big enough that a plane can land. So if you can imagine this two seater plane flies into Un’Goro Crater, lands and picks me up so I can fly to Nairobi and take the SATs.

Elizabeth D’Aleo:

Oh my gosh. It’s borderline unbelievable.

Kevin Ellman, CFP:

So while we’re flying, the guy says,” Hey, would you like to take the wheel?” I said, “Sure.” So he gets the controls and he shows me how to turn left and turn right and go down and go up. And he says to me, “You’re a natural at this pilot stuff.” And I said, “Well.” He says, “What do you do?” I said, “Well, I’m a musician.” He says, “Well, that that explains it.” He says, “Musicians make the best pilots because they’re just willing to go with the flow and they can fly and they can feel and they’re sensitive to what’s going on.” So that was my first time flying. I think probably my last time flying.

Elizabeth D’Aleo:

Well, in the cockpit.

Kevin Ellman, CFP:

In the cockpit, yes. So we get to Nairobi and I’m staying at a hotel by myself and I think I had a day or two before the actual test at the University of Nairobi. So I’m walking around Nairobi, this is in the sixties and I have long hair, I am kind of dark skinned. And I’m trying to get a sense what’s going on. Now at that time it was still a British colony. So you could tell that everybody who owned things or were in control were white Englishmen. And Indians from India were typically managing the various businesses. And those would be the ones greeting clients or customers. And then all the black people did all the work-work. And as I’m walking around, people are looking at me trying to figure well, where does this guy [crosstalk 00:14:06].

Elizabeth D’Aleo:

Where do you belong?

Kevin Ellman, CFP:

Yeah, where does he belong? Clearly not white. And he doesn’t look like an Indian, not actually. And what’s with the long hair anyway. Nobody could figure out how to relate to me so nobody did. So basically I just spent like two days walking around by myself, writing in my diary and try to get into an SAT state of mind.

Elizabeth D’Aleo:

The question begs to be asked, how did you do on the test?

Kevin Ellman, CFP:

Well, so that’s the question. So I go and I take the test at the University of Nairobi and then I get picked up by the plane and they flew me back to Mombasa and I get the results a couple of weeks later and I got the exact same score.

Elizabeth D’Aleo:

Of course you did.

Kevin Ellman, CFP:

Exactly the same. And it wasn’t good enough. So it was a complete waste of time, energy and effort. Anyway, that was my crazy father and all the things he was trying to do to help me get a leg up in life.

Elizabeth D’Aleo:

Sounds amazing. Well, I think ultimately it sounds like it did help you get a leg up in life. The messaging that you’re sharing with us now, the lessons that you took out of the entire experience, the humor that you’re able to insert into this situation now, as you’re sharing this story with everyone else. If you could tell your 16 year old self something now that you didn’t know then, what would that be?

Kevin Ellman, CFP:

Well, I think the biggest thing is to be open to new experiences. I resisted it. I resisted it. And I think I say this to a lot of people, in other words, I think you got to be all-in. Whatever you’re going to do, you got to be all in. So if you’re going to be a parent you know this, it’s like trying to fight the flood. I mean, you can’t resist being a parent. If you commit to it and just decide, this is it. This is my life I’m going to make it great, then it works. And I think that’s true with this kind of experience. I guess some of it, I was there fully and some of it, I was annoyed. Like what am I doing? Oh god, I’m on Safari in Africa. This is torture.

Kevin Ellman, CFP:

Was a once in a lifetime experience. And it will never happen again. I mean, I doubt I’ll ever go on safari as an adult. So I would say that to me is the secret to almost everything that is to be all-in.

Elizabeth D’Aleo:

Right, just to be all-in. Well-

Kevin Ellman, CFP:

So one last thought. So this is what I’m thinking about As I’m walking up and down the driveway. Every time I go down, it makes me think of climbing down Mount Kilimanjaro and that’s why it made me think of this story and the whole SAT thing. And it kind of brings it all back as a memory, which is kind of ironic 50 years later.

Elizabeth D’Aleo:

So how is Tuck doing these days? How are his little muscles doing, going up and down this massive hill that you have?

Kevin Ellman, CFP:

Well, this dog’s a pretty good-

Elizabeth D’Aleo:

Who’s dragging who?

Kevin Ellman, CFP:

Well he’s obviously dragging me, so we do that. And then of course we have a little side yard which we fenced in and we chase him around the yard and throw balls around and he seems to be pretty good shape. He’s pretty happy. He’s pretty well-behaved. He barks a lot when people come, when the Amazon people come up the driveway. But that’s about the only complaint I have.

Elizabeth D’Aleo:

Well, fast forward 30 years from now, 40 years from now, when Tuck is sitting around and having a conversation with his other puppy friends, he’s going to tell them about the time that his dad dragged him up and down this hill. And I’m sure there’s a lesson that he’s taking out of it, even in his little puppydom.

Kevin Ellman, CFP:

I hope so. So let me change the subject a little. So, one of the things I wanted to share is that each week, I’m meeting with clients and talking about their portfolios and inevitably there are questions and usually the questions are very, very similar. But particularly right now, the question is really, “So what do you think is going to happen?” And that is pretty similar to the questions I get asked all the time, what is my outlook for the future and how should that guide our investment program or our planning program. But because of the virus it’s a much more challenging time and everybody’s much more concerned. So I think that the main thing I want to say is that I think of this as the beginning of the end.

Kevin Ellman, CFP:

So, clearly if you look at the charts, the stock market bottomed out a few weeks back, and we seem to be slowly climbing out of this deep hole, which happened harder and faster than it ever has before. And it sure looks like the states are starting to open up and I hear people tell me about restaurants are starting to open up. And I read an article that people are starting to book flights again and believe it or not people are starting to book cruises again. And of course there’s a concern that there might be a second wave, but there’s no question that there’s tremendous pent-up demand and people really have an urge to be out and about and doing things. So I think that the general trend is for people to to try to get back to normal if possible.

Kevin Ellman, CFP:

And then I think the two other things which influenced my thinking, it’s not my rule, but I heard this rule and I agree with it. And that is don’t fight the Fed. So, the Federal Reserve, seems to be determined to do whatever it has to do to support the economy by lowering rates and providing liquidity for all the various markets. And then the federal government is doing a tremendous amount to support individual businesses and larger businesses, families with all kinds of stimulus and the money that they’re providing. So I think it’s going to be hard to resist that flood of money. That’s coming into the market to support not only the stock market, but to support the economy and support individual families.

Kevin Ellman, CFP:

And then I think there’s one other factor and I call it called TINA, there is no alternative. So right now it’s very hard to find anything to invest in other than stocks. Bonds while they may be safer, supposedly in some contexts, there’s just no yield out there. This morning I was looking at the yield for 30 year high quality municipal bonds. It’s well under 2%. So, people say, “Well, should I invest for 2%. Tie my money up at 30 years or maybe I’ll take a chance on the stock market.”

Elizabeth D’Aleo:

I mean, in 30 years from now they could be on Mount Kilimanjaro.

Kevin Ellman, CFP:

Exactly, exactly. So I think that because of those three reasons that people want to get back to life as usual, the Fed is going to support all of our activities and there really is no alternative. I think that’s pushing the market higher. And while I think that the market is moving way faster than the economy is going to recover, I think we’re going to see positive trends for the rest of this year. Small, but I think 2021 is going to be a better year and I expect to see a return to growth in the economy and the stock market. So based on that outlook, we’re continuing to invest and continuing to put money into stocks. And I think we’re going to be, a year or two from today, be very happy that we did. So that’s my current outlook.

Elizabeth D’Aleo:

Yeah. Well, I certainly appreciate you sharing that. I sit in on the client meetings with you and you’re right, it is a very common question of, “What are you thinking? Where are we going?” And only time will tell. And I think that your level of expertise and experience certainly is going to help guide a lot of people during uncertain times. So I’m sure that everyone is very appreciative of that.

Elizabeth D’Aleo:

For right now, what I think is important for our listeners to know is if they don’t already follow you on social media, where is it that they can find you? Because we are going to be key to keep having these conversations. And I very much look forward to it. I’m hoping that our followers have enjoyed what we’re sharing today as well. But after today, if someone wants to follow you along and follow your outlook, where can you be found online?

Kevin Ellman, CFP:

So we have a pretty good website, wealthpreservationsolutions.com. And that’s the name of our company Wealth Preservation Solutions. And we have all of our articles, all of our videos, we’ll have all the podcasts there. So everything is there. And you can also, if you want to send a note, you can send us a note to contact you. So that would be my first choice, but then we also post everything on Facebook, LinkedIn, and Twitter as Kevin Ellman or at Kevin Ellman at Twitter. And we’re also posting everything there. On Facebook some of the things are music related and a lot of the people that I’m connected to are music fans of the various bands that I’ve been with over the years. LinkedIn is more professional contacts.

Elizabeth D’Aleo:

Sure. Well, listen, that gives everyone and anyone who’s listening a way to find you based on what they prefer. This has been great. Do you have any final words that you want to share with us before we sign off?

Kevin Ellman, CFP:

Well, I think the main thing is to keep a longterm view. I think it’s very, very difficult to predict the short term moves in the stock market. And I like to quote famous people. So J.P. Morgan was interviewed by some reporters once and they asked him, “So Mr. Morgan, what do you think is going to happen with the stock market in the future?” And he replied, Well, son, prediction is very difficult, especially when it’s about the future.”

Elizabeth D’Aleo:

Truer words have never been said.

Kevin Ellman, CFP:

So that’s my motto. If it’s good enough for J.P. Morgan it’s good enough for me.

Elizabeth D’Aleo:

Well, Kevin, thank you again. It was really great having Conversation with Kevin, looking forward to the next time. To all of our listeners always feel free again to visit our website wealthpreservationsolutions.com. Until next time, stay happy, stay healthy and stay wealthy. Bye.

Elizabeth D’Aleo:

Thanks for joining us today for Work, Life and Money Insights with Kevin Ellman. for your free copy of Kevin’s book, The Seven Biggest Money Mistakes People Make and How to Avoid Them, just text wealth to 88799. That’s wealth to 88799.

Everyone’s circumstance is unique. And the content of this podcast should not be construed as financial or legal advice. Please consult with your professional advisor or contact Kevin Ellman to learn if a complimentary personalized review or candid snapshot of your portfolio is right for you by visiting wealthpreservationsolutions.com.

The opinions expressed in this podcast are those will be author and may not necessarily reflect those held by Kestra Investment Services, LLC, or Kestra Advisory Services, LLC. This is for general information only and not intended to provide specific investment advice or recommendations for any individual. It is suggested that you consult your financial professional advisor with regard to your individual situation. Comments concerning the past performance are not intended to be forward looking and should not be viewed as an indication of future results.