Episode 54 | Joe Driscoll | Military Millionaire

00:00 - 05:00

David:

What's up military millionaires! Today's episode is with Joe Driscoll who has just hit 20 years in the Coast Guard getting ready to retire and he runs averagejoefinancialindependence.com and he's a money coach. And so we're going to talk about all things money.

If this is your first time joining us, thanks for joining the community show notes are found on Frommilitarytomillionaire.com/podcast. Now relax and enjoy the show.

Intro:

You're listening to the military millionaire podcast, a show about real estate investing where the working class. Stay tuned as we explore ways to help you improve your finances, build wealth through real estate and become a person that is worth knowing.

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David:

Hey, what's up everybody? It's Dave and I'm here with Joe Driscoll, who has been in the Coast Guard for just 20 years and is a money coach and dozen different side hustles. And we wanted to talk about money because this is the military to millionaire podcast. And if you look on my website, it literally says military money on the top. So what better to talk about than money. And Joe, welcome to the show. Tell us a little bit about yourself.

Joe:

Absolutely.

Thanks for having me on, David, I appreciate the offer. So a little bit about myself, you kind of hit it on the dime there. 20 years active duty US Coast Guard and my main money hustle, I have several and I guess I can get into that in a little bit. But my main is money coaching, helping people control their money and telling their money what to do. And help them people just essentially win with money because there's a lot of information out there. But I look at it, as you know, money coaches there it's like a personal fitness coach that's just going to walk with you as you you know, down your journey or whatever.

But what kinda got me started into this was back in 2013. Somebody kind of introduced me to some basic financial principles, and I kind of just took it from there. My wife and I cleaned up about this was our second time around. So but this is the time that I really talk about and discuss. We cleaned up about $52,000 in debt in two years, and we've been living debt free since about 2014. And during my journey, of course, people were like, oh, you're ludicrous. You're crazy. You live like this, blah, blah, blah. I still have my old beater truck. It's got 200 plus 1000 miles on it, but I don't care, because it's mine. And it's been mine for years.

But when they started seeing the stuff that we were able to do, you know, cash flow vacations and all this other stuff, they were like, Oh, well, maybe I should try this. So I kind of started from there. A lot of people started asking us questions, how we're doing it and all that. And then eventually it kind of turned into about a year and a half. Two years ago, I kind of officially launched average Joe's financial independence where I coach people and I'm located in San Diego but I have clients all over the US obviously.

Then briefly mentioned in the beginning. side hustles I believe true millionaires have multiple income streams. So we have an Amazon we sell used books on Amazon on eBay, we're always constantly flipping items I had through the military, I was a locksmith certified locksmith DSA. So when I'm talking to a local locksmith, I actually do side work on his stuff, nothing to do with the Coast Guard, and has nothing to do with my certifications, just side projects.

05:00 - 10:00

Joe:

And then there's another company I worked for on the side, they every so often I do presentations for companies on finances and stuff like that, like 10-99 work. And I'm pretty sure there's more out there if you ask my wife, but I think that's the bulk of it. For right now, anyway.

David:

That's cool.

You know, when I ask for side hustles, a lot of times I get, you know, Uber and the typical, not that there's anything wrong with Uber or some of those side hustles. But it's really cool to hear that you're doing something unique, like, I have not had anybody tell me that they are a locksmith on the side, that is not something that most people like I’m gonna do locksmith. And that's cool, right? Because you were able to find something that you learned and take it and put it to use. And I mean, that's just a cool way to look at it. That's how you know you're you've made it to that, like side hustle level where you're like, man, I could actually I have this ability, I could do x and turn it into some income, which is really cool.

Joe:

Yeah, absolutely.

David:

So you got into money coaching, which obviously is, it's an interesting subject, right? Service members and non service members alike. A lot of people don't like to talk about money, which is funny, because it's like the leading cause of divorce and suicide, and maybe not suicide, but it's up there. Depression. And you know, I mean, money is a thing that can make or break a lot of people, partially, I think, because people put entirely too much importance on dollar value. But I would be curious to hear how easy it is, like, How hard is it for you? Like, what's a good way to ask that question? Because it's not an easy topic to broach. So I guess, like, do you find at work, that people are willing to come up and talk to you about it? Or are people still intimidated because they feel like, so I feel a lot of times, like when I talk finance to anyone that they are either trying to like, puff their chest about the things they did right and not talk about the things they did wrong, or they are not wanting to talk to me at all, because they don't want me quote, interfering or mingle or whatever you would call that meddling. There we go. That's a good way to look at it.

So I'm just curious, like, do you find people receptive to that in the Coast Guard? Is that a marine thing? Or is that?

Joe:

No, ironically, I actually work on MCRD. Here in San Diego, our small Coast Guard commands on the backside of there.

So a good story. And I'll share that, during the whole government shutdown thing, the Coast Guard was kind of unique, were the fifth branch or military service, but we fall under DHS. So me being a money coach, our commands up there briefing, the junior members, they were expected not to get a paycheck, they expected not to get a second paycheck. And I couldn't hold my tongue at the last briefing. And I probably did something I should have. I kind of stepped after the CEO. And I said, I can't take this anymore. The information that you're telling these guys, so they were telling them to go out and get loans, tell them to go borrow this, start pulling from their tsp. And I'm like, this is insane. You guys are missing one paycheck, and it's the end of the world. So I shared my story, I got livid, I got fired up. People are like, I've never seen that side of you. But there were so many young kids that, you know, e4, e5, e2 all the way down, you know that we're getting impressed by senior Millett, military members, and I'm not down talking about anything. It's just like our way of thinking about money, the average person is just not right. And we're so ingrained into borrowing and borrowing and borrowing. And it's just, you're eventually going to run out of borrowing.

So I just couldn't bite my tongue any longer. And I kind of exploded. And it took a while. After that, I kind of walked away at my head. I thought it was high. But then it was actually low. I was like, Did I just embarrass myself? And then later on, started approaching me like asking me questions like, it was ironic, because it's, you know, I believe there's three things that people don't really talk about in life, and it's politics, religion, and money because it brings conflict, and we hate conflict. Humans and nature, we hate conflict. That's the reason why we don't want to talk about it.

So for somebody to break that ice. I think it's pretty remarkable. And it's the one thing that I constantly constantly get into like some of these money coaches that have been around for years. I'm like, man, I just envy you. Because this is the hardest sale to me in the world. I could go around door to door and sell Kirby vacuum cleaners all day and I think I can probably get a sale, but constantly trying to get that client to understand that, hey, look, your way of thinking is wrong, because I've been in your shoes and I know how you're thinking. So it's a very tough sell.

10:00 - 15:00

David:

It's funny you say that as an example. And I actually am kind of glad that you brought that up. So when that all went down, I made a video. And the title was absolutely intended to try to make it go viral off of that endeavor, I titled it. Something like if the government shutdown has you worried, you're a socialist. And the entire video, as terrible as it was, the entire video was based around the concept of, Hey, we all hate the idea of socialism and communism, but you're depending on the government, because you can't survive without one paycheck. And I basically wrote it as like, hey, this isn't the first time in the time I've served, where the military has been like, Hey, you might not get paid, hey, brace yourself, I think it's the second big one. But there's been some other times in the last decade where it's come up. But it was the second, like, big scare. And the first time everybody lost their mind and did exactly what you said, I was, like, great, and I started saving money as an emergency fund. And the second time, everyone did the same thing. I was like, Whoa, you didn't learn the first time to save a little bit of money. So you could survive without having to take out interest rate loans, or zero. I mean, granted the zero low zero interest loans, not the worst thing in the world. But assuming you pay back.

Joe:

And that was the thing, too, that I was concerned about these Junior members, there wasn't going to change their spending habits, and they were going to borrow this money, and all of a sudden, they're gonna have to owe this money. So what they were gonna do? Go out and get another interest loan, or something silly, you know what I mean? So that was my concern. I was kind of looking at it long term, the progression of facts. And, you know, still to this day, there's, there's still members that it's sad, but it's true. They didn't listen. So you know, live and learn.

David:

Yeah, absolutely.

I mean, there's, you know, there's and there's rough patches, I'm in a, quote, rough patch right now, where I've got a lot of expenses converging at the same time, and I'm cutting it a little closer than I want to, but most of them are business expenses, where I know that once they, you know, once they turn around, I'll be good. Like, for example, I'm flipping a house and went a little bit over budget. So now I'm forking out the last little bit of money, but when I'm done flipping the house, you know, I'll suddenly I'll see $50,000 in, in whatever money that was sitting around, come back into the bank account plus whatever profit on top of that, so, but even even still, it's this point in time is sitting around going, Oh, man, you know, it's like, oh, my credit card has never been this.

Joe:

Yeah.

David:

And I feel terrible about it. But, you know, I know there's a plan there, and I know that it's gonna be okay. And in a month or two, I'll get a big check. And it'll all be back to normal. But what scares me is that I could be at the same exact spot, and not have the money that will come back in and be a part of a plan. And I see that entirely too often in the military, where people are like, Oh, I got approved for a credit card. There goes all my financial freedom.

Joe:

Yeah, no, totally. And not the thing I’m a military. I just, there was one interesting thing when it talks about money, too. I just recently, you know, coming up on 20 years, obviously, I've been the taps and there's all these other programs or anything, but the the first subject that gets brought up in today's program is budgeting. I'm like you're getting out of the military. And you're just now telling us about budgeting. I find it ironic how that works. So it was just one of my takeaways. So it is what it is, you can look at it a different way. Yeah, they're trying to budget for you know, what, how much money is leaving the military. But if you were budgeting all along, or had some kind of idea where your money was going, you should know that already. I don't think it needs to be a topic for the tax class. But that's just my opinion, you know?

David:

Yeah, I definitely can't hurt but you're right, it's a little late. So what are some, like what would be some typical advice that you would pass out to people when you first start sitting down and talking to them?

Joe:

So the first thing, you know, I kind of, we have to get everything on paper, right? You know, I believe the scene is a believing thing. And that's usually the person's first initial shock. When we gather up all the receipts out of a shoe box, or whatever they're paying, because they have so many automatic deductions. I think that's the main killer right there.

A lot of people have no idea how automatic how many automatic deductions they actually have, which is a good thing. I love things that are automatic. But when you have these automatic deductions that are paying for magazines, or all this other stuff that you forget about, it's amazing how quickly it adds up.

So when we finally get all the you know, scratching and dig in and everything and I can actually get all their numbers on paper and show them like okay, well you're bringing in I don't know five grand but you're spending 10 grand a month Okay, something's kind of give you know, so that's when the usually the first reality shock gets kicked in. And you know, like the studies say the average person has less than $400 in their savings account across the nation.

So when you're when you're dealing with that they're overspending already and they owe got $400 in their savings account for an emergency, the first thing they're gonna do is grab that credit card because that's their, you know, that's what they know how to get themselves out of an emergency, which digs the hole deeper and deeper. And all of a sudden, you know, it's there. And it's reality, and you can't borrow, because you're maxed out. And, you know, people have done a whole story series about being maxed out. But eventually people get to that extreme.

15:00 - 20:00

David:

Absolutely.

Are you a debt snowball type of guy or a Debt Avalanche type of guy? Or how do you recommend people pay off debt once they realize they've got a problem?

Joe:

So I'm definitely a debt snowball kind of guy, just personally working with clients one on one, I found that it actually does work that way. Because I believe in the aggressive approach, I don't believe in the interest rate thing, when we're looking at a debt snowball, it's still the smallest, I don't really care about the interest rate, because we as humans, we need to win, right.

So if we conquer these small little tasks, it's like checking the box on our to-do list, we feel accomplished. So if I can pay off a credit card for $500, and I feel accomplished, I feel that sense of when, and I'm going to do it again. And then I'm going to do it again.

Now a lot of people say, Oh, I need to pay off the highest interest rate first. And we know what happens, they give up. And all of a sudden, they're back into the nickel and dime again. And guess what the credit card companies are making because they know exactly what they're doing.

So yeah, I definitely believe in this note, Debt Snowball approach.

David:

And for those of you listening, I should have explained this or asked him to, but the Debt Snowball is simply paying off your smallest loan possible paying minimum payments on everything, and then maximum payment on your smallest debt paid off as fast as possible, and then rolling that into the next debt, and so on and so forth. Until you're paid off unless you have a better definition than that. But.

Joe:

No, no, no, no, you're correct. Absolutely.

David:

Awesome.

So, all right, so we cover getting out of debt. So let's say so and so is on their way to getting out of debt. What do you think? What kind of investment type stuff do you like to recommend?

Joe:

So there's two approaches, you got the financial independence approach where they believe, you know, you should continue to invest. Because in the long term, you know, it'll work out, then you have other, you know, I'm not gonna mention any particular financial people out there. But there's other approaches where they say, No, you should stop all investment and start aggressively paying off all your debt, because if you aggressively pay it off, it’s gonna make you one at more.

So I'm receptive to both sides. And to me, it just really varies because most people I usually work with at that stage, they're only like, putting a couple $100 anyway, so I'm like, you're not really moving the needle either way. So it's not going to really make that much of a difference. You know, they're not putting large substantial amounts in the savings anyway, because they don't really have the money because they're living paycheck to paycheck or whatever, or they're in this crazy student loan crisis, or whatever's going on with their unique situation.

David:

Yeah, absolutely.

I agree. I think it's kind of like you said, it's a personal preference, right? There's not necessarily a wrong answer there. And there's so many different strategies. So like, for example, everybody loves Dave Ramsey, right. And I kind of disagree with a lot of people. I think Dave Ramsey's great getting you from negative to zero, but the moment you hit zero debt, I think personally, I'm a I'm a turn away from the Dave Ramsey method and go find myself. I believe that, you know, leveraging a real estate purchase, assuming that the real estate purchase will cover the entire mortgage and all of your other expenses is totally acceptable, whereas some people believe only all cash purchases are there. I mean, there's pros and cons to both right, but there's not necessarily a wrong way to do it. It's whichever one you know, like anything money related. And I think this is where people get into problems like dieting, right? You tried to go on a fad diet, you go too hard, you burn out and you quit with money. I think it's the same way, right? If you are super risk averse, don't go crazy. And if you are like me, especially when I was younger, and you're like, I got time to make all this back, let's go for broke and see what happens.

You know, just don't be a total idiot. But you know, see what happens. So I like that you mentioned like, hey, there's different approaches. And it's it's on what they're comfortable with and what they want to do.

Joe:

Yeah, I think you hit it right there. And I think you hit the nail on the head with the risk, because it's almost like their risk needle. I'll ask them I'm like, hey, look, how do you feel? And that really makes a determination there. They don't really have to answer it. They get their risk levels low. I'm like, Okay, let's go this way. If they're so high, okay, continue what we're doing or do something else. So, a risk is a huge thing for a lot of people because they're not willing to roll the dice. They're so scared. A lot of people that come to me they're just so scared at that point. And it's a huge thing for them to open up about finances to begin with. So I try to walk that long. The caution. I don't want to make them feel like they can't trust me. So it's a huge trust thing for somebody that, you know, allows you to walk with them.

20:00 - 25:00

David:

Absolutely, yeah, my risk needle is broken. It's way too far off.

Like, I mean, I bought a house, my first flip that I'm doing solo was a, like, $12,000 house that needs $50,000 worth of work. And everyone's like, that's way too much of a project for you. And your first I mean, I've done I partnered on some flips, but they're like, that's way too much for your first one. Yeah. But there's a lot of upside. So I'm going for it.

And you know, at the end of the day, I run the numbers, like the worst case scenario is once the house is fixed, I'll breakeven. And that's like, worst case scenario, there's no way I can't, with only having $60,000 in the home that should sell for 90. But a lot of people would never even think about touching a property where you're paying almost five times as much to renovate it as you did to purchase it. So.

Joe:

Oh, yeah.

David:

Yeah, it's, I don't know, I guess I'm too. I'm probably too far to the risk side. But I'm also still, at least in my head young enough that I can justify it. So it's still fun. But I've luckily leveled out a little bit with emergency funds. And, you know, actually been utilizing my tsp like I should for the last decade, for the last little while, but yeah, I don't know.

Joe:

Yeah.

David:

So there was one question that we wanted to ask, or I wanted to ask before this, and I wanted to ask you what do you think is the number one reason that people don't win in the money world?

Joe:

So I think it can be summed up into the word procrastination. And the reason why I say that, is because it really came true. A couple weeks ago, one of my side hustles, I was doing a presentation to a school district, but it was some people were about to retire in their late 60s and stuff like that. And I'm asking them, okay, do you have a will? Do you have this? And we're going through the old checklist, and they're like, No, no, no, I'm like, you're 67 years old about to retire, and you don't have this. So what's your excuse? Well, we were gonna do it. We're gonna do it. I'm like, Okay, well, you were going to do it someday. And oh, yeah, I was like, Sunday is not one of the days of the week, procrastination is killing you, you need to make this a priority, because everything else is a priority. So that's the one thing that I see across the board, whether it's the millennials, the middle age, or even the older folks, which we're seeing a lot of issues with right now. And I have a whole analogy based on that, what my thoughts are, but we're seeing across the war, across the board, and it's just procrastination, like, just stop, just start somewhere you have to start. But we're so afraid to start, because we're so afraid that we're going to fail, like, Okay, well go back to what you're doing. If it didn't work, you know.

David:

Yeah.

Joe:

But to my analogy was just to add on to my analogy, what's going on, I believe, with a little later generations, their mid 60s and stuff like that, which I'm seeing that's the, you know, I think there's a reason why that reverse mortgage and all these other things are, you know, hot topic right now in the market, is because what started in 1951, the Diners Club was released into that market in 1951. You know, other cards followed on, this is the first real generation, we're seeing where we started that borrowing factor where credit cards, and it seems like there's an academic like, they just kept on borrowing and borrowing. But their generation before it, you know, none of their grandparents had credit cards, because credit cards weren't around.

So I'm wondering, I haven't seen a study or anything done. But there's a lot of people in their 60s that are in dire need right now. Because they have absolutely no savings. And it's pretty sad.

David:

Yeah, yeah, it's definitely not good. And you're spot on, what do you I would be curious to ask what you think of the reverse mortgage?

Before I let you answer that, because I did this wrong the last time. Could you explain the reverse mortgages because I don't think anyone's brought it up on this show yet.

Joe:

Okay, so maybe, maybe I'll maybe I'm gonna try to hit it the best I know. So essentially, you're borrowing from equity on your property, right. So let's say if you had in Southern California, if you had a house that was worth 700,000, I think you're allowed to borrow? Is it 40? It's a certain percentage that they do that you're allowed to borrow. And then eventually, when that money runs out, you're supposed to start paying it back, right? That's the principle behind it. But it gives you a bunch of money so you can survive, because people in that stage are so broke and desperate. They're willing to do anything they're doing.

So what we're seeing is the broken desperate people, when they take that and all of a sudden the money's gone, and they have to start making payments. That's when these houses are getting foreclosed, and it's getting turned back into these companies. And all of a sudden these older people have no place to go.

I think there are circumstances where you can weigh it against your eyes. If you are well off, you have something that you can survive on. You have your Social Security, retirement and all that. And it might be, did you sort the squeeze that you don't need that money, you can turn around and invest it and beat the margins on that. I think that's a go. Other than that, that's the only circumstance, I can see that it's actually a good investment, other than, you know, out beating or outperforming, you know, the market.

25:00 - 30:00

David:

Yeah, I agree. It's essentially from what I understand, and I need to do some more research on this. But it's essentially like turning your house into a bank account. And what you do, you say, you pull out $2,000, from your reverse mortgage, and essentially, you take $2,000, and the mortgage on your house goes up to $2,000, then you take $3,000, in the mortgage on your house goes up another $3,000 in so you just pull money out, and you just eat equity away out of your house. And it depends on the company, but my understanding is like you don't necessarily have to pay it back. There's no like schedule, I think. And I think this is kind of where it's gonna be really interesting, and not in a good way per se. A lot of people realize that a house with a lot of equity, like this, is especially common in Hawaii, where property is just so expensive. And taxes are crazy. A lot of people I know their exit strategy is probate, which for those of you who don't understand what I just said, when you die, you pay less taxes, or none, or you don't have to deal with it. And so they will pass away while still owning their house so that they don't have to pay taxes.

But what is going to happen with the reverse mortgage is people are going to pay to get this thing built up, realize, Oh, crap, I'm screwed. And they'll either get foreclosed on or they'll make the minimum payment they can. And I think the intent with the bank is to let it be fairly minimal payment to where this works out to where when you die the bank gets the house. And like you said, if the bank was only going to loan 40% of the value of the home, they just bought your house for 40 cents on the dollar, they're going to turn around and flip back to the market. Your kids just missed out on a $700,000 house worth of an inheritance essentially sets a very interesting, and I think it's kind of like playing with fire in the aspect that you're essentially saying, well, I could pay this back. And if I don't, when they sell, they'll pay it back. And if they don't, the bank will get it and my kids get screwed. Yeah, maybe they don't have kids.

Joe:

Yeah.

David:

I don't know if people are thinking through that piece. And I wonder if that's kind of the end strategy for the bank.

Joe:

And I personally dealt with that one scenario, that one off, that I was telling you about. It was a gentleman he had contacted me, he was just wanting some advice, because I was looking into the reverse mortgage thing. And I'm like, Okay, do you have any debt? Do you have any? He's like, No, I'm saying debt free? Oh, absolutely everything. I have no family, nobody's around. And I initially told him no. And actually, I turned around and called them back. I'm like, you know, this might be a circumstance where you can outperform it. I'd like, but 99% of the time, it's probably gonna be no, but this guy was a really one off scenario. It was like his house was worth in the millions. And I'm like, well, man, and might be worth rolling the dice for yours. So, you know, I'd say I would roll you check your numbers and see if it would play out for you, depending what you wanted to do.

David:

If you got you know, if you know, you've got five or six years to live, you have no one yeah, are they inheriting? Why not? I mean, you know, I'm 75, or I get terminally ill and realize, like, I got three years, you know, and I've got a house that I could pull a half a million dollars out of to live large. If I got no one to get the house to, why not pull it all out. I die. The bank takes the property, they get a great deal. I don't have to pay a penny back. Who cares? I mean, that's a very strange situation. But I mean, for someone who doesn't have you know, he's not trying to pass on anything like that could be great.

Joe:

It wasn't a very unique call. I've never, one call. That's all I've ever had. I was like, man, I usually say no, right away. And I was like, Wait, let me think. And I literally had to go back and think about it. I'm like, it might not be no for him. So anyway.

David:

Interesting.

Yeah, that's a very, I need to go hunt down like a reverse mortgage expert, and try to ask those pointed questions to see like, what happens when they don't pay back? What happens when they pass away? What happens when? Because I'm curious if that's the underlying strategy, or if that's just a byproduct.

I mean, that would be a fairly brilliant long term strategy from as kind of pathetic as it sounds. If the bank is literally like, Hey, we could buy this house for 40 cents on the dollar in 10 years, when it's worth. It wouldn't even be 40 cents on the dollar. If it appreciates even 2%, right, you'd be paying it would be like 30% off 30 cents on the dollar. But how do you take it and you wouldn't owe anything because you're the bank and it's your money.

Joe:

Yeah, yeah, definitely.

David:

Very strange.

Anyway.

Alright, so we have covered A lot of random money coaching, bouncing all over the place from debt to investing strategies to the crazy reverse mortgage. But what other? I mean, before we wrap this up? Is there anything else that you'd like to add any parting advice, big ideas in the money world, or really any?

30:00 - 35:37

Joe:

No, I would just say for the average person that really doesn't have control of their money, that's the first step, you have to tell your money where to go. Otherwise, you're going to see where it went analogy. And I believe that's true. So until you actually do that, that's the first step and, you know, realizing what you need to do with your money. So it's totally up to the individual.

If you want to live your life and blow all your money and one up like we did, we are living the dream. And we were stationed in Florida at the time. So we had jet skis and trailers, and everything was financed, you know, and it was just, we thought we were until it started adding up really quick. Find the one you want.

David:

Want to live a comfortable life on my terms?

Joe:

Yeah.

David:

Well, so I would ask you what's next after retirement?

Joe:

Yeah. So I've been to several different local organizations trying to do that. I really want to brand myself, and I believe this is a need. I think it's a huge need. I think NBC or one of the other ones just released an article today about the millennials, and how much debt that they were in, everybody starts talking about the student loan debt. But it's not even that it's the tremendous amount of credit card debt that millennials are dealing with right now. And it's a crisis. And I believe we're about to see it. I believe there is going to be a change in the economy's coming. I said for the longest time, 2020 was going to be an interesting year. And I believe we're starting to see the trickle effects of that across the market.

So next for me, I want to grow my company. It's going to be the toughest thing I've ever done in my life, because it is such a unique thing. But if not, I'm a side hustler. And I'll figure out a way GSA, GSA stays for the government.

David:

I guess that makes sense.

Joe:

And also on, yeah. So those are the like, my car locks, like the big high security locks. And all that stuff. Yeah.

David:

That's cool.

David:

Sorry, I kept you off there. You think you were, you've said and I also want you and I started talking about safes.

Joe:

You know, one of my other things that is unique about me is I'm a technician for all the ion scan machines, like the stuff you see at the airport, so that I was thinking about maybe going down that road as well as another side hustle on the side. But you know, I'm always like brainstorming crazy thoughts.

David:

Just build yourself like a really extreme escape room. Like having metal detectors and crazy security locks. And that, but that's a very interesting set of skills to have picked up for side hustling. And I love it. That's cool. And also much more marketable, I would imagine because there's not much competition, right? Everybody drives for Uber, so.

Joe:

Yeah, very true.

David:

That's awesome. Well, Joe, I really appreciate having you on here. Before we wrap this up, I've got to give you the chance to plug your website and where people can get a hold of you.

Joe:

Yep, so my website's kind of a work in progress right now. But if you simply google me, I'm on like the Google pages. So it's average Joe's financial independence If. you Google it, I'm based out of San Diego. But like I said, I have clients all over the US. Or if you want to go old school, you can contact me directly at 805-419-9777. Again, area code 805-419-9777. But as soon as you put it in the Google search engine, average Joe’s financial independence that seems to come up every time for people and it has a direct link. I think there's a tab in there where you can call me directly from the website or whatever you're doing on your smartphone.

So until I get a better platform, Bill, that's what it is right now. Because you only can have so many side hustles going on, focus on so many things, but one day, right.

David:

Joe, the locksmith metal detector website.

Joe:

Yeah, let me throw that on there.

David:

I'll tell you the website piece takes a while I've got a lot of learning to do. And I've been meddling with mine for two years. And it's and I've had professional help. I paid someone who redesigned mine about six months ago. Totally worth it. But even still, I still got stuff that I'm like, Oh, I want to tweak that. Man. I gotta go do a day worth of learning how to do that. So.

Joe:

Yeah, exactly.

David:

But that's not the important part of your brand. Thankfully, the important part of your brand is helping people and getting word of mouth.

Joe:

Absolutely. Yep. And that's why I really never focused on the website. I'd rather focus my attention on actually doing submission or the job or whatever you know.

David:

Exactly. adding value.

Awesome. Well, Joe, thank you very much for joining us today. This has been a lot of fun.

Joe:

Yeah, absolutely. I appreciate it. And thanks again for having me on.

David:

Definitely. And for those of you listening as always, Joe's information will be in the show notes down below.

End:

Thank you for listening to another episode about my journey From military to millionaire. If you liked it, be sure to visit Frommilitarytomillionaire.com/podcast to subscribe to future podcasts. While you're there, we'd love for you to rate the show. Give us a review on iTunes. Now get out there and take action.