EXPERT SPOTLIGHT - How to Retire in Style with Ryan J Melton - Episode 16 of Better Business, Better Life!

Debra Chantry-Taylor 00:12

Welcome to another episode of Better Business, Better Life. I’m your host, Debra Chantry-Taylor. I’m passionate about helping entrepreneurs and their leadership teams get what they want at a business and life. On the show, I invite successful business owners and expert speakers to share their successes. They are open and honest about the highs and lows of business and also life as a business owner. We want to share those learnings with you to inspire you, but also to help you avoid some of the common mistakes. My hope is that you take something from each of these short episodes that you can put into action to help you get what you want. Not only out of your business, but also your life. So Good afternoon, and welcome to another episode of better business better life. today. My guest is Ryan J. Melton from One Plan for Retirement. Welcome Ryan

Ryan J. Melton 00:58

Kia Ora Debra.

Debra Chantry-Taylor 00:59

Why Ryan J Melton?

Ryan J. Melton 01:02

Why Ryan J. Melton? is because I’m pretentious, and I’m stuck up. That’s why I put that in. The reason Ryan J Melton is funnily enough There’s a few 100 Ryan Meltons in the world, and I don’t like competing in a space that I can’t win. So I just put a J. So there may be times on searches my name, or page ones me. So at least there’s not some sort of confusion or because you always get taught themselves to make the close as easy as possible.

Debra Chantry-Taylor 01:30

Yeah, fair enough. I just remember seeing the other day on the news, there was a guy who had actually done some SEO work to make sure if you typed ‘Auckland’s hottest bachelor’, he actually came up as number 1.

Ryan J. Melton 01:40

That makes me 2!

Debra Chantry-Taylor 01:44

Brilliant. So you obviously are working in retirement? How did you get into that?

Ryan J. Melton 01:50

Funnily enough, well, seven or eight years ago, I think now I wanted to build a business around emotional success. And then when I started talking to people, the more I got to understand it, the more I realized how much finance plays a part. But I didn’t know enough about it to sort of go in that direction. So I had a bit of money from insurance started running events called Meaningful Money Making for Millennials. And so I thought I can bring an audience, then I’ll attracted a speaker, and a speaker, I’ll learn from building connection. And funnily enough, they happen door knocked a few business owners. And third one said yes, first, who can actually do it though the wrong kind of advisor. And when I walked in, the receptionist said, Oh, no, no, we do retirement planning. We’re not gonna, we’re not gonna… he’s not going to be interested in that. But I was like, Sir, I’ll wait. And then I had a chat with him. And then he spoke. And he asked me if I ever thought about working in the industry. And I said, No. And he said, I’ll pay for your study. And you can be a part of it. Now I realize I can do a tangible Life Coach, you know, I can look at what’s important to people in life, I can have those conversations, be there for them a key life event, but also sought out their money. So now, I just think, well, that makes sense. That’s the business I want to create. So been there for a few years now.

Debra Chantry-Taylor 03:06

how many years?

Ryan J. Melton 03:08

Three now?

Debra Chantry-Taylor 03:09

Okay. And who’s the owner of the business?

Ryan J. Melton 03:11

Greg Moyle.

Debra Chantry-Taylor 03:12

That’s right. He appears on your podcast. Doesn’t he?

Ryan J. Melton 03:13

He does. Mr Moyle, he’s well known. He built his business through accountants and lawyers. And I’m gonna different tack with the social media, he talks about.

Debra Chantry-Taylor 03:22

Fantastic. Okay, so tell me a little bit about yourself. First of all, what’s your kind of professional and personal best you can share with our viewers? listeners?

Ryan J. Melton 03:32

Yeah. Viewers and listeners. There’s a video so shout out to both

Debra Chantry-Taylor 03:34

Yep. There’s a video!

Ryan J. Melton 03:35

First, personal best is a bit of an emotional thing where I was in a bit of a tough point, girlfriend left me for someone else, moved 200 meters down the road, could see them from my bedroom window. And then a whole lot of other things like 80% of the staff there supporting me with commission only selling at the time left. So he had no one booking appointments, my expenses double. So I was crying in between appointments. And then I had no friends cause I was new to Auckland, and my only friend left. So I started confiding in this girl and she was going through a lot, longtime friend and she was overseas. And then she actually, I was going to turn it around. This is a long winded story. But there was a moment where I went on a team ran on sleeping my car, and the keep costs down. And I had to turn it around with this talk I did due to a number of people that can be clients at the time I was selling medical gear. And at like 2 AM in the morning she started acting funny when I was messaging her and then she’d actually tried to kill herself. And, I couldn’t think of being in a different country. I couldn’t think of what to say other than if you actually do that. I’ll make sure your parents sent off at the door knows the only thing that got her to stop. And then the next day I did a talk it said big career but the personal best is making sure she’s still here and she’s happy and married and having a baby or had a baby

Debra Chantry-Taylor 05:00

Oh, that’s awesome.

Ryan J. Melton 05:01

So it’s a personal best. Professional best. Like, for me, it’s just, you know, having a fear invasing it, you know, like, for me a personal best every day that I can do that. I mean, there’s accolades, you know, like, early on my sales career, being able to make $5,000 in a day or, or like make a revolutionary change in the business that makes a big impact on people’s lives and makes them happy. But for me, it’s just the everyday you know, any moment where I feel fearful, and I have doubt, and I just incrementally work through it and come out the other end is a personal or professional investment.

Debra Chantry-Taylor 05:40

Is that how your podcast started?

Ryan J. Melton 05:42

Yeah, no idea two years ago, I sorta paralysis by analysis, overthink everything, or just do it and wing it? So I go with the do it and wing it and the podcast is built up to top 100 in New Zealand for business. And now people call us which is a rare thing. So took two years, had $80 a month budget. And now people are calling us and we’ve built up a good portfolio of clients got a few 100 clients. Yeah.

Debra Chantry-Taylor 06:11

And tell me so your podcast is obviously about helping people to live a better financial life. Is that right?

Ryan J. Melton 06:16

It’s called the NZ Guide to Financial Freedom. But the funny thing is our ideal clients aren’t interested in finance. We want passive investors that just want to live the life they want and not worry about much. So we actually have to get them at a point in time. So what we do is we talk about lifestyle and interesting topics with different speakers, the number one speaking coach in New Zealand, or Debra Chantry, the Business Traction, those business action business coach, so we give diversity so we can maintain attention. And then when the tight life event occurs, and we’ve added value and trust, then they reach out. That was the objective. And finally, after two years, it’s work.

Debra Chantry-Taylor 06:54

That’s fantastic. So our listeners tend to be business owners. Tell me about the biggest financial challenges that business owners tend to face.

Ryan J. Melton 07:04

Well, it’s like, I mean, the cash flow is bread and butter of any organization, and a lot of business owners are cashflow poor. And also, if they’re not that they’re either lifestyle asset rich, and don’t have a means to fund their lifestyle. So by lifestyle asset, I mean, the family home the car, it’ll cost them money, but they don’t have a means to replace their income because everything goes into the business. The other thing is they don’t think about the exit strategy, how to structure the business, how to have a succession plan, and they just, it’s kind of like the baby and they can’t let it go. So that would be the biggest thing I see business owners fail at is one either the structuring of the assets, protecting its creditors, because it’s the uncertainty they can come knocking when you least expect, and then also have an investment strategy that’s independent from the business. So at least if you can’t sell or had enough, at some point, you don’t have to work because you have to.

Debra Chantry-Taylor 07:54

Okay, and so you can work with people, I assume the first step is understanding what’s important for them, tell me, take me through the process that you would do when you’re working with a with a client.

Ryan J. Melton 08:04

So it’s transferable like in any sort of, like I call it sales is problem solving to me is sales. But like, you got to understand what’s important, their values, their goals, and then also the situation. Because we want to look at the liabilities, the lifestyle assets, the investment assets, you know, understanding of that. The next piece is how much is that lifestyle going to cost when they stop payed employment. And when would they like to stop payed employment? And then from there, it’s looking at the ticking the boxes, you know, insurance? Do they have the right insurance, estate planning? Do they had the right structure the assets, is the family trust still make sense? Or should they get a family trust? And then the other piece of the pie is you’ve also got the investment structure so what would they be comfortable with? It’s one thing to go for highest returns but it’s another thing to actually have something that you’re comfortable there will be I’ll deliver what you want. So then that’s the final pieces of investment so we usually summarize it product structure strategy product who’s going to deliver it, strategy how and what do we need to deliver and structure is how can we make sure that the best interests of the people that care about so after as well as their own.

Debra Chantry-Taylor 09:12

A bit of controversy here.

Ryan J. Melton 09:15

Go on

Debra Chantry-Taylor 09:16

cryptocurrency

Ryan J. Melton 09:17

cryptocurrency

Debra Chantry-Taylor 09:18

Because of course a lot of entrepreneurs love to take risks and I’ve got lots of friends are investing left, right and center into cryptocurrency? What’s your views on that? Because I read a really interesting article from my friend Sam Stubbs The other day. And he’s definitely not one for it. love to hear your thoughts.

Ryan J. Melton 09:31

So I linked cryptocurrency, Sim akin who the revolution or evolutionary, the technological evolution of the internet. So this new technology that’s actually remarkable and can make a huge impact on people’s lives. So from 2000 to 2003, the internet was becoming a real thing. And any company that had.com on the end of it was an exceptional investment was making 20% a week returned. And then by the end of that no longer existed. The bubble. So the biggest challenge with cryptocurrency is who is going to be the leader? What brand is going to take over? And are you going to make a speak a little bit where you can lose all your money? Yeah. So whether it’s crypto, whether it’s a direct investment, we don’t make speculative investments. We have diversified portfolios that can deliver what they want. And people get fixated on the return, but we say it’s the return of your money. That actually matters That is what enables you to do yeah, that’s what I’d say about crypto.

Debra Chantry-Taylor 10:30

It’s pretty much what Sam said. He said, You got to be prepared to lose it all. It’s like having a gamble at a casino.

Ryan J. Melton 10:35

Yeah. I agree

Debra Chantry-Taylor 10:36

Okay.

Ryan J. Melton 10:37

That’s Sam Stubbs from Simplicity. Is it?

Debra Chantry-Taylor 10:38

Yes, that’s right. Yeah. Okay, cool. So what’s the most interesting thing you’ve seen with a client?

Ryan J. Melton 10:46

Well, for me, it’s the fascinating thing is helping people get a clear understanding of what they want in life. So there’s interesting things that happened, like people skip home, they come in or stressed out, or there’s some crazy story where they walked in on the dead body, and like that sort of stuff. They got accused of murder. I’ve seen that. People would tell me everything.

Debra Chantry-Taylor 11:08

Like a hairdresser!

Ryan J. Melton 11:10

Yeah. But yeah, just understanding people. It’s just fascinating to me, and why they do what they do. But yeah, you get out the box stories, and you get all the insider goss. You get keep a confidential. You can say hot takes like this on podcast, no reference for understanding and you’re safe. But yeah, that’s fine.

Debra Chantry-Taylor 11:29

Okay, and what’s the biggest challenge you’ve had to kind of solve for a client?

Ryan J. Melton 11:34

Well, the biggest thing is when they don’t have the means to achieve what they want. So you have to be strategic, you know, there’s tools you can use, like the family home, you can use a reverse mortgage. So you can use the the equity in your home to find your income, and then don’t take the money until you sell the house. So it’s good for the older people. And the other thing is, yeah, that that’s the biggest thing is trying to mediate the difference between what they want and what they have. And you do have challenges you do have like family members that you’ve got to think about. And they may not think about because a lot of family members put the kids as trustees, and beneficiaries, where as soon as money passes, a certain point comes into it, the kids start acting a little funny. And we’ve had instances where a stepmother, new family, partner passes away. And they had their money in a trust and they also had invested. The house was partly owned by the trust. So then you basically had a prison for the step parent, and they wanted the kids to help them out and the kids says she’s not my mom.

Debra Chantry-Taylor 12:39

Right? Okay. So it starts to get quite complex.

Ryan J. Melton 12:43

So the biggest challenge is getting all people that are involved in a unified vision. And clear, transparent communication, like a lot of people might use prenup trusts and things like that. But even then that’s not airtight. And the best thing you can actually do in a partnership is clear communication and transparency. Like there’s nothing better, unfortunately.

Debra Chantry-Taylor 13:04

So do you actually help with that with clients?

Ryan J. Melton 13:05

Yeah. It’s like, I like referencing sales a lot, because most of my life has been sales. But you know, me you don’t sit anything out without the decision makers. So for us, yeah, we can get people over the line, they make decision, but we’re not looking for a transactional relationship. We’re looking for long term. So sure, we may lose people, because we’re asking, hey, can all parties be involved? But in the long run, it’s better outcomes for the client. And also, it’s a lasting relationship.

Debra Chantry-Taylor 13:34

Now, I’ve heard you use sales a lot. And for a lot of us sales is kind of that dirty word. And we were sort of scared by it. How do you position that? What do you say to people who are in business? Who have a fear of that word sales?

Ryan J. Melton 13:47

Yeah, well, I was similar, you know, like, I was actually, because I was very fearful talking to people, I created a character to execute on what I needed. So when I first came into commercialized selling, I was like, shit, I’m petrified of this. And obviously need to deliver. So I started you know, thinking about my body language, my tonality, how to mirror people to feel more in control out of even how to gesture your hand when showing the prices etc. And then, there’s that imposter feeling where you’re disingenuous with what your intent is. So now for me, it’s really, what first sell the product yourself. And if you can sell his halfway selling, she’ll step one. Step two is being congruent. Like sometimes actually telling them something that’s against your best interest is actually going to help them across the line. So when you’re genuinely believe in what you’re selling, have good intent, and clear with your intent. And your focus is to solve the problem. The closes the only thing that really needs some structure where if you’re going to close on it needs to be simple and streamlined. So have that part but the most part is if you’re just congruent, honest, forthright, clear on your intent. trying to solve a problem and then have a obstruction. Close, you’re not gonna have any qualm. You might have the fear of talking to people were asking, but if you put that on the table.

Debra Chantry-Taylor 15:10

And that’s not really sales, right? You just helping people

Ryan J. Melton 15:12

Basically.

Debra Chantry-Taylor 15:12

Yeah. Okay. Fair enough.

Ryan J. Melton 15:14

They call it sales. Let’s not worry about it. I don’t sell… every business owner that started probably had to sell if they had a partner, they could do it all for them.

Debra Chantry-Taylor 15:22

Yeah, that makes perfect sense.

Ryan J. Melton 15:24

They’re all sales. Don’t lie to yourself

Debra Chantry-Taylor 15:26

So business people, we said before that often they are putting everything back into the business. So on paper, they don’t have an awful lot. Could they be sitting there going was no point in me going seeing a person about my retirement? Because I’ve got nothing? What would you say to them?

Ryan J. Melton 15:40

Yes, it’s fair. I mean, we have clients that is millions of dollars, we have clients that have zero, and they started from nothing. The bottom line is, I’ve realized people is not how much they earn, is how much they spend, is the behavior that matters, you earn more, they spend more, I’ve had couples that earn half a million dollars between them, and they spend every single belt. So if you get a clear… It’s reality, so that if you actually open that up and break it down, there is money that is free. Yep. There will be in efficiencies within a business, there’s inefficiency, with expenditure. And then if you have a reason to do it, because that’s the other fearful thing, people keep their head in the sand because they’re not going to have an income and they’re worried they’re not going to have enough so they just ignore, ignore until it’s too late. But even if you put it in… and even if you’re saving $100 a week, like it can make a significant impact on your life. And then you got Kiwi saver for self employed people put in $1043 get $521 free money. Guaranteed returns. And then that’s compounding. So that can be there for you as well. I’ve got to be more efficient with these answering of questions. Seems like a 10 hour discussion!

Debra Chantry-Taylor 16:51

That’s good. It’s really helpful information. I just got my KiwiSaver and statement other day, it’s amazing how much you actually can make on KiwiSaver.

Ryan J. Melton 16:59

Oh, remarkable. And all your employees. You got to get the 3%, 3%. It’s crazy. What you can achieve with that.

Debra Chantry-Taylor 17:07

Actually, have you got any examples of businesses you’ve worked with? where they’ve gone above that 3%? Or…

Ryan J. Melton 17:13

Yeah, our own..

Debra Chantry-Taylor 17:14

Okay, tell me about that.

Ryan J. Melton 17:15

We pay 4%, which isn’t remarkable. But that’s usually what others would do.The other thing I’m thinking as well as because our staff, are also a representation of our advice. You start putting it aside their own sort of investment, the challenge is they would have to voluntarily be a part of it, because you’d have to make it tailored to the risk tolerance and compliance things, you have to go through a plan. They might not feel comfortable disclosing it. But I think that’s an important piece, especially in our business is making sure that our staff are a representation of the advice we give.

Debra Chantry-Taylor 17:50

Fantastic. Okay, and what are the benefits? And do you see, as a business owner, for example, giving employees more than the 3%? What do you think that shows? What’s the benefit for you as a business owner?

Ryan J. Melton 18:04

Well, for me, it’s like, if your objection handle is to decrease the price, they don’t see value in. So if there’s a business owner that actually wants to do that, I’m happy to come and do a talk workshop, and actually show the value of it, because that would be the first step, they actually need to see the potential implications of that. So maybe it’s a calculator, or maybe it’s talking about their goals. And if you’re good business owner, usually you have people aligned to the vision you’re striving to achieve. So you have an understanding what they want. And then it’s just a matter of showing that calculation and what the impact that might have. But not doing it from like, hey, look at me, like I care of, I’m doing all this for you. But it’s just like, Hey, this is what you said you wanted to achieve. I’m happy to contribute this for you. And this is the outcome that it has, but if you just do it, they’re won’t care.

Debra Chantry-Taylor 18:53

Okay, cool. We always ask for three top tips from our guests. Right? Three things that the business owner can take away and start using in their business straightaway. What would be Ryan J Melton’s top three tips.

Ryan J. Melton 19:05

Tax yourself 10%. And treat that as an income like that as your investment is 10%. The best partnership of investments is Kiwi Saver in a managed fund. And a managed fund looks like Kiwi Saver. So a balanced growth conservative. So you can access the money. So you tax yourself 10%, goes in the manage fund, and then you put in the minimum $1043 in KiwiSaver.

Debra Chantry-Taylor 19:31

And $521 is from the government.

Ryan J. Melton 19:33

Yeah, yep, that’s the one and they invest it once. So 10% growth, or balanced fund, depending if it’s five year or 10 year horizon? Kiwisaver minimum. Second step is actually have the conversation with your partner or the significant person in your life. It might not be comfortable, we call it, we thought about how this might cause a domestic where we had in the expenditure requirements but if you actually sit down and talk about what you’re hoping to achieve and what that looks like and how it coincides together. Especially if you’ve got a partner that spins off, funnily enough, they start changing that narrative. So have a conversation.

Debra Chantry-Taylor 20:12

How do you start that conversation? Because my experience of working with entrepreneurs is you’ve got entrepreneurs are genuinely big risk takers, generally, kind of, you know, big spenders as well. And often they’re balanced with a partner who’s quite, quite different, risk averse, not big into spending. And so having that conversation initially is going to be tough. How would you suggest that they start that?

Ryan J. Melton 20:31

Well, a good start is ‘hey, honey, I was just listening to Better Life’, Better Business, better business, better life circling around. And they’re talking about having a clear vision and how that can impact and yada yada, yada. The biggest thing that starts it off, the biggest thing I’ve learned is, it doesn’t matter how you start, you can always react, you can always adapt. But the place you’re coming from is I care about you. I want to know, now I have this idea. You need to do this. Yeah. But if you’re like, Hey, honey, I’ve been talking to listen to this podcast talking about this, I’ll be cured, like, what was your hope? Like, what would you try to achieve? And then you try and understand that.

Debra Chantry-Taylor 21:05

Yeah. So similar to a business really, it’s like, what is our vision? What are our shared core values? Where do we want to be in 10 years time?

Ryan J. Melton 21:12

Yeah. Business is just the prediction of a person anyway. All those key stakeholders. Step three, structure. So yeah. So think about estate planning, you know, who’s going to get what, how that’s going to work? How are you protecting yourself against unexpected with the insurances? Yada yada yada. So think about structure. Get a clear vision for your partner, Tax yourself 10%.

Debra Chantry-Taylor 21:40

Fantastic. That’s really good. Thank you. Okay. Thank you for sharing that. Thanks. Also, for sharing quite vulnerably about your personal best. I’m really pleased that you saved your friend’s life. I’m sure she is to. If people want to get in contact with you and have a conversation with you, how do they do that?

Ryan J. Melton 21:55

Well, if you google Ryan J. Melton on everywhere, yeah, Tik Tok, Instagram, LinkedIn, I’ve got a newsletter. There’s a book you can get for free. Just email me at ryan@1plan.co.nz.

Debra Chantry-Taylor 22:06

Actually it just reminded me something else. Tik Tok ,tell us a little about Tik Tok, because I have to say when you first told me you’re on Tik Tok. I thought, that’s ridiculous. You know, nobody on Tik Tok is gonna be interested in financial planning. Yeah. So tell us a bit about that and how it’s worked for your business?

Ryan J. Melton 22:20

Well, I usually say to be on the right side of today, than you’d be on the wrong side of history. Right? Wrong. Yeah. You want to be on the wrong side today? Then you’ll be on the right side of history. Whatever you get what i’m trying to say.

Debra Chantry-Taylor 22:31

I do it. Yeah.

Ryan J. Melton 22:32

So Tik Tok heard this all the time. Biggest revenue generator from social media no cost. Just time. So Tik Tok, whatever you put on the hook, is what you attract. There’s I don’t know, a billion users now. So there could be people between 50 and 60. That might be interested in financial planning and an engaging short form content and people structure Hey, I saw your Tik Tok. And I was actually thinking about my future, what should I do? And then plan, client.

Debra Chantry-Taylor 22:39

So what kind of content Do you share on that?

Ryan J. Melton 23:04

Well, the biggest thing, I’d say with content, create what you enjoy. Because there’s going to be points where people aren’t interested, there’s going to be points where it’s hard for you to keep consistent at it. That’s step one. Step two is, is quantity will help you create quality. So you can’t sit in your boardroom with all your your different directors and say, hey, this is what I think people will like, and then you present it as a dud. So if you consistently put out content, you’ll actually see what becomes quality.

Debra Chantry-Taylor 23:33

Yeah. So it’s about monitoring what you’re doing, seeing what it means doing the stuff that you love, making sure you having some fun with it for a start, because that becomes authentic. And then seeing what actually resonates and refining over time is that it?

Ryan J. Melton 23:47

Pretty much And the thing, there’s nuances for every social media, so Tik Tok it is more representation more demographic are in the younger side. Yeah. So have your clothes, adapt to them. So you’re one with Tik Tok the things the algorithm tries to group it, so presents it to the right person, and it also rewards, rewatch factor. So shorter videos seem to perform well, the more clearly defined content is with the hashtags with the sounds. And with the content. We’ll start putting it in front of the right people. And then when they see that, you want to make sure that your clothes or the link that you have in your description relates to their pain points for the age demographic. So that’s what I’ll say.

Debra Chantry-Taylor 24:36

That’s really cool. Thank you very much.

Ryan J. Melton 24:37

No Worries.

Debra Chantry-Taylor 24:38

Well, again, thanks for coming in. I didn’t mention it before. But we’ve actually been here and done this. It’s like Deja Vu isn’t it? We actually recorded this a couple of months ago, and we had some terrible sound issues. So thanks for taking the time to come back in and do it all over again. I think we’ve actually learned more second time rounds. I think you appreciate it. Yeah.

Ryan J. Melton 24:53

No worries. Wing it, every time.

Debra Chantry-Taylor 24:55

Brilliant. Thanks. Thanks, guys. Thanks again for joining us some Better Business, Better Life with me Your host Debra Chantry-Taylor. If you enjoy what you heard, then please subscribe to this podcast and let us help you to get what you want out of business in life. Each week we release a new short episode which will give a success story and three takeouts to put into action immediately. These will help you take your business from good to great. The podcast is also supported by free resources, templates and useful tools, which you can find at DebraChantry-Taylor.com. I am a trained entrepreneur leadership and business coach, a professional EOS implementer and an established business owner myself. I work with established businesses to help them get what they want. Feel free to contact me if you’d like to have a chat about how I might be to help you. Or if you’d like to join me as a guest on this podcast. Thanks again to NZ audio editors for producing this podcast. See you on the next episode.