Building Us Dr. Matt Morris LPC & LMFT, Erik Garcia CFP®

Why do people do what they do? And, is it possible for one to be who they would ideally like to be, more often? In this episode of the Building Us podcast, Ryan Goulart, co-author of Leveraging Your Financial Intelligence: At the Intersection of Money, Health and Happiness, joins Dr. Matt Morris, LPC, LMFT, and Erik Garcia, CFP® to discuss how financial stress impacts our physical health, emotional well-being, and why understanding your values helps guide your behaviors.

Episode Highlights:

What's a typical vacation for Ryan? (5:01)


Ryan gives a brief background of what Think2Perform is all about. (11:31)


Ryan mentions the five values he utilizes on his best day. (14:24)


Ryan explains why one of his values is health. (16:16)


Ryan shares why he had viewed himself as indestructible. (18:07)


Ryan explains what financial intelligence means. (20:36)


Ryan shares why it’s important to understand values. (25:07)


Ryan mentions why values are a huge point of differentiation. (33:01)


What were Ryan’s foundational ideas that have become clear in a new way over the last 18 months? (35:02)


Ryan explains the alignment model. (42:27)



Key Quotes:

“My values happen to be integrity, family, health, excellence, and achievement. So, on my best day, I am utilizing all five. Now, that's extremely, extremely hard for a lot of variables. But, if I see that and reflect on my values, and think about those values as I make choices throughout my day, then my behavior gets in line. Then, my goals for myself get in line.” - Ryan Goulart

“One of my values is health, and I want to be healthy. I define health as I want to be both mentally healthy, financially healthy, and physically healthy. So, I need to do something in the moment right now to be able to fix that.” - Ryan Goulart

“Values and value-based decisions can help guide that behavior. It's not going to mean that just because you know your values, you're going to be immune to poor decisions, but it increases the likelihood and increases the probability that the decisions you make will be value-based.” - Ryan Goulart


Resources Mentioned:

Ryan Goulart LinkedIn

Think2Perform

Think2Perform Facebook

Leveraging Your Financial Intelligence: At the Intersection of Money, Health and Happiness

Erik Garcia, CFP®

Dr. Matt Morris, LPC, LMFT

Garcia Financial Group

Matt Morris & Associates

Should couples have married or separate financial accounts? Dr. Matt Morris, LPC, LMFT, and Erik Garcia, CFP®, dive into the pros and cons of each – as well as some of the underlying psychology. 

The goal of today’s podcast is not to defend separate or joint accounts. However, we do want to explore some of the obstacles around joining accounts. Establishing a healthy dialogue about finances can help couples get on the same page and result in happier relationships in the long run.

Episode Highlights:

Erik explains the point of today’s podcast episode. (2:06)


Does Matt think that money is often a more difficult part to integrate with relationships? (4:24)


Erik gives a couple of interesting statistics about couples having joint or separate bank accounts. (8:22)


Erik shares some of the pros and cons of having joint accounts. (9:58)


Matt explains the first obstacle of merging your accounts. (15:56)


Matt gives his thoughts on the next obstacle: the idea of control. (20:18)


Matt shares why income disparity has become a common concern. (24:02)


Matt shares his thoughts on the final obstacle, which is debt disparity. (27:32)


Matt mentions what his couples regularly tell him. (30:31)


Matt gives some advice to the couples that are navigating their finances. (31:41)



Key Quotes:

“I want people to have the healthiest relationship that they can possibly have. Being connected in a very healthy and secure way with our spouse can be one of the most meaningful things we experience in this life.” - Dr. Matt Morris, LPC, LMFT

“If you and I were to go into business together, we would probably have a joint business account to help us meet the goals of the business. So, just for relationships, for family, there's an aspect of family that's business. To meet the goals of the family business, you probably would enjoy yourself in an account.” - Dr. Matt Morris, LPC, LMFT

“Any kind of secret, any kind of hidden stuff, any kind of suspicion, lie, paranoia, ends up eroding that connection and eroding that feeling of safety and security. Financial transparency is a way to kind of just bring us all back on the same page. If this is what we have, this is where we're going.” - Dr. Matt Morris, LPC, LMFT


Resources Mentioned:

Erik Garcia, CFP®

Dr. Matt Morris, LPC, LMFT

Garcia Financial Group

Matt Morris & Associates

In this episode of Building Us podcast hosted by Dr. Matt Morris, LPC, LMFT, and Erik Garcia, CFP®, Erik and Matt explore some of Warren Buffet’s life-changing philosophies. ‘Hit fewer bad shots' is Erik's advice for improving his golf game...But, what does Warren Buffet advise about your internal scorecard of success? Listen up!

Episode Highlights:

Erik shares a recent article from inc.com, entitled, Warren Buffett Believes 3 Decisions in Life Separate Those Who Succeed From Those Who Fail. (1:05)


Erik explains more about who Warren Buffet is. (1:25)


Erik gives us the first piece of advice from Warren Buffet, that separates those who succeed from those who fail. (8:21)


Erik discusses Warren Buffet’s philosophy on clear communication. (10:15)


Matt explains how you can learn to become a better communicator. (10:52)


Matt shares the second piece of advice from Warren Buffet: How to measure success by using your inner scorecard. (17:36)


Erik explains the importance of scorecards and measuring. (22:44)


Matt gives us the final piece of advice from Warren Buffet: Pay attention. (27:07)


Erik shares some advice from a financial advisor’s standpoint. (32:19)



Key Quotes:

“If you can make less poor decisions with your money, not better decisions necessarily, just less bad once consistently... that's going to add up, it's going to accrue, it's going to accumulate, and you have a good shot at being successful.” - Erik Garcia, CFP®

“Other ways to invest in yourself will really help you insulate yourself against unknowns in life, and economic downturns, and changes in the job market. If I can continue to grow and develop, and be flexible, I can usually find success somewhere out there.” - Dr. Matt Morris, LPC, LMFT

“If you invest in your relationships, they're not perfect investments, but you'll most likely receive a lot of love and care and concern that will make your life full.” - Dr. Matt Morris, LPC, LMFT


Resources Mentioned:

Warren Buffett Believes 3 Decisions in Life Separate Those Who Succeed From Those Who Fail

Erik Garcia, CFP®

Dr. Matt Morris, LPC, LMFT

Garcia Financial Group

Matt Morris & Associates

In today’s episode of the Building Us podcast, Jennifer Garcia and Erik Garcia, CFP® recount their journey of discovering their son's severe food allergies, and carefully guiding their family through it. 17 years later, now, they're tackling the college experience.

Episode Highlights:

Erik introduces his wife, Jen Garcia. (3:45)


Jen shares how their son’s severe food allergy started. (5:57)


Erik mentions one of the things that comes commonly with food allergies. (8:52)


Erik explains the difference between food allergies and food sensitivities. (10:40)


Jen explains why they carry more than one epi-pen. (12:15)


How did Jen and Erik explain their son’s condition to other family members? (21:24)


Jen shares some of the home modifications they did for the safety of their son. (26:43)


Erik shares how he coped with all of the adjustments they did. (29:31)


Erik shares the lessons he’s learned from food allergies. (45:09)



Key Quotes:

“Honestly, I just wish people would allow us to keep him alive. That's all I'm trying to do, that's all he's trying to do is just to stay alive and enjoy other parts of life.” - Jennifer Garcia

“I've told people many times, we can't come to your house, but, you are more than welcome to invite yourself to ours. And, the friends that have done that for us, those are the ones that have stuck by us and it's made this doable.” - Jennifer Garcia

“I wish people understood the severity of food allergies...that it's not like respiratory allergies, where treatment is a little bit of exposure and small amounts, like food allergies. Any exposure of any amount is not good. A lot of people think that if I just have a little bit it’s not going to hurt. A little bit is all it takes.” - Erik Garcia


Resources Mentioned:

Jennifer Garcia

Erik Garcia, CFP®

Dr. Matt Morris, LPC, LMFT

Garcia Financial Group

Matt Morris & Associates

What's the best financial advice you've ever received? Financial advisor Xavier Angel joins Dr. Matt Morris, LPC, LMFT, and Erik Garcia, CFP® to share golden nuggets of financial wisdom in this episode of the Building Us podcast.

Episode Highlights:

Xavier shares the best advice he has ever been given. (3:03)


Xavier explains what generational wealth is. (3:41)


Xavier discusses savings goals. (5:18)


Xavier shares a story about a conversation with his oldest daughter, several years ago. (12:50)


Xavier mentions the importance of proper planning. (25:27)


Xavier shares why a mortgage is something that people really have to think about. (34:18)


Xavier gives his closing thoughts on the best financial advice. (43:16)



Key Quotes:

“I want my children to be in a better position than what I'm in today. And, that's why we have to make sure we're saving and we don't buy those big purchases.” - Xavier Angel

“How much you save is going to depend on the individual. Not everyone is going to be able to save 25%, and give 25%, and live off of 50%. But, I think putting together that strategy or building a plan while leaving something behind… that's where you start.” - Xavier Angel

“We need to teach our children that as they save, teach them what compound interest is. Because, what they're putting away today, whether it's $2 or $5. Today, here's what it could potentially grow to when they're 60 or 65 years old. And that's going to be how we start that generational wealth... by teaching our children at an early age.” - Xavier Angel


Resources Mentioned:

Xavier Angel, ChFC, CLTC, LinkedIn

Angel Wealth Strategies, LLC

Erik Garcia, CFP®

Dr. Matt Morris, LPC, LMFT

Garcia Financial Group

Matt Morris & Associates

In this episode of the Building Us podcast, Dr. Matt Morris, LPC, LMFT, and Erik Garcia, CFP® are joined by Xavier Angel to discuss the worst financial advice given to them. "Free" credit cards, fancy jeans, expensive cars, and big houses...

Episode Highlights:

What's the worst financial advice that Xavier has ever received? (2:38)


Xavier mentions some of the goals he had, when he moved to Holland. (3:59)


What happened when Xavier tried to purchase his first car? (9:34)


Xavier explains how his credit card debt demotivated him. (15:16)


Xavier mentions how debt becomes a cycle. (21:34)


Xavier shares a story about the phone call he received a couple of weeks ago. (34:22)


Xavier gives his closing thoughts on bad financial advice. (40:40)



Key Quotes:

“I think walking into the bank and having family members talk to you about how money works… that is lost in today's age.” - Xavier Angel

“These individuals graduating from college or in their mid to late 20s, they just don't realize how much that debt that they've accrued over their short lifetime... the effects that it has going forward. Whether it's purchasing a home, whether it's purchasing a car, that debt has a lasting effect on them.” - Xavier Angel

“You still have that bad advice when you're looking at those salespeople coming in and trying to do something that's going to better themselves. They're still out there doing that same practice that you experienced.” - Xavier Angel


Resources Mentioned:

Xavier Angel, ChFC, CLTC, LinkedIn

Angel Wealth Strategies, LLC

Erik Garcia, CFP®

Dr. Matt Morris, LPC, LMFT

Garcia Financial Group

Matt Morris & Associates