Todd: 0:00

This is the Cluttered Path, a compass for midlife. Many people think of retirement as simply quitting your job, kicking back and enjoying a permanent vacation. But what if retirement is your chance to reinvent your life and embark on a new adventure? Forget the idea of coasting into your golden years, no matter who you are. That's just a pipe dream. Today we're talking with Phil, host of a YouTube channel called what's Up Boomer. His story proves that retirement isn't the end. It really is a new phase of life that offers an opportunity to create joy and fulfillment. Phil, welcome to the show.

Phil: 0:44

Thanks, Todd James. It's exciting to be here as an original, an OG podcaster. Back in the day, when you didn't have this technology, you had a lot more bells and whistles you had to work with to get just an audio file up.

Todd: 1:01

Right, and having to meet in person back in the day. So this is cool yeah.

Phil: 1:06

Yeah.

Todd: 1:06

Yeah, so James and I are on the East Coast, phil's on the West Coast time, so it's very cool. The technology allows us just to meet up here live. So, phil, would you give us a brief intro to your channel and audience?

Phil: 1:18

Yeah, so my channel what's Up Boomer is my attempt at documenting number one legacy for my grandkids, as well as my family, my kids I have a son, a daughter and six grandkids most powerfully putting a record my voice and my appearance on record for them. When I'm gone, they still. There's a real power in having those things. You know, back in the day we had. If we were enough, we maybe had videotapes of our family. Most often not, though, but now with this technology, so my channel will document that.

Phil: 1:56

I don't know which one weighs more. That's, ultimately, my most important goal. My secondary goal is to basically talk about making the best of the way things have turned out when they haven't turned out exactly like I'd planned, and I also realized that a very high percentage 70, 80, you know, 90% of people reach retirement and realize I don't have enough money or I can't retire, so I knew there was a large audience out there like me, and I'm in the process right now my first 40 videos really of discovering where the direction exactly will go with the channel Right.

Todd: 2:37

Yeah, man, that's how James and I came up with the name the Cluttered Path, because we make our plans in life and life happens and it usually doesn't turn out the way we want it to.

Phil: 2:46

So yep and it goes very quickly. It goes very quickly, yes, that's I think, anyone who reaches I'm 66. Uh, it just seems like yesterday when I thought, well, I've got time, when I left teaching to, you know, pursue a business opportunity, I've got time if it doesn't make it to recover. And here it is. I never recovered completely.

Todd: 3:09

Well, I found your channel a while back and, man, I've really enjoyed your videos. Your story is very compelling and I think we can learn a lot from you, so that's why we invited you to join us. So thank you for sharing your time with us today. We really appreciate that, man. We'll just go ahead and jump into the questions here. Let's start with your early years. Where'd you grow up?

Phil: 3:30

First 10 years of my life was Lima, ohio, and then when I was 10 years old, economically things were kind of depressed. My dad was in the trades, my uncle and aunt lived in Colorado Springs and they invited us out because things were booming there with growth and so we went out on vacation or to visit and we stayed. And so then I pretty much grew up for the next 30-some years 38 years in Colorado and then through the course of life I've ended here in Phoenix, arizona, landed I don't want to use the word ended.

Todd: 4:04

Ended. Don't want to use the word ended.

James: 4:08

Although oh gosh Great.

Todd: 4:12

So can you share some, maybe some of your formative experiences as a young man, things that shaped you?

Phil: 4:18

Well, you know, I think I'm going through a lot of reflection this time in life about why did things turn out the way they did? Why am I like the way I am? Could I have done things differently? Of course I could have, but why did I make the decisions I made? What are the things that I feel the baggage, the baggage that have held me back. So that they don't continue to hold me back in my final years? You know, that's that, this feeling that making the best of the way things have turned out, to do that, I know that I have to change the way I've been, the way I've thought most of my life. I have to change, maybe, some of my habits, things like that, so that I have a tomorrow that's better than today. Some of the things that did that, though, is we grew up rather I don't. I guess in some ways it would be poor. I was talking to my brother the other day. We often we never had a refrigerator full of food. We never had a refrigerator with hardly any food in it, and that went on a long time. So there's a lot of lack in my past, and I'm not saying that sounds like an excuse, but I still had a decent life.

Phil: 5:31

I was lucky enough to go to college. I think that was a huge opportunity for me back in the 70s, and it was all because of a school counselor that said well, what are your plans? You know they meet with you when you're a senior. I didn't have any plans. My parents didn't have any money, so he just recommended. He said what do you want to do? And I always thought being a teacher would be a good thing and I always enjoyed my teachers and I respected them, I admired them and I liked you know. It seemed like a fun thing working with the kids and they had a good time. So he recommended a teacher's college in Colorado University of Northern Colorado and that's yeah. It's just weird how those things take off.

Phil: 6:13

I will say this I was discouraged from all my parents' friends who said, oh, he's going into teaching, don't go into teaching, there's no money in that, you'll never you're going to be broke, this and that. But it's what I wanted to do. I had an altruistic attitude hey, I'm gonna make a difference. It's something I think I could make a difference in. And, uh, maybe I could help kids with a similar background as mine of uh, you know, struggle in some ways and where school was not always kind to. Uh, you know, I did well in school, but not that that. You know, I worried a lot. I worked hard and I thought I could help other kids understand that I'll get them through my class, which was English, which was not necessarily a favorite one. So I went with it anyway and that was a big decision, because if I knew then what I know now I hate to say it I probably would have chosen a different path.

Todd: 7:06

Yeah, I mean your background and mine very similar. I grew up in trailer parks in the southeast and I didn't even think of myself as being good material for college. So I didn't even think that way.

Todd: 7:18

I was like I'm just going to graduate high school and go get a job, and that was the mindset. But then I had a headmaster of a school I was attending. The guy. He started talking to me like hey, so when you go to college and I'm like, you think I can go to college. So that was a good influence. So I knew I wanted to go to college and was able to eventually go. So I'm thankful for that.

Todd: 7:40

It sounds like you had some mentors who were very positive influence on you Any mentors that you can think of, maybe positive or even negative influence. The guidance counselor was one of them.

Phil: 7:50

Yeah, you know what it's, Mr Gill. I had some teachers that were very influential I really liked. Starting in junior high school I was not real confident in school but I guess teachers were the ones that shaped me pretty highly, and maybe a couple coaches when I played sports. But then getting into life I was mentor-less but I pursued knowledge, learning as much as I could about investments and things, and back then it was pretty much just gosh, what did I hear about these? I guess it was podcasts or, I don't know, talk radio. I just yeah, I'd have to say there wasn't anyone really truly mentoring me. And that might be.

Phil: 8:33

We live, we grow up, we live life in the circle of friends that we have. Then I had I went, you know I had trades people and professionals, graduated from some really good schools and you know, you just kind of do with that circle. What do they call that Kind of the environment of your friends you keep, you become most like those friends. That's kind of true. So luckily I had a pretty good circle as far as they didn't choose the paths of drugs or there was alcohol. That was a, that was a detriment overall. Yeah, you just gosh. I look back and I think, well, I survived it. Uh, the unknown. You just live day to day, month to month, year to year. You, you get into your jobs and start a family and you just do the best you can.

James: 9:19

Yeah, mentor less really would you say there are. Are any specific good or bad experiences that you can recall that kind of shaped or affected your outlook on life?

Phil: 9:30

Oh wow, Wow, yeah, well, I lost my first wee. I lost our first child. That is possibly to this day. I mean, these are big things. This is where we're newly married. We've been married a couple years, I guess. Maybe you know first baby, and it's a boy and he was born with hypoplastic left heart. So I'm at work and I'm working in a manufacturing place. At the time I did not go right into teaching and anyway, that's seared in my emotions, my memory, my makeup. Because you get a call from my wife that says, hey, there might be a problem. They're transferring him. John, his name was John, named after his grandfather, great-grandfather, and he's getting transferred to to the main.

Phil: 10:25

There's the co-host of my podcast. Uh, he's getting transferred. I can't remember this. This is now gosh 81, 82, okay, so, and so I leave work to go and I'm sitting in a room in this hospital.

Phil: 10:41

It's kind of dark, one little light on, and through the door comes a doctor. He's the chief of uh, intensive care pediatrics. He said are you, mr ladden? And I'm sitting there, you know I'm 20, some years old and, yeah, I look like I'm, you know, 15. And here's this doctor. He's a younger guy, he's got, and I'm like kind of like uh, he's calling me, mr ladden, he goes, I go, yeah, he goes. Come in here, mr Ladin. He says I'm afraid I've got some bad news for you, and that was like it's still. It's like what? This is not the way, again, life's supposed to be.

Phil: 11:14

Then we find out the hyperplastic heart. There's no hope, there's nothing they can do except maybe go to university hospital. Without getting into this whole story, he lived for four days, two open heart surgeries, and a blessing was he didn't go through that because back then there was no technology that could allow what would have had to happen, which was ultimately a heart transplant when he was older. So I mean that to this day is one of the most whatever, um, yeah, yeah. And then then at my heart event six years ago, really put things in perspective, I think, for how I go forward now in the final quarter of my life as far, I don't know what else. There's lots of things in life. You do Some things. You're very lucky on that. I didn't. Things worked out, things worked out the best they could, and I guess that's the deal. Despite what, the good and the bad, it works out one way or the other.

Todd: 12:06

Right, that's some deep grief that you went through there, man. I'm sorry it's still crazy.

Phil: 12:12

But you know, now there's a regret. You know, at the time I thought I need to do what others to help others in this same situation. Right now there's people I think about these children's hospitals all over the country they're dealing with this stuff right now. My deal was this long. I said I'm going to do something to help others, be a volunteer, and here's the thing I never did. I regret that. Those are the things in life that you don't follow through on.

Todd: 12:42

I think all of us feel that we have things we don't follow through on.

Phil: 12:45

I think all of us feel that we have things we don't follow through on. We should have. Maybe it would have been good, but for whatever reason, man, we don't Absolutely.

Todd: 12:53

So, coming out of college, what was your first job?

Phil: 12:58

Preparing for college was dishwashing At an IHOP. So after and then during college I learned to paint. My first summer we're going to college house being commercially and stuff from apartments and I. But the very first job, I think, was working at. The first real job was working at a place called Moss Tech. They were from Carrollton, Texas. They were the world's largest producer of the 64K dynamic RAM computer chip.

James: 13:34

I'm thinking about that.

Phil: 13:34

That was the top, fastest, most powerful computer chip 64K. Yes, and they had a plant in Colorado Springs and I went to work there, worked in the furnace room. Oh, wow, wow.

Todd: 13:51

That is awesome man. So I mean, what other jobs or businesses have you pursued over the years?

Phil: 13:57

Yeah, well, and I did do that because when you're a teacher you're always doing something in your summers where you're earning all your extra money. You know that I was coaching, so that took care of that. But house painting I took that skill I had learned. I had the opportunity to learn during a summer break and it was amazing what I learned from this guy who was a craftsman but I house painted. I did that a lot. I've had numerous. I had a restaurant later that's one of the things that I was not in teaching.

Phil: 14:29

At the time I had left, I started a publication for Denver, colorado, for at the time Baby Boomers, being that I am one and it was called now this is funny it was called Mile High Times in Denver, colorado. Denver is the mile high city. Very benign, Can you imagine? I wish I would have. There was no com back then. By the way, this was pre-computer. But you know, colorado became the first state in the United States to not only legalize marijuana but become recreational. So it was just not medical, it was recreational. You'd think it would be like one of these West Coast states, but it was Colorado. So, yeah, I probably could have sold that com had I had it for a lot of money my lifetime. Yes, indeed, that was interesting, that was a great, that was a really neat thing, but it didn't make it. The restaurant was successful but overwhelming, and I ended up just closing it and walking away. Gosh, those would be the big things over the years. What was your most?

Phil: 15:30

favorite job well, you know, I really enjoyed the restaurant. You talk about a people, you talk about something different every day. You talk about the people involved in the restaurant, but work at restaurants the cooks, the waitresses, the wait staff, uh, the dishwashers, uh, man, I you know I had just started to blog about this experience. Oh, wow, and I was overwhelmed the first week. We literally averaged four hours of sleep for seven days, so it was like 140, 50, 60 hours. It was exhausting, and then we kind of got that going, but it was 12 to 16-hour days every day for two and a half years, and so I enjoyed it, but it couldn't be. You couldn't keep up with that.

Phil: 16:14

Yeah, but I would say that was kind of the most. That was fun, but I think what I'm doing now is what I'm most enjoying. That's awesome. Which is? Which is I work I do work at Home Depot for a while longer here, it won't be forever. Which is I do work at Home Depot for a while longer here, it won't be forever. And doing this, building a YouTube channel is my most exciting thing to do.

Todd: 16:35

That's great, just switching things up a little bit. Moving to recent years, I saw that video on your channel. It talks about this unplanned Home Depot retirement job. How did that come about?

Phil: 16:46

What's it been? It'll be four years in September. We're now in June, so almost four years ago. What did I do? I had moved back from Hawaii. Now, that was a good story. I was a concierge in Hawaii I'm Kauai, that was and I had a podcast called Kauai Talk. You can still probably find some of that out there. Yeah, but I was, you know, living a half mile from the beach. It sounds really great. It's not not paradise when you live there, by the way.

Phil: 17:13

But I had come back and I was kind of taking some time to a lot of things going on with my parents having. Well, we had to move. My dad and my mom had passed and I needed to go to work. But I had some time to take and a neighbor worked at Home Depot and I thought you know, what am I going to do now at 59, 60, 60 years old? You know what guys you know you get to be certainly 50 and plus, and the work environment is not friendly to you. Your options become limited. And I thought, hey, home Depot. My dad had actually worked there 20, 30 years ago. But you know, home Depot was a place that sounds like this sounds good. She said, yeah, go over there hiring, they'll hire you, she said, and they did, and so that's how Home Depot came about, and it's been a real good, what I'll call what will become, I think, a transition experience, are there any social benefits of kind of working at Home Depot?

Phil: 18:14

Oh, yeah, yeah, huge. It's probably been the best. It's one of the best things because not only do you have some, you know when you quote retire, you lose the work. You know, when you think about our relationships, most of them are through work or church or something, but most people, their relationships are at work. So, yeah, I've made new friends. And then, of course, you're dealing with the public every day, some not in positive ways because they're angry, things like that, but again, it's social and a job like this is almost overwhelming sometimes.

Todd: 18:47

Social in a job like this is almost overwhelming sometimes. Yeah, I had my Home Depot. Employment. Story is I was getting out of the Marines and I applied at Home Depot and the manager called me and was like so what do you do? What skills have you got? I was infantry in the Marines so I can dig holes and carry stuff, do what you're told to do, right? They did not hire me, so I ended up working at Lowe's. But the social aspects of working at Lowe's were. They were good because there were guys that came in. I worked at the paint desk and there were older gentlemen that were running their own businesses that came in and they would they would kind of take time to talk to me about stuff. So I ended up painting houses while I was in college. So I worked at Lowe's while I was in college and, uh, ended up branching off and started painting houses and I'm glad I did that.

Phil: 19:40

But I didn't know that that, yeah, we, I know you've mentioned you felt our, our paths have some a number of similarities.

Phil: 19:47

Yes, I'd still like to paint houses, but I can't really handle ladders. I do, but I probably shouldn't see. I love brushwork cuts. I still like that to this day. It's very. I just put music on and yeah.

Phil: 20:05

So, uh, yeah, I think that you know these, these places are, um, you know, I gotta say for people when, if you're retiring and you're looking for you know, a guy told me yesterday and on my one of my comments says hey, man, phil, I love this video and it's because of you I just started at home depot that I got hired and my, you, you know, orientation is today and I thought well, good luck, you know it's great. But management makes you know what. When you look back, I don't care what it was I've done over my life, whether it's teaching or even the restaurant dealing with the city or whatever. University of Phoenix I worked there Concierging, worked for Expedia. Your management is the key and working at Home Depot right now it makes or breaks. That's why so many people, I think, want to work for themselves, because you're at the mercy of one great manager. Could be a great or one poor manager for whatever reason, can ruin your career.

Phil: 21:06

It all falls back to leadership.

Todd: 21:07

It is leadership, right, yeah. Yeah, there's a military adage that says there are no bad units, only bad officers. So yeah, that applies everywhere.

Phil: 21:16

So the leadership can make, or break a company or whatever the organization, yes for sure so did?

Todd: 21:23

did you go through an adjustment period when you started working at Home Depot, and how was that?

Phil: 21:29

Yeah, you know I tend to not really probably think a lot about it, I just do it, I don't complain. You know I was raised in a. You know it was kind of, in a way, a tough way. You know my parents, my dad, mom they never said things like I love you or hugs Nothing, no physical, you know, just personal or physical love of anything. So as I grew up, you know what, if there's an adjustment, you know you just do it, you don't complain.

Phil: 21:57

And I think, physically though, standing for a shift on a concrete floor, that was hard. Actually, before that I did for a few months I repped for espresso machines what are they called? Yeah, and I had to stand at a one of these nice stores William Sonoma and Surla Tom and I repped the machine for four hours on a weekend and made a hundred bucks. I'll do that, you know, just pick up a few extra bucks. This is before I started working home depot, and that four hours was difficult physically. So, yeah, I think there was a lot of that. Plus there's a lot of learning the systems. I was told one day haven't you ever worked to register before I went? No, actually, I didn't say no, I was embarrassed I said, oh yeah.

Phil: 22:45

Yeah, you know, I was thinking in the restaurant we had a had to register, but that was just to do simple sales, learning all the technology, which is actually pretty basic. I mean, it's easy now to me now. But yeah, all these things, when you're older and I deal with customers that they can't even do a cell phone, the older people, they've not accepted these things in life and that's one of the things I want to pride myself on. I want to try, but you can't keep up in today's age, now, with the AIs, I just think my grandparents never owned a car. That was in the 40s, 50s and 60s, and 70s never owned a car, car. So this technology that we face today, yeah, we're all going to face these challenges just to keep current and you just do the best you can yeah, so that brings us to your youtube channel.

Todd: 23:41

Can you talk about the path that led you to start a youtube channel?

Phil: 23:45

yeah, so many years ago, like in the late 90s, 97, 98, I don't know what it was that prompted, oh, I wanted to market a product and I was watching, even back then, gary Vee hearing about how he built the, and he did it through video, initially on Vimeo. He since realized that was a mistake and went to YouTube. So I wanted to use YouTube. I thought it would be a great marketing tool, but it didn't work. The technology was just too difficult. I think I mentioned, you know, I have a Canon T2i, which is a camera I bought. I bought the good stuff but I could not learn. It was very difficult. You had to learn all this stuff. Even an upload was difficult.

Phil: 24:30

Going back now, how long has it been? Nine months ago, eight months ago, after three false starts trying, I decided I wanted to do a boomer channel nice, and I guess five, six years ago, almost now, I decided I would start it and document the heart event, et cetera, and just figure out. And then I quit that. So I started for serious, I committed I think it was November in 2024. And I want to reach out to the community of boomers, I want to monetize, I want to market that's to be determined, and I think that's what the advisement is, that I think YouTube I mean I YouTube I've heard two really powerful, a couple powerful videos about what opportunity we all have on this platform. Youtube today it's not going anywhere, at least for five or so years, and I thought, if I could just monetize something to a few hundred dollars a month, I'm okay Because I live a simple life, I'm fine with Social Security, and a few hundred dollars a month, I'm okay because I live a simple life, I'm fine with social security, and a few hundred, maybe even a thousand that this is actually very doable. So it's a great opportunity and I believe in it.

Phil: 25:35

And that's when I started it. And it's again for boomers. But I'm finding there's quite a few millennials and whatever those other the gen xers, wires or whatever they're they're kind of gravitating to the channel as well. So we're going to see I'm still in the exploration stage say, do 100 videos and I just happen to have one now. That's really hit. And so I went from you know, as you may know, from 400 subscribers, which I was really happy with, to now over 8 000, which is really nothing. But you know, I'm a believer in just a few, a thousand true fans. That's going to provide me all the supplemental income I'll need when I figure out how to monetize it. I'm still in a real building stage and exploratory stage.

Todd: 26:22

Well, you've done well. Like you said, you just crossed over 8,000 subscribers on YouTube. Yeah, what was that? One video that was pivotal to building that audience, though.

Phil: 26:32

Yeah, it's so bad because I just made it what a month and a half or two ago and overnight I became monetized. I was trying to get to 500 subscribers, but it was on my job at Home Depot, that my retirement job is working at Home Depot and I kind of didn't feel I don't feel like proud about that. I had some shame and I just kind of just discussed this and I felt like I better get this out here, because people are sort of seeing me in a way that I don't claim to be, which is this this is how you do life. People Follow me to end up in retirement working at Home Depot. No, but maybe I do have some things to share that people can say and that's what's happened.

Todd: 27:13

I saw it and your heart came through and you're such an affable human being and that really man that connected with me, I was like, oh, this is good stuff. And so I immediately messaged you and just said, hey, man, I'd love to have you on the podcast.

Phil: 27:28

Yeah, I know. And then when I checked out your podcast, oh, wow, and the stories you're telling and the things you're talking about. You know there's people that don't really ever think about these things and yeah, I just thought, wow, I'll be happy to come on and let's talk. But understand, I'm not. I have a story and I'm glad it's resonating and we'll just go from there. You know, if I've got something somebody can use, great. You know, I feel like I'm learning just as much probably from about people and about decisions they make in their life even now. Other about people and about decisions they make in their life Even now. Other boomers, other, you know. So it's hopefully this all ends up with positivity.

Todd: 28:07

Yeah, yeah, I mean you pointed out in your video. You just said look, a lot of people are looking down on Walmart door greeters and that's. That's bad. We shouldn't do that, I know.

Phil: 28:18

No, I would say, see, I didn't look down on them, but I also felt a lot of empathy for them. What a tough job. It was always an old person back in the day and I've since heard they've kind of got rid of that position in a way, who knows why. But I always thought, wow, I don't want to end up doing that in my retirement years. And then I ran across a guy. I was driving Uber. I did Uber for about a year.

Phil: 28:45

I picked up the guy. He was 90 years old and I was taking him to Walmart. I was thinking what's he shopping for? I mean, I understand he probably isn't driving anymore. So we get to talking a little bit. He goes yeah, I'm the greeter, I. We get to talk a little bit, he goes. Yeah, I'm the greeter. Wow, that's that. And let me tell you something I was picking them up in a very affluent area of a very affluent neighborhood in the phoenix valley called scottsdale. He had a very nice house and I wasn't. You know it was a very nice house and you know why he was doing it. Did he need the money? No, he did it for the social. He did it to be around people. I'm pretty sure he lived alone. Um no, there was no talk of a wife or whatever. He just this was something really good for him, yeah, and I thought, well, man, if he could do that, yeah, this is a good thing.

Todd: 29:31

Well, I mean a related question then does your youtube community provide social connection?

Phil: 29:36

okay, yeah, that actually it's possibly my best part of my, favorite part of it is on. It's a little overwhelming, though, like while we've been talking here, I'm getting more stuff, more messages of comments, mostly from the home depot, but they're starting to. Other people now are finding, in fact, I I've overwhelmed with thousands of messages. I can't keep up. I don't even get notifications on some. I just found some on another video I did about the black and white thing, the Wizard of Oz. I made a point about that which wasn't really that great received, but now people are finding it commenting, and I just reached out from someone that commented a month ago. I didn't even know they'd said anything.

Phil: 30:16

So, yeah, this socialization of this channel is really wow. It's it's a full-time deal and I'm getting a little bit like I need a break. You're gonna have to. Yeah, I've already made great. I've already made, uh, new friends and friends that I think will be real and we'll probably have a meetup someday or, if I'm coming through, I'm going to say I'm going to say listen, I'll be in your area, let's go for coffee, let's do uh, whatever so I'm curious would you recommend a middle-aged person start a youtube channel?

Phil: 30:50

well, let me tell you I'm not the person to really don't take my advice on this. Go out there and look at who is recommending you do it and, as a matter of fact, we're talking about some great people like Gary Vees or Patrick Ben David. He does a speech. I'm going to have to look this up and put it on my post in my community talking about you have the greatest opportunity in your life while you're working. Still, because it takes time usually in your life while you're working. Still because it takes time usually to find your audience, to find who relates and to find also what your niche is, that the topic, that what you can bring to the community or the audience, that they would pay you for that because they value you, and most of us would sit around. Who's going to do that? Well, I'm that way, but we have to find that and we find it by going through the motions, by doing it, and it will come.

Phil: 31:44

And so, yeah, those people are saying, matter of fact, youtube creator right now is one of the top five opportunities for people getting out of high school, greater opportunity than going to college, as crazy as that sounds. Now, that's not me saying that. That's what they say and I tend to believe it. Interesting, yeah, unless you're very strategic in what you choose to major in. And right now, with the changes in our, the shift it should be the biggest shift we've ever had in our lifetime. With the AI it's going to really change our world. So I'm not really sure there's any majors outside of you know, if you want to go into medicine or whatever, that's still appropriate, maybe lawyer, you know, as far as skills, we live in a different world today.

Todd: 32:34

Now, look into that Now. Would you recommend any books or courses to help people learn how to start a YouTube channel?

Phil: 32:41

I've taken one course. I think I may have paid, and you know what? I think no, to stay away at this point in your beginning journey and I'm still a beginner. I've come close, but it takes, in my opinion, hours of watching the person, a lot of these courses. If you are willing to do the work, they have all their information on their channels and you can get what you need to start. You don't need to know a lot, you don't need to be good. The problem with a lot of these courses is this perceived promise that take this course and you'll be successful. Let me tell you that's one thing I've most learned. Your success begins by starting knowing nothing. Make the videos, post the videos and, like they say, if you're not embarrassed in a year of those videos, then you weren't doing it right.

Phil: 33:29

The one book that made the most sense and I follow guys like Think Media watch all that stuff, gosh, I probably have 50 creators that I watch but this one is the YouTube Formula by Daryl Eves. This book kind of brought it together for me. Before you even buy his book, go out and watch his interviews on YouTube or podcasts. Yeah, go out and do that. But this book finally put me over the top to just do it. It made sense and understand that trying to figure out what your product is, what your audience is, is not that you do it totally backwards. You find that out starting from a point of view you have no idea. So I don't recommend any courses at this time and I don't really recommend any books except that one for me.

Todd: 34:25

You touched on something. I think it has to be something you want to do. So my advice if you're thinking about starting a YouTube channel, podcast or whatever, look at your skills. Do you have the ability to communicate, do you have presentation skills and is it something that you enjoy doing? Because if you're just looking to make money, that's, and if it's something, you don't like doing.

Phil: 34:46

You're going to be miserable so that's and you're not going to succeed. Yeah, that's absolutely true. As a matter of fact, it is a part that I I hate to talk about, but you know, people talk about my storytelling and it's like I'm a terrible storyteller. I'm a, I'm scattered, I'm not organized because I work off a. I work off like an outline on paper and I just go and luckily I can stop and start.

Phil: 35:10

Yeah, but it was fine man, that's good and I think it was my years in the classroom of a cumulative years of almost 20 years of talking to kids and interacting with them, and then all the experiences that go along with that, with parents and etc. That have of basically who I am and how I do it, and so, yeah, yeah, and you do have to be a little bit. I guess the thing too is important is most of us are really hard on ourselves so we'll never do it because we think we don't like the sound of our voice. You know, these are things that keep people. They don't like the way they look. Man, I don't either. Matter of fact, there's filters for that. Now, although I have not used any, I'm getting these eight spots and, oh my God, look at a picture of me 30 years ago and today and I go. What happened? Man, life that's. I didn't think I'd look like this. So, yeah, you just got to get over that, and some people will never get over that.

Todd: 36:09

Yeah Well, I lie to myself and I look at pictures of myself today and go, I just keep getting better looking.

Phil: 36:20

Well, now, there's something to that that, because we're always giving ourselves messages and, whether it's true or not, say that yeah, versus saying because think of all the messages we say about ourselves that are lies. Yes, well, I, I, um, I have a face for radio. That might be the truth, actually. Uh, but let's just say look, because for every excuse or criticism you can come up with about yourself that you give yourself, there's somebody out there with the same exact there. Can I say it? They're. They're not attractive, their voice squeaky, they're very annoying, but they, they know something and they're passionate about it and they succeed.

Todd: 36:57

Yep, very true, right, you mentioned that you are at this point where you're reflecting, but they know something and they're passionate about it and they succeed. Very true, you mentioned that you are at this point where you're reflecting back on life. So you have a video about this on your YouTube channel. But if you could go back in time and talk to your 20-year-old self?

Phil: 37:15

what advice would you offer? So this is one. I had. I think three or four things that was asked for me to do by a 20 year old co-worker, phil go. Uh, I'm her favorite old person. She calls me, which is actually a very big compliment. She says what would you tell? What would you tell a 20 year old based on what you know now? So I now here's the problem. I couldn't remember what I said, so I had to go back and watch that video again the other day. I actually had to write it down. Uh, I mean, I would have to do it and um, so when people ask me things, you know, I think I said oh, I said choose your friends wisely. Very important, man.

Phil: 37:53

By choosing your friends, you're choosing your activities. That may be the most, one of the most significant, because if you pick your friends unwisely and you end up just doing the things that are a waste in life, you could end up very quickly with a life you'll never recover from. In a way, I think I made a comment about take time getting into relationships in terms of a marriage or something like that. Anything who you choose to spend your life with terms of a marriage or something like that, anything who you choose to spend your life with and I think I rush, we all. I think there's a feeling of you know you, just you're 20, you want to. You want to be with somebody. You feel like if you wait much longer no one's going to want you. You're going to get old and if I had to do over I'd wait to at least my late 20s, maybe ideally into my 30s. But that doesn't mean you do that so you can party and just be irresponsible. I like the idea of working and traveling Once you start having kids. That's tough to do.

Phil: 38:47

What else I remember? Don't buy a new vehicle. That's what I would tell a young person. Do not buy a new vehicle. And they all have them and it's the greatest. Okay, when you look at compounding, and I knew all this back then.

Phil: 39:03

But we went out and bought, we traded a paid-off 1976 Celica. It was my wife's. I married into it. They were great cars. She had a paid-off and we traded. The paid-off car could have driven probably another 15 years. For a brand new jeep cj5 in 1981, 265 a month payment. We paid on that for about two and a half, three years before we went and traded in just wasn't a good vehicle for travel or for family and good vehicle for colorado. But if we just would have taken the amount of those payments and just put it in the s&p 500 mutual fund at that time and never done another penny of investing, that would be worth I did. It would be worth a lot of money.

Phil: 39:51

So, yeah, don't buy a new car and put start investing early and don't touch it. I mean, and that's the last thing you want to do. And right now, to be honest, let's, let's be, let's be real. We live in a time now young people and they're they're kind of resentful of this, and I get it they can't afford an apartment on their own with the jobs that are even even the higher paying jobs. It's expensive, they have to have roommates, it's a tough time economically, I don't know for kids. So those are things, though, you could do now. You could do now to help your future self. I'm full of advice, as most boomers are, so I could go. I could do another video of four more things I would tell my 20-year-old self.

James: 40:34

Well, how about? I'm going to flip that around a little bit. So what advice would you give the middle-aged person who's looking at retirement with fear and dread?

Phil: 40:44

Yeah, and that's one of the things. What do we do getting into retirement? And it hasn't turned out like we planned. We're broke. Even so, if you're in your 30s, 40s or 50s and I've had comments from people that are freaked out saying, man, you got me thinking about this, I don't have any savings Well, guess what? If you're pre-60 years old, there's never a better time to start than right now.

Phil: 41:08

Now I know for a fact and this is hard to do, because if you don't make a lot of money, if you're a schoolteacher or whatever and you want to drive a nice car, you want to be able to go to a restaurant regularly. Maybe you want to have a social life. Guess what? Because people say live below your means. So that's what I'd say Live below your means. That's tough to do. Let's talk about what that looks like for most people Just living in a simple, not the best neighborhood, a small apartment with kids, and you're telling them live below your means.

Phil: 41:40

You're buying the cheap food, you're going to the dollar store for things and you're maxing out your. Well, you could be making $15 an hour now at a fast food place. You're not going to make it. This is crazy. So what do you tell people, man? I tell you, pray and really simplify your life. Be content with a lot less, whether it be drive an older vehicle, but get a good one. You can do that. Don't eat out, don't eat fast foods. These are helpful, and I tell older people that my food budget right now is amazing, when I've cut out all the socialization I used to do.

Phil: 42:16

Drive a simple car, live in a simple. I would not necessarily buy a house, if you're looking at. I mean, it depends on where you live, see, and it depends on what state you're in, what city. If you're living in California, you can't buy a house, probably, and you can't find rent under 3,000, you know whatever a month. But if you're living in some places I've thought about, like the Midwest my brother still lives in Kentucky, he married a gal there these states where things are more affordable, consider trying to make it there. Move out of areas that are high taxes and high real estate. The next challenge, then, is finding work.

Todd: 42:59

Yeah, my mom lives in a rural area of North Carolina and she lives just on her Social Security income. Because she did that, she simplified, she got rid of things and really found good, cheap living arrangements. But she doesn't live. She's not destitute at all. She's even building her savings off of her social security.

Phil: 43:19

And I'd say, for investment, look and I'm not an investment advisor, neither are you guys but I'm going to tell you what Warren Buffett tells people to do, and I 100% agree with this. Just don't try to get. I'm going to be a market timer. I'm going to be a day trader. No, no, no. You're not in any position to do that. Take, I don't care if it's $50, $25, or more, whatever you can Put it in the S&P 500. This is Warren Buffett's advice. That's what he tells his family where they're getting their inheritance. This is what they're there to do. Put it in an index S&P 500 fund in one of the higher-rated businesses, okay, and then don't touch it, don't even look at it. That's the safest way to do it, because if we have the big crash, you're going to crash and burn, no matter what you think you're doing, if you're trying to do something fancy, but if you're in that, the odds are, as long as we don't crash and burn, you're going to come out okay and you're going to have something in the future.

Todd: 44:13

It's like over 90% of day traders lose money. They're not living off of their income there.

Phil: 44:20

They're not making any, but if they're selling their courses, they're all making money.

Todd: 44:25

Yes, that's where they make their money. But yeah, that's what we talked to a financial advisor here on the podcast one time, and he's a wealth management advisor. He says I don't try to pick my own stocks, I just put my money in index funds.

Phil: 44:45

Yeah, Index is the way to go. In my day it was mutual funds. An index fund is just maybe a mutual fund on steroids. Really it's a good thing, Cheaper to be wise.

Todd: 44:51

One of the best things I learned in college was a professor. He did pretty much a whole class on compound interest over time.

Phil: 44:59

That's crazy.

Todd: 45:01

Compound interest over time. The amount of money you actually end up investing is this much the money you make?

Phil: 45:10

off of interest is huge and it happens in the final years of the investment you can save. Actually one of the greatest lessons I heard about. Did I do it? No, but because here's the challenge, guys, and we have to give ourselves some grace.

Phil: 45:24

You know these people out there that are criticizing me and saying you're a loser. You had to have made some bad decisions to end up where you've ended up. There were some bad decisions less than good but life happens where I had to use my investments Remember I didn't make a big income. I had no. I mean, I guess I could have tried to find a second job or third to make it, but I used my savings, my investments, and I used it to pay the bills, to pay until I started working again. And that's what most people are doing. They go into that fund and if you can find a way not to do that, that's the key. Because if you invest in your 20s just for eight years, ten years, and then not invest anymore the rest of your life and you've got it in the S&P, you're going to end up with buku bucks. You can retire well, but you just can't touch it Because after about 20 years of investing, you still have a little bit, and it's the final 10 where it just explodes.

Todd: 46:21

Yeah. To those people that are thinking they know and they're happy to say, oh yeah, well, you're a loser and all this stuff. You can do all the right things in life and still lose out, because I've always my wife when we got married, my wife's a saver. I had $1,000 on a credit card when we got got married and she was like what are you doing? She says. She says if I'd known you had credit card debt, I wouldn't have married you. And I was like whoa serious. But we, we always saved. But in the 2008, 2010 real estate crisis, we lost all of our savings.

James: 46:56

It was just like oof.

Phil: 46:58

Yeah.

Todd: 47:00

I mean, you can do the right things and still lose out For people that try to look down on others, for, however, their lives are turning out it's not fair, it could have happened to you too, yeah, it is.

Phil: 47:11

They may not have lived life long enough, or those that did get through it, they were very fortunate. They worked for a great company with great people. They were lucky not to have to leave a job or just where you know. Whatever, there's so many things that can happen and again, you do the best you can.

Todd: 47:29

Yeah, I mean yeah, you get to your 50s and you get laid off from your job, and it's not your fault, it's just companies do that.

Phil: 47:37

Yeah, especially today.

Todd: 47:41

Yeah, not fun.

Phil: 47:43

Who do you know that has worked 30 years for the same company? Today, nobody. I don't know anybody. I did. Oh, then we know James.

Todd: 47:54

You know me, you know me. It's not a company. You work for the government.

James: 47:59

Yeah, I worked for the NC State University, but while doing that at the same time, I mean I had like five different jobs over that 30 years, so it's not like it was the same kind of job.

Phil: 48:14

Actually I have a friend like that too, but I think that's really fortunate, that's really good.

James: 48:20

It was extremely fortunate. I am so grateful. So I retired from the state of North Carolina with 30 years of service because I had two years of sick leave banked up. Wow, but I have to. You know I've got to be a part of the party here. We've got a Home Depot and a Lowe's former Lowe's employee, so I start Lowe's next week. So that's yeah. I was doing some consulting. I got laid off a month ago. It's like you know what? I just want to go. I can't not work. So it's like I just I need to.

Phil: 48:59

Well, let me ask something, James, because this brings up a really this is a big decision, and that is can I ask how old you are?

James: 49:08

I am 53.

Phil: 49:11

Oh, wow, okay.

James: 49:12

Yeah, I know, I look older.

Todd: 49:13

Well, it's good you're doing something there?

Phil: 49:16

No, no, no, no, not at all. All it's not about that. Here's the big, here's the big deal and this is about where I'm coming to is today's got to be? You got to live today like it's your last day. It sounds real what do they call that? Real, not trite, but yeah, yeah, it's. It's one of those sayings, or, oh, yeah, whatever.

Phil: 49:37

But because, let me tell you, you know people, there's a lot of people, I guess, yeah, it's one of those sayings where, oh, yeah, whatever. But because, let me tell you, you know people, there's a lot of people, I guess they're optimists. They all think, they think we're all going to live to be 80. That's why you shouldn't take Social Security early, that's why you need to get out while you can enjoy life, and there is something to be said. So, if you can't, if you got to keep working, do something.

Phil: 49:56

But you know, uh, look guys, six years ago I was, uh, I think I'd just turned 60 and I was minutes away from that, was it? And I think about all the things the grandkids, the new grand since then I would not have been here for. And uh, wow, you know, yeah, we sit here. Since then I would not have been here for and wow, you know we sit here. This is why we got to take care of our health. We got to decide when could we realistically just quit work and do something? Think about that. Don't think about waiting 60 or 70.

Phil: 50:36

It sounds like you're set up pretty nice. Maybe not for right now, but look at when you could actually start doing what you want to do and still be productive, whatever I just tell you. That's why I'm not going to work at Home Depot. I'm going to continue to look at my options. That for me might mean as well as we're living in a more conducive area for retirement. It could be another country, but as long as it still works out with the family. Those are things you've got to think about now. Either one morning you wake up and something changes and you wish you would have worked less.

Todd: 51:12

What I've told my son and my daughter is look, you need to manage your affairs, or someone else is going to be managing them for you.

Phil: 51:21

So, or events will overcome perhaps, and events are coming for all of us.

Todd: 51:30

So that's a good place to wrap it up. Man. We really appreciate you being on the podcast, Phil, yeah.

James: 51:35

Really appreciate you taking the time.

Phil: 51:38

All right, well, just know that I just have my answers for me, hopefully, maybe think about them and apply them for you. It might even be something like yeah, I'm not going to do that because there's a better way for you. I appreciate you having me.

Todd: 51:57

You said something. You said that that young lady, the 20 year old, said you're her favorite old person. What that says to me is that she looks up to you as a mentor, and so what I'm seeing in your YouTube channel is that you are becoming, or you have become, a mentor to a lot of people, and so what we'll do is we'll put links up to Phil's what's Up Boomer channel in the episode description here and also I'll put a link out to the YouTube formula book that he mentioned.

James: 52:26

But go check out Phil's channel.

Todd: 52:27

He's got some really good insight there and just a good guy that has lived life and can really provide some good insights that help people out. So we appreciate you sharing your mind with us and your time. So thanks so much.

Phil: 52:42

Yes sir.