Jack Sharry: Hello everyone and welcome. Thank you for joining us for this week’s edition of WealthTech on Deck. For today’s conversation, we’re gonna speak with a couple of longtime friends of our WealthTech on Deck podcast. In fact, this duo has the distinction of having the most listened to podcast of the 200+ pods we’ve done over the past four years. Joining us today are Ken Cella and Ken Dychtwald. They’re back to share their perspective on a very important topic, the financial implications of caregiving. First, a little background on the two Kens. Ken Cella is head of external affairs at Edward Jones where he is responsible for fostering strategic partnerships, expanding relationships with policymakers, industry leaders, and other influencers to make a greater impact on society. Ken C is a member of the Edward Jones Enterprise Leadership Team, which guides the firm’s strategy to grow its impact and create value for clients, colleagues, and communities today and into the future. Joining us again is our friend, Dr. Ken Dychtwald. Ken D is the co-founder of Age Wave, along with his wife, Maddy. Ken is a psychologist, gerontologist, and author of 19 books. For the past 45 plus years, Age Wave has become and is regarded as the nation’s foremost thought leader on population aging and its profound business, social, financial, and healthcare workforce and cultural implications. Ken and Age Wave have developed a unique understanding of new generations of maturing consumers and their expectations, attitudes, hopes, and fears regarding their longer lives. For our podcast today, we will discuss with Ken C and Ken D, Ken Cella and Ken Dychtwald, the new research Edward Jones commissioned in partnership with Morning Consult and Age Wave. We will examine the following headlines: Caregivers face lasting financial, emotional, and career impacts. Two in five US adults identify as family caregivers, but there’s a lack of support for caregivers nationwide. And with nearly half of Americans, 46%, expected to become caregivers in the near future, this research sought to better understand their concerns, challenges, and the ways to support them more effectively. Ken Cella and Ken Dychtwald, welcome back to WealthTech on Deck. Great to have you aboard.
Ken Cella: Thank you, Jack. We’re thrilled to be here.
Ken Dychtwald: Great to be with you again.
Jack Sharry: Yeah, great to have you guys. So Ken Cella, let’s start with talking about those headlines. What do they mean and why did Edward Jones commission this study?
Ken Cella: Yeah, you bet, Jack. Maybe let me just say before we go there, you touted that Ken and I have the most listened to podcasts so far in your series. I want to credit that to the 20,000 plus financial advisors at Edward Jones who are constantly working to better understand how to serve their clients, to educate themselves, to become better at their craft, and they’re constantly honing what they do. And I think that’s really fitting to what we’re about to talk about here today, because what we’re doing with this caregiving research is really, I think, one of the hidden jewels of advice that we can provide to clients today, because caregiving takes a toll beneath the surface, and a lot of times people don’t talk about it. So why are we doing this study? We’re really going to school on our clients. We want to better understand what they’re going through in this life journey when so many of us as adults are being asked to care for our parents, our children, friends. You can go down the line to the number of people that needs help and support. But we really want to better understand what that emotional toll is for caregivers. What are their concerns? What are their challenges and what are their needs? Because it’s just so pervasive. And we’re going to get into some of the numbers here, but I’ll give you a headline here. Two in five adults identify as a caregiver. Now, while that’s the raw data, what I want to say is when Ken and I are in rooms talking about this and we ask who considers themselves a caregiver, please raise your hand, we get about 90% of the people raising their hand. So our data tells us one thing, when we get into it emotionally with people in the room, it’s another thing. So with half of people expecting to become caregivers on top of that. It’s just on the minds of people. And there are some deep insights that I think we’re getting to in this research that we’re here to talk about today. So that’s why we’re doing it. We’re going to school on clients.
Jack Sharry: That’s great. Love it. So Ken Dychtwald, let’s get into the headlines. With the growing number of people who are becoming caregivers and all those around them who are affected by this, what are the implications for individuals, families, for our country?
Ken Dychtwald: Well, let me begin by saying that it wasn’t too long ago that people in the financial industry were stock brokers or insurance agents. And then over the past decade, and particularly led by Edward Jones, there was a more holistic vision that emerged. Edward Jones, for example, uses the idea that there are four pillars that matter to people in their lives: their health, their relationships, their purpose, and their finances. And the job of an excellent financial advisor is to not just focus on the money, but to focus on the person. And those four pillars are an excellent framework. But once you open up that door, you find all sorts of things going on in people’s lives. And to get to your question about what’s underneath all this. So all of a sudden we find ourselves in a world for the first time in history where more and more people are living longer and longer and longer. And younger people are struggling with some of the challenges of modern life. And so, as was mentioned, half the population just about identified themselves as caregivers right now. And the caregiving aspect of life is not just about helping mom get to the doctor on Wednesday, or if you have a special needs child, making sure that they’re looked after and protected, but there’s also financial implications. And what Edward Jones is taking the lead on is making sure that all of their financial advisors and their office staffs are clued in to ask people, are you a caregiver? Are there any questions you might have that I can help you with? Because when people are caregivers, the first thing they’re struck by is, I don’t really know how to do this. And there’s not really a good guidebook. And I’m not sure who to talk to. What we saw was is that most people are kind of off guard by the whole process of caregiving. And let me add a piece to that. On the one hand, they feel that it’s very distracting. It really disrupts their normal life to all of sudden get a phone call and you got a brother or a sister or a mom or dad who’s needing some attention and some help or some money. But what we also found was that people felt honored to be doing it, that it’s a part of life that we don’t get enough respect for. And people felt that the government and their employers and the media at large and the financial community wasn’t giving proper attention and respect to the role of caregiving.
Jack Sharry: That’s great. Great, thank you. So, Ken Cella, Edward Jones says, you both have indicated you’ve done research on topics that affect families and clients as you should, as you do, as you do so well. You’ve looked at new retirement, issues around longevity, now the caregiving study. Why is this important to the firm and how are you using the research to help Edward Jones’ advisors and clients? I also know there’s a policy element to all this. So, fill us in on why you’re doing it, what does it all mean and how are you using it to help your key constituents?
Ken Cella: Yeah, thanks. It’s really centered on this idea of retirement security because when you think about people who are caregiving, there are financial implications to caregiving. They often feel as if, from a financial perspective, that the rising cost of inflation is a big issue and they have to forgo work hours in a lot of cases to be able to step in and care for someone. That doesn’t stop the bills from coming. So they have to dip into savings. And so when they deplete those savings, that becomes an issue. So what is Edward Jones thinking about when we’re doing this? We’re in the business of helping people feel confident and secure in their financial future. So we want to improve retirement security for families and the caregivers. And that’s why we have the Improving Financial Security and Family Caregiver Act, as well as the Catch Up Family Caregivers Act, to help millions of Americans who are really providing that, lending that extra hand to family and friends. Now, these are two bills that are both bipartisan and would really build on the success of Secure 2.0, which we have been a champion of for the last several years. And I would say that it has tremendous support in Washington, D.C. These two bills have been sponsored by Senator Susan Collins, Republican from Maine, Mark Warner, a Democrat from Virginia, Representative Brittany Peterson, a Democrat from Colorado, and Maria Elvira, and she’s a Republican from Florida. And I’ve got to say that this bipartisan support is essential because caregiving is not a political thing. This is a human thing. And that’s what we’re in the business of doing at Edward Jones is solving human problems where they intersect with financial services. One of the things I’m really proud of, Jack, and I’ll end here is last week we had a grassroots task force in Washington, DC to meet with Congress. That was our 40th anniversary of our grassroots task force doing this yeoman’s work of just really showing up on the hill, not as lobbyists, but as constituents telling the stories about what’s really happening for the clients on the ground, what they’re hearing when the clients are coming into their offices every day. Because this task force is our financial advisors and our client team support professionals, and they are represented from all 50 states. And so you can imagine when one of these folks walks into an elected officials office and says, here’s the heat map of the clients I serve in your geography. It really gets their attention. So we’re here to fill that gap, and we’re super excited to play a role in it.
Jack Sharry: I love that. Ken and I, Ken Dychtwald and I were chatting before we got on and I know you guys were in Washington just recently, I guess it was last week. And just to not only do this for clients and advisors and clients as you do, but to try to appeal to Washington to help in this matter, I think it’s laudable for sure.
Ken Cella: And Jack, if I can add to that.
Ken Dychtwald: Sure, please.
Ken Cella: You should see the passion come through from our teams as they’re telling the story. And they all have their own stories. We actually had some testimonials shared last week that would have moved anybody in the way that the caregiving has affected someone. And what’s universally true about them is these are stories that don’t get told in any other time because people do it quietly because they do it for someone they love.
Jack Sharry: Yeah, yeah, it’s fascinating. So we’ll get into that some more. I’m fascinated by the fact in our business, we talk so much about numbers and results and so the hard numbers of it all, we forget about the soft side of it and it’s not so soft. It’s really important. It’s just family. It comes down to family and taking care of one another and all that. But I’m sure we’ll get into some more of that in a little bit.
Ken Dychtwald: Jack, before you ask the next question, let me throw something in on this that’s quite compelling. And I was with Ken Cella in Washington last week and we were asking Edward Jones grassroots members, people who work for the firm, do they know anybody who’s a caregiver? And what we found was that almost everybody in the room is or has been a caregiver. So it’s not as though it’s just those people over there. And my guess is that everybody listening to this program right now knows someone or is a caregiver for a mom or a dad or a sibling or a child. And so this is not a minor issue. This is a major issue. In fact, last year, more employees in America were providing elder care than child care. And that has never happened before. And so we also found that although only about a third of the population have financial advisors, and I think we ought to get that number up because it’s not just the super wealthy that need someone in their corner with them. It’s everyday folks that need a guide, that need someone to direct them and help them. The 93% of caregivers who had a financial advisor felt more secure about their financial futures. So the average person is just rattled right now. You know, they’re helping out someone they love. They don’t know who to talk to about it. And they’re not quite sure should they pay for this, are there breaks there, how are they gonna catch up their own retirement savings? This is staggering, Jack. 25% of people who are caregivers stop working in order to care for their loved one. Another 24% work fewer hours. Now that all has an effect financially downstream when it comes time to retire, people are gonna have less money in their nest egg or they’re not gonna be able to retire. So boy, there has never been a more important time for the financial community and the financial industry to be tuned in to what’s going on in people’s lives. And this may not be something that we were thinking about 20 years ago, but we need to think about it now.
Jack Sharry: Yeah, so Ken Cella, as I’m hearing all this from both of you, one of the things I observe, I’ve been a long time fan, admirer of Edward Jones. You’ve always done things right and well for your employees, for your advisors, for your clients, ultimately. You always get top ratings from all groups in terms of how you operate. It’s a wonderful culture. I’ve been working with Edward Jones on and off for the past, dare I say, 30 years. So I’ve observed this throughout. And now, as a student and fan of Edward Jones, I watch as you are going through a significant transformation. Just so much is changing, as you well know. All for the positive, I know. So talk about that. And I’m wondering where the research fits into all this. I have a hunch, but I’d rather hear it from you. It seems like you’re using the research because you’ve conducted a bunch over time, a lot with Ken Dychtwald trying to understand the clients so you can serve them better. So talk about the transformation underway, how’s that going? Where do you hope to get, all that? Please fill us in.
Ken Cella: Yeah, thanks, Jack. This gives me an opportunity to tell that story, a little bit of an infomercial. I guess in a couple of words, what we’re focused on is financial wellness. And it’s not just financial wellness, but it’s financial wellness for more families. And Ken’s been a big proponent of us maintaining our focus on the family, which is really critical because that’s how people come to us. The definition of family today is broad and we all affiliate mostly in that way. So financial wellness is what it’s about, Jack. Now, let me go a couple of levels deeper. What we’re really doing is retooling the front end of Edward Jones, if you will, in terms of that advisor-client relationship by building several things, not the least of which being, you know, increased skills and acumen for all of us that work at Edward Jones, including our financial advisors and our client team support specialists. And so we’re all upping our game, our knowledge around both the EQ and the IQ of financial planning. Because when people come to us for advice, oftentimes the first conversation can be about, product or an investment, but ultimately that product or investment always ties to some dream, some goal, some higher aspiration that people are trying to accomplish in their life. And for many of us, we don’t really know what those things are or maybe perhaps haven’t spent the time thinking about them as deeply as we could have otherwise before we met a financial advisor who can really serve as a guide in that conversation. And really maybe for a lot of our clients, for the first time, memorialize in our technology and our systems, what are their goals and by what time? And, you know, they’re smart goals. So that’s really the key. So financial wellness for us is all about upskilling our folks all across Edward Jones to have that broader impact in people’s lives. And we’re rebuilding all the technology, the products and services behind that to create an experience like none other. And I think the thing that’s probably just a little bit different for us, Jack, is our business model is not predicated on a client’s level of wealth. And there’s nothing wrong with… many of our competitors have really anchored to that with their business models, and naturally have gone up upstream to serve a higher net worth a bit more exclusively. We define our clients more by their needs. And so when you think about the caregiving research, it’s a big need. And we serve across the wealth spectrum with over 20,000 financial advisors across North America, we’re in most zip codes across the United States. And so we feel like Edward Jones is really serving the fabric of America in a way that’s so unique in that we want to be part of that solution where business and society come together to create better outcomes for families through financial wellness. And the last thing I’ll say here, Jack, is we are not only focused on growing our reach with clients in terms of the number of clients we serve and how deeply we serve them, but we’re also, we think are the first firm in the industry to develop a financial wellness measure that will have both a qualitative and quantitative aspect that allows us to report back to our clients how they’re progressing toward fulfillment of their financial wellness. And that just creates the right conversation between the advisor and client.
Ken Dychtwald: Ken, I heard you say something last week that I had never heard anybody say before. Cause there’s so much talk about AI and I respect that, but you talked about AI plus AI. You want to explain what you meant?
Ken Cella: Yeah, that’s at the backbone of what we’re doing. We view it as advisor intelligence plus artificial intelligence.
Jack Sharry: Oh, interesting. I like that.
Ken Cella: So if it’s an equation, AI plus AI equals financial wellness for our clients. And you have to have both. And you used the word soft earlier, Jack. We don’t see it as soft. They’re both hard skills.
Jack Sharry: I completely agree. I’m going to ask Ken Dychtw about that in just one moment. I have one follow up question to you, Ken Cella. This wellness score, I’ve been hearing about it. Is that available or it’s on its way? Tell me where you are in that journey.
Ken Cella: Yeah, it’s still in the pipe as you would say. So we’ll will have a debut later this year, but I’m not in a position to share the date.
Jack Sharry: Sure, no, I understand, but I’m a big fan. We’ll talk about that offline. I got some thoughts there. But anyway, for another time. So Ken Dychtwald, you’ve been a fan, admirer, consultant, researcher, seer, soothsayer with our friends at Edward Jones. What are your observations? I know you have a lot about Edward Jones and have great admiration for them. Talk about what you’re seeing, what Ken just talked about, all the things he’s talked about, what you see happening there, not just in their research, but what it means for their clients, for the population at large.
Ken Dychtwald: Well, let me first say that Age Wave has been around for just under 40 years and we’ve worked with many, many, of the world’s great financial institutions, banks, insurance companies, to advisory companies. And so I’ve had the good fortune of knowing and serving and trying to be helpful as we understand better what people’s questions and needs are as they contemplate, gee, I might live not five years after I stop working, but I might live 20 and I might be supporting a loved one and I might not have saved enough and maybe I should stay working longer. I mean, there’s just been this world of questions. But I really have to tell you, and this is going to sound corny in a way, I have never encountered a firm that I thought cared more about both the people who work there and the populations it serves, the communities, the softball teams, the local schools, the local community activities. You know, as I get around and we spent about a year and a half working on other things and we were not in contact with Edward Jones. But now that we’re we’ve been advising on this particular study, and we’ve got some more to come. I called my wife and I said, you know, I have never really been in the presence of people who were not all busy talking about we got to make money for our shareholders, but were more about how do we make the lives of our communities better? Now here’s a company that’s in 68% of all the zip codes in America. They are not Wall Street anchored. They’re Main Street anchored. And so I’ve grown a lot of respect and affection for the people of Edward Jones. And I know that that sounds corny to say, and I’m supposed to be objective, but I’m not often in the presence, you know, we live in, in this era now where there’s all this talk about billionaires and who’s richer than who, and you know, who’s making a fortune off of this. To be in the presence of a company of people who have in their hearts, how do I help the people in my community live better, feel better, and have their financial house in order so that they can live long lives with a degree of well-being and peace of mind? I feel proud to be in affiliation with Edward Jones.
Jack Sharry: That’s great. That’s great. So Ken Cella, I got a question to follow up to what you both just commented on. So again, long time observer, fan, admirer of Edward Jones. Love the history, the story, the reality of what’s evolved. And then of course, there’s this AI plus AI. That’s a new one on me. I like that a lot. So talk about how you’re applying technology to bringing sort of your main street values, if you will. I don’t know if you use that term, but the idea is it’s family values or call it what you will because I know it’s at the heart of it. How do you make those work together? I think I understand why, but it might be useful just to talk about because you’re in the middle of significant transformation largely around technology, but the values have not changed as far as I can tell and see. So talk a little bit about that if you would.
Ken Cella: Yeah, and Jack, I think the answer to that question is as much about what’s not changing as it is about what is changing with technology. So I’ll start with the former. We really do, as evidenced by the AI plus AI equation, we do really believe the core differentiator of our value that we provide to our clients is through that human relationship. And all the research that we’re doing is confirming that it doesn’t matter which demographic band you fall into, which age band you fall into, when people are thinking about their serious long-term financial situation, they want a human to help them make that decision by and large. Not everybody, but most. And so there’s definitely a highly advised community out there to serve. And so what we’re doing then is we’re building the technology to make a superhuman advisor. So between AI as well as I’m going to say the more sexy front end systems that do the projections. I’m trying not to use names of companies that we buy software from, right? But our planning tools that provide that sexy front end look and then the back end that allows an advisor to scale their practice to serve more clients more deeply. I’d put those three things together. So it’s AI on the front end where we’re feeding our advisors more information, correlation about who their clients are, what they need, and we’re doing it in a way that is personalized to that client. And then front end tools to really tell the story and capture the goals with the client in a much more vivid and meaningful way. We’ve even, as an example on that, we’ve even piloted where we can upload photographs of the family’s goals and so that we can remind them of the conversations and for many of us, I know for me, those things move me to make decisions, right? And so if I have my grandkids, I’ve got two grandchildren, if I have them up there, that reminds me of what I’m doing in my accounts that I’ve set up for them. But then having that back end, that third piece where, you know, we can scale what we do because we are so hyper local across North America. We want to serve significantly more families than we do today.
Jack Sharry: So Ken Dychtwald, as a psychologist, gerontologist, student of all that goes on around this, I’d love for you to weigh in on the topic of trust and earning trust and winning people over to help them achieve what they want to achieve. You’ve studied how people think, buy, and operate, and experience advice and counsel. So talk a little bit about that and the importance of what we’re discussing here in terms of making for a better experience for the consumer and then ultimately for the results that they might enjoy.
Ken Dychtwald: Well, thanks for asking. You’d be amazed at how seldom that question comes up, but it’s, at the heart of everything. Let me offer a few reactions. First of all, there has never been a time in history where people were in need of a trusted relationship with a financial advisor. Never. There’s never been so much emotion. There’s never been so much uncertainty. There’s never been so many questions. And if you widen again, the scope of what a financial advisor is concerned about, if it’s not just how’s your portfolio doing but how are you doing? Then they need someone who pays attention, who remembers, who knows what’s important. And I would tell you that the industry standards are that often an advisor focuses on an individual. What we’ve learned in the Edward Jones research is that if that spouse is not attended to, she’s gonna walk when the time comes. If the kids aren’t included, they’re going to walk. They’re going to find another advisor. And so a lot of the focus goes on the individual investor. It’s really the family, the individual investor and the family. And if people feel that you don’t care about that, or you’re just trying to make money off of them, or you’re too busy to really note when they say that they’re worried about something, trust is not there. And I would tell you that we need to be a little bit more tuned in, Jack, I’m not sure if you focused on this enough in your shows to the needs and the equation with women. Women, if they’re partnered with a man in America right now, the man will be about two and a half years older. That’s just the way it kind of was in history. The guy was supposed to get a job and get things started before the woman. But then women outlive men by five to six years. And women, about 60% of all the caregivers, the unpaid caregivers are women. So they’re the ones that are taking time off from work. They’re the ones that are looking after that special needs child while holding down their job. And if you’re an elder caregiver, you’re probably in the peak of your career. So to establish trust with the female population, I had dinner with Ken last week and I had just got off the phone with my wife, who’s a heavyweight. She’s a co-founder of Age Wave. She’s just written a bestselling book. She’s a substantial woman. She just needed for me to authorize her to talk to our garbage pickup company who didn’t view her to be on par with me. And, we laughed at that, but if you’re a woman and you’re not being treated with respect or with proper attention, the trust won’t be there. And so the industry has got to kind of snap out of this male thing, you know, bears and bulls and making killings and such and understand that women are becoming increasingly the power controllers. And I’ll say one other thing on that. There’s a lot of talk about the massive inheritance transfer. Some people say it’s as much as $100 trillion and they often talk about it as transfer from one generation to the younger generation. Uh-uh. This can be a transfer from the men or the couples to the women. And so women are about to become the largest controllers of wealth in this country. And if the financial industry doesn’t understand that they’re also caregiving, that they’re also trying to make decisions, and they’re moved by a different language and a different level of relationship, you gotta earn their trust.
Jack Sharry: Yeah, yeah, love it. Very, very good. So our time grows short. So we’re gonna to look to wrap things up. Thank you both for this has been a wonderful conversation. Ken Cella, any key takeaways you want to share with our audience? Then Ken D, I’ll ask you the same question. So Ken C, kick it off.
Ken Cella: Yeah, thank you. You know, on this topic of caregiving, Jack, I think the thing that really comes to mind for me is the emotional toll that the caregiving can take. And you know, it’s actually a tale of two cities. One part of the emotional journey for caregivers is they experience some level of happiness and gratitude because of feeling valued by, you know, the people that they’re caring for. And so there’s a sense of fulfillment that comes from that. But the job can wear on and the job has its lows as well. So the other emotional aspects of that journey are stress. I know I’m a caregiver as well in my family. Stress is something I’ve felt. There are times when I get to burnout and I’ve just about had enough of doing the thing that I’ve been doing for a member of my family consistently. And in the worst case, some of our caregivers experience symptoms of depression and we’ll stop it there in terms of the emotional toll. But that’s a sobering reality that I think we just need to take into consideration. So once again, the role of a financial advisor can be so important here, that EQ, bringing it to the table to diagnose as we’re putting together the proverbial retirement plan for a client. How are they thinking and experiencing caregiving in their life? Because that’s gotta be built into not only the financial plan, but also that plan and that relationship, that emotional support that a financial advisor gives. So I’d just to highlight that, this is gonna be a topic we talk a lot more about as we have just an increasing number of people that are experiencing this caregiving journey. And we’re thrilled to be in partnership with Age Wave once again on this research, building on the four pillars work that we did together and who knows where we’re going next. But what we do know is with this partnership, we are changing lives. And that’s what we’re here to do. And Jack, I just want to thank you for your steadfast work on this program, because I know it’s far exceeded anything you’ve ever expected with WealthTech on Deck. So, appreciate your leadership.
Jack Sharry: Yeah, thank you. Ken D, bring it home. Any key takeaways?
Ken Dychtwald: I think there’s three. Number one, there’s a lot of good news about longer life and changing demography. And, you know, I could go on for a hundred hours talking to you about all the new investment opportunities and the opportunities to reinvent yourself and new purpose and maturity and wisdom. But there are also some challenges and people need to know that there’s somebody in the corner with them and everybody feels that their situation is kind of unique. You know, I’m sort of helping my brother out. And we both care give my, our parents years ago. And just because that’s what’s going on in my life doesn’t mean that’s what’s going on in Ken’s life or your life, Jack. So taking the time to ask some questions and to get a better understanding as to what people are coping with and letting them know that you’re in the corner with them. Very important, regardless of whether you’ve got the answers or not. But if you can aim them towards a therapist or a minister or frankly, a care navigator, you might be saving their life. The next thing I’ll mention is that this is not just your clients, it’s you and your team as well. That if you scratch below the surface, you’ll see that caregiving has become a part of all of our lives. And what people said in this study, which you can find at the Edward Jones website for no charge, is that they wish that their employers were more respectful and responsible. They felt that the employers could be doing a better job of providing time off and giving encouragement, maybe even guiding. And they wish that financial advisors and the government were more respectful of and paid more attention to caregiving. You know, this issue of caregiving, I’ve watched every single presidential debate for the last 20 years. It’s not been mentioned once. The last thing I’ll say is, is that as Ken mentioned, I’ll just double down on it. There’s a lot of strain and disruption and unhappiness that can come with seeing somebody you love struggle. But what we were blown away by in the study was there was also a sense of honor and a sense of doing something good for a loved one. And the fact that Edward Jones is taking the lead in representing kind of the purpose of caregiving and the high intention of it and the quality of life that comes from it, I think is to be applauded.
Jack Sharry: That’s great. Well, thank you both. One final question as we look to wrap up. I’ve asked this before, try it again here. What do you do outside of work for fun that maybe people might find interesting or surprising? What do you do, Ken, I know you got a big family and didn’t know about the two grandkids. I missed that somehow. But Ken Cella, tell us what do you do outside of work for fun to relax and enjoy?
Ken Cella: Yeah, so a couple of things when I can have the free time, I love to be outdoors hiking. I like to work out. I’ve got to be active. So those two are a bit more predictable. The unpredictable, I feel most at peace on Earth when I’m underwater. So I’m a scuba diver and I love the warm weather. So I like to travel and be somewhere warm. And that’s the one that most people don’t get. I also just enjoy the outdoors immensely. So hunting and just being outdoors.
Ken Dychtwald: A couple of things. One, you said, what do you like to do outside of work for fun? I continue to work for fun. Let me say that, you know, I’m 75 now, I started in this field when I was 24. So I’ve been in the field for 51 years and people always say that, okay, one should stop working. And my point of view is I’m okay to work less. The second thing is, is that I, I like to work on projects, even if there’s no money involved. So whether you call it volunteering or pro bono, I feel like there are opportunities I have to change the world and to do cool things and that’s fun for me. And regardless of whether there is compensation involved, the last thing that I’ll end with is that I love my family. I’m very lucky. I’ve got a fantastic marriage and a fantastic wife. And yes, more than anything else that goes on during the year is that we’ve been married 41 years, but we’ve been married over and over again, 42 times. So I love remarrying my wife every year in a different location by a different religion.
Jack Sharry: I love that. Well, thank you both. You’re both wonderful human beings, great representatives of not only yourselves and your families, but our industry. So thank you for all that. For our audience, thanks for tuning into our podcast. If you’ve enjoyed what you’ve heard, please rate, review, subscribe, and share what we are doing here at WealthTech on Deck. We’re available wherever you get your podcasts. You should also check us out at our dedicated website, wealthtechondeck.com. All our episodes are there along with blogs and curated content from many folks around the industry. Ken and Ken, thanks so much. It was a really enjoyable conversation.
Ken Dychtwald: Thank you.
Ken Cella: Thank you, Jack.
