3/7/25 Fiduciary vs. Commission-Based Advisors + 10th Annual Bakersfield Tennis Open Preview

The Moneywise Radio Show and Podcast Friday, March 7th BE MONEYWISE. Moneywise Wealth Management I "The Moneywise Guys" podcast call: 661-847-1000 text in anytime: 661-396-1000 website: www. MoneywiseGuys.com facebook: Moneywise_Wealth_Management instagram: MoneywiseWealthManagement Guest: Mark Fredriksz, Director of Tennis at the Bakersfield Racquet Club website: www.brctennisclub.com/ Bakersfield_Tennis_Open

• 0:00Speaker 00

  From the padded radio room off Stockdale Highway, here is Money Wise. Call or text in at 661-396-1000.

• 0:09Speaker 01

  I need a dollar, dollar, dollar, that's what I need. Hey, hey. Well, I need a dollar, dollar, dollar, that's what I need. Hey, hey. Said I need a dollar, dollar, dollar, that's what I need. And if I share with you my story, would you share your dollar with me?

• 0:30Speaker 02

  Securities offered through SEF Securities, Inc., member FINRA/SIPC. Investment advisory services offered through SEF Investment Advisors, Inc. SEF Securities, Inc. and Money Wise Wealth Management are independently owned and operated.

• 0:40Speaker 00

  Now, let's start the Money Wise Show.

• 0:43Speaker 03

  Let's do it. Let's start the Money Wise Show. I'm your host today, Chris Pelster, with...

• 0:47Speaker 00

  Seth Perry.

• 0:48Speaker 03

  Mr. Seth Perry, and we're always joined by the wonderful, the great Stephen Nicholas. And this is the Money Wise Show. We are live in the Gero Ellis padded radio room off Stockdale Highway. We're on ESPN, Bakersfield, 1230, 101 point FM, always streaming at MoneyWiseGuys.com, where you can cut out a little bit of the minutes and listen to the podcast a little bit faster. So, so love the folks that are chiming in there, and also that's where we're getting a lot of our questions and comments for the show. Nobody likes to call in and talk live anymore. It used to be kind of a thing, but, but it's okay. We'll survive. And I understand the convenience of podcasting, so there you go.

• 1:28Speaker 04

  What if we did a $5 Starbucks card for somebody to call in?

• 1:32Speaker 03

  Ooh, we might get some calls. We'll take it out of Stephen's paycheck. Excellent. I like it.

• 1:38Speaker 00

  You're gonna pay to call in.

• 1:40Speaker 03

  So, you know, we've been calling this affectionately, the Gero Ellis padded radio room for Mr. Gero Ellis, and I have to say, this week I got to go to a training. As a financial advisor, there's times that we all get together, industry leaders come and share thoughts. There's people from different investments company, talk about some of their investment strategies and what they're seeing, and a lot of times, each of these investment companies will provide an economist who comes in and talks about the economy. Obviously, we're going to talk a little bit about tariffs. There was some discussion on tariffs. But there was definitely a moment of sadness because we're right at about the year mark. Mr. Gero Ellis had a massive stroke.

• 2:21Speaker 03

  And me and Gero always had a good time going and learning and challenging ourselves and focusing on our practice as financial advisors and our clients trying to better ourselves. And every single year, you know that when the microphone was being passed around in the crowd and an advisor can ask an economist a question, you know, Gero Ellis grabbed the microphone and I had flashbacks of him and I know which outfit he would wear. It would usually be after a long night of talking sports in the bar the night before. This man was a legend. And, uh, and it was really, really sad to not have him there with me. Um, many advisors from all across the country were missing him and

• 3:02Speaker 03

  heard about his story unfortunately last year because we were literally getting ready to go to a training last year. At the same time that they do it every single year and, uh, he unfortunately, uh, had his medical episode and not able to go that year. And so actually me, myself, uh, or my wife and, uh, Justin was going to go to, um, we all canceled our trips and, uh, waited to see what was going to happen with Gero and his, his, uh, recovery continues and it's just slow and steady and, uh, we're thinking about you, Gero. So just wanted to throw that out there. We're basically at the one year mark and so thinking about you. With that being said, I can hear also Gero telling everybody to take a deep breath.

• 3:42Speaker 03

  Calm down. The S and P 500 posts worst week since September.

• 3:48Speaker 04

  Oh, my gosh.

• 3:49Speaker 03

  Drumroll. What are we talking about?

• 3:51Speaker 04

  What are we gonna do?

• 3:52Speaker 03

  Tariff turmoil. And that, like I said, was definitely the topic, um, by some of these economists. In the last couple of years, we were going to these and it was all about the feds and what the feds going to do and what interest rates are going to do. And now it's tariff, tariff, tariff. And also still concerned about what the feds are going to do with interest rates and different things because obviously that impacts a lot of things, but, um, yeah, tariffs are the talk of the town.

• 4:20Speaker 01

  In 1930, the Republican-controlled House of Representatives, in an effort to alleviate the effects of the, anyone, anyone, the Great Depression, passed the, anyone, anyone, a tariff bill, the Holly Smoot Tariff Act, which...

• 4:40Speaker 03

  There, there you go.

• 4:42Speaker 00

  Name that movie.

• 4:43Speaker 04

  I was wondering about the Holly Smoot Tariff Act.

• 4:45Speaker 00

  There you go. Name that movie, though.

• 4:47Speaker 03

  Name that movie. I don't, I want to say Bueller.

• 4:50Speaker 01

  Bueller?

• 4:51Speaker 03

  Yeah.

• 4:52Speaker 01

  You're correct.

• 4:53Speaker 03

  And, and you know what's, you know what's funny about that is, who's the actor that was talking?

• 4:56Speaker 01

  Ben Stein.

• 4:57Speaker 03

  Ben Stein, one of the first financial books I read as a young 20-year-old.

• 5:02Speaker 01

  Really?

• 5:03Speaker 03

  Was, I forget what it was called, he, he's like a CPA, he's like a financial nerd. He, he's a, he's a finance guy or whatever. I don't think he does investments, but I think he does, um, taxes or something, but anyways, he wrote a book called, You Can Still Retire Rich, or something like that? And it was actually, uh, it was actually a great book, easy to read, and it kind of what started my curiosity in the financial world, so there you go.

• 5:27Speaker 04

  And he had a TV, he had his TV show, remember?

• 5:29Speaker 03

  Yeah. And it may be hard for you to believe, but I read that book on the exercise machine at the gym.

• 5:37Speaker 04

  Oh, wow.

• 5:38Speaker 03

  In college.

• 5:39Speaker 04

  Wow.

• 5:40Speaker 03

  Burning some calories.

• 5:41Speaker 04

  Which machine was it?

• 5:42Speaker 03

  It was the, it was the, actually, probably the, not the best bike for you, but it's a recumbent bike.

• 5:45Speaker 04

  Okay.

• 5:46Speaker 03

  Cause then I could, you know, kind of chill and

• 5:47Speaker 04

  Yeah.

• 5:48Speaker 03

  Read an actual book. This was before, I might've had a, I might've had an iPod. Is that what they're called?

• 5:54Speaker 04

  What's that?

• 5:55Speaker 03

  Turn the circle. I think I had a thousand songs on it.

• 5:59Speaker 04

  Why do we always get to flashbacks when we're together in here?

• 6:01Speaker 03

  Yeah, there you go.

• 6:02Speaker 01

  Is it your beeper?

• 6:03Speaker 03

  Yeah, yeah. Yeah, I would stay there as long as I could until I got, uh, beeped, then I had to go. But anyways, um, yeah, so it was a tough week on the market, you know, the S and P 500 posted the worst week since September. Obviously, the tariff discussion is what's kind of rattling that. I I've always come on the show and always tried to talk, um, big picture and also thinking back over the last year, the markets have been on an upward trajectory since 2022 when inflation first hit, interest rates went up, stock market pulled back, and it's just been on a rampage since then. So you also have to take that into account that maybe tariffs aren't as scary as

• 6:44Speaker 03

  everybody's thinking because the market's just taking a breather and, uh, and, you know, some of those technicals and different things and people are taking a little bit of risk off the table, possibly. And when I say people, I'm talking about large money managers, you know, they have billions and billions of dollars, like pension funds and huge mutual funds that have millions and millions and billions of dollars in them, and they're maybe just taking a little bit of risk off the table. So lo and behold, when that happens, you get the worst week since September, you get numbers like that. And it doesn't necessarily mean the sky is falling. Uh, tariffs is definitely something that could impact us in the short term, even if some of the things that are being discussed could be good for our economy and the American worker long term. Um, and, and the,

• 7:28Speaker 03

  the one tough thing I think right now is, um, understanding that, uh, the president did write a book on negotiation. I don't know if you knew this. He's a little bit into his brand and negotiating and business. And so some of his tariff talk, you know, even this was coming out of the mouths of the economists, you know, a lot of it is hard because how much of it is, I'm just setting this huge number over on this side so that we can negotiate back towards the other side. And so it's, it's tough to know, um, where things are going to settle. But at the end of the day, tariff concerns, geopolitical issues, all these things we're

• 8:10Speaker 03

  talking about is nothing new. The one thing that I took away from listening to some economists and some different folks talking, it it kind of reinvigorated the fact that over the last basically five years, the US stock market, US companies have just been crazy. And it definitely brings up the highlighted discussion when you talk about a diversified portfolio. Maybe it sounds a little boring, maybe some foreign exposure. If US has some major issues because of this tariff talk, bonds have gotten a little bit more attractive, yielding better yields, low risk investments that are paying a little bit more fixed income annually to

• 8:52Speaker 03

  investors who are holding them. They can seem a little boring at times or whatever, and some people have a misunderstanding, I guess, of kind of what it is or what it should be in your portfolio. But it does highlight the fact that if the US markets, you know, are a little bit short term impacted by tariffs and some of these things, a diversified portfolio could serve you well, navigate through it, have a plan to rebalance like we've always talked about. We do that inside of our strategies because maybe foreign markets will hold up a little bit better and be, you know, thought of as maybe the best asset class to hold in the short term while the US markets kind of do their thing. So diversified portfolio, rebalancing and having a strategy, staying long term focused. If you do have

• 9:35Speaker 03

  short term money, you have a little bit of a focus on that. We've talked about that before. So just trying to get everybody to take a deep breath and navigate through.

• 9:43Speaker 04

  It makes me think especially too for our younger, our younger investors, you know, looking back to COVID, the S and P 500 was at 2488. And to the peak, which I believe was in December, it more than doubled, right? So and that's, you know, almost, you know, a little over four years of time. So a lot of these young investors are used to nothing but seeing it go up 2022 happened, right? And then it came, bounced right, shot way back up. So just remember, it's a long term play, you know, it's, it's, you know. Take your time. And Chris, how often would you tell your clients to look at their account? I think a lot of it depends on people's personalities.

• 10:24Speaker 03

  Yeah.

• 10:25Speaker 04

  I remember when I was first starting to pump money into a 401k old company I'd worked for, I would check it probably two or three, sometimes four times a week, right? And then, you know, you get kind of worked up if you see it moving around. But now it's to where even as an advisor, you know, I'm a very aware of the market. But with my own personal investments, I might look a couple, once a month, maybe once every couple of months.

• 10:47Speaker 03

  Yeah, well, I agree with what you said. You said, you know, it depends on the individual because I, if you want to look at it every day, but it doesn't impact your emotions and you don't then end up getting caught in the emotional spin cycle or then run to the TV to start to, because if you, if you look at your account and see something happen that makes you think, and then you run to the TV to try to listen to the news, it's going to be a self fulfilling prophecy. It's going to be the sky is falling or maybe even on the opposite end, you're going to have a fear of missing out or whatever it is. So I tell people like you look at it as often as you want. But I think one of the beauty aspects of having a well, you know, a good financial plan is you don't have to ever look at it.

• 11:28Speaker 03

  I mean, once a year, honestly, if you have a strategy in place and you know what you're doing, sit down and crunch numbers once a year. Maybe you want to do it quarterly. Maybe you are somebody that likes to look at it more regularly, so once a week. But again, only if it's not having a negative impact on your emotional status. Now, if you don't understand how you're invested, maybe you're not working with a financial professional. And so you just kind of feel like you're in la la land or like, don't know where you're at. That can be unnerving and you should have a lot of confidence, you know, about your strategy and stuff. So sometimes that's how working with a financial advisor can help. Or just making sure that if you're doing it on your own, that you really have a good plan and strategy in place.

• 12:10Speaker 03

  And that something happening in the market isn't going to all of a sudden, suddenly quickly change your strategy. Because when you're making investment decisions in the middle of chaos, you're usually not making the right decision and, and it's a very scary. I mean, we've had panic, we've had people freak out, you know? So we try to address those things in cool and call calm situations where when that happens, we're not making major changes to the strategy. If anything, you're wanting to take advantage of a dip in the market. But unfortunately, a lot of times people that think they want more stock exposure, once it goes down and you say, now would actually be a good time. They say, never mind.

• 12:48Speaker 04

  Right.

• 12:49Speaker 03

  You know, so it just depends on a person's, you know, personality and, you know, ability to, to kind of cruise and look at the, the, the accounts and the markets.

• 12:59Speaker 04

  And remember too, you're not, you know, I think it's gone down, we're approaching what's called correction territory where it's when from a peak to it bottoms out, it's a drop of 10%. So we're entering that area right now. That doesn't mean in theory that you've lost 10% of your money, especially I think of all of our listeners have money in a 401k. That's the lion share of people's retirement these days, right? It doesn't mean you've lost that money because you're not selling right now.

• 13:24Speaker 03

  Right.

• 13:25Speaker 04

  Just means the value of what you're holding in there. Hey, yeah, it's dropped.

• 13:28Speaker 03

  Yeah.

• 13:28Speaker 04

  But again, you're not going to be selling it. Say you're in your 30s, you're not going to be selling those investments until.

• 13:33Speaker 03

  Right.

• 13:34Speaker 04

  30 years down the road.

• 13:35Speaker 03

  That's why we always talk about goal based, you know, focusing on your investments because if there is something that you need to sell 100% of in the near future, then if you're invested, you want to think very thoughtfully about that because now I'm going to sell 100% of it. But most people don't even realize that even if you're getting close to retirement, it doesn't mean get out of all your stocks because unless you're going to sell everything the day you retire, your investments will continue to retirement and through retirement. And so you have to have that mindset, you know, that's why we talk about distribution rates, you know, if you're only pulling a small portion out per month or whatever you're needing, yes, your account value is going to fluctuate and nobody likes that. But the only part of

• 14:20Speaker 03

  your account that's actually impacted is that monthly amount that you sell. And as long as that's a number, like some people will say very conservatively three, some people might say five, whatever that percentage is, it's a very small portion of your account that's actually impacted by a volatile quarter or two or a down year. And so stick with your strategy and you'll be okay in the long run.

• 14:42Speaker 04

  If I have time for a quick comment here, wow, taking it back with Bueller, I need to watch that this weekend. Had no idea Ben Stein was in the financial world. How long have, I think they meant to say have tariffs been around? Prayers and love to the Ellis family. I was doing a little bit of homework. I don't know exactly how long they've been around, but it might find it interesting to know that between the years 1790 and 1860 in the US, tariffs accounted for 90% of our government's revenue.

• 15:13Speaker 04

  90%, right?

• 15:14Speaker 03

  What does it, what does it count for now?

• 15:16Speaker 04

  Less than 2%.

• 15:17Speaker 03

  Less than 2%.

• 15:18Speaker 04

  So.

• 15:19Speaker 03

  So that's how America actually.

• 15:21Speaker 04

  That's how we got going.

• 15:22Speaker 03

  Yeah.

• 15:23Speaker 04

  Now, Chris, some of our listeners might not know, who pays the tariff? Is it the, is it the country? It's not because I didn't know.

• 15:31Speaker 03

  Yeah.

• 15:31Speaker 04

  I promise this is not because I didn't know.

• 15:34Speaker 03

  Yeah.

• 15:34Speaker 04

  I did not look this up today.

• 15:35Speaker 03

  Yeah, I bet everybody's slowly becoming tariff, you know, geniuses right now. But, but yeah, I think we talked about this. So, so it's the, it's the companies that are buying goods from other countries and it comes in here and then they're paying it. I think most people would ultimately say, and might maybe even kind of correct, ultimately the consumers pay for the tariffs. Because if you're a company that's importing goods and stuff from other countries, and then you go to sell it, well, if they raise it 20% tariff on it, you're not going to just eat that 20%, you're going to raise the price of your, whatever it is that you're importing, right? You're going to raise the price of it. I mean, I have a buddy who's a machinist, you know, and so

• 16:19Speaker 03

  steel and getting different things and stuff like that, it's very, very difficult. Because price of everything goes up, he has to pass that on to his customers. And they don't necessarily want to pay more money for whatever trinket that he's making for them as the machinist. And so it does really complicate certain sectors and certain jobs and businesses are very impacted by tariffs. Like I said, too much tariffs could be economically catastrophic. But if there is a sweet spot to find where we can increase revenue some and. You know that there's some negotiations and and there is some sweet spot and you do start to see companies now go, which I don't know if it's true or not. I mean, it's so hard to break through all the junk, which is what we used to say as a,

• 17:02Speaker 03

  as a company, what we like to do. But like I was seeing that, uh, I think Toyota is gonna bring in their, uh, their auto manufacturing back up to America because then they won't have to, they won't have to make it in Mexico and take it over. So if the tariff is high enough, they go, well, we might as well just make it in America then. Well, then you're talking about maybe 50,000 new jobs or 25,000 new jobs that comes back to America. So, you know, there's just so many dynamics and going on. And like I said, right now, you are dealing with, um, a negotiator in the White House and some things are being thrown out there, maybe very, not necessarily anywhere near where he wants numbers to be, but but maybe part of the negotiation or whatever. So,

• 17:46Speaker 03

  it is difficult. It's hard to breathe through all of it. Um, you get headlines and headlines can be misleading and and it have a bigger impact on you than it really needs to be. Uh, I think everything still sticks. I mean, when we talk about being money wise, we have been through it all. We've seen tariff talk before. We saw last presidency, but there's been all kinds of things that have gone on. You know, that that can impact the markets and ultimately you want to get high quality stocks and stock exposure, you know, a balanced portfolio based on a risk level that you're comfortable with where you're not going to freak out if the market bounces around. Um, and then stick to your plan, you know, focus on what I believe is much more important.

• 18:27Speaker 03

  And unfortunately, when people retire and stuff, i- if you don't now have a job or something that you're focusing your mind on, and all you start focusing your mind on is your account and watching the news, um, it can be a miserable experience and you worked your whole life to retire. And I've constantly scratched my head and go, is this really what you wanted to do with your six, seven hours of free time? Every day is to worry and fret and stress and, uh, you know, and that's in my opinion, that's just not being money wise. So hopefully, uh, you know, folks can can have a good plan in place, whether they're doing on their own or working with a financial professional. They're getting trusted advice. I mean, that's why we're fiduciaries here and trying to do what's in the best interest for our clients and and navigating through the good and the bad times. And

• 19:10Speaker 03

  sometimes it may seem a little boring or whatever, but, uh, you know, we don't want to have clients end up on the on the wall in the race of retirement. So. Um, I think there's a comment that come in. Maybe we can jump on that right when we get back. So, uh, stick around. We'll be right back.

• 19:22Speaker 00

  Don't forget, Money Wise is more than a radio show. We're an independently owned local wealth management firm with 60-plus years of collective experience. Our financial advisors are here to help you, Kern County. Together, let's be smart, be safe, be money wise.

• 19:47Speaker 03

  Welcome back. This is the Money Wise Show. Myself, joined by Mr. Seth Perry. So I don't know how often this is gonna happen. Is this, you know, a regular thing now or what?

• 19:58Speaker 00

  I'm trying.

• 19:59Speaker 03

  Trying.

• 19:59Speaker 00

  Rotating them a little bit.

• 20:01Speaker 03

  Yeah, which we didn't even mention it. We are going to be joined today by Mark Fredericks, Director of Tennis at the Bakersfield Racquet Club after this next break coming up. Talking about the 10th Annual Bakersfield Tennis Open, which has a great history and story and some phenomenal tennis players that we've been able to have come to Bakersfield and move on in their career and do great. So it's a good story. Uh, stick around for that. We love to, to share some of these local stories. Um, one of the, the comments that came in though, that I wanted to jump into, it says, "Good afternoon, guys. What is the $1,000 a month rule for retirement? Is that something you guys may use for someone that is just starting to save for retirement? Be money wise."

• 20:46Speaker 03

  Well, maybe there is a $1,000 a month rule. That'd be phenomenal if you could save $1,000 a month. That's $12,000 a year in savings. And if you can do that, kudos. When I was just getting started, I was happy to maybe do $100 a month. And that's where I had to start and there's nothing wrong with that, you know? Getting started young, early, starting to live without a small portion of your monthly income, instead of just getting in the habit of spending everything, um, is really what it's about, you know? And I've always, some people, what's the easiest financial plan you can put together for somebody? It's like, start saving 10% of your pay as early as possible and you may never have to increase it ever.

• 21:27Speaker 03

  If you just start saving 10% of your pay in your early twenties, no matter whether you make 10 grand a year or a hundred grand a year and you save 10%, invest it, keep doing that. You should be at a very good place as you reach 55 to 60 and you can replace your income that you're used to living on.

• 21:47Speaker 04

  Another good strategy is every time you get a raise, if you get an annual raise, so you get a 4% raise each year. If you're, you know, as long as you're not paycheck to paycheck, try to invest all of that raise if you can, or at least half of it. That way you're consistently putting more money away on a percentage basis too. Was this, was this what they were talking about though, Chris?

• 22:08Speaker 03

  So I don't know. I mean, that's what I was saying. The thousand dollar a month rule, if it wasn't necessarily about savings. What the thousand dollar a month rule that I've heard about before is a different way of looking at how much money do I have to have saved for retirement? And so a lot of times people will talk about a three and a half to four and a half percent distribution rate or 5% distribution rate. And sometimes it can be a little weird when you're thinking about the math and how that works out. So the thousand dollar a month rule is just different. What it basically does is it flips it upside down. So you're not having to figure out a percentage of what you have. It's more so just saying, how much do I need to have saved to create a thousand dollars a month in income?

• 22:51Speaker 03

  So basically if we're talking about a four or more like a 5% withdrawal rate, you need to have about $240,000 saved for retirement to make a thousand dollars a month for life and have it last, right? And so if you say, well, you know, with social security and my wife's social security, we could really use an extra $3,000 a month as much as possible, you need to try to hit a goal of about $750,000. Little bit under that, but close to 750 grand. And then you could easily pull $3,000 a month out for the rest of your life. And if you have a good investment strategy and stick with it and don't have major, I guess,

• 23:33Speaker 03

  annual oopsies and you're pulling out big old chunks, you should be. To live off that money for the rest of your life. So it's just a simpler way to kind of look at it, you know, we want $4,000 a month. Well, if you want $4,000 a month in income, you need to be closer to the million dollar mark. And that may seem astronomical or so difficult to achieve, but sometimes we forget about the power of compounding interest.

• 23:57Speaker 04

  Yes, sir.

• 23:58Speaker 03

  Which is get started early, get going as soon as you can. The first 15 years is so tough and difficult because it just feels like you're throwing money in there and it's just going all over the place. But all of a sudden, what ends up happening is the money that you're making on your investments begins to make money on itself. And then pretty soon you have lots of money that you didn't even put in there and it's growing and it's, you know, go ahead.

• 24:24Speaker 04

  So crunching some numbers, it's the math teacher coming out at me, but let's say we have a 35 year old listener and they've been on the sidelines. They haven't started investing yet. They plan on retiring at age 67, which is a very common retirement age these days to get full social security benefits. So again, they have nothing saved right now. They start when they're 35. If they put $450 a month in, now that's a commitment, right? That's a commitment. 450 a month. But if they do that all the way out, they'll have, based on today's, the last 30 years of the stock market, they'll have 1.2 million dollars. Therefore, based on the thousand dollar rule, they could be pulling in $5,000 a month of income. So think about that, folks.

• 25:06Speaker 04

  You're putting 450 a month in. Yes, it's a sacrifice, right? But that's in order to have the ability to add an additional $5,000 a month of income. And maybe you're getting two or 3,000 from social security. Maybe your spouse works. There's another couple of thousand, vice versa, right? It's just a really good way to look at. I kind of like the thousand dollar rule. It's not too bad.

• 25:28Speaker 03

  It's a way to simplify it a little bit as far as figuring out maybe what you need to have as a goal to get to. So, but we are going to take a little break right now. And like I said, when we come back, we're going to be talking about the Bakersfield Racquet Club and the upcoming event they're going to have. So stick around.

• 25:43Speaker 00

  Need to get your financial fix on the go? If so, subscribe to the Money Wise Podcast and catch up on all past shows whenever and wherever you want.

• 25:57Speaker 03

  Welcome back. This is the Money Wise Show. Thank you so much for making it what it is. We always love it when you join the conversation. 661-396-1000. You can shoot us a message. We can go over that. Make sure to put your area code in there. And we are really, really glad to have back Mark Fredericks, Director of Tennis at Bakersfield Racquet Club. He's been on before. He's a favorite of the show. He's bummed because Debbie's not here, who's the Money Wise Tennis Protégé, or what do you, I mean, she knows savant, basically.

• 26:33Speaker 05

  Yeah, probably, yeah.

• 26:34Speaker 03

  Yeah, she knew, I mean, she geeked out with you guys last time we talked about this event. It went wonderful last year. I spent a little time out there. It was unfortunately right when we had a unfortunate event with Gero Ellis in the hospital, but he was in the hospital right across the street from the event. So I stopped by and watched some tennis when I was down there at the hospital and got to get consoled by a gentleman that does rackets up there, Mr. Scott Cox.

• 27:01Speaker 05

  Oh, man.

• 27:02Speaker 03

  Yeah, you know, I cried on his shoulder. He just was, no, it was, it was really good to actually touch base with him because he's been a friend of the show for a long, long time. But anyways, Mark, good to have you. How are you doing?

• 27:13Speaker 05

  Oh, I love being here. Thanks. I'm doing great.

• 27:15Speaker 03

  Yeah, good. So before we go into the event a little bit, why don't you kind of share your story, your history, like what got you in the tennis world or kept you in the tennis world and how you ended up here in Bakersfield? What's the story?

• 27:29Speaker 05

  Well, you know, I started playing tennis when I was very young, you know, and with the family and everything. And, you know, we went through the junior tournament route and the whole deal. And I got to a level where I was playing some satellites, but I wasn't very successful at that level. I tried really hard at that level, but, you know, it started to get a little bit more difficult at that time. It was a transition from wooden rackets to graphite rackets and... Ah, some of these guys with the big power serves kind of left me for the dust.

• 27:56Speaker 03

  Yeah.

• 27:57Speaker 05

  It was a little bit difficult at that time. But, uh, you know, going ahead of years and years, I, I started here in Bakersfield at the old Laurel Glen Tennis Club.

• 28:05Speaker 03

  Yeah.

• 28:06Speaker 05

  Over on Ming Avenue. And, uh, and then I graduated to play with Hank Fister over at Stockdale Country Club. And I found my way over to the Racquet club. And, uh, that was in 2013. So I'm just, uh, just so pleased to be there. It's just part of a great history here in Bakersfield. And, uh, we're delighted to be bringing this our 10th anniversary tournament this year. So it's, uh, very, very exciting at the club. And, uh, everyone is kind of revved up for it. Uh, we're looking forward, hopefully some very, very dry weather and, uh, some fantastic tennis as well.

• 28:38Speaker 03

  Yeah. So two small little side stories that I think you'll appreciate. Uh, have you ever, as a freshman in high school, taken a girl to the formal? And showed up to realize her dad was Hank Fister and he's like six foot seven? And I'm looking up at this gentleman taking his daughter to the dance. But luckily he's great, great family. And, uh, so yeah, we actually both went to school with Hank's daughter at Stockdale High School.

• 29:04Speaker 04

  The thing I remember the most was she scored higher than anyone else in our calculus class.

• 29:08Speaker 03

  There you go.

• 29:08Speaker 05

  Oh, there you go.

• 29:09Speaker 03

  I guess, uh, I guess they are the high achieving family there. So kudos to the Fisters. Uh, the other thing I was going to ask is you mentioned the transition from wood rackets to graphite.

• 29:20Speaker 05

  Oh, yeah.

• 29:21Speaker 03

  So that was obviously a big advancement is in technology. Has there been anything since then that you would say is equal? Or is it kind of like since that point?

• 29:31Speaker 05

  Yeah.

• 29:32Speaker 03

  There's still been improvements?

• 29:34Speaker 05

  Oh, yeah. The, the rackets are, are, they haven't changed a great deal in several years, but the big advancement has been in strings.

• 29:41Speaker 03

  Strings.

• 29:42Speaker 05

  The, the way that they designed the strings now, they, they, they're polyester strings. You can hit the ball extremely hard with, with a lot of spin, which in back in the old days, you had to choose either one. If you wanted to hit it hard, you had to hit it flat. And if you wanted it with spin, you didn't have a lot of pace. But today's players can hit it so, so hard and with so much spin, it's, it's. Really exciting, you know.

• 30:04Speaker 03

  Yeah.

• 30:04Speaker 05

  Yeah.

• 30:04Speaker 03

  I mean, it's phenomenal to watch. I mean, I don't know how, what I watched last year at the event. You know, I mean, I've seen stuff on TV and stuff, but going and watching it in person. And I mean, we're up there as far as the talent that we're bringing here and stuff. I know I've heard some of the stories that some of these guys are right on the the verge of kind of breaking out into the higher, higher level events or whatever you say. Um, but it is so impressive how good they all are.

• 30:31Speaker 05

  Yeah.

• 30:31Speaker 03

  I mean.

• 30:32Speaker 05

  It is, it's stunning, you know, and what's really amazing is, is that when, when someone's hitting a hundred and twenty-five mile an hour serve. And you're, you know, eating a hamburger literally 10 feet away and you're hearing that big boom.

• 30:44Speaker 03

  Yeah.

• 30:44Speaker 05

  And the average rally with these guys is anywhere between 80 and 100 miles an hour. So they're hitting their forehands, you know, triple digits and, and it's really fun to watch them and, and everybody, everybody on tour is fit.

• 30:57Speaker 03

  Yeah.

• 30:57Speaker 05

  I mean, they're just running and just, you're seeing the long rallies, you're seeing some aggressive play.

• 31:02Speaker 03

  Yeah.

• 31:02Speaker 05

  And the level play, but the strings have really, really made a big, big difference in the game.

• 31:06Speaker 03

  There you go.

• 31:07Speaker 04

  Their conditioning is off the charts. I went to school with a guy. And, and, uh, basically at the end of their full-length practice, and it was a, it was a pretty good sized school, you know? At the end of their practice, the coach had him do one hour of shuttle runs. Not like, hey, you're going to do 10. No, it was an hour straight. That's after practice and that's when my eyes were opened like, okay, this is what it takes to be a, a D1 athlete.

• 31:31Speaker 05

  Yeah, you know, it's kind of interesting, you know, like, like I told you, I played, placed some satellites and stuff. And every once in a while, you, you, you get to watch the, the main draw players, you know, and in this. I, I failed in the qualifying very early, so I had a, I had a seat for a lot of the matches. But I watched Jimmy Connors warm up one time and he was out there for about 40, 45 minutes. And I'm just looking at this guy going, man, that is such another level. And obviously he went on one of the greatest players ever, but.

• 31:59Speaker 03

  Yeah.

• 31:59Speaker 05

  He, he just, there's a certain discipline and a certain, uh, work ethic that you have to have in order to make it. And, and you can say that for any sport, you know, you really have to work hard at it and, and you got to love that passion of, of, of going after that goal.

• 32:12Speaker 03

  Yeah. So this being the 10th annual event, you know, is there, is there something different that, that the structure is going to do? Or is it more so like, have you made like, who you're having come? Is it any different? What have you guys done for the 10th annual?

• 32:25Speaker 05

  Yeah, well, you know, we're gonna have like a little party at the very end on the, on the Saturday before, I think it's the 22nd, we're gonna have a little party that evening to wrap up the doubles final and then the singles final will be the next day. But the event has its own little life and its own mystique to it. And, you know, a lot of the people that have been there and the sponsors have, have just been with us the whole time. You know, Alley Cat has been a huge part of our program there and, and helping us with the, with the parties that we have there. And, and just everyone is a family there and it just makes for just a wonderful sort of ambiance, you know, and, and so I think people are gonna kind of just kind of reflect on the last 10 years. And we have some pictures

• 33:09Speaker 05

  of all the past, you know, winners and the doubles winners that are gonna be out there. And we're gonna talk about a little bit of that during, you know, between the matches and the evenings, you know, so.

• 33:18Speaker 04

  And this isn't just a local event. This is, people are coming from far away, right?

• 33:22Speaker 05

  Yeah, we've got probably about 12 to 15 different countries that are gonna be represented this year. And we got a contingency from Great Britain this year, but there's a lot of American players. It's so nice to see. We've got about 15 or 20 American players in the draw. You know, usually it's a, you know, they're coming from, in fact, we, we just lost our number one seed from Tunisia and he was ranked around 190 in the world. But he had some other commitment that he had to, to follow through with. But the, the players are just fantastic. I, I wrote down a couple of the players that are gonna be joining us and they're not everyday names, you know, but a guy named Joanna Smundey, he's from Great Britain. He won four of these tournaments last year and he just won

• 34:05Speaker 05

  one in England earlier this year. So he's coming off of a great, great standing right now. And our second seed, presumably, it depends on how many more people sign up, he, he went five sets with a guy named Stan Warwenka, who is number four in the world. And that was- at Wimbledon, the third round of Wimbledon. So, you know, these guys can play, they just haven't broken through, you know, that, that, that one last hurdle. Uh, but the speed of the ball, the speed of the serves, they're just missing one or two less shots than the very top players. It's like golf, you know, like those guys, they, you know, one or two strokes, you know, right at the end or crunch time that they, they, they pull ahead of the pack. And, and it's basically the same thing here. So, uh, but the, the field is going

• 34:50Speaker 05

  to be very, very solid. Uh, a lot of the players are ranked between 200 and 600 in the main draw. So it's just very, very high level players.

• 34:59Speaker 03

  Yeah.

• 34:59Speaker 05

  Uh, and we have a local that we, uh, we awarded a, a qualifying, uh, wild card to, and his name is Eli Knoll. Uh, now Eli plays for basic, well, played for basic, uh, Bakersfield High School, and he's just an outstanding talent, and he just accepted a D1 scholarship up in Portland.

• 35:17Speaker 03

  Nice.

• 35:18Speaker 05

  So, uh, he's on his way and

• 35:19Speaker 03

  Great.

• 35:19Speaker 05

  he's really excited about playing in this event, and, uh, he's played in it before, and, uh,

• 35:23Speaker 03

  Yeah.

• 35:24Speaker 05

  he's much more mature this year. So I'm, I'm looking forward to seeing some good tennis from him during this event.

• 35:28Speaker 03

  Yeah. So, uh, so coming out of high school, even, even showing some promise and stuff, is it still a little overwhelming to play against some of the folks that he'll be facing?

• 35:36Speaker 05

  Oh, yeah. Like, it's like, like you said earlier, it's an international field.

• 35:39Speaker 03

  Right.

• 35:40Speaker 05

  So he's being exposed to some things that are just

• 35:42Speaker 03

  Yeah.

• 35:42Speaker 05

  just off the charts.

• 35:43Speaker 03

  Yeah. He didn't see him, he didn't see him on the court playing in high school.

• 35:46Speaker 05

  Yeah.

• 35:46Speaker 03

  Yeah.

• 35:47Speaker 05

  The, the thing is, is that, you know, you, he can return 120 mile an hour serve. He, he's, he's done it. And a lot of the players he plays against, they can do it, but they can't hit it as often as these guys. They, these guys can hit it just about on every serve. So he's gonna have to get acclimated to it. But you know what? He's a young man. He's worked hard, and him and his dad just won the Nationals, I think, in Santa Barbara.

• 36:07Speaker 03

  Oh, really?

• 36:08Speaker 05

  So, yeah, father, son. So

• 36:09Speaker 03

  Oh, that's cool.

• 36:09Speaker 05

  They're solid, solid players, and they practice so much at the club. They're a great inspiration for our, our younger kids.

• 36:14Speaker 03

  There you go.

• 36:15Speaker 05

  So it's really great.

• 36:17Speaker 03

  Well, is there anything else that the listeners need to know if they want to get involved or they want to get out there? Is it show up and pay and go in there?

• 36:24Speaker 05

  Well, you know, the paying part, we don't have to do. This event is entirely free.

• 36:28Speaker 03

  Oh, my goodness. Did you hear that?

• 36:30Speaker 05

  Yeah, so the price is right.

• 36:32Speaker 03

  Yeah.

• 36:33Speaker 05

  The matches are going to start at 10 o'clock on Monday for the qualifying rounds, but the main draw starts on that Tuesday, which is going to be the 18th. And those guys will start at about 1 o'clock, and that's the main draw players. And they're going to come in, they'll play at 10, and then we have the evening matches that start every evening at 6 o'clock, and there's a singles and a doubles match generally. And you'll get to be able to watch some great tennis at that time. On that Wednesday night, March 19th, we have the KCTA, which is the Kern Community Tennis Association. They have their awards banquet that night. It's really a fun time. It's basically the high school team night. So you've got every high school team in town that's going to be there. So it's a huge crowd. It's usually around 600, 700 people.

• 37:14Speaker 03

  So you mentioned some of these folks, I mean, some of them are coming even internationally or from other countries and different things. What does it typically look like for the players to come in here? Is it hotel rooms that we get set up for them?

• 37:27Speaker 05

  Yeah, yeah. They live out of hotel rooms, so they know the deal. But one of the nice things about this event, which I think is just a little bit just different, is, you know, we have opportunities where they stay with some of the families. And, you know, when they do, the kids get to meet them.

• 37:42Speaker 04

  That's cool.

• 37:43Speaker 05

  They get home-cooked meals, you know, and so they have that camaraderie. And even players that have gone on to other heights and levels, you know, we have a guy that, Rinke Inishikori, he's Australian player, he's Japanese descent. He actually got to the finals of the Australian doubles that same year that he won here. So he made a huge jump.

• 38:06Speaker 03

  Yeah.

• 38:07Speaker 05

  Well, you know, after he won that match, he actually just talked to a bunch of the kids that were here in Bakersfield. It was wonderful. You know, they came in the next day, they go, "Coach, coach, you know, I talked with, you know, I talked with some of the players that played there, but definitely, you know, they were really excited, you know, about interacting with them." So it's something that lasts a while for them.

• 38:26Speaker 04

  And what time are you competing? You mentioned the main draw is at 1. Is that when you're going to be?

• 38:30Speaker 05

  Yeah. I'll be calling, I'll be standing on the sideline watching. That's what I'll be doing.

• 38:34Speaker 04

  Can I ask a question?

• 38:35Speaker 05

  Sure.

• 38:36Speaker 04

  So I personally haven't been involved in the tennis world because a couple of times I've tried to play, it's been a nightmare. It's been an absolute disaster. But I've noticed pickleball. Are you guys pivoting at all to?

• 38:46Speaker 05

  We love pickleball at the biggest racquet club. We've got four courts over there. We've got just a good contingency of players over there and, you know, we welcome it. It's a little tough because they've taken a lot of the courts here in town.

• 38:59Speaker 04

  That's what I was asking. That's what it seems.

• 39:01Speaker 05

  But the people that play are so friendly, so nice. And that's really one of the nice things about the club, you know? We've just got a bunch of people that are just health-conscious and just love to play. And we've got plenty of programs where you can find games and take lessons or groups or clinics.

• 39:18Speaker 03

  In the long run, do you think like pickleball has kind of invigorated a little bit tennis, the sport? Because people get a little bit more thinking about it and involved where maybe normally they wouldn't have because they're maybe not going to take up tennis? Or what do you think?

• 39:30Speaker 05

  We've had some players that play pickleball that have transitioned into tennis. But, you know, they're two different bears. They have two different sort of end games, really. So, you know, with pickleball, it's very, very easy to start. It's actually harder to learn how to keep score in pickleball. So, it's very easy to pick up. Tennis, there's a little bit more of a learning curve. But, you know, the interaction, the use of the ball, the size of the court, and the way it's structured is just, I mean, I think it's the perfect sport, of course. But, yeah, it's very welcoming and it's something you can do literally till the day you die.

• 40:01Speaker 04

  It's pretty cheap, too. You can go buy a used racket and a can of balls and you're playing.

• 40:05Speaker 03

  We did have a comment come in for you. It says, "We are looking forward to the tournament after going for the first time last year. Wow, so amazing to see these talented athletes before they are known names. Known names. Food was amazing last year. When is the tourney starting this year?" So, you said Monday?

• 40:23Speaker 05

  Yeah. It's actually, we have a little dinner clinic and exhibition on Sunday, the 16th. But actually, the qualifying starts on March 17th and it'll go till the 23rd.

• 40:31Speaker 03

  And if people want any more information, you can always go to btopen.org, Bakersfield Tennis Open, btopen.org. You can find more information there. And Steven always has this up on the website as well for the podcast and everything. So, do we need to take a break real quick, Steven?

• 40:50Speaker 00

  Sure.

• 40:51Speaker 03

  Yeah. Let us take a break real quick. We'll finish up. We are so lucky to have

• 40:57Speaker 03

  Mark Fredericks, Director of Tennis at Bakersfield Racquet Club. We'll finish that up and we also had another question come in. I think we can get to it. We'll be right back.

• 41:04Speaker 00

  If you're a business owner who provides a retirement plan for your employees, contact Money Wise Wealth Management to see if you're maximizing your options and minimizing your liabilities. Money Wise 401k plans are customized to you and your company's needs. 661-847-1000.

• 41:26Speaker 03

  Yeah, I think Stephen might be throwing in some P O D because we had a comment come in that talked about the class of 99. So I think that's the connection there. P O D, 99, 2000, rocking tunes there. It says, I'm sure it's different between with different advisors, but what are typical costs or rates charged by fiduciary financial advisors? Where did you teach math? Voice sounds familiar. Hope it's not the same math teacher that hated me at Stockdale High, class of 99. LL, have a great weekend. Well, I can guarantee you it was not him at Stockdale because he was a senior at Stockdale

• 42:06Speaker 03

  High School and class of 98. So he was not your math teacher, but he, if you want to share.

• 42:13Speaker 04

  Yeah, so I was a, I was a teacher over at Norris Middle School and most recently over at West High School. I'm curious to know what that math teacher's name was.

• 42:21Speaker 03

  You're actually talking to two class of 98 Stockdale High grads right here in the padded radio room. So not sure if you realize that or not, but a great question. I will go over it just real quickly. They do, they do range and there's different ways that you pay for different types of investments. Some are commission based, some are fee based. Assets under management fees can be as low as point two five, where maybe you're just getting a basic allocation. If somebody's doing more planning and kind of regular meetings with you, they can be as high as 2% per year. So it's kind of a range and unfortunately it just depends on what you're looking for as far as. If you're wanting to have regular appointments with the same advisor, it's going to be on the

• 43:03Speaker 03

  higher end. If it's more of like an online, do it yourself, but you're getting some financial advice, it might be as low as .25. Retainers is a way that some people charge for services, and they might charge as much as $2,000 to $7,500 per year. And you just pay that fee, no matter how much money you have under management or investments you have. Hourly rates can range from $200 to $400 if you want to pay for services that way. And sometimes somebody may say, I just want somebody to put together a financial plan for me one time. And those plans can range anywhere between $1,000 to $3,000. Commission-based products can range between 3% to 6%, depending on what type of investment you're buying. Sometimes that means if you put in $100,000,

• 43:48Speaker 03

  $5,000 goes into paying the person that's working with you, kind of like real estate, $95,000 of your money goes into the investment. And then hopefully it's a great investment, and it keeps working for you. So anyways, that's a lot of information there. If you have any other questions, you can call the show 661, I mean, the office 661-847-1000. Sorry to go a little bit long on that, but thank you so much for joining us. Anything else you want to tell folks?

• 44:11Speaker 05

  Yeah, I just wanted to add one thing. We are going to have a great Kids' Day on Saturday, September, excuse me, Saturday, March 22nd. It's going to be a great day. The Police Athletic League will be out there, the Boys and Girls Club, and we'll have a ton of kids out there. Free pizza and ice cream. So it's at 10:30 to noon on the 22nd on a Saturday.

• 44:30Speaker 03

  There you go. And again, if you want any information, btopen.org. You can find some of that stuff there. If you have kids or grandkids you want to go, you can call the place, and they're going to give you some of those details. Thank you so much for joining us today. Thank you so much. I know it's going to be a great event. Be smart, be safe, be money wise.

• 44:49Speaker 02

  Securities offered through SCF Securities, Inc., member FINRA/SIPC. Investment advisory services offered through SCF Investment Advisors, Inc. SCF Securities, Inc. and MoneyWise Wealth Management are independently owned and operated.