[00:00:00] Intro: Every number on a balance sheet tells a story, late nights spent building something meaningful, the risks taken, the difficult conversations. The lessons learned along the way, but true wealth is not measured in dollars. It’s woven into the stories that we create, the experiences that shape us, and the memories that outlive us.
Welcome to The Living Beyond The Numbers Podcast with Jude Boudreaux from the Planning Center. This show is not about spreadsheets and financial jargon. It’s about real conversations and powerful stories. That help you align your money with your values, your dreams, and your legacy, because at the end of the day, it’s not about how much you have, it’s about the life you wanna live and the stories you leave behind.
Now onto the show.
[00:00:51] Jude Boudreaux: Hi. Welcome to another episode of The Living Beyond the Numbers podcast. I’m your host, Jude Boudreaux. Here with [00:01:00] Caleb Arringdale.
[00:00:59] Caleb Arringdale: [00:01:00] Hello.
[00:01:01] Jude Boudreaux: Today we’ve got, uh, a guest who’s our chief Operations Officer, Matt, uh, Mercer. Uh, and sorry for the pause there. We have three Matts who work at the planning center, so I had to make sure I had the right one in my mind before I went any further.
So, welcome Matt Mercer. Good to have you on the podcast.
[00:01:17] Matt Mercer: Yeah, thanks
[00:01:17] Jude Boudreaux: for having me. Top of the morning. Know, excited to have you on on the show. So, um, yes, I mean, you’re our COO and so, uh, you know, many of us who operate here on kinda the technical side of financial planning and advice delivering, and your role is a really different one.
It’s coordinating a lot of the things behind the scenes. So maybe share a bit with the listeners about kinda how you came to be a part of the planning center.
[00:01:45] Matt Mercer: Yeah, for sure. Happy to do that. I, um, I’m coming up on eight years, so I started here January of 2018, which is wild to think that it’s been that long now.
Um, before I worked here I was working at an online [00:02:00] auto auction, um, and kind of the general manager of a facility. So every place I’d been before here was really leadership based, uh, and management based. Um, I think it was Hurricane Harvey hit Houston in 2017, and I, I spent about a month down in Houston, uh, kind of managing, uh, a, a facility after the hurricane and working seven days a week, 12 hours a day.
And I came back from that and glad I was there. Glad to help do that, but I knew that that wasn’t the long-term path for me. Um, so I just started passively looking. And a friend of mine, one of the other, uh, aforementioned Matts, Matt Seaverson, had posted a position on LinkedIn, um, that they were looking for an operations manager at the planning center, which I knew, uh, very little about, but I knew Matt, um, not tremendously well, but, uh, he plays saxophone at the church that I go to and I sing there.
So [00:03:00] we’d gotten to know each other for the past few years and I said, uh, I just messaged him. Asked if we could go out and chat about what this was and, and kind of go from there. So, um, yeah, it’s, it’s funny what connections can do sometimes and you know, it’s interesting how you can kind of go industry to industry because my background is not in finance, uh, at all.
[00:03:23] Caleb Arringdale: I was going to say, obviously with all these management roles, you obviously have a, uh, degree in business management.
[00:03:28] Matt Mercer: Close. So close. Uh, Caleb, I think, uh, I would joke and say my parents might have preferred that, but I don’t want to put that on them. I think, uh, my degree is actually in theater, so I, I was, uh, at St.
Ambrose University here in Davenport, Iowa. So I’m located here in the quad cities where, where Caleb is as well. Um, had no clue who I wanted to be when I grew up. Uh, I think I changed my major six times and it bounced around from all sorts of things. I think it started in, in radio, tv. To French, [00:04:00] uh, marketing, accounting, and I knew that wasn’t for me.
So Caleb, I very much appreciate you being here. Um. I finally landed on, on theater because one, I knew I needed to get my degree, but no matter the major I found steal still taking those courses. So, uh, you kind of have to look at that and say, huh, this isn’t required of me, but I’m choosing to do it. How about I just lean into it?
So, yeah, that’s, that’s how I landed on a theater degree and that, uh, led me to. Uh, since then, three different industries, uh, but all of them, you know, ended up in leadership positions that really focus on people, process and technology. So it’s been great.
[00:04:43] Jude Boudreaux: Yeah. Well, absolutely, and I think, you know, we’ve hit on this in a few other episodes.
We’ve got a real creative thread through a lot of the people who are part of the planning center. So a lot of musicians, uh, you saying, I know Michelle, one of our other partners, she has a degree in theater as well. [00:05:00] So, um, do you find that. You know, applies in a way that people might not think would, would be applicable with your day-to-day work?
[00:05:08] Matt Mercer: I think so. Um. A lot of my theater, my, my, my time working in theater versus, um, getting the degree are very different, right? When you’re working on a show, there are different roles to fill and they’re clearly defined. So I think there’s a lot of value in that. I spent, uh, plenty of time on stage, but often where I found, uh, the most joy was in directing.
So you get to make some of the choices, you get to help things go well and, and try and bring a vision to life in some ways. And maybe it’s a vision that is completely new and unique. Maybe it’s tried and true and there’s, there’s a message to be delivered. But, um, I really, uh, really enjoy that part of theater.
And, you know, when you think about a theater degree, there’s a lot more to it than just how to act or, or what this is. But, you know, script breakdowns and. What I find is my role here at the Planning Center relies a lot on [00:06:00] people and conversations and change management and context, and I think those are things I learned quite a bit in school.
[00:06:10] Jude Boudreaux: Yeah, no, I imagine there’s a a lot of, uh. At least, I don’t know if similarities is the right word, but, uh, you know, threads or learnings that come from running a production and then running a team and helping all the pieces fit together in ways that perhaps not everybody sees when they’re, you know, performing their role.
[00:06:29] Caleb Arringdale: Yeah, and I like that idea of, you mentioned context because if we think about like the different Mercer wisdoms, we all say, like one of them is, tell me more. Go, go on about that. Right. And so that’s one of the question, it’s kind of a running joke, isn’t it? It’s, but it’s, it’s a great question that you constantly ask us what, what’s behind that?
[00:06:45] Matt Mercer: What’s behind that is, um, probably one of the, uh, the best things I’ve done while being at the planning center is, um. I have an executive coach. So, uh, even in my position, I, I work with other people to help me become a better version of myself. And [00:07:00] sometimes, you know, someone can ask a question or say something that can, can kind of jam me up.
So what can I do to help get unstuck? And instead of, you know, being judgmental, how can I stay curious? So that, that’s where that comes from. That’s not a theater thing at all, but I think just a continuous learning aspect. And I try to incorporate that whenever I can. And I’m, frankly, I’m glad it’s become a running joke because that means I use it enough and, and try, uh, try to stay objective so that, let’s keep the joke rolling there.
I’m akay with that.
[00:07:32] Jude Boudreaux: So, yeah. So I mean, so now the chief Operations Officer, you’re also one of our shareholders and, uh, partners. So, um, you got a lot of priorities in your life. Wife, two little kids, and how do you kind of balance the time and make sure you protect time for what is most important in your life?
[00:07:51] Matt Mercer: Uh, that’s a great question. Um, I’d love to think that I haven’t mastered. I certainly don’t. What I will say is it’s been one of the harder things as [00:08:00] time has evolved. You know, when I started here in 2018, I wasn’t married. So if we just think of, you know, almost eight years ago, I could dedicate more time and energy to that.
You know, as I wake up today and get ready for work, the energy’s lower. I’ve got a 2-year-old, a 4-year-old, more priorities there. So I often in the past have felt guilty about the energy I’m, I can give to work sometimes. Um, I remember one of the best pieces of advice I ever got was from one of my best friends.
Um, when we knew we were expecting our first kid, he said, you know, once you have kids, you can do anything you want. You just can’t do everything you want. It’s the thing I tell myself all the time and that, you know, it started to be a personal thing. Like, okay, I’ve got kids. I need to be home and present and a, and a good father and a good husband.
Um, it doesn’t mean I have to say no to everything, but now I have to really prioritize and pick and choose really well, and that quote comes to mind. And I use that quite a bit at work as well now too. You know, there might be a ton of priorities or [00:09:00] things that come my way. We joke all the time that people reach out to me when something’s broken.
You know, they rarely reach out to me when things are going well. It’s like, oh, we, we need something fixed, or, uh, this isn’t working in some way. So you really have to prioritize. And every year, every quarter, every week, every day, we can’t always do everything we want to do, but we can do anything we want.
So we just really have to prioritize.
[00:09:22] Jude Boudreaux: Nice. So then, uh, then kind of thinking about, you know, Mercer at home, uh, frame, uh, you know, are there traditions or rituals or things that you all have kind of built in or done that help you, um, maintain that, you know, presence that you want while having the demands of an executive role within a firm like ours?
[00:09:43] Matt Mercer: I dunno if there’s any specific rituals for the, the Mercer family. When I think of that, I think of. The rituals that I might have had pre-kids, like what are the things I’m still going to make sure that I can do, you know, whether it’s, and it’s faded off a bit, uh, recently, but having time to go [00:10:00] work out or time for game night with friends, uh, that sort of thing.
But when I think about rituals at home, it’s just the daily things. And, you know, I don’t think about them as rituals to protect, but I’m sure if they went away, it’d be a different story. I, I’d miss them a lot, but it’s the, um, you know, sometimes. Our kids might not sleep the best. So Saturday or Sunday mornings, it’s all right.
My, uh, my wife wakes up with the kids for a bit, then I tap in and she goes and takes a nap. And if, if that went away, I’d, I’d miss some of that alone time. So there’s kind of a give and take with all of it too, or, you know, doing the bedtime and bathtime together every night can, can be a lot. And yes, sometimes you need a break, but man, if I never did that again.
That’d be hard. So it’s, it’s just little daily things that I think help keep you grounded. And I, I try not to take my work home with me. I don’t open my laptop, like once I’m home. Once I leave the office, I, I really try and shut it off. The one thing I will do though, is before I go to [00:11:00] bed, I’ll pull up my phone and I’ll email myself priorities for the next day.
So I, it kinda lets me be fully present, but before my head hits the pillow, there’s oftentimes I’m setting myself one to three emails to remind myself what to do in the morning. So little things like that help me stay more present.
[00:11:16] Jude Boudreaux: Oh, that’s great. That, yeah, it seems like it would help. Clear out the, the day’s cobwebs and it’s nice to show up in the next morning and know where you’re beginning.
[00:11:25] Matt Mercer: Yeah, I, you know, at previous jobs I used to be able to take the last 30 minutes of the day and, and close out a day well and really prepare for the next day. Well, I rarely have that here. I’m just kind of going and working on things and next thing I know I’ve gotta go get the kids from daycare. So it’s the little things I can try and do to help set up the next day for success.
Along those lines, what do you do here? Uh, kind of whatever’s needed in, in some form or fashion. Uh, my priorities really revolve around people, process and technology. Um, you know, when I started, it was really [00:12:00] undefined when I started, there wasn’t a a management team. Uh, you know, Eric was our CEO and I was just trying to, to hang around and see what needed to be done where.
Um, but now we’ve, we’ve really grown into having a management team. So it’s. I really try and focus on the people process, technology, and I used to say compliance, but we now have a chief compliance officer that really owns most of that. But I really spend a lot of my time on the strategic plan on what are the biggest priorities of the year?
Are we on track to meet those? What do we need to do in the short or midterm to get things back on track? So whether they’re. Uh, pieces of the plan that I’m owning myself or others, you know, Jude is likely used to me reaching out to him occasionally asking like, Hey, how’s this going? What do you need from me to help get it done?
So there’s a lot of that sort of work that, that I do, um, quite a bit. And then, you know, I try to make sure I don’t lose the team amongst that. We operate in a really high trust environment. I [00:13:00] try not to micromanage anyone on the team. Conversely, I wanna make sure that they do get enough attention from me, uh, that they feel like they are set up for success and can do their job well too.
So just trying to kind of ride that line sometimes.
[00:13:16] Jude Boudreaux: Yeah, it is, um, tricky and I think that, you know, the, looking at the evolution of the firm. Management team itself. And, uh, you know, I feel very fortunate I get to be part of that. I’m, I’m on the management team to talk about marketing and business development things, and I’m really good at starting things and I’m not so great at finishing them.
Um, you know, the A DHD part of my personality shows up. Uh, even today, getting ready to record this, I, I lost my glass of water. Like my office isn’t that big, but I couldn’t find where I got water. I was getting ready and then I couldn’t find where it went. So it’s always great to have, um. You know, people like Mercer hop in and say, well, all right, so now we got this is moving.
How do we make it work really well? And [00:14:00] what, what kinds of things do we need to help? What do you need help with? So that, um, I think as a firm we try very much to have people operate in their strengths and provide support where things might be difficult for, for folks. So maybe speak to that a little bit.
Do you find that’s part of the work within the team?
[00:14:15] Matt Mercer: I think so for sure. Um, one thing I was going to, to follow up with was a lot of my job I think is just trying to make things go well. You know, if, if I, I try and act like WD 40 sometimes, like where is there friction? Where is there an issue? What can I do to help?
I don’t need to insert myself into every situation, but what can I do to help make things go well? Um, and I think sometimes that does kind of pull back to that context piece I was talking about. I try and lead, you know, from that space a lot, you know, and, and really I think context, how I interpret it just means before you can move forward with, with intention, you have to know where you’re coming from.
So I try and give. Anyone I’m [00:15:00] talking to enough background. So we’re, we’re operating on the, from the, from the same space. You know, if I just launch into something without any context, you know, Jude, you might have assumptions here. Caleb thinks it’s coming from this spot here. So the more I can do to, to get the team grounded means we can, you know, align well, we can act well, and then from there we can adjust and keep that cycle going.
So.
[00:15:23] Jude Boudreaux: Oh, fantastic. So let’s take a little bit and think about like then, like the firm and the people that, that we get to serve, you know, so do you think that you’ve seen patterns within kind of our, you know, the families that we get to work with that are ones that are really satisfied and happy with kind of life.
Like what do you, characteristics you see there that are more common, like beyond just kind of a asset value or a net worth that might be similar?
[00:15:47] Matt Mercer: You know, I’d really have to rely on, on you and other people to really give a great answer at that. I think, you know, we’ve, we’ve chatted about this before. My job isn’t really client facing, so, you know, anything that I would [00:16:00] say there is really a game of telephone.
So I think I have to rely on other people to say what that really looks like, which I think points to the, the need for me to. To not make decisions in a silo as well. You know, one thing I tell, you know, certain roles on my team, especially, um, you know, our client service associates, uh, Janessa and Crystal, both newer to the firm in the past year, and I’ll tell them, I said, Hey, I need you to use this lens of clients.
You know, it, it’s not that I don’t think about clients. I absolutely do, but I don’t have the interaction that that other people do. So when we’re talking about something. I don’t know your lens. I need you to be able to speak up and I am telling you as proactively as I can that I want to hear it. Um, and I’ll use my lens as best I can.
If I was, if I knew everything and had every perspective, you know, that’d be really cool. But that wouldn’t really lean into one of our core values of collaboration. So [00:17:00] while I’d, I’d love to be able to give you a great answer with that. Jude, I don’t know if it’s a fair one for me to give. Um, I think. The best thing that I can do and way that I can operate for clients is, is make sure other people’s voices are heard and that I, I can, uh, give them the ability to speak up no matter who that is.
[00:17:22] Caleb Arringdale: You talk
[00:17:22] Matt Mercer: a lot
[00:17:23] Caleb Arringdale: about the idea of the right person in the right chair, and you do a lot of, I won’t say you do all of the hiring, but you’re involved in quite a bit of the hiring of the company. How, how has that impacted your, your role?
[00:17:34] Matt Mercer: Yeah, I think that came from a spot years ago. I, I mean, when I started we had four people with the title of client relationship manager in four different locations that did four very different jobs.
That’s not scalable, that’s not growth that’s gonna confuse me or anyone else internally and could confuse clients as well. So, you know, we had to really create a new structure of roles and what that meant. And I remember. [00:18:00] One of our planners, Mike, uh, Brandon, in our Alaska office, he said, I don’t know who to turn to for X, Y, or Z.
Um, so we really spent a lot of time trying to create, um, the best client experience we could for clients, but also for our team to know who to turn to, who, who is my support. And that really means I want the right people in the right role. Do I want Mike, um, you know, doing this back end, you know.
Custodial paperwork every ti every day. No, that’s not the best use of his time. So I really had to try and operate from this idea of I want the right people doing the right work, you know. No offense to Jude. That’s not where Jude’s gonna thrive. You know, he kind of alluded to it earlier too, like, we want people to operate outta their strengths.
This is just another way of saying that I want the right people doing the right work. If, if I had Jude doing paperwork every day, Jude might not be a happy camper, and the company probably wouldn’t be in the same place. So I want the right people doing the right work. [00:19:00] Um, and so I try and think about that a lot when hiring.
And, um, I’m not solely, uh, in charge of hiring by any means, but I think over the past few years we’ve done a lot of work on what is our hiring process and who are we bringing in to help, you know, serve our clients and be a valuable teammate. And that’s one thing I do try and keep in mind a lot.
[00:19:20] Jude Boudreaux: Yeah.
Well, um, on the thread of the hiring and the team, um, I feel like there’s maybe a, you know, it goes along with a theater analogy of, you know, there’s the front stage part and the backstage part. And so, you know, Caleb and I often can be front stage and talk to a client and have a good conversation. And then there’s an awful lot of things that the clients need us to do, and that might be people that they don’t, don’t see.
So, I guess, tell us a little more about kinda what’s happening behind the scenes that a client, you know. Shouldn’t like to know about or would be really pleased to know is going on back there so that they know that, you know, people back there are doing great and they’re
[00:19:57] Matt Mercer: really
[00:19:57] Jude Boudreaux: taking, our clients are very well taken care of.[00:20:00]
[00:20:00] Matt Mercer: That’s a great question. I think if I were a client. There’s a number of things that I would want, and part of that would be a relationship. And I think we’ve spent a lot of time trying to make sure the relationship isn’t only with someone’s financial planner. Um, you know, who is Jude’s support team and how can we be as consistent as possible with that?
We talk sometimes about, you know, efficiency and my mind has to be there off like quite a bit. Right. Um.
We don’t want to maximize efficiency and have service. Suffer because of that. You know, if we were going for maximum efficiency on some things, like everything that came out of a meeting that, that you’d have with a client would go into a queue that someone in the backend would just get done and it’s a, a name that a client wouldn’t know, but something’s happening and it’s inconsistent.
But we’ve tried to spend a lot of time. [00:21:00] To create these teams so clients know, oh yeah, I, I know Kelsey and she’s reaching out to me for X, Y, or Z, or, I know Marissa Feehan. Oh, there’s a new person on the team. I trust that, you know, they’re being trained well, that we have the structure, that it’s not just one point of contact, that it’s Jude or that it’s Caleb.
Yes, those are the main points of contact and they are masters in their, uh, in their domain, or we certainly aspire to be, uh, but that we have. Some level of structure and continuity and relationships, even with the people doing more of the back office work too. Um, so I think we’ve really strived to do that.
I hope clients see that and understand it. It’s never a guarantee, but, but you certainly hope that it’s there. Um, outside of that, we spend a lot of time reviewing technology and reviewing. Processes and, and what are we doing to try and improve, you know, the client experience or the employee experience.
[00:22:00] And we’re always thinking and working on stuff like that.
[00:22:04] Caleb Arringdale: Recently, there have been so many pushes in our industry towards different AI tools, right? And some are great, and we’ve tried to incorporate various ones of them. I just had one recently a demo with a company who said, well, with this you can be even more efficient.
More efficient, more efficient, and just pushing this idea of efficiency. And I think, as you mentioned, yeah, efficiency is great and we wanna be as efficient as possible, but. We are in, are in an industry where that human element is so important and having those relationships with the team is really what this is all about.
It’s a very high trust industry and you just don’t have that same level of trust with some, you know, AI tool. I think that’s one thing that really is great about us.
[00:22:47] Matt Mercer: Yeah, I would agree. I think the other thing to consider with that too is, um, a person’s ability to change. How frequently. Mm-hmm. Right. And I think about that a lot internally for our [00:23:00] team.
You know, is now the right time to do this? Are, are they ready to, to take those steps and learn and, and try something new? And sometimes the answer is yes, and sometimes the answer is no. It’s like, hey, it is, you know, April 4th and we have another, you know, two weeks attack season here. Maybe I don’t introduce this piece of technology to Caleb right now.
Maybe we, we rethink this, right? So. It’s not only for our team, it’s for our clients too. You know, there’s things we joke about like, Hey, we could do this. I’m like, is there a benefit to clients or is it just a new shiny thing that is going to cause anxieties? You know, garner questions. You know, is it, is it doing anything for us or is it just another thing that we’re changing that we need to be really mindful of?
[00:23:45] Jude Boudreaux: I mean, you talk so much about change management that I think it is, um, you know, it’s really a great view to things and somebody like me change. New things are wonderful and drawn towards them. So, um, but for most of us, [00:24:00] uh, I think change can be difficult. So maybe speak to that and how, how do you feel like we try to manage change as an organization in an industry, in a technological world that’s changing quickly.
[00:24:10] Matt Mercer: I hope we continue improving on that. We don’t have it mastered by any means, uh, but I think we try and be, be mindful of it. Um, when I think of change, again, I, I go back to context. Like, why, why are we doing this? Is it just to test something or is it, is it grounded in, is what we’re trying to accomplish?
Is it grounded in our strategic plan? Um, you know.
Years ago, we didn’t really have a well-defined strategic plan. So we’d say, Hey, let’s look at this. Let’s do this. And we’d tack it onto what we were doing and we’d leave things undone. Um, instead now it’s, well, we have these other seven high priorities.
Which of those are we knocking off to really do this? Um, so part of change management sometimes is, is heading it off at the pass. There’s an analogy I heard, um, and I don’t know [00:25:00] where, but, but I love it. And if, if you know me at all, you know, I love analogies in any way. My, my idea of change management is when someone’s running a race, they don’t stop at the finish line.
They cool down. They, they run for another 40, 50 yards, like a hundred meter dash. It’s not like they stop right there. So what does that mean for us? You know, when we have a new technology or a new process, Hey, we got it. It’s up and running. Let’s move on to the next thing. Like, well, let’s really think about what do the next 50 yards look like.
What does success look like? How is it working? You know, hey, we did this thing, well, we checked a box, but let’s make sure we don’t move to the next thing too fast. ’cause you know, I don’t wanna pull a hamstring, you know, personally or professionally. So I think that’s what I think a lot about with change management is how do we, uh, how do we cool down well.
[00:25:52] Jude Boudreaux: Oh, fantastic. Well, um.
We’re kind of heading towards our time, uh, today. So [00:26:00] Caleb, do you wanna pass along some rapid fire questions? Yeah. While we get to know Matt a little more?
[00:26:04] Caleb Arringdale: Uh, first of all,
[00:26:04] Matt Mercer: Matt, what
[00:26:06] Caleb Arringdale: is your favorite animal?
[00:26:08] Matt Mercer: I don’t have a favorite animal that I’ve, I’ve had my entire life. It’s not this one thing, but if I had to answer it.
Or I’ll say it this way, I don’t have any of them in my office, right. I, I don’t care that deeply about it. But, uh, a one that I’ve always related to has been a bear. Uh, and it’s probably for multiple reasons. Uh, it’s not the Chicago Bears. I’m not a Chicago Bears fan. I’m a Green Bay Packers fan. So it’s not that, um.
I’m six foot six, so I like big animals as it is. Uh, but I’ve actually played Ballou the Bear twice on stage. So, so I’ve been in the Jungle Book, uh, two different times, and funny enough, I’ve played Ballou. So, um, I, I aspire to be as, uh, relaxed, laid back, and as flexible as he is. But, um, I’ve always had a, a soft spot for Ballou.
[00:26:57] Caleb Arringdale: I’ve noticed the three largest people we’ve had on the [00:27:00] podcast so far, all three of them have said their favorite animals are, are bears. So maybe it is if you’re above six, four, I You’re six. Six other. Matt, I think is six,
[00:27:09] Matt Mercer: seven. Whoa. Whoa. He’s six six as well. Oh, okay. Okay. He, I think he might have me by a little bit, but yeah.
[00:27:16] Jude Boudreaux: What was the casting like for Ballou? Is it just, is it just like, oh, well that guy like, yeah, like you’re here, you’re in school and Yeah, you’re Ballou. So great.
[00:27:25] Matt Mercer: Yeah, I mean, the first time was in high school. Um, I don’t know, maybe it’s really easy for me to act like a bear. Uh, so the audition just favors me.
I don’t know. Maybe it’s typecast could be anything. It’s just the bear necessities. That’s right. Yeah.
[00:27:44] Caleb Arringdale: Next question, uh, what is the best
[00:27:46] Matt Mercer: money you ever spent? I’m gonna have a little recency bias, uh, right now, but, uh, we just bought a new house this spring. Um.
Yes, I love the house, but it’s [00:28:00] perfect for our family.
Um, you know, new neighborhood, it’s on a cul-de-sac. You know, this week I’ve spent an hour outside every night with my 4-year-old, you know, learning how to ride a bike. Um, so it’s really been a great planter. You know, we’ve been able to really, you know, plant and, and grow really well there. So, um, couldn’t have asked for better neighborhood, better neighbors.
Um, just really, really excited and. Thankfully, I’m excited about the largest purchase I make. That’s, that’s a good thing. So, um, that’s the one that stands out, but it might be a little bit of recency bias there too.
[00:28:33] Caleb Arringdale: Along the same lines, next question. If you had to buy some happiness, what would you buy?
[00:28:40] Matt Mercer: I’m gonna give you a bit more of an abstract answer, but I think it’s, whatever it is, it’s the thing that I’m still gonna be happy about in a week, right? So, um, there’s certain things I could buy that might make me happy today, but you know. I love to golf and it’s one thing to go golf in a normal, you know, city course that’s here, [00:29:00] but sometimes a go out of town, pay a little bit more money for a nicer course, nicer experience.
Like, it’s just great. Um, those sorts of things. If I was to think about my kids, it’s sometimes like a, a, a tchotchke, um, you know, the, the, the weather here is cooling off. We’re kind of in a false fall right now. Me and my 4-year-old have been looking through his sweatshirts at, at bedtime and yesterday he pulled out, or two days ago, I guess he pulled out a sweatshirt that I got him a year ago at our company retreat.
So it’s one of those that, you know, we were at our company retreat. Um, I thought, oh yeah, I better get, get my kids something when I come home. Um, and it felt like a box to check, but it’s a really cool reminder. To to know that it’s not a box that’s being checked a year later, he can still fit in it and it brings him a ton of joy that he knows exactly what sweatshirt I bought him, and it has this really cool rainbow on it.
So. The little things I can do for my kids or, uh, you know, my wife [00:30:00] bought these little snack boxes, they’re like little tackle boxes, but meant for snacks. And my goodness, the kids love to just have dinner in that, hey, we just put pieces of peanut butter and jelly in this, or, uh, carrot sticks in this and go sit in the living room.
So little things like that that can bring, you know, other people Joy can bring me joy too. So. I
[00:30:21] Caleb Arringdale: say that’s impressive because your wife is also around six foot ish, so you have large kids, so the fact that they still fit in something is pretty impressive.
[00:30:30] Matt Mercer: Yeah, I didn’t say that he’d fit in it for long, but yeah, we, we are tall folk, uh, for sure.
Mm-hmm. Oh, very cool. What’s your favorite place to
[00:30:39] Caleb Arringdale: travel
[00:30:41] Matt Mercer: internationally? The, my favorite place I’ve been is Switzerland. Oh, I love Switzerland. I was. I didn’t expect that. Um, I love, you know, urban areas are great, but there’s something about being in the mountains, in the mountain air and you’re in a valley and it’s just gorgeous.
Um, locally, [00:31:00] or what I would say here is in the, the contiguous United States, I love Lake Superior. I love going up north and Duluth North Shore, you know, Michigan’s upper peninsula. There’s something different there in the Northwoods. Um, I’m not a big fisherman, but. It just, it speaks to me and that that’s an easier place to travel in Switzerland.
Sometimes a little bit cheaper, little bit more accessible. So I like to have two of those in my back pocket.
[00:31:28] Caleb Arringdale: Very cool. Along those lines, dream trip you haven’t done yet.
[00:31:32] Matt Mercer: So in the spring of 2020, uh, my wife and I, we didn’t have any kids yet. We’d planned a trip out, out west, uh, that, uh, you know, COVID ruined for us.
It’s like, well, we kind of had to, to pivot away from that, but. My wife has never been to California. I’ve been to California numerous times, but I really wanted to do, uh, the Pacific Coast Highway. Mm-hmm. Uh, I’ve been there, you know, San Francisco and south of there, but I’ve never [00:32:00] been to the Pacific Northwest.
So we’d had a, a trip planned where we were going to drive the entirety of the, the coast and end up, you know, up in Seattle and then fly home from there and seeing friends and family along the way. Um, I think that’d be great. Some of my favorite time with my wife is also just in the car. It’s, it’s when I find we can just have some very authentic conversations.
We can just be and listen to music and, and exist. So that’d be a, a really fun trip. I’d love to do that again someday.
[00:32:29] Caleb Arringdale: Cool. And the final one, you’ve already sort of alluded to this answer, but best advice anybody ever gave you?
[00:32:36] Matt Mercer: Uh, yeah, the, the advice I mentioned earlier, um, you know, once we had kids, you can do anything you want.
You can’t do everything you want. I think of that a lot, and I very much appreciate that advice. And I, I, I know in the moment, uh, my friend was telling me that about having kids, but it really, you know, it personally, professionally, it, it speaks to me in [00:33:00] both areas for sure. So,
[00:33:02] Jude Boudreaux: yeah. No, thanks Matt. Um, any final words for the listeners?
Anything you wanted to share that we didn’t get to cover today?
[00:33:08] Matt Mercer: No, nothing different. I really appreciate you two having me on. This is, this has been great. I didn’t necess necessarily know what to expect, but, uh, no happy to be on and, and, uh, be a part of it. So thank you very much.
[00:33:23] Jude Boudreaux: Absolutely. Well, we’re so glad to have you on the podcast and within the team, so, um, uh, it’s been great to have you around.
So thanks everybody for listening to another episode of The Living Beyond the Numbers podcast. Uh, you can reach me, I’m jude@theplanningcenter.com
. Caleb’s caleb@theplanningcenter.com
. Matt Mercer is Matt m at the planning center do com. So distinguished from our other mats. Um, so, uh.
Yeah. Thanks again for reaching out. Please like, comment, subscribe. Let us know if there’s something you’d like to hear in the future or anything that came up today that, uh, you wish we’d share more about. So thanks again for being a part of the podcast and we’ll see you very soon.[00:34:00]
[00:34:03] Outro: Thanks for tuning in to the Living Beyond the Numbers podcast. If today’s episode resonated with you, be sure to follow us so you never miss a conversation. For more resources and to learn how we can help you align your wealth with your life’s purpose, visit us@theplanningcenter.com
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