[00:00:00] Speaker A: Any examples used are for illustrative purposes only and do not take into account your particular investment objectives, financial situation or needs and may not be suitable for all investors. It is not intended to predict the performance of any specific investment and is not a solicitation or recommendation of any investment strategy.
[00:00:18] Speaker B: This is another Money Show. Get set for another hour of the latest financial information and economic news affecting your bottom line. J.R. and Anthony are committed to helping more Americans like you optimize their inc. Reduce their tax risk and reach financial freedom. So let's start the show. Here are your hosts, Anthony Correio and JR Rochford.
[00:00:41] Speaker C: Here we are your hosts Anthony Correjo and JR Rochford taking a break from our day to day as financial advisors with Rochford and Associates, a fully independent fourth generation family office right here in Sun City. And we are taking that break to bring you news that you may not hear on those other financial radio shows.
We're aware the last thing you need is another money show but we appreciate you being here. Another special guest this week, but I will let Junior get into that.
[00:01:09] Speaker A: So and today might be the day. I know you say fully independent fourth generation family practice, but once in a while you throw in veteran owned. Today may be a good day to remind people that this is also a small business that's veteran owned. So if that's important to you, that's we check another box. That's how I see that.
So today I'm going to knock out the shout outs really quick because as usual we have a lot to get to Mark Burr. So if you tuned in last week I made the analogy. Having him on is like drinking from a fire hose. I mean he's powerful.
[00:01:40] Speaker C: So we've done fire hose and get water, right?
[00:01:43] Speaker A: I mean there's no water coming out. It's actually kind of lame to watch. So but if you want Mark's contact information we'll be glad to get it to you. But yeah, really important stuff. So and you know we can send you the episode if you want your life to be easy, we'll send it to you with Mark on the show. The other shout out Joe Jake went again this week. I was on his show again Monday. So that's two Mondays in a row and it looks like they are offering for me to come on every Monday morning. So I am so excited. That's the Patriot Radio News Hour. And you know I, I, I mean I've been listening to Joe for probably 15 years now. So I am so excited to to be part of their Show. Thank you so much, Joe, Jason, Jack, I appreciate you.
We do have a special guest. I have brought up Rick several times in the past. I've been attending a meeting on the second Tuesday of every month at coffee hour, and it's at a place. It's Veterans Affinity. I have today with us, Rick Kreiberg. He's a command Sergeant Major, retired U.S. army. Rick is the founder and executive director of Veterans Affinity. So give you an idea about Veterans Affinity.
They've got three pillars. Their mission is to assist veteran seniors with the care they need and the benefits they've earned. Their goal, we minimize barriers to veterans care. And their objective, as I can see it, commitment, compassion, camaraderie, and connection.
So Rick, Rick served our country for 35 years, enlisting in 1983.
Boy, when you meet Rick, I mean, wow, Rick looks like he's in his 30s. So I. I guess he started when he was four.
[00:03:23] Speaker C: So he's. Yeah, I never would have guessed that. 35 years of service. That's insane.
[00:03:27] Speaker A: Yes. So apparently he's really old like me.
So he, he looks like he's in his 30s. He's got the passion and energy of somebody in their 20s. I mean, I, I really. I rarely meet people that have this kind of drive. So Rick, my understanding, I'm not sure. Maybe we'll get Rick to confirm this. I think he wanted to join the Air Force, but there was an aptitude test and he. They said attitude test. So boom, all of a sudden he's in the army, not the Air Force. So, but he, you know, during our meetings, he does poke a little fun at the Air Force guys. So why I had him on today, I'm not sure yet, but we'll ask him directly. So I found veterans affinity about two years ago. I moved to Sun City three years ago, and on 107th Avenue, which is also Del Reb, I pass by a sign, a big, huge sign, and it basically says coffee hour. Veterans Coffee Hour. So I looked at this, I'm like, well, I'm a veteran and I work and live nearby. I'm going to pop my head in, pop my head. And the first guy I saw was a guy named Russ that I've known for many years. And I sat next to him and this, this room at the time probably had. And this, you know, mind you, this is about two years ago, maybe 70 people, 75 people. And I was like, wow. You know, I had no idea this was, you know, quite this structured. Donuts. Once in a while, they provide a full Breakfast. But what I noticed was this, this, the people that are there, you know, obviously they had something in common. Sometimes they bring a child, they, they bring a spouse. It's just, it was really well run. And I, and I picked up something right away. It, it might be just a coffee hour for somebody, you know, looking in from the outside for the people that show up. This is an event. I mean, I, I started getting there at about, I, I'll say. For Rick's benefit. 0, 8, 8 15. I used to get there about 815 in the morning. You could barely get a seat. Well, now two years later, there's the last meeting. There was over a hundred people in this room. So this thing is growing like a weed. I'm going to let Rick talk a little more about how many he's doing and where and that sort of thing. But let me, let me, without further hesitation, let me get Rick on. So, Rick, thank you so much for taking time to join us today.
[00:05:36] Speaker D: Thanks. Junior going back to the age challenge MREs. So we eat a lot of MREs, the preservatives. Well, it does have an effect. It has preserved me over the years.
[00:05:50] Speaker A: Yes, the MREs, when I, when I was in, they had a little Tabasco sauce. Is that still part of an mra? Because I was so excited about Tabasco.
[00:05:58] Speaker D: Absolutely. They have definitely evolved over the years.
Yeah, they actually, they're pretty good, surprisingly.
But I appreciate that's an excellent lead in Junior, these socials.
In fact, Sun City, you came in probably a couple of years after we had started. And when we started there, there were six. And it was in the back kitchen area. They had six, six folks there when I popped in. And what I noticed was at the times they were bringing in people to talk about, they were trying to sell goods, services, what have you.
And I don't like doing that to my veterans. It's like, what, what are you offering and what, you know, can you do it for free? If not, can you offer a discount? You know, show me what's the actual benefit. I got it. The service is great, but what's, what's the benefit and how can we save the veterans some money? So any case, that, that, that little huddle, if you will, in that back room, it's like, hey, what, what's important to you guys? What, what do you guys want to know? What are your challenges? Let's get specific. And they didn't know how to answer or how to, you know, they didn't even know what to think. And I'm, and so I just like, all right, anybody enrolled in the va? Anybody not enrolled in the va okay, you are. What are your challenges? What are you, you know, what are you dealing with? Or what would you like to see? And also to turn into a town hall. And then over the few months, the year, it just started populating where, you know what? We need a bigger room.
And then from that little kitchen, we went into the room to the side of it where the max was 50. And probably about three months in there, it grew from six to 50.
And like, okay, we need a bigger room. And so we went into a room that, you know, junior.
So it went from six.
In the last. Last month, we had 130. We had 130 people in there.
[00:07:48] Speaker C: Wow.
[00:07:48] Speaker D: And. And the small birds are out of town, so we're already addressing, like, hey, we need a bigger space. We got to have a bigger space. You know, what are we gonna do? Because people are coming because there's value. We can sit around, drink coffee and tell jokes, poke fun at the Air Force, or poke fun of the army guys for not being able to go into the Air Force, but there's got to be some value. There has to be a takeaway. And people are coming because they're. They're taking some knowledge. They're taking the camaraderie. They're taking something back with them. And. And then, of course, we challenge them to share their experience with their neighbors, connect with their neighbors, and then bring them. Bring them to the next social. That's why we're expanding. It's word of mouth. There's value.
[00:08:29] Speaker A: So. And where are we going to go next? I mean, I. You know, I mean, you literally. You have to get there 45 minutes earlier if you want to sit. If you don't want standing room only, what. What's next?
[00:08:39] Speaker D: So we have looked at, you know, there's a lot of places that want us to come in, and right now we're going to 29 different locations across the month, across the valley. 29 different pledge of allegiance, 29 of them, 29 prayers, 29 stories. I mean, 29 events.
Sun City is our biggest one, and we have the same challenge everywhere else. You know, space people are coming. So I challenged these other places that want us to come in. It's like, what are you going to offer us?
Because I don't just need the space, but I need some coffee. You can offer some pastries and donuts. What are you offering? Because we're. We're a nonprofit, and so if it were all on me, there's no way we could do this. I'm, I'm not Bruce Wayne. I have Bruce Wayne's kind of money. So I rely on community partners to help us support this. So Dignity is a great partner and they offer the coffee, the donuts, the whole nine yards. Now they don't have another room as big as what we have now.
We've, we've, we've, we've met with a community out in Peoria that can fit 250. 250. I've been in there, it's like this is perfect. But the challenge is If I get 250 people in there, who's going to feed them? You know, what kind of partnership can I have? So I'm working with Terry, which is my partner, and possibly Dignity, sponsoring that location. So basically moving from Sun City into that community in Peoria that can fit 250 people. So that would solve that problem. But again, it's the, it's the partnership aligning the agreement, if you will. So they'll support that. And then, but you know what though, Junior? If we go to 250, pretty soon I'm going to need another 100.
[00:10:20] Speaker A: Sounds like Jaws. You're gonna need a bigger boat.
[00:10:22] Speaker D: You're gonna.
[00:10:23] Speaker A: By the way, Gary Flowers is amazing. She's, she's a saint. I, I mean I really, this, this whole thing, I mean for me to watch just the evolution I've seen in such a short period of time, it's incredible. And I, and I, when I first got there, you know anybody the first time there, perhaps they're nervous. It's very non pressure. You make it light, you make it where it's non threatening. I mean if, if people are so inclined, Terry asked them to stand up, just say what branch they served in, you know, give a couple things about themselves and then it's just, it's 100%.
The information. I mean, I didn't know if you're 100% disabled, you can, you can fill out a form every February and get your property taxes waived. I didn't know so much. I mean, I didn't know about community care. I mean, I have 18 things I would love to ask you. Explain. I mean, I'm going to ask you to take the more important things and touch on what you share with people. I mean, I know that when I did some poking around when I first met you, I went to your website. By the way, your website is great. I'm going to give it out a couple times. I'll start right now it's easy. Veterans affinity.org it's great. I mean, if you look under forces, you'll see the different branches of service in the ranks. I mean, it's, it's a site you can spend some time on. They are a 501C3. I mean, they do take donations. I mean, I didn't understand that you're helping people with wheelchairs. I just, I'm shocked at how much you're doing in the community. And by the way, you're retired. You are supposed to be, you know, watching Wheel of Fortune and kicking back. And I don't know if I know anybody other than Anthony, obviously. I don't know if I know anybody that's working as hard as you are as a retiree. So. And, you know, when I poked around, I saw that your focus was on housing, health care and benefits. You know, start with. Tell me a little bit, what does that mean?
[00:12:11] Speaker D: So if I could, if I could just go back, because you brought up a really good point.
So those of us that get out of the military, it doesn't matter if you do three years, six months, three years, 30 years, you have to have.
You got to have a plan, number one.
But number two, which I think is more important, you got to have a plan because you got to pay the bills, you got to take care of your family.
But the big one, at least for me, was purpose. You got to have a purpose. And so coming out, coming out, to tell you the truth, for, for a week, I was in a tailspin. I mean, I was in a tailspin when I was in the military. I at least had influence. I could at least affect change.
I could see something that screwed up and I had the ability to fix it. I come out here, I'm a nobody. I'm a nobody. So if I want to go talk to somebody about, about an idea, a concept, I can't even get into the room. I'm not even invited into that, to that room. Took a lot of humility to say, to say, you know what? I'm not that guy anymore. I gotta start from. I gotta start from the ground up. And so I, I'm like, what am I going to do? What is the, what is the challenge? What is the issue? So I went to an event. This is a true story. I went to an event. Very, very large organization.
Very large organization.
Veteran specific organization. I went to them for outreach. I went to them to connect with other veterans.
Well, when I went there, I realized, and at the time, I was 53 maybe, and I was the oldest veteran there, and so I'm like, there's a. There's a problem here. So I asked the representative, I said, hey, where are the Vietnam veterans at?
And I was told that they do not support Vietnam veterans.
So I'm like, where are they supposed to go for services? Where are they supposed to go to support. Oh, they can go to the VFW now. Really bothered me, because obviously the person telling me this, who was a veteran himself, doesn't understand the history of what our Vietnam veterans went through. And there was a time that the VFW did not even accept Vietnam veterans when they came back because it wasn't a war.
And so now it's okay. Now we're encouraging them to go into the vfw.
[00:14:16] Speaker A: That's.
[00:14:16] Speaker D: That's nonsense.
So it bothered me. And one thing about me is I can. I can sit and stew and complain and, like, you know, this is. This is crazy, but it does no good.
So I'm like, I could. I can do something. I have the passion. I have the ability to figure this out. I just got to figure out who. Who to connect with, what, you know, what are the challenges? And then who do I connect with that can make that happen? So the website that you alluded to, that's where I got my research.
So I'm like, okay, older folks. What do older folks need? And I started researching it. Okay, that's important. Let me add that. And I kept going, let me add that. Let me add that. Now I have a website with a slew of information that's specific to seniors. I think the only thing that doesn't apply to seniors is.
I mean, it could. Would be how to get a certificate of eligibility. If you're looking to purchase a home, a VA home loan, you can go on there, click on the link, it'll take you to the site where you can actually apply for your certificate of eligibility. That's under housing. That's probably the only thing. Everything else is senior specific.
But doing all that research, I became very smart. And in my opinion, my humble opinion, I believe I know more than. Than some of the VA representatives do.
And not to sharpshoot them, not to challenge them, but when they present something, I'm the guys in the. In the back of the room that will raise my hand and say, I got a question. Because what you're putting out is not specific to this type of veteran. You're saying that all veterans might be eligible for this, but in fact, they're not. Not everybody's Audie Murphy. So we have to be specific and be honest with some of these veterans, say, hey, look buddy, you're not quite eligible for that benefit yet.
So by, by doing that, getting the research and then having the ability to have real conversations with those that I come into real, honest conversations. Look, bud, I get it. I understand how you might feel that you, you are entitled to that. You deserve that. And you know what? If I was keen for a day, absolutely, I'd take care of you. But here's the deal. There are veterans, and I know you would agree with me, there are vendors that are much worse off than you. And they're a higher priority because they've been to combat, they've been wounded in combat, they're, they're suffering from the effects of combat or what have you. Once you agree that we got to ensure that those guys, gals get taken care of and 9 out of 10, 10 veterans will say, rick, absolutely, I got you.
So that website is really, that's where I learned, you know, it's almost like you, when you're preparing to teach a class, that's the best way to learn something. When you're told, hey, you got to give a class on this, something you know nothing about. That's where the website came in.
[00:16:56] Speaker A: Nice.
So, and this, this the kind of passion I'm talking about. I mean, if you, if you're hearing this, if you're a veteran, you need to meet Rick, you need to come to one of these coffee hours. If you need somebody to run stuff by, if you need a sounding board, Rick's put together a team too. He's got a team of volunteers. So Rick, Rick is a busy man. You won't be ignored. The, the other thing about, you know, everything I've seen, it's a very, the world is rushed. And by the way, you don't have to be a veteran. If you're listening to this and you're not a veteran, if you have a relative, if you know some, if you have a neighbor that's a veteran, they're probably not aware of this yet. I mean, this is a grassroots ground level expansion. So, and I didn't know, you know, I was poking around again when I got ready for your visit and I learned from, I think it was your LinkedIn page. I learned somewhere there's over 500,000 veterans in Arizona alone. There's a half of a million of us in this state alone. And Rick, his goal is to get to every single one of them. Is that an overstatement?
[00:18:06] Speaker D: One way or Another.
I know it's an unrealistic goal, but every day, every day is an opportunity to at least connect with one. If I could just touch one guy or gal and just say, hey, bud, thanks for your service, you're good. You enroll in the va, you know, just one person, you know, I won't be able to touch them all. But as you mentioned or alluded to earlier, I have a ton of volunteers that have the same philosophy now. So now I've got several tentacles out there trying to connect with all these folks. Will I be able to connect with 500,000 physically? Probably not. But the word of mouth like we're doing today, getting out to those guys and gals that are out there in the community, maybe listening today, just know that there are some folks out there, like myself and many of our volunteers like yourself, J.R. and Anthony, that want to connect with you.
We want you to come in, give us an opportunity to just have a conversation. If you want nothing to do with the va, you want nothing to do with anything else, that's okay. But at least talk to me. You know, talk to me. Have a conversation with me.
[00:19:13] Speaker A: Let's.
[00:19:13] Speaker D: Let's figure out how I can make your life better and maybe more importantly, your spouse's life a little bit better. Because sometimes.
[00:19:22] Speaker A: Go ahead, let me interject on that right there. I mean, when I first came to your meetings, you know, when I got out, I was active duty 87 to 91, then IRR, 91 to 95, had the GI bill, went to GCC, went to ASU. I mean, I. And then I put the military life behind me. But my stepfather, he bought a membership for me, you know, and this was when I first got off active duty. He bought a membership for me in the American Legion. And I, and I went with him a couple times. He was a veteran also. I went with him a couple times. I'm like, this is great. These people drink too much. I got to learn what a boilermaker was. They have fish fries on Friday. I was like, this is great. And then I renewed my membership for a few years. I don't know why, because I'm like, I'm never going to go to this post, but I renewed it. Well, this year I just got my. I have a paid up, you know, for life membership. I just got my card about a week ago, 35 years continuous membership. And I'm going to share something with you. You know, there's the VFW referred to, there's the dav, there's the American Legions, there's all kinds of service organizations. I've seen more in two years watching the kind of progress you've made than 35 years at my post. And I was, I, me and two other guys, we were charter members and the founders of the American Legion riders out of Peoria. 62. I was the treasurer for six years till my youngest son got older. Needed me for football and martial arts and all the other stuff. I mean, I really. So I was pretty active.
We did turkey runs. The riders were very active in our post. The post itself is wonderful. They have a service officer. And don't get me wrong, I'm not slamming the American Legion at all. I'm just telling you if you, if you need something done. One of Rick's catchphrases, which I love, is less hua, more do.
And I, I'm just, I, I didn't like when I put my military life behind me.
I didn't think about something. I, I have a safe, or I had a safe deposit box. I took my discharge paperworks, my ribbons. I took all of my stuff, including I had some Desert Storm trading cards. I'm gonna talk about that, Rick, in a second. You probably don't know what we're doing with this.
[00:21:34] Speaker D: I do.
[00:21:34] Speaker A: And I put all that stuff, I put it in a safe deposit box and I forgot about it.
So I didn't understand the importance of making sure I knew where my DD214 is. For example, well, fast forward. I'm in my 60s. I still don't really need it. I've never had a veteran loan on a home. I mean, I've never really used, other than the GI Bill. But if something happens to me, Sandy needs to know where my DD214 is. I mean, simple things like that.
So sorry, I'm taking the show over. So, Rick, you are a resource to people and you are getting more done. You sponsor memberships into the Vietnam Veterans of America. I mean, talk about that for a quick second. I mean, what's going on with that?
[00:22:17] Speaker D: So you brought up a really good point. You know, all the other service organizations, they, they have a mission, they have objectives.
I'm sure they're, you know, they're doing great things for us. It's about outreach. And so the, the, the, the, the brick and mortars, it's about inreach. Come on in. Let's get a membership. Come on in. Well, we have a lot of veterans that aren't members. We have a lot of veterans that, that are unaccounted for right here in Arizona that are in the footprint of a. Of a particular American Legion. And so I. When I go to Legion, I'm like, what's your membership rate look like? Oh, we're sitting at 82%. Well, why aren't you at a hundred?
Well, we send flyers out. I'm like, well, you've got veterans that probably, you know, aren't. Aren't getting your. Your postcards. They're. There's issues, there's challenges on why they're not responding.
Give me an address. I'll door knock that veteran for you. I mean, the VA will call on us sometimes to actually do welfare checks. This is what happens. This is what's happening today. Every day, I will go knock on the door, and either the veteran is going to answer the door. Hey, what's going on? Hey, man, we got a lot of people trying to get a hold of you. Oh, man. Yeah, my phone died. Or, yeah, I got a new number. Okay, well, now I get all their updated information. I let the VA know. I let the local American Legion know. Everybody knows.
Sometimes I'll knock on the door and the neighbor comes out and says, oh, yeah, Johnny, he moved. Gosh, he moved two years ago.
So I'm like, do you know where he went? Oh, gosh, he went back to Montana. Oh, okay. Now I'm letting people know. Oh, by the way, Johnny's moved. He's gone. That's why he's not responding to your. To your postcard. This is the one I run into a lot.
Knock on the door.
Nobody's answering the door. And I'll hear. I'm back here, you know, whispering or yelling, but obviously from the back of the room. And I'll open the door and say, this is Rick. Army retired, this Rick. I'll back here, and I'll go back there, and there's a veteran who's bedbound by himself. Bedbound.
Phone, cell phone, battery's dead, needs a new charger, whatever.
And I'm there at that moment to fix that.
The priority at that moment is like, hey, I need to let the American Legion know that, hey, here you are. I need to let the VA know. The priority is. Let me get your comms back up. Let me. Let me. I'll be right back. Let me go down to. I was going to say Radio Shack. Let me go down to the Verizon store and get you a charger. Let's figure this out. Let's. Let's call the VA together. And so we get. So we let them know what's happening.
And that it happens a lot. It's a wonderful feeling to get a veteran back into mainstream, if you will.
But then the worst case scenario is to find out that Johnny passed and Johnny died, you know, six months ago, what have you. And there was no honors, there was no service. There was nothing. Just a veteran passed away. And it's really sad.
And I in and I get mad at myself that why didn't I catch this guy a year ago?
Why didn't I find him or why didn't I find her? My goodness, you've been here.
You know, the neighbors said they lived here for 15 years, yet nobody ever made contact.
So that's a big thing for us is to make contact, which leads into, hey, veterans, stay connected. I got it. J. R, you got out of the military, you know, your DD214 as I got it. But now you need to connect. You got to connect with other veterans. Just connect, have coffee, shoot, shoot the, you know, have a little bit of fun.
[00:25:46] Speaker A: But this is the.
[00:25:46] Speaker D: What?
[00:25:47] Speaker A: You almost said it. You almost said it, Rick. Shoot the what I did.
Let's do this. Let's do this. Let's take a break. We're going to come back in a few minutes and get back to you. So thank you so much for being with us this week, listeners. Thank you so much for tuning in. If you're a veteran, if you know a veteran, if you have a hunch, you know a veteran, keep us in mind. We'll make sure we hook you up with Rick or one of his volunteers.
As always, please reach out to us. We'd love to sit with you, a second opinion on your finances, brainstorm with you, get your show ideas. We're at 623-523-0444 or you can always email us@team another money show.com. and don't forget our YouTube channel. We're growing like a weed. We've got over 540,000 views of our videos and our shorts. So we're growing. We're a small channel but we're moving. So we will be right back. More with Rick Kreiberg and if you need to check out his website, he
[email protected] thanks for being with us. We'll be right back.
[00:26:48] Speaker B: You're listening to another money show. To learn more and contact JR and Anthony, visit anothermoneyshow.com.
At Rochford and Associates. We know the road to financial freedom is not a straight path and the journey is different for every family. And in times like these, we want you to feel confident that you're safely on track to meet your retirement goals.
[00:27:16] Speaker A: We want to ask you to prepare for economic chaos. We want you to prepare for bank volatility. We want you to insure and protect your assets with a smart plan.
[00:27:24] Speaker B: Our team can help you make the most of your hard earned savings using strategies that are right for you.
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[00:27:39] Speaker B: Schedule your no obligation consultation today by calling 623-523-0444. That's 623-52-30444.
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[00:28:11] Speaker A: visit anothermoneyshow.com welcome back to another Money Show. Thank you so much for being with us. You know we're little fish in a big pond and we appreciate your support.
We're glad you're here.
So we've got Rick Kreiberg with us today. I, we have so much that we need to know from Rick. But today is, is, I mean this is the perfect day to do one of our Desert Storm trading cards. I, I got Rick up to speed on how we open one each week. And we're looking for Saddam Hussein today. If we don't find him, that's going to be, we've got two left. I mean we've got today and then we've got two more. So let's see what we got today. We have a AIM9 sidewinder. Some of this stuff Rick may have actually dealt with, I don't know. We have the USS Theodore Roosevelt. So nice. We have an aircraft carrier. We have dog tags. So if you've ever seen Top Gun, you know what those are, all the young kids are playing volleyball with their dog tags. We have government, we have the United Nations.
So come on Saddam, I hope you're here today. Especially wild rigs here. We've got Bangladesh, a little more geography. We've got a E2C hawkeye under military asset. We've got a Newport class tank landing ship, an lst.
I'm getting nervous here. We've got Spain. You know, whenever I think of the Gulf War and when I think about, you know, I think about Qatar, Bahrain, in Spain.
[00:29:42] Speaker C: And we also get Finland.
[00:29:44] Speaker A: We got Finland. Yeah, we, Rick, we've had some Funny ones. We had France, we had like Belgium. We. And I know that the world's a small place. We have Brigadier General Richard Neal.
Rick, are you familiar with Richard Neal, Marine?
[00:29:57] Speaker D: He's a Marine.
[00:29:58] Speaker A: Well, yeah, he couldn't get in the Air Force either. That whole aptitude.
[00:30:02] Speaker C: There you go.
[00:30:02] Speaker A: We also have Malaysia and then the very last car. We don't have Saddam today. I'm sorry, the very last card we've got, we've got really good looking. Oh, wait, and that's Rick's business card. Never mind. How'd that get in my pile of cards? So we struck out today, Saddam Hussein, but you got two more chances. And Rick, I have made a challenge for Anthony or for Sam. If we don't find Saddam Hussein in these packs, one of them has to enlist and get brand new trading cards. And we're trying to get some new.
So back to Rick.
Couple things. Rick, you know, let me, let me. I want Anthony to jump in for a second. Going to remind you that you were on, you know, we were on how to have connections for people. But Anthony, you had a question during the break. Can you go ahead and shoot that out for Rick?
[00:30:46] Speaker C: We can come back to that. Let's stay on the, the topic of staying connected because that's really the thing Rick's passionate about right now.
[00:30:54] Speaker A: Like I said, Rick, we don't want to hear from Anthony. We want to hear from you. How do people stay connected through you?
[00:30:59] Speaker D: Okay, so it's important to stay connected. Isolation is a big problem in the veteran community.
Isolated veterans, that's where it doesn't end well. We're talking about the permanent solutions to temporary problems. I don't like to mention that word, but staying connected. So, you know, I can't be in Sun City every single day. I can't. J.R. i can't see you every day. As much as I love you, man, I can't see you every day. But it would be important for me to know that you're connected to at least another organization like the American Legion, the vfw, the dav, the Vietnam Veterans of America.
I want you to connect with them. And I entice you to do that by sponsoring your membership. I will sponsor your membership. All I ask in return is just go hang out with them. Go meet some new friends and while you're over there, share not only your story, but share our story and who we are. Because connection, connecting with each other is huge. It's huge and it solves a lot of problems. And this is really important.
Over the years, our suic. We've never, not once, not once have we had a permanent solution. Not once.
And I'll just say, in your organization, that's very. One suicide in eight years.
Not one. I don't talk about it. I don't like to mention that word because it creates an idea. I don't. That's not an option. So we never talk about it. But not one. Over the years, we've had ideations.
Over the years, it's been, you know, double digits. And then last year or two years ago was 10. Last year was 5. This year to date, August, not one ideation, not one now we've ever had an ideation. This is what we do. This is why I recommend everybody does.
There's a number, it's a hotline. It's 988, option one. Now, look, it may not be you. It could be somebody that you meet out and about in your travels.
You come across somebody and you. You can just sense that something's not right, that they need some help.
Don't just give them the phone number. Pull out your cell phone, you make the call and do a joint call with the veteran you're with, right? Say I. My name is Rick. I'm a veterans advocate here. I'm here with Johnny. Johnny's going through a rough patch. It's temporary. We got to get him through it. I need your help.
[00:33:20] Speaker C: Option one.
[00:33:21] Speaker D: 988. Option one. Okay.
[00:33:23] Speaker C: Just want to make sure we got that again.
[00:33:25] Speaker D: Then we, it's. It's a handoff. And then I, you know. All right, all right, folks, you've got him. You got his number. All right, I'll wait while you call him. And then when the handoff happens, I'm with him now. They call him. Now they're talking to him. I can hang out my phone. The handoff's been done. A lot of times we give people the number, walk away, and trust that they're going to make that call. No, we're actually going to make sure you make the call. We're going to be here right with you. Because that's what we do in the military. We just don't tell somebody to do something. We're going to inspect what you expect. So if I want you to call that number, I need to make sure you. You've done that, and then follow up with you and making sure you're still coming to me. Make sure you're going to the. To the VVA and meeting with the folks over there, what have you. So staying Connected is really, really important, in my opinion, in reducing those suicide numbers.
[00:34:12] Speaker C: Oh, that's huge. And that's not incredible specific to veterans, but I'd imagine it's a much more common issue within veterans.
[00:34:21] Speaker D: It's, it's, you know what, it's, it is a significant challenge in our society.
And I think anybody listening, whether you're a veteran or not, there are so many resources out there, but you got to take the first step. You just got to take the first step. And maybe you'll meet me or JR or Anthony out there in the community and we will guide you to take that first step.
But it starts with you. You got to be willing to take a chance. You know, it doesn't end. This is not, this is not permanent. It's just not permanent.
[00:34:51] Speaker C: I love that here and stay connected like that. And especially the reach out, because it's hard. You know, sometimes people need help and want help, but are afraid to. So Jared mentioned, you know, in all the veteran associations he's been with, you know, for decades versus the two years he spent with you, he's saying he's getting more out of your events and your get togethers and he's gotten from any of those.
You know, if I'm listening to the show right now and I'm like, this sounds like something I want to be a part of, this ven's affinity. You know, we gave them the website, they can reach out there. But if I go to an event, what can I expect? Like, what are other things?
Like kind of like a frequently asked question, like, your ability to help people stay connected is huge. So now I know if I'm feeling lonely and I'm kind of an outcast and I need to meet more people that are veterans, I can reach out to you. You talked about, you know, some of the, the benefits out there, like what are some of the more common things that you really wish every veteran would know but doesn't necessarily, or what kind of other things could I expect if I go to one of your events?
[00:36:00] Speaker D: So the key thing is there's a lot of perceptions out there that people think the VA is garbage. They think, you know, they just have an opinion on something based on what they heard or something that they think or whatever. So at our socials, it's an opportunity to dispel those myths. So we, it's a town hall format and there's never an agenda. That's why we don't call it a meeting. There's no agenda. The only thing that's an Automatic is the Pledge of Allegiance, a prayer and introductions to new folks. Once that's done, once Terry has greeted everybody, I come in there and say, all right, you know, I will say, okay, this is what we're hearing. We're hearing across the, the. Across the formation, meaning across the state and everywhere we're going is that there's a challenge with community care.
So what are you hearing about community care? Does anybody not know what community care is? Next thing you know, we're talking about community care, laying out the rules, laying out that this is what you can expect.
When you don't get that, this is who you call.
This is what you know, this is what, what you're authorized, this is by law, this is what you should be asking. Or it could be, hey, I got a question about aid in attendance. You know, somebody wants to charge me fifteen hundred dollars to do an aid in attendance application. And I'm like, does everybody know what aid in attendance is? A lot of people don't know. I explained to them what that is.
I'm like, folks, you don't have to pay for this. It's a very simple application.
And I laid out here is the criteria to be qualified for aid attendance. Lay it out there. Any questions?
So it is information.
And a lot of times the veterans and attendants, they dictate what we're going to talk about. Somebody will come up and this happens every morning.
If we start at 9am I will be hit one after the other from 8:30, 8, 45. I got a question about this, I got a question about that. And I'll say, hold it. I want you to ask that question when we do the town hall because other people may have that question.
If I answer your question and I answer everybody else's question, the next thing I know, I've answered that question like 10 times. Just ask the question.
And so that's how we, you know, that's how we learn. And then somebody, it might segue into something else. Like, you know what I heard that the VA is closing. Is that true? No, that's a myth. Let me explain to you how this works. So it's a lot of information and a lot of persuasion too. It's like, folks, the VA is not a bad thing.
Yes, you have Medicare and that's great, but wouldn't you want another option?
You know, it's called concurrent care. You can use Medicare and use VA at the same time.
Same time, doesn't interfere, doesn't cross the same time. And oh, by the way, the VA has extra Benefits, extra resources that Medicare doesn't provide. The VA does.
So I say keep it open. Just enroll in the va whether you use it or not. It's your choice, but at least get in the system, because when the day comes, at least you'll have another option.
So that's what it is. You come to our socials, there's opportunities for information, opportunity for options that you may have or didn't think you had is to connect with somebody else that may have been on the same. That same LST that you brought up, Junior, that may have been on the same boat or whatever. And it's just an opportunity to connect, you know, and. And whatever trauma that you might be suffering.
[00:39:24] Speaker B: Because we have.
[00:39:25] Speaker D: A lot of veterans are struggling. Nobody understands them, but then they meet somebody who's gone through the same thing. I call it feel felt found. This is important.
Feel, felt found. The best way to. To be a counselor or to. To help veterans. First off, you can't be a civilian. You just can't be a civilian.
[00:39:44] Speaker A: You can.
[00:39:45] Speaker D: You can be really nice people, great patriots, but if you can't feel felt found, meaning you haven't been there. You don't understand what's going on. You truly can't peel the onion and solve that challenge. So as I feel you.
I know how you feel.
I felt the same way. Yep, me too. In my war, I went through this. This. It's a struggle.
But let me tell you what I found out. This is what I found out. By enrolling into the VA healthcare system, I was able to get in there. I was able to get continuous therapy. I was able to get some medications that actually worked. And I was part of a group that connected me to veterans affinity.
And so wouldn't you agree, bud, wouldn't you agree that'd be having a little open mind that possibly, just possibly this might work? And so that's what works for us as veterans. We all have different challenges. We got Purple Hearts that are entertainers, we have women veterans, we have older veterans, we have younger veterans. Somebody that can connect and overcome some of those barriers.
[00:40:46] Speaker A: I mean, the first time I was there, I believe there were three World War II veterans in the room. When I first got there, and I was like, wow. I mean, you know, Anthony, your grandfather was a Navy guy, World War II veteran. I mean, I wish I had found this. And I, you know, when. When he was with us, it's incredible what's going on. So. And real quick, just, you know, when you say community care, there's people listening that doesn't know what they mean.
What is, explain what is community care?
[00:41:12] Speaker D: So community care is you have to be enrolled in the VA for it to work for. First of all, first of all. So if you're calling the veterans, calling the VH to schedule an appointment and it's a need, it's like, you know what, my, my ankles really bother me.
And they come back and say, well, the soonest that you can see a doctor would be, what are we in August 1st, October? Well, that's beyond 28 days.
It's beyond 28 days. And the Mission act says that I will be seen within 28 days. And I'm just using 28 days as a, as a rule of thumb.
So what the VA is supposed to do is say, you know what, we're going to refer you to community care, meaning the VA is going to send you to a contracted provider to take a look at that ankle, take a look and treat that ankle for you. Because you can't be seen in a timely manner.
It is a great benefit. The intent is awesome.
The challenge is, is if you're calling the VA to make an appointment and they say, look, the first availability is 1October.
By the time that process kind of funnels through community care and by the time they reach out to you, and by the time they reach out to a provider and by the time their provider reaches back to you, it might be the first of October already.
So I always caution veterans like the minute they punch you to community care doesn't necessarily solve the problem.
It doesn't solve the problem, but it kind of takes it off the VA and puts it on the community care provider. So if you can't be seen, I always say keep the appointment the 1st of October. Let's give community care a shot. See if you could be seen prior to. If you can't, at least you have an appointment on the 1st of October. That's the intent of community care.
[00:42:48] Speaker A: Well, and I'm glad you went into that a little bit because I know in the past, years ago there was a lot of talk, I mean, you know, Phoenix VA was under fire with whistleblowers. There was a lot of talk about VA care, quite frankly, sucks. You can't get into somebody for six months, you know, so there's things that are being addressed.
My biggest thing is you have to know what's out there. You have to find the right resources, you know, to get the help. And I mean, I honestly look at you and veterans affinity your team as a one stop shop to help People, whether it's, you know, does being a veteran, being disabled, does it affect my property taxes, my car tags? Are there discounts if I'm older? You know, when you brought up aid in attendance, Anthony, we work closely with a lot of senior communities. We work closely. You know, we were in Sun City. I live in Sun City for three years now. I've worked in Sun City for almost 30. And it's funny, the aid in attendance, we've seen the communities all over the place. They'll have a financial advisor on the side that they refer to, maybe even give a little, little spiff to, which bugs the living crap out of me. And then they'll fill out that aid and attendance forms. You know, they'll say how that's this monumental task. Well, that's great for the senior living community or for the group home, because then all of a sudden they have, you know, they, they know they'll get steady government paychecks coming in. And by the way, you said something in last month or the month before at our coffee connection, you said something about how you don't know of any senior communities or group homes that do veteran discounts is, am I saying that correctly? That, that, that's not something that exists.
[00:44:28] Speaker D: So, yes. So I won't say the group homes or facilities, but home care, for example, home care, any healthcare that takes private pay, right? So home care is a big one that takes private pay, but they're also contracted with the va.
So junior, you need home care. You reach out to the va. The VA sets it up for you. They reach out to Anthony's home care company. They're providing care for you. They're only offering you 12 hours a week. Well, the home care company is going, hey, check it out.
We'll help you with your aid and attendance application. It's just going to cost you fifteen hundred dollars. But guess what, you're going to get two thousand dollars a month, which will enable you to pay for more hours.
So that happens all the time.
So I'm like, and I get home care companies.
I probably have three or four emails right now from home care companies that want to partner and get in front of our veterans. This is what I do. I say, okay, home care company, that's great. You're contracted with the va. Got it. I'm a veteran that doesn't use the va.
I'm going to pay private pay out of my own pocket. What is your hourly rate, your standard hourly rate for home care? They'll say, oh, Rick, it's 35 to $40 an hour. And I said, okay, but what about your veterans fee?
Pause. Because they've never thought about that before. And then I'll get the. Well, you know, it depends on where the veteran lives. I'm like, whoa. So now there's a criteria to this? Now there's a criteria. So what you're saying is you don't offer a veterans discount. You never thought about offering a veterans discount or we're contracted with the va. No, no, no, we're talking about private pay.
Because if you're willing to offer a discount, you tell me, hey, we'll do 25 to $30 an hour for veterans. The veterans affinity. You know what, we'll sponsor that veteran's additional hours so the veteran does not have to pay or you don't have to do eight in attendance. Because all that, it's just like you said earlier, that 8 and attendance money that they get, it's not for the veteran. It goes to who's ever provided it, whether it's a group home, whether it's a home care company. You know, it's just a way for that provider to get some extra money. So I'm like, we're willing to sponsor. I want to take care of my guy. But you got to put some skin in the game. Home care company. You say you love veterans, you support veterans. Prove it. Less or more. Do it. Let me see it.
[00:46:44] Speaker A: Love that. And by the way, people are listening. If you're not familiar with the word aid in attendance, it's a version I'm probably oversimplifying of long term care insurance. It's help for veterans that need skilled nursing or adult daycare or some sort of some level if they have cognitive impairment or whatnot. So it's tied in with long term care system. You know, if you're, if you're a civilian, you have either private pay, you're self insured, you have long term care insurance, or you spend down and you go on ALTCS aid. And attendance is along those lines.
So let me ask you a couple more questions. I mean, I know today's going kind of fast and by the way, when you have something important, reach out to me, come back on. We'll give you 10 minutes, 15 minutes, whatever. As you have something, we need to know if anything comes up. So let me, let me ask a couple questions. What's, what's the future of veterans affinity look like? I mean, you know, one day you're going to be tired. I know you have a daughter. Is that something that you Know, is she eyeing helping you? Are you, you know, do you have team members? I don't want to see you get burned out when you talk about 29 meetings a month just. And I follow you on LinkedIn as of last night, I just tied up with you last night. I've been following you on Instagram, Facebook.
You are all over the place. And by the way, you know, Rick is very humble. He's a very modest man for somebody that's doing as much as he is. He's had major awards, not just like Christmas story lamp, you know, leg lamp. I mean, he's had major words, ran the parade. I mean, it's like, wow, this guy is everywhere. So, you know, tell me what's going to happen 10 years now, you know, all of a sudden you're tired, you've got to chill, what goes on.
[00:48:20] Speaker D: So I'm not going to get tired because, you know, if you love doing what you do, it's not a job, right? So to me, it's like, I'm still in the military. I love it. I love doing what I do. Yes. The drive sometimes can get a little bit chaotic and exhausting sometimes. Families that don't listen when I tell them, you know, a year ago to make sure they have a GD214S and they don't listen. You know, those moments, they frustrate me and it's like, man, I can't do this anymore because people just don't listen. But it's, you know, there's always somebody that pops up that's like, oh, my God. You were, you know, like yesterday I was told, rick, you are far out, man. I kid you not. I'm like, I, I have not heard that since I've been doing this. I am far.
That's groove. Yes. I'm not kidding you as a Navy Vietnam veteran. So there's moments that, you know the, the lows, right? There's moments where it's like, I don't know if I can do this. It's like I'm literally, I'm spinning a wheel. But every now and then you can change somebody's life. So big picture, you know, I've had people say, you know what, Rick? You got to go big.
You got to get, you know, like the, the big, the big guys, like wounded wear tunnels to towers.
I will never be that way.
The higher you go, the further you get away from, from the veteran. I'm not going to be in a corporate suite. I just, I'm not that guy. So here I'm Right where I want to be.
I still have the ability to touch and connect. The higher you go, you lose that ability. That's probably about the one negative thing. As long as you are in the military, the higher you go, the further you get away from for the masses. And that's a struggle. I love people. It's people. I'm people, purpose, passion. That is me. I'm all people. People over production. People, people, people.
So I can't imagine getting that high. But where do we want to go? I want to be able to have some control in the outcome, the total outcome of a. Of a veteran's life.
You know, how that, how that veteran dies. When they die, I want to take care of the families. I want to be able to.
To have better control of the outcome. And right now I have a lot of influence. But when it comes to the end of life, there's times where I don't have any influence whatsoever. And it's frustrating.
So I'm looking at you. How can I do that?
[00:50:31] Speaker A: Like us with, you know, being a small family practice in a world of Edward Jones and Schwab. You know, our goal, our mission, one person, one couple, one family at a time. I mean, I see in you how we've run. Our practice started in the 1950s in Chicago, Illinois. It's been out in Arizona since 1994. And we've never wanted to be the big dogs. We've never sold out. I mean, you know, it's. So we only have a couple more minutes, unfortunately. Anything else we need to know from you?
[00:51:01] Speaker D: I just encourage. First of all, I really appreciate all of you, J.R. i appreciate you making the connection. I appreciate you having faith in me to come on your show and the trust that I'm going to put out some valuable information, and I hope it was. And again, we could talk about this all day long. So I would encourage your listeners to reach out. Maybe there's something we didn't cover. Maybe that's something I need to elaborate on.
I am accessible if somebody wants to shoot me an email, if I can do this. Doctor, can I put my email out there? Absolutely. Of course.
[00:51:29] Speaker A: Of course.
[00:51:29] Speaker D: My email is Rick R I C K at Veterans Affinity with an A dot org. Rick Veterans affinity.org you can shoot me an email and you can ask. Ask me a question. I promise you I'll respond to you and we'll figure out whatever it is that we need to fix or whatever we need to resolve or whatever we need to clarify whatever it is. That's what we're going to do nice.
[00:51:56] Speaker A: And people, if you're listening and you don't have a pen, reach out to us, we'll connect you.
So I know we're about to get out of here. You've got what, what were you telling me the other day? You've got a friend in the hospital or something? What's tie that up for me. Don't you have a friend who's in the hospital right now?
[00:52:11] Speaker D: So this is one thing that we, that the donations piece where they become really, really big. So when you have a senior 85 years old requires higher, higher acuity of care, they cannot go into hud Vash. They can't go into the special housing units because they require higher acuity care. If they don't have the funds, they don't have the resources, they can't get the altecs done in a timely manner. There's an issue.
What we're able to do is what we have done. If the veteran is discharging from the hospital on a Friday, we're able to put him in a long term care unit. Right now we're paying $300 a day to get them to Monday to where the VA comes in and say hey va, it's time to flip the switch. We covered the weekend. We paid your, you know, what is it, $1,200. We paid your $1,200. You need to flip the switch. So it's about that minimum barriers, fill in the gaps.
[00:52:59] Speaker A: That is incredible.
What else do we need to know?
[00:53:04] Speaker D: Hey, hang in there. I just tell everybody. Hang in there. You got this, Anthony. Give it to me.
[00:53:10] Speaker C: I appreciate you coming out. I will. I told you I would show up. So the next one, September 8th, Tuesday morning, I will be there. I'll get to meet you in person.
[00:53:19] Speaker A: We gotta talk about that. I'm gonna be out of town for Labor Day week. We gotta talk about that. Might be two months before you meet Anthony. We'll talk.
[00:53:25] Speaker C: Yeah, we'll figure it out. But anyways, again thank you for being on the show. Rick at Veterans Affinity Affinity with an A. Check him out online. Veterans affinity.org you know, shoot him an email. Rick. Veterans affinity.org reach out to us if you need help getting in contact. Our phone number 623-523-0444. The number again is 623-52-30444. Find us online anothermoney show.com and we appreciate you listening this week. I know it wasn't very finance related but that's what we're here for and I'm sure if you are a veteran, there's a lot of financial news that you can learn from Rick, so appreciate you listening. We'll see you next Saturday at 5am and noon right here on 9 60, the Patriot.
[00:54:16] Speaker B: Thanks for listening to another money show. You deserve to work with a private wealth management firm that will strategically work to protect your hard earned assets. To schedule your free no obligation consultation visit anothermoneyshow.com investment advisory services offer through Brookstone Capital Management LLC. BCM. A registered investment advisor. BCM and Rochford Financial are independent of each other. Insurance products and services are not offered through BCM but are offered, offered and sold through individually licensed and appointed agents. Investments involve risk and unless otherwise stated, are not guaranteed. Past performance cannot be used as an indicator to determine future results.
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[00:55:08] Speaker A: We want to ask you to prepare for economic chaos. We want you to prepare for bank volatility. We want you to ensure and protect your assets with a smart plan.
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