I learned a long time ago that I don’t know what I don’t know. Most of the past financial mistakes I have made were because I didn’t ask the right questions. The problem was the questions I didn’t even know to ask; hence, I don’t know what I don’t know.

I am not advocating we all should stay in our one lane in life. Far from it. Diversification is to be encouraged, and it is what keeps life interesting. That said, before you jump, try and ask the right questions or at least consult with someone you trust to give you some insight. It could very well save your goose.

The older I get the more risk adverse I become. It is one thing to spend other people’s (investors) money, but it is an entirely different thing to spend your own. One time in 2006, I purchased a commercial track of land thinking I knew what I was doing. I didn’t, which because painfully clear shortly after the closing. I lost a bunch of money, and it took 14 years for me to get out of that deal. Needless to say, I now have a double PHD education on what I won’t do again.

Wisdom starts with us acknowledging that we don’t know everything we think we know. It is humbling to admit this, but it will help you make better decisions. On a personal level, what worked or works for you may not be what helps someone else. Giving advice needs to be a lot more listening than talking. Only after you listen for a while can you begin to form a response.

Just because you watch a lot of golf, doesn’t mean you can play golf well. The things you learn while doing, will far exceed what you think you knew. So, recognizing that you don’t know what you don’t know, will help you get better at learning. KT

If you are having surgery, do you want a young doctor with jet black gelled hair or do you want one with little gray hair? My guess is you, like me, would opt for experience versus age. I believe it is that same way in the financial areas. There are many young whippersnappers (I have met most of them) with all the right education and pedigree but like surgery, when it comes to your money, you want experience.

The two most sought-after financial leaders in the US today are Jamie Dimon-(68, yr. old JP Morgan Chase Chairman) and Warren Buffett, (93 yr. old Berkshire Hathaway Chairman.) In the hotel world, It is Bill Marriott (92 yr. old Executive Chairman of Marriott.) Sure, they have many young folks working on their teams but when it comes to pulling the trigger on an important financial decision, leaders opt for the experience of the older more well-seasoned advisor.

Youth is be admired but it is important to have your advisor be someone who has weathered a few downturns. Those downturns are where the gray hair came from, and the experience of those cycles is critically important when you are making decisions today. You don’t want an advisor who has never gone through a down cycle and only knows up markets.

For all the older people reading this blog who run companies, don’t ever overlook your value to the enterprise and to the client. As Warren Buffett would say, you’re never too old to lead. KT

Many of us have seen or heard the phrase, ‘all gave some, some gave all’ usually around Memorial Day weekend. The man who coined the phrase was Howard William Osterkamp who was a Korean war veteran and purple heart recipient. Memorial Day was first celebrated in 1868 just after the end of the civil war to honor fallen men and women who died while serving in the US military.

All over the world are graveyards with US fallen men and women who died to protect our freedom. Many young folks today do not quite realize how blessed we all are to live in America and to some, the holiday has just become a punch line. For those who served, and families of men and women who came home in a flag draped coffin, they will never forget.

I served in the Navy for five years but was never in harms way. It was peacetime. Yes, I served, but never in the way hundreds of thousands of our men and women served while continually in harms way. I am not even qualified to pay honor to those lost lives.

To give you some perspectives, 214,938 service members died in combat during the civil war. 53,402 died in combat in WWI. 291,557 died in combat in WWII. 33,739 died in the Korean war and 47,424 died in Vietnam. Over the last 100 years there have been many many smaller conflicts where US service members died but these numbers will you give some perspective of the sacrifice many made that allows people like me to post a blog while sitting in my office in complete safety.

As you go into this weekend, maybe pause and remember those who paid the price and who ‘gave it all’ so we could have the opportunity to celebrate Memorial Day. KT

I was asked in a meeting yesterday what words of wisdom I had for the young real estate agents in the room. I thought about my first week as a hotel broker (May 1990) and shared the story.

I went to a friend of mine that sold hotels and was the head of a hotel group. It was very small at the time with only five brokers and two assistants. I wanted to learn how to sell restaurants (that was all I knew) and he told me he didn’t know how to sell restaurants but would let me see if I could learn how to sell hotels. I can remember (34 years ago) that exact meeting and the exact words said.

So, I showed up the next Monday and he hadn’t told any of the other brokers I was joining. I think he wanted to see if I showed first. Ha. Well, I did and was given a small office with a phone. No training, no support and very little further advise. Sink or swim, so I jumped off the high dive.

After three or four days of not having one conversation about a hotel, I got in my 1988 chevy and was determined to get some people to talk to. I pointed the chevy south down I-75 and over the next day, stopped and when in 132 hotels and ask for the owner. When I came back to the office, I had a stack of names and some people to talk to. I started selling in May of 1990 and by the end of the year (8 months) I had sold seven hotels and won the national rookie of the year award for hotel brokerage.

As I look back on it, it was that road trip that flipped the switch for me. If I hadn’t made that trip, I don’t know how long I would have lasted. Unlike today with all manner of ways to communicate, back then, it was only phone, mail or face to face. That was it.

We can’t go back to a simpler time, but we can choose to be simple (old school) with our time. That is what I told all the young real estate agents yesterday. Who knows, maybe one will keep it simple and build a business. KT

Bobbie Phillips was my mother-in-law and she passed away one year ago. In a world where many married children complain about their in-laws on each side, we never had that problem in my family.

I could write for 10 pages about her, but I will keep this to the point. I was fortunate enough to be loved by two mothers, mine, and Elaine’s. As far back as I can remember, when we would see her, she never called me Keith. She always said, “hey son.” I am not sure she ever understood what those two words meant to me. It meant I was loved as a family member.

The most kind, thoughtful, and pure-hearted person I know is my wife, Elaine. Her mother was a close second. See, that is where my wife learned to live life like she does. Our two daughters are just like their mother, kind, thoughtful, wise, and pure-hearted. How we raise our children and the examples we set does in fact have an impact on the people our children become.

When Elaine and I were dating (started in high school) I was just a kid who had left home and supported myself. Many times, just barely making it. Bobbie Phillips would always have food for me every time I went over to Elaine’s home. She knew. I cannot express what that one kind gesture from her mother meant to a young boy who could have gone either way in life. It was her example that made me want to be a better man and showed me how life was done. Not one time did she ever talk badly about life and the issues she endured taking care of her husband for 11 years after his accident. She simply never complained out loud.

She was dearly loved by all her family and also especially by me. There are not enough adjectives to really tell the world the kind of woman she was but If you looked up the word ‘mother’ in the dictionary, it should have her picture beside the word. KT