Mark Bertrang interviews Sarah Gebo, the Program Director of ”The Exchange” the La Crosse Area Furniture Bank. The Exchange provides donated furniture and household goods to families and individuals transitioning out of homelessness and poverty. It is driven by volunteers and donations of basic household goods and gently used furniture from the com…

You haven't gain real wisdom until you have walked through the pasture of life and unexpectedly step into a fresh cowpie, feeling the warm manure squish between your toes. Life can sometimes playout like a checkerboard of bovine bingo, a unique community activity which oftentimes plays-out on hot summer days in town squares, as townspeople celebrat…

How much has changed during your life? Will it keep on changing? Do those changes concern you? How can you add certainty to your life? It's like knowing you have a winning lottery ticket. If you owned that ticket and you knew it was going to payout in the future, how might that change how you live your life today?…

Have you ever found yourself needing to clear space but having no idea where to even begin? Perhaps you were named in a departed loved one's will to clear the estate, or you need some guidance preparing for a home renovation, or maybe you're just overwhelmed by clutter. Mark speaks with Sara Washburn of Peace by Piece Professional Organizing to dis…

When I told the social media world that I would be dropping a video and podcast soon with Chris Lezpona as my guest, I was surprised by the huge reaction I received. Chris has weathered many storms in his life, the biggest being a brain tumor and the following surgery to remove it over a decade ago and then the resulting handicaps he has overcome s…

We are all bombarded with so much “stuff” that fills our basket of ‘to-dos’ each day. How is an overwhelmed person supposed to conquer the pile of life’s stuff that blocks our path to success and happiness. Mark Bertrang revisits Gary Keller’s book – The One Thing. He explains how he prioritizes what needs to be accomplished first, from each list o…

How do you begin your day? Upbeat or downtrodden? We're told that you can choose your outlook. If that's true, how should you begin your day? Mark Bertrang, author of "Investments Don't Hug" provides his simple formula to beginning and staying positive each day. 00:00 Intro 00:35 Why beginning your day with the News is a bad idea 02:33 Mark Bertran…

0:00 – Intro 3:10 – Why “Truth Concepts”? 6:42 – Sensationalized News and Number Panic 19:00 – Overcoming the Fear of Utilizing Your Own Money 21:27 – Todd’s Passion for Financial Services 25:18 – Using Strategy to Uncover Truths 32:49 – Investments Don’t Hug 33:24 – Insuring Your Most Valuable Asset: You! 41:08 – Finding Peace of Mind 44:52 – The …

Yesterday, I was at our local Office Depot. I needed to pick up some more spiral binders. I write each and every morning, and I believe that journaling is an important way to focus your thoughts for the day. If that is not something that you are doing now, I would highly recommend it. If you want to center yourself and have clarity, I suggest that …

What are the odds that as you are driving the roadways of Wisconsin that your life will end this year? Maybe the better question is: how many people are negatively Affected by accidents in the state of Wisconsin? I was discussing this with the team one morning. There are often signs with blinking lights placed next to highways that will say how man…

In my first career, decades ago, I worked as an announcer at a radio station in a small, rural town. One of my jobs included doing the emergency broadcast testing on a monthly basis. I can still remember what I needed to say during the test: “The attention signal that you just heard, had it been an actual emergency, would have been followed by offi…

What does it mean to be a CEO, a Chief Executive Officer? Most people think about a business CEO, but what does it mean to be the CEO of your family’s financial future? I got to thinking about this last week: it was the end of the quarter and I picked up a report of our corporation for the first three months of this year from my accountant. This gi…

People often have a difficult time when it comes to accomplishing their goals and focusing in on their needs and wants, and the aspirations in their life. Sometimes, it comes down to just one question. In my office, I will often look up at my bookshelf and just look at one book in particular. The book is titled, The One Thing. I should probably hav…

People often have a difficult time when it comes to accomplishing their goals and focusing in on their needs and wants, and the aspirations in their life. Sometimes, it comes down to just one question. In my office, I will often look up at my bookshelf and just look at one book in particular. The book is titled, The One Thing. I should probably hav…

Imagine, you can't speak. Your eyes watch as the doctors and your family discuss your medical treatment. Your love ones don't know what to do. They don't even have the legal permission to provide the hospital staff with recommendations for your care. Worse yet, if they had the legal right, they're fighting among themselves as to what care you would…

A question I asked recently of a medical professional. The answer shocked and emotionally moved me.על ידי Mark Bertrang

Life Insurance is a difficult industry. Statistics have shown that about five percent of life insurance agents survive just five years in this career. Why is that, especially since improving the lives of families can be so rewarding? This conversation might draw the curtain away from the industry, so the layperson can see what this profession actua…

Have you ever made a promise? Was it for a short-term promise or was it a forever promise? There's a difference, isn't there? Forever promises typically aren't flashy. They're thoughtful and serious. This morning, I saw a promise through, which was made thirty years ago. So, as I pause and take in the scenery of this new fallen snow, let me share w…

Have you ever found yourself needing to tighten a screw, but you couldn’t find a screwdriver? Admit it. You went to a kitchen drawer and pulled out a butterknife, didn’t you? Once the project was complete, you probably returned the knife to the drawer slightly bent at its tip, because a butter knife isn’t a screwdriver. Would you have consider butt…

Before you discuss will-planning with an attorney, prepare your hard data collection. Mark’s guest – Katelyn Doyle, attorney with Johns, Flaherty & Collins, SC discusses those items you may wish to outline prior to your first meeting with a lawyer. Our discussion includes a conversation of your dependents, special needs individual who maybe in your…

At some point in our lives, things become real. In fact, sometimes things become ‘really’ real. Years ago Mark Bertrang had a client who worked in the silk screening industry. This specialization creates the display printing on the front of your kitchen appliances and the imprinted dials and woodgrain dashboard finishes of your automobile. Mark had…

As an employer, how do you show up for your team? As a team member, how do you show up for your co-workers? How do you show up for any audience, whoever that audience may be? monthly I engage in a half-hour Zoom personal critique with my good friend Michael Baker, a wealth advisor from Alberta, Canada. When we’re sharing our international Zoom Room…

It is seldom that I am able to provide a conversation that will be needed by nearly every family at some point in their lives. I am blessed to have had this intimate end-of-life conversation with two medical providers who have answered the very important calling of working in hospice care. My guests are: Dr. Larry Skendzel - Medical Director, Gunde…

There are three questions you need to ask yourself. Mark Bertrang read these questions from Joe Polish's new book "What's in it for them?" this morning as he engaged his team, as he does each day at 9:00am sharp! These questions are: #1. Where are you? #2. Where do you want to go? and #3. How are you going to get there? These three questions might …

This is the time of the year that we begin focusing upon taxes. Jason Steinhoff, CPA and Partner at Hancock & Robinson is our guest. We’ll discuss the selection of a tax preparer, your own preparation prior to that first meeting, how are audits conducted and what happens during that audit; how does your return move through the IRS and what are the …

At the end of the year, it’s a perfect time to listen-in on a conversation on life’s reflections, with guest – Michael Baker during this episode of “Purpose with Mark Bertrang”. Guest: Michael Baker, Baker Wealth of Medicine Hat, Alberta Canada 00:00 – Insight comes from others, not yourself. 01:30 – Family Christmas Traditions 06:30 – Why we close…

When winter arrives, become much more cautious. While having my morning coffee at breakfast this morning, I received a text from a team member notifying me that they would be arriving late into the office due to his young and still somewhat inexperienced winter teenage driver sliding into the ditch on the way to school. He was waiting for a tow tru…

What does the package say for throat lozenges? How about this - "Has not been evaluated by the food and drug administration." Yet, we buy them. I did in fact, for a sore throat and cold I'm working through right now. When you need to make life decisions more important than a sore throat lozenge, the small print becomes much more important. I will o…

Do you have a parent or other family member, you’re concerned for their next stage of life? Jodi Kay Benusa, a Certified Social Worker works with caring families through Midwest Geriatric Consulting Services, LLC to help handle the overwhelming decisions of caring for the aging loved one in your life with a strategized plan of action. Experienced i…

03:40 Self Development & Purpose 12:45 Thought & Effort - Be the best you can 25:40 Long Term Logical Thinking – Being “All In” 31:57 Inflation & The Fiduciary Standard 35:15 Life Insurance – The “Turbo Charger” 40:58 Retirement vs Re-wire-ment 44:40 Continuing Education – “Know Your Stuff” 49:55 Who’s Pocket Would You Like Your Money to Go Into? 5…

How do you rent your money? That quick question answers the definition of borrowing. Taking a loan out whether its from a bank or a credit union or any number of financial institutions simply means that you’re renting money. The real question is, at what cost? What is the cost to you to rent someone else’s money to get what you want? What is the am…

When you travel down the road and break at a stop sign with a "T" in the road, you have to make a decision to either go left or right. A round-a-bout on the other hand may have multiple options which are neither left, right, forward or back from where you began your journey. As with politics, as we just witnessed with our recent national and state …

We have a Ginkgo tree outside our office. A Ginkgo is a species of tree native to China. Fossils show that they’ve been around since the dinosaurs. A unique characteristic of the Ginkgo tree unlike all other trees is that once the temperature drops below freezing; the very next day, a Ginkgo drops all if its leaves in just one day. Whereas, most tr…

People simply wish to barrel their way through life without taking the time to come to a complete stop to protect themselves from the dangers and liabilities of life. During the YouTube version of this podcast, Mark Bertrang is literally standing at parking lot exit with a Stop sign to his right and one to his left. As he is speaking you can litera…

If you're like Mark Bertrang, you might spend more time watching professional golf than playing anything that looks like 'professional' golf. Mark is lucky if he hits a few buckets of balls annually at a local driving range in his community. Unfortunately, he feels the pressure when he actually plays golf, which leaves him frustrated with his swing…

Fog burns off with the rising of the morning sun. That’s how weather works; but, it’s not quite how life works. It seems as if people worry more and more about the market, their job, emergencies, opportunities, hopes and dreams or worries and regrets. Financially are you in a fog or in the sunshine and what happens when heavy dark clouds approach y…

"The Boom for Life Insurance Policies Fades" according to a recent article in the Wall Street Journal. Now that fear of Covid-19 appears to be waning, the fear of death is waning, as well. Here's the deal though; there is still a 100% chance of death for everyone - You and I are included in that calculation. If you knew when you would die, wouldn't…

There is psychology in everything we want in life. Are we basing our wants and needs on the past, as Sigmond Freud, the founder of psychoanalysis would have suggested or can we be what we project into the future as Viktor Frankl, an Austrian neurologist, psychiatrist and holocaust survivor would presume? Are you a frustrated backwards-thinker or a …

Do you judge too quickly? Thirty-five years prior to entering the financial services industry, Mark Bertrang began his career as a broadcaster. This meant working on-air for five years. Realizing that job would never 'pay-the-bills' long-term, it was suggested that he climb the ladder of broadcast advertising sales. No one ever told him that his ve…

I am often amazed when I enter a brand-new building. I love looking at the architecture. The walls, the ceiling, the floor, the furniture. Everything that has made the new building, the wonderful structure it is. Yet, below it all lies the foundation of that building. The foundation is where you begin. The foundation is what holds it together. The …

Other than your home, your single largest asset may be your retirement account. Many older folks want to leave their 401K, IRA or other retirement account to their kids or grandkids. They believe they're doing to wonderful thing; but, are they? Instead are they setting themselves up to providing a big, fat 'gift' to the government in the form of a …

The road ahead might be one less traveled; but what if it's a road that's been closed to you? Then it doesn't matter, because it now becomes a road you could never experience. We're told that we can do anything we wish, we only need to dream it. That's a great saying, but it's not true. We need to plan, execute and put forth the effort to make thin…

We would all like to think that our life's projects can simply be ‘one and done’. Last year, the street in front of our home was torn up during the entire summer as sewer pipes, water pipes, wiring and electrical hidden underneath the pavement of our street was replaced. We literally lived with a mud bog in the front of our house for three months. …

Grapevines have been plagued by pests that can leave a vineyard void of fruit. Olive trees has been dying in many countries due to pests and disease that has killed off entire hillsides. Have you felt that same frustration with your 401(k), IRA or other retirement account? Specialized grafting has saved many vineyards and olive groves. Could a graf…

Words can be confusing. Why? Sometimes we simply don’t speak the same language. During a recent trip to southern Italy, this became very clear to me. Sometimes just holding up the wrong fingers during a simple conversation can confuse one another. So, why is it that when both speakers are speaking English, there can still be confusion? They’re both…

You've heard of the story about the Achilles Heel or a Glass Jaw. Today, Mark Bertrang shares the story about The Glass Bull. Decades ago, Mark purchased this bull in the village of Murano on an outlying island of Venice, Italy. A small group of world class glass factories are located there, where handblown works of art are produced. Mark carried t…

There are those folks who sit in the stands or armchair quarterback from their mancave. Yet, to win you actually have to get off your duff and get into the game. Playing is oftentimes difficult. It takes training, practicing and endurance. That’s why most of us simply sit in our overstuffed Lazy-boys and yell at our big screen televisions after eac…

You may live in a world of scarcity or a world of abundance. Often, we choose the world in which we live, because of our own upbringing. We bring our own circumstances to the world that we live in. Many believe that their world is out of their control and sometimes it is; but maybe our mind limits us more than our own individual circumstances. Mark…

People talk about 'averages' as if they actually live in an average world, where everything plays out in average-ways. Is that really how life works? Do you want to be average or are you an Outlier, who wants to live in a non-average world, a world full of possibilities which aren't average, but are unique? Let's discuss averages, outliers, your li…

I was scrolling through my Facebook feed recently and saw this post from a client and friend of mine, lamenting on how his four-year-old refrigerator died. It was brand new in 2018 at a cost of $1,900. He and his family had to move all of it contents to a nearly thirty-year-old refrigerator in their basement that has now outlasted two modern refrig…