What are the steps I can take to finally take control of my finances-My interview with Robert Plank

Ralph Estep
00:00:00

What happens when an 8 year old boy is suddenly thrust into managing household finances? Well, join me as I share my journey.

And that's from helping my mom negotiate car deals as a child to becoming a financial evangelist, helping others find hope and freedom from that financial bondage.

On this special replay of my interview on the Marketer of the Day show with Robert Plank, we dive deep into combining faith and finances, breaking generational cycles, break of poor money management and how a life changing visit to a concentration camp led me to my mission of helping others achieve financial peace.

Learn my seven biblical principles for financial success and discover how proper financial stewardship can transform your life, your relationships and your spiritual journey. Don't miss this powerful conversation about money, purpose and making an impact that that ripples through generations.

Podcast Announcer
00:00:56

In a world where crushing debt keeps you trapped, where living paycheck to paycheck has become your new normal, and where the dream of retirement seems impossibly out of reach, there's hope. Join financial evangelist Ralph Estep Jr. A man who's walked through the fire of financial failure and emerged stronger on the other side.

Welcome to Ask Ralph, the show where real world experience meets biblical truth. To break the bondage of financial despair.

To get ready to take control of your money, break free from the financial stress and align your resources with God's purpose for your life. This is Ask Ralph with Ralph Estep Jr.

Ralph Estep
00:01:33

Well, thank you for joining me today. I've got a powerful message for you.

This was an interview that I did on Robert Plank show and it's some things that you may not have ever considered and I think it's going to help you find a deeper relationship with Christ. Now yesterday's show we talked about 16 of the tech tips for seniors helping them break free of isolation and break free of the fear of technology.

And as I always say on this show, if you have a financial question that you need to decide on, go to askralph.com before you make a decision. Click on the search icon and see if I did a show about it.

Now, before I even did this interview with Robert, I got this message from Jessica and it really tied into today's show and this is what Jessica wrote.

Dear Ralph, you mentioned how you were thrust into being the man of the house at age 8 and someone who had to learn about finances at such a young age. What's the most important money lesson you wish your younger self had known?

And how can parents today better prepare their children for financial responsibility without overwhelming them? Well, Jessica, that is a great question and I am truly inspired by your question. And I'm going to tell you that.

Listen to this interview, because during my interview, we got into a great discussion about this very topic. But if I'll answer your question right now, and that is what is the most important lesson that you learned?

I would have learned to be a better saver earlier. Like I've mentioned on this show a couple Times now, at 52, I need to do a better job of building my retirement. And I wish I had started that sooner.

But that is really a great question, Jessica. Now, now, as I mentioned a few days ago, every day on the show I'm going to be doing a gratitude statement.

So here's my gratitude statement for today. I am deeply grateful for my early life experiences, including those challenging moments managing finances as a young child.

And I'll tell you why that is. Because they shaped my purpose and they equipped me to help others break free from financial bondage.

The truth is that pivotal moment at the concentration camp, and you'll hear more about that in the interview, and the journey of combining faith with financial stewardship have become profound gifts. They are truly gifts that God has given me that allow me to guide others towards hope and financial peace.

And I'm thankful for the opportunity to transform it could have been a burden as a young man into a blessing that impacts generations. So that's my gratitude statement for today. Well, I wanted to get to a Bible verse today before we get to the interview.

And it comes to us from Proverbs, chapter 22, verse 6.

And this is what it says, and it is right on point, says this train up a child in the way he should go and when he is old, he will not depart from it.

Well, I guess that hit me right square in the forehead because I got that training as a child and it really helped me with my journey and helped me with helping others. So here's my interview on Robert Plank Show. I hope you really enjoy it.

Robert Plank
00:04:32

Hey, we're back here on the Marketer of the Day podcast with Ralph Estep Jr. He's a financial evangelist, he's an entrepreneur. He raises Black Angus cattle.

He's a financial expert and Entrepreneur with over 30 years of experience helping individuals and small business owners navigate complex financial challenges from a Christian perspective. So Ralph is going to be telling us about so many things if we do this right. Right.

Telling us about life, about religion, about money, about being a good person, about being happy, et cetera. So, Ralph, how the heck are you today?

Ralph Estep
00:05:09

I'm doing fantastic, Robert. Thank you for the opportunity.

Robert Plank
00:05:12

Glad to have you? I'm really excited about some of your big ideas because I know that you have these seven biblical principles. Seek God's wisdom first.

Work diligently, live below your means. Avoid debt, save consistently, give generously, be content. And we can find out about that where exactly?

Ralph Estep
00:05:31

Well, you can go to my website. It's askralph.com that is the central repository of all that good, beautiful information.

Robert
00:05:38

Wonderful. Askralph.com and so we gave people a little bit of information off the bean.

But in your own words, I did my best to introduce you, but what did I leave out? What has you currently Passionate, fired up.

Ralph Estep
00:05:50

So let me give you the backstory. So this all started when I was about 8 years old. And you're probably thinking, ralph, were you really doing accounting work at 8?

And the answer is yes. So picture this. Mom and dad split up when I'm 8 years old.

The last words out of Dad's mouth when he was leaving was, son, you're the man of the house now. So my dad's this accountant, larger than life guy. He didn't move across the country. We just had two separate houses in the same town.

But all of a sudden I've got these responsibilities to take care of my mom. And I'm eight years old. So I'm trying to figure this out.

You know, my friends are figuring out how to hop on their bike and tear off down the street to the park. And I'm in. I'm in the backyard, help my mom start the lawnmower. I'm trying to figure out how do we put heating oil in the house.

I remember at 12, I'll tell you a crazy story, Robert. At 12, picture this. My mom's car decided it was getting ready to die. So she says, I'm going to go buy a new car. So she loaded up my sister and I.

Now I'm 12 years old at the time, my sister's like nine maybe. We're sitting at the car dealership. My mom finds this car she really likes. She could afford to do it.

So we're sitting there and she goes, I really need your help to help me with the sales guy, Ralph, because I don't understand all the things he's talking about now. Again, I'm 12 years old. So we get, we figured this all out. She agrees to a price. We get ushered into the. The finance manager's office.

And the finance's office says, okay, Mrs. Such and Such, here's your deal. And my mom now let me back up a step. So my mom had agreed to pay $300 a month.

Now, this was years ago when you could actually buy a car for $300 a month. So we get into the finance manager's office, and he goes, okay, I figured out your payment's going to be 375amonth.

And my mom looks at me and she goes, wait a second. He told me out, there is going to be 300. So I say to the guy, I'm like, dude, where's this number coming? Shut up, kid. This doesn't involve you.

And I'm like, well, there's strike one. Because I come from an Italian family. You don't tell people to shut up. That's just not cool. So second thing, he starts talking about, okay.

He says, okay, but let me figure this out. And he says, okay, we're going to add credit. Life. We're going to add credit. Well, wait a second. What are all these things you're adding on?

And again, he says, can you tell your son to be quiet? So my mom looks over at me because she goes, we have to figure something out here.

So, long story short, here I'm 12, negotiating contracts for my mom to buy a car. So that's where it all started. And what that made me do, Robert, it made me realize that there are people out there that don't know finance.

They don't understand these things. And so my passion is to help people do that. It's my mission field.

That's why I call myself a financial evangelist, because I'm really marrying two worlds. I'm marrying the world of finance, and I'm marrying the world of faith. Because the two things really go hand in hand.

Hope that answered your question.

Robert Plank
00:08:21

It does. And it gives us, in true podcasting form, gives us, like, four or five branches to grab onto, right? Because even in that story, there.

There's something about how, like, the faith and the morality connect also. Like, there's people say things like, well, look at how some. If. Say you're on, like, a date or something, right? Notice how they treat the waiter.

Or notice how someone treats a kid or a dog. Like, if there's someone who has no benefit to you, cannot serve you in any way, like, how do you treat that person?

There's something to be said about, like, being a kind person, even if there's no, like, tangible benefit just for the sake of the ethics of it. And so. And then when money comes into play, there's a lot of emotion wrapped up, isn't it?

There's a lot of people who, like, they're afraid of money, they ignore it, they don't understand it, they don't control it. And it's such a weird concept in general, right? Someone decided that gold coins or pieces of paper are now ones and zeros.

Just these numbers represent us and what our value is.

And so if someone says, oh my gosh, Ralph, I'm not a numbers person, or how do I even begin to understand my money, my finances, what would you say to someone even as a jumping off point?

Ralph Estep
00:09:37

I'm going to, I'm going to address two things you just said there. First thing you talked about, know how you treat people?

Well, the Christian Bible talks about when you do something even for the least of these, Jesus makes a statement. He said, when you did it for the least of these, you did it for me. So in my life, I look at every person has value.

Every person is of that same level of caliber. To answer your second question, it's the biggest struggle for people.

We have so many people in this country, in this world that are living paycheck to paycheck. They're under this, this bondage of debt and they just don't know how to get free of it.

And unfortunately, I'm going to say about the US in our country, we do a terrible job of educating children financial literacy. We're just terrible at it. And the problem is you've got adults that aren't good at it trying to teach kids who aren't going to be good at it.

And it's this vicious cycle of debt and impoverishment. And the problem is, like, right now, we are in really in a tough time because inflation is going through the roof. Things are costing more and more.

But, but people's wages and salaries aren't going up. So people are struggling. People are looking for that lifeline.

They're looking for somebody like me that comes alongside them and says, hey, Ralph, how can I find hope? And that's why I tie that religion into it, because the two things really go hand in hand.

You can't just say, like, here's how I say this on the show all the time. Robert, I can teach you to be a really wealthy scoundrel. I could do that. I mean, I could show you how to do that, right?

But then you're going to stand at some point in judgment. And he's going to say, what did you do with your sorry self? Well, I did this, this and this. Well, get out of here. I don't know you.

That's the scary part from the Christian faith is that I know you not. So that's why I tie those two worlds together. And my goal is my mission field.

To be honest with you, ever since I was a kid, I saw how my mom was treated. I saw how people took advantage of her because she wasn't financially sophisticated. And I said, you know what? My whole life has led to this point.

I've been very blessed. For 30 years, I've been doing accounting. I've got this skill set.

And now I'm putting that skill set to work for people who have questions on everyday things. Like, for example, I'm recording a show right now, excuse me, I recorded this morning about what's going to happen with taxes in 2025.

We just went through a tumultuous election. We've got a president coming back, we've got a Republican Congress, and we've got all these tax things that are getting ready to expire.

And people are like, ralph, what do I do? Good question. I'm not sure what's going to happen, but have faith. Have faith in knowing that. Do your best, you know, get your house in order.

You can't fix the government, you can't decide how they're going to spend their money, but you can decide how you're going to spend your money. And that's what I talk about on my show, day in, day out. Take financial, what I call stewardship.

Because here's my belief, Robert, nothing that we have is really ours. And a lot of people are taken back by like rap. That sounds like you're anti capitalist. That's not what I'm saying.

I believe that everything you have is a gift from God and it's your responsibility to use it wisely.

So that's the whole central port of my show, is how can I show you how to have that prosperous life using what isn't yours, but you've been charged to take care of it.

Robert Plank
00:12:44

I love it. And it's an interesting concept, right, that there's something that's been given to you, but you also must not squander it.

You also need to do a good job and take some responsibility with what you have. And people always talk about how they're blessed and we are blessed, right? We grew up in the most amazing time in history.

We can be communicating over video on Zoom. There's AI. We have all our basic needs met, but there's still a need to do more and to do our best selves.

And as you said before, break those generational chains, right? Because you look at the national debt, you look at the federal budget. It's a joke. It's a bad example set for us.

And then we were not taught this in school. So then we ourselves as parents do badly with money and then we pass stuff down to our kids. It's time to make a change.

And so as far as some new actions, some new ways of thinking, when someone comes to you with your all of your accounting experience, do you recommend that people like, do better at setting a budget or having buckets of money or like, what's a good action to take in order to get a better handle on our finances?

Ralph Estep
00:13:56

That's actually a really simple question, Robert, and I'm going to give it to you like this. Whenever I start working with a new client, the first thing I do is I assess where they are.

Right now, for example, let's say I'm in Middletown, Delaware, okay, Mid Atlantic. Let's say I want to drive to New York City. Well, in order to get to New York City, I got to draw a map, right?

Well, if I don't know where I'm starting, then how in the world am I going to get there? So that's the first thing I do, is I come alongside somebody and this is an emotional, this is where am I now? What are your assets?

What are your liabilities? What do your bills look like? That's our starting point. Then I move right into what are your goals? I call them your big, hairy, audacious goals.

What are those dreams? And I sit down with them. I say, okay, here's what your dreams are. Maybe for you, Robert, it's we want to own a second home.

Or maybe I want to put my kids through college. Maybe I want to be debt free. Maybe I want to have a six month emergency fund. Everybody's different. There's no cookie cutter approach to this.

So that's what I do. I help them develop those goals. Then I say, okay, this is where Ralph's little different comes in. How do those goals align with your faith?

And we talk about, okay, what is important to you. And then we create that, what I call that financial roadmap, that plan of what's going to get you from point A to point B.

I act as an accountability partner for you and then we measure your success. Because here's the truth. What gets measured gets done. And see, this came full circle for me. I'm going to share another story.

So last October, my son, my oldest son's in the US Coast Guard, and my wife and I decided to take a trip to Germany. Now, I had never Been overseas before. And my son's a big World War II history buff. My uncle actually was a commander in Germany for the U.S. forces.

And I said, I'd really like to go to Germany. So we get to Germany and of course, you know, the Holocaust is a thing, right?

So, so one of the days where we're in Germany, we decided to take a day trip over to Dachau, which was actually the first concentration camp in Germany. And you know, coming from America, I've seen it on tv, I've seen it on Schindler's List, you hear about all this stuff.

But Robert, what moved me was the day we went into Dachau. And it changed my entire life. And it's why I'm doing what I'm doing now.

I'm standing there in Dachau, where they would assemble the people every morning. And just picture this for a second. If you were the tallest person in line, they shot you in the head because you were too tall.

If you were the shortest person in line, they shot you because you're too short. If you looked up all those things and I said to myself, I'm standing on the same stone where so many people had lost their lives.

And I said, and it finally kid to me is, Ralph, what are you doing to give back? Because I've been very successful, Robert. I've had the Corvettes, I own the Rolex watches, I've had the Breitling watches, I've had the beach houses.

But you know what? At the end of the day, Robert, I was empty because I wasn't fulfilling my kingdom purpose. And so that's the other part of this.

I try to help people find that kingdom purpose. Because here's a real basic truth. The Maslow's hierarchy needs says this.

You will never attain higher levels of understanding until you reach that food, clothing and shelter. So my goal is to help you get those basic things found.

Because you'll never get to that higher level of self actualization until you get those things squared away. And you might say, well, Ralph, what does that look like? Well, it depends. Everybody's journey's different. If you want to truly give back, guess what?

You've got to get your house in order first. You can never help somebody else until your stuff is in order. So that's what I do, Robert. I come alongside people.

But I'm telling you, standing in that concentration camp, it changed my complete outlook on life. Because these are people who had no hope. These are people who had no chance. I have that chance.

And I can Impart that wisdom that I've learned over doing this for 30 years to help people find that hope and to finally break free of that bondage. Because financial bondage, it destroys marriages, it destroys relationships, it wrecks people's health. This is a crisis.

And I see my financial evangelist role as helping people find that hope and get past that crisis 100%.

Robert Plank
00:17:53

And I love your mission, and I'm here to help you on that mission because you think about all the money baggage, right? You hear about the. The childhood trauma and even, like, you know, you told a story about your childhood and money.

And I think everyone has something like that along those lines, right? Like watching mom and dad argue about money or some kind of drama, disappointment. And you know, what you mentioned, like, your wife.

What changed my marriage was we used to fight a lot. And then I found some statistic that said, like this huge percent of fights in a marriage are about money.

And I thought, hey, kind of like you're saying I need to go back to basics, I need to get my own house in order because I can't help anyone else if I myself am struggling. And even it's. You must see this a lot where it's not always about money coming in.

It's just like what a tangled mess it is once you get the money and money in going out and not even knowing what you're at, not even measuring, as you're saying. And it's always great when you find a good accountant or CPA like yourself who just gets excited about this, right?

Because even if we ourselves tell ourselves these unhelpful stories that I'm not good with money or I don't like numbers, if you have a buddy in your corner who can provide assistance, who is excited, who lives for the stuff, that can really change quite a lot. And I love the larger than life concept that we mentioned a few minutes ago because just right before this call, I looked up some. Some YouTube.

We already know each other, right? You're a done for you podcasting client. But I'm always like, okay, what research can I do about my guests?

And I watched a couple of other YouTubers and I found myself just like getting sucked into the magnetic personalities and the stories. And even so far, you've shared a lot of these, like, pivotal aha moments. And there's some value in that for all of us, right?

To say, like, well, how do I communicate what I do? And my kind of, on the surface, the dullness of it, right? Like you say you're an accountant. That's Kind of dull.

But then you can make it exciting by adding the stories, by telling people about the mistakes.

So as far as like the podcast, radio, DJ type, influencer, personality, do you have any advice to pass on to us as far as how you have been a larger than life personality?

Ralph Estep
00:20:07

Yeah, I'll give you an example of that. So every Tuesday night, I do a live show. I just started this about two months ago. I do it on YouTube and rumble and this past Tuesday night.

And I'm gonna tackle a couple different things while you're talking about it. This past Tuesday night, I did it all about how to find financial harmony with your partner.

So it was all about those things you were talking about, because you would be shocked. Like, I truly believe that financial intimacy is 10 times stronger than anything else in a marriage.

If you can't get on the same page as your partner financially, that marriage is doomed to fail. Because most of the time, people bring. One person's a spender, one person's a saver. And so that's what I want to talk about that.

But second thing, you asked that question about how do you get to that audience? Well, so one of the reasons I do the Tuesday night show live is because I want to interact with people. People ask questions right in the chat.

And what you find is when you break down that barrier and people start to know you for who you are. See, I put it all out there. Like, there's no secrets at Ralph. I don't play that. Like, I'm a straight shooter. I'm going to call it as I see it.

If you don't like me, that's cool. You'll probably still listen because you want to see what I'm going to say next. So. And I think that's the thing. You have to be authentic.

Because if you're authentic, the passion comes through. And you're right. A lot of people say, well, you know, accounting's kind of dull.

You know, when I was in school at the University of Delaware, we studied alongside engineers. And I always said, the accountants are the engineers with personalities. Okay? And that's what it comes down to if you want to attract an audience.

But not just an audience. Because here's the thing about life, Robert, you know this as well as I do. In business, it's all about the relationship.

If you want to be successful in anything in life, it's that relationship. For me, it's that relationship with Jesus Christ that's important to me.

It's the relationship that I have with my customers here in my Accounting practice. It's the relationship I have with my farmhand who takes care of these Black Angus cows on the farm.

It's the relationship I have with my wife, and it's the relationship I have with my viewers and listeners. Whatever you want to call it, that is where the secret sauce is.

A few years ago, I hired a marketing guy to come into my accounting practice to see what I could do better. And he's sitting in front of me, Robert, and he says, raf, what business are you in? And I said, did you miss the sign as you walked in the door?

And he goes, no, no. I want you to. You to tell me what business you're in. I said, all right, knucklehead. I'm in the accounting business. And he goes, no, not really.

And I said, oh, this is going to be an interesting conversation. I said, okay, I'm in the tax business. I do a lot of tax work, Rob. He goes, no, no, no, that's not it either. I said, all right, I got it.

I figured it out. I'm in the consulting business. And he says, no, Ralph, you're in the relationship business. And that is the truth.

That is the secret sauce, Robert, to all of this.

You want to be successful in business, you want to be successful in life, you want to be successful in finances, Develop those relationships, just like your business. I interact with you. I interact with the people on your team. We build relationships. And that's the key. That's. It's not more complicated than that.

People get all kinds of hung up on. You got to do this and watch this person listen. It's not that complicated. Build that relationship.

If you build a relationship with your podcast or your. Or your show, whatever you want to call it. I moved away from podcasts because it's on so many different platforms. I call it a show.

Build that relationship. People will come back because they want to know what Ralph has to say about it or what Robert has to say about it.

You can talk about the dullest thing ever. Like, the other day, I recorded a show to come out next week on seven sides that your computer's been hacked.

It's not a very exciting thing to talk about, but it's an important thing to talk about.

We live in this cyber digital age, but people want to know what Ralph has to say, and your people that are listening to this are thinking that same thing. How do I grow an audience? How do I find that connection? It's all about the relationships.

Robert Plank
00:23:53

I love it. And you know that. This. When you make a video saying here's seven signs your computer's been hacked.

It might be dull on the surface, but if someone's worried that their computer's hacked, that might be the most interesting topic to them right now. And just looking at the top videos that the team puts out, there's a lot of like, just, let's hit this SEO, hit that SEO.

There's like, there's no limit to the questions that people ask. And we're living in this age where so much is free, right? YouTube is free. There's cloud storage. There's no more VHS tape.

We can crank out the content.

And sure, it has to be good, but there's no reason why we can't put out 10 little reels a day or put out a daily show, because people have all these specific questions. And you and I both know we're living in this age where I don't want to think.

I want to type in my phone into the ChatGPT search or the Google or the YouTube. I'm like, I have this exact specific question and I want this exact specific answer.

And so you mentioned about relationships and what I got from all that was how important it is to show up and put in the hard work and be consistent. And I'm always a huge supporter of someone who does something daily because it just shows that you're a serious business person, right? That you just.

Oh, it's not just when I feel like it or every couple of months. It's every day there's something new so that when that audience gets to know you, then they begin to then expect it.

And so do you have anything to share with us along those lines, like about your work ethic or your habits? If someone has a mission such as you do, and they know that they need to talk to people every day, put out the videos every day.

How do we show up daily?

Ralph Estep
00:25:37

I think you have to have a mission, and I think that's the key to it. There has to be a reason for it. And that's what I'm saying, is if you're just doing it to make a dollar, it's not going to last.

There has to be some underneath the hood reason for doing it. And for me, it's really simple. And it's the parable of the lost sheep. So picture this. The Bible talks about the lost sheep, right?

And the shepherd has a hundred sheep and one of them wanders off. Now, what did the shepherd do? The shepherd left the other 99 to go find the 1. My mission is the same.

If I can reach One person today, whether that be with an audio podcast, with a video podcast, with a reel, with a blog post, with an email post, then I've done my job. And that's the secret to the whole thing, Robert. That's what keeps me going.

Because as I'm working and I put about two to three hours a day into this, which a lot of people are like, ralph, where do you find the time? I don't know. God's given me the time. He's given me the tools to do it. And I really enjoy it because, like I said, I'm looking for that one person.

I'm looking for that single mom who's struggling, who's trying to figure out how do I put food on the table. Yeah, I'd like to put an emergency fund aside, Ralph. But, dude, I'm trying to figure out how to put food on the table for this week.

If I can give them one little nugget, one little ounce of hope with this idea, do this or do that, man. I'm gonna tell you what the best feedback I've ever gotten was. I got a text from somebody after I released one of my shows, and they said to me this.

And, Robert, this changed my complete life. It said, ralph, it was like you were talking to me directly. And see, that made it all good. Dude, I don't.

You could throw me all the money in the world. It wouldn't make me feel any better than that text message that said it was like you were talking to me.

Because then I go and I think about that day of judgment when. When the Lord himself says, well done, good and faithful servant, because that's my focus.

So you might not be a Christian, you might not have the same belief I have, but work for a purpose. So that's really my takeaway, Robert, is what is that purpose? Because money isn't going to do it. You're going to find. Look, some of the most.

The most wealthy people I know are the most miserable people I know. Sure. Because they don't have that purpose. They don't have that what I call kingdom purpose. So my secret to that is develop that purpose.

Can I work with a couple different coaches? And we worked a long time to develop what's Ralph's why, you know, do I want to build more business? Sure. I'd like to have more clients.

Do I want to do this? Do I?

But the real why for me was that one person, you know, that person, maybe they're sitting in their car on the way home, they're listening to my Daily podcast and they've had a really tough day. And I say to them, hey, there's hope. Here's something you can consider.

And they get a smile on their face and then they go into their home with their wife and kids and they're in a different mental place. That saves a marriage, saves a relationship, dude. That's what it, that's what is for me.

So every day when I get to doing this work, dude, it's like the greatest thing ever for me because it's my way to impact humanity. And I know that sounds like a big, hairy, audacious goal that I talk about, dude, but when you can find that, the rest of it just falls into place.

Robert Plank
00:28:48

That is very motivational and inspiring, this idea of the self awareness and the focus and the categorizing. And I get a lot from you, the, like, the storytelling and the imagination.

And I think there's definitely value in keeping that in your head sometimes and saying, like, hey, you know, one day is when I say, well, should I really put in the two or three hours recording? Sure. You really get out of bed in the morning and you think about those people that you're helping, that you have help that you will help.

That's a great driver in moving forward. And in our last few minutes here of our conversation, I want to make sure that we talk about what excites and energizes you.

So in this conversation we're having, is there a missing, hidden, invisible question that I should be asking you, but I just don't know to ask it?

Ralph Estep
00:29:35

And I'm going to go back to what you just said, and that is you can make an impact on people you may never meet because you may make an impact on a grandfather that shares an idea with a grandson who then puts that into practice. So, you know, it's just they talk about in the Bible, some people plant seeds, some people water seeds, some people fertilize seeds.

Well, think about your mission in life to be that same thing, because you're not always going to get that direct feedback. You're not going to always get that text message.

You're not always going to get that customer to sign the bottom, the bottom line and say, yeah, I want to do business with you, Ralph, but think about all the impacts you're making. So that's really the question is, you know, you have to look at it like this, Robert, is how much of an impact am I making?

Because the day in, a day out, man, it's a hustle, to be honest with you. There are days I get here in the morning in my office early, and I'm like, I'm getting ready to turn on my prompter.

I'm getting ready to turn on the microphone and the camera, and I go, oh, boy, here we go. So my secret is prayer. To be very honest with you, I just say this. I made a real simple prayer.

Lord, give me the wisdom to know who you want me to talk to today. And then I just go, because I figure, you know what? He's got that figured out. I'm gonna do my part, he'll do the rest of the part. So that's the.

That's the secret thing I guess you could ask about is like, what is your internal motivation, Ralph?

And my internal motivation is knowing that I'm just one of those people that maybe they're planting seeds, maybe they're watering, maybe they're fertilizing. I don't really care, dude, because at the end of the day, there's an impact, and I may never see that impact, but just think about it.

It's that energy that goes outward from you, and all of us have the capacity to do that because we can do the same thing and tear people down. Let me tell you another little secret, Rob.

I don't want to take up more of your time, but what you need to understand about me is eight years ago, I was a tyrant, dude. I was a controlling person. My wife and I split up. My wife filed for divorce. She moved to another state.

We both met other people and got engaged to other people. And I finally said to my sorry self, I said, ralph, what are you doing? And I went and started working with a counselor, and we fixed that.

And I'm happy to say that we're going to celebrate 25 years of marriage in September, because two days before our divorce was going to be finalized, Robert, I called her and I said, hey, you want to try to make this work? Because both of us had just had these new relationships which were just not working. So think about it. I've been through the fire, Robert. I get it.

Like, I'm not one of these guys that tells you about these Pie in the sky ideas. I've lived it, dude. I've been that person that was tearing people down.

I've been that person that didn't have the right mentality, who was the negative guy. And I flipped the script, dude. And that's because God got a hold of me and he said, ralph, I have a purpose for your life, and.

And stop trying to do it on your Own. Let me lead you. So that's where I'm at, dude. And it's powerful, dude. But I just have to share that with you because that's who I am.

That I was that controlling guy. I was that negative guy. I was that, you know, they talk about, is the glass half full. I was that guy that says, might as well be empty.

But look where it was getting me. It got me nowhere. And then when I flipped the script, dude, it's all just clicked.

Robert Plank
00:32:44

And now that you flip the script, now that it's clicked, you're here to pass on these words of wisdom with the ripple effect, because especially on the Internet, right? There's so many lurkers or so many spectators.

And so who knows, if one sentence you say saves someone else's marriage or save someone else's lifestyle, I think there's some kind of saying of like, if you want to have the tallest building in town, you can either build a taller building or just knock down ones that are taller than yours. And that's very powerful, right? And many times, even in our conversation, conventional logic or emotion doesn't get us there.

But then the power of a story or your faith or some passage or some words to wisdom or just the perspective of someone else saying, hey, I was in this way.

Worse situation can sometimes wake us up and change our course of action and help us to do better with our faith and our finances and our life and everything else that goes along with that. And so what are some Next steps here, Mr. Ralph? What if someone says, I was really impressed with what Ralph had to say. I want to contact him.

For what reason would they contact you and how can they do it?

Ralph Estep
00:33:51

So I am a financial evangelist. I'm a financial coach. I do tax work. I help people get from where they are. Now, whether that's an individual or that's a business.

Best thing you can do is go to askralph.com you'll see a little icon at the top says, book a call with Ralph and we'll sit down together. We'll talk about how to move forward. I've written two books. Both of those are on the website as well. I do this daily podcast.

It's on all the normal platforms. I release video on YouTube and Rumble. We release shorts, we release reels. We just launched TikTok.

I read a daily blog article and I'm doing all kinds of stuff. So find out where that meets with you and let's get together, let's have a conversation.

Because you have to surround yourself with good People, this one of the biggest problems, I think business people don't realize. They're so afraid to spend a little money. But what they don't realize is they can't do everything.

They can't be the captain of this and the captain of that. Let me be the captain of the financial side of this, and let's work together and we'll take it to the next level. That's really the answer, right?

Robert Plank
00:34:51

Let's do it. And that website is askralph.com a s k r-a l p h.com and as we're heading there, I know you're a pro podcaster, Mr.

Ralph, and this is the part of the show where I like to put my guests on the spot, try to stump them a little bit. It's a little scary.

I asked them about a helpful quote or lesson that has served them, that can serve us, and you've already shared so many, but is there one that works well as a grand finale? Is there a quote or lesson that you've come across that you live by that you can pass on to us?

Ralph Estep
00:35:23

I'm going to go back to that Dachau visit and then when I got back, I watched Schindler's List for the second time.

And right at the end of Schindler's List, when Oskar Schindler was looking at the people that he had saved, the somebody said, if you save one person, you save the world entire. Each of us has the ability to make that impact, impact one person and just watch it go from there.

Robert Plank
00:35:50

Time to get to it. And the very first step is to go to askralph.com dig in.

Whatever your level of awareness, temperature, action taking, it is you can read the blogs, you can watch the videos, or better yet, contact Ralph and have that conversation talk to him about your needs. Mr. Ralph V. Estep Jr. Wonderful speaking with you today.

Ralph Estep
00:36:12

Great, Robert. I appreciate the opportunity and I wish all of the people listening God's blessing. Well, now I want to share some reflection questions.

As you know, a few days ago I mentioned that with every show I want to really take a few minutes and reflect on it. So here are my three reflection questions for today.

Number one, I shared the transforming experience of my visit to Dachau that it really did change my perspective on my life's purpose. So my question for you is, what moments or experiences in your life have led you to reevaluate your priorities and your sense of purpose?

My second reflection question is this.

The interview discusses how financial struggles can deeply impact relationships, particularly marriages how has your relationship with money affected your personal relationships? And what steps could you take to create better financial harmony with your loved ones?

And my third reflection question for today is I emphasize the importance of having a mission beyond making money. In fact, I said, if you're just doing it to make a dollar, it's not going to last.

So what deeper purpose or mission drives your work or career choices? And how does it motivate you to keep going during challenging times? Now I'm going to share a few action steps that you can take right away.

But first, let me ask you to do me a favor. Here's the big question of the day. Has the Ask Ralph show transform your money mindset? If it has, I want you to do me a favor.

Take 30 seconds and share the show with others and share it with a purpose. Here's what I'm going to ask you to do. Get your phone out and text askralph.com to any friends or family who are seeking financial guidance.

Maybe they're feeling like they need help and you're like, I know this person could benefit from this.

Just go there and type to say, hey, Ralph, check out this website, askRalph.com if you if you're a member of a faith community, you can share it with your chat groups. Maybe post your success story. Say something along these lines.

Say, hey, I found financial clarity through faith at askralph.com and last but not least, you can share with your family. Maybe say something like this, this helped me. And whatever those things are, maybe it's break the cycle of of dead or find purpose in my life.

Share that with them. Bring it up in your Bible study. Share favorite episodes with loved ones.

Like I said, they're all there askralph.com and even share it with your financial advisor or password or your pastor. Excuse me, not your password. Don't share your password. Share with your pastor. And here's why I say all these things. You think about it.

One share could be someone's first step towards financial freedom and stronger faith. So if you're ready to make a difference, do me a huge favor and share askralph.com.

Well, now I'm going to get to those action steps that you can take today. And here they are. Number one, assess your current financial position before making any plans.

Because I always say on the show, you got to know where you're starting. You've heard me say it. If you're taking a trip, you got to know where your starting point is and your ending point.

So, number one, assess your current financial position before making any plans. Number two, create clear financial goals and what I call big, hairy, audacious goals. Those are the things that are going to be within your reach.

But make them audacious, make them big, make them something to strive for. And once you decide on those goals. Number three, align those goals with your personal values and beliefs because that's the key to the whole thing.

Number four, Then you're going to develop a financial roadmap to get you from position to your goals. Like we talked about, you're starting here, you want to get to here, develop that financial roadmap.

Number five, establish measurement systems that will make you be accountable because I always see on the show what gets measured gets done. And finally, number six, work on getting basic needs met, your food, clothing and shelter squared away.

Because until you do those things, you're never going to be able to get those higher goals. So those are my action steps. I talked about those during the interview and I really hope you found value in it.

Now, tomorrow we're going to be tackling another important topic, and this one I get asked time and time again during tax season, and that's Ralph, how do I handle my taxes when I live in one state but work in another? That is a very common question and a lot of people get confused about it.

So tomorrow I'm going to be doing a very practical discussion so you won't want to miss that. Now as I close today, remember my passion is to help you achieve financial success.

I want to see you live out your dreams and I want to see you grow in your faith. And I know working together we can master your finances from a Christian perspective.

So as I end the show today, as I always do, stay financially savvy out there and may God bless you abundantly.

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00:41:03

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