The Get Ready Money Podcast

The Get Ready Money Podcast with Parker Pursell: The Power of Asking Questions

• Tony Steuer

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On the latest episode of The Get Ready Money Podcast, I spoke with Parker Pursell, the President and CEO of eQRP about changing the way we think about money and asking the right questions.


In this episode we discussed:

  • How you are the master of your money.
  • Understanding that money is a resource.
  • The importance of knowing where your money is going.
  • Why giving can bring you joy.  
  • Aligning your money with your values.
  • Why you should think before you spend. 

Parker Pursell, is the President & CEO of eQRP. Parker is revolutionizing financial freedom for professionals and investors alike. Guided by the principle of Steward Leadership, Parker's fervor lies in nurturing growth, both in individuals and their financial success. His career spans impactful roles at Chick-Fil-A and Pursell Farms, but it was during the COVID-19 pandemic's unemployment wave that Parker's trajectory took a transformative turn. Embracing the challenge head-on, he ventured into the financial world, joining eQRP. Now, three years later, Parker leads the organization, leaving an indelible mark by empowering thousands of individuals annually. His dedication to cultivating financial liberation stands as a testament to his unwavering commitment, shaping a future where financial empowerment knows no bounds.

Connect with Parker Pursell:


Website: http://eQRP.com

Twitter - https://twitter.com/parker_pursell

LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/parker-pursell

Youtube - The eQRP Company - @theeqrpcompany1997

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Speaker 1:

Are you looking to get ready, be prepared and transform your financial future? Then you've come to the right place. This is the Get Ready Money Podcast with Tony Stewart, where Tony has insightful conversations with financial experts who are changing the way we think about money. Catch up on the latest financial trends and hear practical advice from Tony and his expert guests so you can build healthy habits that work, Be empowered with tips for implementing small changes that can have a big impact on your financial future. So sit back and get ready to hear from today's guest. So sit back and get ready to hear from today's guest.

Speaker 2:

Welcome to the Get Ready Money podcast changing the way we think about money. I'm pleased to be joined today by Parker Purcell. Parker is the president and CEO of EQRP. In this episode, we'll be discussing Parker's insights on how we change the way we think about money and finding financial freedom. Parker, welcome to the Get Ready Money podcast. Thanks for joining us today. Thanks for having me on. Yeah, thanks for being here. I look forward to this conversation. So tell us a little bit about yourself. What is your origin story?

Speaker 3:

Yeah, so I was born here in Alabama, grew up on a 3,200 acre farm. We had a family business for about 110 years that was in fertilizer, so we started off very rudimentary in that and just kind of kept passing on in generations and acquired some land Along the way. My granddad, just like, was always entrepreneurial. My dad passed that, or my granddad passed that down to my father, and so we ended up taking our corporate headquarters out to our family farm 3,200 acres. We ended up building a golf course on it to sell our product and in 2006, we sold it for nine figures. Now we were left with you know some cash and what's next. And then from there we ended up building a family business centered around hospitality, given that was a main core value and strategy in our previous business. We just built a hotel and built around the golf course. So we got an 81 room property and a bunch of other stuff out here in the South, one of the leading destinations here, which is cool. But that's where I got and learned a lot of my introduction into business and entrepreneurship One of six kids, but graduated Auburn in 2013 and marketing, went and left and worked with Chick-fil-A for about three years.

Speaker 3:

Thought I was going to go be an operator, and then you know God has some different plans at times, other than what I think is best for my life, and so came back to the family business when we were developing this resort and was there for about four years, served various positions, kind of took all the things I learned at Chick-fil-A and applied them to the family business and helped my father grow. That COVID hit right 2020, we all have a story there Found myself unemployed for about eight months. I went and pressure washed I was cutting fairways on a riding mower right Like really it was.

Speaker 3:

it was great, great time for me to think and kind of figure out what I wanted to do next in my life and found myself in finance about a year later and put my head down, saw an opportunity to help grow something. I'm not much of a, you know, put me in a box and nine to five, like just pencil push every day, like I need to be moving around solving problems. It keeps my mind engaged. And so when I came across this company, it was just the best fit and opportunity for me to help apply all my previous skillset to our founder, uh, to help him grow his business. And so, you know, a few years later I got the opportunity to now lead this organization and, uh, it's been fun. So you know, or I should, should I say it's been my pleasure to do it.

Speaker 2:

Well, that's awesome. That's quite the journey and a little bit nontraditional for people in the financial community.

Speaker 3:

Yeah, background in hospitality end up in finance. I don't know how you get there.

Speaker 2:

Well, you know, I think that might be more important for people is, you know, is that background in hospitality, because you know, I know, with a company like Chick-fil-A, you know it's about serving and making the customer happy and have a good experience, and I think, I think we miss that sometimes in personal finance. That it is, you know, how our clients feel is important it is their perception is our reality.

Speaker 3:

So you know we're here to serve and serve others not only the first mile, but go the extra mile for them. And to be quite honest, people miss the first mile in today's generation. They just are like a lot of entitlement going on versus like, hey, I'm here to serve you and typically if you serve the individual well, then they'll tell, they'll come back more often, tell others about you and pay full price. So it's like why wouldn't you take that approach, create a raving fan?

Speaker 2:

Yeah, I'm exactly with you on that, and I think it is about creating raving fans as a business person. That's what you really want. Is you want somebody who's going to go out and tell somebody else about you, about your services or your company, you know, wherever you are on that spectrum? Absolutely yeah. So that's not only good advice for those of us in the financial services industry, that's good advice for all of us. Is, you know, great raving fans? So you know, tell us a little bit what is EQRP?

Speaker 3:

Yeah. So EQRP stands for Enhanced Qualified Retirement Plan. We are a company that is built around serving individuals in the self-directed retirement space, and what our mission is is to help empower families to invest in the assets that give them the highest likelihood of success, regardless of asset class. So, for us, the way we serve individuals is the traditional finance space is locked up right Like your 401ks.

Speaker 3:

They're stuck, can't do much with them, and, given the environment that we're currently in, right, a lot of people are losing confidence in traditional finance strategies and they're learning more Right Like education is very powerful because once you start learning like wait, like, why is my money not being put to work out in these other assets that provide a higher return? Therefore, if you don't know the questions to ask, or if you don't know the information, then you actually can't ask better questions. And so now I think people are just asking better questions and they're getting control over that money and want to start putting it to work in Main Street assets. So that's our mission is to help empower families to take that control and go invest in the asset classes that make most sense to them, regardless of where it is. So if you're interested in real estate. If you're interested in crypto or private lending, whatever the thing is, our company is here to help assist them in getting that money out and then putting that money to work.

Speaker 2:

That's awesome, and I think you said something important that I want to highlight that I often talk about myself is you have to know the right questions to ask. If you don't even know the right questions to ask, you're not going to get the best answers. So you know, it's great that you're encouraging people from that avenue. So why is it important for people to be self-reliant with their money?

Speaker 3:

Self-reliant. Did I hear you say that correctly? Yeah, yeah, yeah, I mean, think about like this it's if you're interested in being fed, that's one thing, but if you're interested in never having to rely on somebody to feed you, then that's probably more empowering, right? And so, same as with your money, if you show up every day looking to get a check and think that that's going to take you to where you want to go, then, sorry, that's probably not in spaces that otherwise you wouldn't have access to. You know, teach a man to fish. He eats for a lifetime. If you feed a man a fish, then he eats for a day. So think about it like that, like for with your money. You want to be taught how to do the thing, not be given the thing because it serves you, no better.

Speaker 2:

Yeah, no, I'm with you. 100, it's. It's important to learn and you know I'm seeing that theme already, you know, with your philosophy and everything is. You know that it's. It's all about learning and asking questions and being curious, and I don't think people are often curious enough about their money. They, you, you know, as you said, they're, they're passive when it comes to it.

Speaker 3:

You know it's tough because people want to passively get to the result. They want the least amount of pain possible. But you know it's hard Like learning a new skill is hard, like learn teaching yourself these things as hard. It requires work, it requires exercise and when I say exercise I mean putting your money to work and it's uncomfortable. But when I think of the four years that I've been here almost four years been here at this company it's been a lot of work, but I'm set up so much better for the future because of all the knowledge that I've been able to apply and learn. And, you know, have opportunities to put money to work or lose money. Right, I've been playing the game, so I've experienced the highs and lows of everything. But yeah, that's just. That's my two cents on that.

Speaker 2:

That's awesome. So you know, let's back up just for a minute to define a term what is self-directed investing?

Speaker 3:

Yeah, so traditionally self-directed investing most people understand it is in their 401ks and say, oh well, we'll let you self-direct, meaning you can just pick your own stocks in mutual funds or whatever Like that's. That's what people understand it in today's day and age. That's what people understand it in today's day and age, but I would argue back in 2020, when the world kind of blew up and people started asking a lot more questions. Right is that this whole new term of self-directed investing in assets outside of retirement space is that there's tools out there where you can get control over your retirement dollars and then you have control to go put that money to work in the assets that you know like and trust, not just excuse me traditional finance structures. You can still do that, but these vehicles allow you to move money into crypto, real estate syndications or private lending opportunities, like whatever the thing is. So that's what true self-directing is. It's not limited, it's just yes, and that's awesome.

Speaker 2:

So you know, with that as part of your strategy, that's where the education comes in, because people aren't as familiar with that, right?

Speaker 3:

out for the individual. So you know it's very seamless. We have a process that we work with. You know, thousands of people that you know want access to that money, get control of it, and then they say what's next? Well, not only do we help them get control of that money, not only do we give them all the tools they need to be successful, but we also provide a space for them to start putting their money to work in private opportunities that are out there that otherwise they would never see. But we just have a large enough community that allows us to give them everything they need to get from A to Z as quick as possible, and we broker all the education along the way from our end to help them. So we aren't advisors, we're more like think of us as like coaches. So we just we don't tell them what to do, we just teach them how to do it.

Speaker 2:

We don't tell them what to do, we just teach them how to do it. I love that teaching people how to do it for themselves. I think that's what's often missing in the financial services community, you know, is that we just talk at people instead of helping them you know, going back.

Speaker 2:

You know, I even use that analogy about teaching a man to fish in my latest book. Use that analogy about teaching a man to fish in my latest book. You know that was in the my introduction. Uh, because I I mean, I'm a, I'm with you 100, I think the other people uh. Thing that you're talking about that's super important is that you're empowering people to take control of their money, and I think that's important is that we each have a responsibility to manage our own money. Um, it's our money.

Speaker 3:

Nobody, like you said, nobody's going to come along and save you nobody's going to care about your money more than you so, like, why wouldn't you want to, like, take control over that? Would you rather fall on your own sword or fall on the sword of somebody else? Like? The reality is is you're going to be better off fighting your own battle than allowing somebody to do it, and you're still going to be mad at them, like, but what? What?

Speaker 3:

They're taking the other approach, like having somebody do it for you. It takes away the learning opportunity, right? Because then you're just left pointing the finger at your financial advisor, for you know either something he did or didn't have control over, and you're just kind of playing victim like, oh, woe is me. You know, you did all this. It's like, or you could take control over that on whatever amount that you want to put to work, and then say, okay, like, if it's going to be me, if it's going to fall on me, it's going to fall on me, and then I'm going to, you know, make that decision myself. So that's what we want people to do.

Speaker 2:

That's awesome. So you know, let's talk about fear for a second is how can people overcome fear when it comes to their money?

Speaker 3:

Well, I'm sure there's a lot of different answers to this, but for me, having a faith-based approach to this question, it's in my life and I'll speak from experience when I'm worried about money and worried about being provided for, there's an element to which you have to understand that, like, is it yours to begin with, right? Like if we leave this world and we can't take it with us, then was it ever ours truly to begin with? I think, first understanding your approach of what money is. It's a resource, it's a conduit, I think, for a lot of good that you can do, and it's also a conduit for evil. We see it all over the place.

Speaker 3:

If you're scared about your money, I think, first just getting a clear reality of where you are, about your money, I think. First just getting a clear reality of where you are, like a lot of people just look at their bank account and watch money come in and out and they never know where it's actually going. Right, a lot I don't know how many people are you know, listen or follow Dave Ramsey I did early on in my career it's a matter of telling your money what to do. Don't allow it to dictate you. And so I would argue that most people are being dictated by their finances versus them dictating it, which drives a lot of fear. But if you know exactly what every dollar is doing, that comes in and you're telling it what to do. It actually cuts away a lot of anxiety and fear. So that would be my biggest piece of advice for somebody is get clear on your reality and what's actually happening, not what you think is happening.

Speaker 2:

I love that and I think it gets back to your whole approach. It's about the education, because the more you know, the less scared you're going to be of any situation. It's you know, I wouldn't advocate somebody to skydive because personally I'm scared to jump out of a plane. But once you know more about it you can say well, you know, maybe it's not that risky. It's probably riskier to drive to work than to jump out of an airplane.

Speaker 3:

Yeah, it's so funny you say that because I use that analogy all the time when I'm explaining risk to people because they're like, well, this way is risky. And I was like that doesn't actually make any sense. Like all risk is is the absence of experience. Therefore, like an experienced skydiver doesn't look at what he does as risky because he's done it a hundred thousand times, but for the first person getting up there they may be like this is really risky. It's like, well, yeah, but you're doing it for the first time, like everything's got risk. Or when they say, oh, you know, the stock market's just not as risky. I was like of course it is. The rug can be pulled out there equally as much as it can be pulled out under another asset class. You just don't have the experience investing in the other things. Therefore, you're assessing risk to lack of experience or what you don't know.

Speaker 3:

Yeah that's awesome.

Speaker 2:

Yeah, we can talk about the stock market another time, but I'm with you on that. Yeah, it can be very risky. So let's switch into the get ready money questions. The first one is what basic money concept do you wish people knew?

Speaker 3:

The importance of giving. I think when it comes to money, oftentimes we're looking at how we can serve ourselves instead of serving others, and there's a lot of joy that can be found in looking for opportunities to bless others. It's a fundamental thing that I've learned in my life, which has not only opened up more resources in my life to do more, but also, I just think you get to enrich others. And so you know, when I think of just a money, concept is people think about giving, but they don't actually apply that in their strategy for working with money. It's like, oh, it's just an afterthought versus like what if I take this approach, and how much more space could this open up in my life? Which has allowed me to not only be more creative, think more creatively, but it's brought more resources in when I take the giving first approach first, not last, and it's given me more joy. So that's something I wish more people took advantage of and thought through for themselves.

Speaker 2:

Yeah. And I'm with you a hundred percent. I think sometimes people miss that is you know, and that also gets into helping with your values and everything and taking you know, as you talked about earlier a service oriented approach to life and to your work. So what is one simple thing people can do each year to set themselves up for financial success?

Speaker 3:

Get a clear picture of your reality, like you know every year, just look at what you spent your money on, right, like where your money's going, always assess, because your values change and things you care about change throughout the course of the year and oftentimes if you don't have like level setting, time set aside for your life, for your money, then you it's like looking at a P&L six months later. Six months later, right, like you're making a decision that could have been done that month to change course, versus like staying frustrated about not knowing but wanting to do something else. So I would just I would incorporate that every single year is take a day to sit down and look at where you spent all your money and even assess like trips you went, like all the things where your resources go, and then say what do I want this next year to look like, like build your values If they're the same, cool, but they can change and then align your money around your values and your decisions that you make for the next year.

Speaker 2:

I love that. Align your money around your values and you know that also gets back to what you were saying about giving just a minute ago is you know you can live your values with your money and, as you pointed out earlier, money is a tool to help you do that, and that's all it is. So what is one simple thing? Oh, wait a minute, just ask you that one. What is one habit that people can change when it comes to their money?

Speaker 3:

One habit Ah, uh, think before you spend, like credit cards and debit cards and the card itself. Like people just go and they do without thinking, like sit on decisions, big decisions, even small ones, like you know 10, $2,000 purchases throughout the month. Although it may feel small, they add up and if you aren't actually thinking about what you're doing, uh, not saying don't do it, but like take a minute to step back and think about what you're purchasing or why you're purchasing it. Like, people get emotional, and I'm the same right, like when I'm sad or down, like you either. Like for me, I like ice cream. I love ice cream and it's like an emotional connection for me.

Speaker 3:

And if I'm on a, if I have a diet that I'm on or I'm trying to like physically set myself up for success, and then I've had a hard day and I get to the end, I think, oh, ice cream makes me feel good. Uh, therefore, I'm going to eat a massive bowl of it and I do it without thinking and I'm like wait, why did I do that? Like I just completely destroyed, you know, my plan for the day. So the same concept goes with people and their money. Like you know, make sure your emotions aren't driving your spending, but you're. You're using a little bit of logic, going in and being like, okay, this is, I'm going to do this because of X, not because I just I'm not thinking and it just makes me feel better to swipe the card.

Speaker 2:

Yeah, no, that's awesome advice, and I think what you said there at the very end is really important for people to understand is make sure your emotions aren't driving your spending and your other financial decisions. Just in general is you know, make an analytical decision, you know, rather than just that emotional reaction. You know, we often think you know, and that's what marketing is designed to do to spark an emotional connection like, hey, you need this because this is going to make you cool, or this is going to make you feel this way, yeah, and instead, of saying hey, you know the concept or the saying when emotion is high.

Speaker 3:

And hey, you know the concept or the saying when emotion is high, wisdom is low. So think any time that you've ever been highly emotional. Are your decisions really sound or are you like, oh man, I should have stepped back and thought a little bit more through that Right? Like all wisdom is, is knowledge and is experience evaluated Right? So you know, if you're not taking time to slow down and apply that wisdom, then your emotions are running pretty high. Then I don't make as good a decision when I'm hyper emotional. I can tell you that for a fact.

Speaker 2:

Yeah, I'm not sure anybody does, but I'm sure there's somebody out there who can prove the exception to the rule. There you go. What money myth are you trying to break? Say that one more time. What money myth are you trying to break?

Speaker 3:

The myth that you can't get to where you want to go by yourself. I'm not saying go alone, but the traditional system teaches you that you have to give control to somebody else to get to where you want to go. Because I'm a financial like and I'm not. I'm not poo pooing on financial advisors Right, like they serve, but if you take the approach that this is the only way that you can do it and you don't have what it takes like, then that's a false myth.

Speaker 3:

And you don't have what it takes like, then that's a false myth. Why? Because I know it to be true in my life. For me, we exist to empower these families and people to be able to break those financial shackles right, to teach them about these assets that make the most sense for them, regardless of the asset class you know. Therefore, the myth that you can't do it yourself. That's completely false and that's why our company exists is because it's false, because we're doing it ourselves and we're doing it outside of the traditional system and we're just giving you all the tools and resources you need to be successful on your own.

Speaker 2:

Well, I think that's important is that you need the right tools and resources to do it on your own. But it's, yeah, it's one thing just you know. So don't follow the latest device on tiktok, that's not going to give you the right resources and tools so well and like for us.

Speaker 3:

Uh, I speak in analogies, it's just an easy way for me to communicate. But we're like samwise gamesy on frodo's journey, right like he's the one that has to do the work. He's the one that has to take the ring, it's his mission right to deliver this thing. But he needed a companion. Like he needed help. He needed people, someone to be alongside him. And that's the approach that we take. We're like you know we're battling, we're fighting for our friend, like we're gonna shots for him if we have to, but only he can do the journey. We're just there to help when he turns over and it's like hey, I need you. We're like we're here to help. What do you need us to help you? To help you with?

Speaker 2:

Well, I think you came back to what you said earlier. That's super important is we have to do our own journey. We can find help on the journey, but our journey is our own journey at the end of the day, and I think the best advisors are the ones who are like Samwise Candy, if I remember the name correctly. Yeah, there's lots of them. They help our friends.

Speaker 3:

Yeah, there's a lot of great. Like my family, we've walked with our financial advisors I'll even call them out at Ron Blue. They work in Atlanta and they have walked a hard journey with us. They're good people out there that are existing to help get you where you want to go, however it takes. So you know they're out there. I'm not saying that that whole, like that whole industry is bad, but they're.

Speaker 2:

they've been great for us that whole industry is bad, but they've been great for us. Yeah and I think that's a reminder for all of us, whether we're in financial services or not is to guide your clients, help your clients, but let your clients be the ones who bear the responsibility. You'll get a much deeper connection with your clients over the lifetime, and that's what you want to look for as a consumer in working with an advisor somebody who's going to help you reach your goals and empower you. So you know, Parker, let's get out the time machine for a minute. What advice would you give your younger self if you go back in time, knowing what you know now, back in time, knowing what you know now, oof Knowing what I know now, I think I would have taken more risk.

Speaker 3:

I was very risk averse growing up. There's a lot of things that if I could go back and do it all over again whether it be my time in college, thinking about, like where I spent my time, where I could have been working but you know, you're figuring all those things out and then just asking more questions. I think I just hoped excuse me that I would fall into success. Like I grew up around a lot. I didn't grow up around. I had every opportunity to be successful and I watched my granddad and my dad grow this massive thing.

Speaker 3:

But I was still stuck wondering, like how, how did you get there? Like how, how did you acquire all this wealth and this knowledge? And and so there's this massive gap. So for me, I could have taken a better approach, trying to close that gap at a younger age, versus just being like it'll work itself out. Like I didn't know how I'm just going to go work and you know, hopefully, my income increases, working a nine to five. But now I'm just understanding leverage and you know where you can put your money to work and I had no idea what that was growing up.

Speaker 2:

Yeah, so basically learning something Asking more questions. Yeah, I love that.

Speaker 3:

Asking more questions. So what is your number one tip on changing the way we think about money? Is that, first, it's not ours to begin with? Uh, it's a resource that we have to tell what to do, versus letting it dictate us. Therefore, uh, you know, like I said it goes back to that earlier question I just don't think people do a good enough job telling their money what to do. You are the master of your money. Don't let the money master you, because you'll just end up in a place you don't want to be, but you have to master it. Therefore, when you master it, you tell it where to go. You slap it in the face when it's trying to do something out of line Like so, master your money and it'll, you know, take you to places that you never thought you could go, just, and it costs you nothing. You just, you know, apply the time and energy towards it.

Speaker 2:

Yeah, I think that's powerful advice is to control your money. We so often let money control us and worry about that instead of. You know, like you've been talking about through the whole show, is that there are choices you can make and things you can do. I mean, sometimes you're going to be at the mercy of your money, you know, but you can't change a lot of what you do and how you think about it. So you know that's wonderful advice. So, Parker, where can people learn more about you and EQRP?

Speaker 3:

Yeah, you can just go to EQRPcom and you can look us up there and from there you can schedule a consult with our team. If you're just interested around, what does self-directed investing look like, I would argue if you even have the thought there about investing in something outside of Wall Street using your retirement money, then give us a call, because there's a high likelihood that you're going to be able to do the thing that you want and get to where you want to get as quickly as possible, and that's where our company exists. So just go to eqrpcom and just schedule some time with us there.

Speaker 2:

That's cool. Are you active on social media anywhere?

Speaker 3:

Yep, I'm really active on LinkedIn. That's like my one focus on socials. I use Twitter a lot more for information consumption for myself, so I'm not very active in terms of posting, but I do consume a lot on Twitter, so I am on Twitter too.

Speaker 2:

That's cool. I don't think I've had anybody call it X really.

Speaker 3:

It's understood.

Speaker 2:

So, and of course, for everybody watching and listening, as always, there will be links in the show notes to EQRP, to Parker's LinkedIn profile, so you can check it out and see what Parker and EQRP are up to. So, parker, thanks for joining us today on the Get Ready Money podcast.

Speaker 3:

Thanks for having me. It was a great conversation and hopefully we can do it again soon.

Speaker 2:

Yeah, this is awesome and, as always, thank you everyone for tuning in to this episode of the Get Ready Money podcast. If you learned something today to change the way you think about money, please be sure to subscribe and tell a friend. Until next time let's change the way we think about money. Thank you.

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