We were lucky to catch up with John Montoya recently and have shared our conversation below.

Hi John, thanks for joining us today. So, naming is such a challenge. How did you come up with the name of your brand?

This might have been the easiest business decision I ever had to make. “JLM” are my kids initials. My business is dedicated to them because I place the highest priority on transfering not just my wealth but my knowledge to them. I chose to add “Wealth Strategies” to my business name because I felt it was important to convey that financial success requires more than the traditional way of thinking. I value outside the box thinking, especially in a world where the majority are falling behind by following the same financial general advice.

John, before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?

My name is John Montoya. I went to work in the life insurance industry as my first job after graduating college in 1998. In 2007 I went independent and started my own business, JLM Wealth Strategies. I’m licensed in 45 states teaching individuals and families how to use life insurance as an asset to build a rock solid financial foundation and reduce unnecessary risk and reliance on the traditional fractional reserve banking system.

I think what sets me apart, beyond my decades of experience of practicing what I teach, is my understanding of Austrian economics. We live in a world where inflation is deemed normal, where home prices and the cost of living increase forever. Although people know this is unsustainable, they lack the ability to frame an alternative world. So I like to serve as a bridge to fill the gaps in their financial education. In the past few years, I’ve spent more time asking potential clients about the history of money and weaving in monetary history to level up their knowledge. I’ve found this really helps me to better understand where people are in the financial journey and I believe these discussions help people to better self-identify problems and realize the common sense solutions aren’t all that complicated.

I’m most proud of the relationships I’ve built over the years. My clients know my accessability and that they can reach out to me anytime and many of them do beyond our annual reviews. Although I’ve never met 99% of my clients, the relationships are as real as any friendships I’ve developed in person.

Learning and unlearning are both critical parts of growth – can you share a story of a time when you had to unlearn a lesson?

From as far back as I can remember I was taught to save money in banks. Any birthday and holiday money all went to my bank savings account. While it instilled a lifelong savings mentality, I never questioned the decision to warehouse my wealth at a traditional bank. From habit it just seemed a normal thing to do. Banks had my implicit trust. It wasn’t until my early 30’s when I read Nelson Nash’s book Becoming Your Own Banker that I realized my assumptions about banks and conventional investing was actually counterproductive to my long-term financial goals. Reading this one book filled me with ideas about money and finance that was revolutionary. I suddenly became aware of how financially reliant I was on the traditional financial system. For startes I had never before realized the problems traditional banks create in destroying individual wealth. But as Nelson Nash pointed out, “once you understand the problem, you’ll know what to do.” My personal and professional life was forever changed.

Can you share a story from your journey that illustrates your resilience?

I’ve entered the financial industry twice in my life. My first job out of college was selling Long-Term Care insurance to the senior market. This was back in the day when you’d pick up a phone and literally “dial for dollars”. 200 calls a day to generate 3 appointments to make one sale. Long story short, I didn’t make enough to pay my rent. But it did plant a seed of enterprenurialship that I’d visit again nearly a decade later though I couldn’t have picked a worse time. It was 2007 and America was months away from the worst recession in a generation. I had just read Becoming Your Own Banker and decided I was going to give the financial industry one more try. I was also married with 2 kids in diapers with another on the way so I was responsible for more mouths to feed than just my own. I told myself no matter what I wouldn’t give up. For 3 years I struggled to build any momentum but I never lost faith even at the lowest points, including a divorce. I kept the promise I made to myself. I wouldn’t give up a 2nd time but I learned through my failures. Experience can be the greatest teacher if we allow it and the beauty of what I teach is that I was able to build a financial foundation from nothing with firsthand knowledge. Being able to teach from practice instead of theory is as genuine and authentic as life gets.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.jlmwealthstrategies.com
• Twitter: twitter.com/JLMws_com
• Other: I co-host a podcast at www.strategicwholelife.com. People can find it whereever they listen to podcasts.

Image Credits
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