Episode 1
Unlocking Financial Freedom and Life-Shaping Experiences
In this episode of the Activate Your Wealth Podcast, David shares the origins and principles of Paxton Bridge, detailing how the firm has approached financial services over the past 15 years. They discuss the concept of wealth activism, which goes beyond traditional wealth management to focus on how clients can use their financial resources to build lasting legacies and achieve personal fulfillment. Key topics include the importance of personal relationships, the emotional aspects of financial decisions, and the significance of intergenerational wealth and values. The conversation also delves into how wealth activism helps clients align their financial decisions with their life goals and values, encouraging proactive and conscious use of wealth.
You can get in contact with David Murdoch on LinkedIn https://www.linkedin.com/in/davidsmurdoch/
Or you can reach out to Paxton Bridge
https://www.linkedin.com/company/paxton-bridge/
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This podcast has been produced by: https://podcastsdoneforyou.online
Transcript
Wealth Activism with David Murdoch, unlocking financial freedom
Speaker:and life shaping experiences.
Speaker:Welcome to the Activate Your Wealth Podcast.
Speaker:In this episode, David Murdoch, the principal advisor at Paxton Bridge,
Speaker:the pioneer of wealth activism, talks about how the company began and how
Speaker:they activate your wealth, build lasting legacies, and achieve financial
Speaker:freedom while living a well-lived life.
Speaker:I'm your co-host Anthony Perl, and whether you're a successful business owner.
Speaker:Executive or family seeking to align your wealth with your values,
Speaker:it's time to activate your wealth.
Speaker:Well, hello and welcome to the podcast, David.
Speaker:Welcome.
Speaker:Thank you, Anthony.
Speaker:I'm looking forward to this.
Speaker:It's gonna be a lot of fun.
Speaker:We're gonna keep listeners entertained.
Speaker:Most definitely.
Speaker:Let's hope so.
Speaker:That's why you are here.
Speaker:Yeah, absolutely.
Speaker:Well that's why you are here as well.
Speaker:So I think we, what we should do is to kick things off so people get a
Speaker:little bit of an understanding of who you are and what you're about.
Speaker:Yep.
Speaker:Give us a little bit of an insight into your story.
Speaker:Well, it sort of depends mean for, if we talk about Paxton Bridge, the
Speaker:wealth activists as as a business, you know, we started in 2009, so we
Speaker:were into our 15th year and we've been self licensed since, since 2017.
Speaker:So, you know, we're in our eighth year.
Speaker:So from that point of view, we've.
Speaker:Been involved in that financial services space for the last 15 years, and it's
Speaker:been a bit of a rollercoaster really, in a whole lot of areas, but to me
Speaker:it's just a really exciting space for people to be involved in because it
Speaker:gives you the commercial side of a, of a business, but also the very personal
Speaker:side that we have with a lot of people because we get to know individuals and
Speaker:families and couples and businesses exceptionally well from, from a personal
Speaker:and, and a business perspective.
Speaker:So it's just, to me it's that really exciting part of financial
Speaker:advice, of the personal aspect.
Speaker:So I see a lot of the work that we do.
Speaker:It's a people business.
Speaker:We just happen to be looking at a lot of the numbers that, so, so
Speaker:from that point of view, that's where we kind of really see it.
Speaker:So from that background, yeah, that's, that's I suppose, unless you want me
Speaker:to, you know, go a little bit further about how we got to this journey.
Speaker:We definitely wanna do that, but I just wanna talk to you a little bit about that.
Speaker:I mean, you know, 15 years is a great achievement, so,
Speaker:so congratulations on that.
Speaker:Thank you.
Speaker:But I think as well as it being important about that, it's the, as you
Speaker:say, it's the legacy of dealing with people over an extended period of time.
Speaker:Yep.
Speaker:And building those relationships, which means that, you know, what
Speaker:you're able to do and tailor to them is significantly better because
Speaker:you've built that relationship.
Speaker:And I think it, it, it is, as you say, a very much a relationship driven business.
Speaker:Yes.
Speaker:Definitely, and it's one of these things that it's amazing when
Speaker:you start to ask a whole range of different questions, and a lot of
Speaker:them are very open, sorted questions.
Speaker:What people will tell you now, you may have a couple sitting together where
Speaker:one of the couple is stronger in the financial position, you know, divide
Speaker:and conquer in certain family groups.
Speaker:But it's always interesting when you get them talking.
Speaker:On a particular topic that sometimes gets the position that the stronger
Speaker:may not tell you as much as the weaker, because their own knowledge is like,
Speaker:yeah, but I don't understand that.
Speaker:Why are we doing that?
Speaker:And they give you more information around why some of
Speaker:those decisions have been made.
Speaker:And so that just helps progress the discussion further because decisions
Speaker:are being made not on a pure financial basis, but more so on an emotional basis.
Speaker:That's what we are really finding in a lot of, in a lot of conversations
Speaker:that we have with people.
Speaker:I think people forget as well that when you choose someone to give you
Speaker:financial advice, that it's the same level as choosing a doctor, right?
Speaker:Yep.
Speaker:It's quite personal.
Speaker:Yep.
Speaker:Absolutely.
Speaker:And there's been occasions where we, you know, we have met with people and,
Speaker:and you may just have to say to them, I, I just don't think we're the right,
Speaker:we're just not the right business.
Speaker:For you, there's not a personal connection.
Speaker:You know, that's rare generally because you know, people have seen
Speaker:the material that you may have put out or someone has referred, you know,
Speaker:a couple to you, so they, they've got a little bit of a background.
Speaker:They go, yeah, that sounds like the sort of person that I'd like to talk to.
Speaker:And so it does.
Speaker:That doesn't happen very often, but in that we would say we don't
Speaker:think we're the right sort of match.
Speaker:But it is that personal because we are.
Speaker:Asking a lot of personal questions and people are sharing a lot of very personal
Speaker:responses to questions that they may or may not have ever wanted to disclose
Speaker:previously, or that they're just, they wouldn't say it to, to another family
Speaker:member potentially, or they may not even say it to their accountant in a lot of
Speaker:respects because the discussion is more about the pure numbers as opposed to.
Speaker:We are gonna make a decision about potentially gifting or
Speaker:lending or, you know, doing a holiday with all of your family.
Speaker:That may not be a question that an accountant would ask, whereas we would.
Speaker:And so they open up and they go, I think it's really important, or
Speaker:I've got a challenging situation with one of my children, or
Speaker:my in-law or my grandchildren.
Speaker:Do you know what I mean?
Speaker:And it's sort of, it just opens it up and people can be very emotional.
Speaker:I mean, we have had many occasions where there's tears in
Speaker:in, in the discussions because.
Speaker:It's not just about where we are now and it's a reflection upon where they've
Speaker:been to where they've got to now, but it's also that future direction.
Speaker:It's like, okay, so what would I like to be doing in the
Speaker:next 1, 3, 5, 10 years time?
Speaker:If I sell my business or if I leave the work that I'm doing, what,
Speaker:what would I love to be able to do if money was not a, an issue?
Speaker:Or, you know, we always ask a really broad question around
Speaker:what does success mean to you?
Speaker:I love that question because it just opens it up so much to
Speaker:different people and you will get a very different answer each time.
Speaker:We raise that question with people.
Speaker:'cause some of them it's a big bank account and other people go, oh no, I
Speaker:just wanna make sure the family's around.
Speaker:Yeah, it is.
Speaker:And, and your perspective changes as well, doesn't Absolutely.
Speaker:I mean, you know, depending on your age group, depending on what's happening
Speaker:in your life, that can change very significantly and very quickly.
Speaker:Yes, absolutely.
Speaker:And we, and we do see in, in, in some respects, in some of the older generation
Speaker:where they may have, you know, they've been very involved in their work and
Speaker:their business and they perhaps in some areas may have, um, neglected is not
Speaker:the right word, but perhaps may not have been as tentative to their own children.
Speaker:Whilst they're, you know, developing their business.
Speaker:And it's amazing how some of them will come back and, and say, I
Speaker:actually wanna spend a bit more time with my grandchildren.
Speaker:'cause I feel as though I missed some of that with my own children.
Speaker:And the joy that that brings people because these little individuals that
Speaker:are nurturing and I ask all sorts of questions, exhausting, you know, when,
Speaker:when they're dealing with things.
Speaker:But at the same time, it's exciting because all of your years of wisdom.
Speaker:Where you're not feeling that you've gotta rush back to do something else.
Speaker:You can actually spend and dedicate that time.
Speaker:And it's interesting how some of the males really enjoy that because
Speaker:they didn't get that experience with their own children sometimes.
Speaker:Hmm.
Speaker:I mean, how important is relatability then?
Speaker:Because you've got your own, you know where you are at in terms
Speaker:of your life and your family.
Speaker:Yep, yep.
Speaker:Which is something that people will gravitate towards, but, but the
Speaker:accumulation of 15 years of business stories of people at different
Speaker:levels, as well as your own story.
Speaker:That's stuff that's really important, isn't it?
Speaker:To, to building that relationship with clients.
Speaker:Yeah, I mean, I, I think it's always important to understand that, you know,
Speaker:you're bringing your own personal stories to part of the dialogue, but also the
Speaker:experience that you've met with other professionals that you've worked with
Speaker:and the experiences that you've got.
Speaker:I mean, it's always that statement that says you don't know what you don't know.
Speaker:And the, the known knowns and the unknown knowns and all of that being, you know,
Speaker:from, from that point of view that.
Speaker:Sometimes through these conversations, it, it's able to give them a story
Speaker:that says, oh, look, oh, we've dealt with someone previously, or we know
Speaker:of this particular situation, and it's amazing how many people go, oh, I didn't
Speaker:realize we could do something like that, because they, they're, they're following
Speaker:their path that they've always done.
Speaker:We are looking at it from a different perspective.
Speaker:And that perspective can be from the different side.
Speaker:It can be from above.
Speaker:It can be from underneath.
Speaker:It's, it, it, it can be, you know, at the front of them.
Speaker:And, and our own experience says, yeah, but have you thought about this?
Speaker:And that one question sometimes is like, oh, wow, I hadn't,
Speaker:I hadn't thought of that.
Speaker:And that's when the relationship then opens up, because we don't
Speaker:always have all of the answers.
Speaker:And I'm not always gonna sit here and say yes to every client.
Speaker:We'll push back in certain areas, but we will also, you know,
Speaker:encourage 'em in certain areas.
Speaker:Part of our role is to help facilitate where people want to go.
Speaker:But also help them understand
Speaker:the consequences of some of those decisions, which will
Speaker:either be positive or negative.
Speaker:I mean, not, not, there's not always negative consequences.
Speaker:A lot of the time it's like, that would be a really good decision
Speaker:to make for these reasons.
Speaker:And they're like, oh, great, yeah, let's do something like that.
Speaker:And again, this is why we come back to the word of wealth activism
Speaker:opposed to wealth management.
Speaker:On the basis that we talk about, um, you've been successful.
Speaker:What are you doing with that wealth?
Speaker:The wealth can be not just dollars in the bank, it can be your wealth capacity.
Speaker:May be that you've got time on your hands.
Speaker:You know, you may not need to, to, to be working full-time or
Speaker:you've chosen to, to change your career or how you spend your time.
Speaker:We all have 24 hours in the day and every person chooses how they like to
Speaker:spend that time, and that's what world activism is all about, is to help people.
Speaker:Choose the way they like to spend their time and support them in that process.
Speaker:And that changes.
Speaker:Again, I agree with you over time.
Speaker:Sometimes, you know, you need to get really active and focused in certain
Speaker:areas, and then you sometimes draw it back and say, actually I, I wanna be
Speaker:able to go and do something a little bit different than what I've done in the past.
Speaker:So it's exciting.
Speaker:Absolutely.
Speaker:I mean, and I think I, I, I wanna get into that what you were just saying there about
Speaker:the whole idea of wealth activism, because I think it's an important terminology
Speaker:that people perhaps think they understand, but maybe don't really understand.
Speaker:So, so tell me what that really means to you and what, and, and how you
Speaker:bring that to the party for people.
Speaker:So we talk about wealth activism and it's interesting because some people would
Speaker:say, oh, you're, you know, if you talk about the wealth activist and they say,
Speaker:well, that has a negative connotation.
Speaker:Yeah.
Speaker:Yes.
Speaker:In, in some respects it does like definitely there, that, that is the point.
Speaker:But that's also part of it, is that what we're trying to do is shake it
Speaker:up a little bit in, in that it sits this tier above wealth management.
Speaker:I mean, we can manage the money, we can make a few investments and
Speaker:do this and all these other things.
Speaker:Okay, tick, you've done that.
Speaker:But the wealth activism says, okay, how do we, how are u how are we going
Speaker:to utilize the resources that we have?
Speaker:To give you the level of stability that you are looking for moving forward.
Speaker:So, and, and it's, and it's interconnected.
Speaker:And so it sits in the middle and we have four pillars that
Speaker:sit under wealth activism.
Speaker:The first pillar is this asset management, which is the traditional
Speaker:model of financial advice work in the how, what are your assets?
Speaker:What do we need to do?
Speaker:How can we, how can we work those assets better and harder and more efficient
Speaker:for you to do what you want to do?
Speaker:The other pillar that we like to look at is to understand people's money minds.
Speaker:Now what we mean by that is people may have grown up in a particular
Speaker:household or their default position is one of abundance or scarcity.
Speaker:So someone spends a lot, someone's a real saver.
Speaker:So that becomes how it helps them position their own thinking, which
Speaker:ties back in to asset management.
Speaker:So how am I gonna manage my assets?
Speaker:I may have grown up in a. Very affluent house.
Speaker:I'm happy to spend money.
Speaker:Someone else has grown up in a, you know, they had, they had a comfortable life.
Speaker:Like they're not saying they, they had a, a bad background, but
Speaker:money was not always available.
Speaker:But they had a very safe environment.
Speaker:So their upbringing has adjusted the way they think of things,
Speaker:things think through things.
Speaker:And then the third pillar that we look at is intergenerational wealth.
Speaker:So as part of that.
Speaker:It sits in the middle from an asset management.
Speaker:What have you got?
Speaker:How are you going to pass those assets through to the next generation?
Speaker:'cause it is gonna happen.
Speaker:Sometimes people don't wanna talk about it 'cause oh, I'm not gonna die.
Speaker:I'm like, it's gonna happen to everyone.
Speaker:No one is, is survives forever.
Speaker:So it's a positive conversation.
Speaker:But part of that is then also saying, how can you develop the mindset of that
Speaker:generation below one your own children and potentially your grandchildren.
Speaker:To, to have this element of respect of the wealth that you have without
Speaker:it being excessive in that, oh, well I don't need to worry about it.
Speaker:Like, where's my sense of purpose?
Speaker:It's, it's not there.
Speaker:I, I, the family's always gonna support me.
Speaker:So part of this is to get people to understand that
Speaker:they're all interconnected.
Speaker:So we have intergenerational wealth, which is the asset is wanting to
Speaker:pass it through, but we also wanna educate people around, well, what
Speaker:is money for and how do we use it?
Speaker:And so it goes into this circular motion.
Speaker:With wealth activism sitting in the middle.
Speaker:So they're all interconnected on that basis.
Speaker:And if you take away one, it it, it sort of, it's like taking away,
Speaker:um, a three-legged stool and you take one of the, the legs away, it's
Speaker:unstable and it's going to fall over.
Speaker:You need to assess and understand and see how they're all
Speaker:interconnected to then drive forward.
Speaker:So.
Speaker:If we are really clear on people's strategy about what they wanna
Speaker:do on a wealth activism, it helps them make financial decisions.
Speaker:You know, we are hoping that they're always gonna be smart
Speaker:ones, but sometimes you get some of those decisions, you know, wrong.
Speaker:We're not always a hundred percent right, but what it's given them is a capacity
Speaker:to think about it, not just the dollar.
Speaker:It's about how do people learn, how do they understand and how are they going
Speaker:to manage it as we're all living longer?
Speaker:How are they going to manage it through the next generation?
Speaker:Like it's quite common to have people with parents, you know, in their
Speaker:nineties, which could easily put, you know, their children in their,
Speaker:anywhere from their, you know, fifties through to their seventies if they've
Speaker:had children in their twenties.
Speaker:And those children have then got grandchildren.
Speaker:So some of those grandchildren are also adults now.
Speaker:Some of those may have great-grandchildren.
Speaker:So when you start to look at that on that basis, it's not an uncommon situation
Speaker:to have two or three generations all quite healthy in a family group.
Speaker:So therefore, how do we continue to educate, share like wealth?
Speaker:Activism is about how do I share this and, and have the joy of the
Speaker:giver as much as the receiver, understanding how it all kind of ties.
Speaker:Together.
Speaker:And it's not just seen on the basis that, oh look, we'll tell you about
Speaker:it when you get to read my will.
Speaker:When you listen, look at some of the old style stuff.
Speaker:Oh no, you'll find out when I die.
Speaker:Wow.
Speaker:Really?
Speaker:Like we could have had a lot of fun together.
Speaker:You could have helped spend it with us and we all get to enjoy it and, and people are
Speaker:educated through the process as opposed to, I get to read this Will and Oh, great.
Speaker:Mum and dad have left, you know?
Speaker:Two kids in the family and you've left us $5 million each.
Speaker:I'm in my, you know, sixties, seventies, I'm about to retire
Speaker:and you've left this money to me.
Speaker:Now it's like, it would've been good if we shared some of that along the way.
Speaker:Like, why would we not do that?
Speaker:So it's, it's trying to challenge a little bit of people's thinking about
Speaker:how do we look at, at wealth, and that's why we, we've really sort of tamed
Speaker:the, the saying of wealth activism and, and that we're a wealth activist.
Speaker:Like what are we gonna do with it?
Speaker:And let's, let's.
Speaker:Understand what your drivers are and how can we support you to
Speaker:do the stuff that you wanna do.
Speaker:There is so much in all of that, but I, I, I just wanted to pick you up on
Speaker:that point that you were just making in regards to, you know, generations,
Speaker:the intergenerational wealth idea.
Speaker:One of the things is, if you've got the 60-year-old is your, is
Speaker:your client, how do you get them to have the conversation with the.
Speaker:Parents who are in their nineties and make them think about things
Speaker:differently because it's all very well if they might be at that age group,
Speaker:but it's, it's really the impact you have on the older generations as well
Speaker:and, and being able to work with them.
Speaker:Yeah.
Speaker:Look, that's a really difficult one because as people get older,
Speaker:their capacity to deal with risk diminishes, so they almost sort
Speaker:of fall back into their shell.
Speaker:I don't, and they might have a million dollars sitting in the back
Speaker:and they go, no, no, just in case I don't wanna run out of money.
Speaker:I'm like, wow.
Speaker:You are at a certain age.
Speaker:You've got no debts, you've got plenty of investments, there's cash coming
Speaker:through, but a million dollars to them is like maybe $10,000 to someone else.
Speaker:It's just, they just makes them feel comfortable.
Speaker:And so that, that's probably the biggest challenge.
Speaker:But this is where what we're trying to do.
Speaker:We may not really affect the 90-year-old.
Speaker:It's probably more of the sort of 60 to 70 year olds to think.
Speaker:If we were to talk about transitioning some of these proceeds to your children or
Speaker:grandchildren, what would you like to do?
Speaker:How would you like to see that happen rather than ruling it from the grave?
Speaker:Let's start this conversation one.
Speaker:Working on the basis, like they say in the airlines, we need to apply the face masks
Speaker:to yourself first before assisting others.
Speaker:So part of this is to get a concept for people to understand, right?
Speaker:You are feeling comfortable and stable and you know you're not feeling that,
Speaker:you know things are gonna blow up on you.
Speaker:Great.
Speaker:Now, is there a point where we say, is there an element of
Speaker:excess liquidity that's available that you could make a decision?
Speaker:To, to deal with that.
Speaker:And part of that might be I'd love to take the family away, you know,
Speaker:overseas or to Queensland or I'm in Melbourne, so you know, we go north.
Speaker:Uh, you know, there's, so there's those sorts of questions 'cause it's
Speaker:like, I'd love to be able to do that.
Speaker:Great.
Speaker:So then let, let, let's work out how we do that.
Speaker:So it's much easy to go down the generations to educate rather than up.
Speaker:That, that, that's just a real challenge unless you have that.
Speaker:Older generation that sits there, but a lot of it is just getting
Speaker:them to talk about us and which, which feeds into the values that
Speaker:we ask them to talk about as well.
Speaker:It's like, let's agree what top five values of that they would hold to
Speaker:bring them into a position that says we, we are making decisions based
Speaker:upon our values as a family, not about how much money we have in the bank.
Speaker:Because to me that's irrelevant.
Speaker:You can have all the money in the world.
Speaker:But if you can't have those conversations and get people to
Speaker:respect the funds that are available, people will just spend whatever they
Speaker:want and they don't really care.
Speaker:It's all, I mean, again, this is a people business, it's just that we're, we are
Speaker:dealing with numbers along the way.
Speaker:That, that, that's what it really sort of, kind of comes back to.
Speaker:And look, some people are receptive to it, and then other people just
Speaker:go, you know what, I, I don't care.
Speaker:I'm not.
Speaker:When I'm dead and buried, it doesn't matter.
Speaker:I I don't need to worry about it.
Speaker:I don't wanna be, I don't wanna talk about it.
Speaker:It's not, not in my DNA.
Speaker:So therefore it becomes, they're not the right sort of person or, or
Speaker:family group for us because they're saying, I don't wanna talk about it.
Speaker:Okay.
Speaker:Like they, they'll find a different advisor that will just manage their
Speaker:money for them, or some people just won't even talk about it and they'll
Speaker:just leave it to the family that left behind to have to deal with the mess.
Speaker:When unfortunately they are deceased and, and I, I just think that's,
Speaker:you know, again, that's why we've developed the business on the
Speaker:basis of wealth and activism.
Speaker:It's like, let's use this, like, let's enjoy it and have
Speaker:the fun and it's exciting.
Speaker:If you've worked really hard, why would you not wanna share with people?
Speaker:I mean, there is so much joy when you give something rather than doing it for, for
Speaker:the reciprocity of getting something back.
Speaker:It's like, no, no.
Speaker:I mean, it's, I think you no different than when you.
Speaker:Gonna have a meal with someone.
Speaker:It's like, no, I, I'm happy to pay for it.
Speaker:I was just really happy to catch up with you.
Speaker:You know, it's like, I don't, you don't really give it a second thought.
Speaker:Well, I don't, you know?
Speaker:Then other times when you are meeting with someone and they pay for it,
Speaker:it's like, oh, that was really nice.
Speaker:Like, thanks for that.
Speaker:Like, I really appreciate.
Speaker:It was a really fun time for us to spend some of this time together as
Speaker:opposed to worrying about what the dollar is, and it can be the cheapest
Speaker:chief or restaurant you go to.
Speaker:It's the time you've got with that person.
Speaker:Not about where you go to have that meal or have a drink or go for the
Speaker:simplicity of going for a walk, meeting someone to go for a walk.
Speaker:That that simple pleasures in life don't always cost a lot of money, but it's being
Speaker:conscious of why you want to do that and, and who you wanna surround yourself with.
Speaker:And like, that's, that's what I say, we've, everyone's got 24 hours in a day.
Speaker:How are you best using it?
Speaker:You have a bit of time to yourself.
Speaker:You may wanna spend time with your partner, you may wanna spend time with
Speaker:your kids, and then there's some friends and you might do a bit of business.
Speaker:Do you know it's sort of what you know the question's always.
Speaker:What fights your buck?
Speaker:Like what makes you happy?
Speaker:And that's a really interesting question that we raise with people.
Speaker:What makes you happy?
Speaker:And that's a really challenge for some people.
Speaker:Go, oh, it's an interesting question.
Speaker:I hadn't thought about that.
Speaker:What makes me happy?
Speaker:Thanks for tuning in to the Activate Your Wealth Podcast.
Speaker:For more information about how to get in contact with David Murdoch
Speaker:and the team at Paxton Bridge.
Speaker:To learn more about wealth activism, take a look at the show notes.
Speaker:There's plenty of information there, including details of the website and
Speaker:all the social media channels to follow.
Speaker:David, this podcast has been produced by podcast Done for you.
Speaker:I'm Anthony Perl reminding you to subscribe so you never miss an episode.
