First Home Savings Account and Basic Marketing Essentials

Darryl [00:00:00]:
So I got a lot of problems.

René [00:00:03]:
Isn't that always the case with you?

Darryl [00:00:05]:
I went to the dentist and found out that I grind my teeth apparently.

René [00:00:10]:
I do too.

Darryl [00:00:11]:
Really?

René [00:00:11]:
Yeah.

Darryl [00:00:11]:
How did you find out? Your dentist told you?

René [00:00:13]:
No, my chiropractor.

Darryl [00:00:15]:
Chiropractor. He's in the wrong spot.

René [00:00:18]:
No, he wasn't adjusting my teeth. He was like four inches from my arsehole and fucking telling me, you grind your teeth? I'm like, yeah. How do you know that?

Darryl [00:00:27]:
He was by your ass and he saw that you're grinding your teeth. I'm guessing he thinks you talk out of your ass a lot.

René [00:00:32]:
Yeah. What's even worse is his wife is my massage therapist, and I don't know, she's fucking doing the same thing. Like a week later. She's like, you grind your teeth, don't you? You guys been talking or what? How would you know that?

Darryl [00:00:45]:
I found it weird. I don't think I grind my teeth, but apparently I do. And they said most of the time it's probably during high stressful situations.

René [00:00:53]:
No, not probably because you're stressed. This is why I grind my teeth too.

Darryl [00:00:57]:
Yeah. So I'm. Apparently I'm gonna have to wear a bite plate, like, when I sleep. And they said, if you want to do it during, like, high stressful situations, wear it then too. It would help.

René [00:01:05]:
So you've been wearing it all the time?

Darryl [00:01:07]:
Well, I'm gonna put it on for this podcast. This is Taming the Hussle...

René [00:01:12]:
or Something of the Sorts.

Darryl [00:01:36]:
So if I sound a little different, it's cause I put the bite plate in for the rest of this episode.

René [00:01:40]:
Oh, there you go.

Darryl [00:01:41]:
Yeah. What do you got for us today?

René [00:01:42]:
I wanna talk about government tools that allow us to buy a home a little sooner.

Darryl [00:01:46]:
Oh, I thought you meant, like, when you said government tools. I'm like, I can name a list of those guys.

René [00:01:53]:
Back in the day. In 1992, the government established the homebuyer plan, which most people are pretty familiar with, so I won't spend too much time on it.

Darryl [00:02:01]:
Yeah.

René [00:02:01]:
But just as a recap is that you're allowed to use 35,000 of your RRSP savings to purchase a qualifying first home, which there are some rules which we'll talk about when we get into the first home savings account, but that allows you to essentially borrow against your own investments without any tax consequences, as long as you repay it. So the rule with the home buyer plan is that you can take 35,000 or up to 35,000, and then the year you purchase your home and the year after, they give you that grace period. So let's say you bought a home in 2023. You don't have to make any repayments this year or next, but in 2025, you have to make at least the minimum payment, which is you repay that 35,000 over a 15 year period. If you did happen to have the maximum amount in your RRSP and you wanted to use the RRSP as part of the down payment, you'd have to repay the 2333 and $0.33 over the 15 year period.

Darryl [00:02:55]:
Okay.

René [00:02:55]:
So otherwise, if you forget to do that, then what they do is the government will catch it and they'll include the $2,300 in income for that year. So if you've earned $100,000, well, you'll have to pay tax on 102, 333.

Darryl [00:03:06]:
Gotcha. Gotcha.

René [00:03:07]:
I often get a question, though, which I wanted to mention is, do I quick pay that? Right. So presumably, you're, say, in a 44% tax bracket, why would you, in the following year, if you had the money, repay the full 35,000? Because if you're doing 35,000 in RRSP contributions, you then get to use the deduction to offset your taxable income. So you could potentially save that 44%, depending on the tax bracket that you're in.

Darryl [00:03:29]:
Gotcha.

René [00:03:30]:
So spreading it over that 15 year period will allow you to just kind of kick the can down the road and use your RRSP deductions as you go to lower your taxable income. So let's say you're doing 10,000 a year in RRSP contributions. We would then, on paper, when we're filing your return, we would then allocate $2,333 to your home buyer, plan repayment, and then the balance of it, the seven and change, would then be used to reduce your taxable income for that year. So stretch it out as long as possible.

Darryl [00:03:56]:
Yeah, yeah.

René [00:03:57]:
Makes a lot of sense.

Darryl [00:03:58]:
So how does that differ from this new version of it, or is it a completely different thing?

René [00:04:03]:
It's a completely different thing, actually. And it's, in my opinion, the best thing since sliced bread. It has the benefits of the RSP, and it has the same benefits as the TFSA as well. So let me explain. The first home savings account was established in 2022. So we're going on year three of this, and the government says you can invest $8,000 a year in the first home savings account.

Darryl [00:04:24]:
Okay.

René [00:04:25]:
And you get the RSP receipt. However, how it differs with the home buyer plan is when you take it out, you don't have to replace it, so you don't have to take that 15 years to pay it back.

Darryl [00:04:34]:
Interesting.

René [00:04:35]:
So they're essentially giving you a TFSA, which they'll allow you to pull tax free, provided it's to buy a qualifying home.

Darryl [00:04:40]:
Yeah.

René [00:04:41]:
But then they give you an offsetting RRSP receipt for those contributions, which is pretty sweet.

Darryl [00:04:45]:
No kidding.

René [00:04:46]:
There's a few things that we should go through, so I'm gonna kinda go top to bottom on this. So we have a thorough understanding of this first home savings account. So for all the new homebuyers and people that are on the market right now, you should be paying attention. So, first, to qualify for opening the first home savings account, and also to make qualifying withdrawals, is you can't have owned you.

Darryl [00:05:07]:
Yeah.

René [00:05:07]:
You can't have owned jointly and your spouse cannot have owned a home in the year you opened the first home savings account and four years prior to that. So you need to be home free for five years.

Darryl [00:05:19]:
Gotcha.

René [00:05:19]:
Then you qualify to do $8,000 a year. They'll allow you to double up, same as the resp contributions we talked about in a prior episode, is if you don't maximize it, that $8,000 in a particular year, they'll allow you to play catch up in following years, but only up to the maximum double like the RESP. So let's say you open the savings account this year, and then next year you make no contributions. Well, the following year, you can then double up at $16,000 and get the full RRSP receipt.

Darryl [00:05:48]:
Okay, cool.

René [00:05:49]:
Okay. And you can't double up any further back to the year you open the account. So since they established this in 2022, if you only open the first home savings account in January of 2024, there's no way for you to double up to try to maximize and capitalize on the lost room from 2022 and 2023. It's only from the year you open the savings account.

Darryl [00:06:10]:
Yeah, that's what time machines are for.

René [00:06:12]:
Yeah. You know, I really wish I had a fucking time machine, to be honest with you. I don't live with regret at all, but there are some things I would like to go back and do differently, that's for sure.

Darryl [00:06:23]:
Same.

René [00:06:23]:
All right, so then the lifetime limit is $40,000. So they do put a cap on it, but still significant enough, because if you maximize it over five years, you've maximized it, and then they give you 15 years to invest in your first home savings account before you have to make a decision on a house. So, you know, you can imagine if you've maximized the 40 grand. In addition to that, you've got $40,000 in RRSP receipts that you've used to offset your taxable income. So there's been some cost savings there. Then it grows essentially like a TFSA, it grows tax free. And then when you decide you're going to buy that home, so if you invest that for that 40,000 over a ten year period, it could be pretty significant.

Darryl [00:07:01]:
Yeah, no kidding.

René [00:07:02]:
So you've earned all of that growth tax free. You've had the ability to use your contributions as an RRSP contribution and deduct from your income. And when you take it out, it's like the TFSA, where you don't have to pay tax on it and you don't have to repay it. So that's the major difference from the home buyer plan. So unlike the traditional RRSP, where you do the home buyer plan and you have to repay it over 15 years, you now have this first home savings account that as a TFSA, essentially you pull it out tax free. And then the RRSP contributions is like a traditional RRSP, where you get to deduct it from your taxable income. So it's like the best of both products.

Darryl [00:07:38]:
No kidding.

René [00:07:38]:
But of course, remember, you can only pull that out if you're buying a qualifying home. So what happens if you're not? The reasons for you to have to pull your money out of the first home savings account would be A: well, you bought the qualifying home and you used it as a down payment. The second one would be if in 15 years you haven't purchased the home, then what they'll do is they'll say, well, you have to either take it in cash and pay tax on it. So if you're in a year where you have low income, you might want to consider that. But presumably you're still in the workforce and you're probably earning more than when you first set it up. So you likely wouldn't want to pay the tax on that until you've retired and structured your income to pay less tax. So the government actually gives you the ability to transfer that to your RRSP.

Darryl [00:08:17]:
Okay, nice.

René [00:08:18]:
Yeah. So now this first home savings account will exist for 15 years, and then it has to be wound up and we just transferred to your RSP. And if you're a late comer to the game and you happen to turn 71 before the 15 years is up. That's another reason why you would have to convert that to a riff, because government rule says your. Your RRSP has to be converted to an income plan at 71.

Darryl [00:08:39]:
So this is for any age.

René [00:08:42]:
Any age.

Darryl [00:08:42]:
Doesn't matter how old you are, obviously over the age of 18.

René [00:08:45]:
And under the age of 71.

Darryl [00:08:46]:
I anticipate kids will be living at home until they're 65 anyways.

René [00:08:50]:
You know what? I think that's one of the reasons why the government is doing this, is trying to facilitate, you know, it's baby steps, but at least it's something because it's becoming really, really difficult for, you know, young adults to purchase.

Darryl [00:09:02]:
No kidding. And difficult for older adults to have their pain in the ass kids in the house as adults.

René [00:09:08]:
Yeah, no kidding.

Darryl [00:09:09]:
This is why they legalized cannabis in Canada.

René [00:09:12]:
Yeah. Yeah, for sure.

Darryl [00:09:15]:
So everyone could cohabitate together.

René [00:09:18]:
Yeah. It's not because your kid's a pothead. It's because your kid's living with you and you need some weed. So. So the. The interesting part about the first home savings account is often you'll have certain limitations where you have to keep the money in the account. Like the home buyer plan, they want you to have the money in the account for 90 days or longer before you can pull it out. But with this FHSA, you can just simply deposit it in the account, in a cash account without investing in, get the RRSP receipt, and then the next day, essentially pull it out to buy your home.

René [00:09:49]:
So there's no hold period.

Darryl [00:09:51]:
Wow.

René [00:09:51]:
Yeah. Which is really sweet.

Darryl [00:09:53]:
No kidding.

René [00:09:53]:
So then next I want to talk about a qualifying home.

Darryl [00:09:57]:
That was my next question.

René [00:09:58]:
Yeah. There are rules. You should check out online on the Canada Revenue Agency site or speak with your certified financial planner. But basically it's traditional qualifying rules for the home buyer plan. Like, you have to be a resident of Canada. The rules on the home itself is you have to not have purchased the home more than 30 days ago. So you really should be pulling out the first home savings account money before you buy the house. Just to buy you a bit of time.

Darryl [00:10:25]:
Yeah.

René [00:10:25]:
And then if you do pull it out, you have to plan to occupy the home within a year. So if we're in September and you bought the house in August, you got to make sure it's within that 30 days before you can pull the money. So really, you should have pulled the money out in maybe July.

Darryl [00:10:43]:
Yeah.

René [00:10:44]:
Right. To be prepared for the down payment. However, if you pull the money out in September. You have to make sure that you're occupying it by September of next year.

Darryl [00:10:52]:
Okay.

René [00:10:52]:
Picking up what I'm laying down, brother.

Darryl [00:10:54]:
I'm picking it up. And does this mean that say, like, I know kids who have done this where they still live with their parents, they bought their first house and they rent it out to continue to make money while they're still living at home?

René [00:11:05]:
Well, that's a good question, I guess if you wanted to push the envelope on it, because if your intention is to live in that and you're just renting it out until you can move in. Yeah, I would argue that that would qualify. But if you're simply buying it as an investment, it would not qualify because you got to remember, within a year you have to be occupying it yourself.

Darryl [00:11:23]:
Yourself. Okay.

René [00:11:24]:
Yeah. So the rule is within twelve months. So if you're renting it out for the first twelve months because you're in another province finishing your education or whatever it might be, yeah. Within one year you have to occupy that place.

Darryl [00:11:34]:
Okay.

René [00:11:35]:
Okay. So then the RSP receipt is just slightly different. It's a means for the government to recognize if it's a regular RRSP contribution or a first home savings account contribution. So it would actually be a T4-FHSA. And then the investment side of things is you can invest that in just about anything. Right. So you know, you're not restricted to just a savings account. You can actually create an investment portfolio and put that to work.

René [00:11:58]:
So you can imagine if, you know, we've got the 15 year rules. If you're keeping that for ten or 15 years and you're growing that 40,000 compounded and you've taken advantage of the tax deduction, I mean, it could be a significant amount. It could have a real impact on your ability to purchase a home. So putting it to work is important. Unless, you know, you're just doing it to buy the house that you've planned on buying in two months time, then you really shouldn't be risking it with some equity exposure. So it's all relative to your timelines and your risk tolerance and your objectives and all of that which you should be speaking to someone get some advice on. So there you have it. It's not a complicated product.

René [00:12:34]:
It's pretty powerful, actually.

Darryl [00:12:35]:
No kidding.

René [00:12:36]:
It's really sweet. Like I said earlier, it's, to me it's the best thing since sliced bread. If I were to complain about it, I wish the limits were higher and we could put more than 8000. I don't know how they came up with that amount, but, hey, it is what it is. Sometimes when someone throws you a bone, you got to jump on it.

Darryl [00:12:51]:
Yeah. I feel like somebody on the outside of the government built this program and then somehow snuck it into the government somehow because it seems too logical.

René [00:13:01]:
Yeah, yeah.

Darryl [00:13:02]:
Like, I just. I'm like, why? Why is this the very first thing that seems logical?

René [00:13:08]:
Yeah. Politicians would never think of this.

Darryl [00:13:11]:
It took us till 2022 to figure out one good thing.

René [00:13:15]:
Yeah. Yeah. Don't think about what your country could do for you or what you could do for your country.

Darryl [00:13:21]:
We'll be right back.

René [00:13:33]:
Please tell me you have something more upbeat than me. I come to realize with this podcast how dry my industry is.

Darryl [00:13:45]:
Well, see, money is boring until you're allowed to use it. Yeah, that's when it gets exciting, right? I got a bunch of singles in my pocket. They're not good until I get to the club.

René [00:13:56]:
It's like every person's ever told me, money doesn't motivate me. I'm like, it's because you don't have any. Yeah, money motivates people. Let's be honest with each other.

Darryl [00:14:09]:
Yes, yes. It's entertaining. That's the thing.

René [00:14:12]:
I don't worship it. I've said it before, I don't worship money to be money is a tool to allow you to do the things you want to do in life.

Darryl [00:14:19]:
Exactly.

René [00:14:20]:
But it's motivating.

Darryl [00:14:21]:
Yeah, no kidding. So, speaking of which, I want to talk to small business owners out there who are spending money and making money, and I want to talk about some essential marketing tips for the small business owners. And I know I've touched on stuff like this before, but today I actually want to touch on the three most important what are often overlooked aspects of marketing that can make a big difference for your business.

René [00:14:45]:
Great segue. It's like a youth episode today with young homebuyers and small business owners just getting started. I love it.

Darryl [00:14:52]:
Exactly. Exactly. It's not like we ever planned this.

René [00:14:55]:
No. Oh, you're the genius behind all that stuff.

Darryl [00:14:58]:
So let's dive into the first one, which makes me shake my head the most out of all of them.

René [00:15:03]:
I thought this was a no dive zone.

Darryl [00:15:05]:
I know. It's over 6ft yeah.

René [00:15:08]:
Okay, let's dive in.

Darryl [00:15:11]:
I'm going to talk about your logo, but this goes for like any graphics that are associated with your brand. And when I say logo, I'm not talking about the design aspect. Yes, you need a kick ass logo. And we all know this part, right? What I'm talking about is the difference between a vector and a raster graphic. And I'm guessing 99% of business owners listening right now just said, what the fuck are vector and raster graphics?

René [00:15:35]:
Yeah, I only recognize vector from some very repetitive marketing chats that you and I have had over the years.

Darryl [00:15:41]:
Yeah, well, that's my point. If you own a business, this is something you absolutely need to know. So raster graphics are digital files, like jpegs, pngs for example. And everyone knows these. They're the gold standard. Everyone has them on their computers and in their phones. And I know every small business owner has a file folder that's it's titled logo. And you either have a JPEG or a PNG format in there.

Darryl [00:16:06]:
And when someone asks you for a logo, what, you send it off and you're like, great, here it is. So why is this a problem? Well, if you're sending your logo to somebody, it's likely because you hired a graphic designer. You want something printed or maybe you're having like shirts made. If you hired a graphic designer, then they're going to ask you for your logo in a vector format and if you don't have it, they need to recreate your logo. And guess what? Your invoice goes up, right?

René [00:16:30]:
For sure.

Darryl [00:16:30]:
If you send that same file to a printer and they don't ask for a vector file, or you're getting t-shirts made and they don't ask for a vector file, you probably should go somewhere else because they don't care about quality.

René [00:16:41]:
You're not going to get the quality for sure.

Darryl [00:16:43]:
Exactly.

René [00:16:43]:
That I've learned from you for sure.

Darryl [00:16:45]:
Yeah. So what is a vector file, right? I'm saying you should have a vector file. So what the fuck is it and why is it so important to your business and your brand? Well, it's simple. And I'm going to sound complicated for 1 second, but it's going to make sense and it's all coming together. Vector graphics are created by using mathematical equations and it allows them to be infinitely scaled up or down without losing any quality at all. Unlike those sons of bitches, raster graphics like jpegs and pngs, which are made up of those individual pixels you know, when you zoom in, you see those little boxes? They can become pixelated when scaled, when scaled up or down. So let's go back to that t shirt you want made. You send a PNG file to the apparel company, which they don't give a fuck.

Darryl [00:17:27]:
You can send a PNG, that's great. They're going to put that on a shirt and they're going to make you pay your bill.

René [00:17:32]:
Yeah. And then you're going to bitch at the quality and they're going to say, well, you didn't give us a vector file.

Darryl [00:17:37]:
That's on you. Exactly. They didn't create your file. They just put whatever the hell you sent them onto a t shirt. Right. So that PNG file gets stretched to fit the shirt. And once it's in your hands, it's pixelated. And you look at it, you're like, it's jagged.

Darryl [00:17:50]:
It looks like someone cut it with some dull scissors. Right?

René [00:17:52]:
Yeah.

Darryl [00:17:53]:
So here's how you prevent this. Anytime someone asks you for a logo, send them a vector file, which can be an SVG file, an AI file, and AI doesn't stand for artificial intelligence. It's Adobe illustrator or an EPS file. These are all vector files. So when you're creating your logo, always request vector formats from your designer. Yes. They're going to give you the JPEG and the PNG that you can put on your word document, but you need the vector files and you likely can't open these on your, on your computer because you don't have the programs to do it. And that's okay.

Darryl [00:18:24]:
You can still have them on your computer, you can still email them. And when the other person on the other end gets them, they're likely going to message you and say, oh my God, thanks for sending the vector file.

René [00:18:34]:
Yeah. Actually, when you copy me on emails that you're sending to apparel companies or whatever, I often respond and say, you didn't attach it, but then you're like, yes, that little fucking square in the corner that you can't open because you don't have technology for it.

Darryl [00:18:47]:
And this, the whole thing with vector is it ensures your logo looks crisp and professional across all marketing materials, including like signage, business cards, digital platforms, apparel, whatever. When I say signage, billboards. You want a billboard that's on the side of highway 401?

René [00:19:02]:
Yeah, 16 footer.

Darryl [00:19:03]:
It's going to be gigantic. You don't want it to be pixelated and look like shit. Right?

René [00:19:07]:
For sure. No one wants to buy shit.

Darryl [00:19:09]:
Exactly. You get that for free.

René [00:19:11]:
And as a small business owner, sometimes you are stuck, you know, looking after this stuff on your own, just because of money, restraints. But the second you can afford someone like Darryl, I highly recommend it. You get to focus on your business and you let the expert do what they do. You get a better outcome. Both ends.

Darryl [00:19:27]:
Yeah, for sure. Okay, the next one, video resolution.

René [00:19:31]:
There's more.

Darryl [00:19:33]:
There's more. I'm not done. I know.

René [00:19:34]:
This is why you do all my shit. Because I don't do this. I'm gonna let Daryl do this part. I'm gonna go for a coffee. Because this is why I pay Daryl, is to look after this shit for me, not teach me how to do it.

Darryl [00:19:47]:
Whether you're hiring somebody to shoot video or you're doing it on your phone, you need to shoot at the highest resolution possible. And I know people will say this, there are new cameras and smartphones out there that will shoot up to 8k. And you're like, well, no one has 8k. Facebook doesn't do it. You know all this. But here's the thing. This is a key factor in video production. The resolution basically refers to the clarity and detail of the image, right?

Darryl [00:20:14]:
So if you shoot 4k resolution on your iPhone, that's 3840 pixels by 2160 pixels, and it provides stunning clarity compared to like 1080p, which is 1920 by 1080. The higher the resolution will always enhance that visual appeal of your videos. And especially important for marketing content like product shots or demos or advertising or you're just simple. Your social media videos, like for instance, social media platforms like Facebook and YouTube, they support 4k. So if you shoot in 4k and upload it, it's going to look stunning. And if it's not supported, if you're on X or Twitter or whatever the hell it's called today, and they don't support 4k, it will reformat it for you to bring it back down to 1080p so you're not losing anything by doing it at a high resolution. This is so much like the vector files. I was just saying in the sense of you want to own the best quality of your product, and if you need to drop the resolution, you can 100%, but you can't go the other way after you shoot it.

Darryl [00:21:12]:
You can't make the resolution any better.

René [00:21:14]:
That's right.

Darryl [00:21:15]:
Okay, the last one. And this is super important.

René [00:21:17]:
There's still more. You're so smart, Darryl.

Darryl [00:21:21]:
There's still more. This is the last one, I promise. Website speed and mobile optimization.

René [00:21:27]:
Okay, say that again.

Darryl [00:21:29]:
Website speed and mobile optimization. My goodness, how many times have you opened up a website and it's super slow to load? Or you open it up on your phone and shit's everywhere. You can't find the contact page.

René [00:21:43]:
That's the worst.

Darryl [00:21:43]:
Where's the products? Whatever.

René [00:21:45]:
I have a bit of patience for slow stuff, but man, when your phone is all fucked up because it's not formatted to be used on a mobile device, it's so annoying.

Darryl [00:21:54]:
Oh my God. I know. And that's the thing. This affects your website's performance and it's crucial for the user experience. Just like you said, it pisses you off. And the search engine optimization that plays into factor two because of it. Did you know that 47% true fact, by the way, of users expect the website to load in less than 2 seconds?

René [00:22:14]:
Well, I would hope that you didn't make up any facts because then it wouldn't be a fact, it would just be shit you made up.

Darryl [00:22:20]:
I know, it's a, it's a true fact. But slow loading times can lead to higher bounce rates, which means the bounce rate is when people get there, they're going to hit the x in the corner if it's past 2 seconds and they're going to leave your site, that means they're not using your service, that means they're not buying your product. Now there are tools out there like Google's page speed insights to analyze your website speed and receive optimization suggestions. But ensure your website's responsive, which means making it look good on mobile devices. Because mobile optimization is key, considering that more than half of the website traffic comes from mobile devices.

René [00:22:55]:
Yeah, I believe that.

Darryl [00:22:57]:
So how do you fix this as a business owner? If you are a DIYer and you built this website on your own, then guess what? It's time to hire a professional for this.

René [00:23:05]:
This, in my opinion, Darryl, is not something you should do yourself.

Darryl [00:23:09]:
No. 100%. This is your brand. This is the first thing most people see about you.

René [00:23:14]:
If you're starting a new business and you're saying saving up your pennies to make a go of it, this should be part of your budget when you're creating a business plan.

Darryl [00:23:21]:
100%. And if you've already hired somebody and you have a website and you have these issues, you need to contact them and say, fix these fucking things now.

René [00:23:30]:
Yeah. Or find somebody else.

Darryl [00:23:31]:
And you, you can use that. Take it, word for word, fix these fucking things right now.

René [00:23:36]:
Yeah, yeah. There you go. Gotta be able to use it on your phone. Gotta have the speed.

Darryl [00:23:42]:
Yeah.

René [00:23:42]:
Gotta use vector file.

Darryl [00:23:43]:
Yes.

René [00:23:44]:
You gotta use the highest resolution for video recording.

Darryl [00:23:47]:
You got it?

René [00:23:48]:
I'm listening, man.

Darryl [00:23:49]:
They're the three most important things.

René [00:23:51]:
I was chirping you, but I'm listening.

Darryl [00:23:53]:
I know.

René [00:23:53]:
I'm not dismissing your content, man. Your content is super fucking important. But you're super important because you're the shit and you're the one who does it all for us. So we appreciate you.

Darryl [00:24:02]:
It's important to have the best you can get for your business. Whether you're doing it yourself or hiring someone to do it, it has to be done right.

René [00:24:10]:
Be all that you can be. Join the army. Two american references there in one episode today. Thanks, Darryl.

Darryl [00:24:18]:
All right, that's it. We'll be right back.

Darryl [00:24:35]:
All right, I still want to dive into this next topic.

René [00:24:38]:
Yeah, let's stay in the dive zone.

Darryl [00:24:40]:
Exactly. So, for the last few episodes, we've chatted about the impacts of technology on our lives. From the episode where we talked about kids in tech and recently about discussion about me making new friends as an adult. It's very hard to do. I still haven't met the neighbor, but that's okay. But today, I want to focus on how technology influences our relationships and the importance of fostering that deeper connection. I find it so easy for our friendships to become reduced to texting or sharing videos on Instagram. Like, I have friends I barely see face to face.

Darryl [00:25:13]:
And it's exactly what I said. We text, we share social media videos or memes or whatever, and we live ten minutes from each other. Like, have you noticed any of these types of changes?

René [00:25:23]:
I'm going to be the devil's advocate here.

Darryl [00:25:24]:
Yeah.

René [00:25:24]:
My thought on this is if you use technology properly, it could actually help nourish relationships.

Darryl [00:25:31]:
Okay.

René [00:25:32]:
So sometimes I feel the same way as you, Darryl. It's like, fuck, you know what? All I feel is I'm just texting this guy.

Darryl [00:25:39]:
Yep.

René [00:25:39]:
Let's say it's you. But if we didn't have technology, would I have lost contact altogether?

Darryl [00:25:44]:
Well, see, that's the thing. I agree with you in that sense. Like, long distance relationships, technology plays a huge factor in keeping that bond together while you're apart. But I'm talking about, like, I got a friend, literally, I can drive to his house right now. It's ten minutes away. But I see him like, once a month, if that, and all I'm doing is texting him every day.

René [00:26:04]:
So still devil's advocate.

Darryl [00:26:07]:
Yeah. Yeah.

René [00:26:07]:
We are fucking busy, right? I'm not saying it's a good or a bad thing. It's not. That's not today's topic. But people are super busy. And I find, like, because we live in a community of, you know, less than 10,000 people.

Darryl [00:26:23]:
Yeah.

René [00:26:23]:
I'm texting a lot to people that live, you know, almost next door.

Darryl [00:26:28]:
Yeah. Yeah.

René [00:26:29]:
But it gives me the ability to stay in touch, to stay relevant in their lives, and to still kind of be tuned in to what's going on in their lives and vice versa, so that when we do see each other, I find that it just has. It allows for more meaningful conversation. Like, you have stuff to talk about because you've stayed in touch.

Darryl [00:26:48]:
Yeah.

René [00:26:49]:
So the fear is the laziness part, which is what you're saying is, okay, am I getting lazy? Because, you know, René lives two blocks over, and I only see him once every couple of weeks. But I'm texting him in the meantime. If you didn't have a phone, would you go see René more often? That's the question.

Darryl [00:27:04]:
But I think we would like friends of mine down here that I used to go to the movies with, like, once a week, or we'd go play, you know, basketball or badminton or whatever. There was always a reason to go see each other. We would schedule that face to face time, and now it's like we're. Are we any busier? I don't know. However, I feel like we've. I've gotten to a point where I say on a Friday night, I'm like, you know what? I'm going to text my buddy and see what he's up to. And I'm texting him memes and Instagram videos, and we're laughing. We're like, oh, my God.

Darryl [00:27:35]:
That's so funny. That's so funny. Ha ha ha. It's like, did you see the new Tom Brady roast on Netflix? No, I haven't seen it. I'm watching right now. I'm like, oh, me too. Why aren't we together doing this?

René [00:27:43]:
I'm going to give you your own advice about the humanizing factor. Is implement the humanizing factor in your personal life like you would in your business.

Darryl [00:27:52]:
Yeah.

René [00:27:52]:
Right. And now that you're aware of how you feel about this. Fuck. Take action, man. So next time, pick up the phone like I call people more often than I did a year ago, because for the same reasons. It's like, it's nice to text, to stay in touch, but like, I often find myself making a phone call at dinner time to catch up with you or one of my brothers or whatever, just, hey, haven't talked in a while. How's life? Just nice to hear people's voices and have real conversations. So, yeah, now that you're aware of what's missing in your life, I think you should take action and humanize yourself, Mister Darryl.

Darryl [00:28:22]:
I know, and. But here's the, here's the other part of things that bothers me, is that the whole art of active listening I find with technology is gone. And I'm going to say this, and I'm not trying to offend anybody, but when you're with somebody, like when I'm with somebody, I try to give them my full attention. I put all the distractions away. My phone's in my pocket. I am listening to what they have to say. I love chatting, you know that I'm a chatter box. I'll talk forever.

Darryl [00:28:47]:
I love to interact, but what drives me crazy is when you finally make that time to go face to face with somebody and they sit there and they're like, oh, it's so great. Hey, I'll show you this Instagram video I saw. And they're always on their phone, or they're texting. I'm like, I am here.

René [00:29:02]:
Oh, my God. I knew where you were going with that. And I. That drives me absolutely fucking bonkers. And I try, I mean, we're all human and sometimes you get a text, whatever, or you're like dealing with something complicated at work and you're just hoping that fucking come in so that you can. And really focus on conversation. Like, we're not. No one's perfect.

René [00:29:21]:
Yeah, but fuck, that's annoying.

Darryl [00:29:24]:
Yeah, like, you just have to put those distractions away if you make the time. We are in such a digital age world that if someone makes the time to come see you personally, face to face, put your phone away. Unless you're. Again, you got a big work thing that's, you know, you need to answer really fast. You have an emergency situation, whatever it could be, you know, your wife's pregnant, she's due to give birth any minute, you know, then, yeah, you gotta, gotta make yourself available in that sense. But at the same time, it's like, put your phone away.

René [00:29:56]:
Yeah. What really worries me is the younger generation, they don't know any different now. It's like they've not acquired that skill, and it's really worrisome.

Darryl [00:30:04]:
I've sat at a restaurant, and you mentioned this about families and their. And their kids a few episodes ago, having tablets and iPhones. But I've seen teenagers. I'll walk into a restaurant. There's four teenagers sitting at a table together. They're all on their phones. They don't talk to each other for fucking 20 minutes.

René [00:30:20]:
Yeah.

Darryl [00:30:20]:
I feel like at some point in life, people are just going to sit and text each other. Even if they're face to face, there'll be no actual talking. It's so insane. And in saying that, I want to tell this story because I think it's so funny is when I was working in hockey, our assistant GM went and picked up a kid at the airport who was from Russia, and he was told, bring him out to dinner. This kid does not speak a word of English. He's coming from Russia, only speaks Russian. Our assistant GM was a young kid, and he only spoke English. So he takes them out for dinner, and they sat there, and the next day, we asked.

Darryl [00:30:55]:
We said, you know, we kind of laughed about it. We're like, so what'd you guys talk about? And so he's like, you know what? I found out all about his family, and, like, you know what? He kind of where he grew up. And we're like, what? How did that happen? He's like, oh, well, we both had our phones, so we just text each other, and it translated for us.

René [00:31:12]:
Yeah, Google translate, man. That's amazing.

Darryl [00:31:14]:
And I'm like, oh, my God, that's so funny. Right? And so I'm like, I understand how moments like that, which is a funny moment, but can you imagine being the waiter? And it's like these two guys are just texting each other the whole time. But I could see how a phone or some type of digital component can help a relationship. But at the same time, as our world gets so busy, so clogged with this digital information and the need for something right now, we can't forget about that human connection. Right? It makes for a better quality of life.

René [00:31:46]:
I recently had a young couple just out of college, just. Just starting in the workplace, and wanted to get ahead on their finances, and.

Darryl [00:31:56]:
So good for them.

René [00:31:57]:
Boy, girl. The boy stayed on the fucking phone the whole meeting. Didn't make eye contact once. Probably just scrolling through Instagram or whatever. Yeah, but was on his phone, and he was. It's like he was trying to hide it. He was looking down at underneath the table, but I knew he was on his phone. Yeah, a couple times the girl kind of grabbed him by the arm and he would.

René [00:32:18]:
She would kind of pull him back into the conversation, but he would just kind of look down and he was like, zoning out. All of a sudden you just be right back into it. Like, that's a skill that you need to acquire in life. Like, put your fucking phone down from time to time.

Darryl [00:32:31]:
Yeah.

René [00:32:31]:
The humanizing factor doesn't only apply in business. It applies in all aspects of life.

Darryl [00:32:36]:
Yeah. It's so important.

René [00:32:37]:
We need human connection.

Darryl [00:32:39]:
Yeah. So listen, touch base with somebody. If you haven't in a while, do a face to face meeting. Put your phone in your pocket, put it on silent, leave it in the car, whatever you need to do. Be human. Make friends. I will talk to the neighbor, I promise.

René [00:32:53]:
And record it all in 4k or higher.

Darryl [00:32:55]:
That's right. Listen. Thanks for listening. It was a hell of an episode. I know you say your topics are boring, but they're so important, so.

René [00:33:04]:
They are very important. I agree. It was fun. Always great to spend some time with you, bud.

Darryl [00:33:08]:
Definitely. We'll see you guys next time.

René [00:33:17]:
Bye!