The Long Strange Trip Episode 5: The Journey of Access Financial Resources with Troy Jones
About the Episode:
In this episode of The Long Strange Trip Podcast, Josh Patrick sits down with Troy E. Jones, the founder of Access Financial Resources, for a conversation that goes way beyond numbers. They dive into Troy’s unique approach to financial planning, the emotional side of retirement, and what it really takes to build a business with heart.
How Troy Got Started
Troy’s journey into financial planning started with a simple goal: don’t starve. Early on, he realized he wasn’t interested in chasing quick sales, he wanted to build real relationships. After working at Blue Cross and Blue Shield, and then at a financial planning firm focused more on insurance than on helping people truly plan for their future, he had a lightbulb moment.
In 1991, he launched his own wealth management firm where he could do things his way: put clients first, relationships over sales, and real financial planning that actually mattered.
Building a Company With Heart
From day one, Troy believed in looking out for his employees. He made sure even a small startup could offer benefits like medical insurance, disability coverage, and retirement plans. That wasn’t just nice—it was lifesaving. One story he shares is about an employee who discovered she had breast cancer after getting insurance through the company. Moments like that reinforced his philosophy: financial planners need to practice what they preach and genuinely care for their team.
Retirement Is More Than Just Money
Josh and Troy dig into something a lot of people miss: retirement isn’t just about having enough money. It’s about identity, purpose, and social connections. Many clients struggle with the question, “Who am I?” once they leave their careers behind.
Troy tells the story of a burned-out dentist who wanted out but didn’t know what life would look like afterward. They worked together on a ten-year transition plan, letting him step back gradually while still staying involved. That way, he didn’t just walk away from his work, he walked toward something meaningful.
Planning for What You’re Retiring To
Troy emphasizes the idea of planning for what you’re retiring to, not just what you’re retiring from. Without that, retirement can feel aimless. By having ongoing conversations about life after work, clients can envision a fulfilling next chapter, one that keeps them engaged, purposeful, and happy.
Takeaways
Troy’s approach shows that building a business isn’t just about profits—it’s about values. Taking care of your employees, nurturing real client relationships, and thinking about life beyond work are all part of being a responsible business leader.
For anyone approaching retirement, his advice is clear: get ready emotionally as well as financially. Know who you want to be, what you want to do, and make sure your next chapter is something you’re excited to live.
Transcription:
Introduction (Josh)
Welcome to the Long Strange Trip. I'm Josh. the host of the show. We're going to dig into six areas together, finding real work-life integration. Instead of that brutal 9 to 5 5 split too many business owners to live with. We're going to approach retirement as an actual reinvention. Rather than just stopping work. and we're facing death honestly, and avoiding PTSD around it. We're also building resilience,
when life throws us curve balls. We're sharing wisdom across generations. And finally, we're understanding the patterns that show up in all our transitions. I'm not coming at this as an expert I'm a fellow traveler figuring this stuff out in real time.
Especially now as I navigate my own dual cancer diagnosis at 73.
Welcome to the Long Strange Trip. I'm glad you're here.
Josh Patrick (00:00.942)
Hey, how are you today? This is Josh Patrick and you're at the Long Strange Trip podcast. And today we're joined by, oh God, somebody I've known for, I don't know how many years I've known Troy, known for, but for a lot, a lot of years. And he is the CEO and owner or I don't know if he's still the CEO. you still the CEO, Troy? Okay, so he's not the CEO.
Troy E Jones (00:22.987)
And now I'm not. Yeah, I'm the founder.
Josh Patrick (00:28.832)
of Access Financial Resources, but he is the founder of it. And we're going to start off talking about Troy's business and what is different about it. And there's a bunch different. So let's bring Troy on and we'll start the conversation. Hey Troy, how are you today?
Troy E Jones (00:33.175)
Hmm.
Troy E Jones (00:44.301)
All right, doing all right, Josh, thank you.
Josh Patrick (00:47.724)
That's good. That's good. So when you started your business, it appears that you have some different goals in mind than the average business person. Can you talk a little bit about that?
Troy E Jones (01:01.365)
I'm going to say early on, goals were probably just to not die of starvation. That's pretty much what it was early on. Because what I say is, as I was at 19 year overnight success.
Josh Patrick (01:18.006)
Right, well that's true with most businesses.
Troy E Jones (01:21.313)
Yeah. So, so I really just got recruited to a company to do financial planning is what they actually talked about. And I was intrigued by that story. And at the time I was working at Blue Cross and Blue Shield, my first job outside of skateboards.
But it was a good job at the time, but you sold something and then turned it over to somebody else and then you went on to get to the next sale. And I was more interested in developing deep, meaningful, long-term relationships over a long period of time.
Josh Patrick (02:08.706)
So how did you manage to move into that world?
Troy E Jones (02:14.445)
Well, got, got, uh, uh, cannot contacted by someone basically, guess you could say more or less a head to hand or recruited, whatever you want to talk about it to this local Oklahoma agency. That was a, they talked about financial planning and, as it turns out, it was an old mutual benefit life agency, but they didn't go by the insurance company name. went by a firm name. And so.
I didn't know enough about anything back then to know the difference. So I said, that sounds great. So I jumped in there and went in. It took me 10 years to figure out that they were really in the insurance business. And I wasn't in the insurance business. I was a financial planner and I got my CFP in 1986. So that's when that started.
Josh Patrick (02:55.086)
Hahaha!
Josh Patrick (03:07.704)
So when you realize that the life insurance company really wasn't interested in financial planning, was that when you went and you opened your own firm?
Troy E Jones (03:17.043)
Yes, that's right. 1991. Yeah.
Josh Patrick (03:19.534)
So let's just start there because that's probably more useful for the purpose of this conversation. 1991, you formed your wealth management firm. Now you actually had ideas about how you wanted to treat your clients. And we're not going to really go there today because that's not the purpose of this podcast. But I'm curious on your thought process on how you are going to run the business.
with you, your family, the community, what was your main thought process?
Troy E Jones (03:57.185)
Well, at that time, what actually occurred at that time, whenever I left the firm I was with, had two other people left with me. So we were able to take, we bought all the software we had, you know, virtually, I think I had one employee at the time and then those two associates. So it was just.
figuring out everything that had to be done off of space and everything, all of it from the ground up in that way. And back then it was a little less automatic on some of these things. But at the end of the day, was just, we just did whatever we had to do, including refinishing furniture because we couldn't afford to buy new furniture. we would buy old.
used furniture and all that. So we just did what we had to do to get it get started.
Josh Patrick (04:56.161)
So how many years into your own wealth management firm was it before you could start thinking about how you wanted to treat your employees, how you wanted to treat your coworkers, your co-associates, and how you would like the business run? Because I think the actual, that story is actually pretty interesting.
Troy E Jones (05:17.419)
Yes, just from the very beginning, I always had the financial planner's mentality. So for example, from the very beginning, if you worked for the company, you had to have medical insurance, disability insurance, retirement. And for a startup company, that's not nothing.
Josh Patrick (05:44.023)
Yeah.
Troy E Jones (05:44.077)
So, because that bill comes every month just like the electric bill. So, and right now our little company of a dozen people or so, we're spending over $120,000 a year on medical insurance and associated costs. So, it's a real number, especially now with the prices what they are. So, but that was just a matter of just saying, if you're going to work.
Josh Patrick (05:58.766)
That's a big number.
Josh Patrick (06:07.106)
Yeah.
Troy E Jones (06:11.817)
I don't ever want to have it said that somebody goes to the hospital or got disabled or retired and where'd you used to work? Where we worked for this financial planner and you didn't have health insurance and you didn't have a retirement and you didn't have disability. I mean, I could never, I could never be good with that. So that was a beginning. And we actually had a person who tried to talk me out of a medical insurance for her.
She doesn't work for us anymore, but she, she, yeah. Well, she, she, then, you know, she did come to work for us for a short period of time. She got medical insurance and first thing she did went to the doctor and found out she had breast cancer. Yeah. So the point is, is that, that's, that's what that we just do what we say we do. We do it. We eat our own cooking.
Josh Patrick (06:45.55)
And that's not, by the way, that's not a surprise.
Josh Patrick (07:00.039)
man.
Troy E Jones (07:11.062)
in that way.
Josh Patrick (07:12.558)
Okay, do you, how many of your clients have you helped, and this is, changing the topic right now, which I have a bad habit of doing, when something jumps into my mind, whatever that is. How many of your clients have you helped transition from actively working to being retired?
Troy E Jones (07:28.214)
Okay.
Troy E Jones (07:38.967)
my goodness. Over the years, wow. So I don't know, but it would be dozens. Yeah.
Josh Patrick (07:45.599)
I don't need a real, an accurate one for this.
Okay, so how many of them have made it into retirement and been happy once they retired?
Troy E Jones (08:00.845)
If they went into retirement happy, sometimes that's a whole other question. I'm going to say that if happiness was an option for them and it's not true for everybody, because some people just aren't happy people, I'm going to say that their retirement was
Josh Patrick (08:26.349)
Yeah.
Troy E Jones (08:30.133)
was successful with one exception. He was a truck driver who came in one day and he was sitting in the conference room, holding his head up like this, and he said, Troy, don't ever retire.
Josh Patrick (08:34.461)
we're freezing again, yay.
Josh Patrick (08:45.364)
have a stable internet connection.
You're back again.
Yeah, we're just going to have to edit that piece. That's going to be just that's not going to be a big deal. We have lots of ways of taking podcasts and editing them. Jen, we need to go make sure we take out all these free sections and paste them together, please. So, you know, so here's my question. Financial planning firms are really good at helping people prepare for retirement financially.
Troy E Jones (08:55.86)
Okay.
Okay.
Josh Patrick (09:22.573)
What I think they're really bad at is helping them prepare for retirement emotionally. And here's what I see a lot of times, because I've seen it with myself and I've seen it with people I've been around and my clients over the years, is that if they go into retirement and they really don't realize that all those social relationships they had at work will fall off a cliff faster than you can possibly imagine.
So how did you help your clients with that sort of thing, Troy?
Troy E Jones (09:55.233)
Well, one of the things that we have done and we work with a lot of business owner clients, a large focus with the dentist specifically. So one of the things that we would do is that like right now we have a client who's he is one fussy person in terms of details and he's got to have something to do.
And so, but, but he was just totally burned out on running the business and he had had some health problems. And so, we hadn't, we had been talking to an associate for several years and then, about buying his business. And then we put together a, a, a transition strategy that, that lasted for, it was a 10 year transition strategy. It got escalated up to three years, but
we started the conversation 10 years out. And so that's what we've found from that is that that gives the, rather than have an all or nothing kind of cliff of the sale of a practice, it gave the buyer and the seller a more steady glide path. And on larger practices, that works really good because there's oftentimes there's room for two.
doctors in the facility, if nothing else. And that's done in larger practices more commonly than smaller ones. But what has occurred now is this guy, in this case it's a guy, a guy seller, female buyer, he gets to stay as long as he basically wants to and can continue to provide value to the world.
So he can kind of pick and choose his times and the buyer of the practice is super happy with that because he's making the payment for her. So it's awesome in that respect. That's one example. we just stretch it out over a longer period of time rather than have it, you know, I worked on Friday and now I'm retired on Monday.
Josh Patrick (12:02.616)
Sure.
Josh Patrick (12:16.142)
So my concern is someday that cliff is gonna come. No matter what you wanna say. mean, when I wound down my business, I went from having, I don't know how many clients, 50 clients to 30 clients to 10 clients, then eventually the day came where I had no clients. And now I was retired. And who am I at that point is a question I like to ask. And I think that's probably...
a big question for your clients and businesses because business owners really have a tough time with the who am I question once they retire. Do you ever come across that stuff?
Troy E Jones (12:54.871)
Yeah, it's all along the whole period of time what we keep as a lively part of the conversation is what are you retiring to? Because this retiring thing, just to say, I'm going to just go kick back and relax, I don't know that many people who are really doing that.
Josh Patrick (13:08.344)
Right.
Troy E Jones (13:23.125)
Most people are doing some variation of what I'm saying.
Josh Patrick (13:23.254)
Yeah, that's...
In my experience, this is a bigger problem for men than women. Men tend to a smaller social circle than women do.
Troy E Jones (13:36.961)
Yeah, I would say that may be the case, just different issues. Yeah, different issues. Maybe it's less identity and more security.
Josh Patrick (13:39.502)
Is that something you, oops, you're froze again.
Josh Patrick (13:53.123)
Yeah. So, I'm going to switch gears once again, because that's what I do. You were involved in a study group, or probably still are involved in a study group. And when we were doing our pre-interviews, I was asking, where did you gain your wisdom? Because you're a pretty wise guy.
Troy E Jones (14:12.965)
Yeah, cuz I've been told that.
Josh Patrick (14:15.502)
Excuse me. I'm not telling you why I'm talking about somebody who has wisdom. Just in case you were confused. Okay, well, hopefully not now. So, can you tell us a little bit about that group and how it's affected your life?
Troy E Jones (14:22.09)
Okay
Troy E Jones (14:26.079)
Okay. Well I was for a minute.
Troy E Jones (14:39.031)
Yeah, you know, when we were talking the other day, I took the liberty of thinking about, you know, this wisdom thing. And I really, drew a Venn diagram that kind of, and I've been trying to...
And probably somebody's already done this, but I haven't seen it. And that is the Venn diagram is knowledge, experience, and openness to learning. And where those intersect, that's where wisdom comes from me. so knowledge and experience was this group early on that I got involved in that was as a result of
Josh Patrick (15:12.417)
huh.
Troy E Jones (15:29.843)
other groups that I had gotten involved in, Nazarudin being one and Seven Stages of Money Maturity being one. well, was FPA, Nazarudin, and then Seven Stages.
Josh Patrick (15:47.114)
And these are all wealth management-based organizations.
Troy E Jones (15:55.477)
Yes, right. Financial Planning Association and on down from there. but that, that what, what I did was, is that that's the openness to learning side of it is, is that I've just always been willing to say yes to these new opportunities that were, where the smallest group, which is the one you're referring to, we just got together once a year and went somewhere for a
a few days and just went deep and with the kind of people who had the capacity to go deep and we did that for, don't know, maybe let's just say, I'm gonna just say 10 years. I don't remember exactly, but when it was over, it was just over, just sort of like, I'm gonna say died a natural death and we just didn't do it again. But my goodness.
the stuff that we were able to cover and the focus on the deep subjects and the application of tools and processes is just, it was just phenomenal. So.
Josh Patrick (17:10.57)
So can you give me an example of something you guys talked about that wasn't the hard side of financial planning, but was the soft side?
Troy E Jones (17:19.627)
Well, I can tell you one example that I think of often, and that is we were sitting in Denver in an office building, and we were, for whatever reason, that's where we were having our meetings that day, which is unusual for us because normally we're somewhere different. And it was myself.
Gail Coleman, David Brand and Marcy Yeager were sitting in a room and we're just thinking about all the different things. Basically the goal was to help save the world. I mean I know this sounds stupid but that's really what we're doing. We were wanting to do anything we could do. What could we do to help improve the world condition?
We were just all locked up on some issue and Gail Coleman suggested a Hendricks Foundation technique called creative joint play. And so we literally all get up and we start wiggling and dancing and moving around and all that stuff. And then we sat down and nailed the summary of the session that we were trying to do and then went back in for the rest of the group. So that's
Josh Patrick (18:44.248)
Cool.
Troy E Jones (18:45.055)
That's an example of a sticky wicket that we were able to just wiggle our way out of by applying a known practice.
Josh Patrick (18:51.555)
Mm-hmm.
Josh Patrick (18:57.102)
So you had to be okay with looking a little bit silly.
Troy E Jones (19:04.299)
That would be the openness to learning. Yes, that would be it. But you know, it's like they say, if you don't eat any more than the person you're eating with, then you don't have to count those calories.
Josh Patrick (19:06.796)
Right.
Josh Patrick (19:19.758)
In my experience, people who have developed a significant amount of wisdom tend to be really curious. And they aren't curious for like a week, they're curious for their entire life.
Troy E Jones (19:37.878)
Yeah, that's it. That would be my thing. But it's really about applying practices. So for example, I don't know, 20 years ago, I started brushing my teeth right handed in the morning, left handed at night.
Josh Patrick (19:57.325)
interesting.
Troy E Jones (19:58.753)
And I'm pretty much telling you now, I'm ambidextrous. I then had to have shoulder surgery on my right side. I could literally write left-handed. I use my mouse left-handed and I have for years. I have three left-handed associates. They all use the mouse right-handed.
Josh Patrick (20:04.109)
Mm-hmm.
Josh Patrick (20:10.51)
That's good.
Josh Patrick (20:14.339)
Mm-hmm.
Josh Patrick (20:19.406)
But you count me as four, but I also do a lot of stuff with my left hand, so.
Troy E Jones (20:21.015)
But, but.
Troy E Jones (20:26.08)
Yeah.
Josh Patrick (20:27.79)
I consider myself ambidextrous strange.
Troy E Jones (20:32.973)
Well, it's things like that, that I think, you know, when you take all the just the daily practices, somebody I was talking to recently said, well, what do you think as a young person said, what would you say would be the one thing that has benefited you the most? And I'm going to say it's whatever I've done is to do something that
that is taking you up and keep doing it a little bit every day. Like playing the guitar, like meditation, like yoga. These are the things I've been doing. Now, playing the guitar, I've really been doing that for the last five years or so. Singing and playing the guitar, I've been doing that a little bit every day.
Josh Patrick (21:25.038)
Yeah.
Troy E Jones (21:30.029)
but I'm getting to where I know what I'm doing now. Juggling, I learned how to juggle here in the last few years. A brother-in-law taught me how to juggle. He's a retired CPA. So he taught me how to juggle and this is what he said. He said, just keep practicing because at night your hands will figure out where they're supposed to be.
Josh Patrick (21:33.891)
Yeah.
Josh Patrick (21:46.19)
I hope.
Josh Patrick (21:56.598)
He's pretty much right about that, I would think.
Troy E Jones (21:59.565)
It was right for me because I can juggle now.
Josh Patrick (22:04.514)
Yeah. So those are all things to open up your both sides of your brain. You know, brushing your teeth with one hand and then another hand. You know, that's all part of a wisdom conversation. Learning how to juggle, all part of a wisdom conversation. Because now you're likely to be willing to engage in conversations you may not have before you were doing that.
Troy E Jones (22:10.711)
Yeah, yes, just.
Troy E Jones (22:33.005)
Sure, that's true. My soul sister says I'm one of the best conversationalists that she knows. And that's trustworthy coming from her because she is phenomenal.
Josh Patrick (22:44.782)
That's, you know, one of the best things you can do, at least this is my experience. When I'm trying to learn something, I want to learn how to ask the right questions around that.
is for me, questions are real power.
and it's the key to wisdom.
Josh Patrick (23:13.41)
Does that make sense to you?
Troy E Jones (23:14.867)
Yeah, questions open things up, answers close things down. Yeah, I would say that that that makes sense to me. yeah, that's that's that's good stuff. Yeah.
Josh Patrick (23:20.152)
Yeah.
Josh Patrick (23:32.472)
cool. So Troy, unfortunately we have run out of time and folks listening might want to get in contact where you have a conversation. Would you be willing to do that?
Troy E Jones (23:45.389)
I would, if somebody wants to, I'm not sure why, but if so, yeah, that'd be great.
Josh Patrick (23:52.128)
Okay, and how would they find you?
Troy E Jones (23:54.733)
Troy at AFRAdvice.com.
Josh Patrick (23:59.584)
Okay, that's Troy at AFRAdvice.com. And if you want to talk to Troy, that's the best way to set up a time. And for me, if you have an interest to be on this podcast, why don't you send me an email? And it's really easy. It's jpatrick at stage2solution.com. And the two is the number two and solution is singular. So that's jpatrick at stage2solution.com. And you're at
Troy E Jones (24:02.699)
Yeah.
Josh Patrick (24:29.1)
the Long Streams Trip podcast with Josh Patrick and Troy Jones. Thanks a lot for stopping by. I hope to see you back here really soon.
Outro:
Thanks for spending this time with me today. I really appreciate you being part of this journey. I'd be grateful if you leave an honest rating and review. It helps other people find these conversations. Lets me know what's landing with you and what isn't. If you love this show, give us five stars, and if you hate it, give it one star and I'll just cry a little bit.
Keep asking the hard questions, keep being honest about what's difficult, and remember. We're all just trying to figure this out together.
I'll talk to you next time on the Long Strange Trip. Thanks for stopping by.
