Purpose with Mark Bertrang

Guests: Kevin & Jessica Schaler Adult & Teen Challenge of Western Wisconsin-La Crosse is a long-term faith-based drug and alcohol recovery center that serves women, age 18+. It's a place of refuge for those who are stuck in the bonds of chemical addictions, as well as other life-controlling problems, taking a holistic approach to address the physical, emotional, and spiritual needs of each person....

Wealth isn't measured by how much money you have; it's measured by how much freedom you have. It's easier to get ahead if you can follow a leader. Who is your leader? How do you become a member of their tribe? How do you create a tribe? It involves values, beliefs, ethics and a difference between your tribe and those standing from the outside looking in.

Careful consideration needs to be examined when a whole life insurance policy is used to accumulate cash for opportunities and cash for emergencies. Whole life insurance provides more than just a death benefit. It also provides potential liquidity for many different options that may require available cash. How does a MEC status affect your cash options?

Being an entrepreneur is a lonely, demanding road. We face decisions daily that a lot of people will be impacted by: team, clients and family. This heavy responsibility, along with memories of past failures causes our way forward to be murky with uncertainty. The result can become a business that we don't love anymore. We're working with people who don't feel like are "our people," and we drag our...

When discussing the Life Insurance Asset, you need to consider how this asset could assist you in fighting the "Eroding Factors" of your financial life, which include inflation, taxes, planned obsolescent, technology changes, consumption, consumption of savings and lifestyle changes. Do you have a tool to combat these eroding factors in your life?

Do you view your life insurance as a snapshot in time? That's what we're told to do by the financial gurus, as seen on television, radio and the internet. Are they taking the short view, when we should be taking the long view on our life insurance planning? Instead of a snapshot, perhaps we need to be taking a panoramic lifetime view.

Melissa Schultz is a business coach, strategist, trainer and speaker equipping women to leverage their God-given gifts to maximize their business potential to boldly achieve their dreams. Melissa recently spoke during a "Women with Purpose" luncheon titled "Finding the Light in The Darkness". Recent times have brought significant changes to our ability to socialize and be in community with one ano...

Erin Waldhart is the Executive Director of WAFER, the largest Food Pantry serving the La Crosse, Wisconsin region. What is WAFER and what are the services it provides; and what is Erin's story and her role there; and what is your role in serving the hungry in need?

How do you center yourself through the cold, dark winter of the Covid-19 pandemic? How do you help yourself or a loved one who doesn't want help and where are the resources to help?

This enduring story was read by Mark Bertrang on a recent December morning, in an open calf barn on the Todd & Gwen Manke farm north of Banger, Wisconsin; as we all wait in preparation for the coming of Christmas. A bale of hay was used, where Mark placed his bible which he read from on a cold winter morning. Join us for these four short minutes, as we remember the story of the real reason that we...

Brother Matthew Kotek is in temporary vows with the Midwest Province of the De La Salle Christian Brothers. After teaching for five years in Catholic schools in the Diocese of Memphis, Tennessee, he currently serves at the Fratelli Project, an educational center co-sponsored by the De La Salle Brothers and the Marist Brothers that serves Syrian refugee children in Lebanon. Many of our podcasts cen...

Mark Bertrang recalls a story of a trip taken to Winnipeg Canada in 1985. While there, he purchased a set of uncirculated coins from the Royal Canadian Mint, that have never been touched by human hands. What can be learned from this coinage in 2020?

Alexis Probst is a young business leader who began building her own business – "Elite Nutrition", practically right out of college. As a business owner and wellness coach, Alexis discusses her journey, taking immediate control over her future and sharing the lessons which she has learned along the way.

How does your faith come into play during the separation many of us are feeling from our job, school, friends, family, faith communities and perhaps even God, during this pandemic? This conversation explores bringing focus to our lives, by focusing on what is greater than ourselves.

David Trapp' s heart simply stopped. He died that very moment. As he laid on a church sanctuary floor, EMTs shocked his heart back from death, as the congregation looked on. As a career insurance expert, Dave discusses life insurance from a brand-new perspective; the viewpoint of his own death. What did he learn?

I first met Joseph Puzzo as he was barely entering his twenties working as an onsite counselor for a Christian summer program assisting those less fortunate in a small rural area of Tennessee. When we began our conversation, I had planned on discussing Joe's recent experience of Covid-19 in his community, I soon realized that his story was so much more. The young man I met during the summer of 201...

Each life insurance application has a separate page in which the insurance agent needs to complete or "field underwrite" about the why you are applying for life insurance. What are they saying about you? Mark Bertrang discusses Executive Bonus Arrangements, Key Person Plans, Buy-Sell Provisions, Deferral and Creditor Plans, along with important personal uses of The Life Insurance Asset.

Most people have plenty of questions before they meet with a qualified attorney for the very first time to prepare a will or other estate planning documents. This is not a 'how-too' podcast; but, it's a how-do-I-prepare podcast. How-do-I-prepare to have a thoughtful conversation with a lawyer to draft one of the most important documents of my lifetime; what some would call the last 'love letter' t...

How should you prepare to have a Will Discussion with a qualified attorney? What should you consider? What should you know? What should you be asking? How does the Life Insurance Asset play into these plans?

The government's small business Administration, your local bank and credit union focuses on your assets and liabilities when determining your creditworthiness for a loan. Mark Bertrang explains how your whole life insurance policy can plan a crucial role during this process.

How do you determine your financial economic worth? Why is it important? A "rule of thumb" does not work and cheats families out of the dreams and aspirations that were hoped and planned for. During this presentation, Mark Bertrang helps to walk you through the reasoning and arithmetic in helping to determine your own Human Life Value for Life Insurance purposes. These are the similar calculations...

Recently Mark Bertrang taught an online class on the Life Insurance strategies of Rich and Famous people you may have heard of, but never knew the untold stories of how they used life insurance to build their wealth without dying. This is the audio from that presentation which can be viewed on his YouTube channel.

Sharing her own story of depression and the journey to mental health wholeness, Judy Shoults, the 2013 Shining Star Award recipient during Mental Health Awareness month. Judy, a member of the La Crosse Area Suicide Prevention Initiative, community booster, and is a strong advocate on behalf of those affected by mental illness. That advocacy, she says, includes a focus on breaking the stigma associ...

A conversation and songs with John Smith – Singer/Songwriter, while we're staying safely in place.

A recent trip to Sicily: Let's take a walk together through an Italian marketplace and discuss the CoronaVirus and unpredictable Black Swans; and how they may affect our lives.