In this episode of the BigMikeFund Podcast, Big Mike chats with Delta Captain James Reeman from a sunny Hawaii layover. Drawing parallels between high-stakes fighter pilot missions and savvy investing, James shares aviation’s “threat brief” for risk mitigation—identifying pitfalls, prepping contingencies, and debriefing lessons to avoid repeats. From commanding F-16s and a Space Force squadron to mentoring pilots on tax-efficient diversification (beyond 401(k)s into alternatives), he stresses fulfillment over achievement: “Wealth is for enjoying life.” As a new grandfather in Colorado, James reflects on family traditions, financial education gaps, and giving back via the Wings Over the Rockies Air & Space Museum. Ideal for high earners seeking disciplined, gratitude-fueled strategies amid market cycles—discover how “earning your keep” in turbulence builds lasting security.
HIGHLIGHTS OF THE EPISODE
0:00 – Welcome to the BigMikeFund Podcast
0:19 – Guest Intro: James Reeman
0:37 – Holiday Recording: Christmas Gratitude & Service Thanks
1:02 – Hawaii Layover: Job Perks of Food, Hikes & Red-Eye Flights
1:20 – Career Journey: F-16s, Space Squadron Command to Delta
2:24 – Flying-Investing Parallel: Earn in Challenges, Prep for Worst
3:11 – No Catastrophe Option: High-Stakes Parallels in Aviation & Business
3:38 – Family Roots: 3 Kids, Aviation Tradition & New Grandparent
4:30 – Wings Over the Rockies: Inspiring Youth in Aerospace
5:43 – Chess Analogy: Prep, Execute & Debrief for Continuous Learning
6:13 – Risk Management: Identify Threats, Mitigate & Debrief Missions
8:49 – Debrief Power: Learn from Wins/Losses to Refine Processes
10:11 – Leadership Evolution: Ego in Fighters vs. Diverse Space Teams
12:59 – Space Force Explained: From Air Force Roots to Satellite Defense
14:20 – Satellites’ Role: GPS Timestamps Power Global Commerce
17:48 – Blackouts Impact: Critical Systems Halt Modern Life
18:28 – Pilot Coaching: Taxes as Top Expense, Diversify Beyond 401(k)s
20:18 – Financial Gaps: Schools Skip Money Management Education
23:21 – Pilots’ Habits: Index Funds, Cash Balance Plans & Alternatives
26:53 – Reversion to Mean: Bulls/Bears Demand Diversification
29:42 – Evolution to Fulfillment: Service, Gratitude Over Achievement
31:52 – Connect with James
33:22 – Giving Back: Helping Others as Life’s Guiding Light
If you found this episode substantial and want to dig deeper into real estate, or maybe you want to discover better investment opportunities, be sure to check out www.tempofunding.com.
CONNECT WITH US:
Website: www.tempofunding.com
Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCnJkdVoOsUy85ydkmot9iVA
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/mzlotnik/
Facebook: https://web.facebook.com/TFmanagementgroup/?_rdc=1&_rdr
X: https://twitter.com/management_tf
CONNECT WITH THE GUEST
Instagram: @f16pilot
James’ Favorite Charity: https://wingsmuseum.org/
Website: https://www.jamesreeman.com/
Full Transcript:
Mike Zlotnik (00:04.952)
Hi folks, this is Big Mike, Mike Zlotnik. Welcome to the BigMikeFund Podcast. And today my guest is James Reeman. Hi James, how are you, sir?
James Reeman (00:14.47)
Big Mike, doing great. Merry Christmas. What a treat on a Christmas afternoon for you and morning for me that we get to share a little time together.
Mike Zlotnik (00:23.47)
Merry Christmas. Yeah, it’s wonderful to record this during the holiday season. Thank you for taking the time to join me. And also thank you for your service. James is a fighter pilot who is now flying Delta, one of the most senior, most tenured captains. So thank you for your service and welcome to the podcast.
James Reeman (00:47.545)
It’s a privilege to be here, sir. I’m looking forward to our conversation.
Mike Zlotnik (00:51.502)
And we’re doing this, you’re in Hawaii. Tell me a little bit about your travels. And this is, I guess, comes with the territory. You flew in a plane, you landed, and you have a little time off.
James Reeman (01:03.257)
Yeah, Mike, it, you know, there’s something to be said for loving your job, right? And I’ve always been very fortunate. My career in aviation started as a fighter pilot flying F-16s and eventually through some adventures there, eventually commanding a space squadron. But in my semi-retirement now, I’ve been a captain for Delta for a long time. And so when I fly somewhere, one of my favorite things to do is try to experience all that that place has to offer in terms of food and adventure. so.
Yeah, I treated the crew to a little Christmas Eve dinner last night and this morning a couple of us got up and did a little sunrise hike. And this afternoon I’ll get a nap and then the payback for me is I to fly the red-eye back to the United States tonight. But we’ll be well prepared for that.
Mike Zlotnik (01:48.664)
Well, at least you get to enjoy Hawaii and little bit of a hike. I guess it comes with a territory. It’s a job benefit. You fly different places. It’s interesting everywhere. I guess isn’t Red Eye easier to fly then? Or it doesn’t matter if you’re just flying a plane. The Red Eye or not, it’s still a flight.
James Reeman (02:00.781)
Yeah, it’s…
James Reeman (02:08.548)
Yeah, mean every flight has its own inherent challenges and I’m really anxious to dive into some of the parallels with investing today because when everything goes well, it’s easy, right? But those aren’t the days you make your money. And I’m sure in investing, it’s the challenging times where you really kind of earn your keep. And in aviation, we prepare for the worst case scenario, hoping that never happens.
And most of the time it doesn’t, so it’s pretty routine. But when something goes wrong with the airplane or the weather or the passengers or some combination thereof, that’s really when we earn our salary. I joke with my kids that I probably earn most of my income on about one flight per year. And the rest of the time I’m just flying great places and trying to find somewhere to work out and a great place to go to dinner and have an adventure.
Mike Zlotnik (02:58.254)
Yeah, that’s the words of the wise. Whenever I think of flying, think of it as like a catastrophe is not an option. It’s like you have to, the failure in your business is a catastrophic failure. You can’t fail lightly there. If it’s a failure, a problem. It’s a huge problem. So we’ll compare that to investing in a second. Let’s go back to your family for a…
James Reeman (03:16.439)
No.
James Reeman (03:21.175)
Yeah.
Mike Zlotnik (03:26.328)
Tell the folks a little bit about your family. I know you live in Denver. You have a wonderful family. And then you’re involved with a great charity. Give the charity a little bit of a hug and give it a little love.
James Reeman (03:37.75)
Sure, sure, that sounds great. Yeah, I have three kids and our roots are in Colorado. They’ve spread their wings a little bit now. My eldest son is a pilot as well. He served in the military with me and he actually has a child. So I’m a new grandfather, which I’m still warming up to the idea. And then my middle son is a banker for JP Morgan in Los Angeles. And, you know, following in that your financial footsteps, if you will, maybe.
And then my daughter is a student at the University of Michigan. And she got her private pilot’s license when she was 17 and actually soloed her first aircraft when she was 16. But aviation is a big part of our lives. So one of the organizations I work with, I’m on the board of directors for the Wings Over the Rockies, Air and Space Museum, which is Colorado’s official Air and Space Museum. So we dedicate a lot of our time and resources there and try to empower opportunities for young people.
to be inspired by aerospace, aviation, and things like that, and hopefully find a goal and follow their dreams. so Wings Museum is something that we support.
Mike Zlotnik (04:47.926)
Yeah, that’s a wonderful cause. the fact that you got kids involved, it’s also great. It’s kind of funny. People get their kids involved in sports. Christmas day football, was watching Dallas Cowboys are playing and M.F. Smith, it was on and he was talking about how he’s involved with his son now playing for a different school. He comes from Florida and his son plays for Bulldogs. It was a very interesting, but it’s a family tradition.
James Reeman (05:14.508)
Yeah.
Mike Zlotnik (05:16.93)
Your family tradition is football. Your family tradition is flying.
James Reeman (05:20.639)
It’s great and I know your kids are active. You’ve got an ice skater and you know it’s a fun time in their lives when you get to see them following their passions.
Mike Zlotnik (05:29.944)
Well, my girls are skaters, but there is no family tradition there. People ask me, if I skate, I tell them, listen, have you ever been to circus? Well, the old circus. Have you ever seen bears on ice? That’s me.
James Reeman (05:33.921)
Hahaha!
James Reeman (05:41.89)
That’s funny. That’s funny.
Mike Zlotnik (05:44.056)
So let’s talk a little bit about flying and investment. How do you think about investing and flying where you cannot afford a catastrophic scenario? How do you, just curious from the eyes of an investor and a pilot.
James Reeman (05:55.778)
Well, I… Sure.
James Reeman (06:01.846)
Yeah, well, I think it’s risk management, right? And I know that that was a popular term decades ago and it’s still it still is now. One of the things we brief on every every flight, Mike, are the threats. So a basic fighter pilot briefing, I still use that format in the airlines. We identify our objectives. We go through a little bit of the plan of how we’re going to execute. We talk about some of the contingencies. And then one of the most important part of the briefing is identifying the threats.
What are the common errors? What are the things that could make this go wrong? And then the most important part of the threat brief is not just identifying those threats, but then how are we going to mitigate them? What are the steps we’re going to take if we hit that fork in the road and things start to go a little sideways? How are we going to delegate responsibilities, take care of the passengers, and get that airplane safely on the ground? And only through a proper debrief,
briefing and debriefing. I’ll get to the second part later because I think it’s the most important. Are we able to kind of trap those errors early and hopefully get on a path to a safe landing for us? And investing, it’s mitigating, you know, what is the return you hope to get, but also you’ve got to identify the worst case scenario because not everything is always going to go as planned, right?
But, I think, and you do this in investing as well, the most important part of any mission that we fly is the debrief. If everything went perfectly well, I still spend a few minutes in that cockpit after the flight before I go out and hand out wings and say goodbye to the, I miss a few first class passengers by doing this, which I hate to do, but I go, hey, what went well today? What could we have done differently? And what did we learn? What mistakes did we make?
that we can learn from so we don’t repeat those. And that format has actually been borrowed by the medical industry, surgeons and fighter pilots, and maybe big shot investors. You we have some egos, right? And so we don’t always like to debrief. We like to rush to the next project. But I think a thorough analysis of how did things go today, even when they went well, more importantly, when they didn’t, helps you get better each time so you’re refining your process. And so I think there’s some wonderful
James Reeman (08:24.266)
parallels and you can even measure those private versus public markets, you know and and things like that but taking a mistake you make trying to learn from it so it doesn’t get repeated I think is a really important part of the process.
Mike Zlotnik (08:29.825)
and take my time.
Mike Zlotnik (08:38.637)
James, it’s so wonderful you say this. This is the most profound mental process in continuous learning. And I’m working on my second book. And part of the book, I talk about chess. I’m a chess master. I grew up playing chess. And what? In chess, you do exactly the same thing. You prepare for the game in advance, thinking through who you’re playing against. And you’re basically building a game plan.
James Reeman (08:54.73)
Okay.
Mike Zlotnik (09:05.771)
And you have a flight plan. You’re going to know what’s going to happen. At least you’re going to prepare for possibilities. And after the game, no matter what you do, just like you do with debrief after the flight, it’s critically important to go over what just transpired, go over the game, how it went, what mistakes were made, and what did you learn from this? And if things went well, why did it go well? And the same is true in investing. Mistakes.
or issues or challenges or headwinds are inevitable when they happen. What do you do about it? The only thing you can do about it is learn. And to learn, you have to go through analysis and think through what transpired and how you reacted. I can imagine as a fighter pilot, not only what’s happening, but how you reacted to what’s happening is just as important.
James Reeman (09:55.026)
You know in an f16 it was a little more deliberate
potentially than at the airline because it literally was life or death. in combat, our briefings were pretty concise. We did a really good job of having standards and a little bit on leadership because I know you work with teams too. I found out that fighter pilots are not the best leaders and I’ll tell you why. There’s a little caveat on that. But the 30 or so guys I would deploy to combat with, we knew each other really well and we were pretty similar.
A lot of guys were, as you would imagine, the high school quarterback or the student body president, no shortage of confidence and egos. And so when you went to give a pep talk, it was almost like you were talking to the mirror. It wasn’t that challenging. You didn’t have to tell these guys to wear their uniform correctly or to get into shape. They were motivated, disciplined warriors. And when we would brief, sometimes we go, hey, today, everything is standard, per our standards.
you know, here’s a couple of threats for today, but it’s like, we could be really concise. And I know that in investing, sometimes there’s time critical situations where you have to act upon an opportunity and you don’t have time to maybe cover all the details. We would still debrief thoroughly. Fast forward to a big change. When I started commanding a space squadron, I hired and stood up 150 people organization of every
ethnic background, racial orientation, sexual orientation, and I loved and respected these people so much, but I really had to learn to listen because they didn’t think like me. So it wasn’t this efficient combat type scenario, but the collaboration was much more, was better. Because when you’re with a bunch of people that think like you, and I’m sure Mike, when you go to your biggest fans, they go, hey, everything you’re doing is great. That’s not the best feedback you get. Sometimes it’s somebody who comes at it from a completely different angle, something you didn’t think about.
James Reeman (11:52.165)
on that it can be better but there’s pluses and minuses of both those organizations in combat give me the guys that think like me because it’s more efficient right in peacetime give me that diverse group where we struggle a little bit more come up with better ideas and so i know that’s a little bit of a tangent but i know it you can relate to that in in investing as well as you work with different teams and different situations where it’s more time critical or less time critical
Mike Zlotnik (12:20.31)
Yeah, this is so impactful. You never want the S man. You want meritocracy of the best ideas. Merit wins. The best ideas win no matter who they come from. And as a leader, recognizing the best ideas and best people that that’s that’s leadership, right? That that’s important to be able to enable the organization to function well in its diverse environment. So and what is Space Corp? Sorry, I’m like dinosaur living in the current age.
James Reeman (12:46.644)
Yeah.
Mike Zlotnik (12:48.238)
versus i guess you you are a fighter pilot and then you go space space corpse you i guess it’s part of the military i assume you went to outer space
James Reeman (12:55.997)
Yeah. So for a long time, there were five branches of the military, right? You had the army, the air force, the Navy, the Marines and the Coast Guard. And a few years ago, the Space Force stood up. And of course, everything today gets a little over politicized. So because of who the administration was at the time, it got some press, I think, that distracted from it. But the best way I can explain Space Force is in the late 40s, shortly after World War II.
The Air Force decided that they needed their own branch within the United States. And similar things actually happened in the Soviet Union. They were very much in parallel as they moved from World War II toward the Cold War era. The Air Force was owned by the Army. And so the generals in charge, every time they had an extra nickel, God bless those tank driving, cavalry, rifle fires, they wanted a better tank, not a better airplane.
So they decided that the Air Force needed its own identity, its own leaders, its own uniforms, its own path to progression so that aviators could make aviation decisions. Well, for the past 50 years, space has been a very important part of the military. And everyone wants space to be two things. You know what? My friends want space to be Mike. They want it to be Martians and manned space travel. It’s neither of those, unfortunately.
Mike Zlotnik (14:19.182)
Ha
James Reeman (14:20.853)
The people that want it to be that want it to be really bad. And anything is possible, but I’m telling you that Space Force has to do with satellites. And there are satellites in low Earth orbit, medium Earth orbit, and high Earth orbit. Low Earth orbit is like imagery and stuff going on around here. Medium Earth orbit is like GPS and other stuff. And then high Earth orbit is spy satellites, things that like the Soviets that hang out over ours and China’s hang out over here.
Mike Zlotnik (14:45.687)
and then go with profits.
James Reeman (14:48.348)
All of that stuff’s really important, very complex. However, it was run by the Air Force. So these pilots, every time space needed something, they got secondhand material. They didn’t have their own paths of progression, their own uniforms, their own leadership. So a half a dozen years ago, they decided to create their own branch. And of course, any time you do something new, it creates challenges. So when my boss came to me and goes, hey, you can’t fly airplanes forever, even if Peter Pan is your role model.
We want you to be a commander for Space Force.” And I said, you know, I have a business degree, not an engineering degree. But what they really needed at that point was somebody with people skills. And I have a passion for that because these very cerebral, smart learners didn’t have the camaraderie and the connectivity the fighter pilots had. So as soon as they were done with their commitment to the military, they left for Lockheed, Raytheon, all the civilian companies.
Those of us that stayed in the military for long time, we didn’t do it for the Jets. We did it for the camaraderie, the friendships, the connective tissue we had with the brothers and sisters that we served with. So my job was to help instill that. And I don’t know how I did. I got a bunch of messages today from kids that I used to command that I think appreciated the effort I put forth there. But what we tried to do, and they’re doing better all the time, was create a branch of the military where they have their own identity.
They felt important. had their own path to progression, their own budget. Still growing pains with that because it is the largest domain. If you think about land, sea and air, space is the largest. And satellites and everything they do, I’ll give you, if I’ve got time, I’ll give you one quick space story that you’ll appreciate. So people are like, how important are these satellites? I’m gonna go, well, we did an exercise one time called a day in the life without GPS.
Mike Zlotnik (16:35.503)
Go ahead.
James Reeman (16:43.847)
And people, they go, GPS won’t work on your phone, so you can’t navigate on your phone, use a map. I go, no. Every one of those GPS satellites has an atomic clock. You probably know a little bit about internet security, Mike. What do they use? What’s one of the main things cybersecurity uses to secure everything? Timestamps. Every credit card reader, stock exchange, gas pump in the world, if you didn’t have GPS, would stop working.
you basically have the cash in your mattress. So all commerce would stop. And so those satellites are not very well protected by the way. And so one of our peer adversaries could hold that at risk. So there’s a lot of important stuff going on up there. It’s not as exciting as flying jets at Mach 2 upside down and blowing things up, but it’s really, really important stuff and a very evolving part of our military. So there’s Space Force 101.
Mike Zlotnik (17:37.55)
Yeah, that’s right.
I appreciate you sharing this. There’s a lot of wisdom here and I didn’t realize that all the credit card readers around the world and number of other technologies wouldn’t function. But wasn’t a blackout in San Francisco just a few days ago and as a result, a whole bunch of cars stopped, they couldn’t navigate. I remember blackout in New York City. We live in the world. When you turn off electricity or you turn off this critical system, everything comes to a screeching halt. It’s almost like we go to a Stone Age.
At least it feels this way.
James Reeman (18:11.744)
Yep, it’s very true.
Mike Zlotnik (18:15.407)
It’s very, very important what you do and what you did. So back to the commercial aviation now and investing. And I know you work with other pilots for Delta and you coach them, you do some mentorship. So again, comparison to investing to the best of your ability, you’re an investor. So how do you think about coaching younger pilots on both? How to be a better
James Reeman (18:44.294)
Yeah, well, so my my my official role, I’m a line check airman. And so what that means is I I train the new pilots and then I also give periodic evaluations to the experienced pilots. But some of these flights are six to eight hours long, right? And so you can cover the aviation stuff in the first hour. And inevitably, we end up talking about money, life skills, things like that. And one thing we learned early on, don’t take investment advice from a pilot. Right. But
Mike Zlotnik (18:45.071)
and how to be a very
Mike Zlotnik (18:57.987)
replace the 16.
James Reeman (19:13.318)
The very general advice I try to help pilots understand is their number one expense in their lifetime is W-2 wage earners is going to be taxes. And that although the market has been on an incredible run for the past 15 years with a little maybe pause around COVID, it’s good to mitigate your risk by exploring alternative investments. And I don’t give a lot of specific advice, but just encourage them to be open. There’s some good podcasts and
Financial education is something that’s not taught very well in our schools. And I’d be interested how in Moldova, I think we take so much for granted in the United States. But when you grow up in a different part of the world, sometimes security and risk mitigation, when you don’t take it for granted, you’re a little more disciplined, I think, with your approach to things. So I try to teach some of these soft kids, if you will, that you need to pay attention to financial education, taxes very specifically.
and finding different ways where you can not necessarily hedge, but diversify your portfolio so you’re prepared for a long game. Because aviation is pretty well compensated right now. It’s a cyclical industry, but we’re in that doctor lawyer category where you can make money. But if you don’t pay attention to where it goes or how much of it goes to taxes, you end up not being well prepared for the long game. So I don’t know if I’m touching on some of the spots, but that’s kind of how I
give them general advice about investing.
Mike Zlotnik (20:44.943)
Well, you’re stimulating thinking, You’re stimulating thinking, you’re stimulating important areas. Obviously, it’s not what you make, it’s what you keep. Alternative investments versus kind of the Main Street versus Wall Street and being exposed to things that are not taught in schools. again, I grew up in Moldova, former USSR.
Very different world over there. You were expected to be you know a doctor engineer and never worry about finance and the government essentially owned everything right you come over here even here in school schools You’re not unless unless you’re studying finance unless you go into business and finance you’re studying medicine You’re studying to be a pilot you’re studying to be an engineer or a computer programmer or Now AI you’re not being taught how to manage your money how to invest
James Reeman (21:17.295)
Right.
Mike Zlotnik (21:39.151)
You’re being taught how to be a good or a great professional in whatever your profession is, which is important. But at the same time, the rest of the education happens in the hours that you’re not flying a plane or hopefully it is. You’re learning something while you’re flying a plane. But it is something that we all learn through other interactions. And my two cents and…
We’ll see just a custom the soul for many many years that it has been very easy And and it’s simple and people have invested over the 401ks and all these automatic savings mechanisms are great, but at the same time There are bulls and bears and the markets turn and you We see a group like you saw like you said we had a great bull run and I have a friend who uses this fancy term Which I strongly believe called reversion to the mean
things do revert to the mean. So when you get too ahead of where reasonable return should be, corrections do come in and the markets do have, they are at the whim of the mood. And if the mood changes, you’re optimistic to fear, things can suddenly get very different and alternatives are great or good for diversification, for having predictable income.
James Reeman (22:54.775)
you .
Mike Zlotnik (23:02.255)
So just let’s go on this topic. So how do pilots think about investing or at least in a new experience? And I guess it’s a function of where you are in your career. If you’re about to retire, maybe more focused on income versus if you are on an earlier stage, maybe you’re trying to grow your nest deck, tax efficiently. Just curious again, we had many folks in a podcast. We’ve had nobody.
like you as a fighter pilot, not just a fighter pilot, but a commercial jet pilot. And I fly Delta. And when we spoke, when we flew together, I was just so impressed. are one of the most tenured senior captains in the fleet. so just give me your perspective on investing. What do you like and what do other pilots that you’ve talked with without giving any financial advice?
James Reeman (23:32.336)
Okay.
James Reeman (23:41.493)
Yeah, that’s how we met.
James Reeman (23:56.311)
Yeah, well, that’s a great question. I think we’re doing a better job of educating folks at Delta and most of the legacy carriers. So legacy would be Delta, American, and United, the big three. But even Southwest Frontier and some of those, the 401k is a defined contribution plan now. There’s no pension anymore. And so whether you like it or not, 17 to 18 %
per month goes into your 401k. know, opinions vary greatly on that, but most people are in pretty traditional index funds, S &P 500, things of that nature. Some people will treat it a little bit more like Vegas, but that’s for the most part the primary investment vehicle for a lot of pilots. And if you do it intelligently, as your income goes up, you hit the 415C limit pretty early.
And then Delta, a couple of years ago, you used to get then just after-tax cash, instituted a market-based cash balance plan, which is managed by somebody else, and it’s a modest return, but it allows then any overflow money over the 415C limit to go to that, which I think lawyers and other doctors, other high-income earners have used for years. The challenge is almost all of that, depending on, you don’t have a lot of flexibility where that goes.
And that’s why, you know, after talking to you and I listened to a passive income pilots podcast where they do self storage, some things like that. I started exploring more alternative investments, you know, private equity type stuff, because I don’t want everything exposed in one area, which you kind of end up there, whether you like it or not, when your main vehicle is a 401k. So those are some of the things. The other nice thing about aviation is that when you’re at work, you’re at work.
Like I’m at work right now, I won’t show you the pool in the background there, but when you’re home, you’re all the way home. So a lot of pilots do pursue other businesses, opportunities, money making, sometimes money losing ventures, real estate and things of that nature. So you end up with a pretty diverse group, some of them that have become pretty well educated on investing and alternative investments.
James Reeman (26:16.206)
I know that’s a little broad answer, but it’s a unique category, I think, of earners and investors because it’s a pretty well-rewarded career profession. yeah, there’s good advice and bad advice that comes from other pilots, so I always kind of take that with a grain of salt. But we’re in a position to take good care of ourselves and our family if we pay attention.
Mike Zlotnik (26:42.255)
Well, James, so this was so wonderful. You mentioned so many things that I wanted to kind of just touch a little bit. So for one, obviously diversifying outside of the Wall Street, going into alternative. You mentioned traditional vehicles, the defined contributions plan. You also mentioned cash balance plan, which is a phenomenal, phenomenal tool for folks to be aware of because it actually works. We use cash balance plan.
It is a mix of the old school defined benefits plan versus defined contributions plan. So cash balance plans are great for folks, especially if they have a business and they’re able to contribute. But what’s really fascinating is that you don’t have to go just to Wall Street. You can actually have a cash balance plan and have a non-traditional account. And some of the major players like Charles Schwab or Fidelity’s can set up these accounts.
and manage them and you can invest in alternatives. So I just wanted to add to what you said, if folks are creating or created or open to having a cash balance plan, they could set up to invest in alternatives. We do that all day long. We invest in real estate and what we understand. So all I could tell you is that it exists. it’s a great recommendation or at least you mentioned that concept.
James Reeman (27:42.328)
That’s great.
James Reeman (28:03.019)
I’ll have to figure out, I currently don’t think we have flexibility to do much with our market-based cash balance plan. at one point we retire and then we can do whatever we want with it. But yeah, it is something I think that is managed internally.
Mike Zlotnik (28:09.613)
Because it’s delta, right? It’s part of delta, is that?
Mike Zlotnik (28:22.215)
My hope is, let me just add this comment. My hope is President Trump mentioned allowing 401ks and maybe cash balance plans. He didn’t say cash balance plan, but the 401ks to invest in alternatives like real estate or private real estate, not just publicly traded. That’s exactly the case. When you’re dealing with a plan that’s been around for many, many years and managed by a large company and their appropriate administrators and managers, it’s very difficult for them yet
James Reeman (28:37.836)
Yeah.
Mike Zlotnik (28:50.809)
to make any changes and offer alternatives. But I think over time, give it enough time, I am pretty sure you’ll have some options or other firms will have options where it’s not just the Wall Street products, not the mutual funds and individual stocks. There’s gotta be some options on alternative investment.
James Reeman (29:09.557)
Yep, I couldn’t agree more because you don’t want to your hat just on that one hook because corrections do come and I definitely think that we’re a little overdue and it’s nice to have your assets spread around a bit.
Mike Zlotnik (29:27.087)
Yeah, this has been amazing. It’s kind of, I don’t know how to say it, but I’m just so impressed and so fascinated how, I mean, your story, how you’ve, you’ve, you’ve, you’ve, you’ve, you’ve, you’ve, you’ve, you’ve, you’ve, you’ve, you’ve, you’ve, you’ve, you’ve, you’ve, you’ve
for anyone listening. don’t have to be a pilot to benefit from these ideas. You could be a business owner, could be a doctor, you could be a computer programmer, you can be anybody. These concepts actually super applicable. So thank you for sharing your wisdom. Any final quick thoughts, any great book, any just kind of whatever comes to your heart.
James Reeman (30:12.133)
You bet, Mike.
James Reeman (30:20.46)
Sure, sure. And I do want to close with one thing, and you helped remind me this the other day, is that I got a text from you saying, it’s the holidays. Do you have a charitable organization that you’re a fan of? We’d like to make a contribution. And it really helped me think about my evolution. I’m in my mid-50s now, and I try hard to stay in shape. It’s part of my routine. also, my focus has changed in recent years. I think what got me through my first half of my life was like,
passion and discipline and goal setting and all that stuff. But I think what you find, and investing’s a big part of this, as I’ve matured trying to find ways to be service oriented, generous, and practice gratitude, I was confusing achievement for fulfillment, always seeking that next dollar, that next leadership position, and finding ways, if you do well investing, and if you do well in other ways, simply to be generous and to give back and service.
the rewards from that are much more lasting. And I think you and the folks at Tempo really set a great example of that. And it makes me feel really good about being associated with you and getting to know you better and being on the podcast and just being able to do this over Christmas is super meaningful. And I appreciate it a lot. If people want to learn more about me and some of the aviation mentoring we do, I have an Instagram and a website.
If it’s appropriate to mention it, I will. If not, I’ll save it for another time. Yeah.
Mike Zlotnik (31:48.397)
Go ahead, please, Yes, mention the charity, how folks can reach out to the charity, to the wings over the Rockies. And then your website, absolutely, please.
James Reeman (31:55.092)
Yeah.
Yeah, the easiest way to find me is on Instagram. I don’t know how I managed to land this back in the day, but my Instagram is F16pilot. So I’m the one and through there that connects to a link tree that has all my service organizations and other things I do. And anything I do in those endeavors, the little bit of money I make, which is not much, I put back into the charitable organizations that I support. So there’s stuff in there about travel fitness and
wellness and different things that you can do to be a smart traveler, as well as how to stay fit on the road, and then some stuff on service and contribution as well.
Mike Zlotnik (32:38.096)
Thank you, James. And I do want to mention the website for the Wings Over the Rockies. I’m looking at the website. It’s a wonderful website. It’s a wonderful mission. It literally wingsmuseum.org. So let folks…
James Reeman (32:44.37)
Okay.
James Reeman (32:50.654)
Yep, wingsmuseum.org, yep. And we do a lot of great work for young people there and trying to find ways where we can connect kids with a goal and so we can ignite their passion and hopefully they end up loving their job as much as you and I love our jobs, right?
Mike Zlotnik (33:08.282)
Find the job that you like enough to work a day in your life. Find a passion, right? And so getting people involved passionately makes… And a final comment, I appreciate your spirit of giving. There’s nothing more rewarding in life than helping somebody. I learned it from my mother. She passed away close to two years ago. And all her life she was a giver. She was just trying to help people. And it’s not about…
James Reeman (33:13.328)
Amen to that.
Mike Zlotnik (33:36.34)
your accomplishments. It’s about helping somebody else, whatever little help you can do. If you can do great help, wonderful. If you can do a little bit of help, that thinking just moves you forward. And that’s the best way to go through life. And some people discover it early in life, some people discover it later in life. Every time I hear this, I kind of remember my mom, how she lived her life. And this has always been kind of a guiding light.
If you don’t know what to do, help somebody. That’s the easiest way to think and being associated with a wonderful charity is a great cause. Thank you for doing that and thank you for your service. It’s so awesome to have you on a podcast. This is a wonderful episode. Thank you, James.
James Reeman (34:21.999)
All right, Mike. Hey, Christmas to your family and best of luck in 2026. I look forward to working with you.
Mike Zlotnik (34:28.292)
Merry Christmas and likewise.
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Thank you for listening to The BigMikeFund Podcast. To receive your copy of Mike’s how to choose a smart real estate fund book, head to BigMikeFund.Com or visit Amazon and type Mike Zlotnik.
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