Guidant Financial

One question from a six-year-old set this whole story in motion.

For nearly 20 years, Steve Sargent traveled constantly for work. Then his daughter asked him to be home more. He left pharmaceutical sales, bought a Milex Complete Auto Care/Mr. Transmission franchise in Cary, NC, and funded it entirely through his own retirement savings using ROBS, without taking on debt or outside investors. 💪

Swipe through to see the full story.

Read more → guidantfinancial.com/milex-complete-auto-care/

Ever thought about using your 401(k) to start a business? 🤔

With ROBS (Rollovers for Business Startups), you can do exactly that and without paying early withdrawal penalties or taking on debt!

It's one of the smartest ways entrepreneurs are funding their dreams today. Guidant has helped 30,000+ business owners make it happen.

Curious if it could work for you? Check out our latest blog to learn how ROBS works and whether it's a good fit for your goals. 👇

https://www.guidantfinancial.com/blog/what-is-robs/

Important filings can feel much easier with patient, knowledgeable guidance.

Thank you to Kevin for sharing your experience. We’re glad Aiko Velasquez could provide attentive support, clearly explain each step, and help complete the signing of your 2025 Form 5500 with confidence.

We appreciate you recognizing Aiko’s professionalism, patience, and commitment to making sure everything was handled correctly.

Want to learn more about Guidant? Visit www.guidantfinancial.com

He was twenty-four, and the dollar beer night he built packed the restaurant so hard they had to hire bouncers.

The thanks he got: the assistant GM telling him to stop trying so hard, because it made the other managers look bad. He gave notice within days and couldn't have explained why.

It took a Jeff Bezos letter, a decade later, for Jeremy Ames to find the words. His results changed. His paycheck didn't. That's the ceiling on being an employee.

This week he walks through the seat that has no ceiling, and how Michael Jordan turned a $90 million playing career into a $4 billion net worth.

If you've felt that ceiling without being able to name it, this one's worth a watch.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S5XEcuhPyeI

He didn't leave corporate life to build himself another job. 🔧

Steve Sargent walked away from pharmaceutical sales because his daughter asked him to come home more. He bought a Milex Complete Auto Care/Mr. Transmission franchise in Cary, NC, funded it entirely through his own retirement savings using ROBS, and spent eight years building something that didn't need him there to run.

Now it doesn't. And that was always the goal.

Read Steve's full story → www.guidantfinancial.com/milex-complete-auto-care/

Filing Form 5500 can feel overwhelming when the process is unfamiliar - and having the right support makes all the difference.

Thank you to Aisha for sharing your experience. We’re glad Karen Martinez on the Redwood 401(k) Team could provide responsive, thorough, and patient guidance, helping explain what needed to be corrected and keeping everything on track through the deadline.

We appreciate the recommendation and the opportunity to support you.

Want to learn more about Guidant? Visit www.guidantfinancial.com

Jeremy spent weeks picking floor plans for an office his new business didn't need.

He'd read Skunk Works and decided a breakaway venture had to have its own space. So he went and found one. The question that actually mattered never got asked, and the business never really got off the ground.

In this week's video, he connects that to something he sees all the time at Guidant: people spending weeks deciding which state to file their business in, when it usually matters far less than they think.

If you've been busy lately without feeling any closer, this one's worth a few minutes.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QZjoxLkiLM0

His daughter was six when she asked him to come home more.

Steve Sargent spent 20 years in pharmaceutical sales before that question made him rethink everything. He left the industry, bought a Milex Complete Auto Care/Mr. Transmission franchise in Cary, NC, and built it the way he believed auto repair should be: honest, transparent, and customer-first.

He funded the whole thing through ROBS, using his own retirement savings instead of debt. Eight years later, he's a Franchisee of the Year. 🏆

Read Steve's full story → www.guidantfinancial.com/milex-complete-auto-care/

Labor Day is a celebration of the people whose work keeps this country running and for us, that means thinking of small business owners.

Behind every storefront, workshop, clinic, and food truck is someone who opened early, closed late, made payroll before paying themselves, and bet on an idea because they believed in it enough to take the risk. Small businesses employ nearly half the American workforce, which means that when we honor working people today, we're also honoring the entrepreneurs who created those jobs in the first place.

So to every owner out there: thank you for the long hours and the leaps of faith. We hope you get to spend today enjoying the fruits of all that labor.

Our offices will be closed Monday, September 7 in observance of Labor Day. We'll be back and ready to help on Tuesday, September 8.