January 3, 2026 • 22 mins
Our host Darriel Roy interviews CEO & Financial Planner, Mike Milligan. In addition to being a financial educator, he is a speaker, and legacy builder with over 27 years in the industry.
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
Hello and welcome. Thank you so much for watching.
Speaker 2 (00:02):
This shows all about giving you insights and showcasing brands
that help you to live your best life and give
you confidence. As always, I want to kick start your
morning with some motivational advice to help you to feel
inspired and energize to start.
Speaker 1 (00:14):
Your day today.
Speaker 2 (00:16):
I want to talk without the importance of understanding that
just like your social media feed runs on algorithms, so
does your mind. What you pay attention to is exactly
what you see more of. Have you ever randomly mentioned
something or looked it up on Google only to find
your social media filled with more and more of that topic.
Speaker 1 (00:33):
Because you mentioned it.
Speaker 2 (00:35):
The more interest you have in that topic, the more
the social media algorithm is designed to show you more
of it.
Speaker 1 (00:42):
Our minds work the same way.
Speaker 2 (00:44):
The more we focus on certain thoughts or feelings, the
more we experience it, whether positive or negative. So what
is showing up in the algorithm of your mind? Making
your mission today to start focusing on empowering and positive
inner dialogue to fill your mind with an algorithm that
makes you feel limitless rather than making you feel limited.
The more we focus on gratitude and empowering beliefs. The
(01:05):
more the algorithm of our minds pumps up more thoughts
that makes us feel good and filter our beliefs that
don't serve us. As a saying goes, your greatest weapon
is your mind. Train it to see opportunities, not obstacles.
Next time on the show, we have CEO and financial
planner Mike Milligan. In addition to being a financial educator,
he's a speaker and legacy builder with over twenty seven
(01:27):
years in the industry.
Speaker 1 (01:29):
Mike, thank you so much for being on the show today.
How are you doing.
Speaker 3 (01:32):
I'm doing fantastic. How are you doing?
Speaker 2 (01:34):
I am doing amazing. I'm excited to talk to you.
We have a lot to talk about. But before we
get into you being a successful financial planner, I know
that it all started when you were just eleven years old,
from the tools that you learn from your grandmother. So
tell us how you kind of learned a money mindset
at that age.
Speaker 4 (01:51):
Well, I learned a money mineyset out of necessity. See,
my grandma and grandfather were my heroes. They were the
people that that I looked up to and who I
wanted to be like when I grew up, and my
grandfather unfortunately got cancer when I was eleven, but he
was the primary breadwinner for our family. My grandmother had
(02:13):
to take up the mantle of that and the you know,
one of the one of the few things she knew
how to do very well was cook and so she
created an at home cooking business where she sold collared
sandwiches to do things like pay the bills, you know,
the utility bills, literally put food on the table. She
took up the mantle, so she had to innovate through desperation.
(02:37):
And that's where I learned more a lot about money,
you know, count every penny, count every dime, count of recorder,
and then obviously learned the entrepreneurial side of sales and
building successful business.
Speaker 2 (02:50):
I find that people that are good at managing money,
they did learn at an early age, you know, and
they've adopted that mindset throughout their life.
Speaker 1 (02:57):
So I love that you learned at just eleven years old.
Speaker 4 (03:00):
You know. The well, you know, we all we all
have a first money memory that we that we have
and it's either it's normally coming from like we saw
somebody spend money, or we saw somebody say no to
something we wanted, and those and those early memories start
are the building blocks for how we handle money later
(03:20):
in life.
Speaker 3 (03:21):
And so if anybody's ever if anybody.
Speaker 4 (03:23):
Ever wants to do a really cool exercise on like
their money habits, think about the first time you ever
remember money, and then talk about and see if that
memory impacts how you make decisions now. I mean even
now my first memory money. You know now that I
understand it and I've applied it, it definitely, uh is
(03:44):
ingrained in how I help people manage money.
Speaker 2 (03:47):
And speaking about that, you've been in the industry for
over twenty seven years helping people manage money. What do
you find are the biggest blocks when people, you know,
spend money? Because I feel like that's such a problem
everyone has is we their money? So how do you
help people manage their money?
Speaker 4 (04:02):
Well, first of all, you have to have purpose for
what your money is. Everybody tries to chase this elusive
return on investment, like how can I make my money
make money for me? But the reality is is we've
got to get into a mindset set where we want
a return of investment. Right, our money can do stuff
for us if it is appropriated the right way. So
(04:27):
we assign money a job money has to be to
maybe put a down payment on a house. Maybe it's
for retirement, maybe it's to put a kid through college.
Maybe it's to grow your business, you know, to take
your current business to the next level.
Speaker 3 (04:41):
But if you assign, if you assign.
Speaker 4 (04:43):
Money a job and then you let the money do
that job, then money is more than just something setting
on a spreadsheet or a statement.
Speaker 1 (04:54):
Very true.
Speaker 2 (04:55):
And you know what I love about you is that
you teach people not just about money management, but also
that's about wellness.
Speaker 1 (05:01):
And I know there's a correlation.
Speaker 2 (05:02):
Between being healthy and being wealthy, So tell us about
that connection.
Speaker 4 (05:06):
Well, I mean that connection is true because your health
is a true barometer of your wealth. There's so many
people who at the end of their life, and I've
seen this, having helped thousands of people over like you said,
twenty seven years in the industry, seeing people at the
end of their life sitting on their deskbed who said
they wish they would have done this, or they wish
they would have done that. But the choices we make
(05:28):
daily that impact us, not only from a money standpoint,
for a health standpoint, compound on each other. And so
if you want to live a life full of purpose
with a vision that gets you where you want to go.
You know, you have to make the right decisions and
the discipline to save money the right way, invest it
the right way. But you have to do the same
thing with your health, because somebody who's unhealthy cannot do
(05:53):
or live life the.
Speaker 3 (05:54):
Way they want to live.
Speaker 4 (05:56):
And you know, I try to help people live a
one of a kind in life, and so health is
definitely a big compar component of living.
Speaker 3 (06:05):
In one of a kind life.
Speaker 2 (06:07):
And you know, despite you having a successful career, I
know that you had an obstacle in your life where
there was a point that you gained three hundred and
fifty pounds. So tell us about that period and kind
of what led you to be your best self today.
Speaker 4 (06:20):
Yeah. Well, I mean I really only gained three hundred
and forty because I was born ten pounds, right, I
was born.
Speaker 3 (06:24):
At ten pounds.
Speaker 4 (06:25):
Yeah, but I did peak at three point fifty when
I was around when I was around thirty nine years old,
I was a after you know, learning about entrepreneurship with
my grandmother and joining Wall Street America, you know, Wall
Street and helping people there, I got I got a
little lazy I.
Speaker 3 (06:45):
Didn't work out.
Speaker 4 (06:46):
I gained about ten pounds a year from you know,
my mid twenties until I was thirty nine, and it
was time to get my personal health in line at
that point, and so I had to inspect what my
life was.
Speaker 3 (07:01):
And my life at that point was it was meeting
to meeting.
Speaker 4 (07:05):
To meeting, fast food restaurant, a fast food restaurant, a
fast food restaurant, and I was just on a wheel
and what I And I had a doctor who cared
about me at the time enough to say to me,
I need you to write a health plan like you
write a financial plan, you know, put guardrails around your
(07:25):
health like you tell people to do with money. And
the reason he knew about that is because he also.
Speaker 3 (07:30):
Was a client of mine.
Speaker 4 (07:32):
And so he knew how I helped people manage money.
But he asked me to do that. So one of
the things I did at the time is I eliminated
fast food restaurants, right because if that was a primary
way I was feeding my body and it was unhealthy
for me.
Speaker 3 (07:46):
I stopped that.
Speaker 4 (07:46):
And the second thing is is I joined a gym.
And I joined a gym that was that was physically
challenging but not mentally exhausting. And what I mean by
that is most people go to a gym and have
to figure out what they're going to do when they
show up. I went to a gym where I showed
up on the hour. There was a coach there and
(08:06):
they told me exactly what I was going to do
for the next hour. I didn't have to guess. And
you know, after going there over a thousand times, after
missing out on many of those quick fast food restaurants,
I ended up going from three hundred and fifty pounds
to two hundred and thirty and getting into the best
shape of my life.
Speaker 2 (08:22):
Well, congratulations, that's a big accomplishment, and I think a
lot of North America can relate to that because we
live such a sedentary life where we're sitting down. You know,
fast food is cheap, and it's just so common right
people gaining weight, especially as entrepreneurs where we're working from
home and that kind of thing.
Speaker 1 (08:39):
So I commend you for losing that weight.
Speaker 2 (08:42):
That's amazing, and I think that's an important message to everybody.
And speaking about health, I know that you have two
health assessments in your financial planning process, So why is
that important? To you and tell us how that works.
Speaker 3 (08:54):
Well, you know the first one.
Speaker 4 (08:56):
And by the way, thank you for the compliment on
that life age that I went through. I think most
Americans just want convenience, like they want That's why they
go fast food, That's why they try to to not
manage their financial plan. They just kind of like do
it from you know, just just on a day to
day basis. And you know, planning whether or not you
want to lose a lot of weight or you want
(09:18):
to get to a goal financially revolves around planning. We
do have two tools that we use in our financial
planning practice. One is called the Health Analysis and Longevity Optimizer.
It was created by an Australian based company that has
modeled and looked at longevity, brought in data from from
(09:39):
a DNA company and used research from major institutions like
the University of Chicago, like Oxford, among many others. And
the Health Analysis and Longevity Optimizer it's one of the
initial tools we use for people to be able to
show them what their life expectancy is with a measure
of standard dep and then their health expectancy. So people
(10:03):
know that if you're sixty years old, you take to
the assessment. You know that you have, you know, twenty
seven years of health, really great health to live in,
thirty four years of life to live you know, with
the margin of error. But what that But what that
tells you is now we can design a financial plan
based off of those numbers and not somebody else's numbers,
(10:23):
not some you know, like generic longevity tables. And so
that that tool is a you know, you want to
talk about a simple tool to take. You could take
that assessment in less time than it takes to order
a big market a drive through restaurant at a McDonald's,
and they've dialed in the technology, They've dialed in the
questions so well that it gives a predictable way to
(10:45):
start building the financial plan. That's with health and the
end and mind. The second tool we use is is
really is really more about building a vision. And so
before you start with your money, or start with any
major financial planning decision, you have to build a vision
for what your money is going to do. And we
call that retirement.
Speaker 3 (11:03):
Chi.
Speaker 4 (11:04):
Chi is about inner peace. It's about that feeling that
you belong somewhere doing something. It's a far East philosophy
that many people over dime who've adapted a CHI lifestyle,
live longer well retirement. CHI says that you're going to
build a vision around your community, your health and your impact.
And when you build that vision and you know what
(11:25):
your health expectancy and life EXPECTANCCS are, we can now
take those numbers on a spreadsheet and define purpose, you know,
put purpose behind them and help you live a one of.
Speaker 3 (11:38):
A kind life.
Speaker 2 (11:40):
Speaking about a one of a kind life, you just
launched the One of a Kind Financial Plan. Tell us
about your book and how can help people manage their
money properly.
Speaker 4 (11:50):
If you've never written a book before, it is one
of the most interesting journeys you'll ever go on in
your life. And you know, those those companies who tell
you can write a book in fifteen days, they're just
flat out lying to you because you cannot write a
well thought out, great book.
Speaker 3 (12:04):
During that time.
Speaker 4 (12:06):
But I have been amazed by the response to The
One of a Kind Financial Plan because it's for sale
on Amazon and all of North America and Europe and
many other countries around the world. The reviews have come
in hot and heavy about how it is so approachable
to building a financial plan. The book goes through a
(12:29):
series of stories on how you build your retirement chi
your vision that tells you the five key elements that
you have to focus on to build not only a
strong retirement plan and a life financial plan, but also
how you can reduce taxes, reduce fear and anxiety, and
then work with advisors if that's what you need, but
(12:54):
you understand how to work with them. And so I've
been it's a joy to have written that book. It's
gonna it's first, So the first book in a series
of four books I'm writing that is there. The last
book that I'm writing is going to be called Walter
and Elizabeth Calder. That dub that happens to be my
grandparents who watched me into this business. And so I'm
(13:17):
looking forward to continuing this journey of writing books to
put out for people, to inspire people to live.
Speaker 3 (13:23):
A one of a kind life.
Speaker 2 (13:25):
And Mike, you focus on women and financial literacy. As
I know you've noticed things like income gaps. How do
you teach women to be financially free?
Speaker 4 (13:34):
Yeah?
Speaker 3 (13:34):
Uh, you know.
Speaker 4 (13:35):
The people who have encouraged me both most of my
life have been women. It's been my grandmother, it's been
my mom, it's been my wife. But my wife and
I were setting that in an industry conference about four
years ago. And in that conference, they were recognizing almost
like an award show, if you were to go, like
to the Country Music Association Awards or the Grammy's or
(13:58):
the Emmys, right where they wreck you nice people to
come up in the awards. And she just grabbed my
leg on the table and said, we're going to talk
when we get back to the room. Now.
Speaker 3 (14:08):
Listen.
Speaker 4 (14:08):
We were at a five star resort in Cabos and Lucas,
and I was and I was very, you know, kind
of taken back by what she said, but her message
was loud and clear. When we got back to the room,
she said, where are all the women in the financial
planning space? And I in that room that night of
one hundred and twenty people, half the room was women.
(14:29):
But what she said is where are the women who
can lead women? Because all of the recipients that night
of awards were men. And what she said is that
your profession financial planning, financial advisory, financial professionals, it doesn't
reflect the need that is coming. In the next decade.
(14:49):
Women will have more money than men. By the year
twenty thirty. Because we're in this great wealth transfer. The
North American population is aging out. Men die before women
and men the wealth. Men are going to die before
women and it's going to go eighty percent. The stat
(15:10):
is not one hundred percent accurate, but you'll get the point.
Eighty percent of men die married, eighty percent of women
die single. So when we talk about building a firm
and empowering women to be educated about money, my wife
put that vision into me. And now I'm educating. I
mean I am. I am going to push through to
(15:33):
help women be able to take control and be empowered
by what money can do. Women have more of an
impactful mindset. They're going to change the world. They're going
to do something different than what men did with the money,
and I cannot wait to see. And I want to
go alone for the journey. I want to build a
company where women are leaders, and I want to help
(15:54):
the next generation that includes two daughters that I have
to be to be mi'd set ready to inherit the
wealth that is coming their way.
Speaker 1 (16:04):
I love that.
Speaker 2 (16:05):
And you know a lot of my audience are millennials
like myself for gen Z and you know, with online
spending and just shopping.
Speaker 1 (16:12):
It becomes very easy to just click a button and
buy things.
Speaker 2 (16:15):
Online, and you know, before you know it, a lot
of your income has already went.
Speaker 1 (16:19):
Through online shopping.
Speaker 2 (16:20):
So what advice would you have for people to kind
of curb those bad habits of online shopping.
Speaker 4 (16:25):
Well, first of all, you don't have to keep up
with everybody else's spending habits. That is, that is an
instant road to UH to getting in debt. There's a
there's a great online community and this is a shameless plug.
I'm not even an endorser for this company, right, but
it's an app called fritch f R I c H
(16:47):
that's geared directly to gen z ers where it's a
community anonymously where you could.
Speaker 3 (16:51):
Talk about spending it is.
Speaker 4 (16:53):
That's what we need to have is more conversations around
spending like that app per vides. We need to have
more more conversations about like where you are with your
income and with your your life's goals. Because I've seen
people who make thirty six thousand dollars a year have savings.
(17:17):
And these are people who are in their mid twenties
may have thirty six thousand dollars per year with twenty
five thousand dollars in a savings account, and I've seen
three hundred thousand dollars a year, uh income folks in
their mid twenties that have nothing to their name. So
anything could be done if you, if you, if you
put purpose behind where your money's going, give your money
(17:39):
a job, and then it may it may It may
mean you have to downsize life a little bit, or
you have to hustle harder, like have a grind mentality.
I'm gonna wake up every day and I'm gonna grind
until I get what I need. But it is achievable
if you, if you do it in community and have
some some people who are living the living the life
(18:01):
you want to live, you know, living your one of
a kind life in community where you can ask questions
and communicate with them on those topics.
Speaker 1 (18:09):
Very nice. I love that.
Speaker 2 (18:10):
And you know, Mike, I created my platform to inspire,
to uplift and really to showcase that anything is possible.
If you have a dream and a vision, and you know,
with the holidays and the New Year's just around the corner,
what would you have what advice would you have for
anyone maybe going through a rough time, maybe feels unmotivated
or you know, what would you say to inspire.
Speaker 1 (18:28):
And uplift them.
Speaker 4 (18:30):
Well, the first thing is we only get to live
life once. I'm not here to speak like from a
spiritual standpoint, because there's many great scholars, priests, pastors who
can talk to you about that and you can form
your own faith. But I'm just talking about the reality.
The reality is is that we live one time in
every minute, every hour every day that's wasted right from
(18:53):
wallowing or wondering what could be is preventing you from
having what you deserve. And we everybody on this planet
has the same twenty four hours. Everybody, everybody has the
same opportunity. I grew up, you know, going back to
my initial story with my grandmother. I When people hear
(19:17):
that we started that business and he was a construction
people see us setting around a dining room table counting
money together. But what they see is they see their
dining room table. The reality of where I grew up
as we grew up in a trailer park, right a
six hundred square foot yellow trailer where the kitchen was
(19:38):
eight by nine, where we didn't have money to do anything.
We had to hustle to live if I can make
it out of that, if I can make it and
live the life I live right now in San Juan,
Puerto Rico, with some of the best names in the
world right now, you know, the biggest electron electronic dance
(20:00):
producer is one of my friends. Right one of the
former hosts of a TV show on CNBC is one
of my friends. We can do anything if you disconnect
from your past right enough to create a present and
a future that is all yours, and it's yours to control,
(20:21):
it's yours to hustle at because again, we all have
the same amount of time.
Speaker 3 (20:25):
We all have the same amount.
Speaker 4 (20:27):
Of resources right right, resources meaning the ability to ask questions,
the ability to be educated, and the ability to learn.
There's never been a greater time now to overcome hurdles
in life than to be alive right now because technology
and AI is going to change many's people's economic status
(20:49):
over the next years, and you want to participate in this,
and then the way to participate is to get.
Speaker 3 (20:54):
Up and get moving.
Speaker 2 (20:56):
Yeah, I think that's great advice. Now is the time,
especially with the New Year's just around the corner. It's
going to be a New Year, the time is now,
so I think that's great advice. And for any of
our viewers that need your help to you know, get
a hold of their finances, We're going to connect with
you and learn.
Speaker 1 (21:09):
More about your story.
Speaker 4 (21:11):
It's pretty easy. Go to Mike Milligan dot com. It's
my name that's on the screen dot com Mike Milligan
dot com. A I have a very very basic philosophy
in life. I want to educate, coach and plan and
if you need help right by getting more knowledge about
who you know what financial planning is. I have courses
that educate you that way. If you're an advisor who
(21:33):
wants to help people live a one of a kind
of life, I can coach you. But more importantly, if
you need help with your finances, between me and my
team at one Oak Financial, we can help plan that
for you in the future.
Speaker 1 (21:46):
Amazing.
Speaker 2 (21:47):
Thank you so much much for being on the show today.
You have such an inspiring story. I think your life
really shows that you know determination right that I could
see that that you're a determined individual, and I think
that's the key to success. So thank you so much
for being on the show today. Merry Christmas and happy holidays.
Speaker 3 (22:03):
And advents Save Do You.
Speaker 2 (22:05):
The Dear Rouscho is available on Roku, Amazon, fire Tv, iHeartRadio,
and Apple Podcasts.
Hello and welcome. Thank you so much for watching.
Speaker 2 (00:02):
This shows all about giving you insights and showcasing brands
that help you to live your best life and give
you confidence. As always, I want to kick start your
morning with some motivational advice to help you to feel
inspired and energize to start.
Speaker 1 (00:14):
Your day today.
Speaker 2 (00:16):
I want to talk without the importance of understanding that
just like your social media feed runs on algorithms, so
does your mind. What you pay attention to is exactly
what you see more of. Have you ever randomly mentioned
something or looked it up on Google only to find
your social media filled with more and more of that topic.
Speaker 1 (00:33):
Because you mentioned it.
Speaker 2 (00:35):
The more interest you have in that topic, the more
the social media algorithm is designed to show you more
of it.
Speaker 1 (00:42):
Our minds work the same way.
Speaker 2 (00:44):
The more we focus on certain thoughts or feelings, the
more we experience it, whether positive or negative. So what
is showing up in the algorithm of your mind? Making
your mission today to start focusing on empowering and positive
inner dialogue to fill your mind with an algorithm that
makes you feel limitless rather than making you feel limited.
The more we focus on gratitude and empowering beliefs. The
(01:05):
more the algorithm of our minds pumps up more thoughts
that makes us feel good and filter our beliefs that
don't serve us. As a saying goes, your greatest weapon
is your mind. Train it to see opportunities, not obstacles.
Next time on the show, we have CEO and financial
planner Mike Milligan. In addition to being a financial educator,
he's a speaker and legacy builder with over twenty seven
(01:27):
years in the industry.
Speaker 1 (01:29):
Mike, thank you so much for being on the show today.
How are you doing.
Speaker 3 (01:32):
I'm doing fantastic. How are you doing?
Speaker 2 (01:34):
I am doing amazing. I'm excited to talk to you.
We have a lot to talk about. But before we
get into you being a successful financial planner, I know
that it all started when you were just eleven years old,
from the tools that you learn from your grandmother. So
tell us how you kind of learned a money mindset
at that age.
Speaker 4 (01:51):
Well, I learned a money mineyset out of necessity. See,
my grandma and grandfather were my heroes. They were the
people that that I looked up to and who I
wanted to be like when I grew up, and my
grandfather unfortunately got cancer when I was eleven, but he
was the primary breadwinner for our family. My grandmother had
(02:13):
to take up the mantle of that and the you know,
one of the one of the few things she knew
how to do very well was cook and so she
created an at home cooking business where she sold collared
sandwiches to do things like pay the bills, you know,
the utility bills, literally put food on the table. She
took up the mantle, so she had to innovate through desperation.
(02:37):
And that's where I learned more a lot about money,
you know, count every penny, count every dime, count of recorder,
and then obviously learned the entrepreneurial side of sales and
building successful business.
Speaker 2 (02:50):
I find that people that are good at managing money,
they did learn at an early age, you know, and
they've adopted that mindset throughout their life.
Speaker 1 (02:57):
So I love that you learned at just eleven years old.
Speaker 4 (03:00):
You know. The well, you know, we all we all
have a first money memory that we that we have
and it's either it's normally coming from like we saw
somebody spend money, or we saw somebody say no to
something we wanted, and those and those early memories start
are the building blocks for how we handle money later
(03:20):
in life.
Speaker 3 (03:21):
And so if anybody's ever if anybody.
Speaker 4 (03:23):
Ever wants to do a really cool exercise on like
their money habits, think about the first time you ever
remember money, and then talk about and see if that
memory impacts how you make decisions now. I mean even
now my first memory money. You know now that I
understand it and I've applied it, it definitely, uh is
(03:44):
ingrained in how I help people manage money.
Speaker 2 (03:47):
And speaking about that, you've been in the industry for
over twenty seven years helping people manage money. What do
you find are the biggest blocks when people, you know,
spend money? Because I feel like that's such a problem
everyone has is we their money? So how do you
help people manage their money?
Speaker 4 (04:02):
Well, first of all, you have to have purpose for
what your money is. Everybody tries to chase this elusive
return on investment, like how can I make my money
make money for me? But the reality is is we've
got to get into a mindset set where we want
a return of investment. Right, our money can do stuff
for us if it is appropriated the right way. So
(04:27):
we assign money a job money has to be to
maybe put a down payment on a house. Maybe it's
for retirement, maybe it's to put a kid through college.
Maybe it's to grow your business, you know, to take
your current business to the next level.
Speaker 3 (04:41):
But if you assign, if you assign.
Speaker 4 (04:43):
Money a job and then you let the money do
that job, then money is more than just something setting
on a spreadsheet or a statement.
Speaker 1 (04:54):
Very true.
Speaker 2 (04:55):
And you know what I love about you is that
you teach people not just about money management, but also
that's about wellness.
Speaker 1 (05:01):
And I know there's a correlation.
Speaker 2 (05:02):
Between being healthy and being wealthy, So tell us about
that connection.
Speaker 4 (05:06):
Well, I mean that connection is true because your health
is a true barometer of your wealth. There's so many
people who at the end of their life, and I've
seen this, having helped thousands of people over like you said,
twenty seven years in the industry, seeing people at the
end of their life sitting on their deskbed who said
they wish they would have done this, or they wish
they would have done that. But the choices we make
(05:28):
daily that impact us, not only from a money standpoint,
for a health standpoint, compound on each other. And so
if you want to live a life full of purpose
with a vision that gets you where you want to go.
You know, you have to make the right decisions and
the discipline to save money the right way, invest it
the right way. But you have to do the same
thing with your health, because somebody who's unhealthy cannot do
(05:53):
or live life the.
Speaker 3 (05:54):
Way they want to live.
Speaker 4 (05:56):
And you know, I try to help people live a
one of a kind in life, and so health is
definitely a big compar component of living.
Speaker 3 (06:05):
In one of a kind life.
Speaker 2 (06:07):
And you know, despite you having a successful career, I
know that you had an obstacle in your life where
there was a point that you gained three hundred and
fifty pounds. So tell us about that period and kind
of what led you to be your best self today.
Speaker 4 (06:20):
Yeah. Well, I mean I really only gained three hundred
and forty because I was born ten pounds, right, I
was born.
Speaker 3 (06:24):
At ten pounds.
Speaker 4 (06:25):
Yeah, but I did peak at three point fifty when
I was around when I was around thirty nine years old,
I was a after you know, learning about entrepreneurship with
my grandmother and joining Wall Street America, you know, Wall
Street and helping people there, I got I got a
little lazy I.
Speaker 3 (06:45):
Didn't work out.
Speaker 4 (06:46):
I gained about ten pounds a year from you know,
my mid twenties until I was thirty nine, and it
was time to get my personal health in line at
that point, and so I had to inspect what my
life was.
Speaker 3 (07:01):
And my life at that point was it was meeting
to meeting.
Speaker 4 (07:05):
To meeting, fast food restaurant, a fast food restaurant, a
fast food restaurant, and I was just on a wheel
and what I And I had a doctor who cared
about me at the time enough to say to me,
I need you to write a health plan like you
write a financial plan, you know, put guardrails around your
(07:25):
health like you tell people to do with money. And
the reason he knew about that is because he also.
Speaker 3 (07:30):
Was a client of mine.
Speaker 4 (07:32):
And so he knew how I helped people manage money.
But he asked me to do that. So one of
the things I did at the time is I eliminated
fast food restaurants, right because if that was a primary
way I was feeding my body and it was unhealthy
for me.
Speaker 3 (07:46):
I stopped that.
Speaker 4 (07:46):
And the second thing is is I joined a gym.
And I joined a gym that was that was physically
challenging but not mentally exhausting. And what I mean by
that is most people go to a gym and have
to figure out what they're going to do when they
show up. I went to a gym where I showed
up on the hour. There was a coach there and
(08:06):
they told me exactly what I was going to do
for the next hour. I didn't have to guess. And
you know, after going there over a thousand times, after
missing out on many of those quick fast food restaurants,
I ended up going from three hundred and fifty pounds
to two hundred and thirty and getting into the best
shape of my life.
Speaker 2 (08:22):
Well, congratulations, that's a big accomplishment, and I think a
lot of North America can relate to that because we
live such a sedentary life where we're sitting down. You know,
fast food is cheap, and it's just so common right
people gaining weight, especially as entrepreneurs where we're working from
home and that kind of thing.
Speaker 1 (08:39):
So I commend you for losing that weight.
Speaker 2 (08:42):
That's amazing, and I think that's an important message to everybody.
And speaking about health, I know that you have two
health assessments in your financial planning process, So why is
that important? To you and tell us how that works.
Speaker 3 (08:54):
Well, you know the first one.
Speaker 4 (08:56):
And by the way, thank you for the compliment on
that life age that I went through. I think most
Americans just want convenience, like they want That's why they
go fast food, That's why they try to to not
manage their financial plan. They just kind of like do
it from you know, just just on a day to
day basis. And you know, planning whether or not you
want to lose a lot of weight or you want
(09:18):
to get to a goal financially revolves around planning. We
do have two tools that we use in our financial
planning practice. One is called the Health Analysis and Longevity Optimizer.
It was created by an Australian based company that has
modeled and looked at longevity, brought in data from from
(09:39):
a DNA company and used research from major institutions like
the University of Chicago, like Oxford, among many others. And
the Health Analysis and Longevity Optimizer it's one of the
initial tools we use for people to be able to
show them what their life expectancy is with a measure
of standard dep and then their health expectancy. So people
(10:03):
know that if you're sixty years old, you take to
the assessment. You know that you have, you know, twenty
seven years of health, really great health to live in,
thirty four years of life to live you know, with
the margin of error. But what that But what that
tells you is now we can design a financial plan
based off of those numbers and not somebody else's numbers,
(10:23):
not some you know, like generic longevity tables. And so
that that tool is a you know, you want to
talk about a simple tool to take. You could take
that assessment in less time than it takes to order
a big market a drive through restaurant at a McDonald's,
and they've dialed in the technology, They've dialed in the
questions so well that it gives a predictable way to
(10:45):
start building the financial plan. That's with health and the
end and mind. The second tool we use is is
really is really more about building a vision. And so
before you start with your money, or start with any
major financial planning decision, you have to build a vision
for what your money is going to do. And we
call that retirement.
Speaker 3 (11:03):
Chi.
Speaker 4 (11:04):
Chi is about inner peace. It's about that feeling that
you belong somewhere doing something. It's a far East philosophy
that many people over dime who've adapted a CHI lifestyle,
live longer well retirement. CHI says that you're going to
build a vision around your community, your health and your impact.
And when you build that vision and you know what
(11:25):
your health expectancy and life EXPECTANCCS are, we can now
take those numbers on a spreadsheet and define purpose, you know,
put purpose behind them and help you live a one of.
Speaker 3 (11:38):
A kind life.
Speaker 2 (11:40):
Speaking about a one of a kind life, you just
launched the One of a Kind Financial Plan. Tell us
about your book and how can help people manage their
money properly.
Speaker 4 (11:50):
If you've never written a book before, it is one
of the most interesting journeys you'll ever go on in
your life. And you know, those those companies who tell
you can write a book in fifteen days, they're just
flat out lying to you because you cannot write a
well thought out, great book.
Speaker 3 (12:04):
During that time.
Speaker 4 (12:06):
But I have been amazed by the response to The
One of a Kind Financial Plan because it's for sale
on Amazon and all of North America and Europe and
many other countries around the world. The reviews have come
in hot and heavy about how it is so approachable
to building a financial plan. The book goes through a
(12:29):
series of stories on how you build your retirement chi
your vision that tells you the five key elements that
you have to focus on to build not only a
strong retirement plan and a life financial plan, but also
how you can reduce taxes, reduce fear and anxiety, and
then work with advisors if that's what you need, but
(12:54):
you understand how to work with them. And so I've
been it's a joy to have written that book. It's
gonna it's first, So the first book in a series
of four books I'm writing that is there. The last
book that I'm writing is going to be called Walter
and Elizabeth Calder. That dub that happens to be my
grandparents who watched me into this business. And so I'm
(13:17):
looking forward to continuing this journey of writing books to
put out for people, to inspire people to live.
Speaker 3 (13:23):
A one of a kind life.
Speaker 2 (13:25):
And Mike, you focus on women and financial literacy. As
I know you've noticed things like income gaps. How do
you teach women to be financially free?
Speaker 4 (13:34):
Yeah?
Speaker 3 (13:34):
Uh, you know.
Speaker 4 (13:35):
The people who have encouraged me both most of my
life have been women. It's been my grandmother, it's been
my mom, it's been my wife. But my wife and
I were setting that in an industry conference about four
years ago. And in that conference, they were recognizing almost
like an award show, if you were to go, like
to the Country Music Association Awards or the Grammy's or
(13:58):
the Emmys, right where they wreck you nice people to
come up in the awards. And she just grabbed my
leg on the table and said, we're going to talk
when we get back to the room. Now.
Speaker 3 (14:08):
Listen.
Speaker 4 (14:08):
We were at a five star resort in Cabos and Lucas,
and I was and I was very, you know, kind
of taken back by what she said, but her message
was loud and clear. When we got back to the room,
she said, where are all the women in the financial
planning space? And I in that room that night of
one hundred and twenty people, half the room was women.
(14:29):
But what she said is where are the women who
can lead women? Because all of the recipients that night
of awards were men. And what she said is that
your profession financial planning, financial advisory, financial professionals, it doesn't
reflect the need that is coming. In the next decade.
(14:49):
Women will have more money than men. By the year
twenty thirty. Because we're in this great wealth transfer. The
North American population is aging out. Men die before women
and men the wealth. Men are going to die before
women and it's going to go eighty percent. The stat
(15:10):
is not one hundred percent accurate, but you'll get the point.
Eighty percent of men die married, eighty percent of women
die single. So when we talk about building a firm
and empowering women to be educated about money, my wife
put that vision into me. And now I'm educating. I
mean I am. I am going to push through to
(15:33):
help women be able to take control and be empowered
by what money can do. Women have more of an
impactful mindset. They're going to change the world. They're going
to do something different than what men did with the money,
and I cannot wait to see. And I want to
go alone for the journey. I want to build a
company where women are leaders, and I want to help
(15:54):
the next generation that includes two daughters that I have
to be to be mi'd set ready to inherit the
wealth that is coming their way.
Speaker 1 (16:04):
I love that.
Speaker 2 (16:05):
And you know a lot of my audience are millennials
like myself for gen Z and you know, with online
spending and just shopping.
Speaker 1 (16:12):
It becomes very easy to just click a button and
buy things.
Speaker 2 (16:15):
Online, and you know, before you know it, a lot
of your income has already went.
Speaker 1 (16:19):
Through online shopping.
Speaker 2 (16:20):
So what advice would you have for people to kind
of curb those bad habits of online shopping.
Speaker 4 (16:25):
Well, first of all, you don't have to keep up
with everybody else's spending habits. That is, that is an
instant road to UH to getting in debt. There's a
there's a great online community and this is a shameless plug.
I'm not even an endorser for this company, right, but
it's an app called fritch f R I c H
(16:47):
that's geared directly to gen z ers where it's a
community anonymously where you could.
Speaker 3 (16:51):
Talk about spending it is.
Speaker 4 (16:53):
That's what we need to have is more conversations around
spending like that app per vides. We need to have
more more conversations about like where you are with your
income and with your your life's goals. Because I've seen
people who make thirty six thousand dollars a year have savings.
(17:17):
And these are people who are in their mid twenties
may have thirty six thousand dollars per year with twenty
five thousand dollars in a savings account, and I've seen
three hundred thousand dollars a year, uh income folks in
their mid twenties that have nothing to their name. So
anything could be done if you, if you, if you
put purpose behind where your money's going, give your money
(17:39):
a job, and then it may it may It may
mean you have to downsize life a little bit, or
you have to hustle harder, like have a grind mentality.
I'm gonna wake up every day and I'm gonna grind
until I get what I need. But it is achievable
if you, if you do it in community and have
some some people who are living the living the life
(18:01):
you want to live, you know, living your one of
a kind life in community where you can ask questions
and communicate with them on those topics.
Speaker 1 (18:09):
Very nice. I love that.
Speaker 2 (18:10):
And you know, Mike, I created my platform to inspire,
to uplift and really to showcase that anything is possible.
If you have a dream and a vision, and you know,
with the holidays and the New Year's just around the corner,
what would you have what advice would you have for
anyone maybe going through a rough time, maybe feels unmotivated
or you know, what would you say to inspire.
Speaker 1 (18:28):
And uplift them.
Speaker 4 (18:30):
Well, the first thing is we only get to live
life once. I'm not here to speak like from a
spiritual standpoint, because there's many great scholars, priests, pastors who
can talk to you about that and you can form
your own faith. But I'm just talking about the reality.
The reality is is that we live one time in
every minute, every hour every day that's wasted right from
(18:53):
wallowing or wondering what could be is preventing you from
having what you deserve. And we everybody on this planet
has the same twenty four hours. Everybody, everybody has the
same opportunity. I grew up, you know, going back to
my initial story with my grandmother. I When people hear
(19:17):
that we started that business and he was a construction
people see us setting around a dining room table counting
money together. But what they see is they see their
dining room table. The reality of where I grew up
as we grew up in a trailer park, right a
six hundred square foot yellow trailer where the kitchen was
(19:38):
eight by nine, where we didn't have money to do anything.
We had to hustle to live if I can make
it out of that, if I can make it and
live the life I live right now in San Juan,
Puerto Rico, with some of the best names in the
world right now, you know, the biggest electron electronic dance
(20:00):
producer is one of my friends. Right one of the
former hosts of a TV show on CNBC is one
of my friends. We can do anything if you disconnect
from your past right enough to create a present and
a future that is all yours, and it's yours to control,
(20:21):
it's yours to hustle at because again, we all have
the same amount of time.
Speaker 3 (20:25):
We all have the same amount.
Speaker 4 (20:27):
Of resources right right, resources meaning the ability to ask questions,
the ability to be educated, and the ability to learn.
There's never been a greater time now to overcome hurdles
in life than to be alive right now because technology
and AI is going to change many's people's economic status
(20:49):
over the next years, and you want to participate in this,
and then the way to participate is to get.
Speaker 3 (20:54):
Up and get moving.
Speaker 2 (20:56):
Yeah, I think that's great advice. Now is the time,
especially with the New Year's just around the corner. It's
going to be a New Year, the time is now,
so I think that's great advice. And for any of
our viewers that need your help to you know, get
a hold of their finances, We're going to connect with
you and learn.
Speaker 1 (21:09):
More about your story.
Speaker 4 (21:11):
It's pretty easy. Go to Mike Milligan dot com. It's
my name that's on the screen dot com Mike Milligan
dot com. A I have a very very basic philosophy
in life. I want to educate, coach and plan and
if you need help right by getting more knowledge about
who you know what financial planning is. I have courses
that educate you that way. If you're an advisor who
(21:33):
wants to help people live a one of a kind
of life, I can coach you. But more importantly, if
you need help with your finances, between me and my
team at one Oak Financial, we can help plan that
for you in the future.
Speaker 1 (21:46):
Amazing.
Speaker 2 (21:47):
Thank you so much much for being on the show today.
You have such an inspiring story. I think your life
really shows that you know determination right that I could
see that that you're a determined individual, and I think
that's the key to success. So thank you so much
for being on the show today. Merry Christmas and happy holidays.
Speaker 3 (22:03):
And advents Save Do You.
Speaker 2 (22:05):
The Dear Rouscho is available on Roku, Amazon, fire Tv, iHeartRadio,
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