This is WHY Money is Important: IBM Employee Edition (Ep. 4)

Welcome to Ideas by Mike, the podcast with Mike Milligan, where you will find one-of-a-kind financial planning advice for your one-of-a-kind life. With over 22 years of experience as a certified financial planner, Mike shares experiences and advice on crafting simple, easy-to-understand financial plans based on your values and priorities. He believes that taking a personalized approach is the best way to prepare for the future and give meaning to your finances. So follow along as Mike, and from time to time his guests, explore different strategies and tools that could help you secure your financial future in retirement. Now onto the show.

Hello and welcome to the Ideas by Mike podcast with your host, Mike Milligan. I'm Wendy McConnell. Hey there, Mike. How are you?

Good, Wendy. How are you today?

Oh, I'm good. I see we have a bevy of people with us today.

Yeah. You know, Ideas by Mike is not just about Mike, right? It's about the collective efforts of our team and how we serve the prospects and clients we come along with. And so, you know, as you and I have talked on episode 1, 2, and 3, the, the, our team's point of view is just as important as my point of view. And so, They'll continue to pop on here from time to time as guests. And I'm looking forward today, we've got Caitlin, Marcus, Nicole, and Liz with us today. And we're going today address the most important question we ask our clients. That's why is money important to you? So, I'm looking forward to today, Wendy. I mean, there's, as people can tell from our first 3 episodes, we are not professional podcasters.

No.

We're just a collection of one-of-a-kind people that create one-of-a-kind financial plans for our clients' one-of-a-kind life. And so, there may be some nerves on this podcast today. There may be some technical hiccups, but the greatest thing is there's going to be some uniqueness to this.

Yeah.

And so, I'm looking forward to seeing what comes out of this. And, uh, and, and, and just being able to interact with, you know, the people that we, um, that we get to interact with on a daily basis.

All right. So we're gonna be talking about why money is important to you. And I can just tell you, because, you know, I wanna buy stuff. I want stuff.

What kind of stuff do you want, Wendy?

I want a boat.

I want a house down in Florida. I want all kinds of stuff.

Right. And that's not too different than like what our clients want. But it's like that understanding the relationship of that money to how you get that stuff without, while still addressing the biggest fears they have of not running outta money, not being a burden to their family in the future. So, this is, it's important today. So, I mean, if you don't mind, we're gonna just kind of get started with everybody.

Absolutely.

And so, Marcus, Marcus, let's kind of start with you for, actually, let's start and let's let everybody say hi. Everybody wanna say hi real fast?

Hello.

Hello.

There it is.

There we go.

Uh, that, that was that, uh, in our internal meetings, if I asked somebody to talk to all of our listeners, you would've gotten 35 minutes of how the day is going. But see, see, that's the nerves here. We're really, we're, we're, we're, you're, you're gonna get to know our guests. I mean, our, our team pretty, pretty directly today. So Marcus, tell everybody a little bit about what you do in the Ideas by Mike world.

Well, my role is a retirement specialist here. My role is to get a better understanding of what the client wants in retirement from a retirement standpoint. And then we just try to build out their dreams and what their life, what they want their life to look like going into retirement. And the team here, we help build that out for them.

Hey, so Marcus, you could— Marcus, this is unscripted and I apologize for this.

I like it.

But you get to hear right away how unique and one of a kind our prospects are every day, right?

Right.

And it's really different, the questions you get when you ask when money's important, right? So, what are some of the things you hear from our prospects when they say why money is important to them?

So when I ask that question, some people get stumped by it because they've just never thought about it. But it can be simple as well. Some people just don't want to have to eat cat food in retirement.

Hmm.

And some people want something so complex where they want to leave a legacy. They want to do— they want to give to charities. And it's a wide array of what people want. Just those are some of the examples that I see is just not running out of money is one of the main important things for each and every person that I talk to, regardless of what they want their life to look like. So that's the foundation of it is just not running out of money, not, and being able to take care of their bills and just making it that simple. And then you talk to people with a lot of money, they want to leave a legacy. Most people talk about their grandkids, they skip over their kids. their grandkids is very important to their plan. So I hear that a lot.

That's true. Just like now, now you're, you're married and you have 2 kids and you, you know, you're coming a little bit from experience there too because your 2 boys are very important to your parents and Vanessa's parents too, right?

Absolutely.

But, but like when you and Vanessa talk, why, why is money important to you guys?

So For us, we just like to experience things. My son MJ, he plays a lot of sports. So we just get to experience just going to travel with him and just watching him enjoy the sports that he gets to play. And it just comes from my childhood. I didn't even have a bad childhood, but we didn't have the money to have the choices that we get to choose today that me and Vanessa get to make those choices for our kids. But we had fun. Like, it was me, my brothers, and my cousins. Like, we would just walk up and down the street just playing sports. We played basketball, we played football, and we call it sideline wreck-up. Like, you couldn't tackle in the street, but if you got to the sideline, you was going to get lit up. So we had a good time as kids. I mean, you just have to— and those are the experiences that I remember. So when I say— so when you ask me why is money important to me, it's just the experience. Like we get to go out and experience things as a family and get to just cherish those memories. So that's what it looks like for us.

Marcus, you know, do you think that money will have different meanings to you 15, 20 years from now than it does right now?

Oh yeah, absolutely. Because me and Vanessa talk about this all the time, is you go through different phases of life. Right now we're in the phase of we're chasing kids around. And making sure they get to their sports. Soon they're going to graduate and they're going to go to college. It's probably going to be more of the same. We're going to be chasing them around in college, watching them play their sports. And then once they graduate, they're on to their life and then they're going to have kids. And then we follow into the phase where we're grandparents now and now we're chasing the grandkids around. So yeah, it's definitely going to change as time goes along and we're just going to enjoy the ride as we go.

Wow, that's powerful. Nicole, Nicole, you, you have been with us for about 6 months, but we've had a relationship much longer than that. Tell everybody what you do for Ideas by Mike.

I am the marketing strategist, so I oversee our marketing efforts. I also do some technical support roles, oversee our social media channels. And a few various other items.

You're, you're also our resident nomad because you work from wherever you are too, right?

That is true.

Yeah. And you, you, you love the flexibility to be able to be in the upper Midwest or in the Midwest or in South Miami or wherever you're gonna be next week, right? You love that component of, of your job, right?

Yeah, I think remote work has really changed my life for the better. You know, like every other priority in life, if something needs to get done, you need to make the time for it. And of course, as you know, I take care of what needs to be done. So I'm very thankful for the flexibility that remote working gives me.

So like Marcus has got Vanessa and their 2 kids, who does Nicole have to worry about financially? financially from day to day?

Right now it's just Nicole, thankfully. But, um, you know, having autonomy over my own life is very important to me. And I think it's kind of the biggest thing I would say that's most important to me right now. Um, I've really taken budgeting seriously and just my finances in general. So, you know, I did come from a digital marketing background, but I'm so grateful to be in a financial planning firm because I feel like I've become so much more financially literate. So for that, I'm happy.

So yeah, and we're happy you're part of us also. I mean, you bring like such a unique perspective to what we're doing because one of the things like in your job as a strategist on our team is to be able to connect strangers to us. Why would, in your expertise, you've got more expertise than the rest of us combined on social media. And it's a generational thing, obviously, right? You grew up being on, being socially connected to people, whereas Wendy and I grew up with rotary dial phones, right? Hey, why you gotta throw me under the bus like that?

Come on now.

I'm sorry, Wendy. I'm sorry. But like, well, well, like Nicole, why would a stranger connect with us on social media from a money standpoint?

I think it's really important that people are able to connect with us, especially when it comes to, you know, building trust and credibility. A lot of people have a lot of guards up when it comes to their, you know, financial aspects. And it's very important that they understand, you know, our values and who we come from. And I love how diverse this team is. You know, as you were mentioning, not everyone is shown, but I really appreciate having different people in different stages of life.

Yeah.

Because I think someone can always connect with us, which is very important. And, you know, whenever they're looking at us, a lot of people that we do find are from the internet, so they're going to do their due diligence and search us. And for us to be able to have, you know, things to present and also teaching people financial literacy, it's all stuff that I think people are looking for.

Yeah, I would agree with you. Like, there's, Like there's this, if people had to date the way that they try to find a financial advisor, they would never find one, right? Because people get to like, they get to know almost everything about us as a financial planning firm before they decide to hit that connect with us button, right? They're going to know about our team. They're going to know about us on YouTube and they're going to know about us. And Nicole, you are one of the best in the business.

Thank you.

Right? At such a young age of making us look so good, and I think everybody on the team here would say that. But one of the things that I mean, you're just it's amazing how people how much people know about us from your work before they even come. But you personally, you said you don't have anybody else to deal with. But like, why is money important to you where you are right now?

Um, you know, like I said, autonomy over my own life is. so important to me and in having that independence. I think there are certain things that I've learned, thankful for this team, of course, that can really set me up for a better financial future. So something that I've really implemented and I recommend to anyone, you know, in the 20-something age is to budget. Anytime I get money that is given to me, it's automatically allocated to certain investments I have. retirement and also my fun money. This is really big because I just think about 3 years ago how I used to, you know, spend my money like crazy. I still am a little, you know, I like to have fun. Life is for the living. But it's very important for me to be able to allocate my money and just make sure that, you know, I'm doing my due diligence to protect my future self.

Did you hear that wisdom in there? Life is for the living. Did you guys hear that? Just like it just she just slid that one right in there. I love that one.

Sounds like a Mike Milligan quote. It does. It does. I've been that was yours though, Nicole. That's yours.

Yeah.

Yeah. We'll give we'll give Nicole credit for that one. That was really good, Nicole. And Nicole, there's a lot of people that are your age who probably they struggle with money. They struggle with this whole idea of. You know, I can't afford a home. Like, it's so expensive these days, right? It's— I just don't like— I just don't know how people are going to get ahead, right, with how much things cost now. And so your model, right, of budgeting and saving yet live while you're living is, I think, what a lot of people your age grapple with. And so, you know, I think you're going to be an inspiration for people to To, to say, hey, listen, we could still go do this, but we could still save for the future. And so it's amazing. Your, your perception of why money importance, I think, is, I think, a perception that millions of people your age deal with these days.

I also think money scarcity as a mindset, um, is a very big role in that as well. But I could talk about that for hours. So I'll—

Yes. So, so could I. And maybe, maybe we'll do that on our YouTube channel one day. We'll just talk about scarcity with money for people in their 20s that are trying to get ahead in life because they need, they need somebody to kind of, to, to, to, to kind of connect with and understand that they're not going through this alone.

Right.

I was in my 20s at one time and I, you know, I remember coming and it was right after like Y2K. We all thought that like the internet was going to shut down and, you know, we were going to live in this perpetual where we got to raise our own crops and do our— we just thought The computers were going to be the end of us. But, you know, I remember sitting here 20 years now from there thinking that, man, if I'd have done a few things different back then, my life would be a whole lot different now. It's never too early to start big picture planning, right? And I, and, you know, I think you're a great example of that. Liz, Liz, how you doing today?

I'm doing real good.

Dude, I see you got the chain bling and popping out there. You're representing.

Yeah.

Liz, Liz, tell everybody what you do at Ideas by Mike.

I am the senior relationship manager here at Ideas by Mike, and my role was created to ensure that we not only meet the needs of our clients, but that we also provide a financial service that feels comfortable and easy to understand. I'm really here to build a personal relationship with each of our clients and continue to really be here for them as their life evolves.

So just so people who maybe they didn't listen to episode 3, like what our client experience is like yet, I would highly recommend people go back and listen to that. But like, just to give somebody a quick, a quick synopsis, like if you come to our team, you, you may end up like talking to Marcus right away, you know, looking at like what Nicole has put out there in YouTube or our website. But then they'll go through like a planning process with me and maybe Marcus, and then they come to you. And when they come to you, they become a client. Um, what are our clients, when you talk to them, what are our clients saying about You know, why money is so important to them?

Well, our clients are a wide variety. Our youngest clients are newborns. Shout out to my own son Hayes, who's getting an IUL this month. And some of our seasoned clients have been investing their money for decades. So the younger generation may feel financially illiterate and they're really yearning for education alongside their financial investments. Most of them are shocked to know how many options are available to them, even when they're on a mindful budget, just like Nicole said, key on mindful budget. And they're also looking for a relationship that they can trust. It's about more than what we can do for them financially. They want to feel seen, they want to be connected, and they want to know what Ideas by Mike stands for. Where do we make an impact? Our clients on the other side of the spectrum are looking for security and diversity. A lot of them want to leave behind a legacy like Marcus was talking about. But surprisingly enough, most of our clients want to grow their money so that they can spend their money. They want to retire and they want to live their life. And it's more than just staying at home. So really, it's cool to see the full spectrum on both sides.

Liz, when you speak with people, I mean, as clients, right, you're catching people like just living life. And is everybody you speak to completely happy with how their money is being handled?

Absolutely. Which is really great for my role. It was one of the things I was actually nervous about taking on this role. I remember when we were first talking, I asked, well, what happens when they're not happy with their investments? Like, how am I going to support them if their money is failing them? But it is so cool to see that not only your experience and wisdom and your, you know, 20-plus years, your really lifetime of experience working with finances, We make one-of-a-kind plans for our clients. So because of that, there's so many different options and ways to invest that we really meet them where they are. And if they're looking for security, they can get security with their money growing. If they're looking for a high-risk investment and to maybe see that money go boom, and they're willing to, to see it go down sometimes, then they're comfortable with that too. But there's really a way to make each person happy. And I've yet to have a client meeting where they're not happy with their money. It's growing.

It's great to hear. That's also good for me to hear too, right? Because, you know, being a dynamic financial planning firm, uh, it's, we, we get the highlight. I get the highlights sometimes of like what's going on in our client's life. I don't get like the day-to-day, minute-by-minute overview because we're helping so many people around this great country. Doing that. Um, Liz, like I asked you, so Marcus has got Vanessa, the 2 kids. Nicole is in this kind of, she's taking care of herself. You've already mentioned Hayes. Uh, you're also married to David and you've got a beautiful young daughter also. Why, why is money so important to your family right now and to you specifically?

Money is really important to me because of how I grew up. And with my childhood, I really got to see both sides of the spectrum of what money can do for a family. So our family grew up middle class. We had fancy pool parties and a stay-at-home mom helping with stuff. And then my parents had a divorce and we became a lower-class family with my mom working double time, triple time to keep some sort of normalcy In our life, but all in all, she never had a financial advisor, and it really if it wasn't for her government job as a teacher, she would be in a really bad position today. Instead, thankfully, she just retired. So shout out to my mommy wolf. But money's important because I'm going to make a a different financial impact for my kids. I have two kids under three, and they are already both earning money. They are going to be financially literate, and because of that, financially wealthy because of the advisement that we are already giving them. They could have a parallel life to a million other kids, but getting financial advisement incorporated into their life, especially at this young age, is a game changer. So I'm not worried about. Them retiring. We've already got them covered. It's me that's a little bit later to the game that now I'm working on. I'm learning how to become— to make the future I really want. And just like you said, I wish I knew this at Y2K. I wish I knew this. You know, my mom knew this when I was 2 years old. So I'm really excited to make a generational difference in our family.

You, you mentioned Hayes is our youngest client, and I'd be honest with you, he's probably our most demanding client right now, to be honest. He takes, he gets, he gets so much of your time, rightfully so, but he's the most demanding client at Ideas by Mike for your time. And we just—

surprisingly, he has a lot to say.

Yeah.

Like, you brought up the picture. A picture says a thousand words, man. He's got quite a mug face on that one. And he's saying lots. Very opinionated.

I can't wait till he's like 3 years old and he could talk and I could get him to ask you, how diversified is my portfolio, Mom?

Yes. I can't wait for his annual review.

It's going to be great. It's going to be absolutely great. Caitlin Costner. Uh, uh, no kin to the other Costner. What's that guy's name?

Oh, Kevin.

Yeah, Kevin.

I wish I was related to him. I might be in a better position financially if that was the case.

If anybody listening to this knows Kevin Costner, Caitlin would love to meet him, right, Caitlin?

Yeah.

Shout out Kevin.

There it is.

Hey, Caitlin, tell everybody what you do.

Uh, my, uh, role here at Ideas by Mike is the Chief Operating Officer. My main goal is to oversee our day-to-day operations and to ensure that all of the processes run smoothly and efficiently with one another and that they ultimately align with our strategic goals. I get to work closely with Mike and our department heads, a lot of them Some of them on this call, to implement policies, manage resources, and optimize operational performance. Together, we all work together to improve productivity, manage the logistics, and to ensure that the company's overall operational procedures are effective and sustainable. In addition to operations, I also submit and process all of our business. So when someone decides that they want to work with us, I work behind the scenes submitting their applications, guiding the business through suitability, funding the policies, and ensuring that it gets issued in a timely manner.

I—

Caitlin and I just had a meeting with a client, I don't know, maybe an hour ago, who— this client happens to be a pilot at one of the major airlines and he's getting ready to retire. And I opened that call up and I said, I told the client, I said, remember how I told you last call, you don't get out of the cockpit to go serve the first-class drinks, right? You fly. That's your primary job. That's like my job. Caitlin's job is different. And that's what's so unique about everybody on our team is we are so good at doing our job to help our clients have one of a kind. And I will tell you, that is driven by Caitlin, right? As the chief operating officer, she is probably in this industry, the financial planning industry, everybody who's listening to this, watch out because 15, 20 years from now, she's going to be, I mean, you're going to know that name nationwide as so many people already do. And I'm so impressed. By how, what Caitlin, and I think everybody else on this team would say the same thing, right?

Definitely.

Marcus, you would say it. Nicole.

Absolutely.

Caitlin, you're amazing. And like, one of the things that you get to hear though is you've been with me the longest of anybody on the team. And so you've helped out like our local clients directly. Matter of fact, with some very interesting results that we cannot talk about on this call, our, our clients locally will give Caitlin gifts. that are only legal in certain states, if you know what I mean. Is that right, Caitlin?

There's been an occasion or two.

Right. And that's one of the things that makes us one of a kind, right? But Caitlin, when you see what our clients do and what Money and Emotion is, what's their reaction, right, about our planning and why money is important to them?

Sure. Yeah. Um, the, the most common feedback that I get from a lot of our clients is how thankful that they are for the transparency that we provide to them. Uh, it is very important here for us at Ideas by Mike, for our new clients coming on board to understand all of the moving parts in the process. So after they have done their planning with Mike and Marcus and Joseph, And before they meet Liz, it's my job to make sure that they know what's happening, how long it's going to take, and in the way that their money is going to be moving. We understand that the money that we're dealing with is someone's life savings, someone's entire retirement account, and overall their hard-earned money. So it is very important to us to always set expectations For our new clients, and I think that that really goes a long way. Transparency is key, and we never want anyone to feel like they don't know what's going on or lost in the process.

Right, Caitlin. Can I do a little spoiler here and break the news?

Oh, sure, Mike.

Caitlin, are you this? Your, your, your family is getting ready to grow, isn't it?

Oh, okay. Yes. Yes. But I'm not pregnant. Sorry. Yes, my family is getting ready to grow. I am a dog mom of one. He's scared of me, Mike. I thought you knew something I didn't.

And what's, and what's getting ready to happen?

I am going to adopt another dog.

Yeah.

I just told Mike that this morning.

That's this morning. And, uh, she's adopting Honey.

Her name's Honey.

If it's, if there was something ever meant to be, it was Caitlin being a dog mom to Benny and Honey, right? Then that's what she'll have.

Yes.

I'm so excited.

Yeah. So that, that kind of leads to why money's important to you. And I, I know the answer cuz I know you so well, but let everybody else know why it's so important to you.

Yeah, um, that's a great point. My dogs are— my dog is my life. Everyone on this call has gotten a little taste of Benny. He joins me in a lot of my Zoom calls because he is a snuggle bug. But money is important to me because it provides a sense of security and independence in my life. Similarly to Nicole, I I am young, younger and single. Maybe not so much as of recently, but overall in the last several years, pretty single. So it's really important for me to have my own money. My mom growing up was a single parent. So the minute that my sister and I could get jobs, we had them. It was not an option. My mom was tough. I had a great childhood. Like Marcus said, I had a great childhood. But my mom, she was tough. She wasn't dishing out money on the weekends to hang out with your friends or giving us gas money. I learned very early on the importance of earning your own money. I had a full-time, 40-hour workweek job at a state courthouse the month I graduated from high school with full health benefits and a 401. And so my mom didn't play around. She wasn't funding. She couldn't. She just couldn't do it. And although my parents were separated, My dad has always been very much a part of my life. And one thing that my dad always told me and my sister was to never go anywhere without any money. Don't go on vacation without any emergency money. Don't go on a date with a guy without enough money to pay the bill. Don't buy a house without enough money to replace your roof or get a new HVAC system. So I'm really grateful for my parents for instilling those morals and lessons in me. And I think that they wanted to make sure that we knew really early on that no one in life is going to foot the bill for you. And you can hope that they will, but you shouldn't expect them to. In order to make the life that you want, you have to make your own money and don't expect it to come from somebody else. My relationship with money now more than ever is in a really, really good place. I owe a lot of that to my parents for being so And then now I feel like I have the freedom to book spontaneous vacations in the middle of the night and splurge on a concert ticket or go on a fancy dinner. And luckily, I'm saving more money and investing more money than I ever have. So that freedom and that independence to be able to do those things is what is most important to me to live the fullest life.

That's absolutely amazing. I mean, it's— I mean, if I could give you a standing ovation, I would. And I'd do it for all— I'd do it to everybody here, right? The ability to share, like, you know, not only what your role is in the company and like given the experience of like what our clients see through our planning process, but then being vulnerable enough for each of you guys, because I guarantee you, like, our people that listen to this are going to be able to see in themselves Or see in their family one of you guys, right? They're going to see like either a kid or a grandkid or where they are in their life. And it's inspirational, right? That's the whole reason we're here because everybody lives a one-of-a-kind life, right? And our goal is to help them execute a one-of-a-kind financial plan. Wouldn't you agree with that, Caitlin?

Absolutely.

Yeah. Yeah. So, uh, is there anybody, you know, we, again, we're not professionals at this podcasting thing, right? And there's always this thing like where we, where we always leave and think, man, I wish I would've said something else. Is there, is there anybody, Marcus or Nicole or Liz or Caitlin, that just says, man, I wish I'd have said something else when I was talking?

I wanna shout out the ocean waves. If anyone else can hear the ocean waves, shout out to that in the background.

Tranquility.

Living a beach life. I don't know where.

I like it.

What do you have, Marcus?

I was just gonna share a story from a lady during COVID Um, and this kind of set home for me, like the importance of what we do here. Um, she, her husband was sick with COVID She came into my office and we were just talking. She said, I just want to make sure our life insurance is in place. So to make sure that if something were to happen to him, that we're taken care of. And I was like, okay, well, everything's in place. You're good. Um, I said, let me know if we need to, if there's something that we need to do on our end. Well, it was probably 3 weeks later. She walked into my office and we locked eyes. And I just looked at her. I said, she said, do you remember me? I said, yes, I do. She said, well, he didn't make it. I'm like, okay. Her name was Becky. And so we walked into my office and got her taken care of. A month later, she walked in and she said, hey, I paid off my home. My husband's taken care of. And I want to get another policy so I can make sure my girls are taken care of. And that right there is like, that hit home for me and just know what we do is, is important to these people to make sure that if they have a disruption in their life, that they're still taken care of. So that's just one thing that I want our listeners to understand, like, your life is important, even if you, even if you, even if it gets disrupted.

Sure.

Marcus, that's like why, like to me, what that story you told about Becky is like why money's important to me, right? Like I've shared so much like on, you know, my story, like in episode 1, but you know what it's, why money's important to me is it allows me to build a team like this, right? Because only with a team like this can I reach more people. To be able to help them understand why money's important to them, right? In order to create like one-of-a-kind financial plans for everybody's one-of-a-kind life, first of all, we have to just get people to realize that they are one of a kind. There is nobody— people, most of the time, they're taught to be average, right? You're living an average life. Invest your money this way. Here's your outcome because that's the same thing that we've done for 1,000 people. But the thing is, is like there's nobody that sees this world through your eyes. And that's, that's your eyes. But everybody who's listening to this too, nobody sees the world except for through, through your eyes. And like that, when you realize that, right, that means you're one of a kind. Nobody has your perspective. Our goal is to get you to answer that question. Why is money important to you? It could be for your grandkids. It could be to, in the event something happens in your life, like it happened to Becky so that her girls would be protected. I mean, it could be for the thousands of people we help that have something unique. That's why money's important to me is because when we can answer that question, that's when we can create a one-of-a-kind financial plan. So, I'm excited to see like what the impact Of this show today and how it reaches people, because like like I said earlier, people are going to be able to see Marcus Washington in their family or in themselves, in Nicole, and they're going to be able to see Caitlin. They're going to be able to see Liz, and it's not only just they're going to be see be able to see you guys like in the role you can play in their life. They can literally see you in their life. Caitlin, you are somebody's daughter. Liz, you are somebody's daughter. Nicole, you are somebody's future wife, right?

Right.

Marcus, you are a father and a son, and you one day you're gonna be a granddad. And that's the beautiful thing about our business and that we're helping people with is that if they can see it in us guys, we're gonna be able to help more people. Wouldn't you agree with that?

Absolutely.

Yeah.

So Wendy, this is, this is why money's important. I mean, money's important because of how we get to help people to see the relationship and then getting them to understand that and then creating a one-of-a-kind financial plan.

Yeah. Freedom and, you know, being able to do what it is you want to do and live your life because life is for living.

Life is for living. That's a good way to end. I think, Nicole, I'm going to tell you this, and I, we haven't come up with a closing For this yet very well. I think the closing for the ideas for Mike's podcast from this point forward is going to be: This life is for living.

I love that.

It's it it it's free. That thank you. Actually, actually, it's not free. Actually, it's not free, Nicole.

But that's true.

That's actually a little bit.

But um yeah no that's something. I really hold near and dear. So, yeah.

Well done.

Well done.

Well, thank you guys. I, I really appreciate you guys, uh, in more ways than you know. Uh, our clients feel your impact every day. Our prospects feel your impact. And the way you guys interact with, uh, people in 50 states is just absolutely amazing.

If you are watching this and you are interested in learning how to connect with us at Ideas by Mike, Please connect with us on Facebook or Instagram @ideasbymike. If you're interested in catching a live webinar hosted by Mike, visit www.ideasbymike.com. If you'd like more insights from Mike, please check out the Ideas by Mike YouTube channel @ideasbymike and connect with us by becoming our client.

All right, thanks to all of you and Thank you for listening today. Please like, follow, and share this podcast with your friends. Until next time, I'm Wendy McConnell.

And I'm Mike Milligan. This life is worth living.

Thank you for tuning into Ideas by Mike, the podcast, the show where ideas turn into money. If you enjoyed today's episode, make sure to click the follow button to stay up to date on future releases. For additional information on becoming a part of the Ideas by Mike community, Check out our website at ideasbymike.com. Don't forget to take a look at the show notes, and for more financial insights, subscribe to the Ideas by Mike YouTube channel or visit the website to find one of the upcoming webinars. Also, connect on Instagram or Facebook @ideasbymike. Ideas by Mike is an LLC headquartered in Virginia with offices in 42 cities. The company owns an insurance agency registered in all states directly or through affiliate companies. Mike is an investment advisor representative with JB Wealth Advisors. Any financial planning information shared on the show should not be construed as financial advice for you personally. For your one-page financial plan, please reach out to Ideas by Mike through the website. The information covered and posted represents the views and opinions of the guest and does not necessarily represent the views or opinions of Ideas by Mike. The content has been made available for informational and educational purposes only. The content is not intended to be a substitute for professional investment advice. Any financial planning information shared on the show should not be construed as financial advice for you personally. For your one-page financial plan, please reach out to Ideas by Mike through the website.