What If Tomorrow Changed Everything? The September 11 Lesson

It's the One of a Kind Financial Show Daily. I am Mike Milligan. Today is Friday, September 11th, 2026, 25 years to the day. See, some dates in history define us because the memory is something we lived. If you were over 35 years old, you have vivid memories of where you were on September 11th, 2001. Today we remember. We will also do our job. I'll cover the markets, prepare for the inflation report, help you serve your clients. But we lead with the memory because that is what today asks of us. Educate, coach, plan is my mission. Never miss a moment is my motto. But today we remember the date.

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25 years ago this morning, I was at Kmart, the paint section to be exact. I was picking out paint for the first home my wife and I had just purchased. I was on vacation that week because we were rehabbing the house. Carpet was ripped out. The whole house needed painting. I got the word of an attack that had started. I left the paint aisle. I ran to my car and ran home. I watched the towers come down on television. We did no work on the house that day. We sat and watched. That night, we went to church. We prayed. We were scared. We lived about 2 miles from the largest naval base in the world. We heard jets scrambling. They were flying lower than normal. They were flying faster than normal. My wife and I looked at each other with our 4-year-old son in the room, Zach, and we tried to decide whether to pack the car and leave town. We hung tight. Guys, there's a one-of-a-kind story that can be told by hundreds of millions of people who shared that experience with millions of different emotions. Today, we remember. If you were alive on September 11th, 2001, You have your own version of that story. In the comments today, tell us where you were. Not to relive it, to honor it. That is what today is for.

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Now let's do our job. Thursday, September 10th, 2026. Every major index was down. That's the 3rd consecutive session in the red. The Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 0.6%. The S&P 500 down 0.58%. The NASDAQ Composite down 0.65%. The Russell 2000 down 1.04%. That's 3 for 3 this week. 3 straight down days across all 4 indexes. That is not a common pattern in a year where the S&P is up nearly 13%, where the Russell 2000 is up nearly 20% year to date. That is a tape or indexes rotating. Just a little volume note for you guys. The SPY traded 42,300,000 shares. That's 116.5% of the 20-day average. The QQQ traded 30,470,000+ shares, 99% right at the trend. And IWN, that's our ETF for the Russell 2000 ETF, traded 26,902,000+ shares. That's a stunning 161% of the 20-day average. Let's read that again. The small caps traded at 161% of average volume on a 1% down day. That is institutional participation in the small-cap complex. Real money is repositioning inside of the year's best performing index. Your client with a Russell 2000 tilt, maybe the S fund in the thrift savings plan, or somebody chasing returns should fear or hear that framing. The VIX closed at 17.84. That is meaningfully elevated from last week's 14.32 low. Protection is getting more expensive. Just position accordingly. That's where by having the one-of-a-kind financial plan in your corner, it will read what should be done in your life in weeks like this.

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This morning, the Bureau of Labor Statistics will release the August CPI report. That is the last major inflation print before the Federal Reserve's September 15th and 16th meeting next week, 5 days ahead of the decision. Do not react to the number in isolation. React to what the number means for your client's retirement income plan. If CPI comes in above consensus, real yields move, TIPS breakevens move, and the Fed's dot plot narrative changes. If it comes in below the rate The rate path steepens. Either way, your client's fixed income allocation in the Roth conversion window could be affected. The written plan already contemplates the possibilities. The verbal understanding of what is to come, or having it mentally in your head, does not. That's the difference between a client with a plan And an advisor who helps them react versus just someone with a plan in their head. We turn vapor into paper, and that paper is the one-of-a-kind financial plan. We will cover the actual CPI number and the Fed implications on Monday's show.

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Here's something I want to I want you to sit with for a minute. Collectively, we do not remember dates like August 11th, 1997, November 9th, 2001, June 9th, 2005, April 9th, 2009, May 5th, 2022. Those dates mean something to me personally, to my family. That is a wedding anniversary, the birth of my children. They are landmarks in my one-of-a-kind story. But collectively, those 5 dates are not remembered in your life. You do not know what happened on those dates. I do. But September 11th, 2001, every American of a certain age remembers exactly where they were. Every one of us. That is a shared date. That is what makes it different. That is why the written financial plan matters so much. Every family has dates that only they remember. The date a spouse retired, the date a business was sold, the date the diagnosis came, the date a grandchild was born, the date a house was bought. The date a parent passed. Those are one-of-a-kind dates. They belong to you. Nobody else will remember them the way you do. And the written plan captures them, honors them, prepares for them, and adjusts for them. A plan is not a spreadsheet. A plan is a written record of the dates that matter to the family and the strategy to protect what those dates mean. That is what one of a kind means. That is why we write plans down. You are unique. You are one of a kind. Your financial plan should be too. That's why One Oak Financial delivers the one of a kind financial plan for your one of a kind life.

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As we close today, 25 years later, the memories are still fresh. Tuesday morning, 2000, 2001, blue sky in New York, blue sky in Washington, blue sky in Shanksville, Pennsylvania. 2 towers, the Pentagon, that field where they, where those passengers bravely said, let's go. Nearly 3,000 souls Passed away. We watched the towers come down on live television. We watched neighbors, colleagues, first responders, and strangers, strangers become parts of our national memory. The stock market closed and stayed closed for 6 trading days. When it reopened, it fell hard. It recovered though. That is a market story, and we will tell it next week and over the fall And into the winter. But today is not a market story. Today is a memory. Today is a moment. If you're a financial professional listening to this show, take a beat today with your clients, not to sell anything, not to explain the CPI report, not to talk about volume, just to say, I remember. I know you do too. And we're still here. Still building, still planning, still hoping, because we don't know what's coming tomorrow. That's the whole business in one sentence. Let's get to it.

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As a reminder, we are not chasing returns as much as we're building a one-of-a-kind financial plan here on the One of a Kind Financial Show Daily. The plan captures the dates that only you remember. The plan honors what matters. The plan is what turns a professional relationship into lifelong trust. Today in the comments, as a reminder, tell us where you were on September 11th, 2001. Tag somebody. America needs to talk about this today. We don't talk about it enough. If you want to sharpen the way you build a written financial plan for families you serve, if you are a financial professional, join us at www.thenumberoneoakcollective.com. If you are an individual and want a one-of-a-kind financial plan for your one-of-a-kind life, go to www. The number one oakfinancial.com or text the word ideas to 600-700. Estoy aprendiendo. I'm learning Spanish, folks. When you come to the One of a Kind Financial Show Daily, you're learning about the markets and what really matters, putting purpose behind money to build a financial plan for your life. I'm Mike Milligan. Remember the date. This program is for educational purposes only and does not constitute investments, taxes, or legal advice. I am a certified financial planning professional. All market data referenced is from publicly available sources as of the trading date noted. Past performance is not indicative of future results. The One of a Kind Financial Plan is a trademark of Mike Milligan, LLC. Consult your own licensed financial professional before making financial decisions based on any information discussed on this program.

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