Mm-hmm

... an estate tax problem, you, you want to find ...

We, we're so connected now, you want to find the best person to solve that.

And so what we've done is w- we've made, we've, we've made ...

We've put some strategy in place to be in great locations.

But what we've also done is, uh, is made ourself available throughout the whole United States.

And what we've attracted there is we've also attracted great clients internationally.

Do you have a website where people can get in touch with you?

Mm-hmm.

Although, a- although, although they have... a lot of times they have the same degrees, maybe, maybe even went to the same school, maybe are the same age, but they're two different things.

And often, like, just like, just like when somebody says they're a doctor, like my son's a doctor, right? But he's, he's a doctor in the Navy, and being a doctor in the Navy is being a, a doctor that's different than running a practice.

They're two totally different things, and I, I understand the difference there.

But a lot of times, uh, people that don't understand that just say, "Oh, you're a doctor," and they just assume the same thing.

The same thing about fun- the financial world is when you say you're a certified financial planner, they just take and just be like, "Oh, you must work in a bank," or, "You must work in a, in a brokerage house, and you do investments." Well, that's not, that's not the case, right? There are people like that who do that, who have managers, bosses, board of directors, and shareholders that they report to, and they're offering the same products to the same people walk in the door.

In our world, like in my world, and this is why...

Mm-hmm.

Do you see that story play out?

I do.

By the way, it's not only do I see that story play out, I see that story continue to be propagated.

Because in order for...

And there's a lot of people who have crossed the boundaries of having nothing to having something.

And there's a lot of people who cross the boundaries from having everything to losing it all.

And the interesting thing about those who have, they're not really interested.

Like what was the new belief that you replaced it with to get the change that you wanted? You

And for, for those people that are listening in right now who might not know who Mike Milligan is or what One Oak Financial is or what financial planning is in a whole, can you give us a 30,000-foot view of what it is that you are focused on these days and the markets you're operating in?

Yeah.

I mean, I'll even give you a real estate example there.

Um, you know, most people can go out and, um, you know, if you, if you're a developer or you're just trying to find a dream home, uh, you first have to go out and find a lot to build a house on.

Um, and then, you know, a- at that point in time, you could go to Home Depot because they got everything you need, right? They've got the, they got the cinder blocks and the 2x4s and the Sheetrock and the wiring and the, uh, electrical work.

They've got the, the countertops and the cabinets.

They got paint.

Mm.

[laughs]

But as the owner of the business, um, my, my residence doesn't matter, and I know I'm in a room, uh, of people listening who are in the insurance bus- business who are gonna be like, "Well, if you don't live in Puerto Rico, how can you reside and have a Virginia residence," right? Uh, your resident state is the where you either do the most business or you live.

So I do the most business in Virginia, but I live in Puerto Rico.

Uh, reason I live in Puerto Rico is 'cause when I'm on Zoom, uh, talking on podcast, meeting with clients, signing new clients up, I...

The money is being made on mainland USA.

But then for my, for my income, we export that commission AUM fee over to Puerto Rico, and it's exported from the mainland and imported into Puerto Rico.

Well, Puerto Rico has this thing called Act 60.

Hmm.

Yeah.

Right.

And what the limited knowledge we have, we were running a business.

We eventually got all the Folger coffee cans put into the bank.

And I found out from that bank manager, the way to get to his job was to go to college.

So I did.

Yeah.

And, you know, how does that impact taxes? So like, what would be something that, you know, new business owners sitting down in front of you, what, when are you telling them, Hey, let's, let's get a handle on first with your money.

So, Mike, tell us, what are the five steps you recommend entrepreneurs in order to make the first

million? You know, there is no really set in stone exact five-step formula for everybody.

That's the key.

I believe everybody's one of a kind, and I believe that somewhere along a five-step program, something's going to break.

You're going to make a mistake.

That's one of the parts about being an entrepreneur.

But if I can give you like some directions and you know that there's going to be some steps along the way that can go, the number one thing I think you have to have is you have to have the solution to problems clients in the industry face.

question to you, were you wearing the edge for years or not really?

What about those of us who really want to pay a lot of taxes and as much as possible? What are your tips for how to pay as much taxes as possible?

So modern day patriotism, right? Instead of protecting our democracy, let's just give more money to the smart people in the House of Representatives and the Senate so that they can do insider trading and continue to just spend more money than they bring in every year, right? If people that really want to pay more taxes, if you wanted to do that, I mean, there's a lot of ways to do this, right? You know, number one, move to California, right? Move out to California.

Start a business, right? Hire a lot of high income workers, right? Make a lot of money, hire a lot of workers there.

And then don't pay attention to your books.

Just whatever comes in on the gross top line, just pay taxes on that, right? And just pay your federal taxes at the top level, pay your state income taxes in California.

Don't take advantage of structure loopholes, right? And at the end of it, right, you will be a patriot, right? Because, I mean, obviously, if we had enough people who wanted to pay more tax, our deficit would be reduced and our federal loan, the total number of federal loans, like almost totaling $40 trillion would obviously go down, right? Because if we paid more tax, it's going to help.

See, that reality, though, Tim, is I don't think anybody really wants to pay more tax, right? But the reality at some point is we don't get to choose how much we pay in tax.

What is the real difference between a CPA and a tax strategist?

I know one of the major things is the form of your business, correct?

It is.

And see, most people, as they are growing a business, especially a cash business, like contractors work on, you know, they do work.

They collect revenue.

They use that revenue to pay for the material, to pay for those who help them do the work, and then there's a profit.

But structure is important, right? How you operate, either as like a limited liability corp with the S corp status, right, where you take a – an actual salary from your company.

See, that type of structure, that type of legal organization helps you reduce the amount of tax you pay for Social Security, Medicare.

some of them are not either one of those, but anyway, go ahead.

so much.

I believe that Gen Xers are more of a tell-me-how-to-do-it-and-I'll-do-it-myself mentality.

They're like a Home Depot generation.

And Gen Z, I think, is they just want to revolt from everybody.

I think, you know, like there's studies out there that say, and it's done by millennials.

I mean, it's done by generations.

And it says, like, you know, if your parents' generation...

What drew you to be interested in trying to develop a book about the power of this medium and why people should pay more attention to it as a force rather than just as a hobby?

Hmm

... where you could pay...

Now, you can't really pay your kids as 1099 because they're your kids.

You would need to pay them as a W-2 employee.

But the great thing about, like, kids, if you paid them, you know, $14,000 a year, well, guess what? There's a standard deduction for that amount.

And so if there's a standard deduction for it, that means they don't pay any tax on it.

And it's also a tax benefit to you.

Mm-hmm.

What has got you fascinated in finances? Have you always been fascinated by finances, or was there maybe something in your life that really made you focus on it significantly?

So I grew up in a small town in North Carolina, and the opportunities I saw from family members, like the, uh, the people that were actually working when I was a, was a young kid were, they were construction workers, factory workers, people that were actually doing hourly wages, or at least what I know now as hourly wages.

But, uh, then when I was just getting into my fifth year on Earth, I was, at 11 years old, my grandfather, who was my idol at the time, he no longer could work.

He had a debilitating back injury, and then eventually we all came to found out, find out that he had cancer, and then he passed away just a little bit of time after that.

And my grandmother, who was also very influential in my life, was a stay-at-home mom.

She loved her husband.

She loved Papa Walter, and Granny Elizabeth was somebody that, uh, all of a sudden had to kickstart a business at the age of 64 because he was the sole breadwinner in the family.

Mm

What is your origin story and how did it lead you to the concept of Retirement Chi?

Yeah.

So I am originally from a little town in North Carolina.

That town has not produced a lot in its life.

It's just like small town America.

But It has produced some really, really strong financial folks.

Two of the top 50 certified financial planners as recognized by the industry have come from there.

How is it different from traditional retirement planning?

So can you maybe talk about how they can actually take the information from the different advisors and determine it, you know, what's best?

Yeah, so I've written a couple books on this topic specifically, right? I wrote a book called The One-of-A-Kind Financial Plan.

I've written a book that's coming out this summer called Retirement Deja Vu.

And then I have another book coming out called Retirement Chi.

But on top of the writings that I've done to put in publishing to sell on Amazon, I also teach.

I'm an adjunct lecturer at Old Dominion University where I teach the basics of personal financial planning and business financial planning to individuals.

I wish there was a magic bullet or a prescription drug that I can give a business owner that would just automatically make them wise enough to ask every question they have.

So do you have any tips on questions, whether they're looking for a business attorney or a financial advisor or a CPA? Some of those questions they should ask to make sure they're a good fit for their business.

Yeah

...

in front of you.

People are, people are, um...

Especially wealthy people, people are healthier at 65 than they've ever been before.

Medicine helps with that, too.

But there, there's a lot of people who when they retire, um, just still go on epic trips.

Or Puerto Rico.